"Edward! Quit laughing!"
Winry's muffled voice giggled from the other end of the phone line. Edward was well on his way back home from the West, and had decided the stop in a small bar in the outskirts of West City. The small shack was nearly deserted by then, except for a dull-looking old man sitting at the table overlooking the streets outside whilst scanning over the headline of a newspaper. A burly man stood behind the counter, wiping away at the last of the beer mugs that lay in the sink behind him, occasionally wiping his grubby moustache that was streaked with gray and black hairs. He reminded Edward a little of Sig Curtis. It soon occurred to him that it would probably be best to give his teacher a call later on in the week. She would be proud to know he was doing something responsible for a change.
"Aw, come on! Wedding rings made of hardened syrup and candy canes sound mighty dandy to me!" He laughed into the phone.
"In that case, you can put the ring on your own finger during the ceremony! You'd be crazy if you think I'm going to get my hands all sticky!"
Edward chuckled a final time, catching his breath and wiping away a tear. "Eh, it was worth a shot to ask! You were crazy about that stuff when we were younger!"
"I was 6! And besides, you and Alphonse weren't very great at proposing!"
"Yeah right! You said no but took the candy rings anyway!"
By that time, both of them were chuckling. The bartender glanced over at the golden eyed boy sitting across the bar. There was something about those eyes that made him yearn for his youthful days. A smile was spread across that boy's mouth like it was his first. A mouth that could break apart any second and scream to the world that he was in love.
"Well, it's getting pretty late now. I have to wake up early tomorrow to go collect some scrap metal from Mr. Willis. "
Edward's grin didn't falter a bit, but his heart pounded harder and harder upon hearing Winry's adorable tired voice. "Alright, Win. I'll call you again in a few days time. I'll be stopping in Central for a bit to visit Gracia and Elicia."
"Tell them I said hello, okay?"
"Will do. Oh, and Winry? I'll be expecting a kiss when I get back, y'hear?"
The young girl's giggle touched his ear once more. "You got it, chief. Good night."
"Night!"
Even after he had settled the phone back upon the receiver, his eyes gazed out into space. His cheeks were touched with a pink hue, and his heart had yet to settle. Finally, he rose from his seat, grabbing his trench coat while gently patting the dust away. It was, indeed, getting very late. The train was going to leave at 7:30 sharp the next morning, and knowing the residents of West City, most of them would be up and moving quickly by then.
"That your girl?" A burly voice asked from behind him. Edward turned slightly to face the bartended wiping his alcohol-greased hands.
"Heh...Yeah."
The husky man's smile could scarcely be seen from under his thick moustache, but the twinkle in his eyes spoke louder than a thousand mouths. Silently and slowly, he nodded his head back and forth.
"You known each other for a long time?"
Edward's smile grew. He calmly welcomed himself to a seat across from where the man was standing, and soon, he found himself narrating all the memories of his past with Winry. Memory Lane wasn't always the best place for Edward to be, but this route in particular was always one he would gladly revisit time to time. The twinkling in the man's eyes grew as each word was spoken, when finally, a small teardrop escaped from his eyes, skidding across his cheek and finally landing on the smooth counter.
" Y'know, boy... Alchemists nowadays go on and on about something called 'equivalent exchange', am I right?"
"Equivalent exchange?" Of course, Edward was more than familiar with alchemical terms. The fact that a bartender knew this much had piqued the young boy's interest. "Of course I know about it!"
"Heh... well, you know what they say about love? They say that the best kind is from someone who is willing to give more than they receive. You rarely come across some of those kinds of love nowadays." The man placed the last mug among the others, soon turning back to Edward and staring him straight in the eyes. "You're a lucky one, lad. You take good care of her, y'hear?"
Edward threw his head back and chuckled. "Will do sir! Thanks for letting me use your phone."
The two men waved goodbye to one another. Edward stretched an arm out to grab the handle of the door, but he couldn't help but still wonder about the stranger's words.
"Sir?"
"What's it, boy?"
"Have you ever been in love?
"Smitten to my very last bone."
"Are you still in love with this person?"
"Always have, always will."
"Um... One last question."
The older man looked at the golden eyed boy questioningly. Edward cleared his throat, quietly shuffling his feet back and forth nervously.
"Is this person still with you?"
The old man simply smiled, and turned his back on Edward, undoing his apron and tossing it aside.
"Lad, we are people. Humans. We are born, we are taught, we teach, we love, we hate, we experience Truth. And eventually, human bodies stop functioning, our hearts stop pumping blood through our veins, and we lose the ability to continue on in this world." The old man's head turned to the side, as if he were acknowledging the presence of another human being. "But those who love and are loved never die. You may not always see them. But they are right there next to you."
A.N: I wasn't very fond of this story, but I had the urge to write. The bartender was inspired from an old teacher I once had. He would tell us to never waste our life away on things that disappointed us. To instead, dream, inspire, make mistakes, learn, move on, and overcome obstacles. That way, we'd polish who we were and become a more stronger being. Or, as Hiromu Arakawa once said, we'd be given a more infallible, irreplaceable, fullmetal heart. This story was written on a more personal purpose rather than entertainable one. I'll be writing more EdxWin soon, so stay tuned!