A/N: What's this? A two-shot? Yes, my dear readers, this little story has been bugging me for a while now, in all truth. So I finally decided to pluck it from the back of my mind and spread it onto some paper (err...a Microsoft Word document, that is)! However, as you can see, this is not a Kingdom Hearts fanfic but a Full Metal Alchemist one this time- yay! I hope you enjoy this!

Disclaimer: Though it pains me to admit this, I do not own Full Metal Alchemist (the plot, setting, characters, or anything) since it rightfully belongs to Hiromu Arakawa. Where's a shooting star when I need one?

Last Resort

Part One of the Full Metal Alchemist two-shot

Light filtered through the second-story window where it haphazardly spilled across the sheets of the bed in the corner. The places they touched slowly began to warm up, and the sleeping girl shifted slightly from her sprawled position on the bed. Silence filled the room once more until the light from the sun streamed across her closed eyes, causing her to turn her head in order to escape the brightness. Her attempt was unfruitful, however, as the light followed her, and she reluctantly opened her eyes. She squinted against the light before sighing miserably- while mourning for the loss of a lovely dream, concerning her dancing with many handsome suitors- and rising into a sitting position.

Noticing that her hair fell messily down her back and around her face, she grabbed her brush, after popping her back a bit, and began the tedious task of brushing her hair. She winced as it snagged on a particularly nasty knot but forced herself to continue until she saw, out the corner of her eye, a single white folded piece of paper lying on her bedside table. Curious as to what it contained, the girl reached over and snatched it, her blue eyes sweeping over the small paragraph on it which read:

Thanks for fixing my arm, Win! It feels different...did you make it lighter? I bet so, what with all the work you've been doing. Well, gotta go- see you whenever!

-Ed

Winry blinked stupidly for a minute as the words sank in and once they did, she sprinted towards the door, stopped, and ran back to her window, opening it hastily. She scanned the area and spotted two dots in the distance heading towards the faraway train station. The blonde-haired teenager opened her mouth to yell her goodbyes- and quite possibly her disapproval of their early departure- but closed it after a moment of quick thinking. They wouldn't hear her anyway...

Dropping back onto her bed, she heaved a sigh and decided to change out of her wrinkly lavender night dress. Once she was ready for the day, she clambered down the wooden stairs and entered the kitchen where her grandmother Pinako was drying some dishes with a towel rag.

"Morning, Gran," the blue-eyed girl greeted briefly as she slouched into one of the chairs at the kitchen table and nibbled absent-mindedly on a now cold, buttered toast. Her eyes swept over the contents set on the table: a few pieces of toast, a handful of strips of bacon, some scrambled eggs, and a jug of orange juice. The food, no doubt, had been cooked by her grandmother for the Elric brothers- or more precisely, the oldest brother Ed, seeing as Al wasn't physically capable of eating. Turning her head, Winry saw a glass of milk had also been poured; however, it was still full and she smiled slightly, knowing that Ed was still adamant in his refusal to drink milk.

"Good morning, Winry," Pinako replied back, placing the last, dried dish in its proper place. She turned her gaze to her granddaughter when she heard a long, low sigh and frowned as she wiped her small, aged hands on her dull green dress. "They'll be fine, those brothers. They always come back, don't they?"

Winry pursed her lips as she tried to think of a reasonable argument. "Well, yeah, but still..."

"Then stop moping and be useful. You can't stop them from going on their journey," the short, elderly woman said.

The teenager's eyebrows furrowed. "But do they have to leave so early all the time? Especially since they keep leaving when I'm asleep and can't say a proper goodbye."

"That's only because they care about you and you always stay up late to spend time with them, or help fix Edward's automail," Pinako responded truthfully. "If that bothers you so much, why not tell them?"

The blonde-haired girl sighed again. "I don't want to sound pathetic...I mean, I understand that what they're doing is important- or at least, they think it is."

"Then tell them you don't like them going off without saying a goodbye not face to face, but through actions."

Winry sent her grandmother an inquisitive look. "Actions? What should I do then?"

Pinako shrugged. "I'm sure you'll think of something." She began walking to one of the doors on the right. "I'll be outside working; call if you need me." And with that, she left Winry to mull over what her grandmother had just said. Through actions...?

She was pulled out of her deep thoughts, however, when she felt something hairy rubbing against her legs. Glancing down, Winry noticed her black dog, Den, staring up at her with pleading eyes while sitting back on his haunches. It took her a moment to realize that he was silently asking for some food so, ruffling his furry head and chuckling, she offered him some bacon, which he greedily took. Silence engulfed the room once more, save for Den's vicious munching on his acquired food, during which Winry allowed her thoughts to reflect back upon Grandma Pinako's words. How do I show them how I feel...without actually saying it...?

Alas, after several minutes, she still couldn't come up with anything. Yet suddenly, one word popped into her head: payback. She smiled, somewhat evilly. Well, if I can't necessarily show them what exactly is on my mind, why not punish them? It'd certainly teach them a lesson! With a content- and perhaps dark- smile, Winry strode proudly to her workroom.

***

Curious blue eyes skimmed over a small, rumpled piece of paper containing a list of items. As usual, Winry had been sent out to buy the needed foods and objects in the cluster of various shops a mile or two away. Normally she would have groaned and complained about walking all the way down to the tiny store, albeit in the blazing heat, but this time she felt grateful for the extra time to think through her plan for revenge.

She had decided that Ed would only be the one she was punishing after reading a lengthy letter by Alphonse (left on her work desk) speaking about how he was sorry that they always had to leave early- she felt compassion and a reluctance to penalize him right at that part- and that his brother was so stubborn sometimes. The letter mainly agreed with her views though there were a few parts where Al explained Ed's real intentions as only looking out for her. But she decided to overlook those particular parts and instead focused on the sentences which, in her opinion, seemed true.

But what kind of sick, twisted- er, right and deserved punishment, she should say- would be best for Ed? She had considered anything that had involved milk and tricking him into drinking it, but she realized that she had been thinking of ways to get him to drink the darn beverage for years. How on earth was she supposed to do that now, of all times?

Should she insult his height? He was very sensitive when it came to how tall (or short) he was. No...she wanted to do something unique this time; she rubbed his height into his face every moment she could, after all.

"My, my. Vhat a pretty, young girl, you are."

Winry snapped out of her thoughts and looked around for the owner of the strange voice. A woman, seemingly in her mid-thirties, stood near the entrance of what looked like a small hut. A black bandanna was wrapped around her head, her semi-curly dark brown hair cascading down her shoulders and back in messy heaps. A long-sleeved maroon dress fell past her knees and a hunter green apron was tied around her waist, a few stains scattered here and there.

"Um, thank you," Winry replied uncertainly.

"Vhat's your name, sweetheart?" the older woman asked.

"Winry. Winry Rockbell. And you are...?"

"Tatanya."

Winry raised an eyebrow. "Just Tatanya? Do you have a last name?"

The smile that adorned the woman's- Tatanya's- face sent shivers down her spine. Now she kind of regretted giving the woman her full name...

"Vell, come in, come in! There are plenty of things I 'ave for sale; maybe one might capture your interest?" Tatanya grabbed her wrist- a slight shock ran through her body at the touch, for some bizarre reason, but the other woman didn't seem to notice or feel it- and shooed her inside.

As she had predicted, the inside of the hut was filled with all types of odd and mysterious looking objects. Winry could make out a circular table which stood in the center of the room with a round, almost flat bowl filled with water on top of it, two long tables leant against the walls with bottles of weird substances upon them, and a mattress hanging from the ceiling, concealing an area of the hut which she assumed to be Tatanya's sleeping quarters. Tatanya led her over to one of the long tables, her green eyes scanning the items there until she reached a certain bottle and picked it up. The bottle, which had a type of hour-glass figure, contained a deep red fluid within it. Tatanya held it in front of her, out-stretching her arm towards Winry.

"I believe dis is vhat you are looking for?"

Winry blinked confusedly. "Huh? I'm not really looking for anything here."

Tatanya smiled again. "But maybe dis might come in 'andy? Vhy not try it?"

"What is it?"

The woman appeared to be pleased that Winry had asked that question by the way she beamed at her. "Dis is a love potion. It vill make anybody fall in love vith you, but only for one hour. It vill take effect in about five minutes. But you must make the person drink dis and be the first person 'e or she sees for it to work." She walked over the spherical tabled and picked up a tiny, plastic cup that had been hiding behind the dish. She turned back and handed it to Winry. "You only need to fill it up this much," she pointed to a black line near the top of the cup, "and you may put it into any drink if you vish. Dis bottle 'as at least three servings of the potion, just in case. Use it visely." Tatanya winked at her.

"But I really don't need this," Winry started once she had the chance. "I don't want or need anyone to fall in love with me!"

Tatanya's smile grew. "Are you sure? I think there is somebody you like."

Winry thought of Ed and immediately blushed. "N-no, why would I...?"

"I think dat proves it," she pointed to Winry's face, indicating her darkening blush.

"B-but! I mean, I really don't need it. It only lasts for an hour anyway, right?" she tried to convince the woman to take the potion back.

"Yes, dat is true. But vhy not 'ave a lil' fun? Maybe the person 'as done something you don't like and you vant a lil'...payback?" she grinned.

Winry shot her a surprised look. "H-how did you know...?"

But Tatanya only gave her the creepy smile again, refusing to divulge her secret to her. "Vill you take it?"

She bit her lip. Maybe this can help me get Ed back? He would be humiliated if he found out that he was head over heels in love with me for a whole hour.... Finally, after a few minutes of serious thinking, Winry met Tatanya's gaze, though a bit uncertainly, and said, "I'll take it."

***

"I'm home!" Winry announced once she opened the front door with some difficulty. She grunted as she dragged the groceries into the house before collapsing into a nearby chair, trying to catch her breath. There weren't a lot of things to buy but having to carry them back home which was over a thousand of yards away? Yeah, not fun or easy at all.

"Ah, you took your time," Pinako called from the work room. She came into the kitchen and began putting the groceries away.

"Well, it wasn't exactly easy getting these bags home, you know," she gave her grandmother a blank look.

Pinako only shrugged. "You still took a longer time than usual, I observed."

"Oh," the teenager said, thinking back to her encounter with Tatanya. "Well, I, um, was telling some new people I met about our automail shop since they were interested. Sorry." Okay, a total lie, but I can't tell her that I bought some love potion for Ed. She'd probably kill me!

But Pinako seemed to buy it. "Is that so? Good, good, I hope you told them to stop by some time." She finished putting away the last of the groceries and wiped her hands on a towel nearby.

"I did, though they're pretty busy lately trying to make some money so they might not come by too soon." Winry was actually surprised how the lie had just tumbled out of her own mouth smoothly. Wow, never thought I was a good liar! "But I'm beat. I'm going to take a nap, okay?" she got up and stretched her legs, not wanting to stay any longer and keep digging herself into a deeper hole.

"Alright, dear. Sleep well," came her grandmother's response, and she strolled to her bedroom.

Once she had safely reached her room, she pulled the small bottle and cup from the bag that she had stuffed into her jacket earlier. She tucked it into one of her drawers, making sure that if would not roll around and accidentally break. With a final yawn, Winry climbed into bed and under the sheets, ready for her nap which would most likely last for a couple of hours. It had been an exhausting day so far, after all.

Boy, she couldn't wait to try out that potion!

----

A/N: Here's part one! Part two will be up here shortly, don't you worry! And no, I haven't totally ditched my other fic Fading Memories; it's still in progress! Haha, well, thanks for the support!

-Hatsuya