AN: Takes place after the end of Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood.
Also I hope you enjoy this rewite!

Chapter 1: The Beginning at the End

At the train station in Risembool, Ed and Winry awaited the arrival of the train that would take him west. It was around mid-July, and the sun beat down on the two. Ed slouched on a bench next to her as he listened to her rant about keeping up with his automail maintenance.

"Make sure to oil it every day, and don't forget to dry it off after bathing."

Ed responded on autopilot. "Yup, Okay." He wasn't paying too much attention since he heard this all the time.

"I can see your train," Winry said moments after and pointed at the white smoke expelling from the smokestack on the train.

"Yup, so can I."

The train came to a stop in front of them, and Winry shot off some last words. "I'm going to miss you, but you should be back soon. Knowing you, you'll break your leg in a month and have to get it fixed".

Ed nodded.

"And when you do break it, make sure to call and make an appointment."

"Will do. Bye." Just as he was about to board the train, he stopped. "Appointment." He sounded a bit angered. "I still have to make an appointment? After all these years..."

She looked shocked. "What's wrong Ed?"

He kept his back facing Winry, wondering if he should say something or get on the train. With all the time he spent around her, private or not, he started to feel something for her. The last few months he spent at home, he felt that their relationship became more than friendship. Whenever he was around her as of late, he felt he couldn't screw something up or act childish like he used to, and he felt compelled to do things for her to see her smile. He knew what he wanted; the problem was how he could attain it. His palms started to sweat the more he thought about it. He had never been so nervous about something in his entire life. Finally, he made up his mind.

"Winry, I have to ask you something." Seconds passed.

"Well, what is it?"

Ed started to get cold feet. His body yelled at him to run, but he was determined to get it out. Winry continued staring at him curiously.

"I... I..." His brain felt as if it had shut down, and the first synonymous phrase to what he wanted to say came to his head.

"Equivalent exchange!" he blurted. His whole body was blushing and his palms could have filled a bucket with sweat.

"I'll give you half of my life, if you give me half of yours," he yelled and pointed.

He did it. He was so happy that he expressed his feelings for her. He looked at her; she looked confused. He wondered if he had to explain what he said. It was a little weird, but she was smart and should get the message. He grew nervous again, she seemed to be hesitating. Then the look of confusion was gone and she had her mouth wide open.

"Argh, you're such an ass."

That wasn't what he expected, and all of a sudden, his world was falling on top of him. He was so consumed with those words he almost didn't hear what followed.

"Why don't I just give you my whole life," she exclaimed as if it was the most matter-of-fact thing in the world.

He nearly jumped where he stood. She essentially said yes to him. She said yes to his proposal. Her face went red.

"Um, wait no, how about ninety percent, no that's too much. Eighty? No, seventy. No, that's too little. Eighty-five? Yeah, I could do that," she said as she counted on her fingers while staring at them intently.

He started laughing. It was hilarious how nervous she was.

"Hey! Stop laughing at me."

"I'm sorry, really," he said. "It's just that you took the founding principle of Alchemy and broke it into tiny little pieces with so few words."

"Are you making fun of me?"

He noticed that she looked hurt by his laughter and realized he was nearly on the ground laughing, so he stood up and decided to try to cheer her. He walked up to her, placed one hand on the back of her head, the other on the middle of her back, and pulled her into a deep hug. He knew she felt what he was feeling with this hug. It was different then all the others. As if they were closer than they had ever been in their entire lives.

She wrapped her arms around his back and his smile grew.

"I am going to miss you more than ever this time," he whispered.

"Me too," she said.

He felt a whimper in her body and knew that meant she wanted to cry, but she wouldn't. After that day at the platform back in Central, she had been crying much less; not that he was complaining. He felt her arms retract and decided it had been long enough. He turned around and got on the train, but before disappearing into the car, he turned his head to get one last look at her.

When she smiled and gave him a quick nod, he took that as a goodbye. He waved and went farther into the car to take his seat. 'Wow,' he thought, 'I think I have a wife now.' He smiled as the train departed from the station, leaving Winry behind and heading west to begin his new journey.

-/-/-

Meanwhile, in Central, General Roy Mustang and the rest of his staff had been ordered to inspect the city for various damages caused by the uprising / alchemic god a few months ago. This wasn't a usual duty but since it gave them all a chance to work outside, no one complained. Roy was dilly-dallying along with Riza while the rest of the team decided to split up into groups to get the job done faster (even though they wouldn't).

"So how are things Riza. We haven't had a chance to talk lately," Roy said. Since the incident, they'd been going on a first name basis whenever they were alone. Or rather, he had. She on the other hand couldn't break the habit of calling him sir.

"Good. The doctor says I should be at full strength within a couple of weeks. How about you, sir?"

"My hands still hurt when I do certain things, but it's nothing that I can't handle." He tried to make a fist, wincing in the process.

Her head tilted down, the light casting a shadow from her hair onto her face.

"Riza, you need to stop blaming yourself for what happened. It was out of your control. You were mortally wounded and couldn't have done anything more than you did." He rested his hand on her shoulder.

"I know you're right sir, but I hate seeing you get hurt like that while I'm around. I will always feel as though I could've done something."

Roy stopped, pulling her to a halt. She turned to look at him.

"I wouldn't have wanted you to risk opening your wound. Your death would have been a much worse fate, especially if I ended up living. I can deal with the pain in my hands, but if I lost you..." He shuddered; he didn't even want to imagine her gone. "If I lost you I don't know what I would have done."

"You're right, sir. If I had done something I most likely would have bled out." She noticed that they had been standing there for far too long and said, "Let's keep moving. We want to get this done today."

"Right," Roy said.

They continued down the path, scanning the area for any damages and noting them down on the clipboard Riza held. For the last few months, Roy had been trying to figure out what he should do about his feelings for Riza.

He knew the fraternization laws were still in effect, but he came so close to losing her in battle that he didn't want to die before expressing how he felt. He just hoped she would go for him. She knew what he did in Ishval. All the people he murdered with her father's secrets. He didn't deserve her. She was the only person in the world who could make him happy, so he decided to try to ask again.

"Hey I wanted to ask you something."

"What is it sir?" she asked in an annoyed tone.

"Would you..." His whole body shook. "...Uh..." His brain decided to abort mission. "Never mind."

Riza pulled him into a nearby alley, practically throwing him against the wall. "You have been beating around the bush all week, and it's starting to get on my nerves. What do you want to ask me?"

"Ouch, Riza, that hurt," Roy said. "If this is only starting to get on your nerves I wouldn't want to make it all the way." He got that feeling of immobility again.

She gave him the stare that always made him feel like she was trying to burn a hole through him. "Stop trying to change the subject and tell me what you wanted to ask me, unless you want to break my last nerve."

He suddenly gained a bit of confidence. "Fine." He gulped. "Do you want to go on a date with me?"

She took a step back, surprised at the inquiry.

"I would love to, but..."

He hated buts. "But what?"

"The fraternization laws are still in effect, I wouldn't want to risk you losing your position because of me-"

He moved in close and cupped her cheek with his hand. He stared into her eyes, causing her to freeze in place. After a second, he moved his lips to hers. When he felt her put her arms around his neck and kiss back, he responded by pulling her closer. After a few moments, they broke from the kiss.

"Okay," she said.

"Okay what?" he asked, forgetting how they got to this point.

"I will go on a date with you."

When they realized they were in public where someone could see them, they broke apart to a safe distance.

"Shall we continue with the inspection, sir?" Riza asked. She was composed as if nothing had happened.

"Oh, umm... Yes, let's continue." He was practically jumping with joy. Before they started walking again, he said. "Pick you up at six."

Riza smiled and they continued the job at hand.

-/-/-

Later that evening Roy knocked on Riza's door. "Coming," she shouted as she tried to find some clothes to wear. She threw on a plain red shirt that clung to her curves and a black skirt before going to answer the door.

"Hello sir."

Roy chuckled. "You know you don't have to call me sir. Roy will be fine."

She smiled. "Sorry, force of habit."

He held up a bouquet of flowers. "I hope you like lilies."

She took the flowers. "Thank you. I'll put these in some water and we can get going. Come on in." As she left the room she asked, "So where are we going tonight?"

"The only place in town we can go without being discovered." He answered, reaching down to pet Hayate who was eagerly awaiting him. He looked around, noticing that her apartment was considerably bigger than his was. The front door came into the living room, with the kitchen and dining room coming off it. Beside the entrance to the kitchen, there was a hallway with three doors in it.

"Nice place," he said.

"Thanks," she said, emerging from the kitchen with a vase full of flowers. She set them on the wooden coffee table in the living room. "So shall we get going?"

Roy straightened. "Yes, we don't want to be late."

The two soon arrived at Madame Christmas's bar.

"Didn't you blow this place up during the Promise Day?"

"Yeah, she had it rebuilt after the uprising. Looks good as new. Well, as good as it looked before."

They walked inside to see Madame Christmas tending the bar as usual.

"Hello Madame," Roy said.

"Hello Roy, you're late. And on your first date. How are you ever going to impress her doing that?"

"Don't you ever stop nagging me?" he said tiredly.

She smiled. "Why don't you two come take a seat, I'll be back out in a minute with some food." She disappeared into the back.

Roy held out a hand toward the bar stools as if they were in a fancy restaurant. "Shall we?" She chuckled and took a seat.

About half an hour passed and Christmas emerged from the back with two plates containing steak, mashed potatoes and green beans. The couple noticed and moved their drinks to the side so they could accommodate the plate

"Thanks, this looks great," Roy said.

"Yes this looks delicious, thank you." Riza smiled.

Christmas returned the smile. "You two enjoy. I'll be back later to collect the plates," she said and left.

"This was very nice of her, but can we trust her?"

"Well, yes. She's my foster mother," Roy explained, taking a bite of his steak.

"Oh, that explains a lot."

"Hmm?" he mumbled with a mouth full of food.

"It explains why on the Promise Day she let us use her bar to get into the sewers and why she let you blow it up without a fuss."

"Oh trust me, there is a reason this place looks identical to what it was before," he said, remembering the headache that was the re-build. He shuddered.

"Something wrong?"

"Just a long and arduous journey that will leave me scarred for life," he said and took another bite of his food.

Riza laughed. "Sounds like you bit off more than you could chew."

"You don't even know the half of it. She still calls to complain about it."

The two finished their meals, chatting more about the random events of the past few months. After their meal, they went back to Riza's apartment. They went inside, made some tea and sat on the couch together. She cuddled against his chest and he put his arm around her. They sat quietly for a while until Roy broke the silence.

"So, did you enjoy yourself tonight?"

"Yes," she said. "I enjoy spending any time with you outside of work."

He smiled. "So do I, we didn't do much of that in the past did we?"

"No, though I wish we would have. This is nice," she said, cuddling closer.

"It is nice." He kissed the top of her head and silence befell them. Soon after, they both drifted off to sleep in each other's arms.