Summary: The Promised Day has passed, Father is dead and there are no current threats to the country or it's people. Edward and Alphonse are both whole again, save Ed's left leg. The brothers have been home for a year, giving Edward and Winry the time they needed to admit their feelings for each other and fall in love even more than they already were. The brother's calm lifestyle soon comes to a pause when Edward and Alphonse recieve a letter from Ling Yao, the new Emporer of Xing, and are asked to teach the Xingenese their version of alchemy and in return, Ed and Al will be able to bring back the alchehestry technique that they are wanting to spread throughout Amestris. While the brothers are in Xing, Winry discovers that she is pregnant and is forced to go through the pregnancy and birth of her and Edward's first child without him, albeit, with Edward having no clue that he is a new father. What will happen when the brothers return? How will Ed take the news that he's a father?
_

"What do you mean you're leaving?" the blonde mechanic asked, confusion clearly filling her blue eyes as gazed at both the love of her life and her best friend, the two brothers who held her entire world in their worn, yet strong hands.

Winry knew she shouldn't have been surprised and deep down, she was expecting this. Edward wasn't one to sit still for long and it was a given that wherever the elder brother went, the younger was sure to follow.

Still, she was hoping that maybe they were done with all their traveling, the Promised Day was now just a horrible memory shoved in the back of the citizens of Amestris' minds as they pushed forward to rebuild their country into something new. Edward was, of course, all for a bright, new Amestris. He wanted the country to be less dependent on their military and more focused on improving their peacemaking skills.

So, when Edward recieved a summon's letter from the newly appointed Emporer of Xing, Ling Yao, he knew he didn't have to think twice when he mailed his response letter a short week later.

"They want us to teach them our alchemy, Win." Ed was staring down at his shoes, digging his toes into the gravel that made up the walkway to the Rockbell home.

"And if we teach them our alchemy, Ling promised that he would have their best alchehestrists teach us their alchehestry, which is used for medical purposes. If we brought that back here to Amestris and began teaching it to our alchemists here, we could make a big difference in this country and hopefully spread it to the countries around us." Al finished with a sigh when he saw Winry shaking her head weakly.

"You guys have done so much for this country already." she began, unable to look up at them. She didn't want to cry, it was their lives after all, they deserved to do what they wanted to. "Why do you feel like you need to do this? I'm sure Mr. Mustang would be able to find replacements for you and they could teach you the alchehestry when they come back."

"We want to though," Ed finally looked up at Winry and took a step towards her to reach for her hands, taking them in his own. "It's only a year, Winry. We've gone much longer than that without seeing each other before."

"Yea, but things are different now. I actually enjoy having you around." She joked and put on a fake smile. It would definitely be a lot harder without Ed this time around since the two of them have practically been attached at the hip since the brothers came home.

She looked up at him again, his eyes were almost begging for her approval, but she just couldn't give it. She knew she was selfish, but she still wasn't sure that Edward knew just how much their absence, his absence especially, had an effect on her.

"I know you're going no matter what I say." she sighed, forcing another weak smile. Edward smiled back and took her into his arms.

"I won't disappoint you, Winry. You mean to much to me for me to just leave you and let you down. I'll be back."

"We both will be." Al placed a comforting hand on his older brother's shoulder and brought Winry into his own open arms for a hug.

"Promise?"

"Promise." They both nodded.

The tears were coming now and she didn't care about trying to hold them back anymore. Her two best friends were leaving her side once again and like years before, all she could do was watch their backs fade into the distance, going to yet another place where she couldn't follow.

A year and a half later

Winry forced her sleep-deprived eyes open and stared up at the dark ceiling of her empty bedroom.

It was raining.

She always hated the rain, the sky would turn an ugly color and the thunder and lightning made her jump no matter how old she became. It always made her want to just curl up in bed and sleep the day away.

She was the type of person who loved the sun, her favorite childhood memories always took place on a bright, sunny day. Like how she, Ed, and Al would chase each other through the rows of corn in Trisha's home grown garden, plucking leaves from the mint plants everytime they passed by the little bunch of bushes and laughing when one of them almost got caught by the other for taking the time to stick the spicy leaf in their mouth.

Another memory she'll never forget is how her parents would always take her on picnics down to the river whenever it was hot and sunny out, just the three of them, and they would always let her swim after lunch to cool down.

She loved how the sun felt on her skin while it warmed her up from being cooped up in the workshop for too long, sketching out new designs for even better automail for Edward.

She loved the sun because his eyes alone could rival the brightness and intensity it held. She always felt like she was looking into his eyes when she would glance up at the sky.

But at the same time, that only made her miss him more.

Another bolt of lightning lit up her room and shortly after, a loud bellow of thunder reverberated throughout the entire house and just seconds later, she heard the startled cries she was expecting, coming from the tiny girl that slept in the room across the hall.

The young mother sighed deeply and dragged herself out of bed, she wasn't mad at her baby, she was overly tired and it was looking like she was going to go another day without a decent night of sleep.

Winry smiled softly when she entered into the pink-painted room and gently lifted her daughter into her arms, hugging her close.

"What's the matter? It's okay, let's go lay in mommy's bed for a while." she said softly, bouncing the baby in her arms for comfort. She paced around her dim lit room for a few more minutes until she sat down on her bed with the sleeping baby still in her arms. Guessing by the amount of light coming through her window, it looked to be around seven. Granny should be up by now, preparing the shop for the day.

Winry let out another sigh when she remembered just how busy this week was looking. One of the local farmers needed repairs on his leg today, with a few other neighbors coming in for upgrades. Her next door neighbor, Old Man Johnson was coming in tomorrow for scheduled maintenance, followed by a few other maintenance appointments. Pitt's dad needed an entirely new leg and she had two new patients coming in near the end of the week.

A lot of her customers that she took care of in Rush Valley started making the journey to Resembool when they needed more than just routine maitenence. Winry had definitely left her mark on the bustling town and she was proud that she had customers throughout Amestris that trusted her and took pride in wearing her work. She really did get the Rockbell name out there and her grandmother could not have been more proud.

She slipped her legs back under the covers and rested her head against the propped pillow. She didn't think she would be able to fall back asleep, so she decided to just sit up in bed until the baby woke up to eat.

Sitting in her empty room like this brought back so many memories, so she really only spent time in here to sleep nowadays. She tried not to think about Ed too much, it hurt and that's all there was to it. She had no idea when they were coming back, they had told her it would be a year and it's been six months longer than that. She didn't want to think something went wrong and they were unable to leave the country. Knowing Edward though, Winry could almost be certain that's what happened.

Her eyes returned to her sleeping daughter cradled in her arms, that's what hurt the most. She was turning a year old in a few weeks and Ed still had no idea he was a father. Winry had tried countless times to send him letters, but most of them were returned to the house and the ones that weren't probably ended up getting lost because she never got a reply from him. Then there was the thought that maybe he did get a letter and he did know about their daughter, maybe he was mad at her and didn't want to come home? She tried to shove that theory out of her mind, Ed wasn't like that and she was sure Al wouldn't let his brother desert his new family. Al wouldn't want to either, she knew he would be proud to be an uncle.

So what was it?

She heard the rain pick up, it was pouring now, she began to wonder if any customers would even bother to come, the rain made all automail patient's docking ports ache and Winry wouldn't blame them if they were unable to make it to their appointments. To be honest, she needed the day off. She felt depressed, tired, and mentally exhausted.

She was tired of waiting for her own storm to pass and for Ed to come home.

She wanted the sunshine to come back into her life.
_

A/N: Revised as of 7/21/11. Thanks for reading. :)