Disclaimer:I do not own Full Metal Alchemist or any of it's characters. I do not own Jiraiya from Naruto.

Rei and Kai are my characters.

A/N:This version is basically my original concept, tweaked a bit (a lot) with inspiration from

Nao Roberts. Ed/Winry and Ed/Rei moments are not major, this will end up a yaoi.

Ed's eyelids drooped as he stumbled along the street, Alphonse walking beside him. He hadn't had much sleep lately, as they had been walking for days to reach Resembol. His automail arm had been failing and he desperately needed it fixed before going back to Central. They trudged through the quickest of shortcuts, slowly winding through alleys and backstreets. He could vaguely remember the last time he had walked these backstreets… with…

"Edward!" Winry screamed as she watched him approach with Al. The sudden noise disrupted Ed's thoughts and caused him to stumble. He could see the ground approaching through his fluttering eyelids, but was too weak to stop himself. He let the ground take him in, felt himself drifting out of consciousness...

When Ed awoke, he found himself lying on a soft bed. Winry's bed… He lay near the open window, watching the first rays of sunlight filtering through the curtains. The last crickets were chirping, the birds already taking over the melodies of nature. A cool breeze disturbed the stillness of the room. Ed slowly got up, not wanting to wake anyone else that may be in the building. He looked around the room, at the pictures on her dresser. Then at the beach, three years ago… he remembered that. He remembered cursing his hormones as he stared at her bikini, speechless. As he entered the familiar hallway, he remembered what had happened yesterday, why he was here. He looked at his newly repaired automail, grinning in spite of himself. Winry...

Ed sat outside for a long time, watching the sun rise. He liked the peaceful isolation of daybreak. He liked watching the day burst into life. Around him, the scenery of daybreak reminded him of when he was younger. He would wake up and wait for his mother to come looking. Everything was the same. The clothes, drying on the line, slowly being blown about by the early morning gusts of wind. He let himself get lost in his memories. A while later, something broke the silence. "Edward! Where are you?" He turned around, so entrapped in his memory, he half-expected to see his mother. He smiled at the way it sounded so early in the morning. He was so blinded by memory that his grin slipped when he saw it was Winry. He saw her smile vanish just as quickly as his had, she turned and ran back into the house. He watched her run, wishing she would stay a bit. He spent the next few minutes looking out on the town, but his mind stayed on the hurt look on Winry's face, her dress swishing as she ran away from him.

A few minutes later, Ed walked back up to the house. He let his memories evaporate into the peace of the morning, the magic of the sunrise. Al was sitting at the kitchen table with Winry. There was food on the table. Ed looked surprised, who had gotten up to cook this? Pinako was nowhere in sight, and he came to a cold realization. It must have been Winry... And this morning she... I... He knew by the cold look on her face when she told him to eat that he had upset her, even if not on purpose.

When they left that afternoon to catch their train to Central, Ed regretted not saying thank you, or sorry, or anything to Winry. They just left. Even as they boarded the train he was thinking about that morning. About her smile, about her hurt… and wished he could take it back. He accidentally bumped into someone on the way, barely noticing. Maybe he should have --

"Hey! Watch where you're going, shorty!!" The abrupt yell broke Ed's concentration as he looked at the guy he had bumped into.

"Who, might I ask, are you calling a SHORTY?!" Ed asked disdainfully. He entered into a shouting match with the guy, who only appeared about a year older than Ed was, though he was much taller. Much stronger, how could Ed stand up to this guy?

"Who? I'm talking to--" He was cut off as a girl sitting with him (and, sadly, across from Ed and Al) interrupted him.

"Mei!! Let it go!" She pulled him back into his seat. She then smiled at Ed apologetically. And what a beautiful smile it was. Her face was all kindness. "Sorry about that. He can get pretty worked up sometimes. Are you okay?" She seemed nice enough. Her hair, a soft black, tumbled around the gentle curve of her shoulders, shining in the sunlight, her eyes, so blue, like a sea you could get lost in...

"Yeah. Don't worry about it, I'm fine." He said, staring. She turned away from them, and started to talk to 'Mei'. Ed looked around for other seats, silently wishing there weren't any. He wanted to sit here, with this girl. And his wish came true. All the other pairs were taken. "Great. Looks like these are the only seats, Al." They sat down across from the girl and her friend. He privately cheered at his fortunate, but was careful not to let a grin cross his face. He look again at the girl, drinking in her beauty, the way her eyes sparkling, her lips, soft red, her hair, bouncing around the slight curve of her --

"Oh, hello again!" She smiled at them once more, her eyes twinkling. "Looks like we'll be sitting together, huh?" She looked at her friend, "won't that be great?"

He replied, moodily, "Oh yeah. Barrels of fun." Ed could practically see the anger radiating from him. Who is this guy?? The guy looked Ed up and down, sizing him up. Maybe she's his girlfriend. Maybe he's protective…

The girl spoke again, trying to make friends, but Ed was resistant. He didn't want to be friends with this... guy. "My name is Reichel... but everybody just calls me Rei. And this --" she looked at the guy again, "is my brother, Mei."

"My. Name. Is. Not. MEI!" He exploded. He turned to Ed and Al. "My name is Meikaiel. You can call me Kai. She only calls me Mei because she thinks she's funny."

He's her brother? Wow… nice guy. Maybe he's just protective… He thought again. "Okay... My name is Edward Elric, and this is my brother Alphonse." Ed replied, glancing out the window, obvious in his lack of interest in this conversation. Ed looked back at the siblings just once, committing them to memory. The girl, Rei, with the black hair and the blue eyes, purple shirt and the strange bag... symbol like a transmutation circle... and a locket fastened around the strap. And the boy, Kai, with the red top and black bottoms, brown hair and brown eyes... Looks fairly dumb... Jerk. Ed looked again at the strange bag, and then looked back out the window. He watched the countryside rushing by, vaguely hearing his brother chat with Rei and Kai. All the while he tried to concentrate on something else, but all he could see was Winry's hurt expression, all he could hear was the soft melody that was Rei's voice…

Wonderful, stuck on a train with these two... How will I pass the time? Ed looked back at the three of them. Rei, Kai, and Al. Talking. This is going to be a long train ride...

Ed felt a hard thump on the back of his seat. He turned around angrily, "Hey! What are you -- WHAT THE?" He nearly fell off his seat.

"Brother? Are you okay?" He heard Al's voice from somewhere to his right.

"Yeah I'm fine…" He got up and walked around to where that guy was sitting. "What are you DOING?" Although Ed had seen perfectly well. This strange man, with his white hair and strange headband, had been taking notes on a porn magazine.

"Huh?" The man looked up from his 'book' and looked around. He didn't spot Ed until he was looking back down at the 'book', "Oh. Were you the one talking to me, pipsqueak?"

Ed's eyes flashed violently. "DON'T CALL ME PIPSQUEAK!!!!!" he roared, jumping at this pervert. Before Ed had even touched the guy, Ed was flat on his back, looking up at the man.

"Who are you to go around disturbing people? I was doing research for you information!!" The man heaved Ed up and sat him down on the seat. "I'm an author."

"What kind of research is that???"

"The BEST kind!!" The man pulled out a book. Ed could just read the title, printed in fineprint under a series of strange symbols.

"Come Come Paradise? Hmmm…" Ed started reading. "This! It's!!! Ed became more and more entrapped in the novel, but had read only the first chapter before the man snatched it away.

"Well? What do you think?" The man, Jiraiya (Ed read it of the cover of the book) had a strange look in his eye, he was reading his 'book' again and almost foaming at the mouth, his look was of pure ecstasy.

"It was… good?" Ed was shocked by how willingly Jiraiya had given him… well… disreputable books to read.

"Good?" Jiraiya looked crestfallen. "Didn't you like the descriptive bits? The kissing? The shower scene? Anything?"

"Well… the shower scene was… ummm…" Out of the corner of his eye he saw Rei, still talking to Al. He could remember the exact wording from the book, the imagery was too perfect. He couldn't help but imagine Rei in that scene. He couldn't help but picture her, behind the misty glass…

He opened his eyes. "Brother are you okay? We have to get off the train now."

They had arrived in Central. Ed looked around and found them alone, sitting on the train. He looked out his window and saw Rei walking away, the curve of her back moving as she walked. He got his things and followed Al off the car.

"Brother, you must really have been tired. You slept for the whole ride!"

Was it all a dream…?

Don't worry. Ed does not fall in love with Rei. Though he falls in love with somebody!!