Today, Al was alone in his room, feeling like a bum. It had been three weeks since Winry's twenty-first birthday and Paninya had since gone back to Rush Valley. Paninya had begged Winry to go back with her. Winry hadn't worked in Rush Valley for years, she'd been too reluctant to leave Pinako and Al, so she'd just stayed in Resembool and helped her grandmother. This time though, Al told her to go to. He didn't really want her to leave, but she had to get on with her life sometime and now was as good as ever. Winry wasn't so sure that she agreed with him, leaving her family again sound painful, and thinking about all the things that could happen while she was gone gave her a panic attack, but she did miss Rush Valley, and the chance of Al and Pinako dying while she was gone were slim. Pinako would keep Alphonse out of trouble, she could be sure of that, so she had said her goodbyes and boarded the train with Paninya.

This was the reason that Alphonse felt so depressed. It wasn't because of the loss of his brother this time, no, this time it was simply because Winry was working again. Al had never worked a day in his life, and thinking about that was the perfect ingredient to make him feel like crap. He had made the decision to get a job, now he just had to decide what that job would be. His only true skill was alchemy, but he wasn't sure what to do with that skill. He certainly didn't want to become a State Alchemist, so all that was left was…Well; he wasn't actually sure what was left.

The house felt so empty without Winry. Pinako always seemed to be working on automail, and even when she wasn't busy she didn't exactly try to strike up conversations. Speaking of Pinako, Alphonse could hear her calling his name from downstairs. He went in the direction of her voice and found her standing in front of the front door, which was open, but just a crack. "There's someone here to see you," she told him.

He cautiously crept towards the door as Pinako passed him and went back into the other room to continue working. Al peered through the gap in the door, but before he even had a chance to see who it was he was tackled to the ground. "Alphonse!" the girl called, hugging his neck. "It's so good to see you!"

"Uh, yeah, good to see you too, May," Al replied, standing up and brushing himself off. He gazed at May's smiling figure and returned her grin. She was eighteen now, and Al could have sworn that she was even prettier than the last time he'd seen her.

"You should be happier to see me than that!" May scolded, "Do you know how hard it is to cross that desert? I crossed it just to see you guys you know!"

Al blushed, "You didn't need to do that."

May glared at him, "But…I was starting to feel pretty sad that I hadn't been able to see you in almost three whole years!"

He nodded, "Me too, I really am glad that you came."

"Good!" May shouted, "Now where's Edward, it's been even longer since I've seen him."

Al froze and ran his fingers through his hair, not wanting to give her an answer, not at all. "Ed is…" He trailed off.

"Ed is what?" May asked, sounding oblivious.

"He's…been gone for three years. He went on his trip to the West, and he just…never came back. Everyone keeps telling me that he's dead…but," he paused for a second, but before he could continue May's arms were back around his neck.

She was sobbing. She wasn't sure if she was crying herself, Edward, or Alphonse, but she couldn't stop. "I'm so sorry, Alphonse," she whispered. Al didn't know what to say, so he just let her hug him, and eventually he started hugging her back. He expected to start crying, but this time he actually didn't. He felt more happy then anything, happy that May was there, crying so that he didn't have to. "I can't believe that Edward…"

"Me neither," he mumbled.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked, starring up at him.

"I didn't know how," he replied, starring back down at her.

"I'll have to tell Ling…he's going to be so sad…he's kept saying that he wanted to visit you guys as soon as he got a break from all his duties, but now…" More tears trickled down her cheeks as Xiao-Mei clung tighter to her shoulder. She felt terrible, she had always pretended like she hated Edward, but when it really came down to it, she liked him, not as much as Alphonse, and she certainly didn't have any romantic interest in him, but she could always tell that he was a good person. She also felt a mixture of worry and relief as she wondered what she'd do if it had been Alphonse, she really didn't want to lose him before she even got the chance to have him. "Where is Winry?"

"She just went to Rush Valley," Al replied.

"Oh, that's too bad; I would have liked to see her too…" May trailed off thinking about what she wanted to ask but didn't have the courage to. She wanted to know how Winry was dealing with everything, but she was afraid that, that might not be any of her business.

"So how have things been going for you?" Al asked, changing the subject.

She shrugged, "Fine, I guess, nothing special. Though I did go to Ling's wedding and he has a two year old daughter now, can you believe that?"

Al couldn't believe that. "Wow," he whispered, "Did he marry Lan Fan?"

May laughed softly, "No, he married one of the clan chief's daughters like he's supposed to, he just has forty-nine more to go. Maybe someday, he'll add Lan Fan to that list though."

Though Al was very, very freaked out when he tried to think about Ling having fifty wives he tried not to let it show on his face. "Yeah, I hope so…" was all he said.

"So what about you, Al, who's your special someone?" May asked, cursing the words for leaving her mouth.

Al giggled, "I think I'll die alone. You?"

"I don't know…I'm only eighteen after all…Though that does seem to be the age everyone is getting married at..." she starred into his eyes, hard, trying to send him some sort of subliminal message.

"Yeah well, I'm sure you'll find someone," Al said, blushing wildly as he received part of her subliminal message. He thought that he knew what she was trying to get at by saying all of this, but he was just too scared to admit that he understood her. He had no experience in this type of thing, none whatsoever, he suspected that, unlike him, May must have at least been on one date, she was a beautiful girl after all. May was growing frustrated. This was one awful visit. She felt so depressed she just wanted to keep crying. First she had to find out that Edward was dead, and now Al was flat out rejecting her. She glared at Al and he gulped. "Hey um, don't be mad at me, May." His cheeks felt like they were on fire. "I…I do like you!" Out of impulse, he threw his hand over his mouth, shocked by his own words.

"Oh Alphonse," May swooned, "I like you too."

"So we should…go on a date," Al whispered. May quickly nodded, over and over again. "But there really isn't anywhere to go in Resembool so…"

"We can just take a walk! Or anything really…I won't be picky."

"Okay, do you want to do it now, or…?"

"Oh, um…now is fine."

Al nodded, "Alright…then…" Al awkwardly reached his hand out and she grabbed it. His hand was sweaty and warm; even though it got pretty cold once they took their first step outside. May's hand was soft and delicate, like a baby's. The two of them made a real pair. May's cheeks were still tear stained, and Al looked like he was going to burst into tears just from holding a girl's hand.

They walked in silence for awhile. It had been almost three years since they'd last spoken, but yet they still didn't know what to talk about. "Resembool is so pretty," May beamed, "It must have been nice to grow up here."

Al nodded as he gazed around at his hometown. There didn't seem to be a trace of his childhood left. His old house was gone, his mother was dead, his father too, Ed had disappeared, and even Winry had left for Rush Valley. The world had left him behind. It just kept on moving on, but he was still frozen in place wanting nothing more than to go back in time. "Yeah," he whispered, "It was nice." May couldn't even guess what was going through Alphonse's head. She wasn't sure if he was angry, annoyed, happy, depressed, or just downright melancholy. "Xing was nice too," Al added.

May nodded, "You were able to visit it when it was at its prettiest."

Al smiled, "Yeah, the cherry blossoms were beautiful." Xiao-Mei climbed down May's arm and in-between the couple's interlocking fingers. May smiled and Al did too, though he was a bit worried that the little panda would revert to its old ways and nip one of his fingers. Xing might have been pretty, but right now nothing could compare to May's beauty. Her smiling face was adorable and it made Al crave to kiss her, but he wasn't the type of guy to do something so impulsive.

"Alphonse," May whispered.

"Yeah?" Al asked.

"You're hand is really sweaty," she replied.

Alphonse blushed as he quickly pulled his hand away from hers. "Sorry," he mumbled. Pain suddenly began to flood through his left hand and he looked down to see Xiao-Mei dangling with his thumb in her tiny mouth. May just giggled and snatched the cat-like creature away from him. At first Al cursed the panda for ruining such a romantic moment, but soon enough he was laughing too. He hadn't been on cloud nine for awhile, but somehow May made it look easy to get there. Al was genuinely happy, and he never wanted it to end. "How long are you planning to stay?" he asked.

May stopped laughing and grew thoughtful for a moment. "I'm not sure," she whispered, "I can't stay too long, I have a lot of duties I need to perform in Xing, but I also crossed a whole desert to get here so I'm definitely not looking forward to going back…Maybe two weeks?"

"Two weeks?" Al whined, "That's hardly worth the trouble."

May smiled at him, "I'm a busy person, and besides even if I left right now…It's already been worth it." Right after she said it she began blushing and she quickly turned her head in embarrassment.

"Haha, that's sweet May," Al said, grinning at her. She just continued blushing. "So…two weeks, huh?" he sighed.

May nodded somberly and said, "Yeah. Oh and Alphonse…Next time you have to be the one to visit me okay? And don't wait three years again!"

Al smiled and nodded back at her, "Alright, I promise that I won't."

"Good," May replied, "Then I'll be expecting you in less than a year."

"Less than a year!?" Al whined.

"Of course, we have to make up for how long it took us to get together this time," she replied, grinning.

"But I don't want to cross the desert again…"

"Don't be such a wimp, Alphonse," May mumbled, as she grabbed his hand and led him back towards the house.

Uh…this chapter is really fluffy, sorry about that, it kind of feels misplaced being in this fic. Oh well, I just really love AlxMay. I'll try to make the next one a bit more interesting and a bit less fluffy.

Thank you for reading and a giant thanks to those who reviewed, followed, or favorited the last chapter!