Chapter 4

Once they finished supper, Ed helped granny clean up the dinner dishes. It surprised Pinako, she knew Ed would grow up eventually. And since he has returned this time, he has shown just how much. "Thank you Edward, it's nice having someone around to help out. Winry has been helping in Rush Valley more these past few months. I know it's wearing her down traveling back here to check on this old woman's health every few weeks." She noticed Ed seemed a little concerned at the mention of her health. "Now don't worry about me Ed, I may be getting older but I still have some get up and go in my old ass." She said, giving her rump a little shake. Ed had to chuckle at the old girls spunk, then continued putting away the dishes.

With the night hours calling him to bed, Ed still found himself restless. His mind and stomach in knots. It was one thing to propose, but to choose an actual date had him scared. Sure he'd wait longer if she wanted, but that still didn't help his thoughts. 'What if she gets angry that I chose the date without her approval? Or what if she is ready to marry on that date and I'm not?' He grabbed both sides of his head in frustration. 'And here I thought life without alchemy was hard.' Flopping back onto the bed he sighed heavily, he really needed to stop acting so foolish and get some sleep. "Tomorrow at this time this will all be over, Winry will be home in the morning. I sure hope it's not too early though, I'll need my extra sleep after all this worrying." So pulling the covers up and deciding to try once more for sleep. Ed figured he'd think of something else. 'I wonder how Al is doing, it seems funny not having him around in this old house.' His mind started drifting to his brother and soon sleep had found him.

Like always Ed had managed to oversleep and it was Pinako who called him down for a late breakfast. Still in his t-shirt and boxers Ed carefully made his way to the kitchen. Even his hair wasn't in a ponytail at the moment, but then when you just wake up it's hard to remember to get a little presentable. Once in the kitchen he stretched and yawned before taking a seat at the table. He was about to place some food on his plate when he heard a giggle. His movements froze as he slowly looked towards the person giggling. "W-Winry...?"

She gave a hard laugh at his expression of pure embarrassment. "Good morning Edward, nice to see you haven't changed in the last year." Moving from her spot Winry went and hugged him around the neck from behind. With a kiss to the cheek she now had him a nice rosy red color of extra embarrassment. "So are you here for maintenance or just came for a visit?" Finding himself beyond words at this point of embarrassment, Ed simply pointed to his leg and feared the worst. To his surprise though. "Oh no problem I'll take a look after we eat." This was something new to him, Winry didn't explode? Ed was really dumbfounded by this, everytime he's told her something needed fixed he usually got whacked with a wrench.

It was halfway through eating that Ed started to feel less red in the face and asked Winry how things in Rush Valley were going? "I was thinking Winry, maybe when we finally settle down we should make our home there. You do have lots of customers in Rush Valley compared to here." Though there was one difference, he liked Resembool better then the valley. Here it was more quiet and peaceful, but for Winry it would mean her Automail would be more in demand in Rush Valley.

Taking some time to think about what Ed said, Winry wasn't really sure how to answer him. This was her home and so much had happened here. Plus was she really ready to settle in just one place? "Well Ed I'm not really sure, I mean I consider both places very special to me. However I still have time to decide, I'm sure once I get your leg fixed up you'll be off again. I know there's nothing that's going to keep you in one place." She gave a small chuckle which made Ed give a nervous laugh as well. After that no one said much of anything and old Pinako was wondering if things would ever be simple in this old house between Ed and Winry.

After he finished eating Ed carefully made his way upstairs to dress in at least a shirt, even though she'd seen him dressed like this a number of times growing up. Still he wanted to look a little more presentable to her when he gave her the locket. Sigh! 'I can do this it doesn't matter about where we live right now, it just matters that we are together.' His thoughts were distracted by a knock to the door. "It's open Winry!" He called from inside, as he hide the locket in his hand. This was it, he'd let all his feelings go and give her the locket. If the date worked or not he wouldn't be able to rest until he knew for sure.

Opening the door she found him already sitting on the bed, she gave him a smile and moved to the end of the bed to examine his leg. "So what happened this time, let me guess you haven't been taking care of it like I told you...right?" He said nothing which told her the answer was, yes. "Okay well let's see what I can find, for one I could tell you're missing a bolt here. And this other side needs tightened. Nothing to serious really, this will only take a few minutes." Or so she thought, reaching down to his leg Winry found his hand taking hold of her's. "Ed, what are you...?"

He pulled her close and kissed her lips passionately. Her body quickly reacted and her arms found their way around his neck to deepen the kiss. "Sorry I didn't give you that sooner Winry, guess I'm still the same old idiot as before huh?" His hand was now cupping her cheek as he smiled at her lovingly. It felt like forever since he kissed her like that and his lips hungered for more, but right now he needed to tell her a few things. So he moved her into his lap and chuckled at her surprised look.

"Edward, what on earth are you up too?" Winry asked, though she was enjoying the closeness. She watched as he moved his hand to her's and opened it to place something inside it. Her mouth went wide when she saw the beautiful locket, how she longed for one of these. "Oh Ed, you shouldn't have." She opened it and saw the date marked on the one side, just like his state alchemist watch from years ago. "What's the date for?" She asked a little confused, and after a hard swallow he started to explain.

"Winry, I chose the date Oct. 4, 18 because this is the day I want to actually settle down and marry you. I want this to be a day I start a new life, unlike before when me and Al burned down our home on Oct. 3, 11. This time I'm going to build one with you as my wife." He saw her start to get red in the face, then a tear rolled down her cheek. He knew these were tears of joy, but would she says yes to the date?