One month after her threat to look for Ed, Winry had calmed down and settled back into routine. Time passed quickly, but she was no longer depressed. She kept herself busy with work and enjoyed time with Granny and Al. Being with Al reminded her too much of Ed, though, so the blonde tried to avoid too much contact with him.

On this particular day, the automail shop was closed and Winry went outside to enjoy the fresh air. Unfortunately, her one day in nature quickly turned into a dreary thunderstorm, causing the blonde to unhappily bring an umbrella with her. She didn't mind dirt from rusty automail, but the feeling of being soaked with rain wasn't at the top of her agenda. Still, it wasn't like she could avoid it, so she ended up sitting on the stone ledge that laced the walkway leading to her house. She swung her legs idly, realizing that she hadn't changed her clothes in a few days. Guess I've been busy working, she pondered, watching her capris getting dotted with raindrops.

"Miss!" a familiar voice called out.

Winry's eyes darkened. It'd been awhile since she'd seen the guy, and he had the audacity to come back when he'd given her the worst birthday present ever? Maybe if I don't move, he won't notice me.

No such luck. "Miss! I have your mail!" Mission failed. She looked up at the awkward teenage mailman, who was huffing a few yards away. He lacked an umbrella, but it looked like he was protecting his mail with his life. "I promise it's not wet. Oh, hey! Did that Ed guy ever come back?"

"Well, he sure isn't coming back with one of his arms," she murmured. After receiving a confused look, she explained. "The package you gave me? It contained his automail arm. It was my birthday."

His eyes bulged in surprise. Suddenly, he wasn't so eager to be near this aura of grief. "I see," he spoke slowly, handing her the mail. "But the military sent someone a letter in your household."

Winry was interested. This letter couldn't possibly contain another part of Ed's body, so... Maybe he's sending me a letter of explanation! She scrambled off the ledge and took the mail from the teen, leafing through it to find the very envelope. "Thanks." As he started walking away, though, she called out, "I never caught your name."

He looked back at her, surprised at the personal question. "It's Aaron Christos."

Winry smiled brightly at him. "Winry Rockbell."

Aaron blinked at her before returning the smile. "Have a good day, Miss Winry." With a small wave, he jogged in the opposite direction, following the path to his next destination.

She smiled. Aaron Christos, huh? That's a strange name. Instead of dwelling on it, Winry splashed through the mud in her flip-flops and headed inside. Granny had gone out on a shopping expedition. Al had left a few days earlier to spend some time with Izumi, so he wasn't coming back anytime soon.

Winry took off her shoes and sat down at the dinner table, disregarding all other mail except for the special one Aaron had pointed out. It was addressed to Alphonse Elric, much to her disappointment, but then she reasoned that he was Ed's brother, and he had more rights to the letter than she. Still, she wasn't about to wait for Al to come back and read it to her, so she impulsively ripped it open and shakily opened the letter.

Alphonse,

I know that you're angry about us keeping Ed's location a secret, and I don't blame you. Now I can tell you the whole story. The 'job' to find Izumi Curtis was fake, and Ed knew that. We designed a mission specifically for him, so we're sorry to say that he tricked you. However, he disappeared off our radar some time ago. We didn't want to alert you because the mission is in Xing. You can probably guess why he's there.

We've ordered the military to disallow you or any of Ed's friends to find him. It's a dangerous situation. As for that automail arm we sent you... well, not to put Miss Rockbell down, but the arm wasn't sufficient for the mission, so we had a professional mechanic redesign something more suitable. Believe me, though, he absolutely abhorred the idea of any other arm.

Regards,
Colonel Roy Mustang

Winry was taken aback by the insult to her automail work. She was also confused as to what was going on in Xing. Apparently it was already obvious enough, but she hadn't heard of anything going on there. At any rate, she now knew where Ed was, and she was locked on her target. I'll go there, talk to Ling Yao, and find him in no time flat! Wait... but the Colonel has put out special orders to restrain me from traveling there.

I'll need to be deceptive to do this, she thought, starting to plan her escape. New name, clothes, ID card... Her eyes darkened. I'll need someone to help me. It'll look suspicious if a young woman is traveling alone. Besides, if I'm with someone, I'll probably be safer. Al is gone, though, and Granny would definitely oppose it. So who...?

It clicked in her mind, and a second later she was out the door barefoot, sprinting as fast as her legs would carry her. "Aaron!" she called out, huffing as she made her way down the trail. She spotted his figure walking peacefully in a slouched position. "Aaron Christos!"

When he turned to look at the girl calling his name, Aaron didn't know what he was about to get himself into.