Hey all! I finished up my homework for tonight so I thought I'd start on chapter four of Beautiful World. I was inspired by awesome fanfictions, fanart…and an e-mail from Vic Mignogna…

Pieces of Hope asks: Are you an Ed and Winry fan? Just wondering…

Vic answers: Yes... I am very much an Ed & Winry fan. I think Ed needs to wake up and grab Winry before she gets away!

And I agree! So enjoy the next chapter of…

Beautiful World!

Beautiful World

Chapter Four: If You're Doing All Right

If one of my wishes were to come true…

Winry lounged on the couch, yawning loudly. Of course it wasn't with sleepiness but with boredom, complete and downright boredom. She looked up over at Edward, who sat at the desk she and Pinako had bought for him. He leaned his head on his hand as he stared down at the book he was either reading or writing; from where she was she couldn't tell.

He picked up his pen, groaned loudly, and switched positions. He now covered his face with his hands, the end of his pen pressing into his cheek. Winry got up and stood beside him, unnoticed.

She grinned and softly put her hand on his back, moving it up and down, soothing him in her way. "Ed, why don't I get you a fresh cup?" She asked sweetly, picking up the red mug Edward had claimed as his.

He mumbled something and nodded. She squeezed the mug thoughtfully as she turned away from him and headed into the kitchen, now only hearing the scratching of Edward's pen on his paper. She smiled, glad he found his muse.

She turned the stove on and reheated the now cold pot of coffee. She placed the mug on the table and walked to the kitchen entrance, staring out into the living room, and to the furiously writing Edward. She laughed softly and turned back, waiting a few more minutes before taking the pot off the stove and refilling the former state alchemist's cup. It was the perfect temperature she thought blissfully as she brought it back to him.

When she returned to him, he quickly glanced up at her, his golden eyes studying her cerulean ones.

"Thanks." He said roughly, as he turned away from her. His eyes now scanning over the words he had just written down.

Winry's curiosity got the best of her. "Is that a journal entry Ed?" She asked softly as she went back to her place on the couch. She stared up at the ceiling with racing thoughts as she waited for his answer.

"No, it's an epic novel that will surely win over all the reviewers and its readers." He said with a laugh, seeing how utterly stupid and hopeful it sounded. It was barely forty pages long and he was already planning for book signings and awards.

Yeah Ed, he thought dejectedly, keep dreaming.

"Seriously? Is it about alchemy?" She wondered, "Cause I thought that was your only love!" She exclaimed jokingly.

"Well, yeah...it is." He mumbled, flipping through a few of his pages, "But then again, I don't think that was my point..." He told her off-handly, like it wasn't all that important.

Winry thought over his words a moment before she spoke, "Can I hear some?" She asked interested. Even if Edward's letters to her were simple, she loved the way he wrote to her, like it kind of let her into his heart, just a little bit.

She loved everything about him.

"I dunno. It's really no good Winry." He said in protest. Winry would be honest with him if it sucked and he really wasn't ready for that kind of critiquing.

"I won't say a thing…I just wanna hear it." She paused for a minute. "Is it action adventure? Or romance?" She now wondered. "Science-fiction?" She made a strange face.

"Probably a bit of everything." He stared down at the words more before he found himself reading them aloud to her.

"Do you ever feel incomplete or lost? I had felt that way most of my life, looking for something I had no idea if it existed or not. I had not a family. No mother to comfort me and no father to lead me towards the path of becoming a man. I was left alone to find that certain way myself…I may still be traveling it now…" he trailed off and looked over at Winry who seemed deep in thought.

"So…?" He questioned, suddenly finding her opinion of it most important, something that seemed lacking almost a moment ago.

"It's so sad." She said off-handedly. "Is it an autobiography?"

"Maybe…but not really." He told her in return. He closed the book and sat beside her on the couch. They sat there together for a few moments in silence before Winry turned to look at him, her eyes bright.

"Do you get bored?" She asked suddenly, he turned to look at her, his amber eyes smothering with something she couldn't name.

"What do you mean?" He asked in return, noticing her closeness but refusing to move away.

"I mean, after all that adventure and danger in the big world outside of Resembool…do you get bored living here with me and having a normal life." She blushed, finding the way she worded her statement slightly more meaningful then she intended it to be.

"Not really. I mean you were bored before right? It's not like I enjoyed going out and fighting to the death every day." He said sharply, hoping that was the end of this pointless conversation. Winry had a way of making things bigger then they needed to be.

This peacefulness was his life now, he understood it and found no problem with it, even if he did feel lost from time to time.

Winry nodded and then looked over at the closed notebook. "Well, then do you find it hard to write that novel from an older man's point of view?" This question was just as random as the last. He looked at her, his eyebrow cocked in wonder and maybe even amusement.

"What makes you think he's an old guy?" Edward asked her, slightly peeved. He had meant to write as a boy finally stepping into the true light of manhood, not as some old geezer who had been there for ages.

"Just they way it's worded," She said lightly, looking down at her hands. "I mean not a really old guy, just like some guy maybe in his late twenties or something…I dunno. Just older then you Ed." She sighed, annoyed with herself. "You need more life experience to write like that."

"MORE LIFE EXPERIENCE?" Edward shouted. He rose to his feet; his cheeks flushed red with anger. "I think I've had just about enough life experience for one life time, FOR ANYONE'S LIFE TIME FOR THAT MATTER…" He sighed, running his hand through his bangs and walked away. He was fed up with this situation, fed up with Winry maybe.

"You aren't an adult Ed, no matter how many terrible things you've been through!" Winry shouted, following Edward out of the room. She grabbed onto his hand and turned him to face her, tears threatening to escape from her eyes.

"Damn, why are you crying?" He asked, his tone softening. She groaned and released him from her grasp.

"I'm not crying yet." She said softly as her small hands tightened into fists at her sides. She looked back at him quickly and wiped at her eyes incase one tear had fallen, unnoticed.

"Yeah." He said, displeased. He looked over her, studying her in a way he normally would not have. She seemed different, more grown up...even if she was still the same cry baby he has always known...

And that thought scared him.

"Let's make believe that never happened, okay?" She asked of him, her voice light and pleading. She saw him nod once and then turn away from her, like he had given up the war too easily, but she took no mind towards that.

"Ya know…" Edward suddenly started. Winry looked up at him, her eyes wide in wonder. "I wish I could make believe everything in life, like I used to. And then…" He tightened his hands, a feeling of anger and desire filling him.

"And then when it's all over," Winry said, as she gently grabbed one of Edward's strong hands, breaking his anger. He looked at her strangely, thinking there was no way she could possible know what he was thinking, feeling. "You can open your eyes and your Mom would still be alive and your Dad never had left your family and everything in life would be perfect and happy and simple." She sighed as she forced open his fist, intertwining her fingers with his.

Edward laughed, "That sounds like some kind of sick fairy tale."

"For some people it's a reality." She told him lightly. "It still could be your reality too, Ed."

"How is that even possible?" Edward asked gently, taking a step closer to Winry, his tawny eyes interlocked with her azure ones.

Winry gently placed her hand upon Edward's chest, as she looked up at him and studied his strong, mature features, her words were momentarily taken from her.

"Winry?" He called and she pulled away from him, laughing at her foolishness. That was too close, way too close. This was her only thought as she walked into the kitchen.

"Never mind," She laughed brightly. "What do you want for dinner?"

Edward winced as he followed behind her, knowing it would be his duty to cheer her up after somehow bring her down. Despite how annoying the task way, he wanted her to be happy.

"I dunno…stew!" He shouted excitedly as he ran passed her towards the icebox. He opened it and peered inside, falsely saddened by its nearly empty contents.

"Not enough to make it huh?" Winry asked from behind him, trying to move past her sullen mood. "Well that's just as well, considering it's too late to make it."

"Is not." Edward snapped.

"Have you ever made stew yourself, Ed?" She shook her head in annoyance. "It takes hours if you want to make it properly with all the right ingredients!" She shouted, frustrated with the disbelief upon the man's face.

"Jeez," She said under her breath. "You act like such a kid sometimes."

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!

"Do not!!!"

"WHY ARE WE FIGHTING LIKE THIS?" Winry shouted, suddenly feeling the urge to pull out her hair.

And Edward grinned.

"You feel better now right?" He asked, poking her shoulder.

"What?" She asked, slapping his hand away.

"DOOO YOOOOOU FEEEEEL BEHHHHTUUUURRR?" He asked, making a weird face and poking her shoulder again. She may have felt a little lighter sure, but that happiness was now weighed down by a deep, dark annoyance.

"Oh yeah, so much thanks!" She said brightly, then following it with a quick whack with her magic wench.

"WHERE DID YOU PULL THAT FROM?" He demanded to know; one hand pointing at the object while the other soothed the rising sore on the side of his head.

She purposely leaned in close, her light pink lips inches from his. She wanted to get a rise out of him and she knew she could do it just as well as any other girl.

"Shh…" She whispered, running a finger down his chest. "It's a secret." She quietly laughed as she walked away from the dazed Edward. As it were he was still her best friend but that didn't make him any less of a man and if teased the right way they almost all reacted the very same…

Completely out of it.

He stood there, frozen, for at least another minute or so until he heard the front door slam.

"We're home!" Alphonse's chipper voice called. The young man somewhat stumbled into the kitchen with his arms full of groceries.

Edward awoke out of his stupor to help his brother set the various items down.

"You've been gone awhile, huh?" Edward asked as he looked through each bag, noting the foods he'd like to have later on in the evening.

"I suppose." Alphonse replied, taking items out and setting them on the table. "But Granny called for a cab so it made the trip faster." The boy smiled brightly at his brother.

"OH HO HO...and how was your afternoon…?" And suddenly his other brother, the darker Alphonse, seemed to appear from nowhere.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Edward asked, his voice deep and seething. Just what was Alphonse implying anyway?

"Did you score?" He rose his eyebrows up and down a moment before his character broke and he erupted in laughter.

"AL!"

"Just kidding!" He laughed through his words.

"Al would never say that! Who are you…?" Edward asked, weird questions flying out all over the poor young boy's joke.

"Jeez Brother, I'm not a little kid anymore. I do know what happens when a man and woman get together…" Alphonse rolled his eyes, the common fact of human nature beating itself over the red-faced Edward.

"Yes, they talk and then the stork brings a little baby all bundled up."

"Are you kidding me?"

"Yes…" Edward said, his face beat red and downcast.

"Good…" Alphonse replied slowly, his worry over his older brother's mental state intensified.

"I didn't get anywhere with her…as much as I'd like to…" Edward's face drained of its unusual scarlet color, he pulled a chair out and sat down at the table, his head rested in his hands as he stared at the patterns of wood.

"Well at least you've admitted that you want her." Alphonse said, nearly thankfully. That fact that Edward had finally stopped denying his feelings was a good step in the right direction.

"I love her." Edward whispered.

"I know." Alphonse said as he patted his older brother on the back. "And she loves you too…"

"She isn't foolish enough to love me…"

Alphonse didn't reply. He didn't feel like fighting Edward's statement, a statement both he and Winry would probably disagree with.

"How is Winry?" He instead asked, hoping to change the subject if only a bit.

"I think…" Edward said as he looked up towards the ceiling…

"She's doing all right."