Chapter 6: Pluck Not the Wayside Flower

It was a beautiful afternoon; the sun shining down, the sky clear. A breeze blew softly, making the trees rustle and the flowers sway, and rearranging the dark, curly tresses of the girl sitting next to him. Alphonse wished he could breathe in and smell the flowers. Surely the scent of them would be strong. He wanted to reach out and touch Lena's hair, find out if it was as soft as it looked. Putting aside such desires, he turned his attention back to Lena's words as she drew him a transmutation circle she'd been working on.

"I see." He studied the circle, thinking that it ought to work just fine, though he never actually dealt with green alchemy before. Even his father's books dealt more with inanimate objects and the transmutation of the same. "This looks really good, Lena."

"Thanks, Al." She beamed at the praise. "Alchemists don't spend a lot of time in Conway, so it's kind of hard to learn this stuff on my own. I appreciate you taking the time to talk to me about it."

"It's no problem, really." Al held up a hand to stall her thanks. "You're doing me a favor. Brother and Winry, well, sometimes their favorite thing to do is to argue. It gets tiring, listening to that." At her sympathetic smile, he went on. "Not that they aren't good people, it's just that, well," he smoothed his horsehair crest in place of scratching the back of his neck. "I think they frustrate each other and the only way they can get it out is by bickering."

Lena's eyes brightened at that and she covered her mouth in an attempt to hold back a giggle. It failed, entrancing Al. "I'm sorry," she gasped. "It's kind of cute, isn't it? I mean, I could see that they like each other."

"Shh, don't tell them that." Al wagged his head. "I think they're both a little dense when it comes down to it."

"Aww." Lena patted him, making Al look down at her hand, so small on the greave that made up his forearm. "That's too bad."

"They'll figure it out." Al figured Winry might have already figured it out, anyway, which just left Edward and he wasn't stupid, though Al wondered how much of that ignorance might be his brother not wanting to get involved with Winry while it was still so dangerous. Or because of me. Determined not to think that way, he carefully patted Lena's hand. "In the mean time, do you want to go for a walk? You can show me some of the sights of Conway."

"Sure." Lena dimpled, keeping her hand on Al's greave. "There are all sorts of places I could show you."

"I'd like that a lot," he told her, wishing he could feel her touch.

The sun was still brilliant in the sky, though definitely falling to the west when they left the hotel. Winry thought that Ed looked good, even if he was still wearing black. At least his shirt was different from the one he usually wore, though she thought she recognized it from when he and Al had seen her off at the Central train station. She couldn't help but wonder if he'd changed it by alchemy, then decided he wouldn't have – Ed and any type of fashion had to be complete strangers to one another. Lucky for him, she thought, he looked good in black. It made his hair and eyes seem brighter. Fortunately, he was tanned, too, otherwise he'd look like a weirdo.

Winry couldn't help but notice the girls eyeing Ed as they walked together. She might as well have been invisible for the attention she got. Mentally shaking her head, Winry wondered why it bothered her. Ed didn't notice girls, not that way. He didn't even notice her that way but for all she knew, Ed hadn't even realized she was female yet. She doubted he'd found a girl on his travels – one of the brothers would've mentioned a girl, surely. Frowning, Winry reconsidered. Maybe they wouldn't. Still, the idea of Ed with a girlfriend…wooing a girl, it was just…wrong.

It wasn't that Ed hadn't, well…matured. Certainly he was still the same old argumentative Ed but since they were in Central City, she'd noticed some changes. He apologized for not telling her about Mr. Hughes straight out, rather than letting her read it in the paper in his room. He'd comforted her that night, as best he knew how. He'd protected her from that man in the alley; had offered her comfort then, too, if only for a few seconds before he had to run off to his fight. Even after that, though, Ed and Al had told her about her parents and had taken care of her until she got the call to return to Rush Valley and her customers.

"What?" Ed asked suddenly, grumpily, startling her out of her thoughts.

"What, what?" Winry hoped he hadn't realized she was staring at him. Stupid, stupid.

The corner of his mouth turned down. "You were staring at me."

"I was not." Winry hoped he'd buy her bluff.

"Just tell me if I've got something stupid on my face." Ed rubbed his cheek with his automail hand. "I mean, that'd be great, go into a restaurant with shaving cream or something…."

"Shaving cream?" Winry realized she'd stopped when a pair of girls had to go around her, giving her matching glares for being in the way. "You shaved?"

"Damn, Winry," Ed rubbed his ear, his face screwed up. "Any louder and you might break glass."

"I didn't know you," she swallowed the rest of that sentence. Certainly Ed was old enough to shave. She just hadn't thought about him doing something like that. Something adult. But you're not a kid anymore, either. "I didn't know you needed to."

Ed shrugged, a virulent sneer on his face. "I'm never growing a beard. I don't want to look like that bastard." His hand sneaked back to smooth his braid.

"I don't like beards anyway. Too scratchy." Winry wrinkled her nose at the idea of Ed with a beard; of kissing a guy with a beard. Elicia had complained about Mr. Hughes' beard roughing up her face.

"All the more reason," Ed snapped his mouth shut abruptly and he shot Winry a look from the corner of his eye.

"All the more reason?" It looked like Ed was blushing. Ed, blushing? Because they were carrying on in the street? Or…no, it couldn't be. Ed wouldn't be thinking that, would he? No, surely it had to do with his dad. Winry mentally shook her head. Ed wouldn't be thinking about getting so close that a possible beard might scratch her. Could he? "Ed?"

"What?" There was that growl and he wouldn't look at her. Not fully, at least. God, he was such a pain!

"All the more reason what?" Winry tucked her hands behind her back, inclining her body toward Ed.

"All the more reason you're driving me crazy!" Ed flung his hands up. "Aren't you hungry? We were going to get food. That's what I remember. I'm hungry. I'm getting food. Are you coming or not?" He stomped off while talking, leaving Winry to stare at his back for a few seconds.

Realizing he wasn't waiting, Winry trotted after him. "Ed. Edward! Wait up!"

She moved like a petal on the wind, all flowing and graceful, as she caught up to the other one. Singularly, each one would be a prize but together, they were extraordinary. His fingers moved into the pocket of his vest, touching something there, reaffirming it remained where he'd last left it.

It was time to harvest.

"Edward! Winry!"

Edward hunched his shoulders, grimacing at the sound of his name.

"It's Mr. Heubner," Winry said, glancing back to smile and wave at him.

The young man checked the street and crossed it at a jog, stopping next to Winry. "What are you two up to?" He glanced around. "Where's Alphonse?"

"He's on a date." Edward bit out the words, hoping Tony would get the picture.

"Really? Good for him. Conway's a good town for dates." Tony patted Edward's shoulder, smiling at Winry, ignoring his own hint.

Edward did his best not to snarl at the taller man, moving out from under Tony's hand. "Is that so?" He grunted as Winry's elbow found its way unerringly into his ribs. She glared at him and Edward glowered back. She wasn't going to invite Tony along, was she?

"Ed and I were just going to get something to eat." Winry's elbow poked Edward again and he ground his teeth together rather than reacting vocally.

"Oh, yeah?" Tony smiled, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Why don't you two come with me? I can show you a really nice place to eat. Anne," here, his face fell a little, but he forged ahead, forcing a grin, "Anne really liked it there." With a wink at Winry, he whispered loudly, "It's a good date restaurant."

Winry had the grace to blush, which just made it worse in Edward's eyes. She had nothing to be embarrassed about. Even if it had been a date – and Edward still wasn't sure if he wanted to call it that or not. Weren't they friends getting dinner? – this Tony guy had just horned in on it. "Yeah?" Edward dodged Winry's elbow this time. "You want to tell us where it is?"

"Oh, it's easier if I take you there." Tony had a sharp smile on his face, kind of like the one that bastard, Mustang, wore when he was so sure he was going to get his way. Bending his elbow, he gave Winry a nicer grin. "Winry? Would you care to walk with me?"

She was still red-faced. Edward fought to roll his eyes when she giggled and slipped her hand through Tony's arm. What the hell was she thinking? He'd been the one to ask her out, not this stranger. Okay, so he'd never actually said it was a date but that shouldn't matter. He'd asked Winry to dinner and here this jerk was, horning in.

"Ed, are you coming?"

He shoved his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, yeah." Trailing behind Winry, Edward realized he was staring at her backside again. Well, at least Al wasn't here to tease him about it this time. Raising his head, Edward met Tony's eyes, the man giving him a knowing nod. Oh, hell. Jaw flexing, Edward glared at Tony, hating that the man smiled brilliantly and turned back to Winry, saying something in her ear that made her giggle. "What?"

"What?" Tony glanced back over his shoulder again.

"What did you just say to Winry?" Edward's hands clenched in his pockets.

"Edward!" Winry shook her head at him. "Honestly, I don't know what gets into you some times." Her hand tightened on Tony's arm. "Ignore him, Mr. Huebner." A blue eye glittered at Edward briefly then vanished as Winry faced the older man again. "His manners…." Her voice trailed off.

"It's all right, Winry." Tony patted her fingers. "I understand what Edward's going through right now, really." He gave her that smile again and Edward realized that sound was coming from his grinding teeth.

"Yeah? What about you? Have you heard anything more about Anne?" At Winry's horrified expression, Edward realized maybe he'd pushed too far. Still, he didn't back down or offer any apologies.

Winry opened her mouth, ready to say something, but Tony cut her off by raising his hand. He unwound her fingers from his arm. "Edward, I'm sorry. It seems I've done something to upset you." Tony was tall, nearly as tall as Havoc, but Edward was pretty sure he could cut him down to size. "I apologize for that."

Edward folded his arms. "That doesn't answer the question, Tony." Sneer back in place, he ignored Winry's furious glare, even though it felt like her eyes were burning holes in his head. "I don't have anything against you personally." Winry made a noise deep in her throat and Edward managed to ignore that, too. "I just know that if anything happened to Winry; if she disappeared, I wouldn't be offering to show a couple of kids a place to eat. Eating would be the last thing on my mind. I'd want to find her. I'd want to know she was safe. I would be calling the police stations and putting up posters and talking to every person I saw until I knew where she was. And then," he took a step closer to Tony, snarling up at him, "I'd go to her in person and make sure myself that she was okay. Because that's what you do when you care about someone. You don't just forget that your girlfriend is missing to escort people to a restaurant."

"I've seen the police." Speaking in a low hiss, Tony closed some of the space between them. "They're not any farther along than they were previously. They don't have any more information to give me. No one knows what happened to Anne, Edward. No one."

Tony may have towered over Edward but he wasn't going to back down. More teeth showing, Edward moved nearer to Tony, his arms uncrossing, his hands fisting. "Maybe you're what happened to her, Tony. Maybe you brought her here and you did something to her." Hearing Winry's incredulous gasp, Edward wished she wasn't here, wasn't hearing this. He wanted to protect her from this sort of ugliness. Still, it had to be said and, tellingly, Tony's face was bleaching bone white as Edward spoke. "You said yourself no one knew either of you here. Maybe you're the one who made her vanish."

Eyebrow slanting up into his bangs, Tony's mouth pursed. "You are a very dedicated young man, I'll give you that." He broke eye contact to glance at Winry, giving her a reassuring smile that made a red haze come down over Edward's vision. "It's okay, Winry," he said, patting the air, as if that would do anything. His attention totally focused on her, Tony took a step back from Edward. "You're quite a lucky young lady."

Winry's puzzled frown deepened. "Thanks." The 'I think' might have well been tacked onto the end of that one word.

"Edward, you're right. I should be trying to find Anne rather than sending you two off to dinner." His mouth twitching, Tony indicated a street with the jerk of his chin. "That way. It's a little family run place, has the best steak I've had in a long time. You ought to check it out." He raised his hand in farewell and started off down the street.

Winry let Tony get a half a block away before rounding on Edward. "What was that all about?" There was a glint in her eye that let Edward know if she had her wrench, he'd be nursing a minor concussion right now.

"You don't actually trust that guy, do you?" Edward waved a hand off after Tony. "C'mon, Winry, he's probably the best suspect for whatever happened to Anne. I mean, Hughes told me one time that most…" his voice trailed off and Edward shook his head, not wanting to continue that train of thought.

"He hasn't given me any reason not to trust him." Winry started walking in the direction Tony had indicated.

Edward opened his mouth then shut it abruptly. From the stiff way she held her shoulders, Winry was pissed. "Hey." He jogged after her, catching up and taking her arm, letting go when she tried to pull free. Winry whipped around, her expression furious and Edward held up his hands, trying to forestall her yelling. "I've never given you reason not to trust me, have I?" He searched her face, hoping he wouldn't see any doubt.

Her mouth tightened a little though she didn't look away. "No."

Carefully, not sure he really wanted to hear the answer but willing to take the risk, Edward asked, "And you trust me more than you do Tony, right?"

"Yes," there was no hesitation in Winry's response, making something stretched tight in Edward's chest sag in relief, "but I don't think he had anything to do with Anne disappearing, Ed. He isn't you, that's all. You can look in his eyes and see how much he misses her, how worried he is. Just because he's not running through the streets like a maniac doesn't mean he isn't worried."

Edward considered reminding her that he hadn't been the one to run into the middle of a battle but realized he'd been the one to pick the fight in the first place. That probably made it a bad example to bring up. "Fine," he said with an aggrieved sigh, "he's worried about Anne. And doing what he can to find her." His stomach growled abruptly and Edward's cheeks heated up. "Uh…"

"I heard. We'll get something to eat." Winry pursed her mouth. "At the restaurant Mr. Huebner suggested."

She wouldn't back down on that, Edward knew, nodding in resignation. "Fine. Where was it again?"

Winry smiled, that particular, brilliant smile, and waved her hand down the street. "This way."

And as Edward followed her, he could swear he heard that bastard Mustang, saying, "You are so whipped."

He followed at a distance, not too far back, but it didn't seem either of the two was paying much attention to their surroundings. Too involved in each other; courting more in the ways of birds than flowers. He noticed the indulgent smiles of the passersby. They probably thought it was cute. At least it kept the two of them together.

That made them easier for the picking.