Asahi Minako: 'Ello, 'ello! It's me again, with another update! (finally) After finishing a fabulous FFVII Fanfiction, and realizing that "hey, it's Friday the 13th! Perfect day for an update!" I come bearing…. well an update!

Oh, and I've decided something. Because I started this story on 666, I'll be ending it on 777. –grin- because, you know… 666 is the sign of the devil and whatnot, and 777 is the sign of heaven… Is that right? I don't know. That's what a friend of mine told me, but he could be bsing me… Whatever. Not a lot to say about this chapter… Oh! Except I've been struggling with it forever Okay not forever… but since my last chapter. You'd better be thankful it's out… or… not… y'know. –grin grin- So then, on with the show, right?

Thank you: "your best friend" –cough- Chels –cough-, Invader-Nehima, AzalynAngel, A Slice above the others, greedy ed, and Graphite Wings

AM: God, you know, for a while there I forgot how great it felt to be writing a story and getting nice reviews. It also inspires me to finally get all of those scanlated chapters of the FMA manga that I've been neglecting since school started up again… (That's like 9 months, whoa.) So, you reviewers should all feel greatly appreciated. Because you totally got me back into a fandom that was on a slow decline since I discovered video games. (God I'm depressing). So then, I'm stalling. I know it. I'm going to star t the chapter now. Love you all, by the way! XD

Oh. Before I forget… there's a lot of Winry in this chapter, and a lot of interaction between Edward and Winry, and a return of the alleged white out (but that's not really relevant). So then, if you don't like Winry (which I don't understand why anyone wouldn't) you'll have to get over it if you're going to continue reading, because I happen to like Winry, and she's terribly important to this chapter anyway… and the whole story, really. So, again, I love you guys, here's your chapter.

Chapter X: Talking With Winry and The "White Out" Project

The Elric brothers had been staying at the Rockbell's home for two days. Two agonizingly long days in Winry's opinion. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy the boys' company, quite the contrary really, she loved having them around. It was just that they both seemed unnervingly gloomy recently. Usually, by the second day the brothers would stay with them, she and Edward would have found at least three things to argue intensely over within the span of time.

The two didn't argue with each other because they didn't get along, really, they simply enjoyed arguing with each other. It was a way of bonding, really, but I digress.

At least Alphonse was making an effort to pretend to act like himself, even though he was never the best at acting, and therefore making it painstakingly obvious that something was wrong. Edward on the other hand, wasn't even pretending that everything was fine like he usually would, and that was what unnerved Winry the most. Spending two days with an overly cheerful Alphonse and an unreasonably gloomy Edward would make anyone want to tear out their hair- or in the case of one blonde automail mechanic, scream loudly, and throw her wrench at anything that moved.

Winry, however, was able to keep these desires inside by working intently on the order she needed to fill by Saturday; of course, it was terribly difficult to concentrate on anything with that gloomy Edward sitting in her work room, just being miserable and staring out the window. Occasionally, though, she could feel his eyes burning into her back, and that made her nervous. On one such occasion, she was about to turn around and demand to know what exactly was wrong with the golden-haired alchemist, but when she finally turned around, he was gone. This baffled Winry even more, because usually he would at least announce his exit, but this time he just left, and it caused Winry to worry about him even more.

Once Edward had left, though, she was able to work on the piece of machinery further, and even though her thoughts kept straying back to her golden-eyed friend and how depressed he looked, she was able to actually complete most of the artificial limb before midnight.

Around midnight, though, the blonde mechanic decided she was too stressed out about the unusual behavior of her house guests to concentrate anymore, and decided a break was in order. Quietly, so she wouldn't wake anyone that happened to be asleep, she snuck downstairs to the kitchen and prepared herself some coffee, maybe that would help her take her mind off of things. When she sat down at the kitchen table, the steaming cup in her hands, she inhaled the aroma in an attempt to calm her frazzled nerves.

The brothers were causing her more stress than usual, and that upset her, but it also worried her, because they really were her closest friends. She knew there were always things that were bothering them, but it was just that those things, whatever they happened to be, seemed to be bothering them more than usual, and they still wouldn't tell her about them even though she really wished they'd just talk about it, maybe it'd make them feel better.

Just as she lifted the seaming mug to her lips, she heard the familiar uneven footfalls of none other than Edward Elric come down the stairs. When she turned her head in his direction as he entered the kitchen he looked terribly surprised to see her there. She smiled cheerily at her blonde-haired friend, even though he looked terrible. He had obviously not been sleeping, and of course she'd noticed at dinnertime that he barely ate. Right now, his hair was disheveled and wet, hanging around his face and brushing his back, as though he'd just gotten out of the shower.

"Good morning." She greeted quietly, and winced at the weariness in her own voice.

The blonde alchemist only nodded in reply, and Winry frowned, "Sit." she commanded, and pointed to the chair next to herself, then thought better of it, "On second thought," she contradicted, "Go into the living room, and then sit."

Edward looked at her confusedly, but did as she demanded, which only made Winry a little more concerned. Since when did Edward do what he was told the first time he was told? She shrugged it off and decided she'd get to the bottom of it now, before pouring another cup of coffee for Edward and grabbing her own. She made her way into the living room and sat down on the couch next to the dazed looking young man. She handed him the cup, which he accepted, and took a tentative sip. She decided now was the best time to confront him… gently.

"What's wrong?" she asked him, not terribly surprised by his response.

"Nothing." he replied shrugging and taking another sip of his coffee, "Why would you think there was something wrong?"

Because you're making it painfully obvious, she answered in her mind. "Because, you've been gloomy since you came." she explained, and then added bluntly, "You look like crap too. And I know these things anyway, Edward," she continued, tapping her temple and smiling. "I've known you long enough."

Edward just shook his head, and Winry started getting a little annoyed, "Edward, talking to someone will make you feel better." she coaxed, sipping her own coffee slowly.

The golden-haired alchemist shook his head again, "I… can't." He replied, and then smirked humorlessly, "I almost feel stupid actually." he confessed, bringing his human hand up to comb through his wet hair.

"I won't judge you." Winry replied, grabbing a hairbrush from the coffee table nearby and handing it to him, "You obviously need someone to talk to, and I'm here."

Edward took the hairbrush and sighed, "It's stupid," he answered vaguely, and in response Winry grunted.

"You said that already." she replied, and set her coffee on the coffee table, named accordingly, "And I can't stand seeing you so gloomy, especially because you usually pretend like everything's all fine and dandy. So you're going to tell me what's wrong, or I'm going to torture you until you do." she threatened, grabbing some of her friend's golden hair and tugging just hard enough to earn a yelp from the elder of the two.

"No." he replied, wincing at the pain he felt in his scalp from Winry's 'torture', "I said I felt stupid the first time." he countered, "And I do not pretend that everything's fine. It really is."

"No it's not." the mechanic answered, tugging on his hair a little harder, then letting go and putting her hands in her lap. She looked down at them and confessed quietly, "I'm worried about you." Though it did make her feel a little better that Edward was at least talking like he used to. After Winry had spoken, the two sat in an almost awkward pregnant silence, neither of them looking at the other.

"I'm just… confused." Edward confessed, finally breaking it.

Winry looked over at him and rolled her eyes, "Isn't everyone?" she asked.

"I don't know what to think." Edward continued ignoring Winry's comment, "I just can't believe he actually said that." he mused.

"Whom?" Winry asked, "Alphonse? Are the two of you fighting or something?" She prodded, concerned that maybe they had gotten into a fight and that's why neither of them were speaking to each other.

"No. Not Alphonse" Edward muttered, running the hairbrush through his hair absently, "Roy."

Winry blinked, "Roy? Since when do you call him Roy?" She asked almost sounding amused. Maybe the two had grown closer since he'd last visited?

"I don't know." Edward confessed, "One day he was just the bastard Colonel, and then all of a sudden, my minds thinking 'Roy' instead… Is there something wrong with me?"

Winry was a little taken aback by the question, how could anything be wrong with him for wanting to call his superior officer by his first name? They'd known each other long enough, hadn't they? "Why would there be?" she asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

"I don't know." Edward repeated. He seemed to not know a lot recently.

"Do you like him?" She asked, a knowing smile playing on her lips.

"Well, I suppose…" the alchemist answered honestly, "I mean, he's an okay guy, aside from the short jokes… He's really trying to help us."

"No, no!" Winry replied, chuckling, "No." she repeated, "I mean do you like him… as in are you attracted to him?" She asked, fully enjoying the reaction she received from her golden-haired friend.

Edward's face turned red enough to rival his trademark coat, and he sputtered indignantly, "Wh-wh-what makes you say that?!" he demanded. The mechanic only giggled when Edward continued, "I am not gay!"

This caused Winry to erupt into full-blown laughter, "What are you talking about?" she asked, "Have you ever even looked at a woman?"

Edward looked away again, "No." he replied, crossing his arms, "But that doesn't mean anything."

"Oh it doesn't, does it?" she asked again, shifting on the couch so she was sitting on her knees, "Well then…" she said, crawling closer to the alchemist on the couch, "Have you ever looked at a man? And I don't mean just glanced I mean really looked." She asked, almost purring.

Edward's face turned even redder if that was possible, and he sputtered again, but didn't say anything.

"Well?" Winry prompted while grinning in a cat caught the canary sort of way, "Have you?"

Edward looked like he wasn't going to say anything at first, but then Winry heard a faint, "yes." float to her ears. Her grin widened, if that was possible, and she decided to milk this for all it was worth.

"What was that?" She almost sang, "I couldn't hear you."

"Yes, okay?!" Edward shouted glaring at her from his spot on the couch, and Winry noticed that his eyes looked a little glassy. For a moment she thought he was going to cry, and that made her feel bad.

"Hey." she said quietly, moving over to wrap her arms around her stressed friend's shoulders, "It's okay." she comforted, leaning her head on his metal shoulder, and squeezing him tightly, "I'm sorry… I was just playing around. It doesn't matter anyway, you know. Love is love. Don't cry."

Edward sighed in a huffy way, and brought his human hand up to wipe at his eyes, "I wasn't crying." he responded, even though his cracking voice was unconvincing.

"You're stressed." Winry tried to console, "And I didn't realize you were so… sensitive. I'm sorry." she apologized, and moved away, "There's really nothing wrong with that, though, you know." then she added, smiling, "And Roy's sexy anyway."

Edward shot her a look somewhere in between shock and embarrassment, "I don't like him." he replied through clenched teeth.

"Sure. Whatever." Winry agreed sarcastically, waving her hand at him, "So what was it he said that made you so…" She gestured at him while she looked for the word she wanted, "Like this." she settled for, shrugging.

Edward's blush returned full force, and he looked away, "He said… that he liked me… a lot."

Winry giggled, "Oho? Is that all?" She asked, and then even though she knew it was pointless, continued, "Well then. Do you like him?"

"Didn't I already tell you the answer to that?" he asked irritatedly.

"Yeah." Winry replied, grinning again, "And I didn't believe you." She picked up the hairbrush again, and motioned for Edward to turn around so she could brush his hair. It was beginning to dry, and if she didn't do anything about it, it would dry in tangles. "So tell me… What about him do you like?" She asked, hoping that maybe she could lull him into some sort of trance by brushing his hair. It always seemed to relax him anyway.

"Well… His smile. And his hair… how it looks like he didn't spend a lot of time on it, but at the same time, it looks like he spends forever standing in front of a mirror." He answered, closing his eyes slightly. His lack of sleep and the calming feeling of the brush gliding through his hair were making him a little less alert.

"Hmm." Winry muttered in acknowledgement, then bent down to ask in his ear, "What about his eyes?"

Edward sighed and Winry had to bite back a laugh. When Edward was tired he acted so much like a woman. What an uke. She thought snickering inwardly.

"His eyes are absolutely gorgeous." Edward answered, "From far away they just look black, but if you actually look at them, they're actually a really dark blue, with flecks of brown sprinkled in there too. God. I could just get lost in those eyes… They're so… intense, but you can tell there's pain in there he's trying to mask… probably from the Ishvar rebellion, right?"

Winry snickered quietly and began to braid his hair, "And what exactly do you feel for him?" she asked, hoping for a real answer this time.

"I think… I'm in love with him." he confessed, closing his eyes contentedly.

Winry stopped and blinked, "Really?" she asked, picking up the braid again, and shaking her head to clear her initial surprise.

"I don't know… But I do know that I really, really like him." he replied, quietly.

Winry just smiled, "Glad we could talk that one out then." She commented, grabbing the rubber band from around the alchemist's wrist, and using it to tie off the end of the braid. She clapped him on his human shoulder and grinned, "All done!"

Edward just muttered something unintelligible, and curled up on the couch. Winry sighed, and took the blanket that was draped over the back of the couch and draped it over Edward instead. "Good night, you big idiot." she said kindly, and headed back up to her work room to finish that order.

xXx

Once Trisha had left for the evening to watch over Alphonse, and maybe talk to him a little more, the three workers were able to discuss Kameko's plan in more detail.

"So then…" Jordan began, pointing a finger at the shortest of the three, "You're saying… that we just… erase all of the records of Trisha's death, right?"

"Precisely." Kameko confirmed, folding her hands on her lap in front of herself again, "I figure that by now most of the people directly connected with Trisha are used to somewhat… strange things happening, and anyone who's not really used to it would be dead by now anyway, right?"

Emiko let out a noise somewhere between a groan and a sigh, "I'm not really understanding…" She muttered, "We're just going to… bring her back? Break into the town hall and erase her death records?"

"Um… Yes…" Kameko confirmed again, sounding just a little unsure of her idea now that Emiko was analyzing it.

"That won't work." Emiko declared frankly.

"What do you mean?!" Kameko demanded, crossing her arms indignantly, "Of course it will!"

"Actually, I see Emiko's point." Jordan agreed, nodding slightly, "Trisha's been dead for… Oh I don't know five years? If she were to just come back, wouldn't that be just a little too strange?" she inquired.

Kameko said nothing since she wasn't about to admit that the elder two were correct, even though they were.

"What then, Jordan, do you propose we do?" Emiko asked skeptically, "Since you and Kameko seem to be the two most intent on 'fixing' this… mistake."

"How about we bring her back… but change her name?" Jordan suggested.

"You mean like the Witness Protection Program?" Kameko asked, excitedly, earning blank stares from both of the other women at the table, "Oh come on! You haven't heard of that either?!" she asked irritatedly.

"Um… no." Emiko muttered, shaking her head tiredly, "stop making comparisons to things we've never heard of."

"How am I supposed to know if you've heard of things or not?" Kameko demanded, standing up and placing her hands on her hips.

"Let's not argue now." Jordan suggested, putting her hand on Kameko's shoulder to force her to sit down, "What do you think of my idea, Emiko?"

Emiko sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose, "I suppose… if you really must do this, that Jordan's idea is the best way to go. Though I suggest that you go back to Earth with her for a while… she'll have to get used to living again and it's a big change. Plus her son will probably want his body back… You should help her with that as well." she suggested.

"Are you kidding?" Jordan asked incredulously, "I don't know alchemy! Where I'm from there's no such thing! You're the one who used to live there, Emiko, you should go with her."

Emiko rolled her eyes and scoffed, "Forty years ago, maybe." She replied, "But a lot of things change in forty years. A lot of things."

Kameko stood again and clapped her hands together excitedly, "It's settled then!" she decided, "Emiko and Jordan, you're both going to accompany Trisha and Alphonse back to Ames-whatever, and I'll stay here and do my job!" She grinned, "I say we dub this plan… The 'White Out' Project!" She suggested, and then bounded out of the room.

Jordan and Emiko exchanged skeptical looks, and sighed simultaneously when the door closed behind their petite blonde coworker. "Is that really what's gonna happen?" the brunette asked tentatively.

Emiko rubbed at her temples and nodded, "It looks that way." she agreed and stood. "We'll tell Trisha about it first thing in the morning." the short dishwater blonde moved toward the door and looked over her shoulder, "Good night, Jordan." she bid to her taller coworker before she left.

"Night." Jordan replied, smiling crookedly. Without another second, Jordan was gone without a trace, in that curious way she always vanished.

It was settled, then, they'd have to come up with a new name for Trisha and a plan for exactly how to do what they were planning on doing. After all, what they were planning was obviously forbidden, and if they were caught, they could get in quite a bit of trouble, so the last question each woman had to ask themselves was, 'Is it worth it?

AM: I'd like to apologize for the uber crappiness of that chapter. Please forgive me, you guys… I'll probably go through and revise this whole story once I've finished it anyway. Yes, I know Edward seemed kind of OOC… I'm sorry, but keep in mind that he's exhausted and stressed… And of course, how would you react if you best friend knew you were gay before you did? …. I'm sorry again (I apologize a lot). Thanks for bearing with me, and I'll see you next time. (Reviews would be greatly appreciated, by the way)

-Ai
Minako-baka