Last chapter kind of sucked...yet another filler chapter just to show his memory of leaving and the bracelet thing. But I'll dive back into the plot for this one, so no worries! They're back in Central now, By the way.

"You're all leaving meeeeeee..." Rei whined at the group as they got ready to go into town.

"Me and Al are gonna hit the shops," Winry said, and Al nodded.

"And I have to work tonight," Elliot said. She crossed her arms and pouted. "I got a huge last-minute order: twenty ice sculptures for some ball the military's having."

Rei and Ed both involuntarily twitched at the thought of the ball they had been forced to dance at four years before. Rei turned her pout on him.

"What about you, Ed? Won't you stay with me?"

Ed smiled. "Sorry, I have some business to take care of. But I'll try to be home before long."

"And why can't I come with you guys, again?"

"Because you have to work on your presentation for the military's examination next week." Elliot said firmly. "No more dawdling-I want it done."

"But I don' wanna!" She whined at him.

"I don't care, you're going to do it. We're leaving now. Don't do anything crazy, okay?" He kissed her on the forehead and began to walk out.

"Like what? Mix regular coffee with decaf?" She called after them as they left. He just waved and shut the door behind them.

She stared at the door.

Suddenly the room was quiet and lonely, the first time she'd been alone in the house since Ed and Al had come home. She put her head down on the kitchen table in frustration. What was she supposed to do now? Work on her presentation? No, she didn't want to. Besides, if they gave her a bad report her uncle'd probably pound 'em anyway, so what's the point?

She smiled at the thought of Mustang beating up the examiners. She never had liked them.

"Maybe I'll clean my closet!" She said suddenly and excitedly. Then she sank back into her chair. "My God, what have I become? Someone who actually LIKES to clean? Ugh, I used to be so adventurous!" She punched at the air and squirmed in her chair. "I used to get in fights and punch stuff and...and...and get STABBED!"

She jumped up from her chair and paced around the room. "I don't even remember the last time I was in a fight. I haven't done very many military missions since Ed left, Uncle Roy was afraid I'd get stabbed. Ugh, now I'm taking to myself, just brilliant!"

She stopped pacing with a sigh. "Guess that closet isn't going to clean itself..."

Ed sighed. He'd followed Elliot to the shop, which was above the Not General Store, and had been watching him work through the window for a little over an hour. Boring.

"Guess he really is working tonight." He said to himself. He continued to sit there, staring at Elliot through the window, for a a few more minutes when a thought struck him:

What was he doing here? Why was he watching Elliot when Rei was at the house, all alone and abandoned? Why was he wasting his perfect chance to try and win her over? If Al had been there, he would've told him that a long time ago! But Al wasn't there, and Ed had been left to figure that out on his own, meaning he had wasted valuable alone time.

He was down from the fire escape in a flash, running as fast as he could through the dark streets of central, towards the house. This was his chance. He had to take it.

"Jeez, I need to clean this thing more often," Rei muttered to herself as she dug through her closet. "What is this? A sock? EW GROSS NOT A SOCK MOLDY BREAD!" She shrieked and threw it across the room.

Once she calmed down, she continued digging in the closet until her fingers hit a box of some kind. She pulled it out and examined it. Normal box, nothing special. No markings of any kind. She didn't even remember having this box. What could be in it? She blew the dust off the top and opened it to reveal-

Pictures. Pictures of her and Ed, pictures of her and Ed and Al. Even pictures of her and Ed and Uncle Roy. And letters, from Ed when he was sent on various missions without her. Letters dated over two years ago. She sifted through them slowly. My dearest Rei, some said. Dear Rei, things are going well. And Dear Rei, I miss you. Dear Rei; Hey, Rei; It's me again, Rei; Al tried to rescue another cat today, Rei; I love you. Stay safe, Rei...all signed Love, Edward or Always yours, Ed or XOXO, Ed.

Underneath the letters was a pile of postcards and souveniers that he always brought back to their house for her from missions. Novelty shot glasses and such. Rei stared at them as if they were an alien creature, not knowing quite how to feel. She'd put these things away because it was too hard to deal with, and now that she'd found them, she didn't know whether she should keep looking or shut them up and put them back in the back of the closet.

As she was pondering this, something caught her eye-something made of blue material...

Ed burst through the front door, out of breath. He looked around for her in the den and kitchen, and as soon as he realized she wasn't downstairs, he made his way upstairs.

"Hey, forget the business, let's hang out! No, that sounds too eager..." He muttered to himself as he walked up the stairs. "I finished my business early and...no, no. I was thinking that we could...no..."

Before he knew it, he was standing in front of her bedroom door, staring at the light coming out from under it, with absolutely nothing to say. Something told him to just go for it, so he opened the door slowly. He saw that the floor was covered in papers and various items, but didn't see Rei.

"Rei?" He got no answer. He walked around to the other side of the bed. "Rei, are you he-"

He stopped when he saw her. She looked up at him from where she was sitting, then looked back down, tears flowing unnoticed down her cheeks. In her hands, she held his military uniform.

"I don't know why..." She started. "I don't know why I'm crying..."

He stared for a moment, not knowing what to say. She wiped at her tears uselessly and looked up at him. He knelt down and reached out, wrapping his arms around her. She fell into his embrace just like before, as if he had never left, holding him close and burying her face in his shirt. He leaned against the bed, his brain not fully registering the situation-after all, she seemed to be just as confused as he was.

"I'm just so happy..." She said finally. "So, so happy...that you're alive."

ooooohhhhh cliff-hanger! Has Rei realized her love for Ed? Or is she still in Elliot's web of lies? Once again, not my best work, the the best I could do with this severe case of writer's block...

Please review! Good, constructive reviews, please! Constructive criticism welcome.