The heavy rain pelted harshly against the glass window outside of Pinako's shop. Winry had remembered reading something about cold, bleak rainy days. It would be as if the shadows distrusted you, and as if the rain had placed a wanton murder on your behalf. Every dewdrop would feel like a dagger, piercing through your flesh. What hadn't helped was the fact that Winry had awoken that day, deeply distressed for some odd reasons. It must have been the weather, she decided.

Her shift at the small bookshop soon came to a close. She, Allan and Pinako hadn't talked much that day. Their usual morning greetings, some discussion over where to place the new children's stories that had recently shipped in, and a kind request from Allan for her to clean the display boards at the front of the shop. The grocer next door had dropped in to pick up some cooking recipes for his son, given her a quick hello, an equally quick smile, and left. After that, a few more people bounded in and out, mostly to get rid of the rain for a few seconds. Winry was relieved when she heard the small bell chime at the door, as her usually golden eyes companion appeared through the doorway, shaking off the hood of his raincoat, and folding away the umbrella. He glanced up and smiled at her, the tips of his long bangs sprinkled with small dewdrops.

"Whenever you're ready," he called, giving her that boyish smile that would light the fire in her cheeks and melt away at her core. She nodded, her cheeks aching from the wide smile that had spread across her face. There was a hop in her step as she walked out back, tossing the apron up on the rack. She regretted not bringing a jacket with her, especially on a day like this. She waved goodbye to Allan and Pinako, stepping out into the pouring rain with Edward, shielded only by the small umbrella he carried with him.

"Sorry," he mumbled, circling an arm around her shoulders. "This was the last umbrella Kain and Noah had."

"I don't mind!" she laughed breathlessly. They jogged across the street, the bottom of Winry's white dress and bare legs growing drenched from the pond-like puddles gathered in wide potholes throughout the road. The rain grew heavier with each passing second. Winry felt Edward curse quietly, his lips gentle brushing against the top of her ear. She felt her cheeks grow warm in the harsh, windy atmosphere.

"Win let's stop for a bit." Edward suggested, pulling her under the canopy that shielded the entryway into the bakery. Winry gasped, placing her hands lightly on his chest.

"How long do you expect us to stay under here for?"

"Just a while." He replied. "I just want to catch my breath."

And surely, Winry could feel his chest rising and falling quickly. She glanced up, her eyes lingering on his glistening neck for a while. He was frowning at the rain, pursing his lips slightly. She looked away, shaking the nervous feeling away from her head.

Her eyes wandered to the opposite side of the street, catching a narrow back alleyway leading to what looked like an open field. It was tucked between the convenient store and the old post office building that was closed down for renovation. Her lips parted slightly in realization, remembering Allan telling her about the abandoned schoolhouse that he and Freya would often visit to be alone from time to time. He had described it to be old, shabby, but perfect nonetheless. Winry checked her wristwatch quickly. Well, they still had some time...

"Say, Edward?"

"Hm." He responded, leaning back against the brick wall of the bakery. His nose twitched at the waft of freshly baked bread. Winry smelled it, too. Heavenly.

"Can we go somewhere quickly? It'll only take a minute."

Edward raised an eyebrow at her. "Where? It's pouring rain. Can't this wait until later?"

"You're leaving tomorrow." She mumbled, fidgeting. Edward sighed.

"Fine. What is it?"

Winry pointed at the alleyway, earning a confused look from Edward.

"The post office? Its closed, Win. Don't you see the boarded up windows?"

Winry shook her head. "Not the post office, dummy. There, that alleyway."

"What?!" Edward cried. "What the devil do you want to do there?!"

"Calm down, would you? Allan told me about this place that he and his old partner used to go to. I just want to see what it's like."

Edward groaned. "That Freya, or whatever? Why do have to know every detail of their lives, woman?"

"I don't!" Winry snapped, looking down at her fingers that were playing with the collar of his shirt. "I just... I don't know. I'm curious."

Edward stared at the head of sunshine blonde hair that was in his face. Are all doppelgangers this curious about each other's lives? He thought.

"Fine," he sighed, ignoring the joyful look Winry shot him, and reopened the umbrella, motioning for her to stay close. They jogged back across the street, disappearing into the crevice. Edward cursed as his shoes sunk into the mud. Winry pushed on ahead, ignoring the murky ground beneath her and her increasingly soaked dress. The couple soon found themselves standing in front of a fence, a large hole cut straight across the middle. Placing two hands on the cold metal, Winry pushed against it with all her weight, Edward soon joining in with her. Soon enough, they were standing on the other side, overlooking a grassy field, and a wood building seen in the distance. Edward grabbed Winry's hand before she could begin her trek towards the building.

"You'll catch a cold like that, Win!" He grumbled, pulling her under the umbrella. They approached to schoolhouse gradually, Winry never peeling her eyes off the building, and Edward never peeling his eyes from the ground, afraid of stepping in a puddle and drenching his socks. He felt the blonde stop about several feet away from the stairs leading to the front door.

"Wow! Would you look at that!" Winry cried. Edward raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, look at that, an old, abandoned schoolhouse that's falling apart."

"You're looking at in wrong." Winry scrunched her face at him. "Think of it as a wonderful monumental structure that probably holds decades of history! They haven't even torn it down yet!"

"Either the townsfolk here are really poor, or they've got no life."

Winry rolled her eyes. "You're so unimaginative, Ed. Come on, let's go inside."

"You promised it would only take a second!" Edward whined.

"And it will!" Winry called, disappearing into the school.

"Oh my god." Edward dragged a hand across his face, stepping in after her. Considering its history, the school was still in relatively good shape, aside from the cobwebs littering the walls and the stacks of dust that had taken refuge here and there. There was debris of splintered wood as well, chipped from the walls and ceiling. The light that seeped in showed spores of dust sprinkling down from the roof. Rain leaked through the walls, gathered in a stream that ran along the corner of the floor against the wall. As melancholy as the darkness was inside the abandoned building, there was a sense of welcoming, as if it were glad that nobody had forgotten it was there. It surprised Edward that they hadn't run into anyone yet. It would be the perfect place to get away with anything, anyway.

He stopped in front of a classroom. There was a blackboard, a teacher's bureau, and several broken desks scattered around the room. A string or ribbon ran along the far wall, a previous embellishment that had been worn from age. There were several awards lined up along the wall, most of the words engraved in the plaque covered by mildew. Other magazine headlines and posters could be faintly seen, some halfway ripped from the wall and others strewn along the floor in pieces. Edward's eyes wandered to the far corner of the room, and he released a quick gasp. There was a wide gap that revealed the drenched field outside. He could make out two soccer poles in the distance. Edward's heart seized in his chest, and he felt a sense of longing for this building. He wasn't sure why. It reminded him of his old school, in a way, but knew it couldn't have been possible. Amestris was the parallel of Germany, not England. But did logic really matter in a state of nostalgia? Nostalgia. Hah. Edward had hated school. What kind of nostalgia would that have been?

Turning away from the haunting classroom, Edward wandered off in an attempt to find the blonde he had lost track of.

"Winry?" He called. No sound. A slight twinge of panic irritated his chest. He ignored it, but picked up his pace anyway. Making his way up the long staircase, you turned the corner and caught the glimpse of illumination in a bleak classroom. He walked in unhesitant, shoving his hands into his pockets. Winry was standing next to a desk, peering into what seemed like an old notebook. Her pale fingers danced along the page as she read the text. She barely flinched when Edward reached her side. When she still said nothing after he stood patiently for several seconds, he leaned over and peered into the notebook. It was filled with notes about physics. Edward was never too great with the maths, but he excelled at the sciences. He remembered Winry was an overall wonderful student, especially in both math and science. She had, after all, been able to construct him an automail arm at a very young age.

"It's odd." She finally said, making Edward jump. "I feel as though I completely understand everything written here, and yet I don't remember studying it at all."

"Well, you were an engineer, Win." He explained, scratching the back of his neck. "It's only natural you understand physics."

"So I was a good student, was I?" She asked, looking up at him happily. Edward shrugged.

"The three of us – Al, you and I, I mean – only finished with a grade school level education. After all our parents died in the war, we began taking care of ourselves."

"What do you mean, Ed?"

Edward gulped, quickly trying to think of a logical explanation of their situation. "You see, Win, after I lost my arm and leg during the war, it was you who constructed my prosthetics for me."

Winry nodded, urging him to continue.

"Well, you realized that you were great at what you did, so you just stuck with it and made a business with your Gran. Al and I, well... we, uh. Took a different path, so to speak."

"A different path?" Winry asked, cocking her head to the side. Edward squirmed uncomfortably.

"We... Joined the military."

Winry gasped. "What?! But you mustn't have been even 13 at the time!"

Edward sighed. "Yeah, well. We did what we could." Then, he began chuckling. Winry placed two fists on her hips.

"What's so funny about that?" She demanded, puffing her cheeks.

"Well, I used to sometimes come home with broken prosthetics... You'd get so angry with me."

Winry's face crumbled quickly. "Eh?"

"You whack me across the head with a wrench, and yell at me from breaking your 'beautiful work'. We used to have so many casual fights."

Winry chuckled. "Really? What would we say?"

"Well, I'd call you a crazy gearhead. You'd call me an alchemy freak. You'd throw something, I'd yell something back."

"Alchemy?" She asked. "Isn't that just pseudoscience?"

Edward nodded. "Well, yeah, obviously." He coughed. "But, I was interested in studying it at the time. They just call it chemistry nowadays, but, well, you know."

"So, we'd fight a lot?"

Edward shrugged. "Well, I wouldn't call them full out fights where we'd hate each other afterwards. We both knew each other's intentions, so we'd just stop talking for about half an hour, then forget about it."

"It's kinda hard to believe." Winry whispered, taking a seat on the desk. "I mean, we haven't fought at all for... For as long as I remember."

Edward glanced at her. "That's right. We haven't. I guess after all that's happened, we're just trying to make the best of each other."

Winry nodded gently. "Ed... What did happen to me? What caused all of this?"

Edward fell silent for a little while. "I don't know, Win." He answered truthfully. He really didn't know how she'd ended up on this side of the gate, alive and full.

"What do you mean? Did I just up and disappear one day?"

Edward shook his head, sighing unevenly. The memory of Winry's blood on his hands still brought back memories. He didn't want to lie to her, but he couldn't so well as tell her the truth either.

"Edward? Are you okay?" She asked, taking his hand. To her surprise, he wrapped his fingers around her hand, squeezing it.

"I won't get too into detail but... You, Al and I... We were in the middle of a battlefield and we got separated. That's all I can tell you."

He felt Winry's eyes lingering on him, grip she had on his hand loosening slightly. He held on tightly, though, as if fearing she'd leave him again.

"I'm sorry." She said suddenly. Edward looked up at her, his lip quivering slightly and a confused look on his face. "You must have been so worried."

"I was convinced you were gone." He answered immediately, his voice shaking slightly. He swallowed twice to calm the threatening pit in his throat.

"But I'm not!" She cried, placing another hand on his. "I'm not."

Her hand traveled to his cheek, brushing away old invisible battle wounds and tears. If only she knew what had really happened, he thought. She'd hate him forever. He'd just left her, without so much as a goodbye. He had ignored her when she called his name, again and again. And yet, here she was, smiling at him with a sympathetic look on her face.

"Edward." She broke him out of his thoughts again, demanding his eyes on her with a tug at his chin. He stepped in front of her, placing his free hand on the desk, next to her comfortably seated legs.

"Winry."

"Let's give each other some time." She whispered, pressing her forehead against his. "What has been done is done. Let's forget the past, and work on the now. On the future, even. Don't worry. We'll all be together again soon."

"Yeah." He replied, swallowing one last time. "Yeah, we will."

"Besides," Winry chuckled. "You said you'd marry me!"

Edward snorted. "I'm not too short for you?"

Winry paused for a moment, silently scooting closer. "No," she responded. Edward chuckled. Winry giggled nervously, leaning away slightly, and looking down at her dress. Edward followed her gaze, gulping and quickly looking back up to the head of hair. Her white dress was still slightly damp from the rain, and clung to her body, which had went from the previous skin and bones to the old shapeliness it used to have. Her hair was down today, and was pooling across the desk she sat on. He wanted to reach out and run a hand through the sunshine waterfall. Her skin, just as porcelain as always, and hands smooth but still strong at the grip. He wasn't sure when it had started. Even back then, when Al would tease him and he'd act repulsed, there was a small part of him that yearned for his best friend. No matter how annoying, or cranky, or crazy she'd be, he would never be fed up with her. She was like an addiction to his mind, constantly irritating his thoughts since the very first day he left to join the military. Before then, he'd see her almost every day, aside from the time he'd spent training with Izumi. He'd see her too often to care about the butterflies he'd get. But after he left on the journey, he'd become lonelier and lonelier. Of course, he'd always have Al, but it wasn't the same. A brother is always going to be a brother. And regardless of the amounts of times he'd claimed she was nothing more than a sister to him, everyone knew it was denial. Once he'd lost her, he knew there was no going back. At the beginning of his depression, he'd wanted to go out and find her doppelganger. He'd become obsessed with his guilt and self hatred. But after a while, he'd realized there was no point, because even Winry's doppelganger wasn't Winry. It took him a long time to realize that, but he had anyway.

Even now, as she sat before him, so close that he could hold her, he still hesitated. He placed his hand on her shoulder, and she looked up at him. Her azure eyes beat his mind senseless. He knew this world was just as dangerous as Amestris. Filled with humans. What greater monsters are there? Edward almost shook his head, straying clear of the past. He was in the now. His hand traveled from her shoulders to the back of her head, and he bent down, burying his nose into the crook of her neck, and earning a gasp from the girl when he captured the skin of her throat with his lips, massaging it then releasing with an inaudible 'pop'. He hadn't felt her fingers in his hair until then, pressing his face closer to her pasty skin. Edward nuzzled the spot he'd kissed with his lips, trailing more across her throat. She spoke his name gently, so gently he barely heard. Her voice had blended into the air. She tilted her head to the side to expose her skin, implying her consent. Edward's mind buzzed, and he continued pressing more and more kisses to her neck, each one become more desperate than the one before. Her fingers were now tangled in his hair while gentle mewls escaped her lips. Her lips.

Edward's mouth now traveled across her jaw line. He parted his lips slightly upon reaching her chin. Carefully, he slid his opposite hand to her lower back, pressing her closer.

"Edward..." She sighed as his lips grazed her cupid's bow. "Have we done this before? Kissed?"

"No." He answered, so gently that Winry felt her heart turn to jelly.

"Have I ever kissed anyone?"

"I hope not." He smirked against her mouth. Winry smiled, hesitating her next question. Before she could ask, Edward's lips were on hers. All thoughts were dismissed when she returned it, wrapping her arms around his neck, urging him down.

It began chaste, purely blissful for them both to take in their situation. Oh, if Al were here, he'd be shouting 'I knew it!' from a mile away. Edward felt Winry's lips begin to part, and his mouth grow moister with her breath. He copied her, opening his mouth, then capturing her lower lip and releasing with another 'pop'.

Winry pressed her face back to his, tilting her head in the opposite direction to catch more territory. Curiosity pecked at her brain, as she experimentally opened her mouth, darting her tongue out and tracing his lower lip with it. She had read something like that happening in one of the books Pinako sold in the romance section. In response, Edward let out a surprised grunt, and opened his mouth to allow her entrance. Winry felt giddy with happiness, and she explored every part of his mouth. Edward's grip grew tighter around her back and head. Nothing mattered to them but each other. Winry wrapped her legs around his and pulled him closer. Planting a final kiss on Edward's lip, she leaned back to catch her breath. Edward, too, was breathing heavily. Winry watched his face. He had closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against hers. Slowly his eyes fluttered open to meet the blue orbs that stared back at him. Winry blushed, and he smiled.

The walk home was in silence, but a blissful silence. Their fingers were interlaced, and even the heavy rain didn't faze them. Kain and Noah's house had appeared and quickly as it always had, and they both hurried up the steps. Edward knocked twice, awaiting an answer. By now, Kain was surely home, and dinner was most likely ready. Winry's cheek pressed against his shoulder.

"What's keeping them?"

Edward shrugged, knocking one more time. Perhaps they hadn't heard. The couple waited for several moments more, before Edward groaned in displeasure. Leaning down to the flower pot, he fished out the spare key, unlocking the door. The two blondes entered a quiet house.

"Kain?" Edward called. "Noah?"

There was no response, and Edward shrugged, turning back to close the door, and catching Winry's worried glance in the process.

"Where are they?" She asked nervously. Edward shrugged.

"They probably went out somewhere together. Don't worry. I'm sure Noah left us some food in the fridge."

"I'm not worried about my hunger..." She grumbled, following him into the house. Edward flicked the light switch on, throwing his jacket onto the coat rack, and placing the umbrella down to dry. Winry hurried to her room to change out of her wet dress. Edward watched her close the door, quickly glancing back at him with a smile before doing so, and blushing when she saw that he was already looking at her. Edward smirked, plopping down on the couch. He released a subconscious groan. His back ached from leaning down to kiss Winry back at the schoolhouse. Perhaps now he'd have to get used to it? He pondered about whether or not it was smart to have kissed her when his departure was so soon. No matter, he thought. She'd be by his side again.

Edward groaned silently one more time. It was odd for Kain and Noah to have left without telling them. There was no note, or anything. Whatever, he thought. They shouldn't have to tell me every detail of their lives...

There was another groan, and Edward frowned. Okay, THAT one definitely wasn't me. I had a feeling something was up.

Edward stood up quickly, turning towards Kain and Noah's bedroom. The door was closed. Did they often leave the door closed? Not that he'd remembered.

Cautiously, he approached the room, frowning at the door. Turning the knob he creaked it open slightly. A line of light leaked into the darkness, illuminating very little. Edward could faintly make out something shifting in the corner of the room. His heart thumped in his chest. He was suddenly afraid. Had Noah collapsed again?

He didn't hesitate opening the door all the way this time. He quickly walked in, and gasped. There, Kain lay on the floor, groaning in pain.

"Kain!" Edward gasped, running to his side. "What's wrong?! Where's Noah?"

Kain tilted her head to the side, his eyes looking up at Edward. "Wi-ry... take...run..." He croaked. Edward clenched his teeth together.

"Hold on, Kain! I'll get hel-!"

"...nnnooOOO!" Kain cried, and that was the last thing Edward remembered, before he saw nothing but black. As quickly as his beautiful day had approached, it had fallen stray to the shadows that followed Edward past the gate, and to the arms of fate.

A.N: "omg FINALLY AFTER 25 CHAPTERS, THEY KISSED! WAHAHAH! w-wait. WHAT THE FUCK, FENTON?!" yeah. eheheheheh... ahaah..WAHAHAHAH! MUAAHAHHAAA! SHRIVEL UP AND CRY AT THE CLIFFHANGER. (':