Author's Note: Okay, I hate to be the bearer of bad news… but I'm going to be away for three weeks starting Sunday with no internet connection whatsoever, or access to a computer at all so I can't write… and after I come back, my updates won't be so frequent… maybe once every few days or possibly even once a week X( I'M SORRY!!!!

kyoskitten14- Thanks so much! I always appreciate your reviews!!

miin hoshi- 'sings' If Ed only really did have a braaaaaaaaaain... XD

AJ-Authoress- okay! I'll be waiting for it! And thanks for reviewing again!

JVOP- yes, I love fireworks too!!

Mitarashi Riku- EdxSaya'll probably come later... maybe in several more chapters, but I'll be dropping hints

Tweenkle- Hey thanks! I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it!

Your favourite plushie- I love Saya too! XD I enjoyed writing the end of this chapter especially, read and find out what she does!

animeroxmyworld- I'm glad for your support on EdxSaya! Thanks!!

EdwardElricsFan4Ever- Yes, Ed needs more fun in his life... ya wanna know what I think? 'whispers' he's sort of an emo at heart... but we all love him anyways!! XD

SO ENJOY THE CHAPER, AND AGAIN, I'M SORRY!! TT.TT

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA

Chapter Twenty-Five: Home

Saya stretched and laughed. "Well I'm going to bed now," she yawned. "It's getting late. G'night!"

Ed nodded. "Okay. Remember to start packing," he reminded her. "We're leaving after I fix Al up tomorrow."

She grinned, then went up the stairs.

"When… when do you think you'll be back?" Winry asked.

Ed smiled a little sadly. "I don't know," he answered truthfully.

"I'm going to start working on your automail again," she said abruptly, standing up and leaving her ice cream half-finished. She walked up the stairs without looking back. "Good night."

"Y-yeah…" Ed said, a little startled.

There was a short silence after Winry left. Ed finished his ice cream and stretched. "Thanks for all this, Auntie Pinako," he smiled.

Pinako chuckled. "Not at all."

"Well I'd better get to bed too," he sighed. "We have a long trip to make tomorrow."

Armstrong nodded. "Yes, get yourself refreshed and ready to go back to Central." He picked up Al and followed Ed up the stairs.

Pinako sighed and sucked on her pipe.

Ed grinned. "They said they could put my arm back on tomorrow, so I'll be able to fix you up, sound good?" he asked Al.

Al nodded. "Yeah…"

At the sound of Al's tone, Ed looked up. "Is something wrong?"

Al hesitated before saying anything. "Nii-san… did I have friends?"

Ed blinked. "What sort of a question is that?"

Al was serious. "My memory is fuzzy. I can't remember their faces."

Something in Ed's gut told him this was really big, but he shrugged it off. "You get more memories as time passes, so it's natural to loose some of your old ones," he said.

"Is that so?" Al said, looking away.

Saya stood outside the door, listening, a slightly sad look on her face…

Ed looked down. "Hey Al, there's been something I've wanted to ask you for a long time, but I was afraid too…"

"What is it?" Al asked.

"Um…"

"Say it."

"… no, it's okay…" Ed looked away.

"Nii-san!"

"HALLO!!" Saya crowed, opening the door and bouncing in. Both brothers stared at her in astonishment. "I came to say a last goodnight!" she said, somewhat lamely, to excuse her sudden entrance. Inspiration struck. "Hey, do you guys want to see more fireworks?"

"Now?!" Ed asked. "It's already late…"

Saya grinned. "Stupid, you can only see these special ones when it gets late anyways. I'm not the one setting them off either. At this show, there's so many millions of them, it's impossible for a thousand people to set them off!"

"Where is it?" Al asked hesitantly. "I've never heard of something like that before…"

Saya pointed out the window. "Right there!"

The stars in the sky winked down at through the glass panes, an uncountable number of them decorating the dark night with their pure light. "See? See?" Saya said, grinning. "Isn't it one of the most beautiful sights you've ever seen? And the best part about this one is that it lasts all night long!"

Ed smiled. "We used to stargaze a long time ago, remember Al?"

Al looked away from the window. "Yeah…"

Ed sat glumly in a chair late the next morning as Winry and Pinako fussed over his arm and leg.

"It's the time you've been waiting for!" Winry grinned. "Time to dock these things on!"

Ed groaned. "Although I've done it multiple times, I hate the moment the nerves connect."

"Don't complain," Saya grinned. "We need to get to Central as soon as possible, right?"

Ed made a face. "Yeah. I want to regain my normal body and say goodbye to this pain."

"It'd be a shame to loose money spenders like you two," Pinako smiled.

"Yeah," Winry agreed. "You don't have to go through the trouble of returning to your normal body. The smell of oil, creaking of artificial muscles, and the roaring bearings…! Automail is so wonderful!!"

"You machine freak."

"What was that, you alchemy freak?!"

Armstrong chuckled. Saya laughed, and Al sweatdropped.

"Let's do this," Pinako said grimly. "One."

"Two."

"Three!"

Ed clenched his teeth, though muffled cries of pain forced their way through.

"You two!" Pinako barked at Armstrong and Al. "I'm going to place Ed there, so move!"

"Yes…"

A few minutes later, Pinako and Armstrong sat at the dining room table. Armstrong glanced at the door. "I didn't know there was so much pain when they connect…"

"It's not like any other pain," Pinako said soberly, sipping some tea. "Even a grown man will scream and cry."

Ed lay on the bench, breathing hard. Winry sat at his head and grinned. "How is it? We've reduced the weight of the steel by 80 percent compared to last time. You don't want your growth to stop because of its weight do you?"

"Winry-san!" Saya chided.

"Hey now…" Ed groaned. "Don't make fun of my height when I'm in pain…"

Winry smiled. "You'll be okay if you can talk back like that. Does it feel okay?"

Ed sat up and tested the automail. "Yeah."

"Since it's lighter, the durability is a bit lower, so don't be reckless with it. You can replace automail, but you've only got one life," Winry grinned.

"Yeah."

Winry stood and stretched. "Ah… I'm tired because I had to pull an all-nighter on that.

Ed nodded. "Thanks Winry."

Winry winked at him. "The express charge isn't going to be cheap, ya know." Then she walked upstairs.

Saya smiled. "Winry-san really cares about you, doesn't she?"

"Yeah, I've known her forever," Ed grinned. "We used to play together with Al all the time when we were younger." He stood and stretched. "Gotta go fix Al now, then we're probably going to spar a little. Care to join?"

She nodded, then a thoughtful look settled over her face. "Once we get back to Central, I've gotta restock on fireworks and pea-bombs, and I need a replacement flare."

Ed sweatdropped. "You really don't need fireworks…"

Saya laughed.

"Are these all the armor fragments?"

Al nodded. "The Major and the others picked them up for me."

Armstrong bent over thoughtfully. "You can fix him right away?"

"There's a little trick to it though," Ed grinned, taking off Al's helmet. "See the seal right there?"

"Yeah."

"That thing meditates between Al's soul and the armor."

"It was a close call there," Al said. "If he had gouged out more of the armor…"

Saya chuckled. "Let's not think about that," she said a little uneasily. She had changed into a white tee shirt and black shorts, so all of her automail was exposed.

Ed grinned. "We have to protect that no matter what. It's the important part that ties Al to the armor."

Armstrong raised his eyebrows. "It looks like it was written in blood."

"Yeah, it's my blood," Ed answered. "I was pretty desperate."

Saya took one look at Armstrong and moved a few steps backwards…

"What?! WHAT WONDERFUL BROTHERLY LOVE!! WHAT AN INCREDIBLE BOND YOU TWO SHARE!!" he crowed, the pink stars floating everywhere.

Ed sweatdropped. "Can you move? You're in the way."

All the pink stars fell to the ground.

Ed clapped his hands together. "Let's do this!"

Al glowed with a bright blue light for a moment. When everyone's eyes had cleared, he stood, whole again. He tested his arms and legs and made a happy sound. "Everything looks fine! Thanks Nii-san!"

Ed grinned. "That's good to hear! Should we do the usual then?"

"Yeah."

Armstrong blinked. "The usual?"

Saya smiled. "To train the mind, you must first train the body. That's what those two said their teacher taught them. So we sometimes have mock battles."

Ed grinned sheepishly. "We've haven't been able to beat this guy yet though," he said, tapping Al's breastplate.

"I see…" Armstrong ripped off his shirt and flexed. "THEN I TOO SHALL COOPERATE!"

All three of them waved their hands. "No thank you," they chorused.

Winry came out when she heard the clash of metal on metal. She groaned. "Hey, don't be reckless and break it again," she called to the battling threesome. They showed no sign of hearing her. She sighed and went back inside. "They're so into it… they're still kids." She glanced at Ed's clothes on the couch… with the silver chain to the watch hanging out of his pants.

Al managed to throw Ed into the sky and Saya into a tree.

"Now I will fight you!" Armstrong called, and charged.

"GAH!" Al yelled.

Winry held the silver watch with reverence. "Wow… custom made things ARE amazing… this refined form, and its excellent workmanship is marvelous. The inside must me amazing too," she sighed. "Ah, I want to see the inside… I want to disassemble it, I want to reassemble it." She got an evil look in her eye. "Ed…?"

Ed was still flying outside somewhere. Winry whipped out her tools. "Hehe…"

Al locked arms with Armstrong. "Not enough!" Armstrong informed him. "Like that, you can't move forward!" He lifted Al up and threw him.

"Nii-san!"

"Damn it…" Ed grumbled.

"We'll be able to beat him!" Saya encouraged them. "We've just got to do our best!"

Winry held the open watch in her hand, staring at the cover with shock written all over her face at the etched letters and numbers: 'Don't forget 3.Oct.10' "This is…"

Al locked arms with Armstrong again. Armstrong narrowed his eyes. "I told you that wasn't eno-"

Ed and Saya slid between Al's legs and hit Armstrong's ankles. When Armstrong stumbled, Al grabbed his arms and threw him into the ground. For a moment, they all stood there panting, then they started to cheer.

"Yes!! Alright, we did it!!"

Ed rinsed himself off later in the outside shower. He turned of the water and sighed. Rubbing himself with a towel, he spotted Winry coming towards him with a guilty look on her face. "Winry? What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I saw inside it." In her hand gleamed the silver watch.

Saya listened from around the corner of the house.

"Huh!?" Ed scrounged around in his pockets, to find it wasn't there. His face darkened. "Hey, there are things that-"

"I'm sorry…" Winry's shoulders started to shake. "I'm sorry."

Saya remained completely quiet. What would be inside Ed's watch that made Winry react like this?

Ed sighed. "Jeez… I haven't even shown this to Al or the Bomb," he said, taking his watch.

"I'm sorry…"

There was a moment of silence, before Ed broke it. "It's unmanly for me to carry something to warn me and show my determination."

"Ed…"

"But still. We have no parents or home to go back to. We have to keep moving forwards."

A tear fell out of Winry's eye. "But why? You do have a home! With Auntie… and me!"

Ed made a face and looked away. "Stupid… why do you have to cry?"

"Since you brothers won't cry… I'm crying in your place," Winry sobbed.

Saya sighed and looked at the grass beneath her metal feet, and her automail gleaming in the sun.

Later that evening, the sun had completely set. Winry looked sadly at the red line on the horizon. "Where did Ed and Al go?" she asked.

Pinako sat at the table with a steaming dinner waiting. "Don't worry, they'll come back eventually. Just wait for them like you always do."

Saya leaned against the burned out tree as Ed and Al walked over the remains of their former home.

"This used to be the front door," Al said. "… and the living room. On cold days, we used to put wood in the fireplace. Nii-san always slacked off when we had to chop wood though."

Ed grinned sheepishly. "Yeah…"

"Remember Nii-san? When we stayed outside too late, Mom would blink a light from the second floor. It was bright, and we could see it from anywhere, and we always came running straight home when we saw it."

Saya smiled sadly. I've traveled with them so long… and I still know so little about them…

"Oh yeah, I had forgotten that," Ed smiled.

Saya glanced down the road. "You two do have a home," she said. Ed and Al looked at her in surprise. "A home where a nice family waits patiently for you to return, no matter how long you stay away."

Ed and Al followed her gaze. From the second story of the Rockbell home, a bright light blinked steadily, piercing the coming darkness. Al laughed, and started running towards it. Ed smiled, and followed.

Saya stood by the burned tree for a moment longer, looking at the patch of grass that had grown over what had once been her best friends' home.

"Bomb? You coming?"

Saya blinked and smiled. "Yeah…"

So they didn't leave that day like they had planned. They left the next morning. Ed smiled at Pinako.

"You kids, come back here once in a while to eat with us," the old lady smiled.

Ed smiled. "Sure… eventually."

Saya raised her eyebrows. "Who in their right minds would come all the way out here just to eat?"

"Well thanks for all the help… again," Al said.

"Have a safe trip," Winry smiled.

Ed nodded. "Yeah."

They all waved as they went out the gate. Saya drew in a deep breath and then let out a gleeful shout and ran down the road. "YES! Hello world, we're back!! You'd better be ready for us, damn it!!"

Ed sweatdropped. "Looks like the Bomb's alright…" he said, hiding his quiet relief. After that talk they had the other day, she had been a little more quiet and less hyperactive than usual… but it looked like she was okay.

Saya ran down the road, laughing. I have to admit... I'm a little jealous of them, having such a nice place with good people waiting for them to come back. But I can't begrudge them that... they deserve it more than anyone...

Next: The hunt for Marco's information!! Scar's back in Central?!