Slight change in the conversation between Winry and Amaya, but nothing else but some grammatical stuff…I know it doesn't seem like I'm making a lot of changes, but I'm really focusing on changing the interaction REASONING between Roy and Winry so I'm backtracking some convos where they said things that might conflict with how I'm going to continue the fic…

Also, this is an AU so events and timelines will not add up to the anime too much, but I'll try to not make it too far out there!

Chapter 3: Letting Go

"Thank you and please come again."

Winry waved a good bye to the older woman who had come into the bakery to purchase a box of donuts for her book club. Mrs. Smith made it a habit to come at the beginning of every other week. She even started to share her reading material with the girl after the first few times. Currently, they were reading some book about two chimeras feuding for the love of some girl…or something like that.

Setting the book aside, she turned and went back into he back to finish helping Amaya frost the cupcakes. They were working on an order for some party. It had to be a pretty big party since they requested over 300 cupcakes. Though, for the entire day, her mind had not been on her work or anywhere near it.

Speaking with Amaya the other day had never really left her mind. She hated to admit that such a young girl could have a point, but she really did…Didn't she?...Winry had found herself almost consumed in her head a lot lately. Amaya had made some very valid points.

When Winry came to Central, she was all about making a new start and change and what not. All she had done so far was work at a bakery and move into a new apartment. During the talk, she did try to defend the fact that she had managed to get her own business, but apparently that didn't count until the business was actually successful.

"Hello, earth to Win."

Amaya shook her head as the blonde had been pulled from her thoughts, startled, and squeezed icing all over herself.

"Well, there goes about 10 cupcakes that won't be iced." she commented and handed the girl a rag.

Wiping herself clean and happy that she had been wearing an apron, Winry apologized. "I'm so sorry. I was just a little distracted."

"It's ok, but if I had known that what I said would bother you so much, I would have said it earlier." Amaya smirked.

Winry blushed. "What makes you think that that's why I'm so out of it?" Was she really that easy to read?

"You're an open book Win…Also; you didn't get so clumsy until we talked."

Winry sighed and went across the room to sit in one of the chairs, her head in her hands. She felt so miserable and so unsure. In all this time, had she really amounted to so little; changed almost nothing? Amaya noticed her friends' inner turmoil and wished that she could do more to help. Winry never did much or talked about herself much. Ever since Winry had started working there, she had only told the bare minimum of what needed to be told about herself.

"Can I ask you something?" Amaya started.

Winry looked up. She heard the apprehension in the girl's voice. "What is it?"

"I don't mean to pry...but…what ever happened to your family?"

There was a pregnant silence in the room. "I'm sorry…It's not my place to pry." Amaya instantly apologized, feeling stupid for even asking.

Winry chuckled. "No…it's ok…You deserve to know after all you and your family have done for me."

Amaya looked back up from the cupcakes she had quickly gone back to frosting out of embarrassment. "You really don't have to if you don't want to. I understand."

"No no no…I want to" she shook her head. "Come on, let's talk." she smiled.

Amaya followed Winry out of the kitchen and into the main room. It was almost closing time so there were no customers and they were able to sit at a table without being bothered. Winry took a deep breath and stared out the window and the darkening sky. She mentally prepared herself for telling her story, a story she hadn't told in years.

Amaya took her seat across from the girl. She had brought some cups of tea with her for the two of them to drink.

"So where should I begin?" Winry asked.

"Well…I guess with your family." the younger girl responded.

"Hmm…My mom and dad were doctors, very famous ones in fact." She smiled, recalling the pride her parents took in their work. "And my grandmother is an automail mechanic, which is where I got my talent from."

"That explains why you're a genius and a mechanic." Amaya laughed.

"So, when I was young, my parents were called away to help in the Ishbal war. They were doctors for the state and they helped everyone who was injured. They even helped the enemy. They didn't discriminate."

Amaya took a sip of her drink and watched, waiting for the girl to continue. She knew that this must have been hard for her.

"The rest of the military didn't appreciate that because the people they helped would get up and go right back to the battlefield. Finally, they were ordered to stop and refused, so there was another way to handle them since they wouldn't comply."

"They were killed." Amaya whispered, knowing where this story was going. She couldn't believe that something so horrible could happen to good people. The military was such a corrupt peace of shit.

Winry stared into her drink and watched the liquid swirl in the glass. She was surprised. She hadn't started crying or anything. Had it really been so long that the event was just numb to her by now? She remembered a time where she couldn't bring them up without tearing up.

"How can you bear to be friends with those military guys? I would hate them all." Amaya would have never thought this happened after meeting the girl. The only people she hung out with were military personal.

Winry thought for a moment. "I never thought to hate all of them. I used to not like the military, but then Ed joined it and I met some pretty awesome people who were nice and changed my opinion."

The Ishbal war was hard times. Winry knew that a lot of the soldiers suffered in that was and were made to do a lot of things that they didn't want to do. Not only she and her parents suffered; but a lot of families did. Who was she to be selfish when she saw so many others who went through the war standing strong' Hughes being one. He was so happy and carefree, you never would have thought he'd been to war.

"So…do you know who did it?" Amaya wasn't meaning to pry. She had just gotten so curious in the girl before her that she wanted to know more.

Winry was silent. She knew very well who did it. Roy Mustang, the flame alchemist, and the man who murdered her parents. He was also the man who did everything he could to look after Ed and Al. He was someone she hated and was both grateful to because of the Elric brothers.

"…No…I never wanted to find out." she chose to lie. There was no need to put her issues on the girl before her. If she, for whatever reason, ever encountered Roy, then it would be her choice to make her own opinion of him.

"You know Winry, you're an incredibly strong person. I think that you've come a long way and that to keep going farther, you're going to have to move on from the pain in your past and just not look back."

Amaya had always thought that the girl was holding something back about herself, and to hear this story, she now knew what it was. She may not have been aware that she was holding herself back from so much, but she could see it. Winry was smart and amazing and she probably got into automail to help her friends and was making a career out of them to keep helping them.

She seemed like the type who would sacrifice herself for the people she loved without a second thought, and maybe, now, it was time for her to just focus on herself and stop thinking of everyone else. Maybe she would find something she was into more than automail.

Blue eyes snapped up and stared.

"I'm not saying to forget." Amaya answered reading her mind. "I just think that you should focus more on the good and let go of the bad. Don't let it consume you. Forgive everyone and everything and move on with a happier sense of self and way of life…You need to focus more on your own happiness and keep moving forward."

Winry couldn't argue with that logic. The girl was right. She wanted to start new, completely, and that meant letting go of a lot of bad and forgiving a lot and moving forward. She had to accept that the past was the past and leave it there.

"Thanks for talking to me. I'm happy to know you trust me," Amaya said and stood. "Now, how about we finish these cupcakes before we end up sleeping here."

Winry smiled and followed her lead. "Yeah you're right." she laughed.

In that moment, she made a new promise to herself; to finally let go and let loose. She would start enjoying life and having fun. No more looking back.

*****^w^*****

Roy groaned and leaned back in his chair, turning around to stare out the window, catching the final glimpse of the setting sun. He had been doing paperwork all day and it seemed like it would never end. Every time he finished a pile, Riza brought another one in and put it on his desk. He had already worked through lunch and now it was almost dinner.

Though, with as quiet as things were, he guessed that the paperwork had given him something to focus on. There were no crimes being committed at the moment and everything in the country seemed to be running fine. It was one of those rare moments of peace that Mustang hadn't seen probably since he joined the damn military.

"Something wrong sir?"

He threw a bored look over to Riza who was beside his desk as usual. "Just a boring night is all." was his simple reply, accompanied by a yawn.

"Well, if you would finish your paperwork then we could go home." she said.

"Always about work." he mused to himself.

In the time that Riza had served him, she had been one of the most dependable and loyal allies he had; aside from Hughes of course. He really wasn't sure which one of them he trusted more but both were pretty high on the list. Anyway, he had never seen the woman in any type of relaxed setting at all. Her life was her job. Often, he wondered what she did on her days off.

"Perhaps, we should all take a day off." he suggested, the thought suddenly coming to him.

"Sir?"

"I think it would be good if we all got to enjoy this rare peace also. We could go on a vacation of some sort."

Mustang wanted to get out as much as anyone and he knew that his crew would never turn down a chance to kick back and slack. Hughes and his family could go also. A vacation would be nice for everyone. "I want to be able for all of us to leave within the next two days." he ordered, his decision firm.

Riza looked for a moment before agreeing. "I'll put in the paper work for it first thing in the morning sir…Now please finish your paperwork. I would like to go home." she said.

*****^w^*****

"Finally!"

Amaya stood back and looked at she and Winry's handy work. All of the cupcakes were finally done. Sure, it was already late out and it had taken them longer than expected, breaks aside, but they were done and that's all that mattered.

Winry was also satisfied with their work. They had finished their biggest order of the year so far and she was able to help with it. She felt extremely grateful for that. "This is so awesome. I'm glad that I could do so much for you and your family."

Amaya smiled, taking her apron off. "Don't even mention it. We love having you around." She hung the apron on the hook by the entrance to the kitchen and yawned.

"If you want, we can wait until morning to get these packed and shipped. I'm too tired to worry about it now."

Winry realized how tired she really was also. She hadn't thought about it at first cause her mind had been so focused on work and her own thoughts that it was like time slipped away from her. "Yea you're right. This can definitely wait."

They cleaned up the mess in the kitchen and then Winry grabbed her jacket, preparing to leave.

"You can't walk home this late!" Amaya said.

Winry waved her off. "Don't worry about me; I'm tougher than I look."

After Winry moved here, Ed had insisted that she at least get some training and Hughes had been happy to help out and teach her a few things. She even had a dagger that she kept tucked away on her person. Walking home was something she had done multiple times on her own and was not afraid of doing.

Amaya thought for a second. "I'm not really comfortable letting you leave. But I guess it's ok if you're sure."

They said their final byes and Winry walked out into the night, making sure the door was locked behind her. Her apartment wasn't far from the bakery; only a few blocks to be exact. She inhaled the fresh night air and started off towards her home.

As she walked, she couldn't help but feel completely relaxed by the night. Central was actually very pretty at night. It was quiet and the streets were lined with lights and they reflected well off of the canal that ran through it. She loved being out at night, although everyone had warned her about it. Though, she had never run into any trouble that she couldn't handle. She was proud that she was a tough girl who could take care of herself and didn't have to always worry about someone coming to her aid.

*****^w^*****

Roy stood and stretched, finally satisfied that all of his work was finished. He surveyed the papers on his desk and smirked. Not only had he finished the work for tonight, he had also finished a little of tomorrows load. It was the only way he could convince Riza to go home early without him. She would have stayed all night if she could have, but he didn't want her missing out on going home because of him.

Roy grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair and put it on, leaving his office and exiting the building. It was such a beautiful night to walk home. It wasn't too hot or cold and the sky was clear. These were moments that Mustang never really got to enjoy much. He was usually always followed by Riza or being driven somewhere. Walking was actually very relaxing for him and it gave him a chance to unwind alone.

He whistled a tune to himself as he turned another corner and stopped in his tracks. His eyes widened and he almost thought of running in the other direction, but figured it wouldn't matter since he had probably already been seen. Roy mentally cursed to himself and also threw a few mental curses towards Hughes. The bastard had jinxed him.

"You two live in the same city for god's sake. You're bound to run into her on the street at one point."

Walking towards him at this moment was the last person her wanted to run into ever. Not that he was afraid of her or avoiding her, he just would highly prefer not to have to interact with her if at all possible. He swallowed and just continued walking forward, intent on just walking past her like he never seen her. There was no reason that he should stop and communicate with her. She probably wouldn't even say anything to him.

"Roy Mustang?"

Shit

"Winry Rockbell."

R&R and thanks for still reading. I've tried to let you guys know what I've changed at the beginning so that maybe some of you don't have to re-read the entire chapter and an maybe just skim it a little.