"Mr. Elric?"

His body ached with not enough sleep. Somehow, he recalled that he had paid for an inn, and that inns tended to let guests sleep reasonable amounts, and sometimes they let people sleep as long as they liked; of course, this was rumor that was as yet to be confirmed, considering that it was four-thirty in the morning and they had only checked in a little over two hours ago.

In the bed sitting a few feet away from him, Alphonse still slept. 'Lucky,' he thought with a slight jealous edge. Holding in the groan that came with rising out of bed at ungodly hours, he went to the door and opened it, having to pull back momentarily due to the sudden change from dark to light. Once his eyes adjusted, he fixed the intruder with the angriest glare he could muster after two hours of sleep and too much travel.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry to bother you," he faltered, looking as if he was ready to either yawn or cry, "but this urgent telegram came for you. It's from the military." The man, more like a kid a few years older than him, whose face was still young and inexperienced, held out a small white envelope with neatly typed letters on it.

Edward snatched it from his hand with little to no flourish and shut the door, making a mental note to try to say something kind on his way out later that day. He flicked the envelope towards the small table in the room which was probably used for taking breakfast. The white paper landed on one of its corners and made a tiny tumble before coming to a rest, balancing precariously on the edge. Apathetic, or just not noticing, he fell back onto the bed, making a half-hearted attempt at drawing the covers over him before sleep took him.

The next time that there was a knock at their door, the hour was slightly more reasonable. It was possible to think of people running about their lives at six in the morning; the sun came up around that hour, so he had heard. It was in a Farmer's Guide to Excellent Crop Growing or something. Too early to remember the exact title.

"What now?"

The kid looked embarrassed. No, he shouldn't think of the guy as a kid. He obviously had a few years (and nearly a foot) on Edward. "I'm so sorry, but there's another telegram. I think you really should respond, or else they won't stop."

He held up a finger, but it was a kind finger. Although it was too early and he was too tired, Edward still understood some common decencies, probably somewhere around two. "One moment," he said as he retreated back into the room. In the dimness, he groped around for something he could use as a shirt, and then went to grab the first telegram. He figured he should respond to both of them, seeing as whatever they wanted had to be urgent enough to pester him so insistently and so early. Didn't anybody in the military ever sleep?

Once he was somewhat collected, although his hair was loose and still a mess and his feet were bare, he followed the young man downstairs to where the telegram deliverer was apparently waiting to take whatever response Edward had for them. Finally downstairs, it struck him that he could have stayed in the comfortable cocoon of his room, read the message in the light of the creeping dawn, and muttered some sort of response which may or may not have contained vocabulary he would later regret. Shrugging it off, he opened the first of the two telegrams.

EDWARD ELRIC PLEASE RETURN TO CENTRAL VERY URGENT REGARDING NEW MISSION STOP RESPOND AT EARLIEST CONVENIENCE STOP

Edward chuckled to himself after he finished reading it. "I see. There must be some new definition for 'earliest convenience' that nobody told me about." Although the wording did give him some pause. Who was so kind or respectful to use "earliest convenience?" First of all, that was a bit pricey, and definitely less efficient then just typing ASAP.

Chalking it up to some over-enthusiastic rookie, he opened the second one.

EDWARD GET YOUR ASS OUT OF BED

He didn't even have to know it was from Colonel Mustang to hear that awful, mocking drawl that somehow managed to haunt Edward everywhere he went, even when he requested time to investigate something independently. This was supposed to be a vacation for he and Alphonse, but obviously the military had other plans. Or maybe it was just Mustang who had the other plans. There was never much certainty with that man.

Frustrated with the current situation, he asked for a piece of paper and a pencil to scribble down a response. It took him a bit longer than it should have because he wanted to make sure to get the words exactly how he wanted them and refrain from any suggestions of placing large objects in small orifices, the latter of those two being harder than he would want to admit.

Look for us in two days Stop For future reference four thirty early but not convenient Stop

Once he finished, he folded it in half and gave it to the telegram deliveryman, apologizing for not having any money to tip him with, and that the military would pick up the cost of sending this telegram. Nodding, the deliveryman bowed lightly and tipped his hat, bidding Edward a good morning.

"It's a morning," he said softly as the man left, a hard, irritated smile on his face, "but I wouldn't necessarily call it a good one." Hiding his disappointment as much as he could, he told the desk clerk, the same man who had brought him the telegram both times, that he and his brother would be checking out that morning. The man nodded, and asked if they were leaving town.

"Yes. We'll probably be taking the ten-thirty train, going south. Why do you ask?"

"If you would like, I could have Amelia pack you two a nice lunch." He smiled warmly. "She makes delicious sandwiches; always gets the best tomatoes for them."

Edward returned the smile. "That would be nice. Thank you very much." This was what he liked about the world outside of Central. In that city, everybody was too busy, but in little country inns or tiny homes with large tables and welcoming hearths he was reminded why life was worth living. He never thought about or even realized these things, but he did know that something always drew him away from Central and towards smaller towns.

As he walked up the stairs, he felt sleepiness settling back into his body and by the time he reached the door he was yawning hard enough to split his head in two. However, if he felt that the telegraph was actually urgent and not something that he had to hop on right away, he could have gotten himself and Alphonse to the platform in under ten minutes.

He tiptoed into the room, and saw that his brother was sleeping soundly. Smiling, he walked to his brother's bed and pulled the covers up slightly. Even though it didn't really matter seeing as Alphonse would never get cold, and he knew it didn't matter, sometimes he felt compelled to do that. Shrugging, he crawled back into his own bed and settled into the inviting blankets. He didn't even remember his head hitting the pillow, but somewhere along the way, it must have; he just went to sleep and did his best to ignore the oncoming day.

It was seven in the morning when Lisa Hawkeye entered his office. In fact, it was exactly seven in the morning, right on the dot, as it was always exactly seven in the morning when she arrived at work. However, this was probably the first time he had ever actually been there before she came in, which made her so surprised that she nearly choked on the water she was sipping.

"Good morning, Lieutenant."

"Colonel!" She brusquely snapped to attention, holding her cup of water carefully at her side, making certain not to spill it.

Roy rewarded her surprise with a thin smile. "We will be babysitting in two days," he said softly.

Letting her arm drop slowly, she spoke with confusion, even if her face betrayed nothing. "But won't that put them in the middle of everything?"

"No. I'm sending them on a wild goose chase which should keep them out of our hair long enough. Those two can take even the simplest of missions and create a lot of trouble with it."

"But they always manage to look good, don't they?"

He picked up a stack of papers and tapped their edges on his desk, straightening them out. "I'll make sure they're gone within two days of their arrival."

"Yes, sir," she replied, nodding. "Hopefully this will take at least a week. I don't know if we can count on everybody to take that long, though."

He lowered his head a bit so that his hair covered his eyes, making his expression unreadable. "We're going to have to pray for a miracle."

"Brother? It's time to wake up."

Not fully aware, Edward swatted in the general direction of the voice. "No more telegrams..." he muttered drowsily.

Alphonse grabbed his shoulder and shook him gently. "We need to wake up, or else we're going to waste the morning."

Yawning, Edward rolled over and faced the suit of armor that was his brother. "What? What time is it now?"

"It's nine in the morning. I let you sleep in a bit."

Edward sat up in bed, scratching his head as if it would get blood flowing to it. "I'll probably be sleeping on the train, too."

"What do you mean?"

He let himself fall back into bed again, not wanting to deal with what he had to say. "I got an urgent telegraph from Central. I'm needed."

"But we just got here!"

"And now we have to go back." He sat up a little, propping himself up on his elbows. "Do you think I'm happy about this? Because I'm not."

Alphonse looked down. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's not your fault." Stretching lazily on the bed, he looked out the now-opened curtains through squinting eyes. It was a beautiful morning out there. The sky was the purest of blues, a gentle breeze made the lush grass and fruit-filled trees sway gently. He always loved watching wind roll through grass; it looked like what he always imagined waves in the ocean to look like.

"It's gorgeous."

"Yeah."

"We should go."

"Yeah," he muttered, answering a bit more heavily this time. He rolled out of the bed and changed into his usual outfit of all black with a red jacket. Sometimes he thought about changing his attire, just to do something different, but it was always too much of a hassle to actually get around to doing it. Packing his suitcase quickly, which really only required that he fold and pack his sleepwear, they were out the door and on their way out.

The inn owner caught them on the way out, handing both Edward and Alphonse little neatly-wrapped packages. "There's a sandwich inside," he explained, "and an apple from the little orchard we have in the back. It's too bad that you couldn't stay longer."

Edward smiled, finally remembering himself. "I'm sorry I was so angry this morning," he said sheepishly. "Both times."

"Don't worry about it," he laughed. "I figured a little kid would probably be pretty grumpy that early in the morning."

At that comment, he practically launched himself at the innkeeper, and was barely caught by his brother before he could unleash a horrible flurry of fists. "Who are you calling a little kid?" he shouted angrily, swinging his arms and legs in a desperate attempt to free himself from Alphonse's strong grip and create havoc.

He laughed. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. You're not a kid, I guess."

Settling on that, he paid the innkeeper for the room and two lunches and they headed to the train station, catching the nine thirty train that would take them back to Central. Unfortunately, there were so many stops that they would have to stay the night somewhere along the way. He decided in advance to take the cheapest of all possible options and stay with Winly in Rizen Pool for free; although, knowing her, they would probably wind up being put to work to earn their keep, and with catching up, the two of them might be delayed an extra day. This didn't bother him too much as he settled comfortably on the train and watched the terrain pass by.

"Do you know why they're calling you back?"

Edward shook his head. "No, but it sounds urgent. They sent me a telegram at four thirty in the morning and another one at six thirty. I'm surprised you didn't wake up when they knocked on the door."

The armor clinked softly with his shrug. "I guess I just feel peaceful out here. What did the telegrams say?"

"The first one ordered me back. The second one," his eyes narrowed, "was Colonel Mustang giving me a hard time." He proceeded to contort his face from one emotion to the other as he mocked the Colonel. "'Oh, I have yet another unimportant and useless mission, I guess I should dump it on Edward! I don't need sleep, so I'll harass him until he gets over here. Although, he could already be here! He's so short, I'd never see him anyway!'" Edward sighed and fell back against the train's window, staring outside once more. "What a jerk."

"Maybe it really is urgent."

"Then why would they give it to me? There are probably many other people better suited."

Alphonse looked out the window as well. "I'm sure there's a reason they chose you."

"There is a reason. Colonel just wants to climb in the ranks, and every little thing I do right, as long as it was ordered by him, earns him another point." He chuckled coldly. "At the rate we're working at, he'll probably be Major General before the year is out, and two summers from now, he could very well be the Fuhrer."

Deciding not to aggravate his brother further, Alphonse allowed the conversation to die there and let them stare out the window in silence.

"Let's hope Winly came back from Rush Valley," Edward said as he picked up the phone. They finally made it to Rizen Pool and he had yet to let them know that he needed a place to stay the night. "I'd hate to have to look at grandma Pinako's face all day."

His brother didn't say anything as he dialed.

"Rockbell Auto-Mail Shop. How may I help you?"

"Hi, Winly," he said. He knew that he almost sounded relieved, but that she probably wouldn't notice it over the phone.

"Edward! Is Alphonse there? Are you two all right?" Her tone took a sudden turn towards accusatory. "Wait. Did you two get in trouble already? Did you lose your arm again? I told you that it was less durable, and I fixed it perfectly this time, so if it broke, and I can't even believe you would let it break, I only saw you three days ago-!"

"Winly!" He found himself shaking his free fist, even if she couldn't see it. "We just need a place to stay for tonight! We have to go back to Central."

Edward could practically hear her rolling her eyes on the other half of the line. "So that's how it is, is it? Just call when you need your arm fixed or a place to stay. No letters to let us know how you are, no calls just to say hello and keep up. All you do is take, take, take."

"Yeah, pretty much."

She became dangerously quiet. "Ed..."

"So we'll see you in a half an hour?" he asked with a sly grin.

"Ed..!"

He knew he was pushing it, so he decided to end the conversation. "Great! I'll see you in a bit. Thanks so much, Winly!"

"Ed, I -"

With very little flourish he clipped the phone back into its cradle and faced his brother, still bearing that sly, I Certainly Hope I Don't Get Caught smile.

"Brother, that wasn't very nice." He fretted a bit. "Winly has always been very kind to us, and you should try to be nicer to her."

Picking up his suitcase, Edward chose to ignore what he was saying and walked out of the station. His brother caught up to him and walked by his side, the two of them strolling slowly in a distantly familiar landscape.

Alphonse often thought of Rizen Pool as some sort of painting that always hung in the back of his mind, and every time he saw the real thing, he was always bothered that some things, like a field here or a tree there or a small shack, differed from the painting in his mind; he was never quite certain if it was new, or if he just never paid attention to it before, but it never failed to remind him what they once called home was now a fading memory.

Winly stared into the dead receiver, in shock. 'Did he really just hang up on me?' Eventually, she heard a series of beeps and some woman's voice was telling her something, probably that her childhood friend had become a rude and reckless little bastard.

"So, they're coming, then?"

She started, not realizing that Pinako had even come in. Exactly how much did she hear? "Yeah. They just got off the train and are walking here."

Pinako nodded. "You didn't offer to go meet them."

Her expression went from quiet surprise to murderous in less than a second. "He hung up before I could get anything out of him."

"Just go blink the lamp or something," she teased, her face and tone unchanging. "It should make you feel better."

Winly huffed out of the room and up the stairs. Even though she resented what Pinako had said, she still took the lamp and went out to the balcony, blinking the light slowly. As she stood there, waiting, she remembered one day when they were little children, and she and Alphonse and Edward were playing by the river, the part where it curved near Edward and Alphonse's house. They had all been so small then; it was hard to imagine that only six years ago, they were all still children.

The three of them went to a part where the river narrowed, and there was a series of large stones that were very widely spaced; were someone daring enough, or perhaps just crazy enough, they could leap from one stone to the other and make it to the opposite bank. Alphonse and Winly were a bit hesitant, but Edward proved then, as he continued to prove even now, that he was both daring and crazy enough to try to cross the river.

"Brother, don't!"

Edward looked over and smiled at his brother. "It'll be easy!" he said. "Just you watch!" The water was rushing past quickly, but not menacingly. It lapped at the shore and at the sides of every rock playfully, inviting him to play in the water a bit before he began his trip across the river. He knew, however, that if he got wet, he'd probably have a hard time hanging on to the rocks; it was hot, but playing in the river could wait.

"Ed, if you fall, you'll get hurt!"

Winly's comment only gave him more of a reason to try it. He grinned at her too and replied, "Then I won't fall," as if it were as simple as that. Ignoring the rest of their protests, he walked out onto a rock that jutted into the river from the land. Sometimes, Edward and Alphonse would try to build a raft and launch themselves on it from there, but they always failed and sank into the water. This time, though, Edward was going to launch something else.

He positioned himself as close to the edge of the rock that he could without falling into the water. A large cloud passed overhead and the sun was blocked out for a bit. He studied the first of the three rocks, and realized that it would need a slight running start. Taking a few steps back, he briefly walked what he expected his running leap to feel like, measuring it in his head. 'Step, step, jump,' he thought. Edward readied himself.

"Please don't," Alphonse cried.

Step, step, jump!

Edward landed safely on the first rock.

"Good job," Winly said angrily, her arms crossed. "Now come back here so I can give you a prize."

"Not yet," he said, already studying the next rock. "I'm going to get to the other side and pick a flower for you."

Her eyebrow twitched. "Ed..."

"And there's some really cool rocks over here, Al!" He made a show of looking at the opposite shore, holding a hand above his eyes to shield out the sun. "Do you want one?"

"I want you to come back," Alphonse quietly replied, so quietly that Edward didn't hear him.

Since he couldn't hear the answer, Edward assumed he wasn't getting one, and made the leap for the second rock. He landed it, but slipped, having to catch himself. It was an easy enough catch, but the screams from the shore made him wonder if his slip looked worse than it was.

"Brother!"

"Ed!"

He pulled himself back up onto the rock. "I'm fine, I'm fine," he shouted, waving them off dismissively as he judged the next rock. It would probably be the hardest out of all of them, because it was much higher. He figured that he would probably have to jump and latch onto the side and pull himself to the top of it. Thankfully, there were a few smoothly carved-out little dimples in the rock, perfect for gripping it with his hands.

Winly tried to bring him back again. "It's okay, we believe you, that you can do it. You don't need to actually jump."

But this time Edward could only hear a faint shout. All he could really hear was the sound of the water rushing around the rock. It didn't seem as playful anymore. He looked up and noticed that the sky was getting a bit darker, and he worried for a moment that maybe a summer storm was kicking up.

Edward steeled himself for the next leap.

Clenching his jaw shut, he took the one step that the rock he was on would give him and flung himself at the third rock. He caught it, but fell, and had to catch himself a second time. His face dragged on the rock as he slid down it, and he knew that there was going to be a huge scab on his cheek from it; hopefully it wouldn't bleed, otherwise he would never hear the end of it. When he did catch himself the second time, his feet dangled in the water and his shoes were soaked through, but he had no time to worry about that. Hauling himself up, he climbed the rock, groping for pockets and footholds along the way. When he reached the top, he saw that Alphonse and Winly were screaming at him, but he could no longer hear them. The storm was almost here.

The hop between the third rock and the shore was so minimal that he had to just step off the rock and he would hit soft shore. He made a tiny jump and landed gently in the sand.

When he looked back at the opposite shore, he saw Alphonse and Winly waving their arms frantically. He waved back to them casually, but stopped when he noticed that they were pointing at his house. Their mother was blinking the light, probably because of the storm. Although he knew he should probably just use the bridge to get back across, it would take so long, since the bridge was over half a mile upriver from where they were, that he decided to chance it with the rocks.

Before he left, he picked a flower and got a small rock.

The first rock on the way back, which had been the third rock on the way in, was very simple. There was a small ledge sticking out, and all he really had to do was step onto it and climb up. Also, the second rock was no problem. It was so much lower that all he really had to worry about was if he would slip in his wet shoes. He took the leap and landed it, and he could now faintly hear Alphonse screaming for him. Winly had already left the shore, and he could see her running for his house. 'Probably to tell on me,' he thought angrily.

The third stone actually wasn't much of a problem either. The stones got progressively lower as he went back, so it was easier to leap from one to the other, and he did this one casually. All that was left was to leap to shore and he would be home free, except for when mom started yelling at him about being so reckless.

Although, now that he looked at the shore, it seemed farther away then he remembered. Rain started to trickle down from the sky, and the once friendly river raged around the rock, licking at his heels as if it wanted more. He looked at Alphonse and saw the panic in his face, and he hoped that his own face didn't look as terrified as he felt.

"Brother, please, just wait for mom!"

"No!" Edward was shocked that he could suggest such a thing. "I'm not going to get in trouble. I'm going to make it." He looked at the flower he was holding for Winly in his hand and chucked it into the river. "I still have a rock for you."

"I don't care about the rock!" Alphonse shouted back. Edward thought that he had tears in his eyes, but it was difficult to tell through the steadily-falling rain, which grew in strength with each passing moment. "Just don't get hurt!"

He nodded resolutely, and looked at the distance between the rock and the shore. When he had been going to the other side, he had to take a running start to land on this rock, but now there was no space for any kind of a run. The other rock was a bit lower, but not nearly low enough for him to be able to leap and make it safely. Edward knew now that the best he could hope for was to grab onto the edge with his hands and pull himself in.

"Al! Stand on that rock right in front of me," he shouted, pointing to specifically where he wanted his brother to stand. "I'm going to jump, and I need you to catch me. I don't know if I'll make it."

"Just wait for mom," Alphonse shouted back. He looked practically hysterical.

"I'm going! You better catch me!" Taking a deep breath, Edward leapt with all of his strength for the other rock and he heard his brother scream as he sailed through the air. As he fell, he felt his arms connect with the rock, and warm hands wrapping themselves around his forearms. The lower half of his body fell into the water and he could feel himself being dragged strongly by the rushing current.

"Brother!"

"Al! Don't let go of me!" He struggled to pull himself and could feel his brother straining on his arms, but he knew that they wouldn't be able to pull him out. Alphonse was struggling and slipping on the wet rock, and the rain was only coming down harder with each passing moment. Edward looked at the situation and then up at his brother. He spoke quietly. "Let go of me."

Alphonse looked as if he had been punched in the stomach. "What?"

"You're going to fall in too. Just let go."

But he refused to, only tightening his grip when it began to slip in the rain. Edward was still struggling to pull himself back in, but the second he felt Alphonse slack, he was going to let himself go. A few times, Alphonse slipped and nearly fell in along with his brother, and although Edward tried to let himself go, Alphonse held a tight grip.

Finally, however, Alphonse had to release his brother. He stood up, trying to use the leverage of his height to pull his brother out of the water. However, as he pulled back, he slipped in a puddle and fell backwards, his head striking the rock sickeningly hard. His hands released Edwards' and his brother floated downstream.

Behind Alphonse, Winly screamed for Edward at the top of the hill, which woke Alphonse up from the moment of blackness. He saw his brother's head bobbing in the water, struggling to swim to shore or to at least avoid some of the rocks in the river. Edward's feet were directed downstream, but his arms were struggling for the side.

Not thinking about anything but his brother's safety, Alphonse began running downstream and dove straight into the river.

The cold water chilled him straight to the bone and he felt the darkness from his head wound clawing for him again, but he shook it off and searched for his brother, who was now awkwardly floating in the water. He looked practically dead.

"Brother!" Alphonse began frantically swimming downstream, avoiding the rocks. A large tangle of brambles was coming up, and if he wasn't careful, they could get caught up in it and drowned. He was a few feet away from his brother still, and from the way the water was zipping along, he had less than a minute to get them to the shore.

When he finally reached Edward, he reached one arm around his body, using the other to frantically swim towards the shore. However, the water was rushing them along quickly, too quickly, and he worried that they wouldn't make it. He could see his mother running along the shore, looking for something to reach into the water with to pull her children in. She was screaming for them, and Alphonse felt heavier because he couldn't do anything to make her feel better.

Suddenly, however, luck came his way. Under the water, just barely beneath the surface of the river, was a large rock. His feet connected with it, and he used it to keep himself still against the rushing flow. Now, he could feel the true power of the river, and clutched his brother even more tightly, worried that Edward would be ripped from his hands. He edged his foot towards the shore, feeling his way gently along the rock. It remained solid the little way that he was able to reach, and he slowly side-stepped his way as close to the shore as he could.

As he walked, he realized that this rock most likely went all the way to the shore, the five remaining feet that he was unable to swim. He looked at the shore he was going towards, and saw that it was difficult to access, blocked off by many boulders. Their mother was struggling to climb over them, still shouting for her sons. Winly was also there, and she was much closer than their mother at reaching the two of them, leaping from rock to rock deftly. Alphonse reached the shore before either of them arrived, and he pulled the two of them up. He gently shook his brother. "Brother?"

Edward coughed weakly at first, then more violently, and curled to his side as water poured out of his lungs. He heaved a deep, gasping, struggling breath and then apologized to Alphonse.

Not saying anything, he just held Edward tighter until Winly and their mother arrived.

Winly remembered every detail of that day; she remembered that she had never lost sight of that river, that she had stood from a hill and screamed for their mother to come help them. That day, among many other days, still lived in her mind, as vividly as if they had happened only hours ago. But that one day stood out among the heaps and piles of memories that made up her childhood. It was because it was the first time that she thought she had lost Alphonse and Edward. Now it was something she had to deal with every day of her life, that her two best friends could be dead and she would never know.

She continued blinking the lamp on and off until she saw two figures walking towards her house.

"Look at you," Pinako scolded. "Still haven't grown an inch."

"You just saw me a few months ago! How can you expect me to grow that fast?"

"I gave up on expecting you to grow a long time ago."

"Maybe you should give up on being a crotchety old -"

Alphonse quickly stepped between the two of them. "Hey, why don't we go inside? Winly must still be inside. Maybe she wants to see us?"

As if on cue, Winly shadowed the doorway. "Wow, this is a treat. I get to hear from you two twice in one week. That's some sort of a record, isn't it?"

Edward looked away, practically rolling his eyes. "Hi, Winly."

"Is that all you can say?" She sighed. "Well, come inside. You're a bit late for dinner, but I can probably warm something up for you. The guest beds are already ready, so if you're just tired, you can go to sleep."

Still looking down, his face slightly shadowed, he smiled. 'Same old Winly.'

"Thank you, Winly." Alphonse took the suitcase from Edward's hand and used his other hand to usher his brother inside, past the slightly scowling Pinako. If not physically tired, then at least he was mentally tired and didn't want to deal with the two of them squabbling and potentially throwing a ridiculous amount of large, heavy objects at one another.

There was a point at which they all got settled around the table, and Edward had a plate of warm food in him. The three of them chatted idly while Edward ate everything on his plate, practically sucking the pattern right off the china. Had it been anyone else, they would have probably watched him with a vaguely disgusted fascination, bordering on scientific curiosity. However, Alphonse, Winly, and Pinako hardly blinked.

"So what brings you two through here?" Pinako asked.

Edward worked hard to swallow a particularly large bite. "We got a telegram from Central. It takes two days to travel there from where we were, so we thought we'd -"

"Crash here like freeloaders?" Winly grumbled.

"We don't really have any place else to stay," he said quietly. Changing his manner quickly, he stood up with a grin. "That was great. I think I'm about ready for bed. I'll just take my own plate into the kitchen."

Embarrassed, Winly stood up and stopped him, taking the plate and utensils from his hands. "I'll get it for you. Just go to sleep, both of you."

Edward looked her in the eye briefly. He then nodded. "Let's go, Al. Good night."

Winly woke up with the dawn, stretching lazily in bed as the rising sun splashed light right in her eyes. She dragged herself down the stairs and into the kitchen to cook something for the two of them to have for breakfast.

'Oh, wait. Three of us.'

She took a few more things out of the refrigerator and began frying up some eggs and potatoes for them. Having to cook for one more person was so easy, and even though she slipped up in the early morning, it still felt very natural to have Edward and Alphonse sleeping upstairs, hearing light breathing and the gentle scrape of metal against metal as she passed by their door, always open ajar. Winly smiled as she scrambled the eggs.

"Smells delicious."

Nearly tossing the pan in surprise, she turned and saw Edward standing in the door. He was so quiet that she didn't even hear him come in. When had he become so quiet? She remembered days when the two boys thundered through hallways, bringing the fury of the elements with them.

"Good morning," she said softly.

He came into the kitchen and went straight to the fridge, groping around for some juice. Successful, he closed the door, a glass bottle three-quarters full of orange liquid in hand. "We're probably going to have to leave around ten," he said, opening up a cupboard.

"I figured you two would leave early."

Edward closed the cupboard and fiddled with the glass he had taken. "I'm sorry about last night. I was rude."

She shrugged. "So was I." There was a moment of silence, and all that could be heard was the sizzling sound of frying potatoes and the gentle crackle of the scrambled eggs on the hot pan. "But I think that if I could just get a letter from you once in awhile, some way to know that you're alive and well..." Suddenly she became very focused on the eggs.

Letting the question die as it stood, he poured himself a glass of juice and put the container away. He drank it down quickly, breathing an 'aah' of refreshment once he finished.

"Can you set the table?"

He didn't say anything, but got the plates and flatware and set four places at the table. The silence was oppressive, and he felt its weight on his shoulders, but sometimes things were too difficult with Winly, and he never understood why.

"Oh, it looks like they left."

Edward picked his head and saw Pinako standing in the doorway. "I'm right here, you old hag."

"Where?" She made a great show of squinting. "Oh. I didn't see you there. Maybe if you grew a few -"

"Eggs anyone?!" Winly cut Pinako off sharply, running between the two with the hot pan in her hands. "Let's eat quickly before it all gets cold!"

Edward stood up and walked out of the kitchen, calling back something about going to wake up his brother. He climbed the stairs, his mind sloshing about in varying insults he could have shouted at Pinako, all of which would have made his brother blush and say 'brother' in that disapproving way.

He opened the door. "Al?"

His brother was already awake and making Edward's bead; his own was already neatly made, not a single rumple in the blanket, the pillow properly fluffed. "Good morning."

"I could have done that," he said as Alphonse placed the plump pillow on the perfect blanket. "Anyway, we're having breakfast."

"Thank you."

They walked downstairs together and sat at the table. The four of them passed the morning in silence, until it was time for Edward and Alphonse to leave. They left the Rockbell house and workshop, waving as they walked, but only for a short time.

"You're very quiet," Alphonse said gently, breaking the silence between them.

"Am I?" He shrugged. "I just wonder what was so urgent. We've only been gone for a few days."

His brother made a gentle 'hmm,' which usually meant that he conceded that Edward didn't want to talk about whatever was bothering him, but that he would not let the matter drop entirely. However, he was willing to not bring it up when they got to the train station, or even on the ride to Central.

"Sir? They've arrived at the station."

He nodded, still staring at his papers. "Good. Have Edward come to my office as soon as he gets here. In fact," he corrected, finally looking up with an unreadable expression on his face, "make sure he comes directly here."

The junior officer bowed. "Yes sir." She left quietly, closing the door with a gentle click.

"He doesn't know, does he?" Hawkeye looked out the window as she spoke. "He doesn't know about Maes."

The look on Roy's face never left. "That's why he's coming directly here."

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Thanks for reading! This is only the begining of something very long, so let me know if you're interested in seeing more ^.^