Alright, so here it is, the second chapter of my Fullmetal Alchemist fic. As I said before, I do not own rights to any part of Fullmetal Alchemist, Square-Enix does, I suppose, as well as its wonderful creator. And now… time for a shameless plug. http/fullmetal. Here is a link to a Fullmetal Alchemist roleplay site, a site in which slash couplings are allowed, as long as both members agree to it. We still need several canon characters, which means… All you slash fans should join as your favorites soon before non-slash lovers take them. And… we need a Winry… for Alry purposes… Okay, so now, here's the story.


"So how was your night?" inquired Edward Elric of his younger brother, who, despite his inability to express emotion, did look very tired.

Alphonse lifted his helmet from its downcast position, the squeaking of his joints accompanied by the scrape of metal upon metal. "Huh? What do you mean, Nii-san?"

Ed smiled in a knowing manner, which only perplexed the anchored soul further, his gaze shifting so the blonde was in his line of vision. "You know what I mean, Al. How'd it go with Winry?"

"Oh," the boy encased in the metal shell replied simply, staring at his brother with an almost frustrated expression registering in his glowing eyes. "It went well."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you honestly think something happened, Edward? Are you really so accustomed to my condition that you've become blind to it?"

Noticing the bitterness in Al's voice, Ed winced. He was the cause of his brother's suffering, and in his attempt to make a joke; he had only poked an open wound.

"Nii-san…" began Al, the low tone in his high-pitched voice ringing a chord of remorse, "I'm sorry. I—"

"No, Al, don't apologize. You had every right to get angry. I… I shouldn't have said anything."

The brothers sat in silence, both staring heavily down upon their hands as was typical when they were unsure of what to say or do. It was Alphonse who broke the quiet.

"How did your meeting go?"

Ed began to grin once more, a glow of happiness radiating from his face. "Perfect," he almost cooed, though his dream-like tone was masked very well and sounded quite like his normal voice.

"Who was it that was so important that—"

"That I skipped out on you and Winry?" Al's helmet squeaked as it dipped down and back up again in a nod of confirmation. "Nobody."

Al could tell something was different in the tone of Edward's voice. "Well… It had to be somebody…"

"You're right, but… I'm just not ready to tell you yet."

"Oh… Okay."

"Al?"

"Yes, Nii-san?"

"Don't sound so miserable. I promise you, if it was something big, you'd know. You'll be the first one I tell."

"Okay…" Al looked from his brother back to his hands. After a short pause, his gaze shifted to the blonde who sat looking at the floor. "Nii-san?"

"Yes?" Edward's gaze came up as well, to lock eyes with his younger brother.

"Do you love him?"

The Fullmetal's golden eyes widened with surprise. Al's tone had been so even, so flowing; it had hardly sounded like a shift in the conversation at all. Of course, the shift had been from unknowing innocence into an almost eerie omniscient wisdom. How had Al known?

"A-Al?" Ed could feel his rapid heartbeat diminish in its speed slightly. Al knew, that meant he didn't need to tell him, or explain… And still, he wondered what gave him away. "How did you—"

"I'm not sure… Something about how you act around him, a difference in you. When he's around, you're… happier… I notice, even though you tried to hide it from me. I know you better than anyone, Nii-san…" His voice was full of the wisdom of an innocent, a pure and joyous knowledge that seemed child-like and simple in nature; a nature and knowledge that the compassionate Alphonse Elric indeed seemed to embody, though his maturity and knowledge of the cruel world of adults did lessen the sense of childhood.

"Yeah. I knew I couldn't hide it from you… But…"

"So… Do you?"

Edward's smile widened and he stood, placing his hands akimbo and closing his eyes the way he did when he was found out but amused at being so. "You know… I'm not sure yet, Al… I just don't know…"

- - - - -

Mustang sat at his desk, his chin resting upon the heel of his left palm, glaring down at the slight stack of paperwork with a very bored expression plastered onto his face. A pen was in a tentative resting position in his right hand, though nowhere near the papers. Truth be told, behind the look of dull concentration and his eyes seemingly poring over the official documents before him, the mind of the colonel wandered. That is, until he heard the sound of the door opening.

Ink flowed from the ballpoint, a slightly sloppy, though regal, signature appearing on the paper amidst the scritch-scratch of the metal upon the fibers.

"Good to see you working for a change." Roy looked up from the document into the face he had expected to see. Though the tone of the First Lieutenant had been completely serious, her superior and companion had caught the joke and smiled slightly. The expression did not go unreciprocated.

"I find that betwixt all my days off, it is rather good to get back to work," replied the dark-headed man just as facetiously.

"Ah, yes. One day of work a month, is that how you work it?"

"Well, I consider it work just to drag my self to this office every day. Must I also wear out my hands by writing my name fifty times over?"

The sarcasm ended, as did the good-natured conversation when the light in Riza Hawkeye's sapphire eyes faded. She looked at the colonel almost sadly, and though he caught the expression, he pretended not to notice. Whatever could that look be for? wondered Roy.

"Are you not tired, Mustang-taisa?"

He looked at her, his expression puzzled and his brows knit together. "What do you mean? And I told you, call me 'Roy.'" Could she have possibly… No. We were alone.

"The Fullmetal was said to have come in late, I assume he was off chasing one of his homunculi… But, the records show that you returned to your private apartment around the same time. Were you aiding him in an imaginary chase?"

"Riza…" Roy could not understand what the blonde was getting at. There was no way she could have seen them together, it was dark, they were covered, the area they had been at was abandoned, and yet… "No, there weren't any homunculi where I was. As for the Fullmetal, I don't know—"

Riza thrust her palm onto the desk, a loud thwack issuing from the point of connection. "Do not lie to me, Roy!"

Colonel Mustang's eyes widened as he realized he had been spotted, and apparently, Riza had done all the research to see if her findings had been true. She truly is a great officer. That mind of her's… Uncanny. The man sighed, looking downward before glancing up at the woman again.

"What did you see?"

- - - - -

"I'm sorry," the Fullmetal bowed slightly to the perturbed looking blonde who stood before him, her hands on her hips, her posture menacing. Damn, thought the young man, she's still taller than I am.

"Stop wincing like that! I won't hurt you," her voice was still slightly indignant from the reprimand she had issued to him. "Besides, I don't have my wrench with me."

Ed relaxed, exhaling deeply and letting his shoulders drop as he looked up smiling. He was just in time to see a close-up of Winry's palm as it came into contact with his cheek, hard.

"OW!" he cried, rubbing the now flushed area of skin gingerly with a gloved hand, "what was that for?"

"Do you have any idea how your brother worries for you? You leave him to go gallivanting to God-knows-where with God-knows-who to do God-knows-what! Do you have any sense of responsibility! Are you—"

"What are you saying, Metal-head? Telling me I have no sense of responsibility? I'm looking for the stone to save him and you're here telling me that I'm not responsible?"

"Do you even care about his feelings?"

"Of course I do! What do you think I am? A…"

"A what, Ed?"

"A… puppet…"

Winry looked as the young alchemist's head drooped, his bangs covering his face, making it seems like a curtain of shame had been drawn across his fair face. "Ed… I- I'm sorry… I didn't mean it."

"No… you're right, too. Everyone's right. I'm just—" His words were stopped by another strike to his face, though this time the left cheek. "HEY! What was that for?"

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself! You're a great brother! And… if you're down on yourself… it'll only make Al worry more…"

"Winry?" Ed looked up through his hair, his golden eyes at the very roof of his eyelids.

"Yes, Ed?"

"You… you really love him, don't you?"

"E-Ed…" She felt her throat tighten and her cheeks flush. Her heart started to beat much more quickly than she could remember, except for that one instance… She raised a hand to her face, trying to hide the blush but unable to.

"Well… You do, right?"

"… Yes, I do."

"Have you told him?"

"No… I… I was afraid it would only hurt him more."

Ed's eyes widened again, the second time that day, and though the subject was similar, it was completely different than the prior had been. "What?"

"Right now… I can tell, I can see that he shares my feelings…"

"Yeah… He does."

"And I can tell that it's tearing him apart. He thinks he can't do anything about it, at least, not while he's a soul anchored to a suit of armor. So… if he knew, I thought… It would make him think more of his condition, of how it's keeping us apart…"

"And… is it?"

Winry was silent, and she looked to the floor, feeling tears form in her eyes. "I… I don't know."

"Winry! Nii-san!" They turned to look through the door as they saw Al enter the small dorm room that belonged to the Elrics, as they were standing outside on the balcony. As the anchored soul neared them, he noticed Winry's tears, which were now streaming down her cheeks. He rushed over to her side, and though all knew he was concerned, it bothered the fourteen-year-old that he couldn't show it. "Winry… What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, Al… I'm fine," she sniffed, rubbing at her cheeks in vain the tears still flowing.

Edward looked at the two of them and could only feel a pang of sorrow and guilt from within him. It's my fault they're so unhappy… He walked back into the room, straight for the door, which he opened, turning back to look at them. Al had gotten a handkerchief and was now gently drying the girl's tears. He always puts others first… Ed smiled.

That was Al. He could be suffering more than any of them, and still he would only consider himself very last. Everyone and everything else were more important to him. I'll do my best…

"Winry… Did Nii-san make you cry?" asked Al as he used the white, square cloth to wipe her cheeks.

Winry grabbed one of his cold, chain-mail glove-hands, her small enveloped by it as she curved his fingers over hers. "No Al… He didn't."

"Winry… Did I make you cry?"

The tears regained their strength, coming more freely from her eyes as she embraced his cold, barrel-like torso.

"Winry!" he exclaimed, arms raised in surprise from the blonde's actions. The boy recovered, placing his cold, alive inanimate arms around her, protecting her in a sweet embrace. "Winry… It's okay…"

"Al… Is it really?"

"Yes… It is… Now it is."


And that was it. The masterpiece. NOT REALLY. But anyway, review please, as it will allow me to transmute a third chapter more quickly.