SxStrngSamurai13 – Indeed, indeed! Very possible, considering there was an Ed version, yes? . But the idea of Al came from the movie coming out this August. So no credit on that one. Which is also why they have the same names. You have a good point there, though. Thanks for reading!

Lucrecia LeVrai – What kind words! Thank you! I imagined Al and Winry on this side of the gate to be similar to their counterparts in Ed's world, yet very different at the same time. Think I'm pulling that off? And I'm glad you think Ed's IC! I was so afraid he wouldn't be… Thanks for reading!

Yoh's girl – Mwhahaha… possibly? Gotta wait in see. 

Saturn Stars – Aiee! Such kind words! I'm not worthy! Hehehe… seriously, thank you for the very kind and thoughtful reviews. And you hit the nail on the head: That's what I'm going for. Ed's heart is true to his Winry at home… or is it? DUN DUN DUUUUUN! Glad to know I'm getting Ed's personality down pact. He's surprisingly easy to write for. Me? Know things about rockets? I'm afraid I know nothing about rockets. As you can see, I'm avoiding the explanations/details on it. sweatdrop Ha! You're welcoming for writing it. It's reviews like yours that keep me writing. THANKS SO MUCH!

Hellokitty-4-ever – 'Adieu' means 'goodbye'. It's French, I believe. But I'm not sure. I take Spanish. ;) And you might want to fix that hole before someone gets mad! Thanks for reading!

hiei44 – Ah, thank you! And yes, the two worlds are very similar. Save for the alchemy part, ne? Thanks for the review!

D – The lyrics were mixed up, really? Ack! I never even noticed… I copied them from so it's their fault. :P Thanks for the R&R!

Nyago – Gahaha! That she is, that she is. Is Edward falling in love with her is the real question. Thanks for the R&R!

Aoshi – Don't worry, no one's seen the movie yet. Doesn't come out till August. ;) But yes, how sad. Poor Winry at home. Sniffs Which one will win? Wait and see. I think you'll be surprised by the outcome. Thanks for reading!

Kitsune No Youkai – Much thanks! I shall write until I drop.  Thanks for the R&R!

Lady Grinning Soul – As do I, as do I. According to what I've read, however, poor Ed is losing faith. I agree with you: He'd definitely miss Al more than Winry. I love exploring their brotherly love as well. It's just so cute! Thanks for reading!

It's too late to cry I love you.

The wind still blowing, my heart still aching

One side of my eyes sees tomorrow,

And the other one see yesterday

I hope I could sleep in the cradle of your love, again

Cry for me, somebody, with tear eyes

"The Real Folk Blues" By: Mai Yamane

Winter in Germany

green with envy

It was almost Christmas time in Munich. The town was more lively than ever now, despite the heavy snow that continued to fall from the overcast sky. Men were having trouble keeping the sidewalk clear and few cars, even less than usual, rolled down the slippery streets. It had been almost a month now since Ed had agreed to teach Winry about mechanics. She caught on instantly, which did not surprise him. She even surpassed him on more simplistic things like cars and printing presses. (Simplistic compared to rockets, that is.) Now Ed was beginning to get the sense that she wanted to produce some type of reaction from him with her superior skills. She would purposely show off her skills to him, doing the job perfectly before asking innocently if it was good. He wasn't quite sure what she was trying to get him to do. He would praise her, of course, and tell her she had done a fine job. But that didn't seem to make her as happy as he thought it would. He figured this had something to do with his terrible luck understanding women. Not that he had that much experience with them. Regardless, Ed couldn't shake the feeling that this was some form of flirting. Or maybe he was reading too much into it. Or wishing it was so.

Whatever the reason, he couldn't help but laugh. The Winry here was so straightforward it was frightening. He wasn't sure whether to be flattered by this or nervous that she was coming on to him. He certainly hadn't heard the end of it from Al. He was seconds away from locking his research partner in their unfinished rocket and attempting to launch it, finished or not.

Today was like all those other days. He stood beside his work desk, watching Winry work on something he had given her. She was having more trouble with it, considering it was about three steps ahead of a car engine. Her hair was tied back in a messy ponytail and she wore men's clothes that were pretty baggy on her slender figure. Men's clothes that were, in fact, Edward's. ("Where the hell did you get those!" "I borrowed them! Hope you don't mind." "Borrowed them! Without me knowing! ...Wait... YOU WERE IN MY ROOM?")

He discovered later that Winry knew where the extra key to their house was hidden (underneath the front door mat) and had picked out Ed's room easily due to it being such a mess. At first Ed had panicked at the thought of her in his room. He had worried she had found things that he'd rather not have her see. He was relieved to discover she hadn't poked around much. Although she had dug through his drawers to get the clothes. He wasn't sure if that was any better.

"Ouch!"

Winry's cry snapped Ed from his thoughts and he glanced at her quickly.

"What's wrong?" He asked instantly, seeing her bring her gloved hand to her chest, cradling it with the other.

"It shocked me," She whined.

"You're not suppose to touch the wires," Ed chuckled.

Winry glared at him. "I didn't do it on purpose!"

Ed merely smirked, taking her hand by the wrist. "Let's see it. These gloves are pretty thin, it might have burned through."

"I-It's fine," Winry said quickly, feeling her entire face grow hot.

"Maybe, but I don't trust these cheap things. I should have let you use mine," Ed sighed, mentally bashing himself because he hadn't thought of that until now.

He pulled the glove gently from her hand, tucking it underneath his arm before examining her slender hand carefully, checking every inch of it for burns. Winry just proceeded to blush more as she felt his finger tips brush gently over her palm. Soon she could no longer stand it and quickly pulled her hand away. Ed blinked, startled by the swift movement.

"I-It's fine," She muttered again, glancing toward the floor. "Really."

Ed suddenly realized he had probably made her uncomfortable. He rubbed the back of his head and smiled a bit sheepishly.

"Y-Yeah... sorry."

She shook her head, blonde hair bouncing and a light smile playing on her lips. Her cheeks were still red as she looked up at him, rubbing her hand he had touched absently with her other.

"Do you... always wear gloves?" She asked after a moment of staring at him.

Ed blinked at the rather sporadic question. "Huh?"

"Well... you always seem to have them on. I understand when you wear them for work or outside in the cold... but you wear them inside, too."

"It's... a personal reason, actually."

Winry looked surprised, as if she hadn't been expecting that answer. "Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

She trailed off as Ed held up a hand to silence her. He smiled. "No worries."

"Ed!"

Ed turned at the sound of his name to see Al hurrying toward him, looking worried. He stopped in front of him and his eyes nearly fell out of his head when he saw Winry.

"What's wrong?" Ed asked.

"Get her out of here!" Al hissed, gesturing wildly toward Winry.

"What? Why?"

"Well, it's"

"Have I come at a bad time, gentlemen?"

Ed turned sharply at the sound of the unfamiliar man's voice. He glanced past Al, who quickly moved out of his line of sight. Ed's eyes fell on a tall man with a perfect build. He wore expensive clothes and a tall hat, hiding the mess of dark hair underneath. Cole colored eyes flickered between the two boys before settling onto Winry, still sitting at the desk. He smiled at her in a way that made Ed instantly hate him. Winry shot to her feet, knocking the chair over with a resounding bang. Her green eyes were full of fear.

The man tipped his hat, removing his eyes from Winry. "I'm terribly sorry to barge in like this, but I was sent looking for Miss Diamond. I thought perhaps her friend Al would know where she was hiding, but I never imagined she would be here."

He dropped his hands to the wooden cane he held, the top laced with diamonds. Rings of gold and other expensive jewels glittered on his thick fingers. He turned his smile to Ed. The golden eyed boy tensed instantly at the gaze, breath catching in his throat and killing any reply in his mouth. This man's gaze and smile was familiar. But it was the bad kind of familiar that sent shivers down his spine and made his blood boil at the same time. A very terrible thought crossed his mind, but he refused to think about that now.

"We're very sorry, Mr. Conte," Al suddenly spoke up, taking a small step foreword. "If we had known you were looking for her, we would have sent her home."

The man smiled. "I know, Alphonso. I don't blame you. Time to leave, Winry."

Dark eyes turned to Winry, who had now hidden herself behind Ed. She clung so tightly to his flesh arm that it was beginning to go numb. It was clear she did not want to go anywhere with this man. Ed instinctively protected her, inching a bit more in front of her. His eyes narrowed at the man's face.

"Sorry, she's... needed here," He said slowly, ignoring Al's sudden panicked face.

But the man merely smiled more. "Ah, I don't believe I've ever gotten the chance to meet you... Edward, was it? Jake Conte. A pleasure to finally meet you."

He held out his hand in a friendly gesture, but Ed did not take it. His face set in stone, his eyes did not leave Jake's face. Jake arched an eyebrow at him and slowly lowered his hand, resting it atop his cane.

"Yes... well, what's this bothersome girl needed for? What could she possible do here that would be of any help to the two of you?"

Ed crossed his arms over his chest and jerked his head toward something on the work desk behind him. "A service a woman does for a man."

Al coughed at his choice of words. Had Winry been paying more attention to what he had gestured towards, she might not have jumped to the conclusion that his words were implying something else. She tightened her grip on his arm, but now it was from pure rage. Ed winced, but didn't look at her.

Jake blinked and then smirked. "Yes, of course. Good to see someone is getting use out of her. It's about time she acted like a woman. Bring her home when you're through with her. Good day."

He tipped his hat to Ed, then to Al, and left the hanger. There was a long pause as the three stared after him. As soon as the door slammed shut, a very hard and very solid object collided with the back of Ed's head. He swore loudly and his hands flew to clutch the spot throbbing in pain. Al turned in alarm at the two before an amused smirk crossed his face.

"What the hell was that for!" Ed cried, whirling around to Winry.

She stood shaking with rage, a wrench clenched in her hand so tightly that her knuckles had turned white.

"You... You... How could you say something like that?"

"Huh?" Was Ed's intelligent reply before the wrench was thrown at him. It missed by a hair and only because he had sidestepped out of the way. The tool crashed into the lamp that sat on the work desk.

"Winry!" Ed yelped. "What the hell?"

"How dare you say that! Say that I'm... I'm some kind of prostitute!" Winry shouted, stomping toward him as if ready to use her fist to beat him instead.

"What! I didn't say that!" Ed cried, staring at her incredulously.

"Of course not that exactly, but you implied it! You bastard!"

She raised a fist as if to strike him, but Ed was much faster. He caught her wrist as it came down and jerked her toward him. She blushed despite herself at how close their faces suddenly came.

"Okay, so I didn't use the best choice of words, but... that wasn't what I meant!" He cried. He used his other hand to point wildly toward the desk. Or, more specificity, the cups of tea sitting on the desk.

Winry's anger died and she blinked. "But... Al brought those to us..."

"Obviously, but that guy didn't know that!" Ed snapped, releasing her wrist. "I meant to imply that you were acting like a maid or something for us. Serving us, you know? That's what women are suppose to be good for, according to this society's standards, right? And he seemed like a man who followed that belief."

Winry opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Boy, had she jumped to the wrong conclusion. She dropped her eyes to the ground, but didn't get a chance to mutter an 'I'm sorry'. Al coughed loudly, directing Ed's attention onto him.

"Regardless, don't piss that guy off, Ed," He said.

"Why? I don't like that bastard," Ed growled, crossing his arms over his chest and fuming, obviously angry about the unprovoked attack to the back of his head.

"I hate him too, but 'that bastard' is the one funding our project."

"WHAT!"

"He's also my stepfather," Winry spoke up softly.

Ed's eyes widen and he glanced between the two incredulously. "And... you were planning on telling me this when?"

"Honestly, never. I didn't think you needed to know," Al admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm the one who negotiate the budget and things like that."

"But I still should have known," Ed grumbled before turning his eyes to Winry. "And he's your stepfather?"

Winry merely nodded. Ed sighed heavily and ran a gloved hand through his long bangs. There was a long pause in which the three simply stood there, all contemplating different things.

"Sorry, Ed," Al sighed after a moment.

Ed shook his head and gave Al a smile. "Don't be. It's alright."

Al looked relieved at Ed's reply and smiled back. He then suddenly snapped his fingers. "Ah, I never picked up lunch for us. Sorry, I'll be back."

The door shut with a resounding slam and Winry and Ed were left alone. Ed broke the awkward silence.

"Uhh... anyway, back to that part, huh?" He said, glancing toward the desk and scratching his head.

Winry watched him with a sad face, obviously feeling bad about exploding on him. However Ed didn't see her face, as his back was now turned to her. He began to clean the remaining pieces of the shattered lamp off the desk top. Suddenly two hands touched his arms and a weight pressed against his back. He froze as a gentle kiss suddenly brushed against the back of his neck. Heat flared on his cheeks and he gritted his teeth against the hormones that reacted to the innocent caress. Or maybe it hadn't been so innocent.

"I'm sorry," She suddenly whispered in his ear.

That did nothing for the control he was trying to get over his hormones and just when he thought he'd have to push her away, she stepped back. He let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding and slowly glanced over his shoulder, staring at Winry with half dazed eyes. His face was still red. What the hell had just happened?

His eyes fell on Winry, standing with her hands clasped behind her back and a small smile on her face, cheeks also a bit red.

"A kiss to take away the pain," She said shyly, dropping her green eyes to the ground.

Ed could only stare. Did she think he wouldn't realize that she had whacked him on the back of the head, but her kiss had been planted against the skin on his neck? The sensation had been frighteningly wonderful, but...

"R-Right," He managed to stammer out. "One hell of an apology..."

"But accepted, right?" Winry said, grinning mischievously at him.

Ed shifted uncomfortably and quickly turned back to the desk. "S-Sure. Now come here, you're not finished with this."

He was pushing her away. He knew his voice had probably sounded cold to her, but he couldn't help it. He couldn't love her. He didn't love her. He loved Winry. His Winry at home, who was (he hoped) still waiting for him. And the Winry he (he hoped again) would return to someday.

Jake Conte sighed a bit boredly, dark eyes staring at the man laying on the ally ground. Blood seeped from a fresh knife wound in his chest.

"A pity, but I need to do a little spying. You're life is nothing compared to my goal," He told the corpse coldly.

He tossed the knife from his hand and suddenly, Jake Conte no longer stood. Instead, he slowly transformed into the same man that lay dead before him. He reached down and plucked the name tag from the man's jacket. He read it with a bored expression.

"You're name is certainly dull. But it holds access to high places. I thank you."

A smirk spread on his face as he pinned the tag to his shirt.

You won't escape me this time, Hohenheim. And neither will your son.