Hey everyone, it's me. I've noticed there haven't really been a lot of reviews lately. Now, I'm not going to be like some of the authors that threaten to withhold chapters until a certain number of reviews are submitted, because that just kind of defeats the purpose of even writing a story. But, I would like to hear what my fellow FMA fans think of this. Even if it's a few words, I would like to know how I'm doing.

(Review or I won't post the next thirty chapters! No…just kidding….)

So, without further adieu, here's the next chapter:

Chapter Seven

A few months passed since Winry completed her alchemy exam; she had already come back successful from her few simple assignments. Most of the attitudes from the enlisted men hadn't diminished, but Winry had finally learned to ignore them.

After returning early one morning from her latest assignment, Winry was slightly upset to hear that Edward and Alphonse were still away on their assignment, though they should be arriving back sometime that day or the next. Stretching out on her bed, she could see the morning sun still shining through her window onto her face. Tired, but knowing she couldn't sleep with the sun directly on her, the young alchemist got up from her bed. She changed from her sleeping outfit into a pair of black jeans and green tank top. Out of habit she put her hair up in a matching green bandana before grabbing her coat and gloves, and heading out the door.

In the cafeteria, Winry waited in line to get some fresh fruit for breakfast, then headed out to sit underneath her favorite tree. She quickly finished her food and leaned back to relax, closing her eyes as the sun warmed her body.

Within a few minutes of her quiet happiness, Winry heard someone slowly approach followed by a shadow that blocked out her precious sun.

"Well, I haven't seen you around here in awhile," came a voice from the shadow. Winry opened her eyes to see it was William standing before her in plainclothes. He was wearing a pair of khaki cargo pants and a white tank top with an unbuttoned blue shirt over it. "Well, they must have changed the uniform code while I was gone," Winry joked as she arched an eyebrow.

Confused, William looked down and realized it was his clothes she was referring to. "I wish," he laughed. "I'm off today, and we're allowed to wear regular clothes around here when off duty." He looked down at the young girl and smiled at her, "Something tells me you're also off duty today as well."
She nodded, "Yeah, I don't have to give my report of the last assignment until tomorrow, but since I've got everything done for it already I decided to come out here and soak up a little sun."

"Well, if you're interested, I can show you around some of the city like I promised a few months ago…"

"Oh, no…That's quite all right," Winry said while she rubbed her arms, "I don't want to be of any inconvenien-"

"There's no way you would be an inconvenience," William interrupted. Extending a hand to help her up he continued, "Please, I insist…"

Winry looked at the offered hand, then back up again to William's face. She genuinely felt he meant her no harm and was just being nice. "Okay," she finally agreed and took his outstretched hand. He helped her up, and after grabbing her items from the ground; the two went to explore the city.

Winry had to admit to herself that the day had gone better than she thought it would have. William and she went to the marketplace to scope out the merchandise and see if anything sparked their interest. Then, at lunch, they bought some food from one of the small roadside vendors and took it to a nearby park. There they sat munching on hamburgers while watching children run and play carefree in the grass. They sat there under the sun for an hour or so while she talked about various things such as Rizenbul and her first few assignments. It didn't come across as being odd to the girl that he would rather have listened to her talk. He didn't go much into his past or family much. After awhile, he took her to a section of the town that catered to automail needs. There were many mechanics willing to fix problems in peoples' limbs, while others sold accessories. Winry was ecstatic as she browsed through all of the various parts, and picking out a few that she may need in the future.

Towards the evening, William could see the younger girl was getting tired, so he suggested they head back to Central and drop off her purchases, then head to dinner at the cafeteria. She agreed and he followed Winry to her room to stow away the bags that held the 'few' parts she bought from the automail shops. William sat on her bed while she arranged the parts on the bookcase. Noticing the pictures on her nightstand, he picked up the one of her parents and commented, "So how does your mother and father feel about their beautiful daughter becoming a rough-and-tough state alchemist at such a young age?"

William saw Winry pause for a few moments before continuing her arrangement. "If they were still alive, I'd hope they'd be proud of me."

"I'm sorry," He responded after a moment. "I didn't know…"

Winry turned around and walked over to William. Gently, she removed the picture from his hands and replaced it on the nightstand. "Don't worry, it happened a long time ago. But…Since I'm done putting my parts away, are you ready to get some food?"

Smiling apologetically, William nodded his head and joined her on the walk to the cafeteria.

"Hey look! It's Edward! It looks like he just got back from his last assignment, so let's go sit with him…"

Winry drug William and their trays (he insisted on carrying hers) over to the almost empty table. Plopping herself down, she noticed the surprised Edward putting the book he was reading on the seat next to him. After a moment he realized who it was and smiled at her, "Hey Winry, it looks like you survived another one…"

"As if you thought I couldn't?" she teased back. She turned around and saw William standing behind her with the two trays and jumped up to help him. "Sorry! It looked easier to carry than that!" She apologized as she helped him set his food down on the table across from Ed. She turned back to introduce her friend, "Edward, this is William. He's a part of the military here at Central."

Taking her coat and gloves off, she placed them on the seat next to Ed and sat down. "Since I don't have to give my report until tomorrow, and he was off today, he decided to show me around the city." She began to cut her food while talking. "There were a lot of cool places around there, and so were all the automail shops! Edward there were so many of them with all these fine tools and gadgets, I didn't know where to start! And finally…Hey, what's wrong?"

Winry had looked up and noticed Ed and William were staring at each other, and neither with a pleasant expression. "Um, is there something I missed here?" William dropped his looked and smiled at his new friend, "No, nothing's wrong. I think we mistook each other for someone else." Seeing the confusion written on the girl's face he continued, "Actually, Winry. I think all the excitement we had today wore me out, so I'm gonna head back to my room and go to bed. I have to be up early tomorrow." He stood up and began to gather his stuff. "Maybe the next time we're off we can tour some more of the city?" She nodded and stood up to hug her new friend. As he hugged her, William whispered in her ear, "We can go wherever you want next time, okay?"

Before he could get a response, he released her from the hug and grabbed his stuff before leaving the cafeteria. Winry still stood and looked to where her friend retreated. Turning back to Edward, Winry questioned, "Um, Ed? What just happened? That's not a normal guy-thing is it?"

"I don't like him."

Surprised at his sudden answer, Winry sat back down in her seat and stared at her friend. "What? What do you mean you don't like him? You only met him for what, like two minutes?" Edward continued to stare where William exited the room. Slowly he brought his eyes over to meet hers.

"I said, I don't like him."

"Okay, I got that much. What I'm asking is, why?"

He couldn't believe she didn't know what happened within the last few minutes. She was too busy cutting her food and talking that she didn't see a damn thing. The thought still sent chills down his spine. "Look, I don't know exactly what it is, but I don't think he's good to hang around." Winry crossed her arms in defiance, "And why not?"

Seeing the silent contemplation running through the boy's mind, Winry became too impatient to wait any longer. She began to stand up and gather her things to leave, when she felt a hand grab her arm. Looking back, she no longer saw the anger in his eyes. Maybe he's just cranky from his last assignment, that's why he's acting all weird, Winry thought to herself. She sat back down and sighed, but decided to listen to what he had to say.

Winry had not seen what happened at the table while she was talking. William seemed all cheery at first when she sat down, but the moment she began talking he turned to Edward and glared at him. It almost seemed like he was a different person at that moment. William, knowing Ed was watching him, looked back at Winry with the same look, but smiled slightly. Then, turning back to Edward, he almost seemed to silently chuckle to himself. Edward didn't know what all the looks were about, but knew he didn't like them one bit. Neither of them apparently knew the true agenda for this soldier, and Edward was determined to find out.

"Winry, just promise me you'll be careful around this town. Central is a lot bigger and more dangerous than Rizembul…" Sighing, Winry crossed her hands over her chest and nodded. "There's just something not right about that guy. Be careful around him."

Winry sighed again, "Let's just drop it. You both are giving me a headache." She pushed her food away from her, "I'm not even hungry anymore. Oh well, at least it'll mean I'll get a good breakfast before giving my report tomorrow…"

"How did it go anyway?"

"Weeeelllll…I was going to tell you both about it before all that weirdness happened. But anyway," Winry huffed as she sat her chin on both of her palms. "I don't think the Colonel is taking me seriously. These few assignments have been so simple. I've just been mainly catching weak criminals." Trying to stifle a yawn, she continued, "It's like he doesn't want to let a girl be in a real mission…"

"Maybe he's just testing you to see how you would do in a real mission," said Edward after a moment.

Sighing to herself, Winry replied, "Yeah, I guess you're right. I just wonder when it will be." Looking over to Ed, Winry watched him turn his head down to stare blankly at his food. "Well? How did yours go? Did you find anything else out on the stone?"

The girl knew the answer by his silence and the hard stare into the table. "Don't worry, Edward. You'll find out something eventually—"

"Eventually is too long!" Ed yelled as he banged his fists against the table. "It's already been three years and we're still no closer! Every time we get so close, but then something happens and we have to start at square one again…" Ed looked around to see a few people in the cafeteria turn to look at his outburst. Turning back towards his friend, he felt bad for yelling. "I'm sorry, Winry," he apologized after seeing her hurt look, "It's just difficult having to see him go through all of this."

Ed felt Winry place her hand on his forearm, and unconsciously placed his own hand on top of hers. "It's okay," she said soothingly, "Everything will work out…"

"Yeah," he replied, "I hope you're right." Looking down, he blushed and pulled his hand away. "It is getting late though, and you should get some rest. You have to give your report in the morning, right?"

Winry nodded her head. It was getting to be pretty late, and she had been up the previous night traveling back to Central. Rubbing her eyes, the teenager tried to stifle a yawn. Edward smiled as he stood up and began to clear the table of both their trays.

"Here," he said as he picked up the stacked trays and his book, "Let's dump this and I'll walk you back to your room. You wouldn't want to fall asleep while walking, would you?" Smiling at her friend's joke, Winry replied, "okay, fine."

The two teenagers began their walk back to Winry's room. Fortunately, hers wasn't too far down the hall from his own. Winry tried to contain yet another yawn as she fumbled with the door key in her hand. Seeing the girl have so much trouble due to her constant yawning, Edward took the key from her just as she brought her hand up to cover another one. As soon as he opened the door, Winry stumbled into her room and collapsed on her bed. Hugging her pillow, the girl relaxed and began to fall asleep on top of her sheets. Sighing at his friend's antics, he walked into the room and closed the door behind him.

"Are you gonna be okay now?" he asked Winry, as he leaned against her wall.

"Mm-hmm," the girl mumbled in her half-asleep state. Edward looked and realized she was still in the clothes she had worn all day, including her boots. Sighing, he walked over to the bed and sat on the end by her feet. He untied the girl's boots as quietly and gently as he could, so as not to wake her. Taking off her last boot, Edward noticed the large amount of metal attached to the shoe, and realized this helped her when she wanted to levitate in the air; like she did at the exam. He cautiously took off her gloves and bandana, and was relieved that the girl stayed asleep the entire time. Since there was no way he was going to try and change the rest of her clothes, Ed decided to let her sleep in what she was wearing. Carefully, he rolled her over and worked the sheets out from under her, then covered her slim form with the thin sheets. Winry continued to sleep, lying on her stomach with the pillow between her face and arm. Ed placed his hand on her left arm, which was facing up, and felt its cold metal.

As he frowned to himself, which he often did when thinking about Winry having automail, a row of pictures that sat on her nightstand caught his eye. Kneeling in front of the small table, he recognized the picture of her parents. Paying his silent respect, he picked up the one directly next to it.

Edward studied this picture intently. It looked somewhat familiar to him, but he couldn't quite place it. Winry and he were sitting on a hill facing the river by their houses. She had her head leaning on his shoulder, while he had his arm around her waist. That's…I remember this… he thought to himself. Then he remembered Alphonse had snuck up and taken the picture of his friends, causing Ed to chase his younger brother back to the house. Before he could retrieve the photo, Al had already hid the camera. Chuckling silently, Edward couldn't believe he had been so shy and bashful when it came to the girl. Gently, he placed the picture back on the table and turned back to the bed to look at Winry.

She looks so peaceful right now. Like nothing could bother her. If only she could stay that peaceful. If only none of this would have happened…

The teen was torn from his thoughts as Winry began curling her shivering body into a ball to get warmer. Even with her coat and jeans, along with those sheets, she was still got cold easily. Ed stood up silently and took his coat off, then laid it on top of the sleeping girl. After a few moments, he heard a soft sigh as the girl uncurled somewhat and her hands reached out from under the sheet to pull the coat closer to her face.

"Ed…ward…" he heard a small voice from the sleeping girl. He smiled and placed his hand on her shoulder, leaning closer to her sleeping form. "Get some sleep, I'll see you in the morning…" he whispered into her ear. Walking towards the door, he quietly opened it, trying not to wake her. Edward exited her room, but before he closed the door, he stuck his head back in to get one more look at her sleeping form. Finally, he gently closed the door, and headed back to his room to get some well-deserved rest.