Jessi: Ooh, what now! What now! I finally got it done, and I'm so proud of myself! -applause in the background-

But on a more serious note, tonight, I've been trying to deal with some problems of the past which have hurt me. If you must know more, go to my xanga.

Spearette: Oh, I'm sorry. I try to be as original as possible (that'd be...asap! Freakeh...) Ja. Al's a good friend to have. And he's so cute, too! (By cute, I mean adorable).

Ky0Kichi: Aw, you can't get enough of it? That makes me feel so loved, my dear Kuu-san. I LOVE YOU! -glomps- As you can truly see. -sweatdrops-

GoddessoftheWaters: Eh, actually it can (sorry, I didn't mean to prove that.-sweatdrops-) I'm sorry! I kindagot out of Fullmetal Alchemist! And once you're out, you're kind of out for good. Unless some miracle just happens to...happen.

Aquabreeze: I added you. But then again, this review of yours is...centuries old. I apologize. -sweatdrops- Yup-yup. You got a charrie. Don't worry. Be happy.

doggyxdemonx12: Yay! Your name's in it! -does a dance- ...okay then. I'm glad you're addicted to it (even though getting addicted to anything is not good); it makes my day when I hear that someone likes my work. Thank you!

animewolfgurl: Thanks! I'm sorry I didn't update soon like you wanted me to. I am so sorry! I had too much food on meh plate; and believe me, I'm usually not hungry (literally and figuratively). Thank you, though! -

EnvysGirlfriend: Yay! Someone else loves it too! -does the dance again- I dunno what was up with him and his bad mood. I was actually quite happy when I wrote it (when aren't I happy?). I dunno. I guess I wanted some..."weird twist". Yay! Faves! Whoot! -does the dance a third time- I love you all! -throws flowers to the fans-

Enjoy the chapter, and I'm sorry I didn't update quickly! These chapters take me forever to write! But if you're still with me and hanging tight, I thank you so much! I love you all!

"Ah!" I turned to face the afternoon sun. The sunshine felt good on my face.

Ed, Al, Shadow and I were on a dirt road on the outskirts of Resembool.

I sighed and smiled at Ed. "I didn't remember how beautiful this place was."

The area around us was full of life and color; mountains surrounded us on one side…fields were everywhere…a few trees and houses…

I was brought out of my thoughts when I bumped into Al, who was stopped in front of me.

"We're here," he said, turning to look at me, his eyes squinting.

The house we were standing in front of was quaint, two-story, yet kind of flat, and a pale yellowish color.

A girl ran out of a door. A pink bandana covered her blonde hair. She was also wearing a black tube-top, a purple-white pair of baggy pants, which had quite a few pockets on it, and a pair of sandals.

"Edward! Alphonse!" she yelled. "Weren't you just here two weeks ago?"

"Yup!" Ed shouted back. "I've got someone here for you to meet."

I, being shy and behind Al already, didn't have to move much to be completely hidden.

Ed saw me move, and pulled me out from behind Al. "This is Jessi Tripe," he said to the girl, whom I assumed to be Winry.

She ran from the door closer to us. "Nice to meet you, Jessi," Winry said, a welcoming grin on her face.

"It's nice to finally meet you, too, Winry," I said shyly.

"Finally…?" Winry repeated. "…You mean, I have a fan! My automail is finally being respected widely, as it should be!" She jumped up and down.

"Uh…" I stared at her, an eyebrow of mine raised. "Actually, Ed told me about you, Winry. I'm just saying, it's a pleasure to finally meet you, after all of the things Ed and Al told me about you.

She stopped jumping and looked at Ed. "What did you tell her about me?"

Ed shrugged. "Just that you're a mechanic and you make automail. And about Aunt Pinako and Den."

"Did you tell her that I'm the best mechanic in the world!" Winry half-asked, half-yelled.

I rolled my eyes. When Al said she was obsessed with automail, he meant it.

"Yes, he did," I said, a little less shyly. I felt that Winry was a little like me—if Ed said something he wasn't supposed to, he'd get hurt—so if he had said no, Ed would probably have gotten pretty badly injured. There was just this feeling, like tension or something, in the air that made me think that way.

Winry smiled. "Then you've seen Ed's automail?"

I blushed, remembering the night when…well…you know… "Yeah. I haven't seen his leg, though. Just his arm." And quite frankly, I don't want to, I thought, thinking of what could happen after I saw it. Well, maybe…

I was snapped out of my thoughts when a short, old woman walked out of the door Winry had come through. She was followed by a dog with an automail front-left leg.

"What are you two doing back so soon?" asked the old woman.

"Well, you see—" Al was interrupted by me.

"Hello!" I said cheerfully. "I'm Jessi Tripe. I've been traveling with Ed and Al for…" I counted in my head "…almost two weeks! I'm also Ed's girlfriend."

"Girlfriend, huh?" Winry asked, looking at Ed with an evil glare on her face.

"Uh…yeah!" said Ed, sweat-dropping.

Winry moved closer to him and slapped him. "Why didn't you call and tell me! I'll kick your ass!"

"No! I jumped in front of him, holding my arms out to protect him. "Please don't hurt him, Winry."

She lowered her hand and looked at me lovingly. "Ed, she is so cute!" Winry grabbed me and hugged me. "You made a good pick!"

Ah… so she thinks I'm cute, huh? I smiled. I can probably take advantage of this.

"How old are you?" she asked, smiling at me.

"Thirteen."

Her eyes grew wide. "Edward!" she said, turning to Ed. "Molesting young girls is against the law!"

"I'm only two years younger than him," I said, turning around and wrapping my arms around his neck. "Miss Winry."

Winry squealed. "Did you hear that, Ed? She called me 'Miss Winry'!"

"Yeah, I heard." Ed smiled at me, patting me on the head.

"Heh," Al said. I glanced behind Ed at him; the light from the eye-holes were squinting. "Do you like it here, Jessi?"

I nodded. "It's really nice, especially Miss Winry."

The old woman, who had been forgotten for the moment, walked up to us. "It's nice to meet you, Jessi. I'm Pinako Rockbell."

"Nice to meet you, too, Mrs. Rockbell." I let go of Ed and walked over to Mrs. Rockbell and shook her hand. I saw that she had a corncob pipe in her mouth, and that she wore tiny glasses.

The dog followed her, his automail leg clanking on the ground. He looked at Shadow and bowed his head.

I glanced at him. "That's a smart dog. Is that Den?"

Winry smiled as she bent down to pet him. "Uh-huh!" She looked at Shadow. "Is that your dog?"

"Yup." I watched as Shadow bowed to Den. "His name's Shadow." Hm… I thought. I should probably get to know Winry better.

"Miss Winry," I said, "do you wanna go for a walk?"

She smiled and hugged me again. "Of course." She let go and grabbed my hand, leading me down a path.

I glanced back at Ed. "See ya later!"

He smiled and looked up at Al. "I hope she comes back alive."

Al laughed. "Yeah."

"So, Miss Winry, you like automail?" I asked, arms behind my head.

"Sure do!" Winry smiled at me. "And you like Ed."

I nodded. "He's great; he's smart, cute, funny, and he's totally devoted to Al." I sighed happily. "Miss Winry…can I ask you about Ed and Al?"

She looked at me, a concerned look on her face. "Go ahead."

"Well…were you there when they tried bringing their mom back?"

"Yeah…" Winry sighed and stared at the ground. "Well…I wasn't at their house, but… Al carried Ed to our house, and I didn't even recognize him, since he was already in the armor." She paused, then continued on. "Ed would have died from blood loss; his right arm, up to the shoulder, and his left leg, from the knee down, were gone. His blood was splattered all over Al and himself.

"Al came to us on his knees, begging for Grandma and me to save him. We did wrap up his wounds, but he still didn't have any limbs. So when he healed up, we gave him automail," Winry continued.

I followed her stare at the ground. I hadn't known that part of the story, and ended up feeling slightly bad for him.

I looked up at Winry. "But…they're okay, now, aren't they?"

She looked back at me and smiled. "Of course! You've seen them most last; you should know, Jessi," she said, pulling me into a quick hug.

"Yeah. I guess so." I looked up as a breeze came our way, kicking up our hair slightly. "Resembool is truly beautiful, Miss Winry. You're lucky to live here."

Winry let go of me and took my hand. "Let's get back, shall we?"

When we got back, we found Ed sitting on the railing on the porch, his back toward us. He was swinging his feet and staring up at the slightly purple sky. Al was sitting on the steps, apparently waiting for us. "Brother, they're back!"

Ed glanced over his shoulder and smiled as he jumped off the railing.

Winry loosened her grip on my hand, basically telling me to join him.

I looked up at her to find she had a smile on her face, which made me smile too. I ran toward the boys and up the steps, throwing my arms around Ed's waist, tears stinging my eyes. He noticed before I hid my face in his shoulder.

"What's wrong, Jessi?" he asked, moving a couple strands of hair away from my face.

"I never knew you had to go through so much, just to try and get your mom back," I murmured between little sobs.

Al walked over to us and patted my head. "Don't worry about it, Jessi. What's done is done; we can't change the past."

I nodded as they led me in the house, Winry behind them.

Inside, dinner was on the table. Mrs. Rockbell was waiting patiently for us, a cunning smile on her face. Shadow and Den were eating next to each other, out of separate bowls. We all took a seat at the table and started eating, except for Al, who began to polish his helmet.

"Thank you, Mrs. Rockbell," I said, bowing my head slightly. "The food's awesome!"

Mrs. Rockbell smiled again. "Well, thank you, Jessi, for coming here and bringing back Ed and Al, even though they weren't here that long ago."

I smiled back and laid my head on Ed's shoulder, making him jump and drop his fork. I giggled as he picked it back up and began eating again.

Al laughed too, and nudged his brother in the side.

"She really loves you, Ed," Winry said, resting her cheek on her palm. "And it's so cute!" she squealed again. I was about to ask if I really was as cute as she said.

Later that night, as the evening progressed, Ed began to feel drowsy. He laid down on a couch and quickly dozed off.

I sat down on a free space of the couch, near his head, and began stroking some of the loose locks of his hair.

Winry sat down on my other side. "You really do love him, don't you, Jessi?"

I nodded and smiled. "Him, Shadow and Al are the only things I have now. Well…you too!"

"Thanks," Winry said, giving me a quick hug. "I can see why Ed likes you. You're pretty, smart, and most of all…" She smiled again. "From what I've seen, you're cheerful and spirit-lifting."

I blushed at this.

"Those boys need their spirits lifted once in a while," Winry continued. "Finding the Philosopher's Stone, and using it to turn their bodies back to normal, is going to take a lot of work."

"Hey, Miss Winry?" I asked, looking at Ed's peaceful face. "Could you get two blankets and a small mattress or something like it?"

Her eyes went slightly wide at this, but she nodded and stood up, returning a few minutes later with the items that I requested. "You're goin' to bed?"

"Yeah." I began arranging the mattress on the floor next to the couch.

"Okay…Night." She left the room.

A few minutes later, Al came into the room.

"Hey, Al. Where've you been?" I asked, laying a blanket over Ed.

"Out visiting our mother," Al answered simply. "I think it'd be good for Ed to go see her," he said, hinting in his voice.

I nodded and smiled again. "Okay, Al! Thanks!" I leaned over Ed and planted a soft kiss on his forehead. "Ed…" I murmured. "I wanna go meet your mom."

His eyes opened slowly as he looked up at me. He reached up and pulled my head down into a passionate kiss on the lips.

I pulled away and giggled at Al, who, like me, hadn't been expecting that. "So, will you take me?"

"Of course. Ed pulled himself into a sitting position and stretched. He threw the blanket off of him. "Ah, that was a good nap." He put an arm around my waist and pulled me closer to him, making me giggle again.

"Thank you." I rested my cheek on his shoulder and sighed happily. I waited a couple of seconds before standing up and grabbing Ed's hand, pulling him up. "Well, come on, slow poke!" Upon saying this, I dragged him past Al and out the door.

"So, what was she like?" I asked quietly. I didn't want to bring up any memories of his mother and make him cry. But the thing was, Ed wasn't the kind of guy who would do that. I smiled a little at the idiot.

Ed smiled, staring up at the night sky. "Mom was the most kind person in the world. Until I met you, of course." He flashed me a grin, squeezing my hand. "The thing I remember most about her are her stews, even though Al say it tasted like milk."

I laughed and squeezed his hand back. "Milk, huh?" I glanced out at the fields coming up and spotted a bunch of headstones. "Ed, is that it?"

"Yup, sure is," he said, squinting in the faint moonlight. We kept walking, Ed pulling me now, until we got to the cemetery. He stopped in front of a headstone that said "Trisha Elric".

I knelt down and ran my hand over the lettering. "So…this is where your mother is buried?" I asked softly.

"Yup."

We stood in silence for a while. I don't know what Ed was thinking about, but I was lost in thoughts about my dead sisters, mother and father, and about Will. Had I really seen him back in Central? I hoped so; I didn't want to be the only survivor of my family.

"Ready to go yet?" Ed asked, pulling me up.

I nodded and leaned on his shoulder as he slipped a hand around my waist, steering me back to the Rockbell's home.

We entered the house to see Den and Shadow asleep next to each other near the couch and mattress. The light in the room was also on.

"So, are you gonna sleep out here, Ed?" I asked, sitting on the mattress. I kicked off my boots and took off my jacket, tossing them both onto the floor.

"Yeah." He followed suit, dropping his cloak and boots next to mine. He then sat on the couch and sighed.

I stood up and sat next to him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Ed smiled at me and pulled me into a passionate kiss, surprising the heck out of me. He licked at the bottom lip, asking to entrance to my mouth. I hesitantly opened my mouth and he began to explore it.

H pulled away from me a couple minutes later, a grin on his face. "We could get to sleep. I bet it's already past midnight."

I nodded slowly, still a bit shocked from Ed's kiss. I kissed him quickly on the cheek and sat down again on the mattress. "G'night, Ed," I said, staring up at him.

"Good night, Jessi," Ed said, ruffling my hair as we both laid down.

I lay awake from a long time, thinking about family and death, before I actually fell into a fitful sleep, think about what was to come in my life.

Jessi: And again, I thank you all for being patient (or even if you weren't patient. -sweatdrop-) and hanging tight! I applaud you! -cheers and clapping can be heard loudly in the background- See? Y'all have your own fans! The fans have fans! Sweet...

R&R!