Lumina- Quick updates for everyone! I spent an hour or two for a few nights figuring out how to phrase this chapter while listening to random music (Mostly Korn) on my cd Player, and finally got it perfect.

Disclaimer- I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or any of its characters. If I did, I'd be rich.

Chapter 8- Confessions

It was quiet outside. Ed and Al were lucky for that much. Alphonse had led his older brother to a spot he thought would suite the upcoming conversation well, which meant they would discuss things on their usual hill. The brothers sat down beside each other, just as they had when they were younger, this matter no less important than the one about their father all of those years ago.

"So, did you get it?" Al asked, looking at Ed questioningly. Ed nodded, trying to hold back the beaming smile that wanted to make its way onto his face. "Can... Can I see it?"

"Sure..." Edward reached into his trench pocket, pulling out the item that had been bothering him when he'd had a conversation with Roy on the train. It was encased; obviously it held a high value. He opened it. A diamond ring, somewhat clear and very expensive looking graced the inside of the case, shining in all its brilliant glory and pointing out the obvious. Ed had been planning to propose to Winry. "I hope she likes it..."

"I'm positive she will," Al replied, staring at the ring. "Just think of how happy she's going to be..."

"You really think so?" Ed asked, closing the case and carefully placing it back inside his pocket. Al nodded, adding a smile so as not to get Ed discouraged. "When do you think I should ask her?" Alphonse opened his mouth, about to speak, but Ed stopped him. "Could you talk to her for me first? Maybe tell her I need to talk to her?"

"Sure," Al answered, pushing himself up off the ground.

"Hey Al..." Edward waited until he had his brother's full attention, meaning he was looking directly at him, before adding the next part. "You really are the best brother ever." Al smiled.

"You too, brother." That was the way their conversation ended. Al stood up and walked into the house to find Winry, and Ed followed closely behind, needing some time alone for a while. Al had obviously been in beliefs that he and Ed had been alone while talking about such personal affairs, but he had been wrong. Very wrong indeed. A sparrow chirped in a nearby tree, glaring with amethyst eyes at the retreating backs of the Elric brothers before fluttering down to earth, where a strange light engulfed it. Standing in its place, was Envy.

"I'll give him a 'best brother ever,'" Envy growled, planning his next move. Things were getting ever so difficult working on such a large project without Wrath's help. Errors were easy to make, but hard to fix, and he couldn't afford to miss this oppurtunity.

---

"I was just telling Alphonse how this place really hasn't changed much," Izumi explained to the blond femail next to her. "I expect you've taken good care of those two over the years, kept them in line?" Winry smiled. She'd also taken to treating Izumi as someone to look up to, so she was always polite.

"Well, I couldn't say I've done all the work around here. They take care of me, too, especially Ed. Before now, I never realized he had as much of a kind side to him as he does. Al helps around the house a lot. In such a big house, it would be so hard to take care of everything all by myself."

"It sounds like you really appreciate having them around. That's good to hear." Winry nodded. What would things be like if she didn't have the Elrics around to help her out?

"I guess I can't even or don't want to think of how different life would be without having those two around." Winry suddenly found herself wanting to change the subject. "So Miss Izumi, if you don't mind my asking... Why are you here? It couldn't just be to visit those two. I know you and Al keep in touch regularly." Izumi shifted her weight to the right side of her body, then back to the left as she tried to think of something to say. "It's Wrath, isn't it?"

"I..." She was spared the trouble of having to answer though, as Al pushed the front door open and walked over to where Izumi and Winry were standing.

"Sorry to interrupt you guys," Al said, his manners never lacking, especially since his teacher was standing right in front of him. "But..." He turned to Izumi, giving her an apologetic look. "I really need to discuss some important issues with Winry right now. Would that be okay?" Izumi nodded as she gazed out the window, staring at the setting sun as she did so.

"That's fine. I'm going to go lay down for a bit anyway. Wake me up for dinner." Winry found herself nodding when Izumi left the room and made her way upstairs; then she turned to Al, wondering exactly what was so important that he would interrupt his teacher's conversation the way he just had. An explanation never came, however, and Winry was lost in confusion.

"Winry, can we just talk for a little while? I really missed the two of you while you were gone."

"Sure, Al, whatever you want," Winry replied, smiling sweetly so as not to sound rude. Alphonse led her around to the back of the house, where there was an absolutely gorgeous veiw of the sunset. Al seemed to be enjoying himself, but Winry was still confused. "So what exactly is this about?" Al looked at her, now he too with a confused expression.

"Nothing really. I was just wondering how you felt about Ed." Winry was horror struck. She could've sworn she felt her heart skip a few beats as some of the recent events played across her mind. Was Al on to the fact she was pregnant?

No, he couldn't be. It had only been a day. Her stomach hadn't gotten any larger, so it was impossible to tell. Or had it really only been a day? She had morning sickness. You wouldn't have morning sickness until about four months after you wre pregnant, which must have meant this child was the result of her and Ed having sex about four months back. And then she looked down and noticed that maybe her stomach was gettin ga little big. Winry still wasn't even sure if that was the subject Al was on at the moment, so she decided to play stupid.

"What do you mean?" She hoped she hadn't looked too dumbstruck when she'd asked that question, but it was too late now.

Al, on the other hand, was trying to figure out exactly how to give Winry a hint concerning the proposal without actually telling her what Ed planned on doing. "Well, I guess..." He paused, unsure whether his next sentence would mean anything or not. "I guess I've just noticed something different about you Winry. Something very different." Now Winry was sure, sure Al had indeed figured out the almost obvious. She was having trouble thinking of what to say next, growing so furstrated at her current condition that as Al looked at her, the tears slowly began to roll down and off her face. Al was perplexed. Had he said something wrong? "Winry, what's..."

But before he had finished, Winry lunged forward, wrapping her arms around him and burrying her head in his right shoulder in an attempt to hold herself up, which she was having trouble doing because she was sobbing so hard.

"Please don't tell Ed! If you tell him I'm pregnant, he'll kill me!" Winry choked out between sobs as Al's mind tried to register what he'd just heard.

"Winry, you're... Pregnant?" The blond girl finally brought her head back up and nodded, wondering what would happen to her now. "That's wonderful! I'm sure Ed will be so happy to hear! You should go tell him, right away..."

"No!" Winry's voice broke into Al's excitement, officially bringing him back down to earth. "He'll kill me!"

"Are you kidding me! He'd be pleased! I can't understand why you think he'd get so angry. What are you worried about?" He'd brought up a good point. Why exactly was Winry so worried? She herself was unsure. It was true that Edward had been uncommonly nice to her on the train, but how long could that last for? "You have to tell him sometime, and I think tonight would be one of your greatest oppurtunities." Al paused, seeing how uncomfortable Winry looked while she was standing there. "Unless of course you want me to tell him for you."

"No, Al. That's alright." Al telling Ed would be even worse than her just doing it herself. She didn't know how angry he would get, and decided Al probably valued his life a lot right now.

"Then it's settled! You can tell him after dinner!"

---

Winry sat at the table that night, having barely touched her food, and stared at Ed, unwillingly trying to force her mind to come up with some excuse for being pregnant. To tell the truth, she didn't even want to think about the predicament she was in. She just couldn't seem to understand that none of this was even her fault to begin with.

Sure, she was already frightened of what the results were going to be, and to make matters worse, Al kept smiling at her, as though expecting something great to happen. Winry just figured he was out of his mind. "So teacher..." Al addressed Izumi, who had just now finished eating. "Didn't you want to see the water damange in the basement that last huge store caused us?" Much to Winry's growing terror, Izumi nodded and stood up, following her young apprentice out of the room. This left only Ed and Winry sitting in the room next to each other.

"Now that they left, want to go do something else?" Winry nodded, not knowing what else to do at the moment. It was now or never... Though never sounded a lot better to her.

Ed led her outside, to the exact same spot she'd been standing at with Al before. He hadn't said anything yet. This worried Winry that maybe he was about to pull a gun on her or something, and then she began to wonder if maybe Al had already told him. She tried to stay calm as Ed finally spoke to her. "Winry, I feel kinda bad right now..." Her head snapped imediately to the left, since Winry was now wondering exactly what Ed was talking about. "I heard you crying about something in a dream while I was asleep earlier, and I didn't do anything about it."

"It wasn't a dream..." Now it was Ed's turn to stare at her. Winry was losing her confidence. She was beginning to feel guilty, beginning to realize that since this was Ed's child, he had a right to know...

"Why were you upset?" Ed asked, looking confused. There was merely a thumping sound as Winry sank onto the ground, miserably. A few tears hit the grass before she even began to make her confession. She was a little hesitant at first, but then it all came out. Every little bit.

"Ed, please don't get angry with me, but I, I'm..." Ed knelt down next to her, patiently waiting for her to finish her sentence. "I'm pregnant with your child and it's all my fault!" Winry wailed, waiting to be struck across the face by automail. The force never came, but Ed's calming and obviously happy voice did. He stood up, grabbed her arm, and lifted her off the ground. "What... What are you doing?"

"You know Winry, that's good, because I've been waiting to ask you this for as long as I can remember..." Edward knelt back down, reaching into his pocket, just as he had done earlier that day when he'd shown his younger brother, and pulled out the ring. "Winry, will you marry me?"

She stood there for a few minutes, completely dumbstruck by Ed's last sentence. Had he really just proposed to her, after the news she'd thought was horrible? Now more tears were free flowing from her eyes, but these were in happiness, and also relief. She knelt down, and threw her arms around him. "Of course I will..." Ed returned the embrace, feeling better about life than he ever had before.

Lumina- Nice and long for everyone! I had fun with this chapter. Alright, I used the four month pregnancy thing to try and cover up for a mistake I made a few chapters back, so I hope that works... I can understand if it doesn't. I was going to try to incorporate something else into this chapter, but realized it wouldn't work, so I'll put it in a later chapter. Reviews please! (No reviews, no new chappies!)