Disclaimer: I don't own FMA or characters or anything that is included in the show, movie, or manga!

A/N: I'm back and it feels good too! Since school is no longer a obstacle, writing and actually finishing this story shouldn't be either. Mind, it's not a hassle to write or anything (b/c I love it!) but staying focused on a plot and where a story's going was difficult. That's why many of them never reached completion or close to it… except one of them b/c that, too, was written during the summer and unfortunately never reached completion b/c I was still a amateur. I still, on some accounts, count myself as a amateur, but I have become quite well adapt to coming up with new material. Writer's Block is always a kick in the head, but hey, happens to the best of us, right? Anyway, this is my first FMA fanfic and I am officially COMPLETED with the story! All I have to do is upload and maybe fix and rearrange some things but in all accounts, it's done! I am happy at myself!

In truth, though, it's the reviewers that keep me going! wipes tear on cheek Really, though, it's you guys that make staying focused so easy.

Chapter One: I Promise

A loud, rumbling and undulating thunderclap reverberated off the walls and windows of the Rockbell house, making Winry take in a sharp breath and momentarily shoving her out of her disheveled thoughts. She gave a shaky sigh and brought her elbows to rest on the wooden table where she sat and then letting her hands cradle the sides of her face, where she could feel blood flowing through he finger tips and temples. Her eyes stayed focus on a certain spot in the wall, not really seeing anything at all. Or rather, she didn't care to see it.

She had let Him go; let him get up and leave. As if she had a real say in the matter at all, but she couldn't help but think if she had just held on to him long enough, he'd give up and stay, no thought that it could be selfish or not.

Winry let out another sigh and looked down at the full glass of water that occupied the space where He had sat not a moment ago. The water within the glass laughed as another growling thunderclap tickled the glass and vibrated the picture that hung on the wall. He had left her and the full glass behind, neither of them knowing when he'd return the way he had almost three weeks ago; injured, sick and slightly delusional… After she had found Him again, she didn't think that she'd have to let Him leave again, and eventually, as a week passed, she realized he really didn't have anything to drive him away… Besides His brother…

Ed said he had things to do… Sure, she knew he had unfinished business, he always did and will, but what troubled her was how distant he seemed… and that Ed was supposedly dead. That's what was suggested, but she never believed it, not even when Major Armstrong had contacted her and told her to meet him at the train station… Where she came face-to-face with a eleven year old Alphonse Elric, flesh and blood. But no Edward… not for almost three years after she took the young Al to the Rockbell house to live. Al hadn't remembered anything of his and Ed's adventures… She believed that was probably best for Al didn't need that.

But that was then, and he was here just a minute ago, sitting across from her, telling her he had to leave. He was going after Al, who had left to train for his alchemy. More than likely to surprise him… but she couldn't help but feel a since of foreboding… The way Ed looked when he talked about Al; like he thought he had done something bad… Had Al brought Ed back by human transmutation? No, he'd never do that… Izumi wouldn't allow that. But, no matter how selfish it seemed, she needed Ed here. Now, she had to tell him…The prospect that Ed had left without giving her a chance to answer him haunted her, and ate at her insides guiltily and discontentedly.

Winry lifted her head from her hands and almost choked for she felt slightly dizzy and disorientated at how heavy her head seemed. The clock on the wall told her Ed's train left in thirty minutes, and if she hurried… she could tell him… she had to.

She sat up from her seat so quickly, he knees popped and her chair suspended itself on it's back legs a few seconds before falling to the floor with a loud thud. With a few quick steps she had made it to the door and was now shoving her feet into her shoes before swinging the door open. Grandma Pinako would kill her for this later…

Rain slapped her in the face and she couldn't restrain a shiver that ran up her spine like a cold hand at the sudden pierce of cold on her skin. She furrowed her brows and blew a deep breath through her nose in determination and braced herself for the storm that raged outside. It would take a good five minutes to get to the small train station if not more, and if she hurried, maybe she's catch up to him before he even got there. Without a backwards glance or thought, she stepped out into the storm, closed the door and clenched her teeth as the rain began to pound it's cold breath on her body. She began to run.

Winry willed herself to continue and the more she ran the harder it seemed to reach her destination. Her baggy pants now clinging onto her legs like a second skin and her partially bare back stinging as her wet hair swiped at it. As she made her way down a hill, her leg and torso muscles gave a nasty clench and throb as she caught herself from a slight blunder. The rain hadn't given in or subsided in the least and she began to feel a gnawing cramp on her right side where she grabbed with a fierce hand and continued on, limping almost hazardously in the mud.

Through her struggle, she hadn't noticed her tears of desperation as they mingled with the rain that wetted her cheeks. The warm of her tears and cold of the rain as they swam on her face caused her face to tingle and her eyes to burn and sting. Her right side gave another biting clench and she grunted through clenched teeth. She had to keep going… she was almost there… almost.

A new set of tears came forth, this time, noticed and she gave a frustrated growl as she willed her throbbing legs forward at a new vigor. She eventually and thankfully made it, her legs peppered with sticky mud and soaked to the very marrow of her bones. Every muscle and bone in her legs and torso throbbed and screamed as she limped beneath a awning ; shielded momentarily from the rain. Several people, who were also seeking shelter from the rain, noticed her state and looked at her in worry and confusion. The awning wrapped around the platforms, which had no shelter at all, and where people boarded the train.

With a shaky and almost unwilling step, she walked back into the brutal force of the rain and began scanning over the platform and crowd of people for the source of her worry. Surely Ed had already boarded the train…

She then began to scan the many windows that were fogged over slightly from the warm inside and the cold outside and she gave a moan of frustration. The train gave a warning whistle to any people that had not yet boarded and several people beneath the awning gave their last farewells before stepping out into the rain and then onto the train hurriedly.

Winry stood numbly in the rain, feeling almost hopeless as the corners of her eyes began to burn and fog like the windows on the train and she began scan more feverishly. She began to walk mechanically alongside the train, her eyes searching for Ed. She had to tell him… she just couldn't let him leave believing that she didn't!

A hand cupped her shoulder softly and she whirled around hopefully,

"Are you boarding the train, Miss?" a man holding a umbrella above his head asked her as he glanced down at her messy clothes. He extended his arm with the umbrella slightly so to expand the protection from the rain over her as well while her face fell slightly and she shook her head.

"I-I'm looking for a person who boarded this train; Edward Elric?" she asked almost in a defeated manner as the man looked at her hopelessly and forced a half smile as he shook his head.

"I don't catch the names of any-"

"He's short, blonde… traveling alone?" she listed frantically as the train gave another whistle. She didn't give the man any time to reply for she stepped out from under the shield he provided and turned on her heel and began to run alongside the train, the man's yells not surpassing the growls of the storm, clatter of the train, and her own ragged breathing.

Her exhaustion was getting the best of her and she could feel her legs begin to jolt and buckle from running continuously. Her hips felt as if they were about to fall from their sockets and her torso was clenching with every slight movement. She scanned the windows feverishly and only stopped at a few windows where someone appeared to have blonde hair, then began her search again as they were not whom she had been searching. Suddenly, the windows stopped passing her as she ran, and began to move with her; the train gave a shudder and another whistle before it's wheels screeched to a start.

"No…he has to know… I-" she stumbled a moment ad regained her run after she caught a glimpse of Ed peering through his window; his eyes fluttering past the people that came in-and-out of his view. He was two windows ahead. The train hadn't gained enough momentum yet and she didn't feel pain as she hurried to a sprint to his window. "ED!" she yelled over the rumble of the storm and, to her luck, Ed furrowed his brows and looked around as if he had remembered something. "Ed!" she waved her arm in the air and this time, his golden gaze fell upon her, almost causing her to choke on the falling rain.

Ed pulled down the window and looked at her in bewilderment and annoyance but then toggled to worry at the state she was in.

"Winry? What the hell-"

"I promise!" she yelled simply and she smiled reassuringly as his face fell blank a moment. He then grinned back in realization of her words. The rain continued to splatter on her face and she let her eyes squint for the protection her eyes needed from the pelting rain. "Ed, I-I…" she swallowed a lump in her throat that felt as if a bunch of apple peels had collected there. She couldn't express what else was on her mind as his face flickered to a sudden look of worry as if he just then realized her state.

"Get back h- … you'll get sick!" his words were fragmented by the rumble of the storm and the train as it picked up speed, but his meaning was clear. Her feet began to slam into the ground as she tried to overcome the momentum of her own speed and stop as Ed's head began to duck back into the train. His blonde hair had begun to stick to his face and head from the rain and as he ducked back inside the warm of the train; the wind from the speed of the train and the torrent of rain caused his hair to fall from it's tie. His window went back up and the tie that he left behind fell seven feet away from where Winry now stood tiredly.

Her legs shook tremendously and the blood in them pumped hurriedly through her veins, making them tingle and throb. Her haggard panting from her exhaustion began to slow as her body regained composure after all the physical exertion. The rain continued to pound on her body relentlessly, almost giving her a relieving feeling on her body, but she had to get dried off and warm soon, or risk getting sick, like Ed had said. She smiled slightly and walked numbly to the tie where she bent over slowly to pick it up.

"Miss!" she turned to the same man as before as she wrapped the tie around her slender wrist, smiling at it appreciatively.

"Winry." she said simply, not taking her gaze off the tie.

"Excuse me?"

"My name is Winry Rockbell… I'll be getting home now." she walked past him, leaving him staring at her back in confusion to the significance of that information. He shrugged and made his way to another couple of people standing in the rain beneath a umbrella as he was.

Winry felt a bit happier now. She told him that she would keep her promise and there was no doubt that she wouldn't. She was happy, but she still let a single tear fall down her face and to her feet. She still had something to tell him… But he'd be back, and when he returned, she'd be waiting.

A/N: THIS STORY IS NOT FINISHED! I know I left off at what seemed to be a ending but it's not!

SPOILER: From what I know form information provided by several websites, Ed spends at least two years in our world after the series ends so that would make him… 19 or 20? I think he's 17 when the series ends, right? I could be wrong, and if I am, PLEASE correct me before I post the next chapter so I can fix things! Anyway, please, review!