Chapter 8

Winry sat quietly under the oak tree. She was waiting. Five weeks, he said. He should be here any minute. Every second was like a thousand years. Dressed in a light blue sundress with her hair pulled up in a ponytail, Winry hoped that she looked her best. She wanted Roy to see her in the most beautiful way. Another minute passed by, where was he? He promised her that he will be back alive. He promised her that he will come back to her. Maybe he was just late. Perhaps the train was delayed due to the weather. As long as he was all right…

Roy should be all right. He wrote to her during his five-weeks at Lior. He did not reveal any military matters. The letters were short. But their only purpose was to tell Winry that he is alive and well. He also told Winry not to bother to write to him. Winry understood. It was a civil war in the east. Roy had important issues to take care of. It was not a time for romance. Sooner the war is over the better.

Winry looked up at the sun. It was so bright. A beautiful sunny day. She really hoped that she won't receive a letter that tells her Roy is dead in such a beautiful day. When she looked down, she saw something from afar. Was it Roy? The figure came closer. And it was Roy! Winry jumped up and down with joy. She ran to him quickly as a bunny and hopped right into his arms. Buried her face in his shoulder, she sobbed. Roy held her tightly in his embrace, so tight as if his was holding his dear life. After holding each other for a long moment, they separated.

"What are you crying about," Roy asked. "I told you I'll be back. A military man keeps his words."

"I know, but you are just a few minutes late. You scared me, I thought you are…"

"If anything happened to me, you should already know. Nothing happened to me. See," he took her hand, unbuttoned his military jacket and his white cotton shirt, placed her hand against his bear chest. "Feel it, it's pounding, hard. I'm here."

Winry's eyes filled with tears of joy. She reached up and kissed him on the lips. Roy kissed her back, with his tongue into her mouth. After teased her tongue with his, they broke apart to catch their breath. Winry leaned against his chest. She wrapped her arms around his waist, not letting go. The two held each other under the oak tree. They stayed like that for a long time.

---x---x---

The sun was setting. Winry and Roy remained under the oak tree. The two talked, laughed, teased each other. They just wanted to be together. Winry was lying against Roy. They were observing the sunset. Roy wanted to go back to the house at first. It's getting chilly, he told her. But Winry insisted that Roy should see the sunset and the moonlight at Resembool. Now, Roy knew why.

Things were different in the city. The sky was mostly covered up by the atmosphere. One can hardly see a clear sky. Here, at the countryside, the setting sun was red, with colorful surroundings. Then, it was night. The sky was dark and clear with the diamond-like stars and a shining moon. Watching such beautiful scene, Roy forgot about his duties and worries in the military and enjoyed himself with this view. And with Winry at his side, for the first time ever in his life, Roy felt true happiness.

It was a little cold at night. Winry was felt chilly at first. But she found warmth in Roy's arms. In his embrace, she pointed out the stars in the sky and told Roy the stories about them.

"When I was young, my mother told me about this lady who was searching for the man she loves. Her love disappeared suddenly, no one knew why. The lady was desperate to find him. She searched day and night. But it was too dark at night, so she cried. Her tears turned into diamonds, then into stars. So, at night, when the sun disappeared, the stars would shine and give her the light to search for her love."

"Did she find him?" Roy asked.

"I don't know. Mom never finished the story," Winry said. Mom died in Ishabal War. She told me she would finish the story when she came back.

"I'm sure she found him," Roy said.

"Maybe. Then why the stars are still here? I mean, if she found him, then the stars won't be needed."

"Perhaps they are shining as a guide for other lost lovers."

"Maybe."

Roy chuckled. "Winry, the stars are just energy and atmospheres…"

"Roy! Can we put science aside from now?"

"Aren't you an automail mechanic? You should believe in science."

"I know, but once a while, I just want use my imagination to…to romanticize everything. Make everything the way I want to. When I'm think about science, it's all reality," she looked at him. Roy didn't seem to understand. "You alchemists, it's always math and science."

"Don't say something like that. Alchemists are humans too. Don't you remember that I told you I was once a boy growing up in the countryside? I used to enjoy the storytellings too."

"Like what?"

Roy paused. "When I was a kid, I used to believe that there is a wonderland below the earth where I can do whatever I want. My father was hard on me. I wanted freedom from his tyranny. So one night, I decided I had enough of his controlling. I climbed out from the window. With a shovel, I began to dig not so far from my house. I dug the whole night. I dug deeper and deeper, there was nothing. There was no wonderland. The next morning my father found me. He gave me a good beating. Here," Roy pulled up his sleeve and show Winry his scar. "Every time I see it, I remind myself, there is no such thing as wonderland. Everything on earth is nature."

"So, you stopped imagining since then…"

"You can say that."

"No, I don't think so."

"Why is that?"

"Because," Winry placed her hand against his chest. "Deep downinside, you are still that boy who is searching for your wonderland. You told me that you want to be the Fuhrer and one day make a peaceful world where there is no war. That peaceful world you want to make is your wonderland. You still searching for it."

Roy laughed. "And you are still that girl who is searching for your lover under the stars."

"Nope, cause I already found him." Winry looked deeply in his eyes. Her lips brushed against his.

---x---x---

Winry and Roy went back to the house. It was midnight. Winry started to get sleepy. Roy entered the house quietly, as if he was afraid to be discovered by someone.

"Relax," Winry told him. "Granny Pinako isn't here. She went to visit a friend of hers at Rush Valley."

"So, there is just the two of us," Roy smirked, showing his infamous charm.

"Well, the sofa is not big enough for you. Granny does not like anyone sleeping in her bed. There is my bedroom with one bed. But it is big enough for both of us."

"Are you saying…"

"Stay, stay with me for a night," Winry took Roy's hand.

"Are you sure?" Roy was somewhat concerned. He was supposed to be the one suggesting spending the night together. He was supposed to take Winry to bed. Now it was the opposite. Winry was taking him to bed.

"Yeah, of course. I love you Roy. And you love me, right?"

"Yeah, but you are ready for something like this?"

"Roy, I'm seventeen. I know what I'm doing." She kissed him, and grabbed him. "Come on, or I'll fell asleep before we begin."

Roy laughed at that. He ran upstairs to her bedroom with her. He swept her up in his arm and carried her to the bed.

---x---x---

It was morning. Roy woke up and found Winry lying besides him. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her. He had slept with other women before, but this time it was different. It was not just about passion and sexual lusts. Somehow, it just felt right. He was quite surprised that Winry went through all this with such confident. She wasn't shy when she undressed herself in front of him. She had her back to him, and slipped the dress off. Then she turned around and began to undress him. Where did all the confident come from? She knew what she's doing. And she was a virgin.

Before he took her, he warned her about the pain. Winry told him and she knew. When he took her, she did gasped in pain. In fact, she even sobbed a little. Roy softly apologized and kissed her tears away. The caress of her creamy skin, the stroke of her silky hair…it was his best night.

Winry was awoke. She was a little freaked when she found Roy at her side. After all, it was her first time spending the night with a grown man.

"Easy," Roy said, stroking her arm. "It's just me."

"Sorry," Winry apologized. "I was just a little, excited, that's all."

"More excited that you were last night?"

"Well…" before she could finish, Roy went on top of her and began to caress her skin with his lips.

"Stop, stop!" Winry cried, giggling. "That tickles! Stop!"

"What, you liked it last night!"

"Was I good last night?" Winry asked, blushed a little.

"You seemed to have a lot of confidence, especially for a young virgin."

"Well, I was doing it with you. I don't know where that confidence came from, but everything just seemed right."

"That's exactly how I feel. You read my mind, don't you," he leaned down and kissed her.

Then Roylied down besides her. Letting out a sigh, he murmured, "Being with you, it actually frightens me a little."

"What do you mean by that?"

"The equivalent exchange."

"What does alchemy have to do with me?"

"I'm thinking, 'what did I do, what have I sacrificed that now I have a great blessing like you?' Or is it something that I will sacrifice? Whatever it is, it must have a great value."

"You alchemists, always think about equivalent trade," Winry teased. "I never get alchemy, especially the transmutation circle."

"Well, let me show you," Roy lifted up the sheets, revealed Winry's long, skinning legs. He placed his finger on her thigh, and began to draw a transmutation circle.

"First, you draw a transmutation circle. There are many different ones, and the one I'm drawing is the transmutation circle of fire. Once it's drawn…"

Winry pulled her leg away from him. "Don't! You'll set me on fire!"

"Relax, silly," Roy laughed. "If I really want to set you on fire, I would dig my nails deep in your skin. I have to actually draw it to make it work."

"I know that!"

"No you don't!"

"Stop teasing me!"

Roy responded that with a kiss. The two made love and fell asleep in each other's arms.

---x---x---

"Do you have to go?" Winry asked, disappointed. All her beloved ones had to go.

"I wish I could stay, but I got work to do," Roy told her. Winry helped him buttoned up his military jacket. She never dressed a man before. And she found it fun, especially that she was dressing Roy in his military uniform. It reminded of her the musical play she saw back in Central City, "Come What May". When that rich man's daughter bade her soldier lover goodbye, she was buttoning his uniform. Now she was buttoning Roy's.

"When you are with me, do you, sometimes, think about the play 'Come What May'?"

"Now that you mention it, I do, kind of."

"I'm not a rich man's daughter, though. I'm just an automail mechanic. You are not a penniless soldier. You are already a successful colonel."

"We are better than that couple in the play. Now, don't tell me next time I come back you would be dying."

"Dying? I'm too young to die!" Playfully, she slapped his shoulder. Then she leaned against his chest. "But you are coming back, are you?"

"Of course," he looked deeply in her eyes. "You think I would leave you here? We'll be happily ever after."

Winry held Roy tightly against her. Softly, she hummed the song "Come What May". And Roy began to hum along with her. After the song ended, Roy realized he must go.

"Winry, I have to go."

Winry unhappily separated from him. "Go, then. I'll wait for you, until my dying day."

Roy looked at her again. He found it so difficult to even step away from her. "I'll write to you."

"And I'll reply."

Roy nodded, and turned his heels. He did not look back, because if he did, he would run back to her. Winry did not want to watch him leave either. She ran upstairs to her room, and cried in her bed.

Author's note: I did not describe the scene of their night together because I'm not comfortable with writing lemons. Review pleaz! This is my first time writing a romantic scene!