Edward walked through the hospital door slowly, his head aching. He had seen Mustang, who of course had no good news to give him. Winry had stopped eating again, and had landed herself back in the hospital for the millionth time. When he laid eyes on her, he could see it, her terribly thin body looking as if it had become one with the bed.

Winry's head turned and her eyes met his. "I almost thought you weren't coming."

"What?" Edward stared at her in surprise.

"The IVs in now… I've never seen you after the IV, but I suppose there's always a surprise with you." Winry removed her eyes from him and looked out the window.

"I don't… know what you're talking about."

"I hate it that you play coy every time, Edward." Winry sighed; almost seeming like it was her last breath. "What do you want to talk about this time? Maybe how much you love me? Or Al… he's always a good subject. You've yet to talk to me about what an ass Mustang is, which is really surprising."

"Winry… I…"

"You know, I'd really just rather you'd go away, actually." Winry sighed and turned over painfully. "I know you're nothing but my imagination. The doctor says it's a psychosis brought on by the lack of nutrition. A psychosis," she murmured. "But why do you come? Why must you torture me? Why can't I see my mom, or my dad, or Pinako? Anyone but you."

"I won't go, Winry."

"I thought as much. But give it a few days and you'll poof back into the back of my mind."

"Why do you do this to yourself?" He walked over and sat next to her bed, afraid to touch her.

"I can't do it… I just don't think I can live anymore." She curled up tighter. "I was never this weak before… I could watch you go and be fine… but when Al came back and you didn't… I just couldn't be strong anymore."

"Winry, I'm so sorry…" He reached for her slowly, achingly, a soft touch to the middle of her back.

She jumped and turned over, her eyes wide with terror. "How did you touch me? You can't touch me! You're not real! Don't touch me!"

"Winry, it's alright."

"No! No! No! No!" Winry pushed herself away from him, her eyes wide. "You can't! You can't be real! It's impossible! Get out! Get out! Get out!"

All the commotion had sent the nurses running in, one of them pulling at Ed's arm. "Come on, Mr. Elric, I think it's best you go."

"You can see him? How can you see him? Have you all gone crazy?" Winry writhed, the nurses holding her down in attempts to give her a tranquilizer.

"No, don't do that to her!" Ed pulled away from the nurse, kicking the needle out of the nurse's hand. "Don't touch her with that!"

"Sir, I'm going to have to call security."

"Then, DO IT!" Ed pushed the other nurses off Winry and wrapped his arms around her. "Please, Winry, stop it. Stop it."

"No! This isn't right! You can't…" She choked on sob. "No… Ed… please, I don't want it not to be you. I want this to be real. Please, don't disappear!" She pulled at him, her fingers wrapped tightly in the fabric of his shirt.

"Sh… Winry…" He smoothed her hair. "I'm real, I swear."

She pulled away from him slightly, looking up into his eyes. "Edward…" Winry's eyes closed slowly and her body fell limp in his arms.

--

"I never thought I'd live to see the day when the Fullmetal Alchemist was dragged out of the hospital by a bunch of nurses." Roy eased back in his chair, grinning at his own wit.

"I never thought I'd live to see the day when you were actually useful, ass." Luckily, Roy had come in and saved the day, keeping Ed from being torn apart by a bunch of angry nurses (apparently they don't take too well to having syringes kicked out of their hands and bed pans thrown at them).

"I try." Roy's smile faded, the seriousness creeping along his features. "Well, thanks to your little act Winry will have to stay in the hospital for another week."

"Well you could have told me she was having hallucinations and probably wouldn't believe me that I was real!" Riza walked in the room just in time to see Ed throw a glass across the room, shattering at Roy's side.

"Fullmetal! That was a wedding gift!" Roy whined, dusting some glass shards off his shirt.

"What else are you keeping for me, huh?"

"Edward." Ed turned and found himself face to face with Riza. "You'll sit down, now, and you will not throw another thing in this house, and then you will listen carefully and attempt to keep your temper. Got it?"

"Y… Yes, ma'am." Ed sat immediately and looked up at her.

"Roy, get your feet off the coffee table." Riza turned her glare to Roy and he did as he was told, whimpering about her strict nature. "I was against letting you see her to start with, Edward."

"But she's my childhood friend!" His temper flared but was quickly sedated by another glare from Riza.

"But Roy insisted that if there was a way to bring her back to normal, it would be through you." Riza sighed and sat slowly next to Roy. "But this is not something that you can run in and fix. She's been severe in her attempts to end her life, and she will take a lot of work."

"I don't care," Ed hissed, his fists balling.

Riza sighed and leaned forward, trying to meet Ed's eyes. "Do you love her, Ed?"

Ed's face flushed to a bright red, his eyes wide. "What?" he choked.

"Idiot!" Roy exploded, his fists meeting the coffee table loudly. "You're still a fucking kid in that head of your's. Can't you see she's dying because you never… Damnit, Ed." Roy rushed out of the room and up the stairs, the sound of doors slamming echoing through the house.

Ed looked at Riza in utter confusion. "Roy… feels responsible. He feels like he took everything from her."

"He told you that?"

Riza shook her head. "No, but it's obvious. He killed her mother, her father… and then he took you away from her."

"He's an idiot." Ed put his head down, running his hands over his face. "I took myself away. I… I decided that I…"

"Edward, stop." Riza's voice made Ed freeze. "People feel the way they feel. You can't deny them their feelings by calling them an idiot." Riza stood and walked to the stairs, stopping for a moment. "And most of all, you have to stop letting yourself throw away your own feelings because you believe them to be stupid, or inadequate. I never thought of you as someone who would quit at anything they want… regardless of whether or not the timing was right."

--

"Timing…" Ed whispered, curled up on the bed. He shut his eyes, the memory flooding his mind.

"Edward?" Winry knocked on the door softly.

"Come on in, Winry."

She did so, finding him lying on the bed. "I'm sorry, were you sleeping?"

"I know it's late, but I still can't sleep, so don't worry about it." He sat up slowly, looking at her and smiling softly. "So what's up?"

Winry walked towards the bed but stopped. "I… Edward, do you… um…"

Ed smirked. "What's wrong with you? Too much mechanical fumes?"

"This was stupid." She turned and began to walk back for the door but felt his hand tighten around her wrist, yanking her back. Ed had forgotten his own strength and pulled her too hard, sending Winry back into him. They both stumbled and lost their balance, falling to the ground.

"I'm sorry, Winry." Ed groaned, but sucked the sound back in, shocked at the realization she was right on top of him.

"It's… okay, Ed." He gulped as she made no attempt to move, just stared at him, their faces a few inches apart.

"Winry, are you okay?"

"I don't want you to leave, again, Edward." Her eyes veered away to his chest.

Ed sighed. "Winry, this isn't my home, I can't stay."

"But it is…" Ed could see the tears starting to form in her eyes. "It is… it can be, if you just stay. It only feels like home when you're here." She raised her head and their lips met, her tears falling across Ed's cheeks.

Ed placed his hands on her shoulder, pushing her back. "Don't, Winry." He put his arms down and turned his head to one side, focusing on the darkness.

He opened his eyes again, trying to banish the pictures from his head. Winry on top of him, the tears streaming from her eyes.

"Fullmetal."

He turned his attention to the door, wondering how long Roy had been standing there. "What is it?"

"I wanted to apologize, for before."

"That's not really you style."

Roy chuckled. "Riza said I should."

"You're whipped." Ed sat up from the bed and laughed as the anger spread across Roy's face.

"This was a waste of time." Roy huffed, turning.

"Roy, hold on."

"I'm not a big fan of ridicule, so I'd rather not."

"I'm sorry that you've had to take care of Winry."

Roy turned back, walking into the room and shutting the door behind him. "I just considered it a favor for a friend."

"Thanks, then." Ed sighed. "I should have… I don't know."

Roy leaned against the door. "When Al brought her to Central, she was the last person I would have expected to be so affected. She seemed like such a strong girl. But she could only be strong for so long, I guess."

"I got the guilt-trip earlier, thanks."

Roy grinned softly. "You know, she used to remind me a lot of Riza."

"Okay, now, you've gone off the deep end."

"Come on, it's not that much of a reach. Their selflessness… their loneliness."

"Don't be stupid," Ed muttered. "Next thing you know you'll be saying we're alike, too."

"I was getting there." Roy laughed. "We deny our emotions for so long that we can pretend they don't exist."

"I don't deny anything."

"I see you haven't grown up a bit. The first step to adulthood is admitting your flaws, Fullmetal." Roy walked from the door, pulling a chair from the desk and sitting. "We wait until the worse possible time to admit that we're in love."

Ed turned red, stammering. "I'm… shut up, Mustang!"

"I waited until after Riza had to suffer through that night in front of the Fuhrer's house… she still has nightmares."

"Shut up."

"I caused her so much pain, all through this stupid campaign to become Fuhrer because I wouldn't tell her that the whole time I was in love with her."

"I said to shut up. I don't want to hear about your sappy love life."

"I excused it with the idea that it wasn't the right time for me to give in. I would be putting my dreams in danger… or worse, her in danger."

"Stop it."

"You thought it, too. Should you show favoritism towards her, love towards her, the homunculus would use her to get to you, kill her even. You were protecting her."

"Yes," Ed whispered painfully.

"But that protection… it's what's killing her."

--

Roy wheeled Winry out of the hospital, still being too weak to make it out in anything other than a wheelchair. "Welcome back to the real world, Win."

"You even gave her a cute nickname?" Ed frowned, standing from his seat on the hospital steps. "What a pervert."

"Shut up! She likes it!" Roy sneered.

"Edward…" Winry whispered softly, her eyes wide.

"You think I'd miss your big day out in the world again? Not a chance." Ed grinned goofily and then walked to her side, leaning over. "Hey, grab around my neck."

"W-What?" She stammered, looking at him in disbelief.

"Trust me, huh?"

"Okay…" Winry wrapped her arms around Ed's neck. Suddenly she was out of the wheelchair and into his arms. "Ed!"

"I can't stand to look at you in one of those."

"Edward…"

"Hey, Roy, I'm taking her across the street. We'll be home later."

"What?" Roy stared at him in disbelief. "You can't take her to the park! Are you crazy? She's sick, moron!"

"Ah, stop your worrying!" Ed had already made his way down the stairs and was looking to cross the street.

"Fullmetal!"

"Bub-bye, Roy!" If he had a free hand he would have waved. He made into the park, looking for a nice spot of grass to let Winry down.

"Young man, is your wife alright?"

Ed turned his head to see an old man sitting on a bench. Is he talking to me?

Winry gasped. "Oh, I'm..."

"Thanks, buddy, but she's fine. I just like carrying her around. They say it's romantic." Ed smirked and kept walking, seeing the perfect spot along a man-made pond. "Here you go." Ed put her down ever-so-gently, even going so far as to fix her hair after she'd made the soft landing.

"Why didn't you…"

"Huh?" Ed sat down next to her, his eyes on the pond. "You mean tell the old guy he was off his rocker? I don't mind. We're at the age where the old folks think we should be married anyway."

"Why did you bring me here?" she whispered softly.

"I thought you could use some air. Knowing you, I would think being stuck up in a hospital bed would drive you nuts."

"You get used to it."

"How many times, Winry?"

"Four extended stays… ten in-and-outs. Not to mention all the times Al tried to nurse me back to health on his own."

"I see."

"Ed, I'm sorry."

"No, Winry, don't be."

"No, I'm sorry I yelled at you. I should have known it was you, this time."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because you're taller than the other Ed," she laughed softly.

"Thanks!" Ed glared at her, but then cracked a smile. "It's really good to hear you laugh, Winry." Ed wrapped an arm around Winry, pulling her closer to him.

"It is. And now my head can actually comfortably sit on your shoulder." She smiled softly and did so, her cheek soft against his shoulder.

"I wasn't that short!" His placed his head against hers, the feel making his stomach jump.

"Ed…"

"Yeah, Winry?"

"Did you think about me?"

"Of course, how could I forget my favorite mechanic?" He felt the pinch in his heart as he said it. Why can't I just let it out?

"Yeah…" He heard her sigh and this time it was more like a punch than a pinch.

Ed took a deep breath, "Or forget the girl who has my heart?" The breath hitched in her throat and he reached his hand over, picking up her chin from his shoulder. With a tilt of his head their lips met, his hand moving to caress the side of her face.

Suddenly, he felt her hand press again his chest, pushing him away. "Don't, Ed." Her eyes were full of tears and he leaned away. "It's too much. I can't…"

"It's okay." Ed tried to smile, but the pain was overwhelming. Is this what she felt when I pushed her away?

"I… can we just go back home now?"

"On one condition."

"What is it?"

"That in two days… we go back to our real home… back to Risembool."

--

Beat Kingdom Hearts II, so now I can concentrate on finishing this instead of doing my Anthropology paper. I swear I feel like I misspelled Risembool, but oh well. Enjoy it guys, I already have the third part started, so it should be along soon.