"Edward, wake up!" Winry yells from the kitchen. The smell of bacon, eggs, and pancakes begins to fill the house. 'Ed is going to be late to teach that alchemy class. He better get his lazy bum out of the bed soon'. She waits for about five minutes, but receives no response of yelling or footsteps walking down the stairs. She yells again, "Ed, you're going to be late!"

Ed rolls over to face Alphonse, who is currently staring at the ceiling, lost in thought. "I forgot to tell her I quit that job," Ed tells Al. Al continues staring at the ceiling. Ed says sternly, "Al, are you even listening to me?"

Alphonse rotates his head Ed's way. "Oh, sorry Brother. Well, I guess the best time to tell her would be right before she hits you with her wrench."

"I'll be ready this time. I'll catch it before it even inches near my face!" Ed says with glee. Al chuckles. Ed asks, "What were you thinking about anyway?"

Al hesitates, "Well… I… I keep wondering if maybe I'll ever find a girl."

Ed chuckles, "Of course you will, Al. You're too nice, and you're not like the rest of the idiots in this world."

"Thanks, I guess. You know, we still need to find a spot to build our house."

The door flying open cuts off Ed's response he is now going to make. An angry Winry stands under the frame. Al pulls the covers completely over his body and smashes the pillow against his face. "Good luck, Brother," Al mutters under the pillow.

"What was that?" Ed mutters back to Al. Winry walks over next to Ed's side. She didn't come upstairs empty-handed. She carries a hot plate of eggs, bacon, and pancakes. The smell rolls off the plate, and Ed sniffs it. Ed looks up at Winry with a goofy smile, forgetting to tell her about quitting the job. "Is that for me?" he asks.

Winry fakes a smile, "There's eggs, bacon, and pancakes. I made it all, nice and fresh. It could be yours… IF YOU GET YOUR LAZY ASS OUT OF BED!" She sets the plate on the other side of the room. "You have to go to the school today, remember!"

Ed speaks quickly, "But Winry, wait. I forgot to…".

"No excuses!" She interrupts him. She pulls out her wrench and throws it. Instead of hitting Ed though, it hits Al's pillow.

Al pulls down the pillow and sits up, "Winry, that was me."

Winry giggles, "Oops. Sorry, Al. Your breakfast is sitting on the table." Al nods and walks to the kitchen. Winry picks her wrench back up and throws it with more force this time.

Ed puts his automail arm in front of his face for protection, and the wrench bounces off it; however, it leaves a dent. Ed looks at his arm and gasps. He turns to Winry, "Look at what you did!"

"Look at what you did! I just made that for you!" Winry yells back. "Now I have to fix that dent! Hope you have money for that!"

"What should I have to pay for it? If you'd find something softer to throw like a pillow or something," Ed stares at her.

Winry sighs. "Oh jeez, we can argue about this later. You really need to hurry up."

"Wait, before you say or do anything else. I forgot to tell you, I quit that job," Ed tells her with haste.

Winry is surprised. "You did? When? Why?"

Ed scratches the back of his head. "Well, I didn't really like that job. I don't think teaching alchemy to a whole room full of kids is a really good idea. I don't want them making mistakes like I did. The most important reason why I quit though is to be closer to home. With you and Al."

Winry frowns, "Oh. I didn't know that. I'm sorry. So you're just going to sit around all day now?"

Ed shakes his head, "No, no. I'm just going to conduct my own alchemy research here, at home. Then I send my research back to Central, and I get paid. No, I'm not working for the military. This is a private group doing private research." Winry runs up to him and gives him a hug.

"Edward, I'm so happy for you," she says. Ed sweats. First she tries to kill him with her trusty wrench, and now she's hugging him. Winry walks to the other side of the room to get his breakfast, and brings it back to him. She sets it on his lap. He grins at her and immediately starts piling down food.

She sighs. "Well, when you're done choking on food I guess you can come downstairs so I can fix that dent."

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"There! All done!" Winry exclaims. It took her less than 10 minutes to fix the little dent. "Now, you know that's still going to cost you."

Ed growls, "What? It wasn't my fault in the first place! That's…".

"Just kidding," Winry giggles. The giggle starts to turn into an enormous laugh.

Ed cocks his head in suspicion. "What are you laughing about?"

"I was just thinking about when we were sick, especially you. Your voice… I just felt so bad for you, but it was so funny. I finally didn't have to put up with you yelling or arguing. When I massaged your neck, you were so funny. Ah, thanks for the laugh."

Ed yells, "Hey! That was not funny!" Somehow Ed manages to crack a smile. 'I've never seen her laugh like that in so many years. At least I can make her laugh.'

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Dusk came, and night eventually creped in at about 9. Winry changed out of her clothes into her pajamas, a purple tank top and black capris. She stares out the window in the living room. Ed, upstairs in the bedroom with Al, takes off his shirt and was about to change just into his blue boxers until he gets a sudden urge. 'I'm not even that tired, and for some reason I want to go see Winry.' Ed looks over at Alphonse.

"Hey Al, are you doing anything else tonight?" Ed asks him.

Al shakes his head, "No, I was planning to just lay in bed until I fall asleep. Why?"

"Could you just stay in here until we get back?" Al was going to ask why, but he just figured it out. He smiles. Ed closes the door behind him. Ed knocks on Winry's door, but he gets no response. 'Hmm. I doubt she's still in the shop, but knowing her…'. Ed walks downstairs, and he spots Winry in the living room.

Winry glances over by the stairs. "Hey. I thought you were still upstairs doing research with Al?"

Ed walks over next to Winry's side. "Nah, we stopped for the night. Al was getting tired." Ed looks out the window, curious as to what Winry was looking at. He sees nothing. "What were you watching?" He asks her.

She doesn't say anything for a minute. "Well… it's kind of sad, but I'm so use to looking out the window waiting for two certain people to return. Sometimes I'd even wonder if they ever would come back."

Ed looks at Winry. 'I think I just realized how much pain Al and I caused her. We would go off and fight, and sometimes not visit or write letters, or call for months. We're lucky she never forgot us or just moved on.' Ed chuckles, "Well, you don't have to worry anymore. We aren't going to leave like that anymore."

Winry looks at him and smiles. "I'm glad. I really am." At that moment, their eyes lock. Ed somehow can't stop staring into those deep, caring blue eyes. Winry is just so full of happiness at this moment that she can't stop looking at him.

'She already knows I care for her. I just can't stop looking at her. She's so… beautiful, and caring, and smart, and just wonderful. I bet so many men came to her house while I was gone. I don't deserve her, although I think I do. No one else can take care of her, or love her as much as I do. Wait! Love? Is this what love feels like?'

"Winry?"

"Yeah?" she says.

'I have to tell her… tonight! The more I wait, I'll lose my chance and maybe even… lose her. I've lost too many people in my life. I won't lose Winry. This isn't very romantic though. Maybe… aha!' Ed grabs Winry's hand. "I have something to show you. Do you wanna walk with me?" He asks her.

"Sure," she replies, and they walk out the door holding hands.

They walk down the road for a while and eventually steer into the grassy area. Winry slightly laughs, "You know, if someone sees us…".

Ed stops and looks at her. "What do you mean by that? You don't like walking with me? You don't want people to see us together?"

'He sure does take things the wrong way sometimes. I really want to kiss him and shut him up, but no. How would he react? Probably in a bad way. Although, I wish he would kiss me. Hah, what am I saying! The Edward Elric I know would NEVER do something like that! No, I take that back. He has grown up so much. He told me he has feelings for me, so maybe he really does feel the same way I do. I can't shut mine away anymore. I'm contradicting myself in my head. I wonder where we are going'.

Ed pops her thought bubble. "Winry, are you okay?"

She apologizes, "Sorry, I blanked out for a second. What I meant was I'm in my pajamas, and you have no shirt on. People might get ideas."

"I doubt anyone is out right now. Besides, I don't care, so you shouldn't either." He tugs on her hand, urging her to keep following. She nods and continues walking with him. They reach a large hill, and Ed stops walking. He looks down the hill and smiles.

"They are still here as usual," he states.

Winry looks down the hill, and her eyes widen. There must be thousands of fireflies flying gracefully around the lake. She's never seen this many fireflies in one spot. There are usually just a couple dozen around the house, but not this many. She grins that excited grin of hers.

"There are so many! It looks like the lake is actually glowing under the water. It's so beautiful!"

Ed smiles, "Yeah. Al and I would come here a lot and have a contest of who could catch the most fireflies. We kept this place a secret."

Winry lets go of his hand and puts both of her hands on her hips. She pouts, "How come you never told me about this place?"

He laughs, "Like I said, it was a secret."

"So what made you want to show me this now?"

He shuffles his feet around. 'Because it's romantic here, and I wanted to be alone with you.' He looks up at Winry and sees her blushing. He realizes he accidentally said what he was thinking. She catches a firefly and sets it on his nose. He makes the most hilarious face trying to see the firefly on his nose. His eyes cross. Winry giggles, and pushes him. Ed stumbles back and loses his balances. He falls, and Winry realizes he's going to roll right down the hill into the water. She was going to grab him, but he surprises her by grabbing her arm and pulling her down with him. She holds her close as they roll down the hill together. Ed laughs because Winry is screaming at the top of her lungs. Her scream eventually turns into a laugh, and they laugh down the hill together.

They both land at the bottom of the hill with a thud. If they would've rolled any farther, they would've landed in the lake. Al surely would've questioned them when they get back. Winry tries to get up, but she can't. She blushes because Ed landed on top of her. Ed removes his hand out from behind her back, because they were squished, and firmly holds her waist. Her hands move down to the upper part of his arm.

"I don't know what I did to deserve that," he grins.

"I've been wanting to do that for a long time," Winry admits.

Ed's flesh hand moves to caress her cheek, and he rubs it with his thumb. He leans his face closer to hers to the point that he can feel her warm breath hit his lips. "Well, I've been wanting to do this for a long time," he says, and he closes the gap by kissing her full on the lips. She gasps. Never in her life did she think Ed would kiss her. She grips his arm harder and pulls it down so she can feel the warmth of his body. They both eat at each other's mouths like they've been starving for days. Both of them wanted this, and thought they would never get it. Both of their tongues meet, and Ed just loses himself. Winry breaks her lips away from his for air.

'I can't even think. My body feels so weak. I didn't even know he knew how to kiss'. He leans down again and captures her lips. They kiss for a while, enjoying every minute of it. Winry wraps her arms around his back, and he snuggles his head in the crook of her neck. His breath tickles, but she ignores it. She looks up at the stars. 'I didn't even have to wish on a star for this'.

They sit in silence until Ed says, "Winry, I'm in love with you."

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Wow, I'm really busy with school, a job, and extracurriculars. I worked on this during Labor Day weekend and finished it now. I think I'm going to make 1 more chapter, possibly two if I have to stretch it. I'm writing the RoseXHavoc fanfiction during school, so hopefully I can get that up soon. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, because I did. Tomorrow is September 11, so maybe some of you will get online and read this, and it will make a sad day happy.