Heya! I hope you guys will be satisfied with today's chapter updates! ;)

That Soft Side

"Ed's still missing, Alphonse, I don't know where he is, I'm sorry," the Führer's right hand, Riza Hawkeye, bowed with a frown on her face.

Al sighed heavily, scratching the back of his neck as Mei rested a comforting hand on his shoulder, "It's alright, thank you for coming all the way here Miss Hawkeye. I'm sorry you had to abandon your duties," he offered her a soft, kind smile.

Riza's expression softened, making her appear younger than she was, "No need for gratitude or apologies Alphonse, Führer Mustang unfortunately couldn't have come himself, he had business of utmost importance to attend,"

Al rose an eyebrow in confusion, "Oh really? I thought he needed you there too if it's so important?"

Riza smiled, "He said he would be fine, he told me to deliver his sincerest apologies for not coming here, he is just as worried as we are for Edward's safety," she looked outside at the dark sky, it was already night, not quite late but evening nonetheless.

"Oh, where are my manners, why don't you go and sit down? Have some tea? Alphonse! Now where are your manners?!" Mei scolded her husband, glaring at him sternly as she smiled sweetly at Riza and retreated to the kitchen to prepare some tea.

"Uhh, r-right! I'm sorry Miss Hawkeye!" Al stuttered, more frightened by his wife's fearsome attitude at times.

Riza could only chuckle at the younger ones' attitudes, the younger generation really was something else.

"Thank you Alphonse," as Riza took a seat at the kitchen table she looked around the room, "Oh, where is Winry?" she would have liked to talk to the young woman, console her if possible, she knew for a fact that the former Fullmetal Alchemist was very close to her.

"She is outside...she said she needed some fresh air," Al smiled sadly, looking out the window.

Riza nodded, "Let's leave her be for now, I imagine it's difficult for her to sort out her thoughts at the moment," Al only smiled, joining his wife by the counter to help prepare the tea.

Winry was sitting quietly at the bench just outside the house, looking at the dark sky and the village farther away, illuminated by street lights from what she could see. She sighed.

"You idiot, where are you?" she felt a hot tear slide down her cheek and she immediately pressed her hand against it, rubbing her eyes to prevent anymore tears from escaping but it only seemed to make it worse.

She sobbed quietly, not too keen on alerting Al and the others from her misery.

They hadn't heard anything from Ed in a while, a week to be exact. He had heard there was some commotion in Central, the weird thing was Mustang hadn't know Ed was in Central, nobody had seen him there and Winry had grown more worried by each passing day.

It was so unlike him to disappear so suddenly and not call, sure he would be late with calling for well over a week, but that had been in the old days, when Al and him had been still searching for a way to gain their bodies back and when danger had been at every corner waiting for them.

This was different.

Father was dead, the bad Homunculi had all been killed, the only danger were rogue soldiers here and there, alchemists who were actively looking for trouble or criminal civilians but they all were no match for Edward Elric.

While it was true he couldn't perform any alchemy anymore, he had immensely heightened his hand to hand combat skills and fighting with a weapon ,be it sword or spear. He had been training with various skilled fighters Lan Fan, Ling himself when he wasn't as busy, even Al...all of them...

He could take care of himself, she knew. He had made her a promise after all, after he had returned from his travels to the East, he had once again confirmed the words he had told her at the train station that day.

She was lucky she had known him for so long, she could decipher "Edward" talk any day, which was basically a mixture of alchemy and gibberish mixed into one.

He had proposed to her, she had been immensely happy. The proposal wasn't anything a normal woman would have expected but Winry wasn't a normal woman and Ed certainly wasn't a normal man. He had proposed using the laws of alchemy, equivalent exchange.

If she would give half of her life to him then he would give half of his life to her. At first it had taken a while for Winry to decipher it but as soon as she had found out she had been shocked, deeply touched and most importantly annoyed that her fiancé was a alchemist through and through.

As Edward had pointed out in their brief fight at the station back then, she had 'defied all laws of alchemy' by simply saying she would give all of her life to him. She had been embarrassed but greatly relieved when Edward had hugged her and called her amazing.

She smiled behind her tears, they kept stubbornly coming. She clutched the red sweater, his sweater, tighter around herself. She almost laughed, she probably looked like one of those typical girls crying over whether or not they would see their boyfriend again and wearing his clothes.

But at this moment, she didn't care at all. It was slightly chilly outside and the sweater smelled of him, it offered her a little bit of comfort. Along with the knowledge that it was Edward Elric they were talking about, the man known for his immense stubbornness and peerless determination, he would return, whatever it took, Winry knew that well.

Yet she couldn't help it how her eyes would moisten and the tears would fall.

Winry heard footsteps coming closer, she was briefly surprised how she didn't hear the door open and close.

"Here," a deep, all too familiar voice sounded in Winry's ears.

She lifted her head and saw a white handkerchief being held close to her, she followed the arm and saw black fabric.

"W-what are you doing here?" she couldn't help but ask, he was truly the last person she would have expected here, even though he did come here with Mei from Xing.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I was tryin' to sleep then you kept crying and I had to do something. I value my beauty sleep ya know," Greed muttered with a frown and motioned to the handkerchief, "Take it, not like I got any use for it anyway,"

Winry smiled warmly and gratefully took it, drying her tears up with it and rubbing her face dry.

Greed had seen Winry crying at the porch outside of the Rockbell-Elric home and he reflexively had taken out a handkerchief and wordlessly offered it to her. He wasn't a fool, he knew why she had been crying.

Greed sat beside her, spread his legs out with his arms resting on the back of the bench they were sitting on, "So, why is a pretty girl like you crying all alone at this hour? Hell, that just must be about a guy," he eyed her, carefully analyzing her mood.

Winry sniffled, her blonde bangs covering her eyes, "Do you think he's ok out there? We haven't heard from him in days...not even Al or Mustang know where he is," Winry bunched up the material of his sweater in her hands tightly.

Greed watched the action and sighed, leaning his head back, "The kid's fine, don't worry. He's too stubborn to die and get himself killed, trust me I've tried." he smirked, "Besides, he's got some people he's gotta return to right? I don't think he would forget about that," Winry smiled a small sad smile and nodded.

Greed rose an eyebrow, "Say, I thought you two were a thing? I mean, last I saw him, he was going out of your room even before the sun itself was up, don't blame a Homunculus for thinking two ways,"

Winry would have blushed in embarrassment and probably hit Greed with her wrench, but she was too shaken to feel embarrassed or shy," It wasn't like that Greed, nothing happened. I comforted him after Hohenheim died, we just fell asleep on my bed."

Greed smiled, "Ah, but you wanted something to happen am I right? Honey, I may be Greed the Avaricious, but I don't have to be Lust herself to put two and two together,"

Winry suddenly blushed darkly as she offered a rather lame reply, "E-Ed has a lot on his mind and I'm pretty busy with the shop anyway..." that was all he needed to hear.

Greed frowned as he saw a tear roll down her cheek, "Hey, what are you crying for now? I thought the water works stopped?" If there was one thing Greed hated more than his possessions being taken from him, it was seeing women cry. Aside from having a "no hitting women" policy, this was his secret soft spot, even if he liked to play it off as never having something as "soft spots" in the first place.

"What if he...what if Ed is laying somewhere injured? What if he needs help but can't call us?" she looked at Greed helplessly.

Greed frowned, "You women are unbelievable, trust them to write the scariest horror stories and make up the most weirdest scenarios in their minds. Listen honey-"

Winry said firmly:" –Winry,"

" Ugh, fine. Winry, listen, I think you know even better than me how fucking stubborn the runt can be, you gave him your earrings right?" Winry blinked and fingered her ears, empty of her earrings.

"Yeah, I did," she admitted with a curious look in her eye as she looked at Greed.

The Homunculus grinned, "See? That alone is enough to guarantee you that he will be back. I've heard from the kitten and ape-man that he had been impaled by a fucking pole in the side and he held on for that long because he kept holding your earrings in his hand and they heard him mumbling something about not wanting to make ya cry again," Greed smiled then, "I think you should be fair and not cry anymore until he comes back. He'll definitely be more happier if he sees tears of joy right?" he offered her a rare, genuine grin.

Winry's eyes widened, she smiled warmly at Greed as she took in his words, "You're right, thank you Greed," Greed nodded, smiling.

He looked out at the night sky, "You know, I've always thought he had been a arrogant little brat. But ever since coming here, I realized he has a lot to fight for and a lot to lose. No wonder he fought as hard as he did with the old man back then, he had been fighting to protect all of this. He's one lucky bastard,"

Greed suddenly felt something warm and soft against his cheek, it was short but nevertheless he registered that Winry had just given him a peck on the cheek. "You have friends too Greed, if you're ever in a pinch we would protect you too and I'm sure Ed would fight for you just as hard as he did for us," she smiled encouragingly and Greed couldn't help but smile back.

He turned his attention back toward the sky, "Heh, thanks...Winry," Greed turned his head to look at her but she had dozed off with her head on his shoulder rather quickly, it took him by surprised how he didn't notice her weight against his shoulder. Greed sighed but the soft smile never left his face, "Yeah...the kid better be back or else," Greed grinned into the dark night.

He felt the air get chillier, as much as he hated to admit it, he didn't want the Rockbell girl to get a cold, so he scooped her up in his arms, still dressed in that red sweater of Ed's and carried her upstairs, sneaking passed Hawkeye, Granny, Al and Mei. "I just hope you don't adopt his weird as hell fashion sense, we don't need one more walking fashion disaster out here," he whispered and shook his head, opening the door to Winry's room and laying her down on her bed.

He pulled the covers up over her, tucking her in.

"Ugh...what the hell am I doing? Damn it all to hell...I have gone soft...tch, well, at least ol' Ling ain't here to tease the shit outta me for being a softie, good thing he's asleep too," Greed rolled his eyes.

He shook his head and sighed, softly closing the door behind him. Greed was walking down the stairs, his hands in his pockets. "Aw, that was so sweet of you Greed, didn't know you were such a softie," Ling taunted playfully in their shared mind, adopting a sweet smile on his face. He couldn't believe they were still able to communicate via mind link with each-other even though Ling himself was back in Xing as Emperor with Lan Fan not to mention their now separate bodies.

"Shut up, I thought you were asleep you closet pervert," Greed retorted back venomously, ignoring Ling's teasing comments and protests at being called a closet pervert. Greed scratching the back of his neck as he suddenly heard someone shouting outside.

Greed's eyes narrowed and he quickly stormed outside, violet eyes widening in surprise at what he saw.

"Greed! Give me a hand over here will you?" Führer Roy Mustang called out sharply, supporting Edward's side as the two men slowly walk-limped toward the Rockbell-Elric home.

"Brother!" Alphonse immediately ran after Greed as the Homunculus supported Ed's other side, "I can't believe you're alright! Where were you so long? Winry and everyone else has been so worried over you!"

"Ugh...W-Winry? Oh man she's gonna kill me...where is she?"

"Look out!" Greed quickly shoved Mustang away from the line of fire as a wrench suddenly came flying at high speed from inside the house, hurled straight at Ed's head as the former State Alchemist fell like a log on his back, a wrench-shaped red mark on his face.

"Talk about the devil..." Ed muttered in pain, rubbing the sore spot.

"Edward..." Winry Rockbell said threateningly at the doorway, Pinako at her granddaughter's side as the old woman watched the scene unfold in amusement.

"W-Winry...I can explain..." Ed suddenly whipped his out around toward Greed," Hey you! Why didn't you cover me?"

The Homunculus scoffed," Simple, you deserved your ass kicked, kid. And you don't touch the Führer, he is invincible," Mustang nodded vigorously and fist bumped with Greed, who had a childish expression on his face, before a shot near him made him straighten up in alarm.

"Führer Mustang..." Riza's penetrating gaze made Mustang sweat in his shoes, "Weren't you attending to your duties, sir?" Roy heard the familiar sound of a gun loading.

Crap.

"G-General! I-I can explain!" Mustang frantically waved his arms around, "M-my duties which were of top priority...I had been searching for Fullmetal."

Everyone suddenly quieted down, "W-what?" it was Winry who asked first.

"I was suspicious of how we didn't hear anything from him in days, as it were I sent my top men out to scout the area for him, as his last known location was Central. It turned out he had been captured by...well..." he suddenly looked uncomfortable.

"Just say it Mustang..." Ed grumbled in displeasure.

"Alright...he was captured by...by fan girls..."

"WHAT?!" everyone near them shouted out in shock, except Pinako, whose smoke pipe fell to the ground.

"Excuse me, fangirls? Edward!" Winry growled in anger and jealousy, seething with her teeth bared menacingly.

"H-hey! It wasn't my choice! I wanted to visit Mustang and see how he sucks at his job then one of them knocked me unconscious with a brick! I was shirtless and chained to a freaking wall for four days!" Edward cried rivers of tears as Al hugged his brother tightly and cried with him.

"Oh Al!" Greed swore the two boys were sparkling like a certain Strong Arm Alchemist.

"Oh brother!" Al cried a waterfall full of tears, hugging his brother like his life depended on him.

"Fan girls huh? Hm...are you sure they weren't searching for me? What would they do with a runt like you?" Greed smirked but suddenly a cold shiver raced up and down his spine as a mental image of Lan Fan's glaring, menacing face appeared in his mind, shutting off all previous thoughts, however joking they may have been, about fan girls.

"No I was pretty sure they had the right guy. They kept pictures of me everywhere! They took my shirt and almost my pants if Mustang here didn't save me in the nick of time! I kept shouting at them to let me go because I needed to give Winry the ring but they kept getting angrier and angrier," Ed sighed, shaking his head.

Winry was now standing before him, tears in her eyes, "R-Ring?"

Ed smiled and fished around in his pants pocket for the ring he bought, "It's not much but I figured you weren't one for large diamonds anyway, I...I-I hope you like it Winry,"

His smile was as handsome and cute as ever as Ed presented her the ring and gently put it on her finger, the band was silver, the top of it was crowned with a small diamond, gold in color, it was small but nonetheless still beautiful.

"It's g-gold...the color of your eyes..." Winry smiled warmly.

"Y-yeah...I bought myself a ring too," he showed it to her, a bigger one with a blue diamond in the center, " The color of your eyes,"

"But I thought red was your favorite color, Ed," Winry hugged him tightly, smiling into his shoulder.

"It's my second favorite, blue is my favorite color, because it's the color of your eyes," Ed smiled and affectionately kissed her forehead, stroking her hair as sheer happiness overwhelmed him at finally being home again.

"She what?!" Ed was furious.

"Yup, she kissed me alright, damn her lips were soft," Greed grinned like the devil.

"You bastard!" Ed swung at him angrily, trying to punch and kick him with murderous intent.

"Heh, jealous squirt?" Greed loved taunting the older Elric brother, getting him riled up. She actually gave him a short, sweet peck on the cheek but he didn't need to know that.

"Umm...Winry?" Al asked uncertainly, eyes darting back and forth between a irritated Winry and the two fighting men.

"Don't listen to him Al, he's lying. I just gave him a peck on the cheek because he comforted me yesterday," Winry shook her head, sighing heavily, "Ugh...men..."

"Oh brother..." Al shook his head, watching Greed taunt Ed more and more, his brother getting more riled up and attempting to murder the smirking Homunculus.

Then Greed ran outside and hopped on a cow, riding it like a bull, "Wooohooo yeah! This is better than rodeo!" Greed shouted, "Yehaa!" Ed growled and chased after them.

"Damn you to hell Greed! Get back here you coward!" Ed grabbed a rock on the way and threw it on Greed's head, making the Homunculus fall from the cow and land on his behind on the ground.

"Ow! That hurt you jackass!" Ed pounced on Greed, the two men grappling with each-other on the ground.

"Stop trying to defile my fiancée you bastard!" Ed shouted as he landed a punch.

"You can't blame me for having this body kid!" Greed grinned as they play fought, he knew Ed wasn't really mad at him.

"Shut up! I'll tear off your legs and beat you up with them you son of a-"

Alright...on second thought...

"Wanna go inside for some tea?" Winry asked Al sweetly, the poor man had no idea what to do.

Could he decide between tea and his brother?

"I got cookies too and Mei is there,"

It was settled.

Nothing could beat cookies and his awesome, sweet wife.

Not even his elder brother.

Hihi I hope you all enjoyed it! Greed's softer side naww ^^ Bet some of you weren't expecting that!