(grins) Hi my dear readers! :D Eheh, yeah, sorry for leaving you with a nasty cliffhanger in the previous chapter, as some of you may know, I'm a bit of a sadist so..yeah...^^ AND MANY MANY APOLOGIES FOR THE BRUTAL DELAY! .

INFO ON THE CHAPTER: So, in this chapter, we finally found out who died and why Winry got that letter. Also, we find out more about Winry's life as a mechanic, her thoughts and with quick intervals switching to the daily lives of Riza, Mei, Gracia (will be introduced next chapter!), Mrs. Bradley (will be introduced next chapter!) Lena and Lan Fan!

ANSWERS TO REVIEWS:

Pouda-P: haha that's ok, don't worry about it! ;) Meh, I try (being evil ^^) Thank you very much! Haha oh I can gurantee that will be a funny scene! Especially since Winry had mentioned in her first letter she had a dog named Den but Ed didn't remember it or connect the dots :3

Bob: Ohhh a redhead! Hmm...maybe, I can be a real pain in the ass and a bitch when I'm angry ( no offense to redheads! It was just a joke ^^) haha I can imagine that being a funny encounter. Greed my husbando...(cough – ok he's for Lan Fan/Lena – cough)

Cassey: Just read what I wrote at the end of this chapter, I wrote a quick note.

GrumpyCatWriter101: haha Thanks! It really means a lot to me that you like my story, though I'm aiming to improve so I can write at least half decent stories in the future (sweat drop) Thanks for the compliment (for my OC) I try! :3

Panic: Sometimes I ask if we can subconsciously communicate with each-other...or maybe I'm too obvious, that could be it too :P haha You're right, I think I'm one of the last authors who would go killing off my main character after just a few chapters XD BTW: Would you mind if I upload those wonderful pictures you drew based on my fanfics on my instagram account? I would, of course, give you full on credit for them don't worry! ;)

Daughterofapollo12345: haha no problem! Weeeeelll...read the chapter and you'll find out! ;)

Pfeh: Hi there! :) Really? You aren't joking? Thank you! It really means a lot to me to be praised so highly! (sweat drop) haha I hope I won't disappoint with this chapter! And I'm sorry for the delay, exams have been sucking out my soul for the past few weeks. . Hm...a nightmare, well yeah, could be but in truth, I considered that idea to come in later chapters. In truth...I was just being mean xd

Pictures or other info on my stories: find also on my Instagram account "DragonRedfox"

Enjoy reading everyone and thank you for your continued support!

Resembool, Central and Us

The Rockbell's – Automail Shop

"Hm...it seems like the engine is malfunctioning again, have you refreshed the oil tank Winry?" the experienced, former engineer Pinako rubbed her chin, wrinkled but wise eyes locked on the problem at hand.

Winry nodded, meticulously cleaning out the dirt and grime from the various carbon enforced tubes and pipes, "Yeah, I did. The four-stroke combustion cycle is there to convert gasoline into motion, but I don't think that the owner had a good idea on what type of oil to feed his vehicle with...he should use a diesel engine instead of a gasoline engine. Diesels are far cheaper to run, not to mention they are almost twice as effective as gasolines. Diesel engines use direct fuel injection, which are perfect for long distance travels," Winry rubbed her forehead in frustration, "Especially since the owner owns a truck..." she sighed, feeling her nerves starting to fray at its seams by the minute.

Pinako smiled at her granddaughter and saw a lot of her own deceased daughter in her, the physical resemblance aside, "Why don't you take a break? Even hard working engineers need breaks to fuel that brain of theirs," she joked by patting Winry's blonde head, which was adorned with a simple, green bandanna. Her granddaughter pouted but relented, taking off her brown working gloves and throwing them aside on her workbench, bandanna undone and resting beside them.

She strolled to a simple chair and grabbed a glass of water, once she sat down and drank a few gulps, Pinako's brow creased in worry and she tentatively asked, "Winry, what happened the other day when you received that letter?"

Winry sighed, brushing her hair back away from her eyes and behind her ear, holding her glass in hand, "The postman came to give me a letter and I thought Ed had replied back..."

Flashback

"It's a letter from the State Military..." he paused, a grim look settling on his normally kind, open features, "They send them out whenever a soldier has fallen in battle..."

Winry's eyes widened, her whole body turning rigid and her hands shaking slightly, quickly, she ripped open the letter.

"W-what?! That can't be! I don't have anyone in the military! Why would-how could?! Wait...no...it couldn't be him...no...no...it can't be!" Winry's thoughts were scrambled and uncoordinated, a jumbled mess in the growing fear she was experiencing as a sinking feeling settled into the pit of her stomach.

She skipped the addresses of the sender and recipient above and read the first sentence.

"With our sincerest apologies we have to inform you of the death of-"

The letter fell from her hands.

The minute it fell to the floor, Winry quickly grabbed it, picking it up off the floor and examining every detail on the letter.

Then she read the name of the soldier that had fallen in battle.

James Ryan

Blue eyes cleared with each passing bat of eyelashes, her hands ceased to shake after several minutes of processing the information. Her eyes shot up quickly to the recipients address.

It wasn't her own.

It wasn't even her name.

Emma Ryan

Her heart fell. That was her neighbor a few houses down, she didn't know her very well, only met her occasionally but she knew she was a kind but lonely woman, due to her husband...being a soldier...

Winry clutched the letter in her hands, shame filling her being as she turned her head, holding out the letter to the confused mailman, "It's not addressed to me, but my neighbor,"

The reaction was immediate. The mailman quickly took the letter, sealing it securely back in its place and pocketing it in his bag, bowing his head in apology, "My sincerest apologies Miss Rockbell! I-I can't explain how sorry I am for this misunderstanding, please-"

Winry lifted her head, smiling tightly at the nervous wreck of a man before her, "Please, don't worry, it's alright, just...please send my condolences to the woman receiving this letter alright?" the man stopped his storm of apologies and nodded, shoulders slumping in defeat and shame as he walked away, back toward his white van.

Winry released a big sigh of relief, slumping heavily on the small chair she kept in her garage, tiredly, she ran a hand down her face.

Her heart had almost stopped for a moment, it was never nice hearing somebody die, but the knowledge that it could have been someone her friends knew well and she herself wanted to get to know...it had terrified her at that moment. She may not know who Edward Elric was exactly, but she thought he wasn't a bad guy and would like to get to know him better.

She also hoped he would be alright – wherever he was.

Flashback End

Pinako frowned thoughtfully, looking at her tired granddaughter, "Does it still worry you?" she watched how Winry straightened her hunched back and looked at her.

"No, not really, but I still didn't get a reply from him..." she bit her bottom lip, worry flashing in her blue eyes that contrasted with her blonde hair.

Pinako smiled, resting a frail, wrinkled hand on top of her shoulder, "I wouldn't worry too much about it, these letters take a while to even arrive at the office," Pinako sighed, relieved to hear nothing bad had happened to anyone.

In times like these, where war had broken out and was just outside the border, everyone was on edge, Pinako knew, if this war continued any longer, it would bring dire casualties to their country as well as others involved.

She wasn't fooled by the news, while for at least half of what was broadcast on the radio and TV daily was true, the other half was heavily influenced and edited by the media as fodder to the audience. Sometimes they spread unneeded panic where it wasn't necessary, other times they downplayed serious situations until a disaster happened...

She stroked Winry's soft cheek, smiling when a smile overcame her face and she giggled. Pinako shook her head, hugging her granddaughter before taking her pipe out of her breast pocket and heading for the opening to the garage.

"Granny, you know you shouldn't use that too much, doctor's orders," Winry warned softly, shaking her head at her old but stubborn grandmother.

Pinako grinned, pipe in mouth, waving at Winry as she continued on forward, "A few years of good drinking and smoking haven't killed me yet, so what's there to say about a few drags a day? A few smokes a day keep the doctor at bay," she released a short laugh.

Winry laughed a bit as well, shaking her head once again, "I think you got that backwards granny!" she couldn't help but dismiss the worry she felt for her grandmother. She may be old but she was in perfect health, the woman rarely ever got ill despite her old drinking habits and her ever present smoking habits.

However, she did cut back on the pipes. She refrained from smoking her pipe in the morning at all, took a few drags in the day when she was stressed or worried and would allow herself the pleasure of enjoying long, drawn out drags of the smoke at night, sitting outside in her chair on her balcony, enjoying the cool night breeze of Resembool, their small but lovely rural village.

Winry scratched at a spot on her head and decided to call Riza to see what she was doing, she was contemplating of calling everyone just to check in as she searched for 'Riza Mustang' on her phone, dialing her number.

It rang exactly two times until the woman picked it up with a even, "Hello Winry,"

Winry smiled, "Hi Riza, I'm not disturbing am I?" for a brief moment, she was afraid she was. Riza was a busy woman, she was leading the whole office in the State Military so it was no surprise she rarely got time to sit back and talk.

"Don't worry, you're not. But I'm afraid I'm not able to talk for very long Winry, it's been a commotion this whole morning," Winry could hear how Riza sighed in exasperation through the phone and she cringed.

Usually when Riza of all people seemed stressed out, then the situation was far more concerning than she thought at first. She almost didn't dare to ask, but she forced the words out of her mouth, "Um, is there any trouble at the border?" she nervously picked at her nails.

"Not really as far as I'm informed. I've talked to Roy a few hours ago, he said they were recuperating and taking care of the soldiers that have been held captive by Drachma. There have been no sightings of Drachma soldiers near the border as of yet, so I take that as a positive sign." Winry exhaled slowly in relief, feeling her heart return to its normal steady thumping within her ribcage, she perked up when Riza said her name though," Oh and Winry,"

"Yes?" Winry was curious, usually Riza would apologize for her lack of time and go to work, but it seemed she had something to ask.

"A letter has gotten in from the parcel office, it's from Edward, would you like for me to send a courier to your shop or do you want me to personally hand it to you?" Riza asked politely and Winry could hear the smile in her voice.

The blonde grinned, "Oh, um, well if you really don't mind-" before she could even finish her sentence, Riza interrupted her with a far too mischievous voice.

"Alright, that's settled, I'll bring it to you as soon as I'm done with work. Goodbye Winry, have a nice day!" she abruptly hung up and the skilled mechanic had to take a few moments to collect herself before she blushed.

"I knew it...you can't be married to Mustang of all people and not be a little sly yourself..." she shook her head, questioning if it was a good thing Riza spent any more time with Roy, least she adopted more of his quirky habits and sly remarks.

The blonde woman sighed, plucking her well worn gloves from the workbench and donning them on, "Let's see..." she stuck her tongue out thoughtfully, placing her goggles over her eyes.

She was looking at a dented bolt, what caused it's deformed shape was beyond her, since the owner had convinced her he had just bought it from the store recently and hadn't touched it since, he also convinced her by the time of the purchase, it had been in peak condition.

"What in the world am I doing...looking at a deformed bolt like some scientists analyzing the behavior of rats in a lab..." she slumped dramatically on her chair, asking herself when she sank so low as to waste her time on inspecting a single bolt and not the whole package.

Well...the owner paid very good money, a typical cocky rich man of higher status, what status he didn't reveal to her but it also didn't matter, she desperately needed money and if she had to get it by looking at a single bolt all day then so be it. She had debts, like everyone else, and she didn't finish paying off her tuition fees quite yet there was that too. And the bolt was made of very high quality mixed metal, stainless steel and titanium.

...Not to mention those pretty neat extracurricular classes granny Pinako financially aided her with in order to develop her medical knowledge. Not only was she fixing cars and the usual like every other mechanic, but she also imbued medicine in her work as well, for creating artificial limbs and the like. Winry was proud of her work, having been last year's second place in the annual Automail Contest.

If there was one thing Winry was very proud and positively obsessed about, it was automail and her work in general. Her house alone, while clean and tidy, was still littered here and there with bolts and screws, not to mention unfinished artificial limbs she was working on constructing in her special work room she had at home. She used to work in her garage, but as it was far too cold in winter, and it would damage her projects, she had turned her guest room into her work room. She never had any guests anyway, at least not ones that were sleeping over.

If any of her friends wanted to sleep over, they would usually make a huge bed out of the floor or simply use her water bed. However, Winry never liked to sleep on that, good thing she didn't have to too. She used to love it as a child, but in time she increasingly had the feeling of losing control while she tossed and turned in bed, as she couldn't control the water that moved with her body.

Winry sighed, involuntarily remembering Pinako's words after her dear grandmother had visited her once, "Child, you have to go out of the house a bit more often. Working on automail is fine, but even I had more company back in my rowdy days than you do now," she said those words bluntly and with a fond twinkle in her eye and Winry still shivered in mild disgust and fear at the thought of it.

Nobody liked imagining their grandma that way, especially old sassy Pinako. The woman was pretty healthy and agile for her age, but some things were better left unsaid and unknown.

She sighed, heading back to work as she tied her bandanna around her head.

"So, heard anything from Greed lately?" the auburn haired young woman asked, tilting her head to the side as she averted a incoming punch from her opponent and friend.

Lena monitored her movements, circling her before aiming a fast high kick to her stomach, her friend dodged, doing a back flip and coming at her with another right hook. Lena crossed her arms, not minding the impact as her friend's fist hit her forearm. She pushed her away and they continued dancing around each-other that way.

"If you see your opponent is trying to disrupt your balance plant your feet firmly on the ground and guard whenever possible! If he tries to kick your legs, make a quick jump and try countering with a punch," Lena demonstrated as she talked, her partner and fellow coworker moving in synch.

Their class, a group ranging from teenagers to adults, looked on attentively, small gasps of amazement or surprise could be heard as Lena fought like a graceful dancer on stage, capturing the attention of her pupils.

Lena concentrated back on her partner and replied in a low tone, "He said Drachma didn't make any problems lately, so they are fine. There have been many injured but thankfully nobody died. He said he was fine," she tried not letting much emotion show on her face, opting to stay concentrated on the task at hand.

Her coworker dodged her swing, delivering a elbow to her ribs, but just so, not intending to hurt, "Are you sure? You don't sound convinced," she cast her a worried glance over her shoulder.

Lena shrugged briefly, "Yeah, I'm sure," it was a lie, but anything to keep her sanity.

Her friend smiled, "Hey, my brother used to be there too. I know how hard it is, being closed off is the worst thing you can do Lena, have you considered talking to a therapist?" Lena huffed as she jumped away from her friend's fist.

"No and I don't intend to. I don't need medications," Lena growled lowly.

She tried again, gently, "What about a psychologist? A psychotherapist? Lena, you've been off ever since he left, I'm just worrying about you. I know it's difficult but I don't think Greed would want for you to be like this," she smiled, stopping the training session.

The young woman, about Lena's age, turned around to address their group, announcing the course officially over but that they should wait in order to discuss their next meeting and take a break.

The two women moved to a more private spot farther away from the group, away from curious ears.

Lena smiled wryly, "I tried closing my eyes..." she breathed deeply, her bandaged fists closed.

"Closing your eyes?" her friend, Jess, cocked her head in curiosity, feeling her friend's mood shift.

Lena nodded silently, "Yeah...but..." she turned her head to look at her with a pained, sad expression, "I can still see the cruel reality..." her friend frowned, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, squeezing slightly.

Lena nodded, silently thanking her, before she stretched and threw a towel over her shoulder, "Tell the rest that the next lesson is next week on Monday at 8. I...need to clear my head for a bit," she smiled.

Her friend grew a worried look, "Don't do anything stupid alright? Just call if you need anything," she lightly punched her shoulder before grabbing her water bottle and jogging lightly toward their group to inform them of the changed schedule.

Lena just smiled softly after Jess, sighing heavily before she gathered her things and entered the changing room.

A million thoughts ran through her mind as she took off her sweaty shirt, methodically removing the protective guards and light armor from her body.

"Was he alright? Where could he be now? He didn't write or call in over two weeks...did Drachma attack again? Was he injured? Did they station him somewhere else?" with every new thought, feelings of doubt and fear bubbled inside her.

Furious at herself, she threw her clothes on the bench and grabbed her towel, marching toward the shower.

The water was scalding hot as it beat down her body, eyes unseeing as they zeroed in on the white tiled wall in front of her, her fist clenched.

"Be sure to stay safe for me will you? I know you're strong and can do anything by yourself but...you know I never stop worrying." she said that with a hint of a smile, holding his hand tightly in hers as the chopper overhead roared loudly.

Greed smiled tenderly, dropping his guard and hugging her to his chest, "Yeah...will do babe. You stay safe for me too alright? I don't want to hear that something happens to you or you crying for an ass like me alright? Whatever happens, I love you, ya know that sweets," he rubbed her cheek, smiling when she tried to blink back her tears.

"Why do you have to be so cheesy you idiot..." she mumbled, burying her face in his chest, the vibrations of his chuckles soothing her slightly.

She gripped his uniform, "Greed...I have a bad feeling about this...you don't have to go, they have enough soldiers..." she bit her bottom lip, trying to deny what was happening, trying to deny the thing called reality.

Greed frowned, rubbing affectionate, soothing strokes across her back and head, "I'm sorry Lena, you know I can't do that. Mustang and the rest are there too, ya know someone's gotta show them how it's done," he broke away to look at her and gave her his famous grin.

She managed a small smile, "Yeah..." she looked down at her shoes and his combat boots, the large, dark green bag next to his feet.

"Lena-" Greed began but his girlfriend of two years surprised him by cutting him off.

"M-make sure you write me at least once a week! So, I know you're alright! If you aren't able to write that often then just tell me you can't! Once a month is fine too! We have to make skype calls too! And-and you have to send me a few pictures every once and a while, so I can see you aren't injured or lying somewhere on the ground!" with tears in her eyes, she rapidly said all of this, not managing to keep the quiver out of her voice.

Greed remained silent, clenching his fist at seeing his beloved in such despair, from the corner of his eye, he saw a officer approaching them, Greed kept one arm wrapped around his crying girlfriend, while he glared daggers at the man, willing him to turn around and not approach him.

The officer noticed the glare, his eyes lowered to see the crying woman and he quickly made up his mind to change course of direction as he returned back to the barracks, his pace a bit quicker than before.

Greed sighed, closing his eyes, "You know what I see when I close my eyes?" he whispered, still rubbing her shaking back.

Lena joked half heartedly, "Darkness? Greed you don't have to comfort me with cliché lines-"

He ignored her and continued, "Tch, yeah that too, but I also don't see one fucking reason to really live. Sure, I got those pansies called friends, but what good are they if I don't have the most amazing badass woman at my side?" he grinned, "Hell, before you came in and crashed the party, I wasn't what some would call a good guy. Or at least a decent one. I picked fights sometimes, I drank sometimes and I had a few women at my sides that only cared about my looks. I kept feeling that insatiable avarice inside me. No matter what I did, money, women, nothing quenched it." He paused, looking into her eyes.

He chuckled, "Then I met you through Lan Fan, she told me you were a real catch and were single. Being the bastard I was, I took the bait, I thought though you were ugly as hell so I didn't expect much. But when I actually met you and talked to you...let's just say you weren't one to be punished around or wrapped around my finger like those other girls. You didn't mind my cussing, because you cussed too. You didn't like me fighting, but talked to me to bring me back to my senses. If I drank, you emptied the bottles and hit my head with them and said,' See? Alcohol's a bitch,'" she giggled quietly when he mentioned that.

Greed chuckled too, " I stopped drinking, stopped seeing other women, stopped considering to even make a gang-"

"Wait, you considered creating a gang?!" Lena's eyes widened.

"-Anyway, what I mean to say is, all that bullshit about 'making me a better man' and stuff? I'm better but I'm still the old Greed, I just stopped doing bullshit as often...or I'm doing bullshit with you." He smirked, patting her head, "You mean the world to me, more than I'll ever be able to say," his gaze was soft, warm violets staring at her teary brown.

She sobbed, clutching his uniform and kissing him hard, he kissed her back with the same intensity and after they broke apart, they were smiling a bit.

"Don't talk to strangers ok? I heard they were nasty..." she smiled, running a hand through his hair.

He chuckled and grinned widely, "No promises sweets," his gaze softened again and he pulled her close, taking in the scent of her shampoo and her own musky scent as well as his own scent from the scarf she wore around her neck, his scarf.

He smiled.

"Take care," he whispered.

"Only if you will," she retorted softly.

She sighed and whispered, "Only if you will..." for a moment, she remained standing motionless under the falling water.

Then she grinned, "Yeah...", the thought that shot through her head at this moment caused her to smile, "Whatever happens, I love you, you know that sweets,"

"Idiot..." she wiped a tear away out of the corner of her eye, before she straightened up and started furiously washing herself, nearly jumping out of the shower, clad in a long towel.

She met her coworker in the changing room, who looked startled by her sudden good mood, "Uh...Lena? Are you alright?" she rose an eyebrow.

The brunette grinned, "Course I am! Ah, by the way, I'm going over to Mei, you need anything before I head out?" she quickly dressed, a smile on her face.

"U-uh...no, no...I don't think so..." she looked on as Lena slung her back over her shoulder and gave her a two finger salute.

"Right! I'm off bye Jess!" she sped toward the door like the wind.

Jessica was left standing there like a wondering fool.

"Gotta get my head outta the gutter," were Lena's only thoughts as she walked her way around people, her gym bag slung over her shoulder as she visualized her route to Winry's shop.

"I wonder if Ed wrote her again? Last time I checked, it's been a little over a week, I hope nothing bad happened to the boys." She grabbed her cell phone from her pocket and turned the screen on, swiping over it and typing her password into it before selecting the contacts menu and scrolling down to 'Riza'.

"Hm...I didn't call Riza for a few days either...I don't even know if I should, that woman's as busy almost as that idiot husband of hers," Lena smiled fondly as she convinced herself a quick call wouldn't be the end of the world.

The phone rang and soon enough, after two rings, Riza picked up with a semi-breathless tone, "Hello Lena,"

The brunette rose an eyebrow in curiosity, hearing the labored breaths of her friend through the communication device, "Hey, you alright? You sound out of breath there," she scratched her cheek.

She heard shuffling, a chair on wheels being swiveled away probably for Riza to sit on, "My apologies, I've been exercising to clear my mind a bit,"

Lena chuckled, shaking her head, "Looks like I'm not the only one who has to clear her mind, huh?" she cleared her throat with a relieved smile, "Ah, I see. No worries, but you usually exercise when work is too much. How is it going in the office? Any news? Good or bad?" Lena cringed, she sincerely hoped there wouldn't be any bad news. But it was nearly impossible for a profession such as theirs.

Riza paused for a minute and Lena knew immediately something wasn't quite right, "Roy called a few days ago, he reported to General Bradley that their numbers have suffered quite a bit. Bradley's sending in for reinforcements but it would take a few days for them to arrive, so far no casualties among our ranks. Greed is fine too," Riza ended with a smile, her tone lighter than at the beginning.

Lena felt embarrassment creeping up on her and a eerie sadness settling in the pit of her stomach, "S-sorry...I'm sorry for your loss, but I'm just worried about Greed you know. I'm worried for the others too of course but I-"

Riza interrupted her calmly, "I know Lena, don't worry. I know, it's only natural. I can assure he is fine, he is driving Roy nuts in fact," Riza gave a short, amused laugh and Lena couldn't contain her laugh as well.

"Yeah...that's my guy alright. Tell me – did Edward reply to Winry yet? I haven't talked to her today yet so I'm afraid I'm not informed at all," she readjusted her bag over her shoulder, looking left and right before crossing the street towards her car, keys jiggling in her jacket pocket.

Riza's tone suddenly turned sly and Lena couldn't help but grin, "Well..." Riza dragged out the "well" mischievously and Lena suddenly felt like a schoolgirl sharing secrets with her best friend.

She grinned wider, "Well? Spit it out sharpshooter, I want to hear all the details," she could nearly picture Riza's smirk.

"I'm not authorized to glance at the letter's content...unfortunately, it had somehow been ripped open and the letter had fallen out of its envelope somehow," at Riza's lame attempt at an excuse, Lena burst into laughter, covering her mouth to try and quench the giggles coming out of her.

"Oh geez woman! That's even worse than when Greed's trying to lie! Well, now that you've already broken the law, let me in on it," she fished around for her keys with one hand while she held the phone with the other.

"I haven't read the whole letter though, for the sake of Winry's as well as Edward's privacy but I have caught glimpses of it. I've read that I was a nice person, I've noticed the word "sexy" in it and that he asked what eye color she had," Riza's sounded surprisingly proud of herself.

Lena snorted in half laughter, shaking her head, "Oh? That dirty huh? Geez, that's worse than the smut Greed and I come up with," she coughed into her hand, "Anyway, sexy? Seriously? What the hell did he write that he had to use the word 'sexy'? I sure hope he isn't a pervert...or worse, influenced by Greed," Lena rolled her eyes, fearing for the man's mental state after spending so much time with her boyfriend.

Riza laughed, "I wouldn't worry about the context. It was quite harmless really, it was meant in a joking demeanor in reference to his eyes being gold and capturing the attention of women, that was all really," suddenly Riza's joking tone diminished, "Say, don't you have work now? How comes you're free to talk?"

Lena opened the door of her car and threw in her gym bag, setting it on the passenger's seat as she sat on the driver's seat and closed the door, "Well, I could be asking you that too! Anyway, I've decided to have a few days off from work, Jess said it was alright for us to schedule training until next week."

There was a long silence, Lena just fastened her seatbelt and turned on the engine when she heard Riza say quietly, "Any particular reason for it? You usually rarely ever miss work, let alone freely cancel some of your classes. Anything I should know?" the worry was evident as Riza spoke to her, but it only made her feel bad.

"Listen up, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, I'm just saying the others and I are there for you should you need us, alright? I know the struggle and I learned it helps to share your worries over some good movies, popcorn and good friends," it warmed Lena's heart to hear such touching words coming from the former sharpshooter.

She lowered her head, playing with the keychain on her car keys, "Yeah...I know, I really appreciate the concern Riza. Really. I just...need to figure some things out, clear my head a bit you know. I'll go visit Winry now to see how she's doing, you could come over to my house later on if you want, I'll invite Mei and Lan Fan later too," she ran a hand through her hair.

"Alright, I'll be there. Take care would you?" Riza was still concerned.

Lena chuckled, "Sure thing, you have nothing to worry about sharpshooter. Now go back to work, I know you're dying to fill out Roy's paperwork again," she grinned when she heard Riza's exasperated sigh.

"No matter how many years of marriage we have behind us, that man will never cease to detest paperwork," both women laughed before bidding goodbye to each-other and hanging up.

Lena stored her phone in the compartment under the gearshift and gripped the steering wheel firmly.

She could do this, after all Greed was alright and nothing very bad happened as of yet.

"...Right?" she shook her head from those thoughts and pressed down on the gas pedal, driving off toward the Rockbell shop.

"Mei!" Lan Fan called her friend over, smiling when the shorter woman spotted her and jogged toward her, dropping down onto the chair in the cafeteria and sighing heavily in exhaustion.

"Ugh! I hate this traffic! Sometimes I wish I were a real ninja so I could just fly from place to place!" Mei groaned, crossing her arms childishly and frowning.

Lan Fan smiled, shaking her head, "I don't think ninjas could ever fly, they could just jump really high,"

"I know...but still..." Mei straightened up, sneaking a glance at the food, "So, is the food any good?" she glanced down at Lan Fan's modest choice of a meal.

A chicken breast with sauce, salad and mashes potatoes along with a slice of cake for dessert and selected fruits on another smaller platter.

Lan Fan shrugged, "It is quite alright...I suppose,"

After a long silence and a lot of thinking, Mei stuck her tongue out, obviously disagreeing with Lan Fan's poor choice of words to describe her short break meal. Lan Fan chuckled, wiping her mouth with a napkin.

"Right...anyway, Lena texted me and asked if you and I are willing to go to her house and spend some time together? We could watch scary movies, maybe even have a sleepover, then we can talk about my dear, lovely Alphonse and-" Lan Fan quickly held a hand up, stopping her friend's rapid speech.

"That sounds nice," she simply said, glad to have stopped the otherwise never ending but sweet praising of her boyfriend.

"So, heard anything from Ling?" Mei asked curiously.

Lan Fan smirked.

Phew...I'm really sorry for not updating in a while...you guys can imagine how the past few weeks have been hell on earth for me. Exams after exams...but I pulled through! Scored a few very good marks and improved other...not that great marks ^,^. QUICK NOTE: in "One Shots" in my other collection of one shots, I'll update SOON! The next chapter will be centering around Ling going back in time as promised! Thanks for your patience! (bows)