Hello everyone! I'm back with a new chapter! It hasn't been too long now has it? :)

ANSWERS TO REVIEWS:

Shadow Ackerman: haha thanks so much! :)

QuinzMoon: haha Sure thing it does, I suggest looking it up in Japanese! ;) It does have a meaning and it's pretty easy too (it's not the most original one I've come up with, but I thought the name sounded nice when I tried it). Haha Hughes, huh? Well, I can't really say, after all I plan to do a lot of twists and turns in this story, for however long she will continue anyway. Thank you so much for the nice compliments :3 Exams start on Monday and I have ALL three exams on the same day..let's just hope I'll pull through .

GrumpyCatWriter101: hahaha No, no, don't worry, you have a right to state your opinion whatever it is, don't worry I'm not mad :) ;) Besides, I thought it was lame in the beginning too, but the more time passed, the more I thought it actually rolled of the tongue nicely idk :P Besides the obvious meaning anyway...(just try typing synonyms for the word 'greed' in Japanese, you'll see what I mean ;)

Lily: haha Thanks Lily :)

Sherlsepeare: Oh in the morning? I'm sorry I just saw this one :P haha Thank you, I'll gladly take that as a compliment :) To be honest, I almost felt guilty for all the hype around it because it wasn't that of a 'cool' name and since in this story he is Ling's brother he would have to have something sounding like Xingese so...yeah. XD (blinks slowly) Ah...really? Wow, thank you so much! *.* haha Well, I try, but honestly I can't write humor good either :P

BlueRedRose: haha hey there! Welcome to my story! ^^ Thank you so much, I was afraid I wrote Riza a bit too OOC in some chapters T_T Thanks for the wishes, the practical exams are thankfully over (and I passed YES!) but I still got three exams to do on Monday .

Hello from the other side

Previously on Letters from War...

"Hello? Hello? Is this thing on?" an image of a pretty blonde young woman in overalls greeted him and it made Ed chuckle, she froze for a brief second, having heard him before nervously and shyly glancing at the camera she readjusted so it rested straight perched on top of her laptop.

"Hey," and he smiled.

"Hey," came her reply and her voice was the sweetest thing he ever heard until now.

Winry had to take a minute to compose herself, because she had nearly gotten a heart attack from the distinctively male chuckle she heard from the screen before a picture finally appeared.

And boy...did it appear.

Winry was very thankful that the soldier, Ed, didn't seem to notice the fierce blush overtaking her entire face at the sight of him.

In truth, she hadn't really known what to expect. All she had to go by on his appearance was that maybe he was a bit similar to Alphonse, since they were brothers, that he had gold eyes and hair and that was that. She had thought his features would mirror those of the kind, softer Alphonse but...

Damn.

She shook her head, clearing her throat in what she hoped was a believable act of trying to dispel the dryness in it as she took him in.

He was dressed in typical soldier's garb, but whether intentional or not, the uniform wasn't as loose as she had thought, it was form fitting but not so to look suffocating. It was green, as opposed to the color blue she usually saw Amestrian soldiers in, and she had to admit it complimented his eyes slightly. His eyes...were a striking, sharp gold, she felt as if those very eyes could pierce her soul, as if looking right through her and for one reason or another, she felt self conscious in her stupid overalls, damn work outfit.

A word popped into her mind she heard Lena and occasionally even sweet Mei utter once or twice about their significant others, he was 'ripped'. Quickly shaking her head to banish the thoughts suddenly swarming her mind at the suggestive word, she quickly moved her eyes away from his torso.

She noted how his eyes weren't as rounded and big as those of his brother, they looked almost hardened, as if they have seen far too much for his age, which they probably did.

He had gold bangs on either side of his face, his hair seemed to be long as opposed to his brother's very short one, though she could see that it wasn't as long as she thought, he had a short...braid at the back of his neck. Despite having the hairstyle of a girl, he looked...alright.

She would never admit it, would never be caught dead admitting it, maybe it was the fact she hadn't had a date in...a long time, but she couldn't deny the slight stubble on his chin and the way his uniform stretched over his arms and chest didn't cause her eyes to be magically drawn to them.

She snapped out of it, intent on not appearing as some pervert that ogled him like she never saw a man before.

Shyly, she waved at him, awkwardness filling her quickly, "Hey Ed," she smiled in relief when his expression broke into a kind smile too, it made him appear younger for some reason.

"Hey Winry," the next heart attack she quite nearly suffered was when she heard his voice.

Granny would be telling her it has been far too long since she last had a date. And maybe the old woman was right.

She didn't know why, but his voice was deep but not too deep and it had a soothing quality to it that calmed her nerves slightly. He seemed...happy to see her.

She hoped she hadn't dressed too ugly nor look like she put too much effort into looking presentable. In truth, she had got so caught up in work that she had no time to ponder much on her wardrobe, so she sat at her laptop in the same clothes she had been working a car earlier on with.

"You look horrible," that was the second thing that came out of his mouth and she barely stopped the wrench from crashing into her computer, opting to swing it threateningly at it instead.

"YOU IDIOT! I KNEW I SHOULDN'T HAVE BOUGHT A CAMERA JUST TO SEE YOUR UGLY FACE!" she growled, noticing with some satisfaction the sweat rolling down his face.

Ed cleared his throat, laughing, "BUT YOU SAID MY EYES WERE SEXY!" he hollered into the computer and Winry covered her mouth, face going red.

"Oi, I didn't lend you my stuff to play naughty soldier on it! Get the hell of my laptop!" she could hear a familiar voice growl from the background, before what she deduced was Greed attempted to drag Ed away from the laptop, who fought back as if this was routine for them.

"No fair! I got here first! You said I could use it!" she could heard how Edward complained and she couldn't deny she didn't like his voice...somewhat.

"Under the condition of not getting dirty with your girl! Seriously, have you no shame? Lena and I are using it too for hell's sake!" Greed growled, glaring frostily at Ed before obliviously turning to the screen toward Winry and waving casually as if he didn't just attempt to kill Ed, "Oh hey there, you're that blonde mechanic chic right? Lena said something about you needing a boyfriend eh? Well, this guy's the perfect candidate!" he pointed toward Ed, who kicked him rather roughly in the knee, but that absolutely had no effect on him and she briefly wondered just how durable soldiers really were.

Greed casually got a chair from somewhere and plopped down right in front of the screen, rogue grin in place, "So, where's my badass princess huh? Haven't heard from her since a few days ago, how is she? Is she alright? Does she miss me? I bet she does, of course she misses me I'm her boyfriend," Winry frowned, already wondering how Lena could possibly endure Greed's rants if they were anything like this.

But suddenly, his expression grew a bit more serious and the serious, deeper tone of his voice startled her, "Is she doing alright then?" she could see he was worried and she never really considered Greed to be much of a worrisome person.

She cleared her throat, "Um...y-yes, she's fine. She's taken some time off from work but she's fine, she visits me almost every day and keeps me company," Winry smiled, "She talks fondly of you, but I think you should call her as soon as possible, she seemed a lot more worried these past few days but I didn't have the opportunity to ask yet," Winry smiled reassuringly.

Greed contemplated this, "...Damn...I'll be a dead man and that's not because of this war I tell ya..." without another word, Greed got up and speed walked away from the screen, she watched Ed's perplexed expression as he looked after Greed, probably heeding her advice to call Lena.

"Um...right," Ed shook his head and she watched slightly transfixed the way his bangs moved with the movements of his head, "Alright, back to my sexy eyes woman," Winry rolled her eyes, fingers itching to grab her wrench.

"Would you shut up about that?! It was you that even started it! I just said I liked your eyes, that's all!" she huffed, crossing her arms defensively.

When she peered back at the screen, she could see a grin on his face, his voice turned just a bit softer, "Heh, yeah I guess I did, huh?" there was something Winry identified as awkwardness coming from him before he spoke again, "Uh, you really like my eyes?"

She tried playing it cool, composing herself, tried to appear as confident like he was a few moments ago, "Hm, well I can't really see them all that well so I wouldn't know," she smirked, mentally patting herself on the back for her counter attack.

Something akin to recognition dawned in Ed's eyes before he suddenly moved his face closer to the camera, gold eyes coming closer and closer to view and Winry felt nervous all over again, like a school girl, "That better miss mechanic?"

Winry subtly swallowed, leaning in to directly look into the unbelievably golden irises, his pupils were dark and the gold color surrounding them had something beautiful about them Winry never saw before. She never saw anyone with gold eyes before she had met Alphonse, but his seemed just a bit brighter than his brothers and she already found she was lost in them.

"Like them?" she was startled out her reverie by Ed's voice, whom she still had to get used to, as he leaned away from the camera and chuckled at her apparent startle, "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you,"

She huffed, he seemed sincere but she wasn't buying that for a second, she turned her head to look at him though when Ed suddenly said, "Can I see your eyes too?"

Forcing herself to act normal, Winry carefully leaned forward so her eyes were looking straight into the camera and she blushed when she heard a faint whisper, "Wow...so blue..."

When she returned the camera back to its original place on top of her laptop, she found him grinning, "They're like the sky," Winry smiled bashfully, all of a sudden feeling like a school girl getting compliments.

"T-thanks Ed and yours are...well...like gold," she laughed and Ed joined in her laughter, running a hand through his hair.

"Thanks, Winry," he smiled and she smiled back.

Shit.

Was all he thought the first time he saw her on the screen.

He didn't really know what he imagined, he had asked Al if he ever heard of a Winry Rockbell in Resembool before and he reminded him she was the girl they used to play with sometimes that lived just a few houses down their own.

Ed had asked him what else he remembered and Al just waggled his eyebrows suggestively and teased him if he just wanted to know if she was pretty. Ed had snorted and decisively marched into the tent to call her on skype.

That hadn't answered his question at all but...still...he remembered everything he knew about her, concerning appearance anyway. Blue eyes, blonde hair.

Was it short? Long? Curly? Straight? He would have pulled a 'typical blonde' comment on her, but he was blond himself and he had the idea she wasn't dumb, tinkering with mechanics and machines like she was wasn't an all too easy job.

He tried envisioning how she may look like but only rubbish came out that way. He had found himself face palming in frustration at the weird images he had conjured up, either she was too tall or too short, dressed to flashily or too rundown, or she...well...was too...buxom...

He groaned, burying his face in his hands, he certainly didn't need to even go there. When he tried grilling Lena for some answers, she didn't offer much, just kept mercilessly teasing him, but thankfully she had enough sense not to tell Greed he asked about how Winry looked like. She knew exactly how Greed would make his life hell if he did, along with Ling, who was annoying in a league of his own.

Just minutes before he had set everything up, he tried bracing himself, kept telling himself he cared more for intellect instead of physical aspects, after all, he himself wasn't a looker. Absentmindedly, he grabbed at the arm, but shook the feeling off and made sure it was properly covered before his mind wandered back to Winry.

From the letters they had traded back and forth, she was a simple but interesting woman. She had a knack for mechanics, certainly not something he really saw every day. He gathered from her complicated explanations about engines that she was smart, but she also wasn't dumb when it came to other daily things. He did learn however that she thought of herself not to be the best cook, but she said that she always got her apple pies right. For a minute, he chuckled to himself, running a hand down his face, imagining a ghost of a smile on a woman's face he couldn't even picture clearly, just vague outlines and could-be speculations.

When he actually saw her on screen, he was surprised to see her dressed in overalls and a black undershirt from what he could see, a screwdriver was poking out of the breast pocket, oil smudges here and there but not too dirty, a green bandanna was tired around her hair to keep it out of her face, blue eyes the color of the sky, a clear face and blonde bangs covering her forehead partly that reminded him of Hawkeye's bangs. She had a friendly face and he couldn't help but automatically smile when he saw it.

Alphonse also reminded him that Pinako was her grandmother, after all there weren't many people with the surname "Rockbell" in Resembool anyway. He remembered the tiny old hag quite clearly, always picking trivial fights with her over their respective tiny heights, while he had been just a runt and she well over the years of sixty.

Years had passed since then and he wondered how she was doing, she had been a annoying pint sized grandma from time to time, but she had cooked them warm meals when he and Al had lost their parents and read them bedtime stories and came to them at night when they suffered from nightmares. He never thought ill of her, he had picked fights with other children from the village who called her a old hag, even if he himself had done it. A fond smile stretched over his lips and he made a mental note to ask how the old woman was doing after all this time.

No doubt she would grill him alive once she saw him, whether on screen or in person but then a dark thought interrupted his musings.

...If she ever had the chance to anyway.

And suddenly, so easily, he was reminded where he was and he stubbornly pushed down the thoughts of possible reunions to the far back of his mind, where all other happy thoughts of family and the like were buried deep beneath things he liked to call 'rational thinking' and 'reality's kick to the ass'.

He shook his head and tried to imagine what Winry's voice was like. Was it high? Deep? Too deep? Somewhere in the middle? What was the middle?

He shook his head, groaning in frustration, maybe Al was right, maybe he was over thinking things. It's been a while since he last talked with a girl that wasn't in uniform or one of his enemies, of course anyone would be a bit nervous. She was funny, intelligent and she wasn't afraid to call him out when he had one of his tantrums, which she soon learned were just a personality trait. Ever since becoming a soldier, not many really dared to do that anymore, it was a refreshing change.

But when he actually saw her, heard her giggle, saw her smile, saw her blue, blue eyes...it made him want to laugh at himself for being so stupid and being nervous.

Winry wasn't complicated, she wasn't a woman who spent too much time on her choice of clothes, at least that's the impression he got on her for the past few months.

They talked about this and that, talking about Resembool and their friends and for the funny fact that they never met each-other despite having so many mutual friends. They shared laughs, jokes and even a few suggestive lines, most though coming from Edward and Winry countering either with her wrench or a clever remark herself. He didn't know why he behaved the way he did, some called it flirting but he didn't think too much of it, after all she was his friend and nothing more.

"Granny scared poor Johnny to the point he came up with some lame excuse just to flee the garage," Winry shook her head, blonde hair following the movement gently, "Sometimes, I wonder for her sanity..." she laughed to herself, smiling as she did so. Ed laughed quietly, gaze softening.

"...How...how is she?" he leaned back in his chair, content to just watch Winry talking, it was a weird, unfamiliar feeling, that feeling of peace and tranquility, but it wasn't unwelcome.

She blinked before smiling, "Granny's fine, for her advanced age she is as active as she can get. I wish she would cut off on smoking that old pipe of hers completely but I guess old habits die hard," Ed smirked, ah right, the pipe, he remembered he would see the old woman smoke her pipe at her veranda sometimes when she was exasperated with him and other times he thought she was lost in memories.

"That's...good to hear, haven't heard from that old hag in a while," he chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. The words sounded genuine and even caring to Winry's ears, so she stopped herself from reprimanding him for the 'old hag' comment, it had made her curious how Ed even knew her grandma so well.

"Say Ed..." gold eyes fixed themselves on her in response, "How comes you know granny so well? I don't really remember you in my childhood...or Alphonse for that matter..." she played with her fingers sheepishly, seeming embarrassed.

Ed smiled, "Heh, can't blame you Winry, I don't actually remember you too, Al remembers vaguely but that's that. Pinako used to cook us warm meals and tuck us into bed after..." he stopped, his mouth forming a thin line as he contemplated to tell her.

Winry read the mood and immediately held her hands up, "Ah, I u-understand Ed, please you don't have to say anything," her expression softened in understanding, "I understand..." there was something in her voice that suggested she did really know what he was about to say, that she really did understand and he shook his head.

The air fell quiet around them, something Ed wasn't all too comfortable with, so he tried again on a more cheery note, "Hm, what's it like being a mechanic? I doubt men really treat you fair despite your skills," he smiled, trying to show he meant no harm with his comment.

Winry huffed, "It's not always easy I admit, but I made a name for myself, at least concerning Central and Rush Valley oh and Resembool too of course. I still get some weird letters from time to time, claiming that some other mechanics would want to compete with me in automail competitions to see who's better," she sighed.

Ed rose an eyebrow, leaning on his forearms, "...Automail competitions?" there was a moment of silence, before he suddenly burst out laughing, resting his forehead against his forearms as his body shook with laughter.

Automail competitions...HA!

"And what's so funny about that?!" the annoyed tone in Winry's voice didn't go unnoticed, but Ed just laughed harder, clutching his stomach when he straightened up to look at her through bleary eyes.

"Automail competitions? You automail freaks have competitions for that? Oh geez..." Ed chuckled, shaking off the drowsy effects from laughing so hard, his stomach ought to hurt after laughing so hard...

Winry crossed her arms, fixing him with a scathing, semi-playful glare, "You nut! Automail is the best thing in the world! I can't believe you can't appreciate fine art like that!"

Ed grinned slowly, crossing his own arms, feeling a spark of challenging emotions within him, "Oh? Fine art huh? You want to hear what's fine art?" he cocked his head, smiling, "Alchemy!"

Winry slowly blinked, before she burst into laughter, wiping at her eyes as tears fell from them and for the love of him Ed couldn't find the reason she was laughing for.

"Hey...hey! Why are you laughing?!" Ed peered at the screen, trying to give her the same scathing glare she gave him earlier.

Winry tried hard to compose herself again, but after a few failed attempts, she reduced her laughter to small giggles, "I...I can't...I just can't believe you would go comparing automail and alchemy! Those are two completely different things Edward!"

Ed snorted, crossing his arms, "Of course it is, alchemy rocks!"

"...How old are you? Five?" Winry hid a smile behind her hand when Ed scoffed stubbornly, looking off to the side, fighting off a small smile.

"Anyway, alchemy's pretty cool once you study it long enough and learn of its secrets and what it has to offer. It's similar to learning an ancient, dead language not many people know but you have the privilege to know and explore it further," his sudden eloquence stunned Winry, he could see, and he couldn't help but grin proudly when she leaned in.

"Wait...did you actually study alchemy? You went to university? But how? Riza told me you were a soldier for a while now," Winry scratched her head, utterly confused, doing the math in her head again. That was impossible...he was pretty young, there was no way he could have finished university and become a soldier...he would have needed to be in his mid till late thirties to do that.

Ed chuckled, "I finished university at twenty before joining the state military, Mustang was pretty convincing and I guess that's how I joined," he shrugged nonchalantly and Winry's eyes flew open.

"At twenty?! You finished university at twenty?!" she blinked multiple times, "Riza did mention you were pretty smart but...well...wow." Ed felt a twinge of pride settling in the pit of his stomach but he just smiled at her.

"Now don't be so shy, I heard you finished early too and became a mechanic early on instead of becoming a doctor or something like that," Ed grinned at Winry's perplexed expression.

"How did you know that?" she tilted her head to the side curiously and Ed found the action...not cute but something similar.

"I did a small background check on you miss mechanic," he smirked, seemingly proud of himself, "Guess the military can be good for something,"

Winry scoffed, "No fair, I can't do any background checks on you, creepy stalker,"

Ed shook his head, laughing, "Yeah, right, I'm pretty famous in Central, ask any woman on the street and they'll know me," he winked playfully, feeling slightly bashful at his behavior.

Winry snorted, "Uh huh, right." She sighed, rolling her eyes before they widened at something he couldn't see, "Oh no,"

Ed rose an eyebrow, seriousness creeping back into his voice, thinking something might have happened, "What? What is it?"

Winry looked back at him apologetically, "Um, I'm really sorry Edward, but I completely lost track of time and I still didn't finish that automail leg I was working on," she ran a hand down her face.

Ed froze, pupils shrinking in size as he processed her words, 'automail leg'. He swallowed, hard.

"...Automail leg?" he was careful to mask his initial emotions when he asked her this.

Winry looked innocently at him, "Oh yeah, I told you I was a automail engineer, I also repair automail limbs from time to time. I guess I've gotten good with it over time and I'm trying to change designs and add a few more useful features into them," she smiled, oblivious to Ed's surprise.

"I see," he clicked his tongue, feeling dryness settle in his throat.

"Everything alright?" Winry looked worried when she noticed his strange behavior.

Ed straightened, "Fine," his voice came out a little harsher than he intended it to and he hoped he didn't startle her, "Sorry, just uh, talk to you later? I have a mission soon," he smiled.

Winry blinked before smiling back, nodding quietly, "Mhm, yeah, let's say at nine? Sounds good?"

Ed grinned, feeling slightly more at ease, "Sounds perfect to me," he chuckled at the shy look she suddenly got.

"R-right, well, see you later then..." she paused as if to consider something, before sticking her tongue out at him and saying, "Alchemy freak!"

Ed froze briefly and before he could reply back, the screen closed and so did the image of Winry.

Ed sat there in the chair for a couple of minutes more, before a small, slow smile stretched over his face and he shook his head.

"Alchemy freak, huh?" he smirked, shaking his head.

"Sounds like a nice pet name don't you think, brother?" Ed jumped in his seat and promptly fell off his chair when he attempted to turn around and regard his smug brother, who was leaning against a wooden beam supporting the tent, smiling wickedly, like a Cheshire cat.

"A-A-ALPHONSE!" Ed's roar sent the younger Elric fleeing the scene, laughing as he heard another loud crash and soon heard his elder brother's footsteps thundering after him.

For a man that used to be the size of a midget at age seventeen, he sure could run fast.

The atmosphere was dark and filled with smoke, scantily clad women prancing about the bar, enticing welcoming customers as they followed them with their eyes at the seductive sway of their hips.

One of those women smoothly walked toward a middle aged, rather burly woman with dark hair and hardened eyes stationed at the bar, talking to another customer. The young woman leaned down close to her boss' ear and whispered something into it, the elderly woman's eyes hardened and she turned her back to the bar counter, discreetly accepting a slip of paper the girl working for her slipped between her fingers from the inside of her black, nearly see through brassiere with flowery patterns.

The woman in charge, Chris Mustang, or better known under her alias Madam Christmas, slipped unnoticed to the back of the bar, closing the door softly shut behind her and slipping the piece of paper out of the inside pocket of her coat.

When she opened it, her eyes narrowed further, "...Who are you?"

There was a picture on it, it showed a man somewhere in his late twenties to early thirties, with abnormally long, very long dark hair that was styled into spikes, a grim look on his face and something decisively evil in his eyes, violet ones.

She frowned and quietly whispered the name written under it.

"Envy," the name seemed to echo within the crowded bar and yet it sent a shiver running down her spine as she turned to one of her approaching girls.

"Give me the phone," the girl nodded and quickly handed her the dark telephone, Madam Christmas nodded in thanks before quickly dialing a number she had become very familiar with over the past few years.

"Hello?" the deeper voice of a woman was heard on the other end of the line.

She didn't hesitate, "We got a lead,"

The briefest time of silence passed before the woman asked, slightly startled, "You work fast. Do you recognize him?"

Chris Mustang looked down again at the picture, at the roguish grin and evil violet eyes, "No,"

"Who is he?"

The madam clicked her tongue, cigarette put out in a nearby ashtray stylized in a deep burgundy red made from glass, "The lad's name is...Envy,"

"One of the seven deadly sins," Riza muttered, stunned.

Madam Christmas frowned darkly, "Exactly,"

The picture of Envy was swallowed by the burning hot flames of the lighter, fire engulfing the paper as Envy's sneering face and evil eyes burned to ash.

"What do you suppose we do?" she frowned, watching as the embers from the ashes glowed a dull red and orange, the only reminder that something, possibly a picture, was burned in the ashtray.

"Are your lines safe?" Riza knew she didn't need to ask, she knew they were safe, but she just had to make sure.

Madam Christmas smirked, "As safe as any brothel's lines are, deary," she grinned, chuckling.

Well, now Envy caught the attention of Madam Christmas too! What do you think will happen next with this newfound info? Thanks for reading everyone!