Later that night as they shared Edward's bed, Elysia had thought that she might be nervous being with him for the first time. Especially since it was her first time being with any man. But she wasn't and Edward had been gentle. She had never given much thought to his automail and wondered if it would be awkward as he climbed into bed next to her. But any uneasy thoughts were soon banished as she realized how skilled Edward was. The only difference between his automail and his real flesh was the coolness of it. When the automail brushed against her bare skin it gave her goosebumps that she found strangely arousing. Edward guided her through the whole experience without being dominant. He let her explore his body just as he explored her own. She ran her hands along his arm, back and torso, pausing over the tattoos he had that she noticed while he was in the hospital. She had wanted to ask about them then and was still curious about them. But she knew there would be another time and place to ask. She tenderly kissed the scars he had recently received. They stood out, stark and pale against his skin as she gently brushed over them with her lips, thinking foolishly that she could make the scars go away. The entire time Edward kept her from rushing and Elysia was glad he did. She was able to relax and enjoy the sensations, something she would not have been able to do if she had continued hurriedly through their first time together. She wanted to remember this forever. She could tell Edward wanted her to also and made sure she would.

Elysia didn't know how long they had been asleep. The last thing she remembered was drifting away as Edward held her close. As they had slept they had shifted in their sleep and Elysia now had her back to Edward. She heard him mumbling in his sleep but was too sleepy herself to pay attention. Until he sat up straight in bed and shouted. The fear in his voice completely woke Elysia and she turned quickly to look at Edward worriedly.

"Edward," she said as she gently touched his shoulder but he grabbed her hand roughly.

"Don't touch me," he growled squeezing her hand.

He was squeezing her hand hard. Elysia was scared but she knew that if she didn't do something to wake him he'd break her hand. Being scared of him like this wasn't going to help her any.

"Edward let go!" Elysia commanded, putting as much authority in her voice despite the pain. "Wake up! You're dreaming! It's me, Elysia!"

Edward released her hand and started to blink. He then groaned, leaned forward and put his head in his hands. He remained that way, trying to calm himself. After a few seconds Elysia hesitantly reached to touch his shoulder again and was relieved when he didn't shake her off or grab her hand again. She watched him worriedly, not saying anything, waiting for him to talk when he was ready.

"Is your hand okay?" He asked finally looking up at Elysia.

"Yeah," she said looking him in the eye. He seemed calm but he had a scared wild look that lingered in his eyes. He took her hand gently and kissed it.

"I'm sorry about that."

"What were you dreaming about?"

"The war. I'm so sorry. I should have warned you about it. But I haven't been bothered by those dreams in so long."

"You've had them before?"

"Yes, they were worse right after the war. For the last few years I've only been bothered by them if I'm really stressed out about something or there's been some change in my life."

"Tell me about it."

Edward shook his head. "No. I don't want to think about it right now." He was still shook up over the dream and having almost crushed Elysia's hand. He looked like he was on the verge of tears. Elysia's heart ached for him. It hurt her to see him like this. She began to wonder exactly what he had seen during the war that would cause him such nightmares that would trouble him for so long. There was so much she still didn't know about him.

"It's not exactly something to talk about on your wedding night," he added trying to lighten the mood when he had calmed down some more.

"Will you tell me sometime?"

"Yes," he said and drew Elysia into his arms. She wrapped her arms around him and could feel how tense he still was. They lay back down and Elysia waited till Edward fell back to sleep. Slowly rising, she looked down at the sleeping Edward. She watched him thinking how young he still looked. As he slept he looked so innocent and carefree, yet he was still so full of pain. He had been through so much and it would haunt him for the rest of his life. Elysia hoped that the least she could do was to ease the pain for him.

She remembered how solemn he seemed when he would visit her and her mother when he was young. He came quite often after Al had regained his body and was recovering in Central. Edward usually came alone and would spend a couple of hours playing games with Elysia. Sometimes he would stay for dinner. She had fun with him and enjoyed the visits. She wasn't allowed to go out to visit her friends at the time. There was a lot of turmoil in the city with the military in near chaos. Gracia tried not to go out too much at the time in fear of any retaliation by the military for her husband supporting Mustang and because of the small riots that broke out within the city. Edward's visits made their lives just slightly normal, like nothing unusual was happening outside. Elysia was still very young to understand what was going on but at the time she could sense the sadness Edward carried with him. Even now, she could still sense it at times. Could still see it haunting him when she looked deeply into his eyes. It may never disappear completely but she wanted to see it less and less. She wanted him to be happy and to help ease his burden.

Elysia was sound asleep when Edward woke her up. She didn't know how long she had been asleep. She could tell it was still dark outside as she slowly opened her eyes. They were dry and tired. She rubbed them so she could see Edward clearly.

"You know, there are a couple of things we didn't talk about before we got married," he said propped up on his arm looking down at her.

"You had to wake me up to talk about it now?" She said rolling over and pulled a pillow over her head.

"Yes," he said taking the pillow away. "I started to have another dream and woke myself up before it got worse."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Elysia said turning over and taking his hand in her own. She looked up, giving him her full attention.

"It's alright. I shouldn't have woken you but I was bored lying here awake."

"So what do you want to talk about?"

"Well first, I hope you don't mind settling down in my townhouse. I like it and it's so big I don't think we need to move."

"No, it's fine. What else?"

"School. Weren't you supposed to go back to school?"

"A month ago. I've been sitting around here waiting for you."

Edward laughed. "Sorry about that."

"No, I don't really care."

"Shouldn't you finish?"

"I'll transfer to the university here in Central. Besides, maybe I'll take a year off. You need someone to take care of you."

"I don't need anyone to take care of me. I'm supposed to be taking care of you."

"Ha! That's what you think!" Elysia said sitting up wide awake. "You can't even walk down the street without getting shot. You need me to watch your back."

"That was a freak accident. That has never happened before!"

"Did anyone ever tell you how handsome you are when you're indignant?"

"Don't try to change the subject. Everyone thinks they have to keep an eye on me. I'm a grown man; I can take care of myself."

"Yes, Edward. I know you're a big, strong man who can take care of me too," Elysia said looking at Edward flirtatiously.

"Don't think you're feminine charms will make me forget the insult."

"Oh? Not even for a few minutes?" She asked tapping his nose playfully then leaned in and kissed his neck.

"Aren't you tired?"

"Nope," she said softly as she left a trail of kisses down his neck.

"Neither am I."

Edward eventually told Elysia about the Drachman war. She completely understood why he had the dreams. But as they settled into a life together and Edward got used to being comfortable the dreams were few and far between. They would never stop but they no longer woke Edward in the middle of the night. It wasn't just the Drachman war he told her about. There was a lot more that he had kept bottled up inside. He told her about Nina, what exactly homunculus were and how they originated. He talked about his father, his mother.

She realized that Edward held a lot of secrets. Many of the things he told her were very shocking and unbelievable. She didn't know what to make about most of what he told her about. But she appreciated that he did. She didn't want him to hold back anything from her. She was tired of being sheltered and protected all her life. Being with Edward, learning everything that had happened made her feel she was a part of him. That she could help shoulder some of the burden he had carried all those years.

"I know I told you that you could ask me anything," Edward said one night as they were lying in bed together. "... and I want to tell you, but I wonder if it's really fair to you. I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of and I'm almost afraid that if I tell you, you may not want anything to do with me anymore."

"Isn't that a risk you should take? Because if there is something you are hiding from me, than that could keep me from trusting you. What you tell me could scare me, but not enough to scare me away. You may think you're a horrible person and that you've done some terrible things but I'll never think of you like that. I will always be here for you. You don't have to bear everything on your own anymore."

"The things I've seen and done are not that easy to share with anyone else. But it's good knowing that you're still willing to stick with me, to look past all my issues and just see me."

"Well, it helps that you're handsome and good in bed. It makes it easier to overlook whatever it is that you're not proud of," Elysia teased.

"I never knew you were so shallow. To value looks over honor. I think I can live with that," Edward laughed as he leaned in to kiss her. It was a good laugh, Elysia thought. She could tell that he was starting to become more accepting of his past. That he could look back and not feel the weight of his guilt pressing in on him when he talked about it. He was usually carefree and relaxed but he was even more so. It made Elysia happy knowing he would no longer feel so guilty for his past mistakes.