~~Chapter Four~~

We exited the room, all of us at once. Winry made me stay behind, claiming she wanted to see if she got the auto-mail right. Al gave me a small, knowing smile and I gave him a glare back. He laughed and both Mustang and him left the room.

"Edward, did we really end up together?" She looked up to me while she aimlessly tightened things on my leg. I smiled, giving a slight sigh.

"Yes. Married for 18 years." She looked back down to my leg, hastening whatever it was she was doing. I smiled again, stopping her hands and holding them in mine.

"Winry, I told you that just because it was a part of the story, not because I wanted you to feel like you had to love me. I don't want you to be forced into anything, because if there is one thing I learned about you, you hate being boxed into a corner." She looked up then, giving me a small smile.

"Edward, you don't have to feel like I have to love you… I already do." She stood then, putting away her tools. I stood as well, flexing my leg gently. Her back turned to me, it gave me a chance to really study her and not worry about the love showing in my eyes. Before even I knew what I was doing, I had my arms wrapped around her waist, my lips pressed gently to her neck.

"I loved you in that world, I'm more than willing to do it again." Blush spread down her face, turning her a lovely shade of pink. She turned in my arms, pressing her hands against my chest. I smiled, leaning down and pressing my lips to hers. She wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling herself closer. I wrapped my arms tighter around her waist, kissing with passion.

"Are you coming lovebirds?" Mustang popped his head into the room, a smile on his face. I sighed, pulling away from Winry. She turned red, whirling away and shoving more of her tools away. I ran a hand through my hair, glaring to Mustang. He laughed, backing out of the room. I followed as soon as Winry was done. Walking out the door, she took my hand. I gave her a gentle smile.

"Quite a time to pick, don't you think Fullmetal?" Mustang was standing by Al and dad, a giant smile plastered on his face. Al looked to me with curiosity, and Dad looked to Mustang with a knowing look I could only imagine was a part of being a father. I scowled at Mustang, reaching over to Winry's pocket, taking her wrench in my hand. I hid it behind my back, happy when he didn't notice. Beside me, Winry had a hard time keeping the smile off of her face.

When I didn't answer, Mustang turned his back to continue talking to Al and dad. I took my chanced then, chucking the wrench with uncanny accuracy right into his head. He stumbled, falling forward a few steps. Al and dad burst into laughter, as did Winry. Mustang regained his balance, turning to put death's glare right on me. I laughed too, happy I hadn't missed.

"I'll get you for that Fullmetal." He said with venom. I laughed harder. He bent down, picking up the wrench then. I glared, my laughter stopping. Winry straightened as well, looking cautiously towards him.

"Don't ruin my wrench." She scolded weakly. Mustang scoffed, snapping his fingers together. The wrench flew up in flames, suddenly flying towards my face. I ducked, watching as it hit the wall, leaving an ash mark as it fell. Winry had ducked too, out of fear that it might hit her. As soon as she was sure she was safe, she stood up with fury. She glared to Mustang, scolding in her eyes.

"You owe me a new wrench." Mustang laughed, nodding towards her.

"I think I can handle that." I sighed, standing up as well. I walked over to the wrench, picking up its now ash covered surface. Slapping my hands together, I placed them back on the wrench, watching as the blue light illuminated the small hallway.

"Ed?" Winry walked to my side, curiosity in her eyes. As she spoke, I handed her a shining silver wrench. She smiled, taking it eagerly.

"Thank you!" She squealed with happiness, putting it back into her pocket. I gave her a smile, a small laugh escaping my lips. I walked back over to Al and dad, purposefully avoiding contact with Mustang.

"Do you have any idea where we could start to look?" Al asked me, his eyes still laughing at our wrench fight. I sighed, shrugging my shoulders.

"He's impossible to find. We don't even know where he went after-"

"What are you three talking about?" Father spoke up, giving us all a harsh glare. I sighed, looking to Mustang. Mustang just shrugged as well.

"We are talking about ho we're going to find…" Suddenly it hit me. The President was never near Central all that much, maybe I could lie and say that I needed to fine the President. "The President. His vacation is up and we wanted to…"

"Greet him personally when he came back." Al finished for me. Mustang looked in between us with the most incredulous look on his face. It was as if he didn't believe two young teens could think of such a ludicrous story.

"I don't believe you, but since you obviously don't trust me…" dad backed out of our little group, walking over to Winry.

"Dearest Winry, will you tell me what they are talking about?" He placed his arm around her shoulders, looking to her with eagerness. She looked to me for help. I looked back, mouthing the words "President" "Vacation" and "Greet" to her. Luckily, she caught on.

"It's like Ed and Al said, we all wanted to greet the President when he got back from his vacation." Father sighed, backing away from her. She looked to me with confusion in her eyes. I shrugged, not even sure where I got that story from.

"Fine. Where did the President vacation?" Father looked to us all harshly, ready for our slip up at any moment.

"Hawaii"

"Canada"

"And island"

"Mount Rushmore."

Four simultaneous answers, all of us confused as to which one said what. Suddenly, they were changed up.

"Mount Rushmore."

"An island in Hawaii."

"Canada."

"An island in Canada?"

We looked amongst ourselves, now even more confused as to who said what. Father burst out into laughter.

"So, let me get this straight. He was first in Hawaii, and island, Mount Rushmore, or Canada. And then, he went to and island in Hawaii, an island in Canada, Canada, or Mount Rushmore?" His voice was filled with humor as he spoke.

"He goes different places every week for a period of two months." Winry spoke up, trying to cover our tracks.

"There's too many to count, so we don't try." Al spoke up, playing along with Winry.

"And, we just said he was impossible to find, didn't we?" I played along as well, glaring to Mustang to say something. He just shook his head.

"This one is all yours kid." With that, he started walking down the hall.

"Very well, don't tell me. But I will figure it out eventually." Father sighed to himself, walking off towards the dormitories. Once he left, we all let out a collective sigh.

How were we going to keep this from him if we failed this badly the first time around? I knew someone would slip up sometime.