Thanks to Iaya R. White for the kind review, but since I couldn't reply, I decided to say thanks here! HA! Also, a big thanks to all my other reviewers and story alerters, you guys are super special awesome! xD Speaking of thanks, I bring to you the next chapter with slight spoilers!

I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist, but that doesn't mean I can't clap my hands together, place 'em on the ground and yell, "TRANSMUTATION!" every 5 minutes... Maybe, someday, I'll finally see the blue glow and actually perform alchemy. x3

Ch. 6 - Thanks

:)

He took out his pocket watch to check the time. It's almost noon, where the hell are they?

The pocket watch was no longer as useful as it had been. It had lost its value once he had decided to give up his alchemy, in order to return his younger brother to normal. Now it only served for two things: to remind him of everything he'd gone through all these years on their journey to regain what they'd lost and to tell time, of course.

For now, it was only used for the latter, since the older Elric wasn't thinking about old times, rather he was thinking about reasons why his brother's train was late.

He was impatient. And the light blonde sitting next to him with a smile on her face made matters worse. He wanted to do something, say something but he wasn't sure what.

"Don't worry, Al will be here soon. You know how trains are always getting delayed," Winry said, trying to reassure him.

"Yeah, I guess," Ed replied, putting his hands inside the pockets of his trousers and extending his legs in front of him. Suddenly everything seemed oddly familiar to him, the train station, the scenery, the movement, the girl sitting next to him…

It's like déjà vu or something…Why?

"Ed, do you remember the last time we were here?" Winry asked a bit shyly, suddenly interested in the soft cloth that made up her white summer dress.

It all came to him and his eyes widened in realization, of course he remembered. This was the exact same place where he had made a very important promise to her three months ago.

He'd promised to give her half of his life if she'd give him half of hers. An Equivalent Exchange, he'd said.

But she had called him an idiot and said she'd give him all her life, not just half.

He was in shock. His face red, his mouth hanging, and surprised golden eyes meeting determined blue ones.

She had overturned Equivalent Exchange as if it didn't exist and told him everything he'd hoped to hear but was afraid of. She felt the same. And she was willing to give him all her life. Or at least 80% of it, she clarified later, after she realized exactly what she had just told him.

Then he'd hugged her, told her he'd be back soon and got on the train headed west.

That had been three months ago and now here he was, again.

"Y-Yeah." Ed looked down to hide his face, slowly heating up. He wasn't sure what else to say.

Winry looked at him curiously, wondering if he really remembered their promise. He felt her sky blue eyes on him, almost as if she could read his thoughts simply by staring at him.

Ed wasn't sure what possessed him to do it, but he did and that was all that mattered. Because of one reason or another he reached out and took her hand in his own, as his mind went blank for a split second. The golden haired boy was sure his face was as red as the old coat he wore before and was thankful that his bangs covered most of his face as he gave Winry's hand a little squeeze. He heard the girl next to him gasp in surprise at his actions before adjusting her hand in his and returning the squeeze. He felt relief rush through his whole body, relieving some of the tension in his heart.

Winry moved closer to Ed, still flushed from a moment before. She placed a hand on his shoulder and felt him stiffen at her touch. "Ed? Are you okay?" she asked, nervously.

"Uh-um, yeah. I-I'm fine, Winry." He stuttered, he knew, but he was nervous. Really nervous. There was only one thing he really wanted to do. The closer she got to him, the more he was tempted. And he wished more than ever, that he could muster enough courage and confidence to do it.

He just wanted to steal a kiss from her lips.

Edward had been wanting that for quite a while now, but all his attempts had failed. Either they were interrupted or he just couldn't do it in the end.

But maybe this time it would be different.

He steadied himself, trying to calm down his heart, which beat faster and faster the more he thought about what he was about to do.

He looked up to meet her worried eyes and smiled apologetically, hoping the red on his face had disappeared. Although he was sure it was still there. But seeing a small blush on her face made him feel better. He took her other hand in his own, using every nerve in his body to keep him from trembling. She looked at him expectantly, her glance making him weak. It was bittersweet because as much as he hated feeling weak, especially in front of her, he wanted her to look at him with those eyes as blue as the sky.

Ed moved closer and began to lean in slowly, hoping to finally capture her lips in a sweet kiss. But the sound of an approaching air whistle startled them, shattering his dream once more. The golden eyed boy was left disappointed again.

Fuck! Why! He thought bitterly with a frown on his scarlet face. He then stuffed one hand inside his pockets, feeling awkward again as his other hand was still holding Winry's. And as he stared into the distance, he continued to curse his luck.

She was staring at the incoming train, but smiled when she saw his annoyed face. Even when he's annoyed he's cute, Winry thought, with a small blush. He looked up, a bit surprised, as she began to intertwine her fingers with his. He simply did the same, feeling more relaxed when she gave his hand a light squeeze.

"The train's almost here," she said, pointing with her free hand in the direction of the locomotive as she began to get up.

"What are you doing?" he asked, curious but refusing to move.

"Getting up, obviously." She stood, smoothing out her dress as she did, and her hand still intertwined with his.

"I know that! But why? The train's still far away," Ed stated, matter-of-factly.

"Because I wanna be here to greet Al when he arrives, don't you? Plus, the train isn't that far!"

He thought about it. "Fine." She smiled at his annoyance, making him get off the comfortable bench. "Only because I wanna know what 'surprise' Al was gonna bring with him." Ed made air quotes with his free hand.

Winry laughed knowingly, she had spoken to Al the day before. If you only knew, Ed…

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing."

Ed stared at her for a moment, but decided to let his suspicion go and instead stared at the train, now a few hundred yards away. But he couldn't focus on it. As much as he wanted to see his little brother after all these months, his mind couldn't quite focus on that fact. He was more distracted by the girl in front of him, their hands still intertwined as they swayed back and forth gracefully.

Winry squealed, startled by his strong arms suddenly wrapping around her waist from behind. Ed placed his head on her shoulder, smiling as he pressed his cheek against hers and could feel the heat emanating off her.

"E-Ed!" she stuttered in mock anger. Although she was embarrassed that she was caught off guard, having Ed's arms around her wasn't bad, not bad at all. It was great, actually, or at least she thought it was until he started laughing into her hair. "W-What's so funny, E-Ed? Ed!"

He tried to pull himself together enough to speak. "Sorry, sorry. It's just that you look so cute when you're startled! Your expression was priceless, Win!" To her dismay, he chuckled some more at the sight of the pink on her cheeks thanks to his compliment. Once he stopped, he simply held her closer and breathed her in happily as she leaned into him.

Then she pecked him on the cheek sweetly. "Thanks, Edward."

He was frozen stiff, but only for a moment, before his face turned red, again. "W-W-Why?" he stuttered, not looking up to meet her eyes.

For enduring and returning Al to his body. For being here, safe and sound, for surviving.

"For everything."

Winry simply smiled at Ed's confused expression before closing her eyes and pressing her cheek against his.

The air whistle was blown again as the train arrived at the Resembool station.

A/N - HOORRAH! It's done and I think we'll be seeing a bit of Al over the next few chapters! I wonder what his 'surprise' is? Anyone care to guess? If you do, go ahead and tell me in a review, I'll tell ya if you got it right! And you'll get a delicious virtual cookie! ;D

So, CSTs are over, AP testing is over, and SATs are over. Phew! TOO MUCH TESTING IN THE PAST TWO WEEKS! But testing was what gave me lots of free time to work on this fic... so, I'll try to work on it as much as possible but expect a few delays. I'm gonna try to finish this before I go to Mexico during the summer, I've got 6 weeks left here in Cali and 5 of em are school weeks. We'll see how it goes, plus on another note, I'm working on an armor Al cosplay for Comic-Con! YAY!

xDDD

I've got so much to do in so little time, wish me some luck, I think I'll need it! And thanks for everything!