Author's Notes: Ah yes. Here we are. Chapter four for all you! I hope you all enjoy it. Also, thank you so much for all the kind reviews! It really means a lot to me to know that everyone is enjoying the story so far. So, let's keep the EdxWinry love going strong!

Chapter Four
Reunion

Central Station was always a hectic place in the mornings. There were businessmen and women hurrying along with their cups of coffee and newspapers, trying to make their trains on time. Station venders would be trying to bring in customers with the smells of fresh drinks and donuts filling the air. Young boys stood shouting beside the newspaper carts, trying to earn money by selling the daily news. The loudspeakers echoed the calls of times and tracks for the different trains every five minutes. It was all a daily routine for those who came here every weekday morning.

Havoc leaned against a pillar in the station, puffing on his morning cigarette slowly. He never understood why people would put themselves through the daily grind like this just to go please a higher up. Then again, he was technically doing the same thing with the Colonel: Get his paper, get his coffee and get his paperwork. In the overall picture, he really wasn't anything but a secretary for his higher up.

Sighing slightly, Havoc placed his cigarette back between his lips and shoved his hands into his pockets. He had only met Winry once before. She had come to see Ed in the hospital and he was dropping off some paperwork for Ed fill out about his injuries. (which the boy was less than thrilled with.) But what he didn't understand was way he did not come with him to retrieve her.

"Mr. Havoc!" a light and happy voice called over the bustle of the crowds. Straightening up, the blond hair man smiled as he watched a familiar face approach him quickly. She was the same girl he remembered seeing last. She wore a pair of work jeans with a simple yellow top, which was hidden mostly by her heavy short black coat. Over her shoulder, she held a large garment bag and in her other hand, a small suitcase.

Removing his cigarette from his mouth, Havoc dropped it to the ground and stepped on it. Making sure it was completely out, he walked quickly around the people to help the girl with her luggage.

"Good morning Winry," he said with a smile. Taking the large bag from her without even a word of asking, Havoc hoisted it over his shoulder. "Did you have a good trip?"

The girl smiled in thanks at the man's actions. Rolling her shoulder slightly, Winry tossed her hair a bit. "Long as always. But it's worth it to get a chance to come back to Central."

Looking about, Winry hoped to see some sign of Al or Ed with the military man. She glanced around at the crowds of people, trying to see if she could catch a glance of that familiar red coat and blond hair that she had been thinking about for a good portion of the morning.

"Did Ed and Al come with you?" She asked, finally looking back to Havoc who stood quietly watching her oddly.

Gulping in fear of that question being asked, Havoc could only sigh, "He's back at the dorms. I think he might still be asleep."

For the next ten minutes as Havoc escorted Winry back to the car, all that could be heard was the loud screams of the furious blond. She proceeded to shout how she would march herself into his room and remove his arm from his shoulder to teach him a lesson that he would never forget. Or how he had the nerve to sleep in when she came in to see him. She swore to Havoc that there would be bloodshed when she saw the short blond boy.

And all Havoc could do was reach into his coat pocket and withdraw another cigarette and his lighter. Lighting it with one hand, he took in a deep breath and exhaled the sweet smoke. He had only spent ten minutes with the girl, and she had already driven him to his second one of the morning. That was the first time that ever happened.

"Brother!" Al called happily as he came into the room. Once again, he had with him some form of breakfast food for his older brother to munch on. This time, it was a large cup of what looked like strong coffee and some kind of breakfast sandwich. He didn't hesitate to close the door loudly, for he was purposely trying to cause a lot of noise. Granted, just walked with the suite of armor could wake up the whole dorm floor sometimes. But this time he meant every loud step.

Coming completely into the room, the younger of the Elric brothers sighed to see a large lump still under the covers of the bed. It was snoring softly with the occasional movement to roll over.

Placing the food onto the desk, Al moved next to the bed, "Brother! Wake up!" he shouted, soundly slightly distressed. "Winry will be here real soon and you don't want her to catch you in bed still!"

Ed rolled back over to face his brother with a loud yawn. Cracking open one of his golden eyes, he stared the large suit of armor in the eye, "I still have a few hours before she gets here. So let me sleep for them." And with that, he rolled back over.

Crossing his giant arms, Alphonse breathed out like he was wearing a large grin on his face. Taking one large step backwards, he moved towards the window and glanced outside. Sure enough, just like he had been told, a large black car had pulled up to the dorm building. Havoc had stepped out of the driver's side and moved around to the other side of the car. Opening the door, the familiar profile of the girl mechanic from Rizenpool hopped out of the happily, looking up at the massive building.

Looking back to his sleeping brother, he chuckled slightly. "Then why is Havoc outside helping Winry with her luggage right now?"

Before Al could even say another word or laugh, the sheets and comforter flew off the bed and the sight of Ed in his sleep attire flew through the air and over to the window. He stumbled slightly as he grabbed the ledge and pulled himself up for a better look. Sure enough, to the young man's dismay, there stood Winry with her luggage, looking around at the building as if trying to remember which window was theirs. She had a slightly annoyed look upon her usually sweet features, which could only mean one thing for Ed: a wrench to the face.

"Damn!" He cursed aloud as he moved away from the window and over to his chest of draws. While rummaging through his clothes in search of a towel, he began shouting. "Why didn't you wake me up Al!"

"I tired too. But you didn't even come to when I shook you." The armor protested, acting somewhat hurt. "Besides, it's not my fault you couldn't get to sleep until three am last night!"

Finally finding a clean towel, Ed slammed the drawer shut and quickly made his way into the bathroom. "Nevermind! Fighting isn't gone solve my problem of her hitting me with a wrench for not coming to meet her at the station." He shouted, closing the door and locking it behind him.

Havoc placed Winry's belongings down onto her bed in the empty room. Ed had made the request that she had her own room in the dorms so that she wouldn't have to pay the ridiculous hotel prices of Central. The room was identical to Ed's with everything in the same place as always. The window overlooked the massive parade ground, which was still covered with a light layer of snow.

"Ed's room is right down the hall from here," Havoc explained, handing the key to Winry.

Smiling evilly, Winry went over her to her luggage. "Let me just get my present for him." Rummaging through the small suitcase, the girl quickly withdrew a large wrench that seemed to shimmer in the low lit room.

Taking a step back from the girl in fear, Havoc let his jaw drop. Remembering back to the phone conversation Ed had with this young woman not even a week ago, he didn't put it past her to do what she had rambled about in the train station. Hell, he didn't want to put it past her that she would hit him with the wrench if the opportunity presented itself.

"Alright!" Winry spoke up happily, "Let's go!"

Watching her walk towards him, Havoc put his hands up slightly, "Just…just a minute Winry." He stuttered out, causing the girl to stop in her tracks. "Ed has been really busy the past few days. That's why he's probably still asleep." He blurted out, hoping to find a sympathy factor to use on the girl. "He's been over at the Hughes residence for hours every day, trying to learn how to dance for the ball."

Winry's expression quickly softened at the man's words. Lowering her wrench slightly from surprise, she stared at Havoc with a very gentle stare, "He's….learning to dance? For the ball?" she asked.

Havoc nodded, "Yeah. He really wanted to do it. It was all his idea." He continued to blab out, knowing that he had probably saved Ed from death by wrench.

Turning around on her heels, Winry went back to put her tool back into the suitcase. As she placed under the clothes that sat slightly messed, she let a small smile come to her lips. In all the years she had known Edward Elric, this was the only thing that she could remember him doing for her that didn't involve some kind of alchemy. There was no science in this and no pointless banter. He wanted to learn how to dance for her so that he wouldn't embarrass himself the night of ball.

Moving back to the door, she walked right past a frightened Havoc and into the hallway. "I'm gonna go see Ed and Al. Thank you again for the help Mr. Havoc." She said sweetly as she headed down the hall, leaving the poor soldier stunned and a tad confused.

Knock…Knock…Knock

Al looked up from the papers on Ed's desk and glanced over at the door. He sat for a moment, unsure if he had heard the sound or not. Not wanting to be rude if someone had knocked, he rose from his chair. "Who's there?" he called, moving towards the door.

"It's me Al! Winry!" a happy sounding voice called from the other side of the door. There was no hint of anger in her voice at all, making the large suit of armor all the more nervous.

Gulping slightly, he opened the door slowly, trying to act as casual as possible. Winry stood there, her hands behind her back with a smile on face. She looked up at him, a calm expression on her face. "Morning Winry." Al said flatly, trying to remain as calm as he could.

"Hi Al," she began, moving into the room. She walked and looked around slightly. Just like the last time she was here, everything was the same. Ed's desk was just as messy as ever, papers, notes, and books scattered everywhere. His bed looked like a hurricane had come through, the sheets and pillows almost falling all over the floor. The end table next to the bed had his small alchemy journal and pocket watch resting neatly next to a small lamp. Beside them, sat the small oil container she had bought for him to keep his automail working to its highest quality. Over the back of his desk chair, sat his red coat and clothes for the day.

Turning back to face Al, the girl smiled, "Where's Ed? I wanted to see if he wanted to go shopping and then maybe get a tune-up for his automail." She asked looking around the room. "I haven't seen him in a while, so I brought some of my tools with me. He's probably in need of some looking over."

Al heard the water turn off in the bathroom, causing him to become a little bit more stiffened. He looked down at the girl and then over towards the door, "Well, Ed is uh-"

"Hey Al," the sound of Ed's voice called as the door slowly opened to the bathroom. Winry and Al both looked over to see the source of the call. Ed stepped into the room, running a spare towel over his hair. His body was still soaked from the shower as he stood there, dripping on the wood floor. Around his waist was the second towel he had grabbed before he had thrown himself into the shower not even fifteen minutes ago. His automail limbs were shining brightly from the water and he continued to dry this hair without realizing present company.

Tossing the towel off his head, Ed quickly shook his head out, "Have seen the oil Winry left for my auto-" he paused quickly, realizing that there was one more person in the room.

Winry stood there for a moment, her eyes somewhat wide. She felt her heart slightly skip a beat as she watched those familiar gold eyes lock with her own. She had seen him in his boxers before when they had to do automail repairs and whatnot, so she thought this wouldn't have bothered her at all. And yet, she couldn't help but notice his broad shoulders and just how well toned his muscles were along his stomach. She felt her face grow warm as she quickly averted her eyes to the ground.

"Hiya Ed," she muttered quickly, noticing just how interesting his end table had become.

Ed gulped slightly as he placed his towel around his neck, and let his wet hair fall somewhat unkempt around his shoulders. "I…uh…I" was all he could manage to stutter out as he glared at Al angrily for not calling to him to say that she was in their room.

As the young alchemist reached for words to find to say anything, he watched as Winry suddenly moved around his bed and to where he had put his pocket watch the night before. He raised an eyebrow slightly, wondering why she would be going after that thing at such a time. He was already mortified enough, but to have to have fight over his watch at a time like this?

And yet, he watched as she grabbed something else from the table and moved back around towards him. Opening her hand, Ed eyes widened as he saw she was holding the tiny oil can that she had giving him. She bit her lower lip and kept her eyes off to the side. Her cheeks were slightly pink, probably looking the same as his by then.

"Here you go," she muttered. Letting Ed take the small item from her, she quickly turned and headed for the door. "I'll just…wait outside for you to get dressed." She stuttered on her words quickly left, shutting the door behind her.

It roughly took Ed about five minutes flat to get himself into much more suitable clothes than his bath towel. After yelling at Al while the younger brother could only laugh at the awkward situation, the door to their room finally opened again to let the embarrassed girl back into the room.

Ed sat on the edge of his bed, putting his boots on slowly. He had thrown his hair back into a high ponytail, letting his hair fall over one of his shoulders. His face was still slightly red from before as he watched Winry come back into the room. "Sorry about that Winry. I didn't know that-"

"It was my fault Ed. I didn't know you were in the shower." She quickly cut him off, moving to see in his desk chair. As she sat, she looked at the two brothers as her smile came back, "Do you guys wanna go shopping? We have a whole day to kill before the ball tomorrow. Why not do something fun?" she said, trying to leave the moment behind and move on.

Al nodded in agreement, "That sounds great Winry. I think it would be fun." He said happily. Looking towards his brother, Al leaned forward a bit, "Right brother?"

Sitting up straight, Ed let his hair fall onto his back. "Just as long as you promise me not to pull me into every automail shop in creation." He said with a hint of a joking tone.

Winry pouted slightly. She looked like a small puppy who had its favorite toy taken away. Placing her hands together, she smiled, "Please Ed? Just one automail shop? I promise I'll be good!" Pausing, the smile turned to an evil grin, "Maybe I'll find some new limbs for you to make you taller."

Ed jumped to his feet, anger in his eyes, "What are you sayin'! That I'm as small as a grain of sand!"

Laughing, Winry got to her feet as well, "No. More like a bean."

"A BEAN!" Ed roared, leaning into the girl more.

Patting him on top of the head slightly, Winry continued with her evil grin, "Yes. A bean."

Al laughed at the two slightly, glad to see the embarrassment from before had left their systems. It was always amusing to watch his brother and Winry argue back and forth about stupid things. Their terms for each other, like 'machine junkie' and 'alchemy freak', were almost like strange terms of endearment to each other. Despite how much they may fight and argue, there was always something there that Al and just about everyone else who knew the two could see. But they never admitted it.

Clearing his throat loudly, causing the two older teens to halt their actions, Al started towards the door, "Let's get going. Before you two decide to kill each other." He said as he moved to leave the room.

"I'll meet you in the lobby Al," Ed told as he sat back down on the edge of his bed. Pulling his hair out of the ponytail, he shook out his head slightly. He placed the small red hair tie between his teeth as he began to separate his hair for his usual braid. "Just gotta do this first."

Rolling her eyes, Winry pulled the desk chair over into the center of the room. Grabbing hold of Ed's arm, she managed to get him to his feet and then back into the chair. "Oh just let me do it." She told as she took hold of his hair. "You never make it tight enough."

"I'll meet you both in the lobby then," Al told, a small chuckle in his voice as he moved from the doorframe and out of sight.

Ed sat quietly in the chair for a moment, removing the hair tie from his mouth and unsure of what to say or do. This was the first time in years that she said she would do his hair for him. He remembered back to after his first automail operation when she had offered it to him. He was going out to train with Al down by the lake near the shop, but Winry insisted that his he pull his hair back. She told him to sit and she would do it for him. And, despite telling her that a braid would make him look like a girl, it actually worked to keep his hair neat and out of his way.

Relaxing his muscles at the memory, he let Winry run his comb through his hair, making sure it was not tangled in any before it was pulled back. He couldn't help but smile as he let the girl run her hands through his hair, crossing it into his familiar braid style. She always could do it better than him, even after all these years of having to do it himself every morning.

"Ya know," she began, causing his thoughts to break, "You're hair looks really nice in the braid."

Smiling a bit more, Ed nodded a little bit, "Yeah. You're the one who showed me how to do it, remember?"

Hearing her laugh a bit, she tapped him on the shoulder of the hair tie. Holding it up, Winry snatched it from his hand and proceeded secure the braid. Within a mere matter of seconds, she placed her hands onto his shoulders, "There we go. All done."

"Thanks Winry," Ed said, about to rise from his seat. But before the blond could move to stand, he suddenly felt Winry's arms come around his chest in a tight hug. He felt his face grow warm as the girl clung to him, unsure of why of her sudden outburst.

He felt Winry's chin rest on his shoulder, leaning her head against the side of his slightly. "Ya know, I thought it looked fine with the ponytail. It makes you look a bit more mature. I liked it." She whispered quietly, making him blush more so than before.

Releasing him as quickly as she had grabbed him, Winry moved around the chair and towards the door. Looking back at him, she flashed a huge smile, "Come on! Al's waiting for us!"

Before Ed could say a single word, the girl had vanished from the doorway. He sat dumbstruck for a moment at her actions, unsure of how to read them. Just from placing a hand to his face, he could tell how much he must have blushing from her remarks. Shaking away the feeling, he quickly jumped to his feet, grabbed his coat and was out the door, slamming it shut behind him.

"This paperwork doesn't seem to want to stop," Colonel Mustang could only grumble as he placed his signature onto yet another other. For the whole afternoon, the young officer was confined to his office with the rest of his soldiers, filing and organizing papers; Most of which regarded the ball tomorrow evening. Everything was in the process being filed and tucked away into folders of some sort. Because all military offices would be closed tomorrow for the event, all of the rest of the work that might have been put off had to be done by five that afternoon.

Hawkeye placed a small stack of papers onto Roy's desk, "This is the last of them sir." She told in her normal monotone voice.

Looking over the documents once, Roy sat back in his chair and let out a small sigh. The talk of the ball made him glad that he had gone to see his blond haired subordinate the night before to ask if she would attend with him. Granted, it would seem out of the blue for the others in the office. But to Roy, he always found Hawkeye to be somewhat of an attractive woman, when she didn't look like she was going to shoot off your head.

Glancing out the window, Roy looked down at the parade grounds. It was still snow covered, for the outside temperatures had not changed for the past week. The sky was a slate grey, as if threatening the city with even more snow showers. As he looked about, sometime that didn't belong amidst the snowy grounds caught his eye.

There in the middle of the parade grounds were Ed, Al, and Winry. Al was holding what looked like at least thirty large shopping bags. Winry lead the trio towards the dorm area, a huge smile on her face at a shopping day well done. He watched as Fullmetal grabbed a fist of snow in his hand the lightly tossed it at Winry, hitting her in the back of the head.

Roy rose from his chair and moved past the woman to the window to get a better look. He leaned against the wall slightly as he watched Winry retaliate against the attack. The two threw the snow back and forth at each other furiously, trying to get the other one covered in the white powder. He smiled as he watched Ed duck behind Al as cover while the younger of the two looked somewhat distressed trying to balance the bags on his being. Winry managed to get Ed in the head, causing him to chase after towards the dorms once again, with Al in close pursuit.

A soft chuckle escaped him as he watched the three vanished from sight. He shook his head slightly, letting his eyes avert to the sky, 'You still have a lot to learn Edward,' he thought.

"Sir?" Riza asked quietly, causing Roy to look back into the office. He stared at the woman for a moment, realizing that he must have appeared weird to the remaining people in the office. "Are you okay?" she continued on.

Looking back out the window, Roy watched as it slowly began to snow. The small white flakes descended to the ground at a slow and steady pace. It was almost as if it were like a painting that someone was slowly being to cover in white. The sight made him smile once again.

"Yeah. I'm fine Hawkeye." He moved back to his seat and picked up his pen. Without another word, he began to sign the papers once again. But this time, he kept a content smile upon his face, knowing that tomorrow evening was shaping up to be a bit more interesting than he thought it would be.

Author's Notes: Just thought it would be nice to have a little fluff chapter before the ball. Alright everyone! I hope you enjoyed it and remember: Please Read and Review.