Hello, once again! SakuraLetters is back with a new chapter! I hope you guys enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I, SakuraLetters, own nothing here but the plot and the baby. Fullmetal Alchemist belongs to the brilliant Hiromu Arakawa, not me. Carrie Underwood owns the song "Temporary Home", which provides the inspiration for this fic. Pre-chapter quotes come from the middle of the song.

This is just a stop on the way to where we're going.

-"Temporary Home", by Carrie Underwood

For a three-year-old with the all of the patience of her father, Erika was very well-behaved. The train had been moving for nearly an hour and, outside of the normal giddiness of riding a train, Erika had been rather calm. She had given up on drawing almost immediately as the movement of train prevent her from keeping her hand steady. Now she was leafing through a book Winry had gotten her for her third birthday. While the book was rather simplistic in its sentences and wording, there was a healthy amount of pictures: enough to hold Erika's interest, but not enough to make her grow bored with it too quickly.

Winry was studying a book on auto mail (what else?) when she felt some weight on her arm. She looked over and saw Erika had leaned into her, falling asleep from the combination of motion and lack of activity. Winry smiled and set her book down. The young mother gently removed the book and set it to the side and repositioned Erika so that she would be more comfortable.

"Excuse me, miss? Is anyone sitting here?"

Winry looked up to see an elderly couple. She blinked once and then smiled. "No, not to my knowledge. You can sit here, if you'd like."

"Thank you, dear," the old woman said with gratitude as her husband helped her onto the open bench. Both settled down, the woman letting out a deep sigh. She looked at Winry and Erika and smiled a warm, grandmotherly smile. "Is she yours?"

"Yes. Erika's my daughter," Winry said as she gently stroked Erika's hair.

"Are you going to meet your husband?"

Winry's smile faltered. "Actually, we never exactly…got married."

The old man frowned slightly. "Where is he?"

"He's…not with us." Winry mentally kicked herself for stating the obvious, but the couple seemed to take a different meaning. That seemed to mark the end of that particular path of the conversation. The elderly woman decided to return the topic to Erika.

"Such a lovely little girl. She looks just like you, dearie."

Winry smiled politely; she decided against pointing out that Erika most strongly resembled her father. It took all she had to keep her mind from listing every single thing the toddler had in common with him, from her hair and eye color to her hatred of milk to her napoleon complex.

"Thank you."

"I'm Sophie Coleman. This is my husband, Jacob."

"I'm Winry Rockbell."

"Are you related to Pinako Rockbell?"

"Yes. I'm her granddaughter."

Sophie smiled. "Pinako was the daughter of a friend of my father's. We were good friends growing up. Such a tomboy, that one! Of course it was Richard who sparked her interest in the auto mail business. They made such a cute couple; however, for a while there we were afraid she would never settle down. We fell out of touch not long after she and Richard met. Pinako went to Rush Valley to learn more about auto mail and I moved to Oak Grove."

"My grandmother taught me just about everything I know about auto mail."

"You're an auto mail engineer?"

"Yep."

"Wonderful to see young people taking in interest in how things work," Jacob said. "I lost my right foot to a rather nasty accident on the farm. I own my lack of a wheelchair to auto mail."

"I knew a boy who had auto mail installed for both his right arm and left leg at the same time." Winry smiled when she thought of Ed, but it was a sad smile as she remembered the blood and the pain and the fever. Of course, she couldn't remember that without remembering his determination and his resolve and all of his promises. "The next time I make you cry, it will be tears of happiness!" "We'll be back, Win. I promise."

"Must have been one strong kid. I cried like a baby just getting a foot installed," Jacob mused.

Having been a mother eight times over, Sophie recognized the expression on Winry's face. She had seen it on her Charlotte's face when her fiancé had died in Ishbal, and once more on her little Mary's face when her best friend got hurt protecting her. "I'm guessing that boy is important to you?"

"Actually, he's Erika's father."

Understanding dawned on Sophie. It was heart wrenching to see the poor girl, who obviously still loved him very much, have to hold back the tears. Sophie knew just how hard it could be for a single mother—an unwed one at that—to find a place where she could be even a bit happy.

"Are you headed to Central, dear?"

Winry looked up at the woman, half grateful that the conversation had turned. "Yes. I have some friends there I haven't seen in awhile, and there's an apartment that I've saved up for. Erika will be starting school next fall, and I wanted to have at least one foot in the door before then."

"Will you be setting up an auto mail clinic?"

"Yes. I know business probably won't be as big as in Rush Valley, but there are probably people who lost limbs in that uprising almost four years ago. I would have moved to Central first without stopping at Rush Valley, but then I found out that I was pregnant. Besides, it would have been stupid to try to set up a shop when I had very little money and a child to look after."

"So you went to Rush Valley so you could save up some money? You handled things quite well, especially for having to go this all on your own," Sophie said, feeling a sense of relief and pride that at least one young mother had her head screwed on right.

"I wasn't completely alone," Winry said, softly stroking Erika's hair. "My grandmother helped me out for the first few months after the birth, and then my mentor and a friend helped me out when I was in Rush Valley."

"Why didn't you just stay with your grandmother, dear?"

Winry lowered her head. "Granny died a few months after Erika was born. She seemed perfectly fine, but that night, she just…died."

Sophie opened her mouth to say something as the train slowed to a stop.

"Sophie, darling, it's our stop," Jacob said as he slowly rose from the seat.

"It was lovely meeting you, Winry. I'm sorry if I've caused you any pain by prying into your personal life. At my age, it seems the only thing functioning properly these days is my mouth."

"It's alright; no harm done." Winry's smile was only half-hearted, and Sophie bit back a sigh.

"Take care of yourself now, young lady. Good luck in Central!"

"Thanks, I will." Winry waved until she could no longer risk turning for fear of waking Erika up. With a sigh, Winry picked up her book again and began to read. Well, she tried to, anyway. For some reason, her eyes just wouldn't focus on the text. Her mind wandered back to the old couple. They had seemed so happy together; Winry was somewhat jealous. She would never be able to grow old with the one she loved.

Get used to it, Winry, she mentally berated herself, determined to focus on the text in her hands. Don't be like Aunt Trisha, wasting away waiting for a man who might never come back.

Erika let out a small yawn as the train began to move again. Winry once again found herself wishing that Edward was by her side. Damn it, Ed, where are you? Erika needs you! I need you!

"Mommy, how long until we get to Central?"

"It'll be a little while longer, sweetheart. You can go back to sleep if you want."

With another yawn, Erika snuggled back into Winry and fell asleep.

There you go. I hope it was satisfactory. The next chapter is the last one, and I hope to have it up before the month is out! Remember, reviews make Erika smile!

-SakuraLetters