Love isn't a Science

BY: Smash41KMF

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from FMA. However, I do own the plot to this story.

Summary: They met her in a small town, just outside of Central – then, she was only a, bossy, rude ten-year-old tomboy. Ten years later, they find her in Central Public Library. She's twenty, he's twenty-two, and Al is stuck in between. Unbeknownst to Ed, Al and Winry have a plan that gets everyone involved. The only question is….. will it work?

Upon reaching the apartment he shared with his younger brother, Ed glanced at the clock, thankful that they had agreed to live so close to the main building. Unlocking the front door, Ed darted inside, heading straight for his room, tugging off his coat as he went. He had about ten minutes, the walk itself took about five, so that didn't leave him time to anything aside from throwing on a change of clothes. In his rush, Ed didn't even bother to shut his bedroom door as he changed, knowing his brother really didn't care; however, the twenty-one-year-old was watching his older brother strangely, but for a different reason.

"Brother? What are you doing?" he asked in all his childish innocence - something that hadn't seemed to disappear, even as an adult.

"Changing. What does it look like, Al?" Ed said with a small laugh as he tightened his belt and spared the clock a quick glance, before grabbing his coat and starting for the door. "Hey, I'll be back in a couple of hours, if I'm not back by dinner time, you can eat without me, okay?" Ed called, just about to walk out, when Al grabbed his arm and stopped him. "Al, I have to g-"

"Where are you going?" Al asked, looking almost desperately at his older brother, who relaxed and gave his brother a small smile.

"Like Mustang said, Al." he chuckled, slipping his arm free and reaching up to pat his brother's head with a gentle smile. "I've got a date." And with that, Ed walked off, heading for his destination. The flower shop.

Ed smirked, he had arrived neigh a second before six o'clock, and was just in time to lean casually against one of the posts located outside the flower shop. His smirk grew when he saw the same girl from the library open the door, bidding one of her co-workers inside goodbye, before continuing, accidentally walking straight into him. Obviously startled, the girl let out a soft gasp and quickly put a good distance between them, before relaxing at his familiar face.

"Mr. Elric, I didn't expect you to be so... punctual upon arriving here." she said slowly, tilting her head slightly at him, with curiosity clouding her beautiful eyes as she looked up at him. Ed returned the look with a raised eyebrow, before smirking and causing a light pink to coat her cheeks much to his amusement.

"So, are you hungry?" he finally asked, breaking the silence and ending their staring contest. The girl nodded slightly, and without any further hesitation, Ed gently took hold of her wrist and led her down the street with a slight grin.

"Hey! I'm not as tall as you, wait up!" she exclaimed with a small laugh as she stumbled behind him, finally catching up to him when stopped and waited for her to get her footing. However, once she was balanced, Ed didn't move, only continued to look down at her and she gave him a curious look. "Um, are you alright... Mr. Elr-" she began when Ed interrupted her, turning his head to look at her with a soft smile.

"Stop that." he said in a soft whine, while she giggled softly.

"Stop what, Mr. Elric?" she asked, grinning when Ed gave her a childish pout.

"You know perfectly well." he challenged, but she simply gave him an innocent smile, before taking a step closer to him, leaving barely a few inches between them.

"I don't what you're talking about, Mr. Elric." they had started walking again, but Ed soon stopped her and gave her arm small tug so she was facing him.

"You look so familiar to me, but I can't remember where I met you." he mumbled, looking down at her with piercing golden eyes, before letting out a sigh. The image was still to blurry for him to make out, but this girl was definitely connected to him from a very long time ago. Pushing his thoughts back, Ed saw a slight look of hesitance cross her features, and her hand began to slip from his grip, until he caught her finger and held on, much to her surprise.

"I remember you though..." she mumbled, refusing to look up at him, and instead pulled her hand free from his and clasped her own over it, before stepping past him and into the small cafe they had stopped in front of. "I'm sorry." she mumbled, before slipping inside.

Letting out a sigh, Ed hung his head briefly, an aggravated hand running through his bangs as he dug deeper into his memory than he thought possible. His mind few back, ripping through the thin string of memories in his sorrowful life, all the way back to the letters his father had written... There was a name, a name of an alchemist... the one that had tried to put a young village girl's soul inside a mannequin of his beloved, a woman who was believed to be dead, but was still very much alive and by his side.

The pieces of the puzzle were slowly fitting together, one-by-one they were forming a picture of her, telling him everything...but her name. There was another image though, of a young girl, looking much like the one with him today, but why didn't he remember anything about her? His only memories of a girl from that little village that sat just outside of Central was of a girl dressed as a paperboy, and then this extra image of what seemed to be the younger version of the girl he had seen at the library...

It was all so confusing, yet at the same time, it all made so much sense, he couldn't understand why he didn't remember this girl... 'Why?'

"Ummm... is everything alright?" Ed jumped slightly, surprised to see the girl standing beside him, a cup of coffee in one hand, while the other held a cup of Jasmine tea. Ed looked at her again, his golden eyes trying to take in every little detail, while she continued to hold out the cup of coffee. "Hey, are you okay? Ed-" she froze, and Ed blinked. She knew his name, why did she know his name? But the bigger question was, 'Why does she look so scared?'

"A-Ah, I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, setting his cup of coffee down, before starting to take off, when Ed shot forward and placed himself in front of her. Startled, she put her foot down and moved to step back, when her foot slipped, and she began to fall. With a gasp, she braced herself to hit the unforgiving dirt, but the impact near came, and she blinked, surprised to see the twenty-two-year-old hunched over above her, his arms stretched out around her, holding her away from the ground.

"Heh, no worr-" before he could finish his sentence, Ed growled as he felt a burning sensation seep through the material of his shirt on his shoulder. "-ies.. Heheh, don't worry, I've felt worse before..." he said, trying his best not to grit his teeth as he straightened them both up, before releasing her and instead grasping his left shoulder. Although he seemed to be relatively fine, she didn't believe him for a second, and immediately, she grabbed his coat and draped it over his shoulders, before taking hold of his uninjured arm and leading him into the cafe.

"May we use your bathroom?" she asked the cashier, her tone serious and lacking of any of the shyness that was present a few minutes earlier. The boy gave her a queer look, glancing from Ed to her and back.

"We have separate areas, you know." he said harshly, shooting Ed a sharp glare, but he simply gave the younger boy a dull expression as he listened to the girl continue with whatever plan she had. Much to his surprise, she was a very good actress, because her next sentence had the boy letting out a sigh and complying reluctantly.

"Well, you see, My boyfriend here is blind, and he's just visiting Central from East City. And I'm sure you know it's a hard adjustment, we'll be quick, I promise." she said sweetly, and the teenager gave in with a soft sigh, giving Ed a skeptical glance, before pointing towards the back.

"It's back there, just don't get caught, I don't want to get in trouble, or have to clean up whatever type of mess you make back there." he replied, and Ed scrunched up his nose at the guy, but the girl holding onto his arm simply offered a fake smile, before pulling Ed away as quickly as possible.

"Boyfriend, huh? Isn't that a bit fast? I mean, I don't even know your name!" Ed teased as she led him into the back and pushed him into the men's single bathroom, locking the door behind her. Suddenly feeling incredibly uncomfortable with their situation, Ed took a step away from the girl, watching her wearily, and she snorted as she rolled her eyes.

"Look, if you're expecting me to start stripping, you can keep dreaming. Now, take off your coat." she ordered, setting her bag down beside her and sifting through it with a furrowed eyebrow, before glancing up at Ed, only to find that he had yet to do as she had asked. Letting out a sigh, the girl stood up and walked over to him, a gentle, and genuinely concerned expression on her face.

"Look, I Know you don't remember me, and I understand that, it's been ten years, Ed! It's okay that you don't remember, it's completely normal, but please. You have to trust me, Ed." she said softly, reaching up and carefully sliding his coat off his shoulders and folding it delicately over her arm, before setting it beside her bag. She then looked back up at Ed and stood, walking up to him with her eyes trained on the wooden floor, before coming to a stop directly in front of him. Slowly, she lifted her head and looked him in the eyes while both of her hands gently took hold of his left hand.

"So, Ed...even if it is for just this once..." she said softly, glancing down at their hands for a split second, before meeting his dark golden eyes once again, forcing herself to continue despite her fear of being rejected again. She had always been used to getting whatever she wanted, so ten years ago, when he had told her 'no', she had taken it harder than she should have, and it almost felt as if she were being rejected. However, this time, it really could happen. Taking a deep breath, she continued with a small, hopeful tilt of her head. "...will you trust me?" she asked, and Ed paused.

'Do I trust her? That's actually a really good question...' Ed thought as his gaze remained on the young girl, his train of thought only to be interrupted by a sharp, burning sensation on his shoulder, causing him to wince. Immediately, and without waiting for his reply, she went into action. Pushing him onto his butt, she then hurried over to the sink, turning on the cold water and letting it run as she went over to her bag. She seemed to be searching for something, so Ed simply watched as she removed a few school books, before pulling out a small roll of bandages and setting them down beside him. Curious, Ed's gaze followed her graceful movements over to where she stood at the sink, gently wringing a wet cloth out over the sink.

"Take off your shirt." she said stiffly, and instantly Ed's defenses went up and he shot her a horrified expression, and she rolled her eyes with irritation, before throwing the wet cloth at him. "Will you grow-up?" she snapped, sweeping up the bandages that sat on the floor before kneeling down in front of Ed with a stern expression.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Ed protested, and her eyes narrowed at him, picking the wet cloth up once again and frowning as it began to drip water everywhere.

"You idiot, I'm only trying to help you!" she hissed, her tone full of hurt, while her eyes held anger. However, at Ed's skeptical look, she growled even lowered. Slowly rising to her feet as she glared down at the twenty-two-year-old, the girl gritted her teeth and held the cloth of cold water over Ed's head and wrung it dry with one twist, dropping all of the ice cold water onto the boy's head, before letting the cloth top it all off. "I regret accepting your request for company, Mr. Elric. Not only do I feel incredibly offended, but also very disappointed, because..." the girl paused in her speech as she carefully gathered her books and straightened without ever so much as another glance at Ed. "I had been hoping perhaps you had changed; apparently I was wrong."

And with that, she began towards the door, opening it slightly, before pausing to speak. "And a little piece of advice," she added, looking down briefly, before looking back up and continuing, "Read the signs before jumping to conclusions." she growled, before walking out of the bathroom, and then out of the cafe, intent on returning home as soon as possible.

Utterly confused, Ed blinked, replaying the moment over and over again in his mind, trying to make sense of her words. She had answered his question about being acquaintances at the very beginning of his search for the Philosopher's Stone, but she refused to make it easy for him, to tell him her name. Neither did she tell him how they knew each other, just that they did, and a long time ago at that.

Letting out a small sigh at how badly his plans had went, Ed moved to pick himself off the ground, wincing at the light burning sensation that remained in his shoulder, when he spotted the small roll of bandages left by the girl. He smirked, leaning against the nearest wall for support as he used his uninjured hand to push himself up. Straightening up, Ed approached the bandages and knelt down to pick them up, when everything clicked into place: the wet cloth, the roll of bandages, even her search for a book in physics...

'She's a medical student!' Ed's jaw dropped, he suddenly knew why she reacted the way she did, and rightly so. 'She was hurt that I hadn't picked up on such obvious clues...' Ed groaned, slapping his forehead with his free hand for being so oblivious. If you thought about it, she really did have every right to call him an idiot, and now he had to figure out another way to make everything better... again.

Sighing, Ed un-buttoned the top few buttons, just enough for him to slide his arm out of the sleeve without much difficulty. He then wrung the cloth out a little more, before setting it on the reddened skin and, with great difficulty, wrapped the bandages she had given him around himself, hoping it was enough to keep it from hurting too much. At least... until he caught up to her again.

Normally, if it had been anyone else, she would stayed regardless, but she knew that Ed could handle himself, so she left. Not to mention, she would have eventually told him too much about their short past. Although she knew it was nothing to hide, she had always been a little hopeful that he'd be able to see her as more than the rude, bossy, ten-year-old she had been all those years ago.

However, as it may seem, he didn't even recognize her as that. So, she decided to give up, because there was no point in trying to hint it to him any longer, he wouldn't figure it out on his own. Sighing, she continued down the street, taking a turn here and there every-so-often, before she found herself standing before the Hughes's residence. Since she was little, she had known the family; Maes, Gracia, and now Elysia.

She was six years old when she first met them, well, to be exact, when she had met Meas. He was an old friend of her father's, they had served together during the Ishbalan War, and had remained close friends after he resigned to start a family. She could remember working in the kitchen with her sister when he'd knocked on the door, her father out back chopping wood for the fire, and she had gone to answer it. She had expected to see Leroy, the local fisherman's son whom often brought them a few fish in exchange to stay for dinner, but instead, she found an older man standing full in military dress.

Initially, she had been put on edge and had firmly directed him away, despite his attempts to reason with her, before promptly shutting the door in his face. Only moments later, her father had walked in and asked her who it had been, when the man knocked again. She told him it was someone from the military, and had her hand on the doorknob, ready to enforce her previous threats, when her father surprised her; telling her to go into the kitchen to finish preparing dinner, while he answered the door. Of course, being skeptical as she was, she obeyed her father, but hid beside the doorway to the kitchen, and listened to the two men exchange an easy-going conversation, as if they were old friends.

Hearing this, she had simply returned to her duty of preparing dinner, and when she re-entered the dining room, she found the same man sitting across from her father at the table. Normally, when they had guests over, they would simply ignore her as she helped her sister set the food down onto the table, but tonight seemed different. As she made her way over to the table with the mashed potatoes, it surprised her to find the man looking at her with a slightly distant expression. His cool gray eyes were gentle and welcoming, and he even offered her a small smile, before she glanced over to see her father gazing at her with a similar expression.

While her sister had gone out with friends for the night, she had left her alone with the two men, and they were both watching her. Obviously confused, she had looked between the two men curiously, before she heard their guest say the last thing she would have ever expected.

"She looks just like her mother, Mason. It's amazing, you've been blessed." Her eyes grew, and her mouth opened slightly as a look of surprise covered her face, before she glanced at her father for some sort of assistance, but he merely chuckled, and nodded in agreement to the man, before introducing him.

It was that night that she'd learned more about Maes Hughes than she would have ever expected, about his job, his wife, but it wasn't the only thing she remembered. She also remembered when he'd left, kneeling down in front of her with a silly grin after telling her father something about having to keep the young men away in no time. He'd reached out and patted her on the head, an action some of the older village boys had done before, but this seemed different, he did it in the way her father would usually pat her head, it was... reassuring. He'd told her that the next time he saw her, he'd bring a picture of his family, just for her. He had then left, and later that night, her father told her how this wasn't the first time she'd met the man. Apparently, he'd been there when she was born, and a couple times more over the years, but she had been too young to remember it.

To her surprise, the man did visit again, and several other times on his way back to Central over the years. And each time, he would tell her a new story, play with her, and as she got older, he'd even help her with her homework from time to time. To say the least, she had gradually begun to grow attached to him, she'd even started calling him 'Uncle Maes', but he said nothing about it and would simply laugh. It wasn't until she was about ten, that his visits grew further and further apart, starting a few months before she'd met Ed and Al.

He left much later than he usually did that night, and she was curious. They thought she was asleep, when she heard him talking to her father about something strange stirring in the military's higher-ups. He hadn't told him what it was; he said he didn't want to put either of them in any danger if it got worse. She had never heard him sound so serious before, and it had her worried that she shouldn't have been listening. So, she had moved away from the stairs, accidentally stepping on one of the squeaking panels of wood and catching her breath as she ducked out of sight. Moments later, she had peaked out again to see his glance flicker to her, before refocusing on her father; he'd saved her from getting in trouble, and they both knew it. She hadn't seen him leave, but the darkened expression he wore throughout his talk with her father remained in her mind.

And then, Ed and Al came a few months later, and she saw the same expression in Ed's eyes when he had told her about his dream to become a State Alchemist and then find the Philosopher's Stone in order to restore his brother's body. It was a dark look of determination, mixed with something so much deeper that it couldn't be explained. It had been then that she realized that there was more to the world than her little village where only Majahal seemed to be the darkest presence; and the realization left her with a hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Strangely enough, she'd soon found herself looking forward to more of Maes's visits, eager to hear about his wife, Gracia, and his co-workers: the Second Lieutenant known for his uncanny intelligence with the irrational fear of dogs, a Major who had a knack for machines and technology. There was also a Second Lieutenant who had a smoking but was one of the best marksmen aside from the young sniper during the war who was now a First Lieutenant, and finally the Colonel, who had also happened to be a State Alchemist, the Flame Alchemist.

However, although each subordinate sounded interesting, the moment he'd mentioned the youngest of them all, during his last visit when she was fourteen, a sixteen-year-old State Alchemist by the name of Edward Elric, he immediately had her attention. She hadn't seen or heard about Ed in a long time, she wasn't sure if he'd managed to achieve his goal of becoming a State Alchemist, or even the dream of resorting his younger brother's body that followed.

The news had brought a rare, genuine smile to her face that surprised both of the men at the table, but neither of them pointed it out as she cleaned up after the meal, and later brought them coffee. Later that night, he'd invited her to come back to Central with him and stay with him and his family; this time, he wanted her to meet his daughter, Elysia. Hesitant at first, her father had encouraged her to go, and to this day, she never regretted it. Gracia had accepted her with open arms, like she always did whenever she came to visit. The woman had grown to be like the mother she never really knew, and she treated her like she was her very own daughter, and Elysia was convinced she was her older sister.

She was glad for the opportunity to stay and live in Central, even it was only for a month, it was the longest she could remember staying with the happy family. The experience opened her eyes to a part of the world that her quaint little village on the outskirts of the thriving city didn't provide. The day she'd left to return home, she had made her decision. After hearing about all of the Elric Brothers' travels and adventures to bring them closer to their dream, she found herself her own little glimmer of hope, and from there she urged herself towards something her sister had been pursuing before she died. She was going become a doctor.

However, when she returned home, she was welcomed by an empty home, and horrible news. Her father was dead. He'd been at the river, helping the younger men of the village barricade the sides so it wouldn't flood the village, when the section he and two others were working on broke and they were swept under. Except, while the others were soon washed ashore, the undertow had dragged him to the river bed, where he'd hit his head, lost consciousness, and drowned before anyone could rescue him.

For an entire year, she was forced to live on her own, offering empty smiles to the village children and housewives as they delivered her meals every-so-often. She wasn't sure how, but she'd somehow managed to push herself through school, and proceed in her studies, earning her a scholarship to one of the most expensive schools in Central city. However, much to her own dismay, when she arrived it Central later that year, she was informed that the man who'd known her since she was little, was dead, and that his family was still mourning.

And so, she ended up declining the offer to live in Central, unable to watch the mother and daughter of a man she could almost consider her second father suffer, and instead moved back to her some village home on the outskirts of the city and had a tutor visit her throughout the week for her tuition. It was hard, staying in a place that was far too big for one person, all alone, and distanced from her friends who'd all been able to move on to pursue their own dreams.

It wasn't until a month ago that she'd been sent a letter. It was from Gracia. She was asking her to come to Central and live with them, upset that she hadn't told them of her father's passing. She accepted, and she was welcomed just as she had before, and that hole of lonesomeness in her heart was gradually being filled again, but this time it was by the laughter of a bubbly, energetic ten-year-old and her loving mother.

However, as much as she hated to admit it, she knew that her heart would never be filled completely, it was still waiting... for a certain State Alchemist to fill it...

Alright, so, I've come to notice something, looking back through the chapters of this story, and seems, IRONICLY, I have ended the past two chapters with the phrase 'Damn it' in some sense. It was not intentional, but slightly amusing. But anyways, this was starting to get long, and a little confusing, so i had to re-read it NUMEROUS times, before posting it. I hope everyone likes it, this story needed a longer chapter, and don't worry, Ed will eventually figure it out. I know it seems like he's a bit... dull, but hey, he's practically a genius, and even geniuses (ei. Roy, Ed, Ryoma Echizen - from another manga/anime), are oblivious to very OBVIOUS things, so in other words, they can be dense. And no one can say that it isn't noticeable in the anime, because it's pretty obvious at times!

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Most of you already know who it is, and for those of you that don't, keep guessing, I suppose. You'll find out in chapter... I think five or six. There will also be the appearances of both Winry and (believe it or not) Russell Trigham! I might have Fletcher come along, for Al's sake, but I haven't thought of anything yet.

Anyways, tell me how I'm doing with the story, all feedback is excepted, even flames because everyone has a right to their own opinions. I hope everyone keeps reading! Enjoy!

~Smash41KMF