Chapter 3

"Brother! You're home! How was your day at the University?"

"Ah, Al, all of this information and I can't get any closer to any of the things I really need!" A handsome blonde with unusual golden eyes and a frustrated look entered a small kitchen in a comely apartment house that was stationed above a small grocery below on the first floor. He pulled out a worn wooden chair and sat across from a younger boy that looked almost his identical, aside from shorter hair and his soft brown eyes. The younger boy shook his head and continued to read a large book that was in front of him on the table. Every so often, he would scribble a few notes down on a piece of paper. The older boy continued.

"Honestly, I don't know why I bother! I should just quite while I'm ahead." The young man leaned back in his chair and folded his arms behind his head, his eyes closed.

"What about the books you checked out of the library? Didn't you find them useful?"

"Hm."

"You shouldn't lean like that in that chair, brother, you could hurt yourself." The older brother waved at the boy's scolding. "Besides, I thought that you said that your studies in Chemistry would further help your research with rockets. Isn't that what you were planning to do with a few of those papers you had found in Alphonse Heidrich's things?" He concluded, pointing to a stack of papers that lay clumsily on the far counter. Ed blew out an exasperated sigh.

"I wasn't stealing if that's what you think, I told you; we used to study rockets together. Besides, I didn't find anything I didn't already know, though I think I know of a way to improve on it. If I could just get to the right resources, that's all. I think I've burned all my bridges here in Germany three years ago, hehe." His laughter made him wobble uncontrollable a bit on the chair, and shooting a nasty look towards the giggling boy, he set it onto all four of its legs once more. He stood up and walked over to the small window overlooking the busy streets of a Frankfurt am Main's westside neighborhood by the port. It was a beautiful city, despite the pressing unrest following the First World War and the tensions and political movements that may prelude another. It had been three years since Edward Elric and his brother Alphonse sealed the gate in this world, preventing any more of the Thule Society from entering their old home dimension. That disaster forever separated them from ever seeing Amestris and the only surviving family they had left. They were forever separated from her…

Ed's sudden silence caused Al to look up from his homework and fall into his own thoughts. It saddened him when his brother got like this. He turned slightly in his chair and glanced over his shoulder. His brother seemed so much older these days, and it wasn't just the age difference. Although they were together once more, Edward at times seemed distant and…lonely.

"You miss her sometimes, don't you brother?"

"Wha-! I don't know what you're talking about, Al! Stop being weird."

"Do you think she misses us?" Ed was quiet once more as he let Alphonse's words swirl about his mind. He did miss her, it seemed even more so over the last year and a half. He often wondered how she looked since he had last seen her, brief as it was. She had taken special care to bring him new automail limbs after he had re-entered their world three years ago. She had never stopped caring about him, not even for a moment. He had wanted to say it then, but he couldn't bring himself to say the words. He was, as Al would say, hopeless.

"I don't know, Al. I would like to think…that she misses me as much as I do her…"

"What?"

Ed turned his expressionless eyes away from the window and faced his brother with a soft smile. "Nothing, Al. I'm sure she does." Alphonse couldn't help the huge smile that slowly spread across his face from his brother's words.

"That's five cents, young man." Ed dug around his trouser pockets until he came up with the proper coin. Handing the old man the Meissen coin with the printed five, Edward took the newspaper from the vendor and tucked it underneath his left arm, continuing his walk through the streets, weaving through the steady flow of pedestrians. It was a calm afternoon, but his conversation with Al the previous evening was still replaying heavily in Ed's mind.

Winry.

He could still remember the way she looked that day she meet with him in the underground city, lugging that huge box that housed his new automail limbs. Ed could still see the look of mixed emotions in her eyes; both of love and sadness it seemed. Ed followed a grey cobblestone path that lead to a beautiful park. Finding a bench, he sat down and opened his paper but his eyes didn't see any of the words. She was all he could think about lately. For so long, his only drive was correcting the wrong that he had brought upon his little brother, and once he had succeeded in returning Al to his original body, he felt that he had at least gave some sort of apology for his sins. He never anticipated what his actions were doing to Winry, or what those same actions were doing to him. A young couple walked by, hand in hand, crossed the wide field and sat down near the pond. Ed watched them as they sat closely and shared a few kisses. The scene made his face flush a bright red as he turned his head slightly to view the waves move lightly across the water a few feet away from the pair.

Ed stretched out his right arm and at the craftsmanship of the artificial limb.

"Nothing could compare to anything you made…even if it was all metal." He smiled at his arm as he held his hand up to the sunlight.

"Edward….I was wondering when you'd show…"

"Winry!"

"Welcome home."

…Thanks."

She'd been so happy to see him back then and admittedly he been just as happy. He could still feel her arms around him as she practically jumped into his lap. She was stunning; she had truly grown into her womanly figure, he couldn't help but notice. Unconsciously, Edward wrapped his arms about himself as he envisioned her touch, her smell. When did I start to feel like this? I've known her my whole life! She's just…just a childhood friend… He dropped his hands back into his lap and stared down at them. One real, the other…. Just like our two hearts, Edward mused, one full of the energy of love and the other one longs for familiarity of the other. Just two halves making one whole. Ed sat back on the bench and ran both hands through his long hair, closing his eyes, and feeling the cool breeze on his face. The feeling made him raise a hand to his cheek, imagining the brush of Winry's cheek against his own. His eyes shot open in an instant.

He was in love.