OK...there is something in this chapter that doesn't get explained, I'm saving that for the next chapter...so don't worry. And yes, you will know what I'm talking about when you read it.

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!I HAVE AN ANNOUNCMENT!
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MY DAUGHTER HAS GOTTEN HER FIRST TOOTH! XD
...that is all...enjoy the chapter.

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Chapter 16 - Back Home
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'I had been noticing it more and more for the last couple of days, he's been changing. Not much, and only when he's around me. It's strange...' Winry's became lost in her thoughts as they walked from the train station. Saying their goodbyes to Rose and her little one, they headed back to the Rockbell's home. Aria was in complete rapture at the meer sight of the flowing feilds of Resembool, she was on cloud nine.

Ed and Al talked about the disturbance in Lior and they reminised about the first time they went there. Little by little Al's memories were coming back, and he was regaining the weight that he had lost from being lost within the gate. Not eating for four years really took it's toll on the body; he was still rather thin, but he looked a lot better from when Ed first brought him home.

'Is this really the real thing...is it love?' She looked at Ed, his face had matured a lot in the last couple of years and he had gotten taller too, a trait that he admired a lot. Not that much taller, but he stood an entire inch over her. He had toned muscles from working all the time, and his hair had gotten longer too, he was the embodiment of perfection, by her standards anyway. Though, he really always was.

Winry sighed as she admired his features. Ed caught sight of her staring and he smiled. Winry blushed a little and smiled back. 'He may be different in some aspects, but he's still the Ed I grew up with, not that I have a problem with that though. He's more affectionate and open now, a little shy about exploring new things, but I think that's cute.' Winry remembered the first time that they kissed in the library, he was shaking like a leaf. But getting over that first initial hurtle was the hardest; from here on out would probably just be minor shyness from Edward.

They had talked on the train earlier on the previous night, when neither of them could fall asleep...

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Ed and Winry headed to the back of the train, it seemed to become a custom for them to go there and talk when they traveled together. They had their legs hanging over the back of the train as they watched the ground speed by below them. The only light they had was from the ever present moon, shining in all it's waning glory. "Kind of glad the moon is still out, we wouldn't be able to see a damn thing otherwise." Edward broke the silence after only a few short moments.

Winry nodded. "Yeah...it'll be dark soon though, another week or so." She said, a hint of shyness in her voice. Winry had asked to go to the back to talk to him, but for some reason she wasn't talking.

"Winry?" Ed asked, she looked at him, he had this look in his eyes, the one she had seen back at the library. "Is the same kind of thing you had to ask me as last time?" Wriny blushed. "Well, if it means anything at all, I still don't think any differently of you."

She giggled a little. "No Ed, it's not about that, I believe what you told me." She paused again and then continued. "It' just...these last few days have been great Ed...I was just wondering...do you see it going anywhere?"

Ed looked at her confused. "Go anywhere? What do you mean?" Ed and his blond moments were few and far between, but they were there.

Winry sighed. "I mean us...this isn't something I want only for a short while, when I imagined myself with someon, it would be for a long time, in a long term relationship. And--"

"Of course I do...why?" Ed cut her off.

Winry blinked. "Wha...you do?" She said with surprise.

Ed blushed a light shade of red. "Well, yeah. I mean, Alphonse and I always fought over who was going ot marry you when we were kids anyway. I could always see myself with you, definatly."

She was touched, she never expected Ed to say something like that, it was so honest and yet so ramontic at the same time. It wasn't forced, it sounded so natural. "I..." She tried to search for words, but none could be found. She leaned over to give Ed a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you."

Before her lips could touch his cheek, he turned his head and her lips met with his. She smiled and pulled back quick, like she got a shock from him. "You're welcome." He said as he smirked at her. Winry smiled and they leaned in and kissed once again, this time for longer, savoring the alone time they had together. Normally Ed would be accompanied by Al, so his love life, and private time, was cut significantly short.

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Winry was quite happy about the whole thing, not only did she find someone to be with, but it was someone she knew all her life and trusted a great deal. She looked over to Aria, she had fallen for Alphonse, there was no way around it. Thought for some reason she looked kind of sad now. Only ten minutes of walking and she looked like someone kicked her cat. Winry thought for a moment.

"Um, Aria?" She looked at Winry. "Where's Kale?" Winry asked, concern in her voice. That was right, her little kitten companion seemed to have disappeared within the last day before they left. "I didn't see him on the train, did you accidently leave him behind?"

Aria shook her head. "Oh no, I didn't forget him, Elecia took a liking to him so I left him there with her. I overheard her talking to him the other day and she said that she'll be sad to see us go. So I got Kale to stay there with her. I checked with Gracia first though, so it's ok." Aria smiled, but it still seemed as though something was bothering her.

Winry let it go until she could talk to her alone. "What do you think Granny's going to have made for us when we get back?"

Ed flung his arms behind his head. "I'm hoping on stew, she knows how much all of us like it."

"I never really did get why you like stew so much, it tastes a lot like milk." Al said through a smile.

Ed shrugged. "I don't know either, it tastes different enough...and it's thicker. I don't really care, it's great and that's all that matters." Ed smiled as he spoke. They all chatted quietly as they got closer and closer to the Rockbell's house. The sun was beginning to set off in the distance and cast long shadows over the plains. It gave a warm orange illumination to everything it touched.

Aria looked over at Al, his face had a nice glow to it, he looked so cute. His grey-green eyes seemed as though they lit up in the sinking sun's light. She found herself lost in thought just gazing at him. She then felt a small poke in her side. She looked over to see Ed giving her a sly glance. "What?" She said sudo-surprised as though she didn't know why he poked her.

Ed simply shook his head and smiled. Aria blushed from head to toe. 'Does he know that I like Al? Of course he does, they're brothers, they tell one another everything. Did he tell him about our kiss in the library?' Aria's mind flew with possibilities. 'What about that time on the beach a few months ago when we met up again for the first time in over two years?' Aria's mind inwardly paniced.

She blushed and put her hands up to her face. 'Oh my.' Not that she was ashamed of herself, but she was kind of shy about boys, seeing as how she never had a boyfriend before. She thought about it for a second. 'Yet I have a husband...' Piecing it together in her mind, it didn't make a whole lot of sence.

After another few minutes of walking, they came up to the end of the driveway. Ed squinted in the direction of the porch; it appeared that someone was over visiting. "Who in the world is that sitting with Pinako?"

Al squinted alongside his brother. "I'm not sure...kind of looks like dad." Al stated; his brother's eye twitched. "Ed come on, go easy on him, he's the reason I'm here now." Ed folded his arms abruptly and pouted, he usually did so when he knew he was wrong.

"I take it you're not all that fond of your father." Aria's obeservation was keen.

Ed looked off in the distance. "No, not really. He took off on us and didn't even show up or call when mom died...bastard. I bet he's trying to weasel his way back into our lives again."

Al shook his head. "Well, I'm giving him a chance, you can do what you like." Al never got the chance to know his father, so hating someone he didn't even know was rather difficult for him to do. Ed seemed to get angry at things for no good reason; he also had a bad habit of flying off the handle a lot, espically when something in regards to his height was mentioned.

They didn't speak all the way up to the house, Ed and Al may have been a lot alike, but there were some differenced that completly set them apart. This, their relationship with their father, was one of those things.

Sure enough, it was indeed Hohenheim sitting on the porch with Pinako, they were enjoying cold glasses of ice water when the four youths arrived at the house.

"Hey there." Hohenheim said as he smiled; Al smiled wide in return as his father greeted him. This was only the second time they had met since he got his body back. He vaguely recalled the time they met, for the first time, when he was still in the armour. But that memory seemed fuzzy, almost as if it didn't happen, like it was just a drem or something. But the memory was there, and that's what counted.

"Hi Dad." Al beamed cheerfully, though Al's smile faded as Ed walked right past, not a word said. Al shook his head. 'Ah, brother.' He thougt to himself, knowing full well that Ed was still sore at his Hohenheim, but now wasn't the time to argue, so he let him go inside without a fuss, this time.

"You're looking a lot healthire now from when I first saw you. How've you been?" The older man smiled as he put his glass down.

Al's smiled returned. "Pretty good."

Winry put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm just going to show Aria around the house." Al nodded and the two girls headed off inside the house with Pinako. Hohenheim looked at Aria as she walked by, she smiled at him, and he returned the gesture.

He looked back to his youngest. "Who's that?"

Al blushed. "She's a friend of ours who we met up with while she was visiting Central. She originally came form a small village called Lush."

His father seemed suspicious. "And what's she doing here...is she your girlfriend or someting?" He asked calmly.

Al blushed furiously. "Uh...we--,...no...she's married...she's just a friend." When said aloud, it kind of hurt. He really liked Aria, but until the marriage agreement was broken, they were to only remain friends.

"So?" He asked.

"So what?" Al was confused.

"So, that's never stopped anyone before." Hohenheim sat back on the patio chair.

"Dad! I'm not going to help her to cheat on her husband." He folded his arms. Al wasn't use to liying, so it was written all over his face that he had already done so.

"Did you kiss her?" Al blushed again and stumbled over a few words, then his father smiled. "You're a terrible liar Alphonse." Al was defeated, he hung his head in shame. Not because his father figured out he kissed her, just that he failed at liying. He really was terrible at it. Hohenheim rose form his seat and placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "Don't let it bother you." Al was slightly confused again, was that a hint of pride in his father's voice?

"There's a lot more to it than that..." Al sounded sad as he spoke.

Hohenheim nodded. "I figured as much...you can tell me about it after supper, ok?" His father comforted him; Al nodded and they went into the house to see what was cooking for supper.

They came in to see Aria kneeling on the floor petting Den and, sure enough, Pinako stirring stew on the stove. Al looked around. "Where's Ed?"

Aria looked up. "Ed? Oh, he's upstairs, Winry went up there to see if she could coax him into eating down here."

Hohenheim laughed a little. "He really doesn't like to make it easy for me, does he?"

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"Why not?" Winry laid her head on Ed's back. As suspected, he was on his stomach, on his bed, sulking in his room. "It's not like he plans to leave you guys anymore...just give him a chance. He's trying his best."

Ed turned his head in the other direction. "Why should I give him a chance? Right after he brought me back, he took off again. He doesn't learn." Truth be told, that was exactally what had happened.

Winry snuggled her head into his back. "Just like last time, he probably did it for a reason. Besides, he's a guest in this house, you're suppose to treat guests with respect...or at least some decency." Ed pouted once again and gave a small grunt. "..." Winry thought for a moment. "Grandma is going out tonight, she has a patient that can't move either of his legs, she's going to be gone all night...if you behave youreself..." She rubbed his back lovingly. "I'll make it worth your while." A slightly seductive tone in her voice.

Ed blushed furiously. "I'm going to hold you to that." He said without even looking at her, smirking all the while. "...I don't have to make a point to talk to him do I?" He questioned.

Winry shook her head. "Just speak when spoken to...and be polite about it."

Ed thought about it for a minute and then nodded. "Alright then." He sat up and got off of the bed; they left the room and headed downstairs.

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Well...this one kind of sucked too...and I tried to fix my dialogue like Letisha siad...but I don't think it worked...oh well, I'll keep practicing at it.

This chapter did move kind of slowly, but I'm building for another little arc, so just sit tight. :D

Chapter 17 - Ed tells the story of how he got his brother's body back. Aria then tells how she's trapt in a loveless marraige; all the while Ed and Winry are upstairs 'asleep'.

...ok, it's a shitty preview, but I gaurentee the chapter will not follow suit. It'll be a good one.

(By the way, Raeven's first tooth is on the bottom, kind of on her right side...just so you know. :D)

Remember, the more reviews I get, the quicker I update.
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