Disclaimer: I do not own Edward Elric or Winry Rockbell, but I do own the sweet mother and her young daughter you'll meet...

Tomorrow is a Different Day

Unlike what Ed had said about the train station being, 'not too much further', it ended up taking us all day to get down there plus we ended up missing our first train, and waiting a few hours for the next one. Edward basically screamed at the guy for not having the train wait for us. I swear, the face that man made looked as though he was ready to pull a gun on us.

We found a bench inside the station that the man had pointed out to us. Edward collapsed onto it placing his single bag between himself and I. He looked exhausted, an entire day of walking on top of his illness had done a number on him, and it looked like it was going to be a boring train ride considering he would probably sleep the moment we got on board. We sat sideways on the old, wooden bench, our backs touching, leaning on each other for support. He read a book, scribbling things every so often while I counted our money situation, and looked at the train schedule. He became pretty quiet from that point on, sometimes pushing too much on weight on my back, forcing me to lean over.

"Hey come on, stop pressing so hard on my back. Your shoulder is digging into me." I would say; He let up on the pressure immediately muttering a 'sorry'. As the night grew on inside the station, and it became later, the building seemed to grow warmer as well. I became tired, and found myself bobbing my head constantly. Sleep must of eventually came over me as I remember letting my head fall forward with my eye lids progressively becoming heavier by the minute. I could still hear the crowds of people walking past us as I dozed off, as well as feeling the shifting of Ed's back muscles every time he turned a page in his book or coughed. I remember thinking about Alphonse, and where he could be and if we were even headed in the right direction. Damn it, I just seemed to recall the same thoughts I had been thinking of from the last month. Everything that would occur would just reply in my mind. There was just no end to it.

I woke up to Edward's voice, as he shook his right shoulder, causing me to stir.

"Our train's here Win, you can sleep when we get on." He whispered, leaning back into my ear as he grabbed his huge bag, placing his book inside. I rubbed my eyes sitting up on my own.

"What time is it, Ed?" I mumbled still totally out of it. I dragged my legs to the floor, and off the bench as he stood up. He sighed looking around as people ran past us onto the train. He reached out his hand pulling me to my feet.

"I don't know, late. You had passed out at least an hour ago, and before that we must of been here for two..." He trailed off scratching his head. I was surprised he had managed to stay awake himself; He must of yawned at least three times since I awoke. I followed him onto the train trying to push the sleep out of my eyes as he handed in our tickets to a man who stood at the entrance.

"For you two?" He asked Edward pointing to me as well. Ed nodded stepping through the door, shocked to see how many people where on board.

"Not nearly as comfortable as I remember..." He grunted to himself finding two empty seats across from a young child and her mother. He let me grab the window seat, as he sat next to me uncomfortably, placing his bag between his legs. The two of us were pathetic, we had slept together so many times before, though sitting tightly on a public train was awkward. I smiled at our neighbor's across from us before turning to Ed.

"What, you've never been on a a public train or something? You've been spoiled by the military." I whispered into his ear causing him to flinch. I watched him yawn for a fourth time in a row. He pushed his head back against the seat, closing his eyes before answering.

"No, it's just different here, there are so many people..." He sighed.

My eyes drifted toward the window as the world slowly started to pass me by. The walls of the station disappeared as we left the brick, building entering the cold night. There were very few lights, as I could barley only make out dark, green trees.

There was an announcement over the loud speaker, though I was able to tune it out. The lights on the train eventually dimmed as it started to pick up speed. I looked across to the woman and child after about ten minutes of dazing out the window once I realized the cabin had grown silent. The little girl had cuddled close to her mother now sleeping on the woman's lap as she had lost her self deep into a book.

I heard a soft mumble from Ed, as I spun toward him remembering I hadn't heard a word from him since we had gotten into our seats. Just like I thought, he had passed out, mimicking my head bobbing from the bench, earlier. With out knowing, more of his wait from his right arm and leg onto had dug, leaning on my body. I sat up, taking a look at the rest of the train, and to my surprise a good portion of the passengers had fallen asleep, too. Children had crept up close to their parents, as couples rested on each others shoulders. I quickly sat back in my seat returning my attention to Edward. He seemed as though he couldn't get comfortable as his head continued to move from side to side. I starred at his face turning my head 90 degrees toward him. I reached down and pulled a shirt from his bag, and folded it into sixths resting it between his neck and right shoulder. Instantly, Edward discovered my 'pillow' even in his sleep resting his fevered head onto the cotton shirt. I was shocked when the woman across from me smiled.

"My, that was so sweet of you. Is he your brother, or maybe a boyfriend?" She questioned, instantly causing my cheeks to glow pink as I turned toward her, shocked someone had seen what I did.

"N-no! He's just my good friend!" I tried politely. "We've known each other forever, nothing more!"

"Well he seems to have made some sort of impact on you, am I right? For you to act so kindly to him."

"Yeah, well I don't know about that. You should see him when he's awake, he's not that sweet- amazing." But I think I was wrong, Edward really was an amazing person, and it was another thing I really had never thought about. She laughed softly. "So uh, where are you guys headed too?" I asked out of curiosity, as well as another way to change the subject.

"Oh, we are on our way to visit my husband, it's been awhile since my daughter has last seen his grave." My smile faded slowly as the woman and her daughter had reminded me of someone special back home. She must of picked up the sadness on my face immediately. "He was killed in a war a few years ago... He really was a great man." She looked away remembering her lost husband.

"Really, I'm sorry for your loss. I used to know a family similar to yours back in... A while ago." I said correcting myself. "You'll get through it, I understand how it is to lose someone, and it hurts. But that's how you can become strong. You need to experience all the sad things in life along with the good." She looked up back at me.

"What's your name dear? I'm Lucy Stringer."

"Oh, Mrs. Stringer... I'm Winry, and um, that's Ed..." I replied nudging his metal shoulder with my arm, though he didn't do so much as flinch. Mrs. Stringer talked to me about her husband and how strong her daughter has been since he passed away. She told me about how money was hard, but it wouldn't last too much longer, and that's why she never got to travel much. I told her Ed and I were on our way to 'visit' his brother for I didn't want to give her much detail on where we were going. We had probably talked for an hour or so before I became to tired to blink. I fell asleep with my head propped up against my hand, that had been leaning on the ridge of the train window. The train was extremely quiet, no one seemed to shore or move around through the night; Only the sounds of soft breathing could be heard among the cabin. It was quite relaxing.

Morning came quickly, as I was surprised of how good I had slept. The train suddenly stopped short, following with a loud whistle waking just about every single passenger. From the sudden stop, my head slipped off of my hand hitting the glass window. I moaned as I noticed Ed had been thrown into my shoulder. He muttered a 'sorry' sleepily, bringing his head to the aisle watching people grab their bags and leave the train through the same exit we entered in.

"Damn it, what a way to wake everyone up..." He grumbled combing a hand through his hair. I sat up realizing Mrs. Stringer and her daughter where gathering their bags as well. The young girl sat in her seat patiently for her mother starring out the window at the train station of people exiting and entering.

"Come here baby, we're almost there." She whispered to her daughter picking her up and resting her on her hip. Then she turned to me slinging a bag on her opposite shoulder. "It was nice meeting to you Winry, I hope we can meet again eventually." She said smiling.

"Yeah, thanks for the company, and good luck with everything." I stated, leaning my head back on my hand. And with in seconds the two had disappeared into the huge crowd of people. Edward gave me strange look.

"How did you know them?" He asked, yawning at the same time. Remembering last night I blushed before responding.

"Last night, after you decided to fall asleep. They were really nice, and um... They are visiting her husband's grave."

"Oh..." He sighed as the train began moving again, and a man took the new free seat that Lucy Stringer had once been in. "You hungry? Let's order something for breakfast." I nodded.

"Sounds good..."

xxx