(AN: Well it certainly has been a while hasn't it... Ok, over a year... FINE. A God damn long time. POINT IS. Update. Yeaaahhh, I've decided to turn this into a chapter story based on my own personal enjoyment. ^_^;)

Tears Chapter 1: Anserine

'Stupid'

'Stupid'

'Stupid'

'So incredible stupid...'

Maybe it was harsh, but Edward certainty deemed himself deserving of the mental beating. What had he been thinking? There wasn't a chance in hell that what he had done was either right or at all appropriate.

At the time.

Yes, at the time. Sure, Edward completely expected things between him and Winry to progress... but not now.. and not like this...

'Stupid' 'Stupid' 'Stupid'

And so, the mantra continued to stomp through his head.

"Brother, your talking to yourself."

"AL!" Ed nearly jumped out of his skin. "W-what are you doing in here?"

"I've been in here for the last five minutes... are you feeling ok, brother?"

Ed sighed to himself, he couldn't tell Al... he had no idea how to.

"I'm fine Al... I guess my thoughts just got away from me there..."

Ed stood from his position on his bed and looked to the suit of armor standing near the doorway to his hotel room. "I guess its time to take off than?"

"Yep. If we hurry we can get to Central by midday."

Ed's face turned sullen. " Why are we going there again?" he asked grumpily.

"Brother... we've discussed this, Winry said that Father was staying there and needed to see us, its important, obviously."

Ed brushed off the pang of guilt he felt when Winry's name was mentioned, and halfheartedly carried on, he new this was a losing battle anyway. "I don't see how anything he could have to say would interest me."

An exasperated sound issued from the antique armor. "So your not interested at all? I find that hard to believe."

Ed pulled on his trademark coat and reached for the door handle "Whatever." he said, "Lets just go and get this over with." "Afterward, we need to find out where that stupid Greed-Ling hybrid ran off to. I have a feeling that with the proper amount of persuasion we might be able to sway him to our 'side.'"

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The sun was beating down brutally on the fields surrounding the Rockbell house. To be honest, the heat was making Winry a little sluggish and feverish. Not that it mattered much, there wasn't a whole lot to do today.

After waking up and tinkering with her latest project, (a foot for a farmer who got his mangled in a nasty land tiller accident) Winry had been quite surprised that there was nothing to do. All that time working endlessly in the summer heat of Rush Valley had left her unprepared for the slow drag that she was always forced to deal with when working at home as the summer 'accident' session tapered.

...It really was a shame that she had nothing to do because an unoccupied mind left her open to attacks from the ruthless thoughts clamoring in her head.

Thoughts of life...

Thoughts of love...

...Thoughts of Ed...

She rolled onto her side and hid her face in the newly washed sheets on her bed. She allowed the thoughts to finally break from her carefully constructed barrier and felt the cold wash of sorrow come over her.

She had known what she was doing . She had been fully aware of the implications she had set forth when she crawled into Ed's bed in with nothing but her underclothes on. Had she expected him to politely decline her oh so blatant offer?

"So incredibly stupid..." Winry murmured. She didn't even know who she was talking to anymore... Herself? Ed? She smiled shakily.

"Probably both..."

"Winry! There's lunch on the table if your hungry!" The thought of food made her stomach turn, but she stood from her bed and headed for the stairs anyway. Maybe a glass of water would ease her headache and calm her churning stomach?

"Coming Granny!"

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Al was not quite as oblivious as Ed seemed to think. On the contrary Al had to say that he thought himself to be very perceptive... or maybe it could just be that one; he never sleeps, and two; though he might be missing a good chuck of his senses he can, in fact, hear.

The other night at Winry's house he had been in the guest room next to Winry's room and right below Ed's. His cold state of faux sleep had been broken when he heard Winry's door creak open and her quite footsteps padding down the hall. He contemplated disturbing her midnight excursion but stopped that thought in its tracks when he heard the footsteps head up the stairs.

There was only one other guest room up there. The room where Ed was staying.

He had stayed silent and listened carefully. What he heard would have surely caused him to blush... if he had any blood to do it with that was.

So now, Al sat in a train car, his brother sitting across from him and staring out the window.

He hadn't told him a thing and Al was pretty sure he intended to keep it that way. It didn't make any sense at all, but then again, Ed rarely made any sense to begin with.

Al stared at Ed with a strange sort of piety-humor in his soul, he couldn't keep quiet.

"Brother, you seem a little listless... you sure nothings wrong?" Al's question was innocent curiosity personified.

"M'fine..."

Ed's response was less than impressive, and Al was far from satisfied, so he continued to inconspicuously pry.

"Not sick?"

No reply.

"Angry at someone?"

Still nothing, so Al decided to push his, already very shaky, luck.

"Guilty about something?"

Ed twitched the slightest bit and his eyes slide over to meet Al's.

Al would have smirked if he had the face to do it.

"Ah, so that's it is it... what did you do, brother? Al looked imploringly at his brother when he got no reply. So the cute brother card it is then. "You know you can tell me anything..."

Oh, yes, innocence personified.

An annoyed look passed over Ed's face and he shifted his body away from the window. "Al... its really not something that I can comfortable discuss with you..."

Al decided he had had enough of this beating around the bush. "Brother, I hear-"

"Currently pulling into Central Station! Everyone for Central!"

The blaring voice over the speaker knocked the anxiety out of Ed and he jumped up from his seated position.

"Now's not the time to talk about this Al." Ed said. "We've gotta meet the old man." He briskly walked out of the car intent on escaping the questioning. Al followed with a sigh and a fleeting thought.

"You can't hid from this forever, brother."

"...You can't hid from her forever..."

(AN: Well, that's it... blehg, I'm not impressed... its kinda short, and I'm pretty sure its got more mistakes in it then a dyslexic kids English midterm (no offense, my best friends dyslexic.) But Ah'well

It'll do... It'll do...)

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