Disclaimer - I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist

A/N - SORRY SORRY SORRY! I know it's been forever and I'm really sorry! The time just kind of slipped away . . . But 8th grade projects are over, so I'll have a lot more time now! And I'm on school vacation, so I might even have another chapter up soon. This one's kinda short and I'm sorry but it's really more of a filler, I guess.

. . .

"Winry, I swear it; God sent you to this world as a gift to all its other inhabitants," Henry said as he flexed his arm. "I can't feel a thing anymore. Totally painless. How much do I owe you?"

Winry smiled at the compliment. "Thank you! But, don't worry about it, all I did was make some minor adjustments."

"Are you sure?"

She nodded. "Of course. Now why don't we go save Mandy from Ed and Al . . ."

Henry chuckled and rose to his feet. He slif his shirt back on, hastily buttoning it. In the end, his collar was uneven, but for a blind man it was pretty impressive.

He followed behind Winry as she walked down the hall and into the living room, where she found Ed, Al, and Mandy sitting on the couch. Al was reading a book he had pulled off the shelf. Ed was sitting with Mandy sprawled out across him, totally unconscious.

Ed had the trace of a smile on his face as he watched her sleep, as if something about it made him happy.

"Oddly quiet in here," Henry noted.

"S-she's asleep," Winry muttered in amazement. Winry had known Amanda for nearly a year now (thanks to her uncle's false arm) and she had never seen the kid sit down, never mind fall asleep. She was an incredibly hyperactive child. "How did you get her to sleep?"

Ed grinned modestly. "It wasn't that hard. We played for a little, then she got bored and asked me to tell her stories. So I did and she passed out."

"What kind of stories?" Henry asked. "She's always been bored with nursery rhymes."

Ed shrugged. "Just a made-up place called London, and a farm on top of a hill."

Henry was clearly impressed. "I'll have to ask her about it when she wakes up. Until then, would you mind helping me to the door?"

Ed stood up and passed the sleeping toddler into Henry's arms. "Would you like for Al or I to help you back to your house?"

Henry shook his head. "I live in East City, and I know how to get to the train station on my own. Thank you for the offer though."

"You come here from East City?" Al asked, glancing up from his novel.

Henry nodded. "I've been coming to the Rockbells' for years, I wasn't about to let a job transfer stop me."

Winry lightly grabbed his arm and started towards the door. "And you'll be sure to keep it oiled?"

Henry nodded. He opened the door and stepped outside. "Thanks again."

When the door shut behind him, Winry spun around so she was facing Edward. "When did you get so good with kids?"

Ed chuckled. "Not kids, kid. On the other side, the people we stayed with had a daughter who was the other Amanda."

"Really?" Winry asked. "But weren't you staying with the other Mustang and Hawkeye?"

Al nodded. "Yeah, but like we said, in that world they're married with two kids."

"I'm just used to her," Ed explained. "I've known her since the day she was born, in a way."

"I feel bad about leaving her," Al admitted. "She begged and cried for us to stay . . . I felt like a monster."

Ed nodded, then turned back to Winry. "But honestly, I'm clueless with kids."

It sure as hell didn't seem that way, Winry thought. Ed really did seem to know what he was doing. Perhaps he really is the father-type. That's a strange thought.

"So did either of your doubles get married of have kids before they died?" she asked.

Ed's face turned bright red and steam flew out from his ears. His eyes disappeared under his bangs when he ducked his head.

Was that a yes then?

"Actually," Al told her. "No. Edward Matthews was engaged, but that's it. Nothing final."

Some little, over-protective part of Winry switched on. Ed was engaged? Well, the other Ed, but still. "To who?"

"It doesn't matter," Ed snapped. "Could you please just get started on my automail? Having one arm is a real pain in the ass . . ."

Winry sighed. "Yeah, sorry . . ."

. . .

"What do you mean?" Gluttony asked.

"I mean they're alive!" Lust snapped into the telephone. "How many times do I have to say it?"

"Those clever bastards . . ." Gluttony muttered. "Well, Envy will be please. Where are you two?"

"We'll be in West City by tomorrow night," Lust told him. "We're going to travel through the night."

"Hmm," Gluttony said. "Once Envy gets back from his trip to the newsstand I'll let him know."

"So how's the newbie?" Lust asked.

"Hungry." Gluttony chuckled. "I feel bad . . . Poor gyu fell off a bridge three years ago. His daughter tried to bring him back."

"What's his name?"

"Sloth."

"Is he useful?"

"We're not sure yet," Gluttony said. "Maybe by the time you and Pride get back."

"Yeah. See you then." She placed the phone back and stepped out of the booth.

"Lust?" Pride asked in a small voice. She had been standing outside, waiting. Her head was bent down and her arms crossed at her waist.

"What?" Lust asked, trying not to notice.

"My name . . . before, I mean. What was it?"

"It doesn't matter," Lust snapped. She began walking away swiftly. "Let's hurry."

"Please," Pride begged. "I need to know."

Lust halted in her steps. Rain began to hit the pavement, causing dark circles to appear. She sighed. "Akira, I think. Akira Michaels."

Pride tried to sound indifferent. "Oh . . . Okay. Thank you, Lust."

That boy knew me! She thought. And I must have known him. Oh . . . I don't get what was so bad about Old Lust. I mean, what's so terrible about wanting to be human? To remember . . ."

. . .

Two Days Later

"Morning!" Winry shouted into the Elrics' bedroom. "Wake up!"

Ed and Al groggily sat up.

"Ugh, what do you want?" Ed asked.

"I finished your automail last night, and I told you I'd put it on you this morning," Winry replied.

"You're not even gonna wait until Aunt Pinako gets home?" Al asked.

Winry shook her head. "Nah, I don't need any help. I know what I'm doing."

Ed stood up. "Let's get this over with."

"Oh, don't be a baby," Winry told him. "Honestly, you've got to be used to the pain by now."

"There are something you just never get used to," Ed told her, a little over-dramatically.

. . .

Later that day, Ed, Al, and Winry sat in the living room together, and they couldn't help but be reminded of the way things were before.

Al was continuing the book he had started two days prior, now about three quarters into it. Winry was leaned over the coffee table, tinkering with a few pieces of scrap metal. Ed was perched on the couch's armrest, trying to break in his new arm by flexing it repeatedly.

Suddenly, Winry stopped what she was doing and looked up at the brothers. "You're going to leave soon, aren't you?"

Ed shrugged honestly. "I'm not sure. I mean, eventually we're going to have to go find and defeat the homunculi. And if what we're hearing about Envy making more of them is true, then we should go sooner rather than later . . ."

Winry sighed and placed her wrench down on the table. "I'm going with you."

Al's eyes shot up from his book and met his brother's.

"Winry, we can't let you-" Al began.

"Don't say that crap anymore!" Winry exclaimed. "You always tell me it's too dangerous, but when will you learn that I don't care. I love you guys and I want to help you help others. I'm twenty now; not a little kid anymore."

Ed and Al exchanged nervous glances. They both knew damn well that there was no way to change her mind.

"You don't know how to fight," Al pointed out weakly.

"I'll learn!" Winry exclaimed. "I'm sick of just waiting. I don't want to be like Granny and just spend my life waiting for people who never come back!"

Ed flinched a little; startled by her outburst. He reached out a hand to her shoulder. "Winry, it sounds like you've put a lot of thought into that."

"Five years," she told him bitterly. Then, in a smaller voice, she added, "they never came back."

"We're not your parents, Winry," Ed told her.

"You very well could be!" she shouted. "You're not immortal, Edward!"

Al sighed. "Okay, Brother. I'll teach Winry a few simple defense moves, I don't mind."

Edward looked at his best friend. The truth was, he hated leaving her behind. Ever since he was eleven, he had been forcing himself to refrain from asking her to join them. Now she was begging to come along. How could he possibly say no? His willpower wasn't that great. "Alright, Winry . . . But you have to let Al teach you some fighting tricks, and I'll teach you about homunculi."

Winry beamed. "Really?"

Ed scratched the back of his neck. "I guess so . . ."

She jumped off the couch and tackled him in a giant bear hug. Then she squeezed Al and ran from the room. "I'm gonna go to the store and stock up on trail mix!"

"Good idea," Al agreed, though he doubted she heard him.

Winry pulled her jacket no over her shoulders and opened the door, only to find herself wait-to-face with Pinako. "Granny? What are you doing back so soon?"

"Pick up a newspaper lately?" Pinako asked. She entered the house with Den at her heels. "I figured I should come for moral support, but then I saw a brown top with it's head in a book from the window and pieced it all together."

Hearing this, Ed jumped up and ran over to close the curtains in the window behind Al. "Damn it!"

Pinako chuckled. "Hello, boys."

Al walked over and gave her a quick squeeze. "Good to see you, Aunt Pinako."

. . .

(Under) Western City, Amestris

One Week Later

Pride looked at her new "brother" from her seat on the other side of the underground safe house. She really didn't understand the "family" thing. Sloth looked old enough to be her father, with a bald heard and purple catlike eyes that all the homunculi had. His skill was something Envy called the "ultimate shield", just like Old Greed had had. Sloth was strange; at least Pride though so. The only person he was ever kind to was Envy. TI was as if everyone else was constantly testing his patience. Pride suspected that Sloth felt somehow in debt to Envy for "saving" him and feeding him red stones. Maybe it was easy for Sloth to feel that way, because Sloth had been created without Envy's influence. Prude however, resented Envy for convincing her mortal father to create her. She hated not remembering what it was like to be a human, but when she did remember, she was terrified. Lust said that homunculi don't have souls, but how could that be true? Pride could feel, so doesn't that alone count as proof of her soul? Hell, did she even believe in souls? If you wanna break down to the science of it all, humans were just a bunch of chemicals mixed together. So where do souls even come from? And when do they get added on to the body?

Pride shook her head. She hated not knowing these things. She also hated having to question them in the first place. When she had been a human, she had never questioned the existence of her own soul.

"You look like you're really thinking about something," Gluttony said.

Pride jumped at the sound of his voice. "It's nothing . . ."

Well, then why weren't you paying attention?" Sloth snapped. "Envy asked you a question."

"O-oh I'm sorry!" Pride exclaimed.

"We still need a Greed and a Wrath," Envy repeated. "We're voting on where to go next. North, or Central?"

"Wouldn't Central be dangerous?" Pride asked.

"We could take them," Sloth said. "I mean, they're only humans."

Pride glanced down at the ouroboros tattoo on the inside of her wrist. "We'll have to kill them?"

The other four homunculi laughed out loud. They couldn't believe how stupid she sounded.

"Of course!" Lust cried through her hysterical giggles. "What should you care? You know what you had to eat in order to gain that form?"

"Red stones," Pride replied, not at all understanding.

"What the hell do you think those are made of, Dumbass?" Sloth asked. "Human souls!"

Pride wrapped her arms around her stomach. "You guys were serious about that?"

The adults just laughed harder at Pride's naiveté. She, on the other hand, wanted to throw up.

"We'll go to the North," Envy said when he was done laughing. "To spare Pride's innocence. For now, anyway."

. . .

Resembool, Amestris

"Winry, this is your last chance to turn around," Edward reminded her. "After this you're stuck with us."

"I did not go through hours of fighting and homunculi 101 just to back out." She grabbed his hand with her right and Al's with her left. "Besides, I've been stuck with you guys since I was born."

The three of them waved goodbye to Pinako and Den and started down the path.

"Come back with a wide, Edward!" Pinako called after them as they walked away.

Ed froze for a moment, then spun around so he could see her. "What the hell are you talkin' about, Midget?"

He was then hit in the head with the all-familiar wrench.

"Don't disrespect your elders," Winry scolded him. "Now let's go."

She and Al continued walking, but Ed stayed put, waiting for Pinako's reply. "Well?"

"I think you'll figure it out eventually," she told him.

He gave her a skeptical look before he turned around and ran to catch up with Winry and his brother.

"So where are we going first?" Winry asked.

"According to Mustang, Envy was last spotted in the South with four other people; two men, a woman, and a teenage girl," Al said. "That means he only needs two more before he has all seven."

"He's already been to East City, Dublith, Resembool, West City, and probably a few places in between. That leaves the North and Central, if I'm guessing his plan correctly," Ed continued.

"Going to Central isn't the best idea," Winry pointed out. "You guys were just found dead there."

"So, to the North we go," Ed agreed.