Greetings, One and All! It's me! That Creepy Bastard (name in the works) with my very first work on any plataform, So I'm Very excited for this! Once, I read Just Travelers by Sucker4Xovers and I felt. So! cheated! (not by the fic, it's great) FMA x ASOIAF is a winner combo and there's no material on this, so I took it upon myself to right this wrong.

As I said, this is my first work, so I have no Beta reader yet, but if someone is interested, please comment! The first 3-4 chapters might be a bit slow but that's just the build up, trust me, it pays off.

Special thanks to NeonZangetsu for giving me a few pointers to define my startpoint. Go read their works in FF, they're great, and they're my go-to for Naruto x ASOIAF x-overs, I greatly recomend them!

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So... this is where I post the Chapter... I guess?... I'm missing something...

Ah, right! * Clears his troath * :

"Disclaimer: This is a non-profit project. All characters and locations from the Fullmetal Alchemist and A song of Ice and Fire franchises belong to Hiromu Arakawa respectively."

-That is the Law of Equivalent Exchange.- = Speech.

-Thank's Truth no one saw that.- = Thought.

-Welcome, Mortal, to the End of Exist... oh, it's you again.- = Eldrithc being Speaking.

'She was running through the forest, feeling the dry leaves crack under her paws and the warm blood coating her muzzle' = Dream/Vision.

-The Red Keep, King's Landing- Location/Line break.

God's best warrior. = PoV.

- Ruins of Xerxes, Desert between Amestris and Xing. 1918 CY*-

The Retired Alchemist.

Three years.

It is amazing just how much can change in three years. His brother didn't have a body three years ago, at least not one of flesh and blood. He had an automail arm three years ago. Many of his friends were alive three years ago, many of his allies used to be his enemies three years ago. He used to be a State Alchemist three years ago.

During the three years that followed The Promised Day, the country's whole government system had to be restructured and purged from corrupt pieces of shit like Raven, Edison and that club of self-centered, God-complex assholes that helped Father and the Homunculi despite knowing what the consequences of their actions would be. There were too many dirty secrets to be uncovered, too many people suffering in silence because the old regimen didn't care. Too many people ended up like poor and innocent Nina, because there were too many people misusing their power and knowledge and very few that even cared.

But things were actually looking up this time. The new Führer, Old Grumman, was putting the country back in shape, and it turns out that NOT being in war against every single country you share borders with has given the Military a lot of time to set things in order (those were some very awkward peace negotiations, Mayor Armstrong getting rid of his shirt didn't help much, although the Chancellor from Aerugo seemed weirdly cooperative afterwards… Eh, to each their own).

So yeah, it's safe to say a lot has changed in the life of one Edward Elric ever since. A part of Ed wanted to just lay down and enjoy this hard winned peace in Resembool with Alphonse, Winry and Granny Pinako, but there was still so much to discover, new places to see, new people to meet and new Alchemic techniques to learn; besides, in Winry's words "There's nothing more boring than a man who stays still".

During the last two years Ed and his brother Alphonse had traveled in different directions (using the money Ed had saved during his tenure as the Fullmetal Alchemist, because he didn't want to be a Military Dog a second longer than was strictly necessary), Alphonse headed East towards Xing with Jerso and Zampano (who still wished to return to their human bodies, which Ed could understand, superpowers were nice and all, but having your DNA mixed with animals without your consent wasn't worth it) to learn Alkahestry with Mei Chang (for which Ed and Winry teased him relentlessly, as it was their sacred duty), while Ed went West towards Aerugo, Drachma and Creta (it was nice to see that the people of Milos were doing good, and that Julia was now fully adapted to her automail leg), even taking some of his time to help Sheska to restore the Alchemy section of the new and improved National Central Library and, surprisingly finding a LOT of old pictures (like photography-was-just-invented old) of Hohenheim in many books on both History and Alchemy.

They had researched and discovered a lot, a bit of specialized Alchemy here (turns out Water Alchemy has a lot of influence from Xing's Alkahestry), a little of Bio-Alchemy there (there were able to meet the Tringham brothers and cash the favor for not handing them over to the State for impersonating a State Alchemist, so… Plant Alchemy!) and a pinch of Chimera Theory in the middle (still no luck with turning people back to normal but it was useful to help the State to regulate that particular branch of Alchemy more efficiently, Al writes that the Chimera Duo are starting to make peace with the idea).

And that's how Ed finds himself where he is, driving a horse-pulled wagon in the middle of the desert waiting for his brother and his group to arrive because he wanted to study the ruins and he's never been able to say no to Al (except on having cats, that's a hill he can die on happily). He's wearing a beige hooded overcoat with a white shirt and beige pants and sturdy brown boots, because Truth knows that no matter how awesome black leather and red trench coats are, nothing is worth losing half of the water in your body just by existing there. Last time he came here he almost lost the skin on his stumps. The smell of his roasted skin still lingers in his mind. He smelled delicious, go figure. His golden hair was arranged on its traditional braid and on his left wrist he bore a thick looking steel bracelet with Al's Blood Seal engraved on it.

He's pretty excited about the reunion, he hasn't seen Alphonse since Little Win's birthday in Rush Valley six months ago. Winnie, or little Win was Dominic LeCoulte's granddaughter, and they were, naturally, invited (Winry is the godmother, which is only proper, when you get trapped in your house during a storm and a honest-to-Truth 16 year old steps up and helps you give birth with zero experience to her name, that's just common courtesy). Being in peace is great and all, but if there's one thing Ed misses it is traveling with his brother. That's something he envies Al for: The company. He gets to travel with Zampano, Jerso and Mei while he mostly goes around on his own. He exchanges letters every other week, but it's not the same. He has missed Al. He has missed Winry. And speaking of…

- You know, you didn't really need to come with me. - He said.

- Maybe so, but I wanted to come. Besides, look around you. You are in the middle of nowhere. What would you do if your automails fail or if you get them broken? You might be a great Alchemist but you know nothing about it. Will you crawl all the way to Ishval?- Replied the person at his left.

Winry has chosen to join him in this journey. She claimed that it was because she didn't get to travel much anymore (despite dividing her time between Rush Valley and Resembool) or that she knew that he would find new and stupid ways to break his automail (which… is fair, but still), but he knew the truth. She had missed him as much as he had missed her, and ever since they formalized their relationship last year she had become a bit clingy (he wasn't complaining, just stating a fact) and had done everything in their power to delay his departure. So when Al's letter came in saying that he wanted to meet in a place without a single automail engineer in a 30-mile radio, she jumped in. Right now she was wearing a white button shirt with a baby blue tank top underneath, brown cargo shorts that reached her knees and well worn beige boots. She wore a large-brim sun hat to protect her pale skin from the sun, her blonde hair was up in a simple ponytail with two bangs framing her face, and her ears were adorned with four piercings each.

- Ok I get it, you wanted to make sure I had that base covered, but why did you bring the whole workshop with you? Did you even leave poor Garfield something to work with? - Asked Ed.

It wasn't a joke, the whole back of the wagon was filled to the brim with so many refactions, screws, tools, cables, bottles of oil, plates of stainless steel, monel, cuproaluminium, carbon fiber and and even fiberglass that there was barely no room for the occupants themselves.

- Why are you complaining so much? - She asked in response, making a little pout, her lower lip trembling a little and her big blue eyes becoming even wider. - Don't you want me here with you? -

- Nononono Winry, i-tt's nn-o, its n-not-thinglike that,I-I Ijust, well, you… - He started to blush and stumble over his own words, but he stopped when we realized how her frame shook lightly with barely contained laughter and narrowed his eyes -Ah, so messing with me is funny now, eh?-

Winry put her laughter under control before answering: -It has always been. But seriously, don't act like you didn't want me to come here, It's been a while since we had time for ourselves.-

- Yeah, but it involved having to reach Ishval by train meant having to meet with him again. -

And both of them knew who he was talking about. Winry caught up quickly and her face took an expression… he wouldn't call it grim, more like… melancholic. She rested her head on the crook of Ed's neck and stared at the desert in front of them for a moment, then she took a deep breath, sighed and said:

- Scar and I will never be friends, but we can and will be cordial to each other. Besides, no matter what, he was my parents' last patient. It has to mean something. I have let it go, Ed, and you should do the same. Everyone at Ishval back then did things they regret; Major Armstrong, Miss Riza, General Mustang… Even Hughes. - She told Ed, and damn, she was right.

He didn't know how she did it. Sure, Scar had changed his ways and was fully devoted to restoring Ishval and make up for his past mistakes (i.e. his State Alchemists killing spree) and Miles was there with them at all moments (General Olivier wasn't about to let him roam unsupervised just like that), but to be able to be in the same room with the man that killed your parents like that… If there's one thing that Ed has always admired about Winry is her strength of spirit. Ed wasn't able to just forgive and forget like that. Yuri Rockbell was the closest he had to a father when he was little, and Aunt Sara was Mom's best friend. He couldn't let go just like that. Even after all these years he still didn't fully forgive Hohenheim…

- Okay, time to change topic.- he thought.

- Sooo… do you think Al finally manned-up and made Mei an honest woman?- He asked, wiggling his eyebrows and giving Winry an impish smile.

- Pfff. Hahahaha! Oh, I sure hope so! Mei was complaining to no end about that in her last letter. Alphonse better step up his game, or Mei is gonna take matters in her own hands. - Winry laughed and he could feel the vibrations of his laughter, her hair was tickling his neck slightly. - Success. - he thought.

- Like, I get that the age gap makes it a bit weird, but, come on! They aren't in Amestris anymore, what happens in Xing stays on Xing. They've been dancing around each other so much these years so bad that even Den can see it! -

Winry turned her head a little towards Ed's face, and looked at him with half-lidded eyes, a dark blonde brow arching towards her hair line, and the beginnings of a smirk on her lips. - We don't really have legs to stand on, do we? Granny Pinako pulled out a bottle of whiskey marked as "Fucking Finally" when we told her about us. We should let them go at their own pace. -

- I know Win, I just want him to take that chance. Mei is good for him, and he deserves any good thing that comes his way. He had so much denied to him for so long… - And Ed stopped himself from going further. He was, intellectually, aware that sealing Al's soul in the armor that night was the best decision at the moment, but still…

Winry just put her hand on top of his left one and squeezed lightly, showing Ed a silent support which he valued more than he could verbalize. Then she looked forward and beamed.

- Well, it seems you'll be able to ask them soon. -

Ed gazed at her strangely, then looked at the road and, in the distance, he saw a glint of golden hair, and beamed.

*CY=Continental Year, Used in the world of Fullmetal Alchemist.

Edward Elric:

+Height: 1.68 mts - 5'5''. +Weight: 63 kg - 139 lb. +Age: 18 y.

Winry Rockbell:

+Height: 1.65 mts - 5'4''. +Weight: 57 kg - 125 lb. +Age: 18 y.