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Chapter 3

By: Haiku Amarante (and you will not be seeing another disclaimer after this one, because it should be obvious that I do not own Full Metal Alchemist!)

3 weeks later...

Ed laughed. "You can be so dramatic sometimes..." he said, as if Winry was there in the room with him. 'I hope you're OK,' he added as an afterthought. He'd been worried ever since Mustang had told him that she might be in danger. He had just realized how important she was to him. If she died, he didn't know what he would do after he and Al found the Philosopher's Stone. Ever since she'd talked about a family... 'Well, that won't happen in a long time,' he assured himself, 'Right?'

"Brother?" Al opened the door as quietly as he could. Ed looked at him and thought of Winry again. Considering what he'd done to his little brother, could he really trust himself with Winry, or even...a child? "Brother, what's wrong?"

"Nothing you wanna hear about, Al," Ed sighed.

"I know our last lead was a bust, but when are we going to leave here?"

"Soon...but I think I want to go back to Risemboul first."

"THEY'RE COMING BACK!" Winry screamed, hanging up the phone and running down the stairs to the workshop, where Pinako was hammering away at some new automail. "HE'S COMING BACK-"

"I heard you the first time, Winry," Pinako said, smiling, "That scream could've waked the dead."

"Sorry," Winry leaned against the wall, catching her breath, "I'm just really excited...see, I told you he would come back soon!"

"I guess I shouldn't have doubted him," Pinako said, "He did seem pretty scared when I gave him that talk..."

"You gave him a talk?" Winry said, her eyes wide.

"Yes..." Pinako glared in a calm but terrifying way, "You couldn't expect me to just let him go without getting a piece of my mind..."

"Uh...thanks, I guess," Winry said, biting her lip, "Well, they'll be here in a couple of days, so I'm going to go get some food..." She turned and walked out of the room and the old lady smiled sadly.

"I just hope he takes good care of you when I'm gone..."

"You know brother, I understand."

"What?" Ed said, turning from the train window to Al.

"I said I understand...about you and Winry, I mean," Al said.

Ed's eyes widened, "What!"

"I may still seem like a kid to you and everyone else, but that's not the way it really is. My mind has been growing, even if I don't have a body anymore."

Ed shook his head, smiling apologetically, "I'm really sorry, Al, it just seems...and I didn't think you'd want to know, since you can't..."

"It's alright brother," Al said quietly, "We're going to get my body back and I'll meet someone I love as much as you love Winry, I know I will."

Ed smiled, "I think so too." He stopped as the train slowed, "We're here!"

He jumped up and brushed past Al, "Come on, Al, let's go!"

"Coming..." Al said, getting up slowly.

Winry put down some grocery bags and immediately felt a pair of large, cool metal hands settle over her eyes. She smiled, already knowing exactly who it was.

"Guess who," a young voice said.

"The whole metal thing kind of gives it away," Winry said, turning around and hugging the big suit of armor, "Hey Al! I didn't think you guys were getting here this soon...I just went to go get some food."

"So I don't get a hug too?" Ed's voice said from the door. He smirked at her.

She ran towards him and jumped on him, wrapping her arms around his neck and surprising him. He put his hands on her hips and rocked back a little before steadying himself. "Winry...it's a hug, not a wrestling match."

She giggled and backed away from him, her arms still around his neck, "I missed you."

Everything was quiet for a minute while Winry kissed Ed and Al stood silently and very uncomfortably in the corner. She pulled away and they gazed at each other lovingly. Al broke the silence and Ed and Winry both blushed, as if they'd become oblivious to Al's presence. "I...uh...I'm going to go see if Pinako needs any help." He quickly ran out the door and Ed and Winry were left alone in the house.

"You're not going to need all that food," Ed said, smiling.

"Why not?" Winry asked, smiling with him.

"Because I'm taking you out to dinner somewhere nice tonight, OK? And then we can spend the night at some hotel..."

"I don't know if Granny would be OK with that," Winry said, "We're only seventeen Ed."

"Oh, come on, she'll lighten up...she trusts me, right?"

"No."

"But Granny!"

Pinako's eyes narrowed threateningly, "I don't know if a romantic getaway is the best thing to do right now...you're only seventeen."

"Granny..." Winry sighed, "We've already...you know...so why can't he just take me out? We're going automail shopping and then going out to dinner, and he wants to take me to another town, so we have to spend the night...please?'

"Is it really my choice?"

Winry just stared at her grandmother and mentor, her eyes big and watery, "Please?"

Pinako frowned more, letting out a breath, "Alright Winry...I guess you're growing up and I can't stop you, so...go ahead."

"Thank you so much!" Winry screamed, hugging the little old lady, "Love you Granny!" She immediately left the workshop and went off to tell Ed.

All eyes were turned towards the couple seated in the extremely nice restaurant in a tourist town about an hour away from Risemboul: an attractive, blonde man dressed all in black and a beautiful blonde girl in a short pink sun dress. They were seated at a round table with a silky white table cloth, and the dim light made the man's golden eyes glow.

"Mmm...this is sooo good," Winry said, taking another bite of cake, "I always knew I should go out with someone rich!"

Ed laughed, "I'm glad you like it," he said, "But that's not why you're with me, right?"

"Of course not, stupid," Winry sighed, "I love you. Forever, OK?"

"That's all I wanted to know," he answered, then sighed, staring at a lamp. Winry made an annoyed expression.

"Alright," she said, putting down her fork, "I'm happy, and you're not. What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing." Ed shrugged.

"Edward..."

"OK, it's Al," Ed confessed, "He really has grown, ya' know, and he can't...I mean, he can't have what I have with you. He can't even kiss a girl and know what it feels like, because he's not even human. I just..." he paused, looking up at her and grasping her hands.

"Now I know you're about to say something bad," she growled, "Tell me before your head has a nice reunion with my wrench."

"I just don't know if I could trust myself with you or...or a kid, if you're serious about the whole family thing...after what I did to Al..."

"You were just kids, Ed," Winry said, squeezing his hands, "And I trust you, which is what really matters, right?"

"Yeah, you're right," he said, laughing weakly, "I'm-"

"An extremely angsty young man, I know," Winry said, rolling her eyes.

He smiled happily, and his expression soon turned into a very sexy, suggestive smile. He raised one eyebrow, "Do you want to turn in for the night?" he asked.

"Sure," she said, standing up. He took her hand and they walked out of the restaurant.

Winry was shocked yet again at the beautiful, expensive hotel Ed had reserved a room at. It had marble floors, a fancy restaurant in the hotel, and a nice soft rug on the upper floors, and she would've been interested in the priceless chandeliers and humongous fireplace if she hadn't been alone at a very romantic hotel with the man of her dreams.

"The tub is so big...and they've got really nice soap...if you weren't here, I would already be in the tub," she said, looking around the room.

He sat down and yawned, "Go ahead, but I might just be asleep when you come back."

She turned towards him then walked over and straddled him. His eyes widened, "Winry, you don't have to do this," he said.

She rolled her eyes, "So you thought that you were just going to take me out to dinner and then take me to a nice hotel with - allow me to point this out - one bed, and you didn't think I was going to seduce you."

"You know you don't have to seduce me..." Ed said, smiling.

She smiled back, but in a very wicked way, "Then why aren't you kissing me?"

Ed held Winry in his arms as the morning sun crept through the curtains. He watched as her eyes fluttered open and she yawned and stretched. It was one of the happiest moments of his life to be able to actually see her wake up in his arms.

"Good, you didn't leave," she teased in mid-yawn.

"I wasn't going to take off this time," he said, "I owe it to you to stay."

She turned towards him, suddenly serious, "Do you promise that you'll stay with me forever after you've found the stone?"

"You know I will..." he said, kissing her forehead.

"Edward." She scooted up a little and glared at him, "Promise me that you'll come back to me."

"I don't know if I-" She put a finger over his lips and squeezed her eyes shut, making an expression of extreme discomfort.

"Do you know why I'm making that face?" she said, opening her eyes again. He shook his head and she continued, "Because I don't want you to ever tell me that you might die again, OK?" She paused and thought about it for a minute. "Even if there's that chance, you don't have to tell me, because I already know, and I think that you should believe that you're not going to die. Got it?"

He nodded, serious now, "Winry...do you promise me that you'll marry me when I have my arm and leg back?"

"Yes," she said, "But this brings up another thing...I love you just the way you are." She pulled his automail hand out from under the covers and kissed the palm, "I love the fact that there's a part of you that's mine."

"I'm all yours," he said simply, shaking his head and smiling.

She didn't laugh with him, "No, I mean in the physical sense...I mean, the technical sense. I mean, if you ever sleep with some other girl - which you better not - then you might have to get some flesh limbs, but with me, I like the automail."

He laughed louder this time, gazing into her eyes. She smiled a little and punched him lightly, "Stop it!" she said, "What's so funny?"

"I can't believe I'm here with you right now," Ed said, trying to stop his laughter, "It seems so weird."

"Hey, you're the one that just asked me to marry you, how weird is that?" Winry said, laughing.

"But you will?"

"I will marry you, Edward Elric. And I will be Winry Elric, and I will love you so much that you'll be the happiest man in the world, and you will regret ever laying eyes on another woman."

"I never have," Ed said, smiling.

"Aw, how sweet," she sat up, and then walked into the bathroom, baring her naked body, "I'm having a bath now, so...are you coming?"

Ed quickly followed her.