Disclaimer: I do not own Full Metal Alchemist nor the characters. Only the story and the OC Faith. That’s all.

One

It was a bright sunny morning over at Central. Slowly opening her eyes, Winry Rockbell gradually sat up from her bed, stretching and yawning silently. Blinking out the sleepiness, she looked around her decent sized bedroom, reminding herself that she is no longer living in her hometown of Resembool anymore. Finally after languidly scanning of the room, she swung her legs off the edge of the bed and walked over to her bathroom. After the usual morning ritual of brushing her teeth and washing her face, she stepped out of her bathroom and walked to her dresser. She blankly stared at her reflection of herself then her eyes caught the sight of her hairbrush. Picking it up, she ran the brush through her hair as she stared at herself. Then the corner of her eye caught sight of a picture frame. She stopped brushing her hair and put the brush down. Unhurriedly, her fingers reached for the frame and with some hesitation, she took hold of the frame and looked at the subjects in the color picture. It was herself, Edward, and Alphonse a few years earlier.

She sighed sadly. It has been 2 years since the Elrics decided to be permanent residents on the other side of the Gate. She realized truly that after the Thule Society’s attack on Central, it would be the last time she would see them. After that, she went back to Resembool but the passing of her grandma about a year later changed that. Deciding that she couldn’t live to the wishful thinking that Ed and Al would return someday, she left for Central. Once upon arrival, she considered enrolling in the military, but she decided against it. Still not feeling so keen about the military, she did the next best thing for her: open an automail shop to earn an income for herself.

After some moments consoling herself, she took out a pair of black pants and a white shirt to be dressed in for the day. After dressing, she reached for the blue hairclip she often used since before that day Ed and Al left. She pulled her hair into a bun leaving two strands of hair hanging down on either side of her face, much like Hawkeye had worn her long hair. After being satisfied with her looks, she walked out of the bedroom.

She walked downstairs towards her kitchen, heading towards the icebox. Upon opening, Winry grimaced at the sight inside. Inside she found a mostly finished carton of orange juice. She looked to her kitchen table she saw a box of doughnuts with one remaining. Might as well take my chances with these, she thought. She fixed herself a glass of juice and the last doughnut. It would sustain her appetite till she went food shopping. 8:00 a.m. on the mark, Winry was outside her small quaint house heading to the shopping district. Since her automail orders were done, she was in no rush to go to the shop to do other customers’ orders. She picked up pace towards the shopping district.

---

It had been long and boring throughout the whole train ride back to Central. Roy Mustang sat in a train car alone, apart from other few people inside. He wore his usual military brass uniform but with a closer look, the newly thick bar and stars meant that he was now a General. He sighed as he gazed out the window, looking at the scenery passing by rapidly. Absentmindedly, he dug into his pants pocket and took out his silver pocket watch. He took a glance at the time. 12: 15, he thought as he put his watch back in his pocket. He took another gaze out the window as the city began to come into view. The train ride had taken longer than he thought. Once the train pulled into the station, Roy gathered his single suitcase and walked out of the train. He glanced around at the other people leaving the station and familiar face greeted him.

He stared into the familiar brown eyes that belonged to a now Lieutenant Colonel Riza Hawkeye. At first there was an awkward silence, but that was quickly brushed aside as Riza saluting Roy, looking like the perfect military woman he came to know over the years. “Lieutenant Colonel Hawkeye reporting to accompany you to Central Headquarters, sir.”

With a bit of hesitation, Roy returned the salute. Soon after, she walked towards the car she was provided with Roy following behind. The car ride was uncomfortably silent. Riza would glance at him, probably wishing to say something. She sighed quietly, knowing the serious man beside her wouldn't be the first to speak. Sure she admires him greatly, but there would be a bit of tension between the two. Roy stared at the passing scenery, wanting to say something to Riza, but found the words were stuck at the back of his throat like glue. Ever since she took care of him after he was seriously injured a few years ago, she has been uncharacteristically hesitant. He wanted to know just what the hell was happening with her, but he felt that was a conversation for another time. Besides I just got back form the east, doing routine work, he thought. As the headquarters came into view, he breathed a silent sigh of relief, but he silently kicked himself for that. He wanted an explanation from her, but that will have to wait when the time is appropriate.

When the car came to a complete stop, Roy just opened his side door and gathered his suitcase and went up the stairs of headquarters, not even bothering to wait for Hawkeye to open the door for him, much less acknowledge him. She sighed silently as she watched him walked up the stairs briskly and disappeared inside the building. She knew what he was feeling, the reason for the tense silence. This was the first time in almost a year that they see each other. Riza just decided to park the car and get back to her duties.

As Roy walked down the hall towards his office, he hardly acknowledged the glances of the military personnel. Upon entering his office, the usual tall stacks of paperwork awaited for him on his desk. He sighed incredulously, but why was he sighing? He knew that this is to be expected. Maybe he was being oversensitive today. So he sat down and began to get started on the boring paperwork.

Throughout the long hours of working, he couldn’t concentrate at all. Sure he managed to finish two thirds of his stacks of paperwork, but his mind kept replaying unpleasant moments of the earlier years. Coincidently, being back at headquarter had unearthed old memories he had somehow managed to forget about. He had been so different back then. Now he was half blind and was forced to wear a rather large eye patch for the rest of his life. Sure, he had gotten used to wearing it, and usually it didn't bother him, but today it was like he was wearing it for the first time. Let’s not forget Riza’s odd behavior, almost being demoted to Corporal for assassinating the Fuhrer, who was actually the homunculus Pride and narrowly survives the ordeal. He slammed his pen down with frustration with an equally frustrated sigh. Knowing he couldn’t get his work done, he had given himself the rest of the day off. He’ll finish the rest tomorrow, he thought. He looked around his desk and found the piece of paper with a written name and address. It took a while for find the information, and he can’t afford to loose it. As he was stuffing it in his pocket, there came a knock at his door.

“Come in,” he said out loud.

The door pushed open and First Lieutenant Jean Havoc stepped into Roy's office. "General Mustang sir,” he said as he saluted.

“Havoc. It’s been a while.”

“Yes it has.” the blonde replied, offering a friendly smile.

A silence passed the two then Havoc spoke abruptly, "Is everything all right sir?"

“Well,” he paused for a bit. “Not exactly…”

Quickly he risked a glance at his eye patch. He shuddered slightly, remembering that Roy had come close to knocking on deaths door, but was very thankful he was still alive. “Look Roy…uhh…if you need anyone to…” he paused at his words a bit.

“It’s all right. I’ll get over this. I have to. I’m going to take the rest of the day off….Need to clear my head a bit. And there’s some business I need to take care of.” Roy said tiredly.

“All right, sir. May I be dismissed sir?”

“Yeah,” Roy said as he nodded his head.

“Thank you General Mustang,” Havoc said as he saluted.

As soon as Havoc was gone, Roy stayed seated for a while, thinking about what he was considering to do later on. Ed and Al were no longer in the military, much less in this world, and they are not coming back. Over time he had learned to accept that. Finally Roy stood up and looked outside. He really wasn't supposed to be working today, but he felt he couldn't really relax at home and he thought it'd be good to get a start on the large stacks of paperwork that always seemed to be waiting for him. After giving a few more orders to various personnel and staff, he finally left headquarters. As he was walking on the sidewalk, he pondered on what had been happening over the past few years. After he recovered from his injuries, he had considered where he stood with his relationship with Riza Hawkeye. She had been with him throughout his whole recovery, but he wasn't sure whether or not he wanted her as more than a friend or not. He didn't want to jeopardize his friendship with her that was certain. He also didn't want to hurt her, and her uncharacteristic behavior wasn't helping the case either. Sighing, he decided to try and resolve the problem later, and he pushed his worries aside.

Stopping at the end of a block, he pulled out the piece of paper with a particular written address. He read through the information and looked at his surroundings. Not too far, he thought as he continued on down the sidewalk.

---

Winry was in the middle of cleaning up her living room. Picking up her tools, screws and nuts and placing them in her toolbox. A soft music was playing throughout the room by the phonograph she had bought two weeks ago. Since purchasing it, she had used it frequently while working on automail or reading. Since purchasing it, she had used it frequently while working on automail, cleaning, cooking, and even reading. She was now dressed in a pair of overalls with a form fitting white t-shirt. She had quite a busy day ordering automail parts, wires, new screws and other necessities from Rush Valley, and before that she had gone food shopping as promised and cleaned her shop. She silently wondered what would happen next in her future. Her grandmother, Ed, Al were all gone, never to be seen again. All she really had left was her beloved dog Den, whom was sleeping in an open closet. We'll just have to see what happens, she thought to herself as she placed the last item in her toolbox. Finally finishing her chores, she sighed in relief.

Just then her stomach reminded her she hadn't eaten for quite awhile and voiced its complaint loudly. Standing she voiced, "Job's done, let's cook some dinner."

She walked to the kitchen and opened the icebox, now filled with food. She took out some meat, vegetables, and other ingredients to cook a simple meal. As she was in the middle of cooking some beef stew, she could have sworn that she heard a knock on her door. She stopped what she was doing and tried to listen again. Another short series of knocks reached her ears. Tentatively she walked towards the door, but stopped as she neared the door. Looking up the wall clock on her right, she saw it was 11 o’clock in the night.

“Who the hell could visit me at this hour,” she asked incredulously to herself. It couldn’t be Faith who was out of town at Rush Valley visiting her family. At a loss at who it could be, Winry hesitantly reached for the doorknob. Twisting it open…

…only to look into the face of the very last person she wanted to see, much less talk to …

Author Notes: Forgive me, this my VERY first time writing a fanfic. When I was chatting on AIM with my pal and beta reader, megmsoup, we saw some great FMA avatars when I stumbled across a particular avatar. I chose 'misery loves company' as my title. So thanks a bunch iconfiend100! Let me know if this is worth continuing.