Disclaimer: I do not own the FullMetal Alchemist. No, I own the Flame Alchemist, Roy Mustang. I had to settle for Roy (Sakura: Roy's settling?), seeing how FullMetal is already owned by so many others…though I really would rather own Edward over Roy…;P Just kidding, of course! (Erm, about owning Roy…I really do love Edward better than Mustang…)

Warning: Slight movie spoiler; and I'm assuming you've seen the entire series...

AN: While at Otakon this year, I met a Winry cosplayer whom, while waiting in line for the, erm, FMA panel, inspired me to write the following story! Well, the following two stories, which are based off of her! So thank you, for getting me to write my first Ed/Winry!

Harmony

"Motherland"

The sun had set some hours ago, long hours ago, and everyone was asleep, except Winry, who had started to love the night. Sunny days were the worst, and they'd been having so many of them the past few weeks. It really wasn't fair, Winry thought as she made her way over to her closet. She hadn't been able to enjoy a sunny day since Alphonse came back without Edward.

That had been a rainy day, the day they got the knock on the door and found Rose and Alphonse on their doorstep, soaked but smiling. Of course, the first thing out of Winry's mouth had been, "Where's Edward?" and she had tactlessly brandished her wrench in mock-anger. But when their eyes dropped to the floor and both refused to answer…Winry shook her head, refusing to remember the hurt she had felt, the pain and anguish inside her heart when Alphonse whispered, "We…we don't know. He's…gone."

For Edward wasn't gone, she thought fiercely. He would return, he had to return, he had to come home…

And, until then, she had him anyway, hidden in the back of her closet.

In the dead of night, in the dark, Winry pulled a red coat off the hanger way in the back of her closet, and wrapped it tightly around her shoulders. On the back was emblazoned the snake twisted around a cross, the wings looking like little crowns flanking each side of the cross. Winry sighed, and buried her nose in the coat, breathing deeply, eyes closed as she did so. The coat still…smelled like him, warm as sunrays, a comforting, distinctly male, musky scent, with just the faintest sour tinge of metal lingering within it. If she imagined hard enough, it was as though Edward were there inside the coat, as though he were wrapping his arms around her; instead of the empty sleeves embracing her neck, there were two strong lean arms holding her to his heart.

She remained there for a moment, standing in the middle of her room with the coat wrapped around her, reminiscing about Edward, about days past, and what the engraving in the pocket watch meant…

He…hadn't meant to ever come back; that's why they burned their house down. And yet they had, after four years of nothing; they showed up damaged, broken, and the only one who could fix them was the family they had left behind, whom they intended never to see again…

It was then that Winry had taken the coat from Edward. Unsure if she would ever see him again, especially after she'd seen inside his watch (Don't forget 3.Oct.10- didn't that really mean I can't turn back?), she went through his trunk and took the coat. Back then, it was heavy with Ed's presence, even as it hung in the back of the closet, his form like a ghost filled it out, infused it with a distinctly Edward aura.

And now, the ghost was beginning to fade, even while the scent remained and Winry hugged what was left of Edward to her chest, unwilling to let him go. Because he wasn't gone, dammit, and she knew it, because her heart did not lie.

In the dead of night, her door creaked open behind her and a voice whispered, "Winry?"

She spun around, the red sleeves still hanging around her neck like deflated snakes. "Al? What are you doing up?"

Al rubbed his eye with his hand. "I…couldn't sleep…Winry, why are you still up?"

She blushed and pulled the coat off. "…couldn't get to sleep either," she said.

"Oh." The young boy stepped inside the room and turned the light on. They winced at each other as the light flooded the room, but soon became accustomed to it. Al crossed the room and sat down on Winry's bed. She joined him, the red coat limp in her hands. The illusion of Edward had vanished.

They sat together in silence for a moment, neither looking at each other but lost in their thoughts. Finally, Alphonse spoke.

"Winry, what's that coat?" he asked.

"It was…it's Edward's coat…He must have left it here the last time he was here." As though he were on a business trip, as though Al could remember the last time.

"…It's frustrating," Al muttered after a minute. "I can't remember a thing from those four years. It's as though I never even lived them, as though they never existed. And yet they must have; you're five years older than me, when before I was only a year behind you and Ed. And that coat, which Ed wore…all evidence that I missed something. But all I know is that I miss Brother, maybe even more so because I can't remember those four years and…"

Winry clenched her fist around the cloth. "The day you both left for Central, you burned your house down. I think…I think that's when Ed started to wear this. This, and a black shirt, black pants, and…and when he became a State Alchemist, the pocket watch. I don't know why he started to wear this, but it almost became like a…uniform, or something. He looked…really brave, red and black and that golden hair…" Winry smiled to herself, not even sure what she was saying.

"Winry, you wouldn't happen to have a picture of Brother, would you?" Winry glanced up and noticed the smile on Al's face. It was so much like Edward…

XXX

"Goodbye Granny! Bye, Winry!" Al called, waving as he walked down the path away from their house. He was dressed like Edward, only his hair was pulled back.

"But Ed always wore his hair in a braid," Winry had told him as he slipped the red coat on.

Al had smiled. "I know," he said. "But I've had dreams, Winry. I know Brother is alive, somewhere very far away, and he's wearing his hair up like this. So, I figured I would too! Besides, it's much more practical, don't you think?"

Watching Alphonse walk away, the spitting image of his older brother, broke her heart again. But as Winry waved farewell to Al, she couldn't help but smile. The red sleeve of Edward's coat reached just below her elbow, and the fraying threads at the cuff swayed in the breeze.

"Wear it for Edward," Al had whispered before he'd left, pushing the coat into her open hands. "I don't think it'll fit him anymore, anyway, so you may as well wear it for him."

Winry smiled to herself as the dot that was Alphonse disappeared over a distant hill. Taller, and with his hair back, huh? And yet she could not help but picture him in his red coat…

So she wrapped the coat around her, hugging the warmth the memory brought, and prepared to wait again, for Edward to return, and perhaps a larger coat to steal.

End

Wow! I wrote het! I think…anyway, Ed/Win is a very cute couple, imo, because Winry can be so cute sometimes, and Ed can be so sensitive sometimes and…and I need to go to sleep now…ugh. But anywho! Hope everyone enjoyed!