A/N - This story was written back in 2007, when the endings of the manga/anime(s)/movie(s) were not yet completed. I had imagined a scenario in which Al had managed to get his human body back and the Elric brothers led peaceful lives again in their hometown. This is only a minor detail as Al's character is only seen in the beginning, but I wanted to create the atmosphere that things had settled down and fantasized that this towel scenario helped facilitate the romantic development of Ed and Winry's relationship.

Thanks for reading!

Towel

Ed x Winry Fanfic

"Winry! Ed! Al! I need someone to help me with shopping over in Kaumafy!" Granny Pinako shouted. She stood still as she heard her own voice echo throughout the confines of the house, her small fingers tapping impatiently on the bottom of the wooden staircase railing as she stared expectantly up the stairs for a reply. Upon hearing nothing but silence, she slowly opened her mouth and was prepared to repeat her demand when she heard distinct clattering and thumping noises from above.

She blinked and paused, waiting for the sounds of doors opening. Soon enough, her patience was rewarded when three sleepy, but curious heads peeks out from their rooms to give her their attention.

"I need someone strong to help with the groceries and come with me to pick up a heavy package from Kaumafy. The weather looks a bit rough throughout the evening to tomorrow afternoon, so I want to get a move on now and get back as early as possible," the older woman continued wisely. She brought her hand up to stroke her chin and stared thoughtfully at the clock across the living room, calculating time estimates and how to lighten her travel load.

It was already a little past seven in the morning and the trip to Kaumafy would take more than a few hours to half a day, since they lived at the edge of Resembool. Given the large storm coming, the trip would last a day or two and it was highly likely they would be unable to make it back until tomorrow evening to avoid the harsh conditions. She almost regretted promising her clients on the latest automail material by the end of the month but a promise was a promise.

She glanced back up the staircase and met the half-lidded and glazed eyes of the young adult residents of her home. Placing her hands on her hips, she asked, "Any takers?"

"I'll do it, Granny." She turned her sight to the owner of the voice and saw Al, rubbing his eyes as he stood next to his yawning older brother.

Nodding her head in approval, Pinako held up her hand to indicate he had five minutes to get ready as she turned away. In response, Al turned back into his room, quickly getting dressed before running to the washroom to brush his teeth. He kept his footsteps light as he ran down the stairs to grab an apple from the kitchen before following the older woman out the door.

Once Al had volunteered, the two other remaining members retreated back into their rooms to return clumsily back into their beds. It was summer and the high humidity gathered in the house did nothing but promote a strong desire to laze away. They paid no heed to Granny Pinako's warning of the weather since neither had plans of escaping to venture out of the house that day. They both laid on their individual beds and stretched as they turned over to their sides, seeking their own comfortable position before dozing off.

Unfortunately, it wasn't long before the sunlight streamed through Winry's window and onto her bed, where it settled and highlighted her hair and face. Her eyelids fluttered open as she let go of her pillow and she let out a quiet moan as the bright light suddenly burned her retinas. She sat up and brought her hands to shield her face, covering her eyes in an attempt to relieve the annoying flashes that hindered her vision for a few seconds.

Yawning, she moved to stand up off her bed and maneuvered to the closest washroom to complete her morning rituals. After a while when she felt she looked presentable, she left her view of a vanity and walked down the hallway, subconsciously slowing her movement while passing the closed door of the latest home occupants. She shot a quick glance down at the light filtering through the bottom of the door, wondering if Ed was awake yet before resuming her way down the stairs to the kitchen to make breakfast.

When she had reached the kitchen, she allowed her thoughts to wander as her body went through the daily motions of preparing breakfast. Fetching a few ingredients out of the refrigerator, she idly remembered that she had to do an auto-mail check-up on Ed's right arm later in the afternoon. Although she was lacking a few materials to upgrade his auto-mail, she felt confident that they had enough tools to get at least a simple tune-up and fix any kinks or loose bolts to hold off until Granny and Al returned with new supplies. As she finished frying a couple of eggs and bacon, she swiftly turned off the heat switch and fetched a few plates and utensils to lay on the dining table. When she heard footsteps behind her, she kept her eyes trained on the steaming frying pan in front of her to avoid distraction.

"Good morning," she spoke, not bothering to look back. She bit her lower lip, picturing his movements as she heard him yawn and lightly scratch his stomach underneath his clothes.

"Morning Winry," the eldest Elric sibling mumbled back, eyeing the back of her head while he stepped further into the kitchen towards her. His stomach had woken him up and before he knew it, his feet had taken him to where the delicious smell of bacon originated. He inhaled deeply, unable to prevent the smile forming on his face as he caught the sight of her lithe body moving gracefully around the cabinet areas to reach for glassware. He took a moment to admire the busy girl before blinking out of his reverie and stepping forward to ask if she needed assistance. He stopped when she gestured towards the empty glassware she had just revealed, hinting for him to pour drinks. Looking around, he found that she had already finished setting up silverware and grinned, bringing the cups to the table before turning to her once again to ask what she wanted to drink.

Her grip on the spatula tightened as she finally turned to catch a sideways glimpse at him.

"We only have milk," she said, her tone nonchalant and monotone. At his immediate dismayed expression, she chuckled, "Just kidding. I'll have orange juice."

His horror quickly melted away into annoyance and he grumbled to himself as he opened the refrigerator for her request. Looking over his shoulder to give her one last glare of disapproval for her light tease, he noticed that she stood peacefully, waiting for the crackling and sizzling to stop. Her silky blond locks of hair fell gently over her sloping shoulders and down her back and his eyes greedily drank in the sight of the highlights that bounced off the crown of her head as she hummed quietly to herself. He swallowed, looking back into the ice box, flustered.

The young alchemist soon finished his pouring task and found himself reaching over to take the spatula from her hand. Winry looked at him, confusion apparent on her face as his metallic hand completely covered her own. The coolness of metal against her heated skin was welcome, and she weakly resisted the growing flush she could feel working its way up her neck and onto her face at the contact.

He grunted, uncomfortable with communicating that he wished to take care of the rest and simply stared pointedly at the dining chairs, hoping she would understand. When he felt her loosen her hold on the spatula, he readily replaced her hands on the handle. She followed his line of vision towards the table and questioned out loud, "Uh, Ed? What-"

"It's heavy," he muttered. Ignoring her protest, he nudged her towards the table's direction. She rolled her eyes, internally retorting that she had worked with heavy automail machinery practically all her life and that a frying pan weighed nothing in comparison to his armor that she disassembled so frequently. She was about to voice her thoughts out loud when she noticed a slight tinge of red on his face and abruptly decided against it. A smile formed on her lips as she instead said thanks and saw the color bloom more vividly on his face.

He fetched the frying pan from the stove and carefully began separating the fried eggs and bacon onto the two plates. When he saw that she had seated, he placed the pan into the sink and went to join her at the table with the plates.

"You didn't have to do that, but thanks," Winry smiled as she spoke. He gave a curt nod. She picked up her fork and stabbed her eggs first, pretending not to notice the embarrassed scowl on Ed's face as he focused on inhaling his food. She hesitated, taking a few slow bites of her breakfast before deciding to bring up light conversation. She drank a few sips of orange juice and cleared her throat.

To her surprise, Ed beat her to it. With a satisfied burp, he asked, "So do you have anything to do today?"

She looked up, her cerulean eyes meeting his amber eyes directly for a second before looking at her utensils.

"I'm going to do a quick check up on your auto-mail today," she informed. Granny Pinako had been putting off the check up in the past two days to allow the boys time to rest from their hectic schedules at Central and today seemed like the perfect time to take care of his maintenance.

"I don't have anything wrong with my automail though," Ed frowned. He raised his mechanical arm and leg before stretching them and found no aches or weird kinks. They seemed to be working just fine and he was not looking forward to sitting still on such a hot day. He wanted to argue that the check up was unnecessary but an image of Winry threateningly waving her wrench suddenly appeared and he had to shake his head to get rid of the scary picture. He would have to endure it, it seemed.

They chatted for a bit longer before the meal was done and Winry began to do the dishes as Ed helped dry them. After they were done, they both parted into different directions. Ed went back to his room to change out of his pajamas as Winry went to change into her mechanic outfit and gather her tools. They both met in the living room, where Ed sat on a sturdy wooden chair, trying to fight the impending boredom he already felt and Winry settled down her toolbox on the floor next to him and sat on a bench in front of him. He lifted his arm out to her, staying silent as her fingertips began to tap lightly on the plates and bolts of his metal arm.

"Do you need to remove my arm or leg?" He asked, uneasily watching her body lean in to closer inspect his limbs. After she shook her head, he looked away, trying to find something in the room to concentrate on while she tinkered with his arm. When his eyes found nothing interesting, he sighed, feeling restless as he became more aware of heat beating down on his back from the window on the back wall. He really hoped this maintenance check didn't take too long.

His eyes wandered once more, and they finally landed on the mechanic in front of him. Her head was bowed as she stared intently at his leg, and before he could stop himself, his eyes trailed south into dangerous territory. Immediately he gulped, his gaze transfixed on the tube-top she had changed into as part of her working clothes. Her entire upper torso was bare except for that scrap of black fabric tightly wound against her and he briefly noted her flat stomach and nicely toned muscles as she shifted her body's angle to locate a screwdriver on the table next to her. Was it just him or did her cleavage get deeper?

'Stop it, stop it, stop it! She'd kill you if she knew what you were thinking,' he thought to himself, frightened at the direction of his thoughts. His eyes shot back up to her face and he stared as she bit her lower lip in concentration. It was quiet in the house except for the occasional sounds of metal clinking and Ed's racing heartbeat. He felt mortified and disgusted with himself. She was his best friend, for goodness' sake. He glared up at the ceiling, his right eye twitching as he mentally prayed for the check-up to be done and over with.

Has she always had such a curvaceous body? His left fist clenched and he swallowed uncomfortably. Did her other male clients notice her developments as well?

His thoughts were soon interrupted when he felt her movements stop. He glanced over to see her lay down the screwdriver only to pick up a large wrench.

His eyes widened and his back straightened up in the chair, suddenly cautious and wary at the perceived threat. It was a good thing she couldn't read minds. Does she not know what she's doing to me?

Trying to block his thoughts, Ed managed to look up, only to stop at her lips. Her light pink tongue darted out for a flash of a second to lick her lips, moistening them. Her lips looked remarkably plump and cute, her bottom lip tinted red from being bitten. They looked so incredibly soft and he wondered how her lips would feel against his own feverish skin and - he had to stop. The young alchemist blinked, disturbed at the onslaught of Winry-oriented thoughts he had. Winry is my best friend, he reminded himself. Stop thinking such lewd thoughts. He looked away and frowned, knowing she would feel so disgusted if she had even an inkling of an idea of what he was thinking.

He squirmed in his seat, anxious as he could feel his trousers getting tight. His fidgeting drew the attention of his mechanic and she looked at his agitated face before asking, "Are you okay?"

He nodded, feeling a bit on the edge.

She sighed. She knew he was an impatient person, but quality work demanded careful attention. Sunlight from the window behind Ed landed on his shining metal shoulder plate and reflected into Winry's eyes, cause her to wince. For the second time today, the sun decided to harass her and she huffed after her eyes readjusted from the glare. Without warning, she got up and leaned over Ed to close the window curtains behind him in one fluid sweep before sitting back down.

In surprise, Ed yelped, his own vision compromised when he suddenly found himself extremely close of Winry's chest. Her breasts were right in front of him for a flash second. 'What the-,' his mind screamed as his tense body froze.

"Sorry if I scared you. I didn't realize the sun was so overbearing. It's already hot as it is without sun shining on you," Winry said, her tone apologetic as she turned to face him to reach forward to work on his arm again. With cheeks burning red, Ed grumbled a quick thanks in reply, unable to think coherently against his inner turmoil. The burning sensation on his back had lessened and was beginning to cool and he closed his eyes in an effort to relax. When he opened his eyes again, he caught sight of her smile. It looked out of place in the room of unbearable and increasing heat.

"What are you smiling about?" He asked, unable to quell the nagging suspicion that she was seducing him on purpose. She looked up to meet his eyes and her eyebrows wrinkled at his tone.

"Your arm's almost done. There doesn't seem to be any wires that require fixing or loose bolts and your arm's in great condition, for once," She added. It always worried her sick to see Ed come back to Resembool in terrible shape and her masterpiece continuously destroyed beyond belief by his reckless behavior. It meant that her work wasn't strong enough to protect him and she had indirectly failed in supporting him on his quest for the Philosopher's Stone. He would tell her otherwise, but she knew deep down that her work would always need improvement. That drive to do better gave her the motivation to head down to Rush Valley every month to pick up the latest tricks and techniques and she always came back armed with new knowledge.

She now could do faster and more efficient tune-ups and she couldn't fight the proud smile on her face at her craftsmanship. Ed's arm was in great condition considering his last episode of brutal fighting nearly dismantled the entire mechanical limb.

"Okay Ed, it's done. It seems to be working perfectly fine. We'll do a check-up on your leg tomorrow when the new supplies arrive," The mechanic sighed happily as she looked upon her finished masterpiece in awe. She sat in silence and waited for him to test out if anything was amiss but when he didn't move, her smile began to fade. In confusion, she turned to meet his face and noticed the small alchemist's face. It was beet red.

"Ed?" She asked worriedly.

"Uh, Win, is there anything cold to drink? It's too hot," Ed replied quickly. He fanned himself with his hand to emphasize his complaint. She looked at him oddly before nodding, "Yeah, sure. I'll go check."

She put down her tools and removed her gloves before wiping away the sweat that began to form on her brow. She hated how suffocating the humid air felt before a storm. Once she gathered all her tools back into her toolbox, she grabbed the handle and gave Ed one last sympathetic look before leaving the room.

Immediately Ed's shoulders slumped and his posture relaxed. He let out a long sigh of relief.

'Smooth. You covered up real smooth, Ed you idiot,' He closed his eyes, and began to think of random things. Eventually the situation in his pants took several long minutes to rid itself. He felt exhausted, annoyed his body had betrayed him. Usually his check ups with Winry weren't that...uncomfortable, in his opinion. He was able to restrain himself and usually Al was within the vicinity to keep him company with banter over their latest findings on the Philosopher's Stone. Now that he thought about it, back then, his focus had always been about his quest. There had never been time to allow himself to entertain thoughts about his best friend.

He wouldn't admit it outright, but he knew he liked Winry in more than a platonic way. Hell, he often had inappropriate dreams about her as he fantasized life after getting his brother's body back. As if in a trance, he slowly stood up to shake out his joints and subconsciously began walking towards the kitchen for a much needed drink.

He was just a few steps away from his destination when he saw her picking up two glasses of yellow beverage. He moved forward to help her when she spun around and his eyes widened at his sudden realization that she would knock into him.

"Hey, is lemonade alright-Omph?!" Winry stopped as she crashed into Ed. The collision sent the liquid in both glasses flying into the air and landing directly all over Winry.

"Eep! Cold, Cold, Cold! Ed!" Winry screamed in horror. Reflex kicking in, Ed scrambled to catch the slippery glassware and both sighed in relief as nothing was broken. She turn to him only to find that he was unmistakably staring at her wet tube top. Flustered, her hand automatically reached for the wrench in her back pocket when Ed had snapped out of his daze and realized his error.

"Huh? Oh! Sorry! I didn't mean to do that. I swear, Winry. Stop reaching for that wrench. I'm really sorry. Win- OW!"

Ignoring his pleas for forgiveness, she glared, pointing and shaking the wrench at him.

"Look what you did! Would it kill you to say something before you sneak up on me?" She frowned, staring down at her ruined top as her wet bangs continued to drip. She promptly left Ed and rushed to the shower, eager to wash away the sticky residue. Frowning after her, Ed looked over the kitchen area he had to clean as he nursed his head injury. Today just wasn't the best of days.

Looking outside the nearby window, Ed could see ominous dark clouds roaming above. The area around the house was very quiet and still, and the humid air was stifling. It soon worried him that Al and Granny weren't back yet. He remembered Granny said that they would be out of town heading over to Kaumafy, but with a storm coming, it was hard to say when they would return. He gave himself a minute to worry but then shrugged, trusting Al would take care of Granny should any complications arrive.

As quickly as he could, he cleaned up the kitchen mess and began looking for emergency supplies. The storm was steadily heading in their direction from the hills and it would be nightfall soon. He had more pressing matters to worry about than his fantasy boundaries of Winry.

It was half an hour later when Winry finished her shower for the evening. She was in a much more relaxed and calm state of mind as she stepped out of the shower, humming to herself until she noticed two things.

For one, in her hasty sprint to the shower, she had forgotten her clothes.

And two, she only had a bath towel.

She stood there silently, facing the closed bathroom door as her options began scrambling through her head. She took the white towel and tied it around her. She leaned forward, her forehead resting against the smooth wood as she closed her eyes to think.

Her choices were to either ask Ed to come fetch her clothes or to risk her modesty for a few seconds and dash towards her room. Looking down at her bare toes, she decided on the latter. It would be embarrassing to ask him to go through her clothes and underwear drawer and he would never let her live it down. She doubted that Ed would be out in the hallways as she rushed to her room. He had been down in the kitchen when she last saw him, and it was unlikely he would be chilling upstairs where the air in the house was warmer. Plus, going to her room would be less than five seconds. What were the chances?

Taking a deep breath, she turned the knob and sprinted out as fast as she could wrapped in a towel.

Meanwhile, Ed had began looking for flashlights and functional batteries. So far it seemed to be a fruitless search. The storm was now directly overhead and bright sun from earlier had been replaced completely with gloomy clouds. He had gone ahead and closed all the windows in the house, prepared for the onslaught of rain and strong winds he knew the house would endure. Immediately after closing the last open window upstairs, he walked out of the room and began his search for batteries and flashlights.

'Hm, where could they be?' Ed glanced at the wooden planks on the floor as he roamed into the upstairs hallway. No sooner had he thought that when his attention turned to the hurried footsteps coming towards his direction.

"Winry?!" Ed frowned right before Winry crashed into him. His eyes caught hers as she looked up. A look of horror flashed through her eyes, registering who the voice belonged to. The two fell towards the ground, with Ed cushioning the fall with his arms tightly gripped around Winry's waist during impact. With the wind knocked out of both of them, the two took a moment to catch their breath but before any of the two could orient themselves, the lights above them suddenly flickered and died out.

Silence and darkness surrounded the two extremely confused-struck teens still on the hallway floor. Winry lay still, frozen in place as her eyes tried to adjust to the pitch black. With no windows or lighting around them, the two awkwardly groped around, trying to regain their bearings.

"...Ow..Holy shit, Winry, did you tackle me on purpose?" Ed irritably muttered beneath her.

Winry responded sarcastically, desperately trying to hide the mortification she felt in her situation, "Yeah. I've been practicing every day."

"Funny. The lights gave out,"Ed commented, purposely ignoring Winry. He tried to shift and rise, but her weight efficiently pinned him down. Trying to lift her, he blindly felt for something and gave it a tug.

"What-" Winry gasped in shock as she felt her towel untangle itself and fall from her body, landing onto Ed's torso.

'Oh, my god,' she screamed in her mind. Awkwardly, she lifted herself off of him and sat up, quickly grasping at the towel to rebound it around her body before the lights came back on. Although it was pitch black all around, she instinctively turned away from Ed as she fumbled with the towel.

Ed rose as he felt her weight disappear. He tried to adjust his vision to the darkness and just then, lightning flared beyond the window into the hallway. He heard Winry gasp and he turned only to get a glimpse of a hunched figure he could only assume to be Winry.

Taking the wrong conclusion, he frowned and blindly reached out to her. When his fingers met her skin, he patted the area in hopes of soothing her.

"It's okay, Winry. You don't have to be scared. C'mon. Lets go look for some flashlights," Ed calmly said as he stood up, helped her up to her feet, and began leading her down the hallway, blindly feeling the walls for support.

With Ed clutching her arm like that, Winry had only one free arm to grip the towel in front of her, hoping for dear life that Ed didn't realize that she was practically naked behind him.

"Uh, Ed?" She mustered up quietly.

"Yeah? What is it?" Ed whispered, focusing on not bumping into a foreign object with every step he took.

"Uh...I need to feel my way back to my room.." She meekly stated, hoping against all odds he would not question her further.

"Why? I think we're close to the kitchen.." His assumptions were correct as his hands landed upon the stair railings.

"I need to get something," she replied, feeling panic when she felt him continue to tug her in his direction.

"Is it a flashlight?" He asked.

"No," She huffed, frustrated at his lack of understanding. 'Honestly, this guy..'

"Then you can go get it after we find flashlights. No point looking for stuff in the dark," he replied gruffly, unaware of her growing anxiety. He heard her sigh in response but gave it no further thought as he cautiously lowered his foot down onto the first step below and told Winry to carefully do the same, one at a time.

The two eventually made it down to the ground level floor when Winry spoke up again,"Ed, could you, uh, let go of my arm for a second?"

Fortunately, it took but only a moment for Ed to remember that he was still gripping onto her arm.

"Huh? Oh…Yeah, sorry," he said apologetically.

"It's okay. I just need to do something. Give me a sec," she muttered, still quite uncomfortable with her state of undress.

Taking advantage of her arm freed, Winry swiftly tied the towel back into place and sighed. She was, in a way, glad for the blackout. At least some of her modesty could be preserved. A moment later, her mouth opened to speak again.

"Ed?" she mumbled, unsure.

"Yeah?" He tilted his head towards her voice as he waited for her to continue.

"Could you...hold my hand again?" She lowered her head as her hand reached forward for him and stopped when she felt him, her touch unsure. Ed nodded but when he realized she couldn't see his affirmation, he covered her hand with his own gingerly and replied quietly, "...Sure."

Soon after, they had reached the kitchen. Winry felt for a chair and sat down, muted in the darkness. Ed was cursing at the cabinets, determined on finding flashlights. The night had turned cold, a sharp contrast to the hot scorching afternoon they had endured earlier.

"Damn it! Winry, where do you guys keep the flashlights? Or candles?" He asked, annoyed.

"I'm not sure...its usually Granny that organizes where things go. Last I saw them they were in those drawers you're feeling. Can't you just transmute something?" She wondered out loud.

"Oh. Win, I'll need to destroy something to make a flashlight. And I'm sure you're pretty fond of that wrench...though I'm not.." He chuckled at the thought.

"Don't. Even. Think. About. It," Winry whispered, her tone void of any trace of amusement. Ed swallowed quite uneasily at the chills he suddenly felt.

'He wouldn't.' Her eyes narrowed into slits as she tried her best to glare at him in the distance between the two, hoping to emphasis her point.

And she was right. He could feel her glaring daggers from where she was sitting.

"Alright, alright-" He relented, his hands out in front of him in a defensive gesture.

Suddenly lightning flashed, soon followed with a huge roar above the Rockbell house. From her chair, Winry sat up suddenly and felt the vibrations of the after-shock trembling through her body. She couldn't help but gasp in fear.

"..Ed..I'm kind of scared..." Winry involuntarily shivered. Her plea was lost as it faded against the pounding of rain outside.

"Damn it. I've searched the entire kitchen and there isn't a single flashlight or candle. Winry, I'm going to go check in the living room, inside the tool cabinets. Can you sit here by yourself for a moment?" Ed said carefully, trying not to provoke her. He couldn't figure out why, but he could hear teeth clattering from Winry's direction.

'NO!' she thought, wide-eyed at the notion of being left alone. Frantically, she got up and felt around her in the dark, determined and stubbornly relying on pure memory of her kitchen layout to find her way to him.

After a few seconds, Ed felt a tug on his shirt from behind him.

"Winry?" he asked, alert at her silence.

"I'll be right behind you," She whispered, craving his presence to calm her state of mind.

"…You sure?" He asked.

"Yeah. Just don't leave me. By myself," She answered shyly.

Saying no more, Winry simply hoped that Ed would understand. With a shade of pink on her cheeks, she bowed her head and continued after Ed's lead, slightly shivering from the lack of clothing.

When they reached the living room, Ed began feeling around the cabinets against the wall. Before long, he took notice of how silent the entire house had gotten.

"Win..? Hey Winry?" Ed asked in the dark. His eyes grew alarmingly wide when no reply came back.

"Winry?" He tried again, confused at the lack of movement and noise around him. He closed his eyes, trying to focus on his surroundings.

'Wasn't she just next to me? Did she wander away somewhere? What if something happened to her?' Ed silently cursed at himself. His mind was muddled with worried thoughts. He let out a frustrated grunt. The lack of sight was a hindrance to his search. 'It's all my fault. Why didn't I looked harder for the flashlights while Winry was in the shower-' Ed froze, a dawning look of realization hitting him.

'...She was wearing only a towel when she bumped into me..' He stared hard at the darkness in front of him, his mind registering the situation in disbelief. 'Why would she do that?' He thought she had been more of a modest girl than that. He quickly shook his head. He had more important things to think about. 'Was she alright?' He took a step forward and cursed, suddenly feeling acute pain from his right knee as it had hit a corner of hard wooden furniture. He clenched his hands into fists, angry at himself for feeling both uselessness and foolishness.

He heard a slight rustling noise in the room and immediately looked in that direction before asking outloud, "Winry?"

"Ah-choo!" Winry sneezed, despite her urge to reply back with a "yes". He sighed at her response, feeling a bit calmer.

"Winry, where are you?" He reached his arms out to feel for the objects in front of and around him and felt a wall to his right. He could guess his location from that brief unfortunate accident.

"Ed? Sorry, I kind of dozed off...I think I'm on the middle couch," She rubbed the sleepiness from her eyes, adjusting better to the seemingly pitch black setting in the room.

"Oh." As soon as she said that, Ed felt his way around as quickly as he could to the couch, learning his lesson and being mindful of any sharp furniture.

He gulped. He couldn't imagine how cold she was only wrapped in a towel.

"Winry..." He said as he reached her and wrapped his arms around her. Her skin felt smooth, yet chilled, as he had suspected.

Surprised by his bold touch, Winry's eyes widened and once again for the third time of the night, a huge blush crept to her cheeks.

"Ed?" She asked, confused.

'What is going on?' Winry's heart nearly stopped beating as she felt Ed's arms slid down from her shoulders and snaked around her waist, pulling her closer to him. Alarm bells were ringing in her head as she felt her head fit nicely against the crook of his neck and shoulders. She stiffened, nervous at their sudden intimate position. Was she still dreaming? His hard and muscular chest was hard to replicate so realistically in her mind, but she decided she would think about that later. She was finding it harder to resist the urge to relax completely against him, drawn in by his comforting warmth and the hint of pine woods scent as it enveloped her senses. After a few long seconds, her tensed body gave in and she sighed, snuggling into him, and her eyes began to close.

"Winry, you're freezing," Ed noted, the concern strong in his voice. His fingers brushed against the thin towel material, and wondered if she would accept his equally thin wife-beater shirt.

'Why didn't I realize sooner?!' Ed mentally slapped himself. Worriedly, he hugged her tighter to his chest, knowing that body heat would help her. After a moment, Winry chuckled, interrupted his seriousness.

"Not anymore...You know….you'd make a nice teddy bear. Cuddly, warm, and small enough to hug," Winry giggled lightly. Immediately, Ed grew rigid and his grip around her loosened.

"...Small?!" Winry blinked slowly, only to smile as she apologized.

"Oops. Sorry...you're just so warm..got carried away..." she mumbled sleepily.

Ed could feel the flush warming his face. He muttered, "Stop talking and sleep then."

He felt her head slightly nod in response to his command and he gave a slight smile at her.

He felt Winry's body shift a bit on his lap and her hands rested comfortably onto his chest. He thought of sleeping too, but decided against it. He was still pretty stubbornly set on finding those flashlights. He decided he would wait a few moments for her to fall into sleep before he adjusted her position to lay her onto the couch pillows.

"Winry..." He whispered out loud to no one in particular. He wanted to get up and search again, but as the minutes ticked, he felt it was harder to convince himself to move. He took a deep breath and sighed. He could tell Winry was already asleep, since her even breathing was slow compared to his fast-paced heartbeat. He could even imagine her in the dark with a peaceful face…softly resting against him...with nothing but a towel on...

He twitched at the last phrase. 'Stupid hormones.' He thought, annoyed.

"..Mmm...love you.." a content hushed whisper in the dark.

Ed jolted, unsure if he heard the words correct. His heart beats grew louder in his ears, deafening in the silence as he strained to hear more. When he didn't, he sighed and thought amused, '….She's probably sleep talking. But...Ah, what the hell.'

"...I love you too, Winry." He said quietly, finding comfort in the darkness for the first time that evening.

'She probably can't hear me...' He thought, feeling both a little sad and yet, relieved. He also felt a bit unnerved, as if he was missing something. His confession felt hollow to his ears, being so one-sided. He entertained the thought of kissing her, but hesitated, his mind already considering the likely chance she would rebuke him for such forward actions.

The young alchemist grumbled and argued with himself, his handsome features scrunching up in irritation from his inner turmoil. He gently maneuvered her so that her head was gently resting on his left arm, comfortably away from his cold right shoulder mail. In response, she sighed, her breath tickled his neck and causing him to shudder. Without thinking, he carefully brought his hand up to her chin and cupped her cheek, moving his thumb slowly down to her lips, where he then lowered his head and dipped forward. Gently, he pressed his lips to hers and to his surprise, a little sigh flew from her mouth.

"Mmm.." He cautiously prodded around her lips with his tongue, asking for permission. She gave in willingly, her lips parting to allow entrance. He took the opportunity to explore the cavern of her mouth, feeling hot with arousal. He moved his lips to tease hers; surprising himself with how eager he was.

After a moment, Ed broke the kiss and felt Winry begin to stir in the dark. He immediately flinched, anxiously awaiting her rejection. He tried coming up with reasons to explain his actions, but found he could come up with none. He bowed his head in guilt as his face flushed to a deep red.

"Ed..That was.." Her eyelids blinked open and Winry couldn't help but lick her lips.

"I'm sorry Winry!" He quickly blurted, troubled at his lack of control. Winry was an important person in his life; he couldn't bear the thought of losing her trust. He swallowed, nervously assuming the worst. His hand let go of her cheek and he blushed, feeling her staring intently at him.

'Well, it was pretty good while it lasted.' Ed thought dejectedly.

Finally after a moment of silence, Winry spoke up, "I had the most peculiar dream."

Ed blinked in bewilderment. His eyebrows furrowed, perplexed as he thought, 'What?'

His puzzled expression morphed to anger, an emotion he was most familiar with. He clenched his teeth as he came to a conclusion, 'It was probably some other guy she was dreaming of kissing.'

"But it wasn't a dream." Winry continued, unaware of his anxiety.

"Huh?" He stopped, suddenly unsure of everything.

"Ed, that was my first...kiss." Winry mumbled, feeling embarrassed. She felt silly and naive while feeling happy at the same time. She slowly licked her lips. 'He kissed me!'

Ed cleared his throat, "Sorry..Mine too."

Detecting the odd tone of his voice, she asked, "Ed, w-what are you so shy about?"

"I'm not being shy," He retorted.

Stubbornly, the two sat there in the dark, mentally slapping themselves for being so awkward. Right when Ed thought he couldn't stand the thoughts screaming inside his head anymore, Winry spoke up timidly, "Can we continue my dream?"

Surprised and incredulous, Ed asked, "You..you want to?"

Suppressing the urge to laugh at his reaction, she smiled and whispered, "Yeah."

"But Win-" he started, but found himself unable to continue when he felt her fingers wrap around the front of his shirt and tug gently. He felt the pull and his face gravitated downwards as she interrupted, "Shhh. Just kiss me."

And so he did...

...while also unwrapping her towel in the dark during the act.

Lesson is...prepare flashlights. Hehe. But really, thanks for reading. This was my first FMA fanfic, so I hope you guys all enjoyed my first attempt of fluff in the FMA world. Of course, reviews would be awesome too.