Characters are not mine and that is sad.

1. Home is the Place You Go When You Want Someone to Say "Yay"

Edward Elric glared at his reflection in the window of the train car and nervously flattened his unruly golden bangs with his right hand, pausing afterward to reflect on the automail that still served him. In a way he wasn't sorry that he hadn't recovered his final limb--he knew he'd have missed the automail. Besides being the inspiration for his title, it was certainly useful. The ability to transmute a blade or other weapon from his arm was a trademark technique that would be hard to learn to do without. Or at least that's what he told himself, not wanting to speculate on any other reasons for the deep emotional attachment he felt for the metal limb skillfully crafted by his childhood friend and mechanic.

Having his left leg back was a gift that Edward honestly hadn't dared to hope for. After coming to the realization that the only responsible way that he could get Al's body back was by sacrificing his life, even the simple act of drawing breath was something he was immeasurably grateful for. Though he was committed to living to contribute to the end of Father and his creatures, Ed had grown so used to wondering if he were performing everyday tasks for the last time that he felt oddly removed from the world around him. He hadn't yet come back down to earth though both his quest to end the terror of the homunculi and to regain his brother's body were ended.

Van Hoenheim showing up during the last battle to use his power to help defeat Father and get Al's body back had come as a complete surprise. Even after learning the truth about his father's origins from Izumi, Ed had never in a million years thought that that old bastard would lift a finger to help him or Al. Instead, Hoenheim had willingly given up immortality to return his sons to their bodies. While Al, returning to his ten year old body, had rushed to accept Hoenheim's directions at the doors, Ed had had more trouble and had only been able to receive his leg before they had run out of time. Truth or God or whatever sure was a stingy bastard. He was getting half the souls in Xerxes from this deal, and he still rushed them out of there in order to hold onto one measly limb.

Edward was very uncomfortable with the way things had turned out--he hated the thought of owing Van Hoenheim anything and had felt belittled when the older man had laughed at his grumbled thanks and pointed out that as a rather terrible father, it really was the least he could do. It didn't help matters that Al had immediately latched onto his father adoringly, his ten year old self rejoicing at finding a parent after the still-fresh grief over his mother's death. Because he returned to a younger mind and body, Al was unable to remember the past five years when his brother had filled all familial roles for him. Embarrassed and a little disappointed to have lost his companion of the last five years, Ed had not enlightened him.

And so the three were approaching the Reisembol station, Al excitedly recounting to Hoenheim his and Ed's adventures training with Izumi after having failed to drag out of Ed the story of his resurrection. Edward sat moodily staring out of the window, every so often guiltily glancing at Al's still emaciated figure. Even after suspecting that he was sustaining both of their bodies, Edward still hadn't fully understood the toll this had taken on the chubby-cheeked figure of his younger brother. If only he could have stomached that stupid milk! What a terrible brother he was! It killed him to think about the ravenous way Al had attacked the mediocre food at the inn in Central that they had stopped off at after the confrontation with Truth.

Despite obviously needing rest and nourishment, Al insisted on returning immediately to the place he thought of as home. Ed still had not had the heart to inform Al that their house was no longer standing, and it seemed Hoenheim hadn't either.

"Papa, Brother! Let's go home tomorrow," Al said as they finished their meal. "I can't wait to see Granny and Winry and show them how I'm back!"

"Sure, little brother," answered Ed. "Winry and Granny Pinako will be thrilled to see you back in your body. God knows they deserve some good news after all they've put up with over the past few years."

Al had latched onto the fact that time had passed since he had last been aware of the world with his mind--that was obvious from the changes in his older brother, whose unimpressive stature was still well above Al's ten year old height. However, he still hadn't quite grasped the full implications of the fact that his soul had been present this whole time in another form, though somehow hearing it didn't surprise him. He felt different, and seemed to have a different perspective on the world than he remembered having.

"I suppose you're coming too?" Ed asked Hoenheim, casting his eyes away from the large figure who was a bit startled to be addressed by his eldest son without an insult thrown into the question.

Van Hoenheim started to shake his head but this was met with a whimpering sound from his younger son. "Papa...?" Al looked up at him with huge eyes.

Edward got up from the table and began to walk toward the stairs to their room. He turned and said,

"Al wants you to, so you'd better not let him down, you miserable excuse for a father. Just charge the meal to the room, I'll have them put it on my expense account when we check out tomorrow."

With that, Ed raced to get ready for bed so he could pretend to be snoring by the time his father and brother came up for the night.

Since events had unfolded so quickly, no one had had time to inform Winry or Pinako of the Elrics' impending arrival. Moving toward the door, Edward half-hoped that Winry would be back in Rush Valley by now and that he could delay their reunion until he'd worked through some of the stuff that had happened, or at least had gotten rid of the old man. On the other hand, having Winry present would make things go a lot more smoothly with Al and Hoenheim, and she would probably fend off some of Granny's more pointed questions.

Van Hoenheim and Edward each carried a small suitcase, but since that was their only luggage, they were soon off the train and out of the station. Before turning off the main street however, Edward dumped his suitcase on the side of the road saying,

"Hold on, there's something I have to get."

"Brother, what are you--?" Al called after him, surprised by seeing his brother approach a fruit vendor.

"Hey Al--how many apples do you need to make a pie anyway?"

The younger Elric and Van Hoenheim looked at each other in confusion and shrugged. Pie-making was not a skill usually required of alchemists. Sensing an opportunity, the vendor guided Edward to the best pie-making apples which so happened to be the most expensive variety, and loaded him down with enough shiny red apples for two or three pies, remarking that it wouldn't do to run out.

Van Hoenheim raised his eyebrows at the large brown bag overflowing with apples and wordlessly picked up Edward's discarded suitcase. Ed scowled at him, but couldn't keep the expression in place when he looked down to see his younger brother looking between the two and beaming. Since they had not had time to cut Al's hair that morning, Ed had wordlessly braided it in his own style before heading out the door. As the three of them trekked towards the Rockbell house in long dark coats and golden hair, they looked like three versions of the same person caught at different stages of life.

Sooner than Edward was prepared for, Al was running up the steps to the house, trying to pet Den, hurry forward, and call for Winry and Granny at the same time. Ed started to chuckle despite himself but quickly bit his expression back into a scowl as Hoenheim's quick smile caught his eye.

"Al, they may not be home, or they may have customers," Ed warned.

However, the door was quickly opened by Pinako who stood stunned, enveloped in Al's enthusiastic hug for a moment before screaming into the house,

"Winry! Get out here right this moment!"

Upon coming closer, Ed could see the tears in the old lady's eyes as she looked over the beaming boy who she considered as close as a grandchild. She touched his gaunt face as if to convince herself Alphonse was really in front of her.

"You did it child, you're really back," she murmured, holding him tight. Glancing around him she spied Edward and Hoenheim, standing awkwardly a few paces apart on the lawn. Still clutching Al, she addressed them seriously,

"Thank you. I don't know how you did it and I'm not sure I want to know, but thank you both for putting him back together."

Both Ed and Hoenheim blushed, unsure how to respond. They were saved from having to say a word by the appearance of Winry from inside the house. Her blonde hair was piled carelessly on top of her head and her beige coveralls were open to the waist, long sleeves tied around her middle. Even though the spring air was cool she was wearing a small black tube top. She had clearly emerged from the workshop, as she was wiping the grease off her hands with a rag.

"Geez Granny, I was in the middle of sensitive stuff," she said, before noticing the thin boy before her. She stopped short when she saw him, her mouth forming a perfect o, and her large blue eyes widening as they questioned her grandmother. Seeing the old lady nod excitedly, Winry let out a whoop of joy and crushed Al to her, dropping the rag to the floor. The boy looked a bit startled at first by the pretty young lady whose arms were around him. He had been expecting to see his friend Winry, the girl who he had played with every day of his childhood. So many things had changed.

"W-Winry?" he said, looking up at her in confusion. Winry stepped back, holding Al at arm's length as she took in his appearance critically. Before she could say anything that might confuse Al further, Ed took a few steps forward and said in a low voice,

"His mind and body are still ten, so he doesn't remember anything about the last five years."

At this Winry looked a bit sad, but pressed Al against her once again and whispered,

"I'm so glad to have you back Al, whatever your age."

Winry took a deep breath, exhaled, and pulled back from the boy. She turned her head toward Ed, eyes unreadable and took a step to the edge of the faded white porch. Edward nervously met her gaze, expecting some kind of scene (possibly involving wrenches and pain,) but was totally unprepared when Winry launched herself off the porch and into his arms, causing him to drop the sack of apples and stagger back a bit to support her weight. Flustered and rapidly reddening, Ed tentatively put his left arm around her, gingerly patting her back as she attempted to squeeze the life out of him. As abruptly as she'd started, Winry backed off and yelled shrilly,

"EDWARD ELRIC! IF YOU EVER SCARE ME LIKE THAT AGAIN I WILL KILL YOU! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING TRICKING ME INTO COMING BACK HERE AND THEN SNEAKING OFF TO PUT YOURSELF IN MORE DANGER!?"

As Winry began to punctuate her words with punches to his gut, Edward began to stammer,

"S-sorry Winry, I couldn't just leave them, I mean--"

As this failed to produce the desired effect, and Edward grew more and more aware of the amused looks of Granny Pinako and Van Hoenhheim, he changed tactics,

"Hey Winry, look at Al! He's back!"

This distraction seemed to do the trick as Winry's fists ceased pummeling him and stilled to clutch at his white shirt though his unbuttoned jacket. She looked up at him with shining eyes.

"Yeah, you did it Ed. You promised, so I aways knew you would. And see!" she sniffed, "I really am crying tears of joy!"

She once again threw her arms around the embarrassed alchemist, only to draw back again when she realized that one of the arms she held was still automail.

"You've still got it, huh? I guess I should be flattered, you couldn't give up my masterpieces after all." She smiled weakly.

Van Hoenheim coughed and stepped towards his clearly uncomfortable son and the beautiful girl who was apparently trying to weld herself to his chest. He smiled apologetically at her, realizing that she more than anyone probably wanted to see his eldest son emerge whole from this ordeal.

"I'm sorry Winry-chan. I'm afraid it's my fault that Edward didn't regain his arm as he intended to. You see, after taking care of Al there was only time for me to bring back his missing leg before the reaction ended, and at this point we don't have much left to exchange."

Winry looked at Hoenheim carefully as he delivered his apology, but was beaming at him by the end.

"You sound just like Ed! Always feeling guilty about not doing more to help someone else. So he got his leg back? That's great! It was way more annoying to adjust than his arm. You wouldn't think it to look at him, but he has grown a lot in the past five years."

This earned a sharp "Hey!" from Edward, but before he could get too indignant, Winry lurched forward and impulsively hugged Hoenheim.

"Thank you," she said, "Thank you so much for helping Ed and Al! It means so much to me to see them both alive and home. And this automail doesn't even seem too banged up for once!" Winry exclaimed while pushing up Edward's sleeve to inspect the automail with a professional eye.

"Well," sighed Pinako before Winry could become too involved in scrutinizing Ed's care of her automail, "Let's get inside. This one here sure looks like he could use a few good meals. You can take the bags up to the first bedroom at the top of the stairs, Hoenheim."

Gathering up the two suitcases, Hoenheim risked a good-natured smirk at his eldest son who still seemed highly uncomfortable with the whole scene and followed Pinako and Al into the house. It was a strange feeling for him to be included in something like this, but Pinako and Winry's obvious acceptance of his presence gave him a bit of hope that he could someday become comfortable with living a normal human life. Al's return to a younger more accepting state seemed like a perfect chance to try to establish a relationship, and knowing that he wouldn't get another try, Hoenheim wanted to seize the opportunity. Edward, it seemed, would be a bit more difficult to relate to. On top of the highly traumatic events of the past few years, he was just so stubborn, so arrogant, so much like himself when he was young...

Edward tried and failed to disentangle his right arm from Winry's grasp, and had to stoop awkwardly to pick up the bag of apples at his feet with his left hand. Winry let go once she saw what he was doing, and reached down to pick up a few apples that had rolled away after her dramatic pounce onto Edward. Realizing what they were for, Winry smiled.

"I thought Al couldn't remember the last five years?"

"Yeah well, he may not remember saying so, but I remember him telling me that you promised to bake him apple pie from that recipe Gracia gave you as soon as he got his body back. What, you don't want to? Don't look at me like that, you promised!"

Edward pouted a little at Winry's serious expression, but soon became concerned as she held his gaze firmly.

"Edward, you may hate me saying so, but you are the sweetest brother--no, sweetest person--I have ever met. And I am so incredibly happy that you are home."

Though he was squirming under her intense speech and subsequent return to crushing herself into him, Edward couldn't help but allow himself a small smile. Maybe there was a happy ending for him after all.

As they climbed the porch steps and entered the house, Winry asked,

"So Ed, since you don't need it anymore, what happened to my automail leg? You didn't lose it did you? DID YOU? You did! You just left my masterpiece somewhere to rust! Every mechanic in Rush Valley agreed that that leg was a work of art!--Hey Al do you see my wrench in there?--I can't believe you you ungrateful shrimp!"

"Hey! Who are you calling a SHRIMP automail freak!" he screamed as he rushed ahead of her to avoid her blows.

It was good to be home.

Please forgive my spellings of proper nouns--I have seen many variations and have picked ones I like from the translations I've seen.

This is my first post on FF so please proceed to shower me with constructive criticism! I have been thinking about treating this as a prologue to a longer story about Ed settling into life post-quest, but I wanted to get something up before I get too fancy with the chapters and the plots.