Ok, I know that I'm a sucker for a good couple and Roy and Winry have definitely caught my attention. So, this is my first fic that I'm attempting to write for them. I hope everyone enjoys and supports me. And for those of you that read, don't worry. I will still try to maintain regular updates with my other fics.

Chapter 1 Lost heaven

After you've been stuck in one place for so long, it felt strange to finally be away from that place. To be on the outside, looking in, was a new sensation all together. And to know that you would never have to return to that place was even more invigorating. No, it wasn't like finally being let go out of a prison, though that place had never been a prison. It had been a home.

This feeling was more like when a child who finally got the courage to open the closet to be sure that there were no monsters in there. Though, for her, it was more like finally steeping out of that closet that had been opened all this time. She had just been too afraid to step into the light.

Winry's eyes stared lazily at the flames that had completely engulfed the home she had known all of her life. Yes, it was the same house where she was born grew and celebrated birthdays, where the last memories of her parents are, where she worked on her automail, and where she had cried for so long after the death of her grandmother, Pinako. Watching as another piece of singed wood dropped to the ground in ashes, another piece of her past burned away with it. From this point on, she wanted to keep looking forward. She had lived in the past enough.

She had a good pair of legs; might as well use them, as his friends would say

Speaking of friends…"Are you going to hide and watch me all day?" came her dull voice.

Winry wasn't sure when Ed and Al had arrived or how much they had seen or knew. She had only just now noticed the subtle whirring of the gears in Ed's arms and legs. They were louder than usual, meaning once again, he had wrecked her hard work.

From behind her, the Elrics appeared. Ed wasn't wearing her usual fighting gear today. Today, she had opted to wear a pair of jeans and a black jacket. He moved to stand beside Winry while Al fell back, knowing that they needed this moment.

He turned his eyes to her. "Interesting. This looks familiar."

Ed remembered the burning of his own home and watching to make sure that everything burned properly. It was a way for him and Al to move on and never look back. They would have no reason to stray from their path and dreams if they had no home to stray to.

Winry just stared forward, transfixed with the flames and shook her head. Her blue eyes looked so much darker with the reflection dancing in them. She smiled. "I guess you're right. I finally understand why you did it."

Something was off, Ed noticed. For her to understand his reasoning meant that she had made a lifelong decision; one to leave Risembool. Something was pushing her away. Something bad had happened. Ed stared for a moment, just now noticing the missing factor.

"Winry," he started carefully. "Where's granny? Where's Pinako."

Al gasped from the background understanding the hidden meaning in his brother's question. Pinako would never leave her home for long, let alone let Winry sit here and burn it to the ground.

Winry sighed and stood up finally, dusting herself off and turning her back to the burning building. She lifted her oversized backpack from the ground and placed it on her back. Grabbinf the handle to her suitcase, she walked off towards the station, the luggage rolling behind her and her.

"She's gone Ed. Like my parents, I'll never see her again." Winry let a faint smile touch her lips. "I'm finally all alone."

Al turned to her. "We're here for you. You have us."

The laugh that followed that was almost cynical and far too bitter for the usually bubbly auto mechanic. Both Ed and Al were taken aback by it.

"That's so funny. You weren't here when my grandmother got sick and I had to watch her die. You weren't here for years when we needed you cause you were running all over the world looking for a damn stone and some bodies!"

"Winry…" Ed didn't know what to say to the girl. She was right, he and Al had abandoned her time and time again for their own selfishness.

"You're probably only here now because you broke your arm or leg. So don't talk to me about who's there for me and who isn't."

The brothers watched as their childhood friend walked away from them.

"W-where are you going?" Al dared.

"To Central." Winry sighed. "There's nothing left her for me. Might as well start over."

Ed looked to his brother who nodded his understanding. The both fell into a steady pace behind the girl. Ed knew what Winry was feeling more than anything. He understood her rush to get away from her home; to get away from this town. As small and quiet as it was to some, when you had memories in it, this was the loudest place in the world.

"I think I'll go there and open an automail shop or something. With all the soldiers there, there's bound to be good business."

Ed watched as Winry talked. This was killing her inside, he knew it. He had never felt so helpless before. There was nothing that could be done. All he and Al could do was be there for her if needed. Everything else; how she moved forward and how long she chose to mourn, was up to her.

"I'm so sorry…" Ed wasn't really sure what to say either. He couldn't sympathize with the girl. He wanted to, but in his world, death was a common thing. None of it ever surprised him. He couldn't mourn for the dead anymore. It was a lesson he had learned to force himself to accept. Everyone died at some point.

Winry suddenly let out a strained laugh and shook her head, as if erasing the thoughts from her mind. "I'm being silly. I don't want the others to know yet."

Ed nodded, understanding her request. Winry needed her time to fully come to terms with this in her own way, no matter how long it took. Nothing that he or anyone else could say would change anything. Right now, she didn't need her friends reassuring her that everything would be ok. She needed this piece of mind and time for herself. She needed to be lonely right now.

The three of them walked in silence to the station, neither boy saying anything. When they arrived, the conductor was just doing the last call for the train to Central and they were able to get on. Sitting down, Winry stared out the window at the land as the train started and they slowly started to drift away from it. This was it, she was finally leaving. No more bad memories. She wouldn't think of her parents, her grandmother, and not even Ed and Al's mom. There had already been too much hurt in this land and she was leaving it all for a new start.

It was faint, but there was an honest smile creeping its way onto her mouth. She knew her parents and grandmother and they always wanted the best and more for her. They would happy that she was getting out on her own.

Ed waited a while to make sure that everyone was situated before he got up and went to handle some business.

"I have to make a call." he said, excusing himself.

*****^w^*****

The door to the bar opened and Hughes walked in, scanning the general public for the man he was looking for. There he was. Roy Mustang was sitting in the back booth, nursing an open bottle of scotch that looked like he hadn't taken too many drinks out of yet.

Walking over to the booth, Hughes took a seat in front of his friend, scanning access the damage so far.

"No need to worry. I'm not drunk." was Mustang's bored reply. He played with the cup in his hand and watch the brown liquid in it swish around, almost falling out.

"That's a surprise." Hughes commented with a laugh. He had become accustomed to dragging his friend home after one of his drunken pity sessions.

Roy often needed to get away from the military life and clear his head. He never wanted to accidently bump into anyone he knew or who knew him, so he favored one of the sleazier bars on the less attractive side of town. No one of military standing would lower themselves to come here he figured. And so far, only Hughes knew how to find him.

"What made you come looking for me tonight?" Roy asked. Maes wouldn't search him out and bother him for nothing.

"Well, I got a call from Edward earlier today." he started. "Turns out, their friend, Winry, is moving to Central and they want me to help look out for her."

Roy looked up at the name. He knew Winry. She was the daughter of the two doctors he murdered. The girl never showed much interest in him. In fact, she seemed to openly hate him. Only thing was, she wasn't the type to make a scene so she kept her thoughts and opinions generally to herself. Though, he wouldn't blame her if she ever did.

"Why is she coming here?" he asked, seemingly half interested. He finally made the decision to go ahead and down the remains of his glass; refilling it almost instantly after.

"Turns out her grandmother died and now she's alone."

Roy remembered the feisty older woman he had met at her house. She hated state alchemist, but was still kind enough to accept he and Hawkeye into her home. She allowed Ed to constantly come back also.

"What does this have to do with us?"

Hughes sighed. "Well, the Elrics aren't going to stop their journey and it's too dangerous for her to be with them. So.."

"Fullmetal wants us to babysit his girl." Roy scoffed. "No, I have enough to deal with."

Roy didn't want to be responsible for this girl or get too heavily involved with her. She was bad for him; just a walking product of his mistakes and bad memories.

"Come on, it wouldn't be much. Send an officer to check on her every once in a while. Make sure she's safe. No real work for us. Winry is pretty self-sufficient." Hughes urged.

He had no problem helping out the Rockbell girl, but he knew the connection she and Mustang had and he was not looking to make Roy uncomfortable at all. The man had enough demons to deal with.

"I'll try to keep her away from you as much as possible. I just might need to use Havok or Riza once in a while to help."

Roy shrugged, taking another full glass in one swift gulp. "My men are at your disposal." He commented.

He had had enough of sitting her and closed the remainder of the bottle, intending to take it home and finish it there. Hughes stood up with him and followed his friend out and into the streets. Roy walked with his hands in his pocket and lazily glanced at the people and things he passed. His posture seemed so unusually casual. You would never think that he was a colonel in the military. Hughes was also in his civilian clothes. They had both learned early on that military attire on this particular side of town was not welcome.

"So, what exactly is she going to be doing while here?" Roy asked over his shoulder. He wasn't interested for any particular reason; just curious as to what Fullmetal expected her to do in Central alone.

Hughes shrugged. "Well, he mentioned something about her opening an automail shop to keep busy."

"So he's going to use military money to support this." Ed used a lot of money already for his research and traveling and now he wanted to use more for a friend. He could already image the sorry excuse he would use to get extra money; saying he needed more research money or something.

"Well, I guess so. But once things get going, I'm sure she'll have her own money." Hughes said.

"Look, I don't care about Fullmetal's 'friends'. Only he and his brother are my concern. Just make sure she stays out of the way and doesn't influence Ed negatively or bring him down." Mustang ordered and walked off.

Hughes watched him go. He knew that was his way of saying yes. Just can't be easy like the rest of us. Hopefully, you can move on from so much pain and be yourself again.

Ok, well that was chapter 1. I hope you all like it. This is a first for me so I'm going to try my best to stay in character and keep things good. I hope I have all of your support and please review and let me know what you think.

And heads up, Winry is going to be a little ooc at some points, but that is just to emphasize the damage so much death and hurt has had on her. But she won't be so outrageous.

CYA