Welcome to Gaia! ::

~I apologize if some things are non-corresponding but it is my fanfic and my first. I will add more soon~

Rain fell from the sky like a waterfall, drenching the world below and transforming it into a sea of mud for the weary traveler to slip in. A key turned in a lock as a girl finished her work for the day. She held a newspaper above her to keep her head dry as she darted down the street, avoiding the most slippery spots. She sidestepped a passing pedestrian and stepped underneath the overhang of a shop.
She lowered the paper, which was already soaked beyond use and gazed at the relentless sky with azure optics. Pushing a lock of golden hair behind her ear, she lifted the useless paper over her head once more and continuing on in the rain. She stopped beneath another overhang just a ways down the street, praying for the rain to stop.
A stranger not a foot or so away glanced at her for a moment, not removing the hood from his head. She didn’t even take notice, preparing herself to venture the rest of the way to her home. Things had changed in this town in the last twenty years, it was no longer the small place it had once been, not since he had left.
“Word on the street is you’re the best automail mechanic around.” the stranger said without looking her way again.
A cross look appeared on her face, why couldn’t people talk to her about that when she was at work, and not everywhere else. Sure, she loved to build it, but not as much as she had since that day.
“If you need maintenance or some new automail, you’ll have to talk to my receptionist.” she said before stepping once more back out into the rain.
The stranger pulled his hood off as she dashed down the street, intent on avoiding exposure to the rain as much as possible now. His eyes followed her down the street until she had entered her home before pushing his gloved hands through his short blonde hair. Things really had changed, and it wasn’t just his new haircut either. He clenched his automail hand shut, he’d long since broken the automail she had given him.
Sighing, he pulled his hood back over his head and walked in the other direction she had. He didn’t want to be a bother to Winry and Pinako, not after he had been gone for so long. Besides, Al was waiting for him in the room they had rented.

“I’m home,” Winry said more to herself than the empty house around her as she pulled the muddy shoes from her feet, tossing the paper into a wet mess besides them. She would clean it up later.

The house looked nearly the same as it had since she was a child, one exception being Pinako’s absence. She had passed away just over three years ago, leaving Winry alone. It had been years since she had last been in contact with anyone from Central; it brought back too many painful memories.
She pulled down a box of noodles out of one of the cupboards, but didn’t get out a pan to make them in. Her mind was mulling over the stranger on the street. His voice sounded familiar in a dream-like sense, but she couldn’t put a name to it.
Sighing, she leaned back against the counter, closing her eyes as she did so. A dull throbbing began in her head.

“What do you mean, brother?” Al asked
“I’m saying she didn’t even look twice at me,” Ed replied, glancing out the curtained window.
“Well, twenty years is a long time. Maybe she didn’t recognize you.”
Ed dropped into the chair next to the window before saying, “This is Winry we’re talking about Al. She doesn’t forget.”
They sat in silence, brooding over everything that had happened. Finally Ed stood and prepared to leave again, pulling the ebon hood onto his head.
“Where are you going?”
Ed placed his hand on the door handle and said, “I think it’s about time to pay my respects to Izume, don’t you?”
The wooden barrier opened before him and he stepped out into the hall, leaving Al to ponder in silence.

The heat seared toward them with all the might of the sun. Bringing with it shrapnel that was deadlier than any man’s gun. Time seemed to move in slow motion, their imminent doom apparent. Then suddenly, the gate opened. Swallowing them and the bomb like a black hole.
They opened their eyes to find themselves magnificently and strangely, before the gate. They had not died, that much they were sure of. Perhaps this was some twist of fate, or maybe because t he bomb had originated from their world. Whatever the reason, the cause, they were home now.
Home; that word felt strange on their tongues. What was home? Where was it? They had had so many.

The sound of metal hitting the cold, wooden floor reached Winry’s ears, startling her out of her work. She’d been in her workshop for nearly ten hours. But now, as she reached down to retrieve the fallen washer, she couldn’t fight off her tiredness any longer.
Replacing the fallen washer on the table before her, she stood. Her gaze drifted around her work area, parts were laying willy nilly and she hadn’t yet packaged any of the finished automail. Sighing, she left the room, shutting off the lights behind her.
Seirenia had already left for the day, but she had left a note for Winry that she quickly read. The girl had gotten an urgent call from her family and needed to take an indefinite leave. She read the note again before tossing it into the trash. Where would she find another receptionist that she wouldn’t have to train?
A poster was quickly pulled out of the filing cabinet and taped to the small window by the door. The sooner she got it up, the better.

"Look at this brother!" Al said, stopping before a small shop window.
"Come on Al, we dont' have time to stop at every shop. We've got to find some kind of job soon." Ed said, pulling his brown coat tighter about him.
Their money from Munich was worthless here and they had only a minimal amount of money from their own world left. Al took a step back, looking at his brother slowly walking down the street.
"I'll catch up to you later brother." Al said before dissappearing inside.
"Hey, wait a..." he turned to find Al, but as he was already gone, he turned back around and continued on.

"Hello?" Al called out as he entered the front area of the shop. The desk was empty and the restroom unoccupied. He called out again and, recieving no answer, proceeded forward to the only unchecked door.
It swung open easily, revealing Winry's workshop. He looked at the parts strewn about the room, replacing a forlorn screwdriver to its place on the counter as he stepped inside.
"Hello?"
The lights hummed eerily overhead and lit the room with a vengance. He walked over to the table, examining the unfinished automail. A shadow loomed over him and he narrowly avoided the wrench that almost come down on his head, but instead scattered loose bolts, screws, nuts and washers. The weilder didn't hesitate to swing it back up again, nearly hitting Alphonse's jaw hard enough to break it.
"You theiving scumbag!" she said in an obvious rage, "I'll teach you a lesson you won't soon forget!"
Al dodged the deadly weapon once more, finding the words suddenly, "I was here about the job!"
"Likely story," she said, bringing the wrench around once more, connecting with the soft flesh of Al's upper arm. He let out a startled gasp and, in an attempt to save himself from further injury, he ducked under the table, grabbing a screw as he did so.
Winry uppended the table, leaving her work in a chaotic pile of metal. She raised her arm, preparing a bone shattering blow as Al frantically carved a transmutation circle into the belly of the table. He clapped his hands to it, transforming it into a shield and lifted it just as Winry's blow landed.

The force of the blow reverberated down Alphonse’s arm, causing him to clench his teeth against the pain. He watched Winry carefully, but she didn’t seem intent on injuring Al further. Winry stepped away, her hand falling idle to her side. A dim flame of recognition spark in her eyes, but it was quickly doused by a river of reality. Al lowered the shield slowly, unsure if he was safe from her metallic weapon.

Winry placed a steaming mug before Al, taking her seat across the desk from him. He looked into the murky substance before him, unsure of how he should start.
“Sorry about the way I reacted, people just can’t be too certain these days,” Winry said, taking a sip from her own mug.
He looked up at her, realizing just what Ed had meant, she had forgotten. She treated him as one would a stranger they had just met, though he couldn’t expect much better.
“I’ve had worse reactions,” he said, lifting the mug to his lips.
The steaming liquid seeped down his throat as he fought the urge to spit it back into the cup. The vile drink tasted like dirt, no, worse than dirt for at least dirt has the occasional taste of a fair weather being. A small smile splayed across Winry’s lips.
“Sorry, I should have warned you about the taste,” she set her cub aside before continuing, “it should help your arm feel better faster.” She glanced away guiltily.
“Thanks,” he said, the bitter taste still lingering on his tongue.
“So do you have any experience?” she asked, steering the question away from her rash actions.
His face carried a confused look for a moment before he answered, “yeah, I worked as a secretary for about 16 years,” he failed to tell her where he had worked though.
He could almost see the gears in her brain turning as she processed the information. His eyes wandered back to the cup sitting before him. The tea tasted familiar, though he couldn’t place where he had been forced to digest it before.
“That’s enough to satisfy me,” she said, “you’ve obviously never been in trouble with the law if you worked as a secretary for 16 years.” She handed him a piece of parchment with all the things she would need him to do before heading over towards her workshop, mug in hand.
“I never caught your name,” she added as an afterthought.
Startled, he met her gaze and said, “Alphonse, Al for short.”
She mouthed the name, studying him for a moment longer before locking herself in her workshop.

The rain had begun to pour relentlessly by the time Winry and Al left for the day. Pulling his hood up slightly to protect him from some of the algid rain. The world seemed covered by a curtain and Al didn’t realize just how slick the ground was until it was too late.
His heart jumped to his throat as he fell backwards, landing in t he gooey substance covering the streets. Gasping for breath, he struggled to regain his footing without being rewarded by another fall. Successfully doing so, he cautiously proceeded down the street.
The large building loomed up ahead and he hurried to approach it. He never thought to check for oncoming cars and, as he was covered from head to toe in yet more muck, he spotted a familiar figure in the back of the car.
The black hair and eye patch was unmistakable. But what is he doing here? Al thought as he pushed the mud from his face.
Al darted out into the street, intent on making it into the building before he got any filthier.

A mocking laughter filled the air.
“You’re covered in mud Al!” Ed exclaimed, clutching his side as the laughter escaped his lips.
“Stop laughing Ed! It’s not funny!” Al pouted.
“Yes it is, it’s hysterical!” Ed snorted.
“Well at least I worked today.”
“Yeah, probably pushing papers,” Ed said, regaining his composure slightly, “besides, who’s to say I didn’t find a job?”
“Working for the military again?”
Ed’s laughter ceased, “Why the hell would I join up with Lieutenant Colonel Poppycocks and the gang again?”

OMG!!! that was soo good! i loved it!!! but its sad that Winry forgot Ed and Al, and i thought Pinako would die sooner or leter cuz she was kind of old and it had been. . .20 years? so it was sad be i could think that would that happen!!! but i loved it!!!

It was awesome! i love it! if only you could continue it, it's so good.

great story. Just that it's strange how Winry remember them. They should look at least similar a little. Is there a second part to this?

I LOVED IT!!!! I like the nickname Ed used for Mustang; "Lieutenant Colonel Poppycocks". Ha!