10/31/06 A/N: Just a little one-shot I attempted, my first one! I was feelings in the Halloween mood, so I just started writing. Just some cute EdWin stuff…enjoy, please read and review!

11/5/06 A/N: just reposting in hope of getting some more reviews...


The Halloween Moon

Winry slipped away from the festivities while everyone else was captivated by the combination of alcohol, music, and overall enjoyment. The crisp autumn air felt good against her bare skin and helped clear her slightly fuzzy head.

She leaned against the porch railing, staring thoughtfully at the sky, letting the cool breeze tug gently at her long flaxen hair. It was dark and cloudy out, but the entire countryside was illuminated by the large Halloween moon.

The clouds passing over the yellow orb created an eerie atmosphere, sending chills up and down her spine, yet it was so intoxicatingly beautiful she couldn't look away.

Winry could hear the muffled laughter coming from inside, the fun audible even all the way outdoors. But she didn't feel like joining them right now; plastering the artificial smile on her face was irritating and she needed a few moments where she didn't have to put up a false front, where she could just relax and be herself.

Sighing, she tore her eyes away from the bewitching moon and gazed off into the distance, staring with unseeing eyes at the tranquil countryside.

She could never completely let go, never fully enjoy herself as long as Edward was gone. There was always that soft nagging in her brain and the empty ache in her heart while both the brothers were away.

She hated the uncertainty of it; as a mechanic she liked things precise and predictable, always in order, but these boys she could never keep track of. She never knew what condition they'd be in the next time she saw them, never knew if they'd arrive haggard and tired but in one piece, or in broken shambles needing both emotional and physical repair.

The absurd sporadicity of her own emotions scared her. Winry always maintained a firm control on her feelings, but as soon as she saw those two boys trudging along the winding country road, the defeated and ashamed look in Edward's eyes, she lost all her guarded composure. She knew it was healthy to express her feelings, but even now she only let a small tear slide down her cheek before quickly wiping it away.

Some times she had even come close to telling Ed her feelings, but she couldn't even put the uncontrollable emotions into words let alone have enough courage to communicate them to him. For her everything had always been mathematical, formulaic, but it frustrated her beyond measure to have these emotions swirling around that she couldn't explain or control.

Often she wanted to see him, wanted to tell him everything, but those brief moments of weakness would pass and she would regain her fortitude. He would never know, she concluded; never know how she felt about him, because she would never tell him.

She never wanted to experience that moment of vulnerability, never wanted to put all those buried thoughts and emotions on the line, the possibility of rejection was too high and the hurt too great for her to risk that chance. He would never know.

Winry released a large exhale as she stood up and restored her usual level-headedness. Straightening her shoulders in a dignified manner and once again cohering her plastic smile to her face, she strolled back into the party determined to look like she was enjoying herself.

As she exited the veranda, the silhouettes of two figures appeared on the crest of a hilly slope, outlined by the incandescent Halloween moon.

One of them was thinking of a certain blonde-haired mechanic with a secret smile on his face.

A/N: How was it? It'd be awesome if you reviewed and let me know!