Know this, and remember it when the nights get long or the days get short or the space between the minutes is stretched and pulled tight between us:
Wherever we go, whatever we do, we will leave a trail behind us for the world to see.
We will burn white into the blue of the sky,
and not a soul will be able to resist marveling at the mark we have made.

-Tyler Knott Gregson

The photo album was thick and worn; the edges of each plastic page splitting in the corners from overuse. We sat together on the rug in the great room, killing a bottle of wine while Alphonse shared stories and pictures of the childhood Edward lost.

"And when I finally found you, we were both head to toe in mud!" He laughed, "Mom was so mad."

Edward smiled sadly, I knew it was bittersweet for him to hear this. I could tell he was so happy to finally have answers and know who he is and where he's from, who his family is. What we weren't expecting was to find out he would never meet his parents.

There had been an accident not long after Ed's disappearance. A house fire. Alphonse was at school when it happened, and afterwards went to live with a young couple who'd been family friends for years: Sig and Izumi Curtis. Their official adoption of him had changed his last name in the records, explaining why a search for living persons with the last name 'Elric' would return no parents or siblings.

"I still can't believe I'm sitting here with you." Alphonse said with wet eyes. Edward hadn't shown much emotion even after seeing pictures of himself with his family. It was only when Alphonse gave his brother an earnest look and asked if he still hated mil that Edward's face drained of color and his eyes went wide.

"Milk is disgusting. How did you-"

"I told you Ed." Alphonse interrupted with a smile. "I'm your little brother. We knew everything about each other. We were best friends before you were taken."

Ed's eyes were raw and wide as he stared at Alphonse and gulped.

"We were?"

"Yea, we did everything together. We were together when they took you. They tried to take me..." He trailed off sadly. Ed sent him a grave look.

"What happened?"

Alphonse's large bronze eyes turned serious, and in that moment he couldn't have looked more like his brooding older brother. His hair was shorter and a dirtier blond verging on brown, he matched Edward in height and bore the same broad shoulders, but his eyes -while deeper, big and happy- sharpened into the same piercing gaze that masked a life of pain.

"You sacrificed yourself." He said. "They wanted me, but when we couldn't get away you convinced them to take you instead. What happened to you? why don't you remember me? What did they do to you?"

Ed frowned slightly and laced flesh fingers with mine as we sat on the rug across from his brother.

"I'm not prepared to talk about that, and I doubt you're prepared to hear it right now. I'll tell you when I'm ready." His limbs were covered as they were when we met. He had disappeared into the bedroom earlier to change into long sleeves and pull on his black glove just before Alphonse's arrival. Edward had remained stoic and collected throughout the evening, even when he emerged from the bedroom and watched me greet his brother. Alphonse displayed a far wider range of emotion upon seeing his brother for the first time in years, the brother who was believed to be dead. Shaking his hand gave me view to his bright, bronze eyes and happy demeanor, and when he glanced over my shoulder and saw Edward standing in the doorway he paled considerably and went silent. Turning to look behind me, I was met with the all-too-familiar sharp glare of a wolf on the offensive, sizing up the enemy as he slowly stalked around Alphonse. He finally stopped next to me and stood with hands on hips, glaring at our visitor.

"You're late."

Alphonse's eye swam and he threw out the rule book by launching himself at Ed, gripping him in a bear hug as Edward sent me an alarmed look.

"Brother, where have you been?!" A twinge of panic swept through me and I almost stepped in to separate them, fearing that Ed could lash out. But I halted when Ed's alarmed glare softened and he returned the young man's embrace. I knew then that Edward's guard was comfortably down, and that we were no longer among a stranger; we were with family.

Six Months Later

"Win, babe, let's go." He called from the living room.

"Two seconds I swear!" I slipped on my heels and fluffed my hair in the mirror as he sighed,

"You said that ten minutes ago. We're gonna be late." I straightened my white chiffon dress -the one I wore to the charity gala at The McKittrick- and scrambled out of the bedroom, practically skidding to a stop in front of him. He was texting as he stood near the elevator , looking sleek in that all black suit I loved, and his eyes slid from his phone to my feet and slowly climbed my body before meeting mine. He grinned wickedly.

"I've been wondering where that dress went."

"Are you gonna make fun of me again? The last time time I wore this you said it was smaller than its 'how-to-wash' tag." I pouted.

He laughed, which was such a beautiful sound because he did it so rarely, and took my hand as he pecked my cheek.

"Yea well, guys make fun of girls when we like them. I plan on making fun of you a lot." He said with gleeful mirth in his eyes. I smiled as he pulled me into the elevator and we began our dissent to the parking garage below Central.

"Besides," he added coolly. "I never said I didn't like it. I love that dress. I love seeing you in that dress."

We got in the Aston Martin and he looked at me as he rolled the engine over and the car purred to life.

"I love the thought of peeling that dress off you with my teeth."

We pulled to a stop outside the restaurant and as I unlocked my seat belt and reached for the door I paused; Edward's eyes were focused in front of him, and he looked nervous.

"What is it?" I asked. He turned and gazed earnestly at me.

"I just can't believe he's doing this." I took his hand -gleaming exposed metal- and gave him a reassuring look.

"He's had a lot of time to plan for this, and I think it'll be good for the both of you. L.A. is so far from here, and you never go there."

He nodded and we angled out so the valet could take the car. The evening breeze of late summer was cool and comfortable, skimming over my exposed skin as we walked into Boule', one of the best restaurants in the city.

Alphonse was at the bar waiting for us, handsome and strapping in a tailored suit just like his brother, along with his lovely wife who we were finally meeting. Edward never had time to go to L.A. to visit so his brother came to New York for a visit three months prior, and asked how Ed would feel about having him live closer. In the city, to be exact. Sig and Izumi Curtis no longer lived in Dublith, California and had bought a bungalow in key west where they could drink margaritas and sink their toes in the sand, so he had no other reason to stay. We were arranging to fly them to New York for Christmas so Edward could meet them. As we neared the bar Edward broke out in his dazzling mega-watt smile.

"Good to see you, Al." He said as they hugged. Al turned to embrace me and pecked my cheek.

"Winry how are you?" I smiled and replied that I was well and that Ed and I had missed him, before turning my attention to Alphonse's lovely companion.

"Meet my wife, Mae."

Mae Curtis was a fair-skinned slip of a woman in a red fitted cocktail dress with a mandarin collar and midnight hair picked up into braided buns. She had the same shining, happy eyes as her husband, though hers were nearly black. Her natural glow came from round rosy cheeks and her voice rang out light and chipper like a ringing bell. She bounded up to Edward and practically jumped into his arms.

"Oh Edward I can't tell you how happy I am to finally meet you!" She squealed with mist in her eyes. She gave me the same energetic embrace. "You must be Winry! My goodness you're so beautiful, I'm so thrilled to meet you!" I blushed and thanked her as we were shown to our table.

Two hours flew by in a matter of minutes and the four of us were laughing together in a sea of fine wine, having just polished off one of the most incredible meals I'd ever had as the manager came over with complimentary desserts for the table. Ed stole the strawberries away from my cheesecake as I reached my spoon over to scoop all the whipped cream off his chocolate silk pie; we had grown to know each other's likes and dislikes quite well.

"So Al," Edward began. "Are you absolutely sure about this? Don't get me wrong, we'd love to have you both here, but what about your work?"

"I've already been talking to people over at Mount Sinai about residencies, there's a few opening up in a couple months. I can get an easy transfer and we'll just hodgepodge together to get our stuff here." He squeezed his wife's hand and smiled sweetly at her. "Besides, it's Mae's work with the military that would really pull the trigger in us moving."

We had learned that while Alphonse was an intelligent and well respected physician holding residency at Cedar Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, he was more than happy to be out-shined by his brilliant wife. Mae was in medicine as well, a gifted surgeon who continued her studies to specialize in medical chemistry and research.

"I've been working closely with the military to develop vaccines; living in New York will give me the opportunity to use the facilities at Central to further my research. How about you Winry? What do you do?"

I could feel Edward still next to me, but I barely missed a beat and said, "I also work with the military's medical personnel developing vaccines. I'm a paid test subject, I have perfect blood."

Alphonse and Mae nearly spat out their Moscato and looked at me in shock.

"But how?" She stammered. "That's a myth, right?"

"Nope." I smiled, taking a bite of cheesecake. "It's real, just incredibly rare. We reduced it to a myth to protect me, and it's ultimately how I met Ed." I laced my finger with his metal ones on the table. Al and Mae were true professionals, because the sight of Ed's prosthetic barely phased them. "Someone was threatening my life, and the military sent Ed to protect me." Alphonse blinked in surprise.

"So that's what you do Ed? You're military police?"

Ed squeezed my hand and smiled at me proudly before looking back at his younger brother.

"Not exactly, I'm a soldier. Special Forces. Winry is very important to the military so I was pulled off a mission to keep her safe." Of course he had to fib a little; how do you sit across from polite company at a nice dinner and tell them you're a counter-terrorism government assassin? It was something even I was still coming to grips with. He did a great job of making me forget about it while he was home, but when he went on TDY I was brutally reminded, even though not every trip was for the purpose of eliminating a target. The worst was two months after I'd moved into his apartment. There had been an attack at City Hall in Philadelphia by radical extremist suicide bombers, and a single terrorist in Syria had claimed responsibility for orchestrating the event. We were eating lunch at home on a Wednesday when the call came in and I watched his deadly stoic mask slide into place. He pulled on his boots, grabbed his large canvas bag which was always packed and ready, and kissed me deep and slow. It wasn't the first time I'd had to watch him leave for a trip, but it was the first time I had to kiss him goodbye knowing that he was heading into an enemy war zone with orders to kill, and that he might not come back. I cried all day and into the night when he left, and when he returned battered and bruised, laying in the hospital waiting for a new automail arm after his was shattered, I howled unladylike sobs of anguish until he opened his shadowy sunken eyes two days later, gave me a crooked smile and croaked,

"Quit crying woman, I'm fine." This of course only made me sob harder as he pulled me down to his chest and held me close. "I missed you, Rockbell."

I was brought back to reality when the waiter produced the check and Edward and Alphonse began to bicker over who would pay, both of them shoving their credit cards at the poor confused server saying,

"Are you crazy?! You're not paying! Don't charge his card, charge mine." Mae and I smiled at each other, silently loving this moment of watching the brothers feud before the fed up waiter rolled his eyes and snatched up both cards saying, "I'll just split the bill."

I sighed contently after coming down, Edward lay sprawled on top of me with his head on my stomach as he fought to catch his breath. After a moment he collected himself and crawled up to collapse next to me.

"You're welcome." He said with a shit-eating grin. I burst out laughing and playfully pushed him, which gave him perfect opportunity to grab my wrist and pull me across him as he rolled and pinned me to the mattress. He laughed and gazed at me his eyes shining in the dark.

"Say, "Thank you, Ed.""

"Oh get over yourself." I said, and whacked him with a pillow. He sat there stunned, and his face shifted from stupefied to the sly, cunning animal ready to pounce. Excitement and anxiety surged in me and I knew what was coming.

"Oh, you're messing with the wrong guy, Rocky." And that was the start of our pillow fight turned wrestling match turned sweet and passionate kissing; the deep and toe-curling kind.

"I love seeing you like this." I said to him as he hovered over me. his face close to mine. "You seem happy."

"I am. I'm better than happy. I'm at peace, and it's all because of you. None of this would have happened if I hadn't met you." I considered his words for a moment before adding,

"Well, none of this would have happened if I didn't have perfect blood."

"I was surprised to hear you open up about it tonight." He said, moving a few strands of hair from my eyes. I shrugged.

"I'm not afraid to talk about it anymore. You taught me that. I felt powerless for so many years until I met you, and now I know I can live whatever life I want because I've always been the one in control. When the world finds out about me, I won't be afraid. Especially because I've got you." A calm serenity washed over his features.

"You have no idea how much power you have. I'm completely useless against you. " He laughed. "When I saw you in Roy's office, I was done for."

I couldn't help giggling in response.

"You laugh, but I'm serious." He said. "I was ready to end it all. I was so fucked up, and I saw you and that was it. It was like ...suddenly feeling a heartbeat when you'd only ever known yourself to be dead. It scared the shit out of me. I never thought I'd get any answers, I never thought I'd find out who did this to me or who I am, and I was so damn sure that I'd never be in love."

I started welling up and he rolled his eyes, laughing at me.

"Not this again, get it together Rockbell." I laughed at him and it eased the tension in my throat. He looked at me lovingly and said,

"You met me when I was at my absolute worst, and somehow you manage to love this mess anyway." He rested his body weight on me as he embraced me, burying his face in the crook of my neck. "I can't thank you enough for that, Winry."

How the hell was I supposed to not cry after hearing that? My arms wrapped about him and my fingers laced into his loose hair.

"I love you, Edward." I felt him grin, and he pulled back and kissed me.

I knew that life would never be the same for either of us, it would never be what we'd always known because since meeting each other everything had changed. We faced fears, embraced faults, I learned to take control while he learned to let go of some. He saw through my insecurities to the woman who wanted to embrace life, and I saw past his terrifying demons to help him realize that life was worth living and that if he had to suffer, he would never suffer alone. We were two lonely, broken people slowly healing because we knew that we would never have to feel alone again. Both resigned to the idea that our dreams would never be accomplished, that love wasn't something in the cards for us, that we'd never get to live our lives the way we wanted to. How blissful it was to know then that we were wrong. And in that moment, for the first time since I could remember, everything truly was perfect.

A/N: I can't thank you all enough for your dedication to this story. This started out as something I wrote solely for myself as a creative outlet, and when I uploaded it I never expected so much wonderful feedback. It's very easy to be mean on the internet, and not a single person has been to me, and it restores my faith in humanity. It took me a long time to write the final chapter of this because it had to be perfect, and I hope you all found it satisfactory. Thank you again for your attention and kind words. Till next time,

- .C