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"Ack! No!" Ed still couldn't help the pale, embarrassed, blush threatening to take over his face.

Al laughed "Brother likes Winry~" he said in a sort of teasing, sing-song way, then grinned at Sakura "She's our best friend and his mechanic." Ed clamped his hand over Al's mouth at that point, his face burning now.

He stared at the floor rather than looking at their hostess, "We grew up together...she fixed me..." The alchemist's voice was softer now, he obviously missed the girl. "I-...She's my friend..." a small sigh, "Just my friend..."

As Sakura went on, Ed squirmed uncomfortably. Al just laughed "We can read you like a book, Ed. And she hasn't even known you that long."

Edward gave an annoyed little grumble "What about you, huh?" He finally brought himself to look at Sakura again, an almost challenging light in his eyes. If he shared, she should have to. Equivalent exchange and all that.

Eep! Sad girl! Ed had never been good at dealing with depressed women. Angry, scary, violent women, sure, but sad? Please. Like any of the women in his life showed that kind of thing very often.

He was saved, though, by Alphonse who gave a comforting little smile "Sorry to hear that. But you're really nice, you'll find someone."

Alphonse winced "But...wa-...isn't he your friend? He'll come back someday, won't he?" He knew, thanks to the explanation earlier in the day, why Sasuke had left. But to leave a friend like that? Unforgivable.

Ed looked both sorry for her, and thoughtful. Their situation was similar, the brothers' and Sasuke's. The Elrics had no family left, no home, and only a handful of people left behind in their country that might be hoping for their return. Winry's face, joyful he'd returned and annoyed he'd taken so long, flashed through his mind and he smiled in spite of himself. "He's a lot like us, isn't he, Al?"

"Huh? Oh..." the similarities fell into place for the younger brother and he gave a sad sort of half smile. "Yeah...guess so..." There were some bigger differences, true, but it mostly boiled down to the same idea.

They listened as she told the story and sat in silence for a moment afterward. Al was the first to speak up "I bet he still thinks about you guys, though." Alphonse refused to believe anyone could just up and forget about the friends they'd had that long.

Ed wasn't so sure, though. If people could do such horrible things to their own family, what was there that would stop one young man from turning his back on everything he'd known? He sighed lightly, "You're wrong. Just you and Naruto won't bring him back, " He paused, then smirked, "Al and I promised to help, remember?" Even if it was an uncertain situation, and even if there may be no hope for bringing the guy back, they had promised.

Ed blushed furiously and sputtered out a few unintelligible syllables while Al laughed. "Don't bother denying it, brother. It's obvious."

"Eh!? Whaddaya mean 'obvious'?"

He gave his brother one of those 'do you think I'm stupid?' looks, "You'll do anything she asks, you realize that, right? I've seen you drop everything just to help her hold a part in place..."

Edward grumbled "Yeah, when the part was attached to me!"

Face? Meet floor. Ed collapsed under the weight of his own embarrassment. He pushed himself back up just far enough to address Sakura again "GHA! NO! That's not what I meant!"

Alphonse held his own sides while he laughed, "Do-don't say you ha-haven't thought about it, Ed!" That earned a nice jab to the shoulder, which only made Al's laughter worse since it didn't seem like Ed could deny it.

((XD heart Yay! You caught the innuendo, lol))