It was the shortest day of the year. The winds blew hard from the north, causing a howl to emerge from the bowels of the darkness that had fallen upon the quiet little town of Risembool. Snow made its home on any free surface, adding a stark contrast to the black; although, one couldn't see what winter had bestowed upon them in the shadow of the night.
"Where are they?" the well-known blonde mechanic muttered nervously to herself as she wrung a towel between her hands. "They said they'd be here before dark..." Once again, she moved aside the curtains to peer outside, cobalt eyes searching for the two boys she had basically known since birth.
An aged woman stood a few paces behind her, organizing a few things that had been carelessly scattered on the coffee table. "Calm down, Winry. It's not like those boys haven't been late before. It's unusual enough as it is, that they called before stopping by."
With a sigh, the mechanic let the curtains slide through her fingers and watched meekly as it fell back into place. With the weather as bad as it was, and only getting worse, business had been slow. Hearing word of the Elrics' visit had given her something to look forward to, and also something to be suspicious of. "I think he broke his automail again, Granny," she mentioned, casting a look back at the older woman. "Why else would he come vis--" A knock sounded at the door, just barely heard above the shriek of the wind. "Guess we'll find out." Once a wrench was firmly in her grasp, Winry pulled the door open, only to have a boy with a blonde mess of a braid faceplant at her feet before she could even raise her voice. ...Or her arm.
"What happened to him, Al?"
The suit of armor shifted a bit on his feet as hot towels were placed on the areas were metal touched flesh on his brother's body. "We were walking here when Big Brother suddenly started having trouble moving. He said he felt sort of numb." Alphonse paused, looking at his elder sibling, conveying his evident worry through his voice.
Winry nodded once before pulling up a chair next to the couch. "You're both idiots for coming out here anyway," she stated a mater-of-factly. "You've been gone so long, you probably forgot how much more snow we get than Central. Which makes me wonder why you decided to visit all of a sudden." She raised a hand and made a move to brush the bangs from Ed's face, but another hand swatted hers away.
"I'm fine, Winry. Jeese," came the curt reply. The impact of his hand lacked force, indicating his exhaustion, but his voice was still strong as ever. "I don't see why we can't just come over. We used to live here, you know. What did you think happened, that I destroyed my automail again?"
"That seems to be the only reason you ever drop by, Ed," she countered, scratching the back of her head in exasperation. "You honestly can't expect me to believe that your automail is in perfect condition when you're sitting on my couch. What's wrong with it?" Grabbing the metal prosthetic, she yanked it upwards, tearing a yelp from its owner.
Cringing, Edward tried to pull his arm back down to little avail. "God damn it! What do you think you're doing you uncute machine junkie?! My automail's fine!"
He was speaking the truth. The arm itself was in perfect working condition, aside from its various battlescars and a slight creak from the cold that had settled in the joints. She gave his leg a quick examination and found that it was in good shape as well, save for being half an inch too short compared to his flesh leg. "Well, you alchemy geek," she snarked back, tightening a loose bolt with caused Edward to squirm, "looks like you've grown a little."
"You guys always say that like it's some big surprise." A frown creased his lips, but anyone could tell the Fullmetal Alchemist was pleased to hear this news. Taking a deep breath, he yanked his automail away from Winry and sat up straight. "I'M STILL GROWING YOU KNOW I'M EATING FOR TWO SO JUST SHUT UP." As soon as his outburst was finished, a calloused palm was pressed flat against his chest, forcing him onto his back.
Winry removed her hand and placed it on her hip as she stood, sighing heavily. It was tempting to take her beloved wrench and just bash it over his head like she was so accustomed to. But, something stopped her. Some feeling that made her heart flutter lightly, although she showed no outward signs of it. "I'll let your frostbite heal before I take your leg off. So be ready for that first thing tomorrow morning." What question the blonde really wanted to ask, was why the brothers felt the need to come back home. It was completely unlike them; they tended to avoid the small village like the plague. But that was something she'd press for later.
"...Frostbite?" The oldest Elric sounded completely oblivious to the fact that his skin had been nipped by the cold his metal ports contracted. "What'dya mean? Huh?"
"Frostbite," Winry repeated slowly, enunciating each syllable as if Ed's brilliant mind couldn't grasp such a simple concept. In reality, it was just harmless bantering. "It's just like you to walk through a storm while wearing your regular automail. Haven't I told you it's not safe to do that, you idiot? All my hard work could have cracked from the wind!" Now, her voice had taken on a nagging tone that make a vein pop out in the other blonde's forehead.
"Hey!" His voice raised quite a bit from his previous tone. "What do you expect me to do, lug around some automail I hardly ever use!?" Edward shot back, casting her an irritated, yet tired glare. "Phhf. It's just like you to worry about my automail more than me. I could die, and you'd be happy as long as it was all right!" Clunk!
The wrench was lowered from the quickly coloring spot on the side of Edward's head, the hand around it white from the force of its wielder's grip. "You know I worry about you!" she shouted, not holding anything back. Whether the sudden urge to yell stemmed from anger or sadness, she wasn't quite sure. "When you and Al are off doing things, I'm always worried you won't come back. That you ended up getting killed somewhere. Everytime...I see you, you're always hurt. And you're always keeping secrets from me. So tell me this, Ed, if you won't tell me anything else; why did you come visit?" Winry honestly felt terrible for being so suspicious of her friend's motive instead of rejoicing for such a spontaneous visit, especially when she saw the brothers so little. The military didn't have them on a tight leash, like they did other soldiers, but they always found some excuse to roam the country.
Now it was Al's turn to step in. He stood and put a hand on the mechanic's shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. "We came because--" His explanation was interrupted by a curt grumble from his elder brother.
"Shut it, Al."
Staying frozen for a moment, she stared at Ed, whom in turn, directed his gaze to the far wall, refusing to look at her. "...Another secret, huh?" Disappointment betrayed her as it overtook all of her features, both of her hands clasping the tool tightly, making her knuckles turn a ghostly white. "Fine. If that's how you're going to be. Good night." The last two words were sharp, making Al cringe and look over at his brother in disbelief. With that final thing said, she merely drug herself upstairs. As soon as the footsteps ceased, the house was silent except the ever-present noises made graciously by Mother Nature.
The clock struck one AM, and sleep was still avoiding the Fullmetal Alchemist's grasp. The towels had long since grown cold and had been discarded, simply pushed onto the floor. A blanket had taken their place and Edward curled up under it, lying on his left side, back to back with the couch. It wasn't a secret. He didn't want it to be a secret, but he couldn't come to terms with it. A sigh escaped his lips and he closed his eyes, wondering why he refused to go upstairs and grab one of the beds always ready for him and Al to use. Oh yeah, it was because she was upstairs. Ed tried to banish this thought, but he could only push it back until it lurked from some corner in the edges of his mind. Of COURSE she was upstairs, probably in bed—or, more likely than not, with her nose in some stupid scrap of automail. He'd bet his silver watch she slept with some metal limb instead of a teddy bear; or him, quite obviously, for that matter. "I don't wanna sleep with that unsexy automail geek!" he whispered under his breath, forcing his eyes shut tighter as he yanked the blanket up to his chin. "The cold must be messing with my brain."
"Ed? What are you still doing up?"
The familiar drew him toward the base of the staircase, golden eyes sleepily cracking open. "What do you want? I thought you were pissed off or somethin'."
"I was, but you keep muttering to yourself so I thought I'd come down to make sure I didn't knock your brain out," Winry replied as she walked into the room. Dressed in pajamas, her hair astray, it was easily known that she'd been asleep for at least a little while. Arms were quickly crossed when she noticed how bitter the air was downstairs; cold enough to make one's hair stand on end. "Jeese, why are you even down here? I see can my own breath."
It was a long moment before Edward responded; the snap of a tree branch broken by a strong gust filled what would have been an awkward silence. "I didn't want to go upstairs."
"Why?" The tone was filled with confusion.
"You...were up there That's why."
"Oh, that's really mature, Ed. I had a good reason to be upset."
"Oh yeah, what's that?"
Winry stared him down; now she was less than a foot away and he began to fidget under her intense gaze. "You and Al always keep me in the dark, you've done that since we were kids. Don't you trust me, Edward? Because... I trust you." At least, she trusted him enough to make his own decisions. After that point, she could only hope he had made decisions that wouldn't put his or Alphonse's lives in jeopardy.
His mouth opened quickly to fire some smartass comment, but it snapped shut as a thought forced itself into the frontal lobe on his brain. Rolling over onto his back, Ed let out a huff and crossed his arms under his covering, staring up at the ceiling. "You know, one of these days, I'm going to transmute your wrench into something you can't hit me with."
Now he was dodging the subject, but...he was right. She really shouldn't have done that. He caused her temper to flare, he deserved it! But she had let her temper flare. Letting a breath out and watching it turn into vapor as it hit the frigid air, the blonde mechanic knelt down by the couch. While Ed's arms were occupied, she brushed his bangs from his face and looked at the bruise she had caused him. With a slight wince, she noted the dried blood caught in the golden strands of hair. "Maybe if you'd stop acting like a complete idiot, I wouldn't have to hit you."
"Winry."
She blinked twice. Never had he said her name so...softly before. That was not an Ed-tone. That was a...It was... most definitely not an Ed-tone. "Yes?"
"The reason we came..." he began, staring up at the ceiling. He couldn't look at her as he said this. "I really just...I wanted...Y'know..."
"...No. I don't know."
"I...wanted to...see you. Are you happy now?" he snapped in a way that read 'why else would I walk through a damn storm', and rolled onto his other side so his back faced her. She could see now that he'd undone the braid that had been previous matted by heavy snowfall. Wearing his hair down gave the teen an innocent sort of charm. Without any other word, the blanket was moved for a moment, the cold air striking his back. Within a moment, it draped over him once more, but an unfamiliar warm was pressed against him. Glancing back in just the slightest, he only saw a second mess of blonde hair. "W-Winry? What are you...?"
"Showing you how happy I am, Ed," she replied in nothing but a low whisper, breath warm against the back of his neck.
Squirming, the alchemist was caught between moving closer to her, and farther away. "J-jeese, Winry. You don't hafta...I mean...Just f-fix my automail or s-some--"
"And also, I heard your comment earlier. You're warmer than any fake limb."
That efficiently shut him up.
The only adjustment made during the rest of that night, was a certain golden eyed boy moving about face, his arms encircling a certain friend of his who had a knack for the mechanics that gave him a much needed leg to stand on. It was the longest night of the year.