I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist.
WARNING: Contents may contain an inordinate amount of cheesy material. Do not read if you are lactose intolerant.
Trisha Elric had a long-standing rule when it came to sibling fights. If one brother should hurt the other's feelings, he must apologize. If the offending brother caused tears, he must hug and kiss the other.
Perhaps, then, that's what drove Edward Elric to hug and kiss his best friend that morning. He didn't intend to make her cry; his mind just seemed to evade him, as it often did of late when he was in the company of this particular girl.
Ed had chased her upstairs, because she teased him.
"Why are you chasing me, Shorty?" she said.
"Shorty? DON'T CALL ME SHORT!" Ed picked up his pace. "And you know why!"
Winry turned around and the two stopped running. She put her hands on her hips. "Oh," she said, standing outside her room, "Is it because I called you an Alchemy Geek?" She poked Ed in the chest.
"Alchemy Geek!" she called.
Ed did not tolerate insults very well, at the ripe old age of nine. He pushed Winry half out of frustration, and half out of wanting to feel her hair. But he'd forgotten that they were two feet from the staircase. Winry promptly lost her footing and fell down a whole flight of steps. Ed didn't anticipate her falling so quickly, or so hard. The accident emitted a great noise, but Ed wasn't sure if that noise was a product of Winry's anger, or the creak of the step below her.