Young girls are often told that when a boy makes fun of you they do so because they like you. This message is not always true, but in Winry Rockbell`s case the words held truth. "But Granny, he bullies me and tells me I'm weird!" The young girl had been arguing with the elderly women about going to school for some time now. All of her excuses and complaints made sense until she'd made that comment.
Pinako frowned and looked into Winry's big blue eyes, "Who makes fun of you?" The young blonde's cheeks begin to turn red as she looks away angrily.
"Edward Elric."
Granny's eyebrows raise, "Trisha's oldest boy?" Winry nods without looking up. "Well, that's no reasn to not go to school."
This was hwere Winry did look up, "Yes it is because ever since he got better grades he was put into my class! Now he makes fun of me all the time."
"Winry," Granny started while she tried not to laugh, "He probably only pokes fun at you because he likes you." Winry's cheeks became even redder.
The little girl's eyebrows furrowed and she clenched her tiny fists, "That's not true! If a boy likes you they should be nice to you!" she shouts, her arms crossed over her chest when she finishes.
"They should," Pinako agreed, "but sometimes they don't follow that rule. Now hurry up!" She orders, directing the small girl to the front door, "the bus is already here!"
Winry walked out the front door unwillingly, waving back to her grandmother as she ran towards the yellow school bus, "Bye Granny!" Pinako smiled and waved back happily.
"Wow Winry, who knew you were such a Grandma's girl." Winry cringed as soon as she heard the voice but she tried her best to ignore the golden-haired boy and kept walking further onto the bus. She found her small group of friends and sat with them. "Winry it's rude to ignore people!" the young boy yells back at her. All Winry did was turn to him and stick her tongue out, cheered on by a couple of her friends.
Ed's face flushes and, mostly out of shock that she retaliated for once, he flips back in his seat and crosses his arms, staring straight ahead. He didn't have the courage bug her for the next few days.
Over the course of the following school years they continued to make fun of each other, both parties egged on by their friends. There was one particular day that Winry planned on having the upper hand in the small battle they'd created. She woke up that day humming, clearly a lot happier than she usually was on a school day.
Pinako, of course, quickly caught onto this, "You seem cheery," she noted, watching as her now teenaged granddaughter hummed to herself and made breakfast for the two of them.
"I am," She agreed, a mischievous grin plastered on her face, "I am finally going to crush Edward in this little… duel he's created." She declared smirking.
Pinako frowned, "Ed Elric? Are you two still making fun of each other?"
"After today… I bet he'll lose the spirit in it; but at the moment yes, we are." Winry told her while she put toast and eggs on the table.
"Why is that?" Her grandmother asked, a worried tone taking over her voice.
Winry began to grin once more like a madwomen, "Well I may have noticed something yesterday that must have happened over the summer," She says mysteriously, biting into her breakfast.
"What is it Winry?" Granny asks, buying into the bait.
"I, along with many others, am officially taller than Edward Elric," She declares once her mouth is empty, "Which makes him the shortest person in our class."
Pinako shakes her head, laughing, "He's not going to like that," she said, grinning along with Winry.
"No," Winry agrees, "He's not."
Winry and her grandmother quickly finish up their breakfast and clear the table. "Winry," Pinako starts, looking over at the blonde girl, "Do you remember that conversation we had… Oh it would have been years ago now, but it was right before you went to school one day, and we talked about Ed and how he made fun of you."
Winry stood back and thought for a minute, "You mean the time you told me he only made fun of me because he liked me?" Pinako nodded, "Yes, I remember that. I still think you're crazy for believing that though."
Pinako laughs, "It's a shame you think that." She states, continuing to wash the dishes.
"Why?"
She looks over at her granddaughter with her own mischievous grin, "Because I'm starting to believe girls make fun of the boys they like too."
Winry's face began to flush without warning and she puts on an overly dramatic shocked face, "I cannot believe you just said that!"
"What?" Pinako asked innocently, winking at her, "Now get going, or you'll be late for the bus!" Winry shook her head at the old women and grabbed her bag before running out the front door.
"Bye Granny!" She yells, waving back towards the kitchen window before jumping onto the bus.
Edward's laugh is the first thing she hears, "You know, some things really do never change; once a Granny's girl, always a Granny's girl."
Normally the comment would have put Winry down and would have her searching for revenge, but this morning she was prepared. Instead of frowning and looking away, she smirked and looked him right in the eye, "Whatever you say, shorty."
Ed stopped dead, and was completely unsure of what to do. His eyes widened, his cheeks flushed, and his jaw dropped. He clenched his fists tightly and glared at her before yelling, "I AM NOT SHORT!" Of course, instead of scaring her he only made her laugh.
"Ed," She said, mocking a sympathetic voice, "You just happen to be the shortest one in the class." She grins evilly as her friends smile and urged her on.
"I am not!" He yells, turning his glare onto anyone who laughed or pressed Winry on. "You're all just freakishly tall!"
Winry laughs softly, giving him a nonchalant shrug, "Whatever you say, Ed." She grins as she walks the rest of the way to her seat. She knew she'd won for that day.
When she arrives home that day she is still just as happy as when she left. "Judging by your mood," Granny starts, "I'd say you won that little game of yours?"
"Yes, Granny," Winry says, sighing happily, "Yes I did." Granny nods, not saying anything as she puffs on her pipe. "Why?" Winry asks, sensing there was something more her grandmother wanted to say.
"Well I want to talk about what I said this morning," she said, "about how boys, and girls, make fun of the people they like."
Winry rolled her eyes, "Granny, you should know this I don't like Edwa-"
Pinako put a hand up to cut her off, "I never said you did. What I mean to say is that I don't want him to get the wrong idea. He might think that you making fun of him means that you like him," she explained, looking over at her, "So maybe you should just try and be nice instead of continuing this silly feud."
Winry thought about it for a minute, "I guess that kind of makes sense." She agreed, "And I doubt he'll make fun of me too much now that I have the short jokes to play." She mumbles to herself. "I… I guess I can try and be nicer."
"Good," Granny said, nodding, "Because you also don't want to get a reputation as the girl bully."
Winry laughed and nodded, "I guess that's true too. I'm going to go finish my homework and then maybe twiddle with the car engine in the garage; can you let me know when dinner is?"
"Of course," Pinako said, smiling as Winry left to go to her room. The old women continued to puff at her pipe as she smiled to herself.
The following day Winry decided she would try to be nicer to Edward at school and on the bus. When she walked onto the bus and didn't hear him make a single comment she felt as though her job was going to be easy.
The two of them went the entire day without making fun of one another, a record for them since they'd been in the same class. Winry was pleasantly surprised at how nice her day had gone. Not one taunt or one tease towards her and not one taunt or tease out of her mouth. It was a nice difference she thought, but a big and sudden change.
The more she thought about this change, and the comment she made that started it, the more she felt bad for making fun of Ed's height. As the days crawled by and not a single comment was made by either of them, the longer her guilt began to build.
Finally on the third day she felt absolutely miserable about the way she treated him. After Granny and her had ate dinner she didn't even want to touch her tool kit, something rare for her.
Pinako frowned when she observed Winry's strange behaviour, "What's wrong?" she asked softly.
"Well," Winry started softly, a frown already present on her face, "I just feel really… guilty. Ever since the day I made fun of Edward's height neither him or I have made fun of each other. I didn't because I was trying to be nice, but he hasn't even tried to get me back. I think I finally struck a sore spot and I just feel terrible, Granny. Which is ridiculous because I've been trying to be nice!" Winry told her, trying to explain it to her in the best way possible.
Her grandmother nodded as she followed along, "So, you've hardly said a word to him since you made the comment about his height?" she repeated, asking for clarification.
"That's right,"
"Winry, well that isn't being mean, it also isn't being nice," Pinako said, "You feel bad because you hurt his feelings and haven't apologized."
Winry's frown grew, "You think so?" When her grandmother nodded she sighed, "I guess that means I should probably go apologize, huh?" she asked, already knowing the answer her grandma would provide. Winry got up and slipped her shoes on, "I'll be back soon then," she mumbled, grumbling to herself as she walked out the front door.
She followed the path up towards the Elric house and stopped at their front door, knocking loudly. The door opened to the lesser of two evils, "Oh, hi Winry!" Al, Edward's younger brother said, smiling pleasantly, "What brings you here?"
"Actually, I'm looking for your brother," she told him, clearly surprising the younger boy.
Al stepped out of the house, "He's over here working in the shed," he said, beckoning her to follow him, "He's been trying to fix up our dad's old bike so he can ride it to school instead of the bus." He explained. She followed him to the small building that Ed was sitting in the doorway of. "Ed, Winry's here."
Edward stopped fiddling with the bike abruptly and looked up, clearly confused, "Who-" he stopped when he saw Winry, "Oh," he mumbled, clearing the bike parts of his lap so he looked somewhat prepared for someone to walk in on him, "What can I do for you, Rockbell?" he asked, his voice fairly monotone. It was clear that he had no idea why she was standing in front of him.
Winry flushed a bit, hating that she felt so bad, "I came over to apologize," she muttered quietly and incoherently.
"Pardon?" Edward said, shaking his head and narrowing his eyes. It was hard to tell if he'd heard her and didn't believe her or just didn't hear her.
Winry cleared her throat and tried to stand tall and proud, "I said," she started, "That I came over to apologize."
This time Ed began to smirk, "Apologize? What for?"
"For calling you short." She mumbled, glaring at him.
He smiled, clearly happy with himself, "Apology accepted." He stated, and then turned back to his tools and bike. Winry wasn't sure where Al had gone to but instead of following his actions and leaving she just awkwardly stood there and watched, almost in pain, as Ed tried to fight with his bike.
She cringed a bit as she watched him do things completely wrong, "Uhm," she mumbled, pointing a bit at the crumpled metal and his greased hands, "Do you mind if I do that for you? Watching you try to do it…" she trailed off, "I kind of have a knack for this sort of thing." She explained. Without waiting for a response she sat down across from him and began to work on the bike.
He frowned, watching her, "Well I guess." He muttered, handing her the tools she asked for. Together the two of them slowly worked on the bike, putting it back together piece by piece.
"There!" She cheered a little while later, holding the bike up and grinning, "All done."
Ed's eyes widened, "Winry, you're a genius!" he declared without thinking, a dopey smile on his face as he took the bike from her. He tried it out down the driveway a bit and stopped once he got back to her, "Thank you!" he said, hoping of the bike and surprising her with a friendly hug.
"Uh," she started, hugging him back and feeling at lost for words, "You're… uh… you're welcome!" she said, smiling awkwardly as she tried to recover from her lapse in thought. The boy hardly seemed to notice though as he played with his new toy.
"This is great!" he said, riding it back and forth in front of her a few times.
Winry's smile grew, "We didn't do a bad job." She said, observing what was mostly her own handiwork.
"We did a fantastic job!"
Winry couldn't help but laugh at Ed's enthusiasm, "We don't make a bad team." She admitted, smiling. He stopped and hopped off the bike again, thrusting it towards her.
"Your turn, you did do most of the work," he said as she took the bike.
Winry grins at him, "I did do most of the work," she agreed, "but you made a pretty decent assistant." She told him, jumping on the bike and riding down the driveway and back a few times. "You'll have to help me with more of my projects! I could use an assistant!" she shouted at him as she rode past him. "Even if he is a tiny bit short!"