Winry

Winry stands in the middle of a cluster of soldiers, clutching her box of tools and looking around open-mouthed at the chaotic, nearly apocalyptic scene. There's lava streaming from the entire city, giving the night air an orange glow, and shouts are echoing wildly off the canyon walls and the burning remains of the city. She peers through the group of soldiers. Colonel Mustang and Lieutenant Hawkeye have gone ahead several hundred yards, murmuring to each other in confused voices as they take in the nightmarish scene. They're talking to two figures. A girl with long fire-red hair in a scarlet coat— Winry's heart jumps and the blood begins to pound in her ears. That's Edward's coat! Her eye catches a flash of gold and she grips the strap of her tool box tighter. The other figure is Edward himself.

Suddenly there's a commotion and the girl breaks away from the others, sprinting past the huddle of soldiers, who break formation and run towards the colonel. "Julia!" Ed's voice cries. He dashes right by Winry as she turns toward him. His beautiful golden-blonde hair is pulled back in a braid as usual. "Ed!" he doesn't hear her. Turning, she runs after him, following him breathlessly up a set of stairs. He's leaning over the edge of the giant bridge when she gets there. "Ed!" she calls again. This time he turns, surprised.

"Winry!" he's breathing hard and there's sweat trickling from his brow.

"Are you alright?" Frowning, he touches his right elbow and replies

"Uh, I kind of wrecked my arm...sorry." Sighing, she swings the tool box from her shoulder.

"That's because you're always so reckless. Let me look at it." He shrugs his jacket off and sits cross-legged in front of her just as Mustang and Hawkeye come running up. The muscles in his neck and flesh-and-blood arm are tense.

As she kneels beside him and opens her tool box, he explains the situation briefly. "I need to get down in the valley to help stop the lava." She opens the panel on his arm, wincing when she sees the problem. It makes her stomach hurt see her careful work destroyed so brashly. "Um, I can't do much...the gear's broken." She looks up at Ed, frowning, and closes the panel, but doesn't take her hands away. The metal beneath her fingertips makes her heart slow its fluttering a bit. Ed flinches and clenches his teeth in frustration. "Don't you have a replacement?" Mustang asks.
"I was only planning on making some adjustments." she shakes her head ruefully.

"We'll get a replacement. Come on!" Edward says suddenly.

"Huh?" her head turns toward him automatically. His eyes are glinting gold in the flickering light of the fires around the city and his mouth is curved in a determined smile. Still holding onto his arm, she asks "What are you talking about?"

"There's a mechanic down in the valley. We can get parts from him."

"But how?" He jumps to his feet and Winry follows suit.

"With these!" as he taps the pack strapped to his back, his eyes glitter even more. "Wings!" She jerks back, finally releasing his arm. "Are you crazy?"

"Come on, Winry, we don't have much time!"

Edward

He finishes adjusting the straps of the giant leather wings and turns to her. "Ready?" she blinks and takes a step back. "This is a really bad idea."

"This is the only way you can get the parts to fix my arm. Come on." He turns around, facing the edge of the cliff. Hesitantly she steps forward and wraps her arms around his shoulders. He reaches back and puts his own arms around her and they stand for a moment, staring into the chaotic swirl of colors and shadowy forms in depths of the valley. "Hang on. It's a long way down." he says, and launches them over the edge.

She screams, arms clenching tighter around him as they plummet downward. He locks his fingers behind her back and rolls into a flip. Suddenly he feels her face press into the back of his neck and he wobbles a bit, trying to ignore the shrieking that is still going on right in his ear. "Cut it out, Winry. You're being a baby." She stops screaming after a minute but doesn't move her face from his neck and he feels his own face growing a little hot. From the fire and lava in the valley. They're almost there. He does one last flip and then they land with a spine-tingling thud on the valley floor.

Except he hits the ground too fast and is propelled face-first into the ground."Oof!" Winry utters another little shriek and then untangles herself from him and rolls away. "Edward..." she says reproachfully as she sits up, her legs splayed awkwardly and white jacket askew and dusted with dirt. He sits up, too, loosening the straps around his chest. She rubs her head and then cocks it at him. "Your lip is bleeding." He worms off the giant wings and touches a finger to his mouth. Sure enough, it comes away bloody. He shrugs and scrambles to his feet, extending the hand to her. She grabs it and he pulls her to her feet, turning towards the village. Beside him, Winry dusts off her pink shirt and frowns down at her hand. "Now you got blood on me."

"Aww, come on Winry, this is no time for that. My arm barely works and I really need to get out there and help Al and Julia." He wipes the blood off on the hem of his shirt. "This way!" As he starts towards the village and she stumbles after him, he rubs the back of his neck, wishing it wasn't so hot in the valley.