Note: I do not own Full Metal Alchemist or any of it's characters. This is simply a fiction.
Thanks,
-October.
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"No. Please. Don't do this. You don't have to do this. The person I know wouldn't kill someone…"
The warm sun rays of summer lightly touched the golden strands of Edward Elric's hair as he walked down the all too familiar dirt road to the Rockbell house. The slight breeze felt good against his toasty skin. He couldn't count the number of times that he had traveled down this road. He knew the number was too many, and yet, not nearly enough. When he had received word that Granny Pinako was sick, he grabbed the first train he could get out of Central, plus he needed a check up on his automail. Unfortunately, it took a while for him to get that first train since he was in a little trouble and had been doing paperwork and filling out reports for weeks on end. Knowing that Mustang would not let him go, he had snuck away in the middle of the night and caught a train back to his home town. Obviously, he had left Al, knowing that he wouldn't want to see Granny ill (plus, he wasn't very good at sneeking away with a metal body),and knew he would be in a lot of trouble when he returned. He didn't really care though; he knew that Granny and Winry needed him. Besides, he had been in plenty of trouble before and the colonel hadn't killed him yet.
He kept walking up the hill as he thought about how he would spend his time in his home town. He thought that maybe he would you and sit by the river and lay in the sun like he, Al, and Winry used to do what seems like forever ago. Winry… Riza had actually gotten the call and retrieved the information to Ed about Granny's cold. How was she holding up? Was she short on money because of the medical bills? Winry had always appeared to be a tough girl who could fend for herself, but Ed knew she really had a heart of gold. It almost killed him every time had to leave the Rockbell House to go on another mission. It wasn't the leaving itself; it was watching Winry being brought to tears as she begged him not to go. She was his best friend (besides Al, of course). It pained him to see her sad, but it was his job. He had to go. As he left his thoughts, he stepped onto the front porch of the so familiar house. Noticing the paint chipping off the small wooden bench, he paused for a moment before he knocked on the door. Half expecting Winry to come rushing at him with open arms, he was mildly surprised when no one answered. He waited for a good minute before knocking again. Still, no answer. That was when he heard a loud bang come from the side-garage. Worried he rushed to the side of the house and flung open the door. To his relief, Winry was sitting on the ground in a gray tube top and her usual baggy pants banging on what appeared to be a make shift engine with her wrench as little sprays of oil shot up and into her pulled up hair. Ed smiled at his. If Ed wasn't there to get whacked up side the head, something had to. "Hey Win." Ed said nonchalantly. She just nodded. His smile faded. Normally she was arms wide open, spilling with joy, happy to see him. She slid the wrench around the bolt and viciously tugged until it loosened. "Win?"
She glared over at him for a brief moment then continued her work with persistancy.
"So, where's Pinako?" He asked to break the uncomfortable silence, noting that Winry wasn't by her side.
Winry stopped her wrench work and glanced forward. She almost emotionlessly replied, "She's dead."
Ed's heart felt a pain that he thought had long gone. Gone? No, that wasn't possible. She had a cold. Everyone gets them. A minor illness, surely not deadly. There was no way she could be… dead. Granny was the only real motherly figure Ed had left, and now she was gone, just like Trisha. "H-How long?" he asked with a slight quiver in his voice.
"Two weeks." She said after a short pause.
"Winry…" Ed mournfully spoke as he lightly placed his human hand on her shoulder, attempting to compfort her while trying his hardest to keep his composure.
"I don't want your damn sympathy Elric." She bluntly stated as she shrugged off his grasp. He pulled his hand into a light fist as he drew his hand away. Not so much in anger, but in shock.
Was Winry really so unaffected and cold about the death of her last family member? Was it even possible to be that cold? No, not the Winry he knew. But, on the other hand, he hadn't been home in almost a year. Could she really have changed like that? He started to open his mouth when she stood up and walked past him without even a glance in his direction and walked into the kitchen. He, instinctively, followed her as she laid her oil covered wrench on the already unclean counter.
"I don't really know why you're here," she coolly stated as she washed the grease from under her nails, "but if you have to stay, your room is just like it was when you left." Without a word, he began up the stair case and opened the door to the room where Al and he always stayed when they were in town. She was right. It was untouched. Bed still made up perfectly just like Granny always had it, blinds still slightly twisted open, and the right corner of the carpet still slightly flipped up. It never wanted to stay down. He tossed his duffel bag onto the mattress and sat down next to it. Something about Winry's statement troubled him. The way she said have… if you have to stay. In the past, she would be brought to tears as she begged him to stay. For him not to go back to his all too dangerous job. Now it was as if she didn't want him there at all. Something wasn't adding up. Sure, he could see that she would be having a hard time dealing with loss, but wouldn't she want Ed to help her through this rough time? To comfort her and tell her that it would all be alright? Why was she shutting him out? Being too much for him to comprehend on an exceptionally little amount of sleep, he laid his back on the pillow and attempted to get some rest. Unfortunately, he would not rest soundly.
Ed stood in the dark wooded area listening softly to the world awakening around him. The sun sat on the horizon peacefully as the river below quietly raced around its bends. Beautiful. Simply Beautiful.
"Edward." A soft voice whispered. Ed turned around in the darkness but saw nothing.
"Edward…" The voice spoke again. This time he almost instantly recognized it as Winry's. He peeled his eyes sharply until he saw the dark figure slumped against the Oak Tree. Her knees were up to her chin and her arms were hugged around her legs. He cautiously walked towards her as this time she whimpered mournfully, "Ed- Edward…"
He bent down to he eye level "Winry?" he asked surprisingly. She did not answer, just buried her face into her knees. "Winry…?" He repeated convinced that she didn't hear him the first time. Still, she didn't reply, just buried her face deeper into her legs. "Win! Please answer me! What's wrong with you!" He practically screamed as he leaned closer to her. She mumbled something inaudible to the human ear.
He asked what she said with a much calmer and surprised tone. She looked up with her face bloody and bruised as she attempted to suck back the tears, "You didn't come…! Edward! W-why didn't you come?!..."
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Next chapter is tons better! I promise! This was more of just an explainatory chapter! Comments are appreciated! Thanx!
-October
