Importance

His metal arm winked at her in the heat or the day, and his long wet hair glistened in the sparkling sun. She couldn't face him. She knew she shouldn't have done it but she was a mechanic, what could she say?

"...Ed..." The word came out choked and cracked from Winry's dry mouth.

He turned on the spot, and to her it seemed like slow motion as his slim bare chest turned to face her. His eyes where, searching, confused.

"What is it Winry?" He was concerned but also curious about the way she said his name, the way she looked at the lush green grass and glanced up to see if he was watching.

"Ed...I" She took a deep breath and charged on. "I took apart your watch, I couldn't help it, it was just sitting on the table."

His eyes widened, furious. He opened his mouth to speak but she cut him off.

"I saw what you wrote Ed...the date, I'm sorry..." The last two words a whisper. She couldn't hold it in anymore, tears gushed from her eyes and ran down her pale cheeks.

Ed looked furious, he started yelling at her but she didn't hear him, all she could think about was how many times she had screwed up. How many more would it take for her to learn her lesson. When she finally thought they understood each other, she would ruin it by making another carless mistake, only thinking of herself.

"Are you listening to me Winry!!!" Ed screamed "You don't just take apart people's things like that!"

She looked up and he was only a foot away. She saw the look in his eyes drop a little in intensity, but he was still mad. She hated it when he looked at her like that, hurt and angry.

"But I thought I was..." Her voice was drowned out by Ed.

"What? What did you think you where?"

"...I....Al..." She couldn't say it, she wanted it to be true but knew it wasn't. She could never be as important as Al was.

"Oh I see you think I value you as much as my brother? You thought it would be ok with me that you saw the inside of the watch?"His voice was...joking! Even scathing.

She buried her face in her cold shaking hands and cried harder. A warm hand touched her shoulder and she gazed up, her sight fuzzy from her tears.

"Well...you were right to think so." She felt his soft lips press to hers. He kissed her gently but filled with emotion and unspoken words. When he pulled away her eyes were cleared and she saw a single tear slide down Ed's cheek.

She slowly reached out her hand to wipe it away. He caught her hand in mid air an entwined their fingers together.

Ed gave a week smile took her other hand in his metal one. "From now on, I want you to know that you are more important to me than you can ever know."

"Don't leave Edward." she felt the burning in the back of her throat but held back the tears.

"You know I have to. How can I ever truly love you knowing Al can never love like I can. I would be filled with guilt the rest of my life if I stayed with you and left Al to find his body by himself"

Then he slipped on his shirt and went to get Al, it was time to go.