"All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsion, habit, reason, passion, and desire." Aristotle
Nature
"Brother! Come look!"
"What is it, Al?" Winry asked, craning her neck to see the little boy perched in the tree.
Ed came over to investigate. "What'd you find, Al?"
Al pointed to a place in the tree a few branches higher than where he was sitting. "It's a bird's nest!"
"Oh, Al, don't touch it!" said Winry. "If you do, the bird will abandon its babies!"
"I know!" said Al. "The little birdy-babies are so cute, though!" Al was captivated by the little animals, totally disregarding the fact that he was being insensitive by gushing about the birds. "Brother, come look too!"
Winry sighed and looked at the cast on her leg. "I wish I could see 'em..."
Al looked down at Ed, standing under the tree looking up, and Winry, sitting under the tree looking down. "You don't want to see the birdy-babies?" he asked, cocking his head.
Ed's eyes flicked to the unhappy Winry, then back at Al. "I've seen birds before, Al. Even baby ones."
Al shrugged. "Whatever you say. I'm gonna stay up here and watch them."
Ed sat down under the tree next to Winry.
Winry pulled her good knee up to her chest and rested her chin on it, reminding herself that Al didn't mean to do it. He was a sunshiny child by nature, and loved animals (especially kittens, but he loved all of them, really). It wasn't his fault she'd broken her foot and couldn't come up to see.
On the other hand, Winry could never figure out what it was that made Ed do what he did. He defied explanation.
"You don't want to climb the tree?" she asked.
Ed snorted. "What, am I supposed to be scared of it?"
"You don't like baby birds, then." She was positive.
He shook his head. "I like 'em just as much as any other animal."
She frowned at him quizzically.
Ed shrugged and stared ahead. "Didn't want you to be the only one who can't climb up."
Winry stared at him for a few more moments, then gave up.
She never would quite understand him.
Protective by nature, this boy would, just five years from now, sacrifice his own right arm to return his little brother's taken soul to the earth. Ten years from now, he would throw himself in the path of certain death to get Winry out of it. Ed would never get over this protective streak.
Time changes a lot of things, but nature isn't one of them.