Worlds Away

Chapter 4

…

The brothers finally made it out of the back woods, spotting Pinanko standing on the back porch, anxiously puffing her pipe. At the sight of Edward leaning heavily against Alphonse, she quickly left the pipe in its stand and hurried to meet them halfway across the yard.

"You boneheads!" she scolded. "Galloping through the house like a couple of wild animals and running out back without a word—oh, what've you gone and done now?"

"We haven't done anything!" Edward retaliated hotly. "I was trying to catch a trespasser—"

"And he managed to take your prosthetic off? Honestly Ed, you've gotta have something better than that."

"I wasn't finished!"

"A dead tree fell near the back fence," Alphonse explained. "We weren't paying attention and Ed's leg managed to get caught under it"—Pinako's eyes widened—"B-but we're perfectly fine, see? Just had to detach it to get it out."

Pinako sighed heavily and rubbed her temples. "You boys are gonna give me an aneurysm someday..." She paused, looking over their disheveled appearance. "…Hurry up inside so you can clean up before dinner."

"Yes m'am," they said together, Alphonse with a sheepish grin and Edward rolling his eyes. They knew that they were getting off easy, and decided to take it without a fight.

The brothers managed to hobble after Pinako into the house, carefully making their way into the living room while Pianko grabbed a spare prosthetic from the linen closet. Alphonse deposited Edward onto a worn out arm chair as Pinako appeared in the doorway, a simple prosthetic leg held in her arms.

Edward untied his pant leg as she approached, stripping down to his boxers so she could better attach the leg. Pianko quickly inserted the leg into Edward's leg port, twisting it secure with a small click.

"There you go," she sighed, dusting her palms. "Now don't go running off again or you're not gonna get any stew tonight."

"I can't run with a spare anyway," Edward grumbled, standing up and gingerly testing his weight on the unfamiliar prosthetic.

"Serves you right!" Pinako called as she left the room, no doubt to tend to the stew she left on the stove.

Alphonse collapsed onto the couch, tired from supporting Edward all the way to the house. He half-heartedly picked a few stray twigs from his hair, watching Edward limp around the living room as he tried to get used to the spare leg. Alphonse twisted a leaf between his fingers, thinking.

"How come a tree just decided to fall right then and there?" he asked quietly, thinking aloud.

"Beats me," Edward said as he flopped down next to his brother. "It was a dead tree, right? Dead trees fall all the time. It's a part of nature."

"I know, I know, but why then? Why us? I mean, you were chasing someone down and then a tree nearly falls on us. Doesn't that seem a bit weird?"

Edward sat up sharply. "You mean, you think someone made that tree fall?"

"I don't know," Alphonse shrugged. "I just think it's weird."

Edward sighed, allowing himself to fall back onto the couch. "Trespassers, trees falling, the shadow this afternoon—"

"Shadow? What shadow?"

Edward grimaced, as if he hadn't meant to speak his thoughts aloud. "I didn't say anything about it because I thought it was my imagination… but with how this day is going…"

"What is it?" Alphonse sat up, curious to hear what his brother was holding back.

"You know how I slammed on the brakes when we left Mrs. Curtis'? I thought I saw someone running towards the car," Edward said, eyebrows furrowed as he tried to remember. "Well, it was more of a shadow, but I thought I was about to hit someone. But when I turned to look again… nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing."

"Bizarre," Alphonse said, staring at the ceiling. "Do you think they're connected?"

"I don't—"

A high pitched scream sounded from the kitchen, startling Edward and Alphonse from their conversation. Then the sound of heavy work boots tromped their way towards the living room. Edward's eyes widened.

"Oh crap!" Edward hissed, struggling to remove himself from the old couch.

"Take cover!" Alphonse said as he jumped up and dived behind the armchair, leaving his poor brother struggling to stand.

The footsteps drew closer and closer until a blond woman stood in the doorway, her hands holding Edward's ruined leg and her face filled with rage. "Edward Elric!" she shouted as she spotted her prey, now standing and slowly backing towards the back hallway.

"Now Winry, just give me a chance here…" Edward started with his hands raised in a silent surrender. Alphonse peeked over the edge of the couch, ready to duck at any moment.

"What the hell is this!?" Winry screeched, chucking the damaged leg at him. It connected solidly with Edward's head, nearly knocking him to the ground. Edward shouted in pain, barely catching the leg before it hit the floor.

"I slave over your prosthetics for weeks and this is how you replay me?" the young mechanic said, throwing a pillow from the loveseat at him for good measure. Alphonse winced quietly from his safe position, glad he wasn't the target of her fury.

"I-it was an accident, I swear!" Edward protested weakly, flinching slightly as the pillow made contact with his side.

"It honestly wasn't his fault," Alphonse said, lifting his head farther over the couch. Winry fixed him with a glare, making him immediately retreat to his former position. "S-seriously! An accident!" She huffed angrily, obviously debating whether or not they spoke the truth. After a long pause she sighed, her anger diminishing somewhat.

"If Al says so, I guess you're telling the truth," Winry said, ignoring the indignant scoff from Edward. "But because of your 'accident,' your leg won't be fixed for another week." She walked up to Edward and grabbed what was left of his leg, causing him to flinch.

"Enjoy the spare," she said with a know-it-all smirk, waltzing out of the living room and back towards her workshop.

The boys said nothing as she left, silently staring at the doorway until they hear her slam the door closed upstairs. Edward immediately collapsed onto the couch, groaning as he gingerly touched his forehead in search of his injury.

"Damn, you'd think I break my leg every other week the way she reacted," Edward complained.

"You nearly trashed it last month remember?" Alphonse reminded him as he took his previous seat next to his brother.

"Hey, the key word is 'nearly,'" Edward defended himself, taking in a sharp breath as he found the lump Winry had gifted him. "Shit that hurts!"

"That's going to be one large goose egg," Alphonse said, chuckling as he observed the reddish lump growing on Edward's forehead.

"Whatever," Edward growled. He stood up from the couch, wobbling a second before he regained his balance. "Let's get some food already."

"Alright, alright," Alphonse laughed.

After an icepack and some more, well-earned scolding from Pinako, they finally settled in for dinner. Stew has never tasted better, Alphonse thought.

...

Whew! Chapter 4 is done! Yaaaaaay!

Ahahaha, it's been a while no? Been pretty busy getting settled at college and all that... haha yeah...

By the way, why are people still faving/following Collisions? I thought I made it clear that I was discontinuing the story... that's why I'm writing this one! If you know of anyone, please encourage them to read this one instead (as it will actually update!).

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this installment of Worlds Away! This was a bit of a breather chapter, but there's more drama in the next chapter, just you wait...

Until next time,
-MerryMusician