Chapter Ten

His Gift

Winry watched as Edward left alone in her cold empty room. Tears streamed down her face as she thought about what Edward had said to her seconds ago. I'm sorry Winry… This is why my first thought when you said that you loved me was that I don't disserve you… And it turns out that I was right, wasn't I… All I do is hurt you… And I'm sorry that I can't treat you better… Winry desperately wanted to run to him and hug him and tell him wrong. But she couldn't bring herself to do it. Why? She didn't know.

The seconds lengthened and she still hadn't moved from the bed. After a few minutes, Winry had finally found enough strength to move. She got off the bed and walked out of the room. Winry walked silently down the stairs and into the den.

Winry had found Edward sleeping on the couch. She silently walked up to him and bent over him. "Ed, you idiot", she whispered. She kissed his cheek. A tear escaped her eyes and fell onto Edward's cheek as Winry moved away. Winry turned around and sat on the sofa across from Edward. She fell asleep watching him sleep.

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Alphonse woke Winry up the next morning. "Winry", he shouted in fear. "Winry, Ed left!!! We have to go stop him!!!"

Winry looked lazily at Alphonse for a second, thinking that what had happened last night was all just a dream. But it wasn't. Winry looked around the room before answering Alphonse. "He left to protect us, Al" Winry wanted to cry when she said this.

"Aren't we going to go stop him?!"

"No… We won't be able to stop him. He made a promise to the Colonel… There's nothing we can do…" Winry looked to the small round table beside her sofa. There was a small present on the table addressed to her. Winry grabbed it and ripped off the letter on top. It was from Edward. Winry read it slowly.

Dear Winry,

I'm sorry that I have to leave you and Al alone, but I have to go. I'm sorry that I lied to you. I wish that I could have talked to you more about this, but I had to leave this morning. No matter what you may think or say, I still love you and I always will. Please forgive me for hurting you. I'll try harder next time to confide in you about what's going on in my life. I just don't want you to worry.

This was supposed to be your anniversary present but I don't know if I'll be back to give this to you. Just think of this present as my earring to you. If you hold it close, it'll be like holding me. That being the case, I think that you would hold it everyday. Just take care of it for me. It is my most prized possession. It is the third thing that I hold dear, you and Al coming before it. Remember that I love you.

Love always,

Ed Elric

Winry read and read the letter over and over again. What did he mean by as my earring to you. Winry, starred down at the present. She slammed the letter down on the table and ripped open the present on her lap. In side was a beautiful silver pocket watch. It had an amazing design on it that everybody knew as the president's seal. Winry picked up. A long chain dangled from the button that opened the pocket watch. Around the edge of the watch read Edward Elric.

It was his! It was Edward's pocket watch! As Winry's fingers caressed the smooth cold surface of the watch, something erupted inside her. She jumped out off the sofa and ran out the door. Winry ran all the way out to the train station. She quickly found Edward, by looking in the windows of the only train there. He was sitting in the seat nearest the window, reading a newspaper on his lap. The train prepared to leave, so Winry didn't have enough time to get on the train.

"EDWARD", Winry screamed loud enough as she ran towards his window. Edward quickly looked up and starred at her. When his brain registered that it was Winry who had called him, Edward quickly stood up and opened the window, sticking his head out of the window. As he did this, the train began to move away from the train station. But despite this, Winry ran after it.

"Winry", Edward shouted. "Winry, what are you doing here?!"

"I came to say goodbye", shouted Winry. "Thanks for the present, Ed!!! I love it!!! But are you sure that you want to give to me?!!"

"Yeah!!! You gave me your favorite earring, didn't you?!!"

"Yeah!!!" Winry slowed down to a halt as the walkway under her came to a sudden halt. She waved goodbye to him.

"WINRY", Edward yelled as he waved back to her. "I SWEAR, I WILL BE BACK!!!! I LOVE YOU, WINRY!!!!" Winry dropped her hand to her chest, holding his pocket watch close to her heart.

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A few months had past since Winry last saw Edward. It was quite obvious that she had missed his presence. She worked slower on her auto-mail and house cleaning. Alphonse tried to cheer her up a bit, but nothing he did helped. He even helped clean and cook diner. What could be done? Alphonse may have been Edward's younger brother, but he would never be Edward. He could never replace Edward in Winry's eyes.

And what made being without Edward even worse was the fact that she hadn't told Edward that she loved him at the station. At the time she was still mad at him, but she felt guilty about not telling him. Winry promised herself that she would tell Edward that she was no longer mad at him and still loved him the next time she saw him.

Winry went to the train station everyday to see if Edward had returned. But he never did. The lady at the ticket booth was getting more and more worried about her. Winry would run to the station everyday in a panic and when she left, she would cry. The ticket lady one day decided to help Winry. She told Winry that she would call her as soon as Edward had returned. Winry nodded in agreement.

Since Winry had no need to go back to the train station, she would sit on the balcony by her room, watching the dirt road for Edward. Time seemed to have stopped for her ever since Edward left. And what if he never came back? What if she never saw him again? Or what if he had found another woman to love? Winry wouldn't know what to do. She couldn't live without him. She would die.

The pocket watch was all that Winry had left of Edward. She would carry it around with her everywhere she went. It made Winry feel like Edward was right beside her. But she never stopped to look at the watch. It was too painful for her.

Alphonse knew along that Edward had planned to give Winry the watch. He wasn't jealous or anything by the fact that Edward had given it to her, but it pained him not to see her enjoy the watch. Not to caress it's smooth surface or to open it and watch the time fly by. Alphonse asked her why she had not done these things to the last present she will probably ever receive from Edward.

"It's to painful", was her answer. "Every time I look at the watch, I see Ed's face. But I don't just want to see him. I want to touch him, to hold him, to have him hold me, to kiss him, to love him. The watch only stalls my need for him and yet, at the same time it makes it harder to live without him."

"Winry… Winry, Ed will be back. He swore he would-"

"Al", Winry snapped. "I know Ed will return! But that still doesn't change the fact that he's not here!" And with that Winry ran up to her room and began to cry. She didn't come out of the room for the rest of that day.

Winry never slept. She couldn't do this because she would dream about Edward and her together. It was too much to handle. So, Winry staid up all night, looking out the window to see if she could see Edward walking down the dirt road. But like when she watched for him form the balcony during the day, he never returned.

At night, when nobody was watching, she would tempt herself to take the pocket watch out and look at it. But every time Winry reached into her pocket, she would remember what it represented and then quickly pull her hand back out.

One morning, Winry had summoned enough courage to pull the watch out and look at it. When she opened her hand, Winry found the beautiful workmanship she had always loved. Winry rubbed a finger over the picture on top of the watch. She hadn't seen it in so long. Winry felt tears roll down her face as she stared down at Edward's most prized possession. Winry slowly brought the watch to her chest, desperately wishing that it were Edward she was holding.

As soon as the watch touched her, she had a bad feeling. A feeling much like the one she had when she gave Edward her earring, but it was worse. She felt like Edward wasn't going to come back. Her heart was also in pain. It was as if she was psychologically feeling the physical pain that Edward was feeling and enduring. Winry didn't know what to do.

Then the solution of her problem hit her like a ton of bricks. Winry had to go find Edward for herself. Waiting for him to return wasn't going to solve anything. Winry quickly got dressed and ran to Alphonse's room. "Al", shouted Winry as she burst through the door. "Alphonse!!! I have to go to the train station!!! I have to leave now!!!"

"What…" asked Alphonse as he slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"I need to leave!!!"

"Leave?!" This snapped Alphonse out of his morning fog. "But Winry, you can't leave!! Ed told me to protect you, and that's what I'm going to do!!"

"Then come with me, Al!! Either way, I'm going, with or without you!!"

"You're not going anywhere!! We're supposed to stay here!! We're supposed to wait for Ed!!"

"ALPHONSE ELRIC!!!!" Winry screamed. "YOU IDIOT!!! LOOK WHAT WAITING HAS GOTTEN US!!!! THE ONLY WAY TO EVER SEE EDWARD AGAIN IS TO GET HIM AND BRING HIM BACK HOME!!!! DON'T YOU SEE!!!! THAT'S WHAT I NEED TO DO!!!! IF YOU TRY TO STOP ME, I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!!!! ED NEEDS ME!!!! AND HE NEEDS YOU!!!! HE NEEDS US TO PROTECT HIM JUST LIKE WE NEED HIM TO PROTECT US!!!!"

"Winry…"

Winry fell to her knees and began to cry into her hands. This was more then just something that she wanted. She had to go to him. Winry couldn't wait any longer. Alphonse had moved from the bed and kneeled down beside her. "Ok, Winry", he whispered. "We'll go get my brother. I guess I won't be breaking my promise if I go with you… Go get ready, Winry…"

Winry looked up at Alphonse. He had a kind smile on his face that told her that he was on the level. Winry jumped up and ran out of the. She ran back to her own room and packed her suitcase. When she was finished, Winry ran back to Alphonse's room, carrying her luggage behind her. Alphonse was getting dressed in the bathroom. She hurried and packed his luggage. When Alphonse walked into the room, Winry handed him his suitcase and walked passed him. The quickly ate their breakfast and ran out the door. They ran to the train station and boarded a train to Central half an hour later.