Title: Telephone Call
Author: S J Smith
Rating: PGish
Disclaimer: Arakawa owns this sandbox. I'm just playing in it.
Summary: Winry calls home to appraise Pinako of the situation.
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Winry refused to foist Elrics on her grandmother – particularly the wrong ones – without warning. A telephone call wasn't her first choice, but it was the fastest way she could let Granny know.
Telling Granny she'd seen Ed, that he and Al were gone, hurt. Winry had to bite down hard on her sorrow. She pushed past it anyway. "Granny, I'm coming home, but I'm not coming alone. I'll have a military escort, and Sciezca may come, too." It felt like her heart had been frozen, and jagged chunks of it were lodged in her throat and beneath her breastbone. "And you won't believe it, but Ed and Al will be coming, too."
There was a long pause. Finally, her voice tired, Granny asked, "Does the undertaker need to meet us at the station?"
"What? No! No. It's…they're…they're alive." Very true, Ed had felt so warm when she'd hugged him, and she'd smelled sweat and fear, blood and metal. His cheek had brushed against hers, and Winry thought she'd heard him whisper her name. Squeezing the bridge of her nose, Winry drove off the memory. "They're not…quite the same. They're…Elrics. Just…not…the ones we know."
Silence answered her for a bit, giving Winry a chance to get herself under control. Granny sounded relieved. "You're not making any sense, girl, but I think you're saying you're bringing a pair of boys home with you."
"Yes, Granny."
"Good thing I read that clue right." Her grandmother cackled. "When?"
"When the doctor says Al's safe to travel." As emaciated as he was, Winry half expected the hospital to keep him for months.
"Let me know before you leave, so I can get some rice for Ed. It'll be a nice welcome home for him."
Winry bit her lip to keep from sobbing. Some welcome home.
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