Chapter 11 - Rebuff


Despite her heart's traitorous quickening, Winry calmly rose, palming the man whose head cleared her own by more margin than she remembered, her hand light at his heaving chest. "You did," she said evenly, backing away. "But you've been gone a long time Ed."

His name surprised them both. She had rarely said it since winter – aloud at least – trying to keep the hurt from lasting too long, and he hadn't heard it ring so intimately since last seeing her, surrounded by a western world full of strange customs and women who weren't her.

"But I've returned," he said softly.