"You don't have to worry Aura, everything's going to go really easy. This procedure isn't that bad at all, right Al?" Ed said with a wide grin.
"Yep, you'll be just fine sis, it'll be over before you know it." Both boys were being awfully cheerful, and it was starting to grate on Aura's nerves.
"Don't sugar-coat it for me, guys. I know when I'm in there it's going to hurt like hell for who knows how long." She may have been a little harsh, but she knew they wouldn't take much offense to it. Ed knew what was in store for her, so he only nodded and pushed her wheelchair into the operating room. He stopped Aura just beside the operating table and tried to avoid Winry's stare.
"I hope you don't think you're staying in here Ed. I had to keep kicking Al out of the room last time when we did this for you. Don't make me have to run you out of here too!"
"So nice to see you this morning too, Winry." Ed sighed as he began to walk towards the door. He was hoping to stay with Aura, but wasn't about to incur Winry's wrath right before they got started. He said good luck to Aura and quickly shot Winry a mean glare before he ducked out of the room.
"Ugh, those brothers of yours, I don't know what we're going to do with them. But now, let's get you walking again, shall we?" Winry said with a smile that seemed reassuring to Aura.
Al had pulled up a couple chairs and sat them beside the door to the room when Ed came back out. "You should have known she wasn't going to let you stay in there, brother." Al laughed as he spoke to Ed.
"Yeah, yeah. It was worth a try, I was hoping to help keep her comfortable." Ed seemed rather sulky as he plopped into the empty chair next the his brother.
"She really is going to be okay Ed, you shouldn't worry. I've been wondering about something lately though brother..."
"What is it Al?" Ed asked, curious as to what his brother had on his mind.
"Well, I was just trying to figure out what happened when you and Aura were crossing through the Gate to get here. I know what you said about how it kicked you out and showed Aura the Truth, but something still doesn't sound right. Like why did it let you go without incident but take a toll from her?"
Ed was surprised by Al's question, he hadn't expected him to be thinking about something that happened a few weeks ago. Then again, his brother always focused on minor details while he looked at the big picture, which is why they made such a great team. "Truth told me that my toll had been paid already, by Aura. I thought that maybe I had misheard it, but what if he was right? What did the Truth seem to find so special about Aura to consider her worthy of being a toll?"
"Did it say anything else that may be suspicious? You know how it tends to deal with things in riddles."
"It did seem to focus on Aura for a while, and it did say that she looked familiar. Wait a second, that's it Al! It recognized Aura as our sister, that has to be it!" Ed was sure he was on to something now and kept thinking back to their time at the Gate before he was kicked through his portal.
"So you think that maybe it chose Aura as your toll because she's our sister? That doesn't make any sense brother, it never worked like that before!" Al was confused now, he believed Ed was on the right track, but it didn't make much sense.
"No, that can't be all there was to it. Truth must have seen something more than just her relation to us. I should have asked Aura what she remembered from that time, but I didn't think it was significant enough to worry her about. Not until now anyway."
Just then the door to the operating room opened and Winry stuck her head out. She looked like she had been sitting in a steam room rather than performing a prosthetic operation. Her face was coated in sweat and her hair looked damp and limp against her scrubs and mask.
"Ed, Al, you need to come in here and see this!" They jumped up immediately and rushed into the room and were met by a sweltering heat in the air, followed by painful cries from their sister.
"What's wrong with the heat, Winry? It's too hot in here, she's going to burn up!" Ed said, wiping the sweat away from his eyes so he could see.
"There's nothing wrong with the heat, Ed, it's not even on in here! We have to keep this room at a certain temperature or the equipment starts to malfunction. I'm not sure how guys, but I think the heat is coming from Aura. She's not running a fever, but the air immediately around her is burning up and radiating out over the whole room. We have to find a way to cool it off or we'll have a serious problem with her automail."
They looked at Aura, who was unconscious but in pain as she cried out again and writhed against the restraints keeping her secured to the bed. Ed made the connection, held her right hand in his and began to speak calmly to her.
"Aura, it's me Ed. Listen, you have to calm down. I know it hurts really bad right now, but if you don't chill out the machines connected to you are going to stop working. Just start breathing slowly, with deep breaths. Concentrate on my voice Aura and take nice calming breaths, that's it." He held her hand gently and continued to speak softly to her. As he did, she began to struggle less and relaxed. They could tell a difference almost immediately in the temperature of the room once she had settled down.
"I guess we need you to stay in here after all Ed. Go scrub up over at the sink and put on some gloves and scrubs. Quickly now, we can't waste anymore time. Back outside with you though Al, sorry." Al hung his head and walked out of the room while Winry went back to where Pinako was standing. They waited until Ed was seated next to Aura again before continuing their operation of connecting her nerves to the housing mechanism just above where her knee would be. Several times she began to cry out, but Edward held her hand and comforted her and avoided another incident with the temperature.
Al sat back down in his chair outside the room and tried to figure out what had just happened in there. The room was so hot, but as soon as Edward started talking to Aura and calmed her down, the temperature went back to normal. Just then he had a flashback to the night Aura had fallen out of her chair and he had pushed her back into her room. He remembered how cold that room was, even though the rest of the house was fine. He thought of how sad and depressed she had been at that moment, then of how tense and agitated she was just now and realized what was going on. He jumped to his feet and opened the door to the room.
"Brother! Winry! I think I know what's going on with Aura!"
"Can it wait until we're done Al, we're just finishing up her leg and have to start on her arm next." said Winry, getting mad that the sanctity of her operating room was being disturbed way more than she preferred.
"Go ahead Al, make it fast, what is it?" Edward said quickly, hoping Winry wouldn't whack him with whatever the closest metal object was to her hand at the moment.
"It's her emotions, that's what is causing the temperature to change. Back when she was in the wheelchair and depressed, her room was always cold. And now with her dealing with so much pain, she's getting anxious and it's generating heat. Somehow she can alter the temperature of her surroundings by how she's feeling."
"Al, you're a genius! That does make a lot of sense. If she has the ability to do that, then perhaps that's what Truth saw while we were in the Gate that was unique enough to be considered worth letting me pass through."
"Okay, now that you two detectives have your little mystery all figured out, do you think maybe we can finish this mildly serious freaking operation!" Even without the heat in the room, Winry was turning red in the face with anger. Al barely made it out the door before the bedpan she had flung at him hit the wall where he had been standing. She took a moment to calm herself before going back to work.
"That's some ability you have there Aura, altering temperature based on mood alone." Ed spoke quietly to her as he held fast to her hand while the women began to open up the bandages around her left arm's stump to expose the nerves. "I wonder though, if there are any other surprises like that you're capable of."