Chapter 14

At the nearest pay phone, Ed waited out the ringing impatiently.

"Hello?" Winry said, slightly out of breath.

His fingers tingled, imagining her all sweaty and dirty in her work clothes. "Hey."

"Ed? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah . . . um . . . I just called to say 'Hi.'"

"Oh. Hi . . . " Winry was floored. She kept quiet trying to contain her overly emotional reaction.

"So . . . Guess who I just saw?"

She sniffled a little too loudly. He really had called just to talk to her, no pretense necessary. "Who?"

He told her about his visit, asked her about home, and just chatted for a little while. He hung up feeling warmed. How could he not have married her yet? He should have asked her the second he saw her. After a special order at the jeweler, he was able to concentrate on his research with an unusual ferocity.

Winry hung up the phone and just sat staring at it. As unsure as she had felt when she found out about her pregnancy, she felt even more unsure now. Who was this Ed, who called 'just to say hi,' who fed her deepest longing as if he knew she missed him, who allowed her to feel like more than just a frustrated passenger in his life? Even though he pressed all her buttons, she never felt childish giving in to her most base nature because he always met her there. She complained about his need to constantly pick fights, but she didn't want it to stop. What did Gracia tell him? Why did he have to do something all sweet without screwing it up even a little? Panicking, she dialed Alphonse.

"This is Winry Rockbell. I need to speak with Alphonse."

"Master Alphonse is participating in a conference at the moment, Miss Rockbell. I will give him a -"

"Look," she sniped, "I don't care what he's doing. Just get him. Tell him it's Winry and it's important. I'm sure he'll appreciate it."

Simms heaved a tremendous sigh. He had lately discovered that the sweet Miss Rockbell was indeed perfectly suited to Master Alphonse's obnoxious brother.

"Certainly, Miss," he replied with an audible sneer.

Winry tapped her wrench against the table. There was a long wait. She was just about ready to slam the phone down and call back when Al finally picked up.

"Winry? Are you all right? What's wrong?"

"What took you so long?"

"It's a big house. What's the matter?"

"The matter is Edward."

Alphonse rolled his eyes, struggling for patience. Even with his kindly nature, he occasionally grew tired of playing mediator between Winry and Ed. Simms, as fond of Master Alphonse as was the entire staff, frowned to see the serious young man squeeze his eyes shut and rub his temples.

"What did he do now?"

"What did he do? He just called me. Do you know why?" Winry's voice was near hysterical.

Al bit back a sardonic reply, reminding himself that she was pregnant, and, therefore, easily upset. "Nope. Why?"

"Just. To. Say. Hi. His words - just to say hi. He was nice; he was sweet; he told me about his day; he told me he missed me."

There was a bewildered silence from Alphonse.

"Well? Al?"

"Um . . . I'm not sure I understand why that's bad. In fact, that sounds good to me. . . Maybe I'm missing - "

"Al!" she snapped. "He never calls without at least inventing a fake agenda so I might not know if he really misses me or not. He always ends it by picking a fight so he doesn't feel guilty about being gone. He never calls after the first time because we had a big stupid fight and he doesn't want to apologize. It's like someone else took over his body!" Winry was close to tears.

Alphonse was proud of his brother and completely unsure about how to respond to this bizarre reaction.

"Al? Hello?"

"Hi. Um . . . Winry, I know this might sound strange, but I think Ed might actually be trying to be better . . . to you."

"Why would he do that? That's not like him at all! Did you tell him? You promised you wouldn't!"

"No. I didn't tell him anything. I just told him he should be thinking about his future with you."

"Oh, no!"

"What?" asked Al, very alarmed.

"He's leaving me! Thanks a lot! That's why he's being so nice - he feels guilty. How could this happen?" Winry broke into noisy sobs.

"Winry, don't you think that's," he stopped, thinking better of accusing her of acting crazy. "Do you want me to call him?"

"No! Don't you dare! I don't want him to know I care this much. I thought he loved me!"

"Winry, I'm coming over. Just stay there."

"No, no, I just have to get over it," she replied, hiccuping. More sobs wrenched out of her.

"I'm coming over."

Alphonse spent the entire afternoon comforting Winry with countless tissues and cups of tea. He was deeply unnerved by the depth of her conviction. He stayed overnight and spent the next day pretending to study while quietly observing her. Her utter misery was obvious. She lashed out at her customers and welled up while tightening screws. While she was engaged in a very tricky piece of detail work on an automail hand, Alphonse called military headquarters to be patched into the main library. Edward was so absorbed in his notes, the attendant had to rap the table twice to get his attention.

"Huh? What?"

"Urgent phone call, sir."

Immediately afraid for Winry, he rushed after the attendant to the phone. "Hello?"

"Brother?" Alphonse whispered.

"Alphonse? What's wrong?"

"It's Winry."

Ed's brain iced over. His hand numbed and he almost dropped the phone. "What happened to her?" he hissed, certain that it would be ugly and that he would probably never be able to go back to Resembool.

"She blew your phone call way out of proportion and now she's convinced you're going to leave her."

The words made no sense to Edward. It was a jumble. "What?"

Al clenched his hand into a fist and battled not to raise his voice, afraid Winry would hear him. "Edward! Pay attention! She's depressed and pissed off and - well - nuts! You need to come home right now. I can't babysit a p- Anyway, she needs you not me."

"So she's okay?"

"No, but she's not dying. When are you coming back?"

Edward felt his legs might give out in the flood of relief that swept him.

"Brother? When?"

"Sorry, Al. I was just really freaked out there for a second. I'm scheduled to leave at the end of the week. What's her problem again? And why are you whispering?"

"Dammit, Edward, are you deaf?"

Ed was shocked. She must be in a rare mood to get Alphonse so agitated he would swear.

"Wow. Okay. Explain it to me again."

Alphonse glanced over his shoulder. He expected her to come down the hallway screeching like a banshee any minute. "You called, she didn't believe it because you're usually such a dick that she assumed you must be leaving her to be nice for once. Nothing I tell her makes her come to any kind of sense and she's driving me crazy."

Ed grinned to split his face. "Really? So not so sweet and kind? Not just needing a little TLC? She's hostile and irrational? Hmmm . . . "

Al ground his teeth. "Brother, I am worried about her - really, truly worried. Enough that I haven't left your house in 24 hours. When - are - you - coming - home?"

Much as he loved rubbing Al's sensitive outlook in his face, he recognized the seriousness of the situation. "I'll get on the train in an hour. I should be there by mid-day tomorrow."

"Thank you," Al said with relief. "Ooh. Gotta go. She's coming."

Al hung up quickly and sped back toward his books. Winry eyed him suspiciously. "Were you talking to someone?"

Al looked up, all innocence. "Huh? No, no, just memorizing. It helps to recite out loud - pneumonic device."

She nodded, still frowning, and went back to work. Al wiped his brow. Ed was right. He was a terrible liar.