Theme 37 – Silver watch

When she answered the door, there was a man in the familiar double-breasted blue uniform standing outside.

"Is this the Rockbell residence?" he asked, shooting an apprehensive look at the power drill in her hand. She'd come running from her workbench and forgotten to put it down. Noticing his gaze, she colored slightly and held it behind her back, realized that looked stupid, and stooped to set it down on the floor instead.

"Ah, yes," she stammered, when that had been taken care of. "As a matter of fact, I'm Miss Winry Rockbell."

"Excellent, just who I needed," the young soldier said, and fished a small manila envelope out of his pocket, emptying the contents into one broad palm. They gleamed dully as he held them out. "Could you please tell me if this watch is familiar?"

Winry felt her stomach plummet into her boots. Numbly, she reached out and took the…well, 'watch' was probably an overstatement. The lid of this sad remnant was bent and rusted open, the glass cracked, the white clock face discolored with time. The once-shining surface was pocked and scoured, and the minute hand was missing completely.

But there were the words, carved carefully into the inside.

Don't forget. 3.OCT.10

"It belongs to my fr—uh, client," she managed. "Edward Elric. He's been missing for a few months, but-"

"Thanks, that'll do," the man said, holding out a hand for the watch. "You're sure the watch is his?"

"Positive," she said. "I saw the carving inside it once. It has…special meaning for him."

"That will be very helpful," the soldier assured her, sliding the battered watch back into the envelope. Winry's stomach churned nervously.

"Has he been found?" she couldn't help asking. The soldier shook his head.

"No, ma'am. I'm with the Reole investigation. More than one State Alchemist was lost in the conflict there last year, and we wanted to confirm ownership of this watch as part of the investigation. It was found in the desert last week by a forensic team."

For a moment, Winry wasn't sure whether to relax or cry. If he'd been found with the watch in that kind of condition…well, she would probably have just confirmed his identity in death. But, all this not-knowing…

"Could I keep it?"

The soldier blinked at her. "I beg your pardon?"

"Well," she went on, somewhat surprised at herself, "I'm sort of his next of kin, besides his brother. The watch was his, so…"

"I'm afraid this watch is important evidence, Miss," the soldier told her, rather regretfully. "But," he added, "I could always see about sending it back to you after the investigation…"

"That would be wonderful," Winry told him, favoring him with a bright smile. He smiled back, shook her hand and said his goodbyes.

She closed the door, already dreaming up ways of restoring it. It would fit nicely in her coverall pocket, she decided. It would be good to have something important of his close to her heart.

A note to readers - The most recent chapter of the Fullmetal Alchemist manga showed a map of Amestris with most of the major cities' names spelled out in Roman letters for the first time ever, clearing up a lot of the spelling issues. I've decided to respect the author's wishes, and therefore it's the newly-official "Reole" and "Resembool" for me, even if I do kind of prefer Risenburg.