England, April 1921
The sky was cloudy that day. The wind was blowing and the sun was hidden. There was almost no one on the streets, except for two children who stood before a gravestone, both wearing black.
"Big sister?" The little boy called while pulling his sister's sleeve.
The girl crouched in front of him and smiled.
"What's wrong, Eddie?"
The boy made a pleading face and pouted, preparing to cry at any moment.
"I-I want mummy and daddy..." He mumbled.
The girl ruffled his head and embraced the small child.
"I know, sweetie... I want them too. But they can't come back."
The child sobbed in her chest.
"But they need to come back! Who's going to take care of granny Anna and miss Elizabeth and grandpa William and, and..." his own sobs interrupted his speech.
"They'll be just fine, Eddie, don't worry. There are other doctors who can take care of them."
"But mummy promised she'd catch fireflies with me today! And mummy says it's bad to lie!" he managed between sobs.
The older girl started crying herself. "Eddie..." she whispered tightening their embrace.
Although the funeral had been a few hours ago, this was the first moment they'd had completely alone, without others' stares. And she realized they were completely alone. And her little brother was crying hopelessly. Her little brother, who had just lost his entire world was sobbing in her arms. To him, she was his only support.
So she strangled her urge to keep crying and paid attention to his painful mumbles once more.
"A-a-and daddy can't go yet, h-he has to go to the grocery l-like mummy asked."
"Eddie, look at me."
The boy turned his big eyes to her, constantly wiping his tears and sniffing between the sobs.
"Mummy and daddy... They weren't expecting to leave us so soon. They only wanted to go when they were veeeery old like granny Pris. But it's not them who decide..."
"T-then who does?"
"Not even I know that... But even if mummy and daddy are gone, big sister is going to take care of you, ok?"
"Ok..."
"That's a good boy."
"Winnie, promise you won't leave me." he asked timidly.
She kissed his forehead.
"I promise."
The boy didn't answer, but his tiny arms hugged her more tightly, right before it started to rain.
Germany, September 1929
A giant hall presented itself in front of the woman. The building was brand new. The crowd was agitated, as they always were when that man gave a speech. The room was well lit, with special illumination for the group on stage.
The man who was speaking was quite short, with dark hair and an oddly shaped, small mustache. He was serious, yet passionate while he spoke. It was almost impossible to look away while he was talking.
Everyone was attentively listening to him, of course. The more the living conditions worsened, the more followers the nazis had...
"We have all seen what this government is doing to our country, to our economy, to our people! All the immigrants are stealing our jobs, our lands, our money. The jews, the cripples, the sick... They are burdening our country, they are bringing us to ruin! This system is wrong and they all know it, but do nothing!... But we will. We will bring change! We are the ones who were chosen to save our country. We are the ones who can save you! Together, we will recover what we lost in the Great War! We will restore Germany's honour!"
The public all cheering after his last phrase. Some people stood up and lifted their right arms above their heads, extending their fingers, while others yelled words of encouragement and agreement and some simply applauded.
Then, the interlocutor himself rose his right arm above his head. He was visibly drained after the passionate speech, and was even sweating.
When the crowd started to disperse was when Winny decided to head to the back door, to wait for her boss. After a good thirty minutes, the man with the mustache finally appeared, accompanied by one of his party members, a tall blonde man. A certain Joseph, if she recalled correctly.
"Winifred, at last you have made your appearance." The shorter man said.
"Mr. Adolf." She greeted.
"I assume you have news regarding your 'research'."
"Well, yes. However, there's something I'd like to-"
"Later, my dear. First, tell me about the Elric brothers."
"Very well" he said "I will be waiting for news as soon as possible when they contact you again."
She nodded "Yes, of course... But, about my-"
"Everything is taken care of. The payment will soon be sent to his guardian." he informed, while making a dismissive gesture with his hand.
"I understand" she sighed.
The woman turned around and grabbed the doorknob. She was about to leave, but her hand hesitated.
"Mr. Adolf, what are you going to do when we find the Elric brothers?" she asked in a low tone.
The man let out a faint laugh. "Worry not, my dear, I only want to ask them some simple questions. If you must know, I'm particularly curious as to why they've been near our factories in Munich when they're completely out of activity. Now, go. Finish your task and I'll send you the rest of the payment."
"Alright... Good afternoon."
In a wave of resolve, she leaned in and kissed him.
It was intense, but not because of desire. It was an innocent kiss that you'd read about in fairy tales, the type of kiss that could break a witch's spell and bring happiness back to the kingdom, after times of despair.
They were both being slow, gently feeling each other as much as possible, reaching for what they had missed. For her, it was like screaming "I love you".
They broke apart, but their foreheads remained together.
"Don't leave me again." She whispered.
He slightly shook his head.
"I won't. I promise."
There was a knock on the door, followed by the appearance of Al's head. "Brother, is Winry-" he said, before looking over at the bed.
Edward got back on the chair in a flash while Winry turned her gaze to her lap, feeling her face warm up. She couldn't see it, but Alphonse's expression immediately shifted from worried to a sly smile in half a second.
"Hmm, I see I interrupted something." he said with an evil grin.
"I-I'm going to call Elizabeth. Be back in a minute." Informed a flustered Ed before heading out.
Only when the door closed did Winry finally manage to face Alphonse, giggling nervously. He smiled back at her and sat on the chair where Ed previously had been sitting. "So, I was going to ask brother whether you were awake, but that's obvious now." She giggled, this time of amusement. "How are you?"
"I'm still a little shacken, I think..."
He nodded, more serious. "I've seen the bruises..."
"Hm... They don't look good, do they?"
"No... We called the doctor over a few hours ago. Turned out it wasn't as bad as we thought, but you'll need to use a cane for a few weeks."
"Oh..."
She remembered the beatings very well, and they certainly hurt, but not walking?... Sure, she hadn't managed to walk when they were escaping, but she thought the muscles might have been atrophied, since she didn't use them for quite some time. How bad was the rest of her torso?...
"Winry?"
"Huh? I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention..."
"It's fine. I was asking about Granny."
She'd forgotten they didn't know about granny and Den. Shit.
"Granny is... She was..." How was she supposed to tell him?
"Don't tell me..."
She forced a smile and looked at him "It's been a couple of years already, and she didn't suffer."
He made a pained expression "Winry..."
"It's ok, Al." She tried to change the subject "How have you and Ed been?"
He didn't answer right away. He probably noticed what she was doing, but she didn't care.
"I'm sorry we weren't there. We couldn't - we still can't - come back..."
"You... can't?... "
"Yeah..."
She must've made the most puzzled look, since Alphonse too seemed confused by her reaction.
"Wait, didn't brother explain to you where we went to and where we've been all these years?"
"Uh... no?" She didn't think it was that important at the time and then Al interrupted... But clearly she ought to know, because Al's reaction sure wasn't over nothing.
He audibly sighed and mumbled something in an annoyed fashion, right before Edward came back in the room. As soon as he did, Al glared daggers at him making him gulp. He then turned to Winry, sighing exhasperately again, and visibly calmed down.
"Well, it's good that brother is here. That way, he can stop being useless and tell you about the two years he spent here on his own while we were in Amestris, right brother?"
"Al, are you sure we should tell her about it? Don't forget the Nazis will try to take advantage of her connection to us, and the lesser she knows, the-"
"Don't even think about it, Edward. I know you guys just want me to be safe, but I'm pretty much involved already. I've been kidnapped, for fuck's sake, so just spill it."
Ed gaped and Al just shrugged and chuckled. "So, brother? We're waiting."
Both of them kept looking at Ed expectantly, who, in return, scratched his neck and sighed. "Hell, fine. But this is dangerous information, so be careful... Winry, do you remember the Gate?" She nodded. "Good, 'cause it'll be important." He took a deep breath and became much more stern. "The first thing you should know is that we're far away from Risembool. Not just Risembool. We aren't in Amestris. This place is called Germany and we're on the other side of the Gate."