Ed awakened and rolled over to look out the window. It was approaching dawn quickly. He rubbed his eyes a bit to get up. His stomach growled, almost ferociously. He grumbled and grabbed a shirt out of the nightstand. He slipped into it and walked to the Rockbell's kitchen. He passed the table where Winry sat, fiddling with her food.
"Pinako has a plate ready in the kitchen..." Winry sighed. She was using her fork to push the food from side to side, attempting to make it seem as though she was eating. Ed kept walking toward the kitchen. Ed didn't want to have to face her after last night. He felt mortified that she saw him like that.
He walked into the kitchen and saw a plate of eggs and bacon waiting for him by the sink. Pinako was no where in sight. He started eating the food right there, still afraid of facing Winry. The door to the kitchen swung open slowly.
"You don't have to ignore me. I don't care," Winry said, slightly depressed. Ed's face scrunched up as he tried to find the right words to say. He wasn't sure exactly why he was so afraid of facing her. He was sure she had seen him cry before, but this time it was different. It hurt him to think about it. This pain was worse than any physical pain you could imagine enduring. It felt to him as though his heart was being torn into shreds. That's it... That's why he is afraid. He didn't want her seeing him go through that. He didn't want her to worry.
Ed picked up his plate and followed Winry to the table. It was deathly quiet between the two of them. Not wanting to disturb the well-kept silence, Ed sat down as gently as possible and set the plate down as softly as he could. Winry continued her fidgiting until she finally broke the silence.
"Ed are you staying here?"
"No. I have to go. You know what I have to do."
"Then I'm going with you."
"You can't. You might get hurt, and I would never let myself live it down if you did."
"What if your automail malfunctions? Ed, I don't care what you say... I'm going."
"Winry..."
"ED!" Winry yelled, as she pounded on the table. As if things weren't tense enough.. The plates and silverware bounced as her fist clobbered the table.
"Fine, but I need you to buy us some train tickets. I need to go to Central to talk to Mustang."
"Why?"
"Nevermind. After breakfast I'm going to pack up," Ed said between chews of bacon.
---
Ed grabbed as many robes, shirts and boxers as he could and shoved them into a case. He gathered his toiletries and threw them in as well. He scratched his head and thought to himself "I know I'm forgetting something.. I just know it... That's it". He grabbed the pocketwatch off of the floor. He opened it and stared at the engraving. After a bit, he closed the watch and put it in his pocket.
The door swung open and Winry appeared in the room. "I've got the tickets and I'm packed."
Ed made a humph noise, assuring his understanding.
"I see you're done packing already."
"Let's head out..." and with that the two teenagers picked up their things and headed out the door on a journey they would never forget.