Freanch-fri-freak: Thanks so much, you're the first to review. :throws party: It was rather short, huh:sweatdrop: I like short prologues.
Yes, I'm sorry that I didn't get this out fast enough; I had horrid writer's block.
By the way, do you have an instant messenger of any kind? It'd be great to talk to you.
Naya: Your review made me laugh, I think because you said "short"…Ah, poor Ed. :watches Ed over-react over height: Thank you, and I hope this is soonprobably not and long enough.
Rie-chan: Thank you!
Mija: Thank you!
Okay, just so you know, this takes place when they are 16-15, and Al's not cured yet. If that's wrong, sorry, I haven't seen all the episodes. (Damn Adult Swim) They (Al, Ed, and Winry) are living in Central. In a house that the military got them (like Tucker, but their house is not as extravagant).
"Dammit, Winry, get out of my way!" Edward cried as Winry shied away from him and his pile of books. Ed sighed. "Look, I know you just moved here and stuff, but don't you have something else to do, besides stare at me! With your personality, I'd have thought you'd have met someone already to hang out with."
"Yeah, Ed, sorry," She muttered quietly. "I'm just bursting with things to do here, you know, people to see, and stuff."
"Mm-hmm," He said off-handedly, staring at the alchemy book before him.
Winry walked out of the house and into further into town. She had tried to make friends with other auto-mail engineers in Central, but they had dismissed her, because of her gender and appearance without even looking at her talent. She didn't want to say she was bored, at the risk of sounded like a spoiled brat, but she had nothing to do.
"That's not true," She said to herself, still walking. "I brought all that auto-mail, and I especially have to work on my new leg design." She sighed. "It's still not moving properly in the knee joint…And the suspension's probably out of whack from the train too…But I don't want to go back there, Ed might get mad again." Faced with the dilemma of what to do, Winry wandered into the Central hospital. "I did promise Riza I'd come visit, it was awful that she got shot in that fight, although we're all thankful that she's okay."
Winry was almost to Lt. Hawkeye's door when she heard people talking from within. She knew it was wrong, but curiosity overcame her, and she stopped a couple of inches away from the door and listened.
"Yes, Ms. Rockbell is nice." Hawkeye mused. "Perhaps she can brighten Edward's spirits a little; he's so serious for his age."
"I think she already has," the Colonel pointed out. "Have you noticed how FullMetal calls her "Win"? I haven't seen Alphonse do that."
"Me neither." Winry blushed a little; it was true that Ed called her that, but it seemed natural to her, since he'd been doing it since he could talk. "Full of energy, isn't she?"
"You mean "annoying", Lieutenant." Mustang laughed. "I shudder to think what she would have been like as a child. Probably a handful." Winry's smile fell. "I hope she doesn't completely distract Edward from his work."
"I doubt he'd let her, Colonel."
"Hmm, you can't be too sure. I'll set something up to get her out of the way." Winry walked slowly backwards, not wanting to hear anymore. What the hell are they talking about! He can't work all the time, they'll kill him! What nerve do they have, treating me like a child, calling me annoying. As Winry wasn't looking where she was going, she ran into someone.
"What the hell! Get out of here; this isn't a place for kids," The nurse she had run into said. Winry blinked back tears and ran out of the hospital.
Without thinking, Winry went to the only place that she really knew here: The house she and the Elrics shared. As soon as the mechanic opened the door, she walked slowly to her room. Still moving sluggishly she opened her closet and pulled out one of her suitcases that still awaited unpacking.
Lugging it to the bed, she unlocked the clasps and pulled out the auto-mail leg inside, dumping all the little pieces onto the bed.
Two hours later Alphonse knocked on Winry's door. "Winry? Winry, brother and I are making dinner, and we could use your help…Winry?" After Winry didn't answer Al's knocks, he opened the door slowly, slightly sticking his head in to see what was wrong. "Hey Winry. Is…Something wrong?"
The blonde looked up from the metal littered on her bed. "Oh, hey Al."
"Didn't you hear me knock?" Winry shook her head, and lifted her hand to wipe something away from under her eye. "Are…You okay?"
"I'm fine, Al. Do you guys need my help?" Alphonse thought he had seen tears in Winry's eyes…But she seemed fine. He slightly shook his head to rid himself of the thought.
"Yeah. Thanks Winry."
"It's no problem, Al; we all know that Ed can't cook to save his life!" Winry laughed a little and left the room before Al.
During dinner that night, Alphonse was quiet, as usual, watching Winry and his brother eat without taking part himself. But Ed noticed that Winry was quieter then usual.
"Somethin' a mattor, Winry?" He said thickly through his food.
"What?" Winry's head shot up from where she was inspecting her dinner plate. "Oh. Yeah, Ed, everything's fine." She smiled. "Just taking some time to get used to a new place is all." Alphonse frowned, and caught his brother's eye across the table. Ed slightly nodded.
"So, I'm not goin' crazy," Ed mused. He turned his head up towards his brother after dinner, into the sun, and shielded his eyes. "You noticed too, eh Al?" The armor before him nodded.
"Yes. Winry seems…So different."
"She's certainly not as annoying as she normally is, huh?" Ed grinned.
From the window above him, he heard a scuffle and gasp. Ed spun around, staring at the window.
"What's wrong, brother?" Al inquired.
"Nothing," Ed replied, turning back to his younger brother. "I agree with you, Al: Winry's acting different. I noticed it too."
Winry moved slightly closer to the window again, hoping against hope that Ed had just been kidding…Hearing him say that had made her feel like doing something drastic.
"Brother…You didn't yell at her or anything, did you? I remember when we were little and you'd get mad…Winry would always get sad like this."
Still by the windowsill, Winry reminisced about a time where she refused to speak to the elder Elric brother for 3 days. Ed always had a strong temper.
"Nah, I didn't cause this." Ed said below, swinging his auto-mail hand as if swatting away a fly. "Winry is acting different, but hell if I know why…Maybe puberty?" Ed sniggered.
"Brother, it's not funny…"
"It's normal! All girls Win's age do this!" Edward smacked his auto-mail against his head. "We shoulda thought of that first."
"If you say so…"
"Of course. C'mon Al, let's go inside. It's getting cold…" Winry slowly back away from the window.
"Ed…?" Winry asked quietly to the air, walking backwards. When she reached her bed she fell, not caring. All Winry, at that point, wanted to do was lay there and focus on this huge ball of sorrow in her chest. I'm not moving at all…I wonder what Ed would think if he walked in and I was dead…
'"Hey Winry, Al reckons I should talk to you…Winry?" Ed walked over to the bed and saw his childhood friend asleep. "Yo Winry, wake up." He pushed her shoulder and drew his hand in quickly. "Yeesh, she's freezing…She's not dead…Is she!"
Edward began to snicker quietly. "Wait 'til Al sees…This is great, no more annoying girls here!" Ed ran out of the room, the door banging shut by the wind created by his red coat.'
Winry shook her head violently, causing the tears from her eyes to spread across the bed. "Ed wouldn't do that." She told her floor strongly. "He's not that horrid. No, he's not horrid at all, he's just stressed. It has nothing to do with me…"
'…Not as annoying as she normally is…All girls Win's age do this…You mean "annoying", Lieutenant…Probably a handful…'
Winry grabbed her suitcase, and when she didn't find the object of her searching, turned feverently to the bed, tears still flowing freely.
Winry moved strange-looking bits of metal, screws, nuts, and her trusty wrench and screwdriver, knowing it was there. Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her finger, and realized that she'd cut herself on the knife she keeps, just in case.
Winry smiled strangely and grabbed the knife, slowly slicing away her skin near the vein in her wrist, but careful not to nick it. She didn't want to die.
Much.
My apologies to Freanch-fri-freak for the slow coming of this chapter, and my apologies to all readers on the horribleness of this chapter. I decided to just post it, without really doing as good a job as I s'pose I could have done…Sorry.