I kept my word! Here's number six!

Warning: Tiny bits of fluff at the end of the chapter. Read at your own risk!

:c)

Chapter Six

Winry found Edward and Alphonse in the library as she predicted. As soon as she saw Al, she motioned for him to be quiet as she snuck up on the sleeping form of her best friend. Ed was lying on the couch near the window as he always has; the book was lying open on his chest as he slept away. Winry snuck up to the back of the couch and looked over at the teen. His face was peaceful, though she could see the signs of weariness showing though slightly. She knew he was pushing himself too hard, but Edward would never reason with anyone when it came to getting Al's body back. She couldn't blame him. If she had a sibling and the same situation happened to her, she would be doing the exact same thing he is right now; she may be even worse. Opting not to wake him just yet, she set the bowl of rice and sandwich she brought from the cafeteria on the end table and walked over to where Al sat.

"How is your arm, Winry?" Al whispered as best he could. She looked over and saw it had bled through slightly. She would have to change it again when she got back to her room. "It's okay. I just need to be more careful with it." Motioning over to Edward, "How long has he been asleep?"

Al looked around his friend's head to see his brother sleeping. "He's been asleep for almost five hours now. He was up almost the whole time when you were in the hospital. I was outside the room, but could hear him talking; though I don't know if it was to you or him. He fell asleep on the couch not too long after we left the Colonel's office."

Winry's eyes looked to the floor in shame. "I feel kind of bad with what happened in Mustang's office earlier. If I would have known he was in such a grumpy mood from his lack of sleep I would have let him slide on that comment he made." She looked back up to Alphonse. "Is he still mad at me?"

The younger brother shook his head. "I don't think he is. He can never stay mad at you for long, Winry. He hates it when you two fight." The girl's eyes widened at his statement. "You seem surprised," he said, causing her to nod her head. Al closed the book he was reading and gently set it down with the rest. "You and Auntie Pinako are all that we have left. If something happens to me, Winry, then you two are all he will have left…"

"But I thought he'd be angry with me for joining the military behind your backs…and not telling you about my…upgrades…" she said as tears threatened to fall from her eyes.

"He was angry at first. You lied to him; to us. We believed you and Auntie Pinako were safe in Rizenbul. We were always worried that people would follow us and discover you two if we visited often. That's why we were never able to come by as often, or stay as long. The last thing we wanted to happen would be for one of you two to get injured. I think he may be blaming himself for what happened to you. I don't know what happened to cause you to have automail, and I'm not going to pry if you don't want me to know, but I do know he hasn't been himself since he saw you yesterday in the hospital." Checking on his brother again, Winry saw Al jump slightly and turned around to see Edward sitting on the couch, bent forward with his elbows on his knees.

Winry stood up quickly and started to walk over to him, "Edward, I'm so sorr-" but was interrupted when he raised his palm to quiet her. She stopped in mid-stride, and stood there wringing her hands. Slowly he stood up and turned to walk away.

"Edward, please listen to m-" again she was silenced when his palm rose in the air. Without turning back around, he walked out through a door and out onto the balcony overlooking another courtyard.

Winry slumped her shoulders, "He really does hate me."

"Give him a few minutes, and then go try and talk to him. He just needs some time to think, " Al said reassuringly. Winry nodded and walked over to the couch Edward was just lying on. She picked up the book he was reading and saw it was a type of auto-mail book. She flipped through the pages until she came to the one that was folded weird. Then she remembered a page or so was sitting at odd angles when he must have fallen asleep. The weight of the book must have pushed down on them, causing a crease. Winry skimmed through the information and was surprised to find it was specifically on the process of reattaching the nerves when a limb is changed out. What was he looking for? He knows firsthand what the process is… she thought to herself.

Wanting to read further into the book, but feeling guilty for having intruded into his studying, Winry laid the book back down onto the couch and looked towards the balcony. Edward was still standing out there leaning on the railing, looking off into the darkness of night. Light from the lanterns hanging outside danced off his hair and body, sending shadows to play off of nearby objects. "Al, I'll be back in a bit," she said as she stood up and walked over to the entrance of the balcony.

Edward did not move at all as she walked through the door and closed it behind her. She stood there with her hands folded in front of her for a few minutes before deciding to take a position a few feet away from him. Leaning with most of the support on her left arm, Winry gazed out into the same darkness that seemed to interest him. The silence was thick, and she dared not disturb it quite yet. She felt she had a lot of explaining and apologizing to do, and she didn't want to do it before he was ready to hear the whole thing.

Winry looked over to see the face of a young man who had to grow up faster than he should have. His father left and disappeared when he was young; his mother died a few years later. Thought he was doing the right thing by trying to bring her back, but almost lost his only brother in the process. Sacrificing his arm and leg, he destined himself to wear metal limbs for the rest of his life. Now he's on a hunt for a way to return his brother's body back to him as well as his own limbs. Then I have to be stupid and get stuck with automail, and run off to join the military. I'm just something else he has to worry about… she thought. She closed her eyes to stop the tears that threatened to break loose again, and tilted her head up to look at the open sky.

Edward watched Winry the entire time she was on the balcony from the corner of his eye. He was still irritated with her actions in Mustang's office earlier, but he did kind of deserve it after his comment. He was just still irate and angry at the time, though that was no excuse. His eyes looked straight ahead again when he saw her look at him. He wished he could hear what she was thinking.

After what seemed like forever of her staring at him, she closed her eyes like she was trying to hold something back, then looked skyward. Her attempt was not working, because he could see where the tiny tears leaked down her cheeks. He couldn't take it anymore. He hated it when she got upset, and it was his fault she was this upset anyway. If he hadn't pushed her away when he was in the library just moments ago, maybe then they could be joking somewhere, like they usually do. But things had changed. He hated pushing her away so many times, but he never wanted her to get hurt, which is what ended up happening anyway. He had to do something.

"Um…Winr-"

"Oh, Edward! I'm so sorry!" Winry wailed as she ran into his arms, catching him off guard. He had not expected that to happen! She wrapped her arms around him and held on tight, afraid to let go. If she let go, he might disappear again, and she didn't know what she would do if that happened anymore. She kept crying, oh how he wished he could make that sound disappear! Hesitantly at first, but becoming more comfortable with it, he let his arms wrap around her. Suddenly her legs gave out and they both fell to their knees. She curled herself up slightly and held herself against his chest, his arms providing another cocoon of safety.

"I swear I didn't mean it in Mustang's office earlier! Please don't hate me! It's all my fault…I don't want to lose you again…." Winry would trail off into another set of sobs, which Edward hated to hear. His heart broke at the sound of her fears. She really thought he hated her? He was never able to stay mad at her for more than a day, if even that. Sliding her bandana off, Edward smoothed out her hair with his hand, running his fingers through it. He, himself, felt like he would cry at any moment. Here he was blaming himself for everything, when she was blaming herself for everything!

"I don't hate you, Winry. I could never hate you…" he whispered into her ear, causing her to calm down somewhat. She sat back a bit and looked him in the eyes. He reached up and wiped the tear marks from her beautiful face. The moonlight shined off of her hair, making her look like an angel. He couldn't let his angel be upset. "But, but you weren't talking to me in there, and after what I did to you earlier I would even hate me!" she sputtered as new tears began to form, but he reached up again and wiped them away with his hand.

"I was just trying to think some things over earlier, and I didn't want to be interrupted. There's been a lot going on lately, and I just needed a mome-"

"You heard everything Al and I were talking about, didn't you?" she interrupted. Trailing off, "You were awake when he looked back that second time…"

Edward looked away from Winry for a brief moment, trying to group his thoughts together. But the moment was too long.

"Do you really blame yourself for what happened to me? For what happened to my arm and leg?"

Closing his eyes, as he looked away, confirmed her suspicion. He didn't want to get upset in front of the girl in the state she was in, but what happened to her broke his heart every time he thought about it. He remembered what happened to himself when he experienced the gate, and he would never want anyone else to experience it, much less the girl in front of him.

Edward felt two hands pull his face back to look at her. Opening his eyes he looked straight at her. There were no more new tears, just worry written all over her face. "Edward, my arm and leg had nothing to do with you. I wasn't strong enough to--"

"That's where you're wrong," he interrupted while placing his hands on top of hers. A slight blush crept to her cheeks as she realized what she was doing, and she slowly withdrew her hands, placing them in her lap. Sighing, Edward stood up and took his place back looking over the balcony rail. He could hear the girl quietly stand up and move next to him, touching her metal arm with his unconsciously.

"The person you described; the one that came to your house when I wasn't there and could change forms? He is a homunculus…" He could hear the sharp intake of breath from his friend. "These past few years have been hell Winry." He admitted. "Ever since I had to put Al in that suit of armor I've been looking for ways to get his body back, as well as my limbs. Ever since I started learning alchemy from sensei, I wished I could become a great alchemist to help my search along. And this whole time…the reason we haven't been around much…" he sighed, "was to keep you and auntie safe. We didn't know who could be following us, and we didn't want anyone to hurt you guys. That's why we never really showed up unless it was necessary, and then left right afterwards."

Silence passed between the two, until Winry spoke, "And all this time I thought you were just using us as mechanics…that fixing your arm and leg was the only reason you came back…"

He turned to look at the girl. "I have never once thought that you were 'just my mechanic'…I love coming back to see you all. I wish I could have stayed longer, but I didn't want to risk your safety…If anyone saw us together, they might try to hurt you to get to me…and I don't know what I would do if something happened to you…"

Edward watched as the information sank into the girl's head. Turning her head to look at him, "you mean me and grams?"

Red flushed to his cheeks as he realized what he said. "Um, yeah! You and auntie…" He looked around to distract his attention for a moment and saw the bandage on Winry's right arm. "Is your arm okay? Did you just hurt it again?" She looked over and saw it had bled through slightly more. "Uh-uh…" she said, shaking her head slightly, I'm just gonna change it when I get back to my room. It's no big deal-"

"Come here, let me see it," Ed said, turning her around so he could look at it. Carefully he unwrapped the gauze around her arm, and realized it had bled more than she originally believed. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a small bag, reached in, and pulled out some of the ointment.

"Where did you get that?" Winry asked. Squeezing some onto a cotton ball, Edward began to apply the stinging substance, "I told the nurse you may have problems remembering to change it, so she gave me extra medicine to do it for you…"

"What am I, a two year old?" she huffed, and turned her head away, not letting him see the pain she was feeling from the ointment. After making sure each side was covered in ointment, he gently wrapped it back up in new gauze. Turning her head back towards him, she smiled slightly. "Soooo…are you still mad at me? You know, for joining the military and keeping my auto-mail a secret?"

Edward put the small bag away in his pocket and beckoned for the girl to come over for a hug; much like the ones they would give to comfort one another when they were children. Winry blushed slightly as she leaned in and let him wrap his arms around her. The teenager rested his chin on her head and could smell the sweet scent of vanilla and plums from her hair. He spoke slowly, so his emotions would not take him over.

"When you were in the emergency room last night, I sat there and watched you sleep. I watched you suffer through your dreams. I don't ever want you to have to go through that again. I didn't know what I was going to do if I lost another person dear to me. I don't want you to have to go through what I go through, but now you're a dog of the military just as I am. If you ever need help, though, please know that I won't be far behind."

"Thank you, Edward…Thank you…" Winry replied, returning his hug. The two teens stayed like that for a few minutes, just relishing the feel of being in each other's arms, knowing that safety was never far away.