The Reason
She sat there, on her bed, watching the trees dance wildly in the wind. It had been so long since Ed had left…but why did she miss him so much? Maybe even too much…she shook her blonde head in exasperation – she had to quit thinking about him…but staring at the picture on her bedside table was another matter. She couldn't tear her eyes away from his gently smiling face, his eyes looking into her own. And still, she had to ask herself why? Why did she miss him so, why did she want him back in Risembool? She shook her head again, moving her thoughts onto something else…those years before, when they had been young, and all three of them, Ed, Al and her, had been like brother and sister. Now, though, they had grown, and there was something in the way of the brotherly and sisterly bond between her and Ed.
She supposed she had realised it all those years ago, when Al had carried a wounded and bleeding Ed to her house, begging for both her and her aunt Panaku to help him. She was horrified to see the state he was in; one arm and one leg gone, the open wounds gently flowing blood and his face and body spattered with it, too. She had been so…so shocked? Was that the word she was looking for? Well, whatever it had been, she knew there was something else she had felt…she just knew that she had wanted to help Ed more than she had anyone else before. Every day since that night the Elric brothers had attempted Human Transmutation, she had cared for Ed, seemingly not noticing as her feelings for him became stronger, almost like a bond. Then the day came where Ed had been sitting there…and he had asked for him stumps of limbs to be replaced by Automail. Winry, herself, had not done too much Automail engineering in the past – she didn't know if she had even wanted to become an engineer – but for some odd and inexplicable reason, that was what had sparked it. Or, more like, he was. Ed.
A faint smile crossed the girl's lips as she remembered. And the first time she had seen the Elric brothers perform Alchemy. She had been scared, though thinking back, Alchemy was only a Science, nothing more, or less. Following the rules, just like you had to all the time in life. And that's what she was doing now, without realising it. She was following the rules that the sibling-like bond between her and Ed had created. She had deeper feelings for him then even she knew.
Winry laid her head down upon her pillow, staring at her pale ceiling, and envisioning in front of her eyes, Ed and Al, travelling…goodness knew where they were now, but Winry knew who she was really longing for. The one who had first caused her to make the choice to be an Automail engineer. Though she had thought it was because it had been family trade for as long as she could remember…or maybe she had even thought it destiny…but no. It was none of that. The help she had given Ed had sparked it. She had been able to help him…in a sense; Automail had given her the power to do it, to help Ed, because even aged twelve, the brother and sister bond had been replaced by love. She wanted him to come back to her. Though…maybe her wishes were truly futile. She slipped underneath her covers, sighing. What was she thinking? Ed wanted to find the Philosopher's stone…and she was prepared to guess that was all he wanted. Nothing more, nothing less. And…maybe, just maybe…Ed didn't want love any more, for fear of being deprived of it, like he had been deprived of his mother's love. Who was she kidding? She was being a fool to think Ed would come back, just for her. Reason why she had become an Automail engineer maybe…but whatever he was, Winry knew he wouldn't return simply because she was wishing it, and willing it.
Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away from the tiny village where a girl was thinking affectionately of him, a certain Elric brother was oblivious to the affectionate thoughts, and to the fact that he was the reason why a childhood friend was now an Automail engineer. Not a slightest clue of the feelings Winry held for him…no idea that he was the reason…