A/N: This takes place right at the begining of Vol three. No idea what episoide it is in the anime.
Disclaimer: Nope! I don't own anything! Wish I did though.
His Guilt, Her pain, His promise, Her wish
"What?" Winry cried in shock, staring down at the Elric boy that was seated on the couch. His right arm, normally an example of auto-mail brilliance, was presently not attached to his shoulder.
"Yeah, sorry, it kinda got broken." Edward said, sipping the hot liquid that Granny Pinako had given him. They had been home five minutes, and already Edward was harrassed by Granny Pinako, pelted in the head with a wrench, and of course, got yelled at by Winry. Then again, he had been expecting all of it. It was just a normal day back at the Rockbell house.
Winry gave a sigh. "Well, give me the peices and I'll see what I can do," she said, already figuring out in her head how she was going to go about this.
Edward paused, his eyes closed, before looking up at her. "Yeah, when I said 'Broken', what I meant was, 'smashed to bits'." He said. Winry went pale, trying to choke out her words, but to little success. In the back of her mind, she continually heard 'smashed to peices', as it bounced around inside her head.
"Well Ed, it seems you've grown an inch since I last saw you," Pinako said. She was standing down by his feet, measuring his acctual foot against his prosthetic. "That means we'll have to adjust your leg along with building your arm from scratch." She said, as she pulled the auto-mail leg off.
"I know I'm asking a lot," Edward said, as a replacment leg was attached. "But could you have it done for me in a week, we're kinda in a hurry."
Pinako drew in a long breath from her pipe, before finally letting it out in a puff of smoke. "Don't underestamate me Ed, we'll have it done in three days."
Edward grinned, bounding to his feet. "That's great." He woobled slightly, causing the boy to grab onto a nearby wall for balence. "Whoa, it's hard to walk in a leg that you're not used to."
Winry started mumbling to herself, Ed's leg over her shoulder. "Man... this is going to be an all nighter for sure." she mumbled, after she had mentally gone through everything she had to do.
"Sorry about this," Ed said, as he finally started to get a grasp on using the replacement leg.
"Don't worry," Winry said in an all too cheery mood. "I'm charging you dubble!" The blonde gave an evil cackle, as she slapped him hard on the back. Edward, not used to the leg, fell forwards, landing painfully in a pile of boxes Pinako had stacked up in a corner. The boy shot her a dangerously annoyed look.
"Oops." The Rockbell girl said in her best defense.
"Winry..." Edward said in a 'you're-going-to-pay-for-this' type of tone.
"Gotta get to work bye!" And with that, Winry bounded up the stairs to get started on her work.
---
Winry was already a fair way started on Edward's arm, when she cast a glance out the window. She spotted Ed, fully dressed, a bouquet of flowers in his hands, and Den trailing happily behind him. He was heading out, and she knew where he was going.
"His mother's grave," she thought sadly. The girl tried to get back on track, only, her mind seemed to keep fluttering off to Edward.
"Winry?" The blonde haired girl looked over at Alphonse, who was seated next to her. There was a hint of curitosity in his voice, wondering what she wa staring at.
"Yes Al?" She asked brightly, wipping away all sad thoughts of Ed from her mind.
"Are you... worried about him too?" he asked, in a soft, small voice.
Winry sighed, letting her facade slip away. "Yeah, but who can really blame me? He never tells me anything, he's always looking off as if he's sad, and he's always running off, getting himself hurt." Winry slipped on her goggles, placing a peice of metal under one of her drills and letting the sparks fly.
"I know what you mean," Alphonse said as soon as she had stopped drilling. "He has all this guilt, and he bottles it inside himself, it's not healthy."
Winry remained silent for a moment, before she sighed. "Ed's just..." she trailed off, as she gazed out the window again. Edward was already in the distance, fadding away. "I feel like he's already out of my reach."
"Believe me Winry," Alphonse said. "He's not out of your reach. He's out of mine, and Granny Pinako's, but maybe, you can help him." This caused the blonde haired girl's brows to furr together in confusion, as she gazed over at Alphonse.
"What do you..."
"Try talking to him," Alphonse said as she fadded off. "I know he'd aperciate it."
Winry scoffed. "How can I talk to him? That guy wont sit down and listen to me?"
Alphonse remained silent for a moment, as if he was searching for something to say. "Hey! Try talking to him while he's sleeping." Alphonse said. "That way, he'd have to listen to you."
Winry frowned for a moment. "You know Al.. that's acctually not bad advise." She said.
"I know," Al replied in a giddy tone. "I'm grinning right now, you know."
Winry glanced over at him, from his voice, she could tell he was happy, although his armor had that straight face it alway held. "I'm sure you are."
---
Edward had fallen asleep on the couch, a thin blanket covering him. His arm and leg had been reattached, and he was mostly sleeping off the pain. Everyone else, it seemed, had rolled into bed for the night. Winry was exhausted. She had pulled an all nighter and should really get to bed, but she wanted to say something to Edward while she still had the chance.
"Ed.." she said softly as she took her spot on the edge of the couch. "Are you awake?"
She recieved a small half snore as her reply.
A small smile tugged on her lips, as she looked down on Edward's sleeping form. "I'm sorry, if I've been a little rough on you.." she said slowly, unsure how to word this. "But, sometimes, you worry me, and I just want to hear if you're okay once in a while. When I hear your auto-mail's busted, and then you don't tell me anything, it makes me worry. I want to know what's happening to you guys." Winry let out a small shaky sigh. "Sometimes... waiting all this time is hard. I don't know how you're doing or if you're hurt, and it really worries me." The girl turned her eyes towards the ground. "It really hurts Ed."
She remained silent for a long time, Edward still snoring softly. Finally, she started to speak again. "I'm worried, that when you get your arm and leg back, that you won't need me anymore. I wish..." she trailed off, her eyes tracing the patterns in the wood floors. "I wish that you would just stay here with me."
Finally, she got to her feet, turning to him, she brushed a strand of bangs from his eyes, before turning from the room.
As soon as the door clicked quietly closed, Edward opened his eyes. He flipped over to look at the door, before his eyes drifted to the floor. With a sigh, he turned over and tried to get back to sleep.
---
"Thanks for all your help Granny," Alphonse said, giving his last goodbyes to Den, who was happily wagging his tail at the attention. Pinako blew the smoke from her mouth and smiled.
"No need to thank me," she said. "You're money's all the thanks we need."
Edward mutter a spiteful, "Greedy old hag" under his breath, as he pulled on his gloves.
"Hey, where's Winry?" asked Alphonse, noting the disapearance of the blonde haired auto-mail machanic.
"She's still asleep," Pinako replied. "That all nighter took a lot out of her." The elderly woman took another puff of smoke from her pipe. "Do you want me to wake her?" she asked.
"Nah," Edward said. "She'd just yell at me about taking care of my auto-mail." He turned and glanced over his shoulder, shooting the woman a casual smile. "Take care of yourself old woman."
"You boys come home whenever you want a home cooking, alright?" she asked, taking another puff from her pipe.
Alphonse, Edward, and Major Armstrong, who had been sent to protect them on their trip (much to Ed's displeasure) all turned away from the house.
"Ed! Al!"
The two turned at a framiliar voice. Winry, looking drop dead tired, waved to them from atop her balconey. Alphonse waved back with much enthusiasim. Ed made a face and turned his back. He raised his hand in the air, giving a half-ass wave.
"Later!" he replied casually. Winry watched them for a while, as they slowly started to fade into the distance. The girl gave a yawn, as she turned back towards her room. The girl tried to rub the sleep from her eyes, preparing to go back to sleep, when a letter caught her eyes. It sat atop her workbench. Her curitosity drawn, she picked it up, and sat down on her bed.
Scribbled on the front, in Ed's chicken scratch of writing, was "To Winry". Confused, the girl opened the letter.
Winry, It read.
I was awake last night and I the sentance cut off, the line seemed to have been scribbled out, before it continuted. I'm sorry I make you feel so worried, I really am. But it's really hard for me to just come out and say things, you should know better then anyone. And, I hate to admit it, but this is the life I've chosen. The life of a "dog of the military" is hard, and brutal. I'm sorry, I truely am, but I can't turn my back on everyone who's counting on me.
I made a promise to myself, and to Al that night that we burnt down our house. I promised Al I would get him his body back, and I promised myself I would never give up on myself no matter the concequences. I hope you can forgive me. One day, after I get my body backto normal, More skribble marks I promise I will come home, and I wont ever leave. I promise I'll stay here with you.
I never break my promises.
-Edward
P.S. I will always need you. Auto-mail or not.
Winry smiled to herself. Stupid Edward. Couldn't say it to her face so he had to write it down. The girl fell back in her bed, letting he eyes shut as drowsiness started to take it's full effect.
"Stupid Ed..." she whispered. "I'm gonna make sure you keep that promise..."
With that, Winry drifted into unconsciousness.
A/N: Eh, I was bored. This is the result of my boredom! Also, I'm thinking of writing a long Ed/Win story, but I have no idea what to write, so if anyone wants to give me ideas, I would gladly take them into consideration.
