A few years had passed since, and the Elric brothers were now full-fledged alchemists. Edward, particularly, was well known in Central and the East. 'A military dog on the people's side' was how most citizens described him. Often adding, 'But he is so short.'

But, as a state alchemist and his brother, both Ed and Al always got into trouble. And one of those days, they met Dr. Marco, and got involved in an incident with Scar. Naturally, both had some…damages, like an automail arm and half of an armor shattered into pieces.

Both of them had to wait in the eastern headquarters until Mustang 'decided what to do with them'. In other words, since Mustang had to talk with the Fuhrer for a while, the Elrics had to wait for a few hours before he got back. It was, indeed, very, very boring to just sit there and do nothing for a few hours, especially since the brothers did not feel like talking at that time. After five minutes of uneasy silence, Ed gave up and walked out of the room. Al tried to follow, but remembering how half of his body was gone, he sighed and decided to wait.

It was an hour later that Ed finally came back, carrying a huge bag full of apparently heavy things with his left arm.
"Uh…niisan? What is that?"
Al asked, glad that he could finally say something not serious for once. They were having some trouble with communication ever since that incident with Scar, since whatever they said eventually led to that topic, which was not exactly what they wanted to think at that moment. Ed looked at him, apparently pretty fed up with whatever was in the bag.
"Automail parts and some books."
"Automail…? Niisan, since when were you even interested?"
Al asked, voice full of curiosity. As far as he was concerned, his brother was not one who would be interested in those things. Ed shook his head. He seemed troubled. Very troubled.

"Winry. It's for Winry."
Ed said after a brief pause. Al looked at him with wonder. Was his brother actually giving Winry a gift? Of all the people, his immature brother, giving Winry something related to her passion, which Al knew exasperated Ed.
"…Niisan? Are you alright?"
Ed glared at Al, clearly sensing the tone of amusement in his brother's voice. This really wasn't the time to kid around.
"It is not what you think. Look…"
He pointed at the shoulder part of his automail, the only remains that he still had. Then he pointed to the space where Al's armor should have covered, if the other half was still there.
"You still don't understand?"
Ed asked. Al shook his head. Ed just dropped his shoulders, and said in a hoarse whisper.
"Winry will kill us both."

It took a while for Al to fully comprehend the sentence. But when he did, he felt a shiver go down his spine. Not that he had one anymore, but that was exactly what it felt like.
"…Shoot."
"So you finally understand. If we go back like this, she will definitely kill us both with her wrench.
"Well…I can't exactly die, since I'm just a suit of armor."
"She'll melt you to make new automails."
The brothers looked at each other, obviously scared for their lives. Winry wasn't usually so violent, but when she snapped… It was horrible. They both knew that well, since they had known her for their whole life. It was, in a way, a more horrifying experience than the night they tried to transmute their mother.

"So… I will write a letter to her, and send these parts and books with it. These are not gifts, these are sacrifices."
"……"
"…Let's just hope that these will arrive before we do. If they don't……"
"Just don't mention it, niisan. We always have to hope for the best, not the worst."
"My brother!"
They grasped each other's remaining arm. Yes, they had to hope for the best… Thinking about the worst doesn't help. Especially when the mere thought of it could stop you dead in your tracks. They were in this together…

The next two hours passed with Ed trying to right the letter with his left arm. He was obviously frustrated at his bad handwriting (his usual one was bad enough, the one with his left was almost illegible), and he was having trouble with the words. Al cheered, trying to help as much as he could. If this didn't work well, both of them would be in their graves soon enough.

After much grunting and mumbling and complaining, the letter was finally done. Ed and Al both read it three times each, just to make sure the spelling and grammar was perfect. They also made sure that the letter didn't sound as bad as what really happened. They knew that if Winry found out…no, they did not want to think about it.
"Al…Does this look okay to you?"
"Well, I guess so. I mean, if this isn't okay then…"
"No. Don't say it."
They looked at each other again, slight desperation in their eyes. If they had to meet the worst, then at least they weren't alone.
"Niisan, hurry up and send the letter! It needs to arrive before us!"
"I know, Al! See you later!"

Ed shouted as he burst through the door. Al saw him leave with much worry. He was, to be honest, missing Resembool a little. He was happy that he had an excuse to go back for once. But now…it didn't seem like such a good idea anymore.

xoxox

Dear Winry,

Hey! Yeah, I know it's been a while and that I haven't written to you for so long. And I am also really sorry that this letter is in really bad handwriting. It's because I'm writing with my left, since I am having some problems with the automail. It is apparently broken. I'm so sorry about this too, but it wasn't my fault, okay? It wasn't

Well…I guess you can tell why I'm writing to you. Al and I will probably go there sometime soon, because I really need you to fix it. It's extremely hard to do anything like this, and I also need to fix Al (he also needs some repairing, by the way).

I know I've said that we can't go back, so we'll only be staying for a few days. That's probably better for you and Pinako bachan too. Please tell her before I get back so she won't be so mad at me.

Always,
Edward