It was not so long until Winry received a much awaited letter from Ed.

It was raining very hard on that day, which was quite unusual in Resembool. A typical day at that time of the year would have been a sunny, breezy, perfect day. Instead, grey clouds covered the sun and rain was literally pouring down. It was much colder than it should have been, and Winry had to turn the heater on.

She did not like rain at all. The humidity ruined automails and made it harder to work. It also made her feel gloomy, watching the dull, grey sky and endless drops. The world seemed more monochromic when it was such bad weather. The sound of raindrops hitting the roof also drove her crazy. Moreover, it reminded her of the day the Elrics tried to transmute their mother.

Though she was meant to be repairing an automail of one of their regular customers, she spent half of the day looking out of the window. On days like this, work was the last thing on her mind. It had been a while now since she parted with the Elrics, and she wondered what they were doing. Getting into trouble, obviously…and breaking automails. She couldn't help but smile at the small, sarcastic voice at the back of her head.

Then, a delivery boy from town came with a letter from Edward Elric.

About time, she thought, happy but not too surprised with the letter. She glanced at Pinako, who was too concentrated on her automail to notice, and opened the letter. She was supposed to be working, yes, but it wasn't as if she was focused anyway.

xoxox

Winry,

There is just so much that happened. We both have bad new and good news. Or, to be exact, what would have been good new until now but isn't anymore. And whatever little good that was left there is no overshadowed by the unimaginably bad news.

We have the philosopher's stone, Winry. We have it. Scar made it using all the soldiers that went to Lior… After how many thousand deaths, he made it. A damn big piece of it, even. If you ignore the part that tens of thousands of people died for it, that seems like good new. The extremely bad new is that the stone is Al. That crazy bastard transmuted Alphonse in a philosopher's stone.

Now everyone is after us…the army, homunculus… The army can come later. First, we need to go back to Resembool. There is something we…I need to get to defeat the Homunculus.

The army will probably go there and look for me. I'm really, really sorry that I'm gonna cause so much trouble. I did not want to, but then I guess it's the payment for what I've done. Equivalent trade.

And don't answer or reply ore react in anyway to this letter. This is a letter from a wanted criminal, don't forget that.

Edward

xoxox

By the time she finished reading the letter, her hands were shaking so badly that she thought she might rip the paper. She shot a nervous glance at Pinako, who was still intently focused on her automail.

Winry was panicking. She had been expecting a normal letter, not something like this. She also had expected the Elrics to be getting in trouble, but not something so…serious. She needed to think, but her mind seemed to be frozen. Ed… Al… She just kept repeating their names in her mind.

"Winry?"
Pinako, who finally noticed something strange going on, called out to her granddaughter. No reply. Pinako furrowed her brow and walked to Winry. She was about to shout at the girl for not paying attention to her work, but then she noticed Winry's hands were shaking. Something was wrong.
"Winry? What happened?"
Winry looked up with fearful eyes, and handed the letter to Pinako. Pinako read it, turning paler at each word.

"…What should I do, bachan?"
Winry said in a trembling voice. She was scared out of her mind. Pinako looked at her granddaughter with sympathy, and patted her back.
"We can't do anything, Winry. All we can do is wait for them."
"They are in deep trouble, aren't they?"
"They always were. Ever since the night they tried to bring back their mother."
"But… They never got themselves into really bad things. Why couldn't they just let it be like that?"
"Winry, stop being unreasonable. You know they asked for this, and they can't complain. They won't, even if they had the chance. This is part of the payment for human transmutation."
Winry blinked to fight back tears, but it simply wasn't working. Everything became blurred and blotted by tears, and before she knew it, she was bawling like a baby. Pinako hugged Winry; it wasn't often that she showed open gestures of affection, but Winry crying like a baby was not something that happened often either.

"Why does it always have to be them…?"
Much later that day, when Winry was alone in her room, she whispered sadly into the empty space. She still felt like crying, but tears had long dried up. She imagined how she would look right now in a mirror, and let out a dry, sarcastic laugh.
"Why…why does it have to be them? Why can't I be in their place…?"
She felt so guilty that she was in Resembool, leading a peaceful life, while the Elric brothers went through so much. How many times did she wish she could carry their load with them? Of course, it wouldn't have been possible. But how she wished…

She rose up to get a pen, but stop half way into the action. She was about to write a reply, like what she always did, but then she remembered that she wasn't supposed to answer the letter. A letter from a wanted criminal. That was how Ed called it. He should have been in a hurry, too, since his handwriting was messier than usual.

She felt like throwing up. And would have, too, if she hadn't emptied her stomach already. She also felt like crying, but her eyes just hurt. All she hoped for, at that moment, was to see the Elrics again…in particular, Ed. She still had so much things to say to him. Like, "How do you get into so much trouble?" or "Don't you ever think before you act?" or "What about the people who worry about you?".

Or, "Don't push yourself too hard." and "I don't want you to die yet." and…

Maybe, only maybe, "I love you."