A/N: Hey everyone! Long time no see! It's been a while since I posted anything here, so cut me some slack if I take a while to remember how to do all this. I've never been very technologically competent to begin with.

(Those of you who are -STILL- keeping up with my other story, To Melt a Heart of Ice... worry not. So help me God it will be finished one day)

Yes, this story will be more than one chapter. No, it will not have much of a continuous storyplot. It's more of a collection of short stories to help me practice writing in the FMA fandom, so one day I can post something real. I do, however, appreciate your feedback. Tell meif I'm going wrong, so that I can learn! Thank you for reading!

Spoilers - No. The timeline of these little fics is restricted to theduration Ed spends recovering at the Rockbell's after the failed transmutation.

Pairings - Since the characters are so young in this fic, no. You can, however, interpret some things as blossoming puppy love if you so choose.

Disclaimer - I don't own FMA.

This collection of ficlets is dedicated to two people: MottoVeilopVIII, for introducing me to this lovely fandom, and CaptainKase, for being so kind in writing a drabble for me.


The small whimper was enough to wake Winry.

It was soft – more like a breathy moan than anything else. It shouldn't have been loud enough to stir Winry's mind back from the realm of sleep, but she had been so accustomed to nothing but complete silence radiating from the room that even that slightest sound…

Her heart caught in her throat. In a haste half born from worry and half from barely contained hope, she rolled out of bed and slid her feet into her slippers. Looking out the window, she judged that it was still roughly about… the middle of the night. Should she wake her Grandmother?


The first time Ed had awoken, Winry hadn't noticed that he had stirred until long after he had regained consciousness. When she had looked over and seen that his eyes were open, a grin had broken out across her face.

"Ed!" she'd exclaimed excitedly, "Finally, you're up! You sleepyhead! I was wondering how long you were going to…"

She had trailed off at the look in his gaze. His eyes had been dull and glazed over. To make matters worse, he wouldn't speak a word either. He had simply lain there in a near catatonic state, his golden eyes staring off into a distance that only he could see, until the dark oblivion of sleep reclaimed him.

Winry had started off blaming it on the painkillers. After all, he had been loaded with them. She couldn't help but cringe every time she watched her Grandmother change his bandages, wrapping the ragged, bloodied stumps in fresh, clean white cloth. It had to hurt. Winry was sure that it did, despite the fact that Ed's face, though covered in a light shimmer of feverish sweat, did not reveal any signs that he felt anything at all.

When his fever abated and his wounds started to heal, Granny Pinako began the process of weaning him gradually off the strongest of the painkillers. Each time the doses given were less and less.

But nothing changed.

He had slept most of the time. On those few occasions that unconsciousness relinquished its hold on him, it never seemed like he fully awakened. His eyes never lost that distant stare, even when Winry would foolishly wave her arms in front of his face desperate for a response.

They could not get him to eat solid food. However, they could coax a little bit of broth into him – sometimes. At her Grandmother's direction, Winry would slide her arm under his left shoulder and gently lift him up. He would sag limply against her like dead weight, while Pinako fed him tiny spoonfuls of broth. Usually, this only lasted a few minutes before Ed would stop swallowing, the last few spoonfuls of broth dribbling from his slack lips. Then, Winry would wipe his mouth and lay him back down on the bed, watching as he fell back asleep. His expression never changed throughout the entire ordeal.

"Granny," Winry had asked one day, while she and her Grandmother brought the bowl of broth back to kitchen, "What's wrong with Ed?"

Pinako looked up after placing the bowl in the sink. "Besides missing two of his limbs?"

Winry blushed. "Well, yeah. Something's not right. He should have recovered more by now."

"His wounds are healing quickly."

Shaking her head, Winry replied, "No, it's not that. It's something else."

Pinako didn't answer.

"You've noticed it, haven't you?" continued Winry, "That glazed look in his eye… it's almost like… he's not all there."

Winry had winced even as she spoke the words. There could be so much more wrong with Edward than met the eye! She remembered what her Grandmother had spoken to Al about. 'You were trying to bring back your mother, weren't you!' She remembered when the military man – Lt. Col. M… Mus something… Mustang, that was his name – had walked right into their house, and what he had said. The words rang like iron anvils through her skull.

Human Transmutation

Winry had looked through the kitchen doorway, her gaze locking at the closed door down the hallway. Edward… what exactly had happened that night? What had Ed gone through? What had he seen? What led to Al, in a metal suit instead of a body, carrying his bleeding, dying brother to her house for help?

"Sometimes," Pinako said, shocking Winry out of her reverie, " when somebody suffers a large shock to their system, it takes them a while to accept it."

Winry shivered. "What do you mean?"

Sighing, Pinako had explained, "Edward probably just needs time for both his mind and body to register that what happened that night actually happened. He'll snap out of it eventually."


Winry tip-toed up to the door. At a gentle push, it creaked and swung open.

For a moment, Winry just stared into the dark room. When she didn't hear anything, she began to be frustrated with herself. She had probably just been imagining things. There was no reason for her to be wandering around the house in her pajamas in the middle of the night. It had been a fluke - a sigh of the wind that her sleep-fogged mind had transformed into something else. It was nothing. She was about to turn around to go back to bed when she heard it.

There!

She flipped on the light switch, flooding the room with a bright glow. Over on the bed against the wall in a muddle of bed sheets, lay Edward Elric. His body was tense, trying to hold itself rigid against the small shivers that shockwaved through his entire form. Tangled strands of golden hair were plastered to his sweaty brow, and his eyes were squinched shut. And then there was what had woken Winry. For the first time since before he lost his limbs, Edward was not silent. His breath was coming ragged through clenched teeth. Every few a moments, an exhale was painfully expelled in the form of a gasped moan.

Winry rushed to his side, grasping his left hand and feeling his forehead. No fever. His skin felt cold and clammy.

What was happening? Winry felt a panic begin to take hold of her. What was wrong with Ed? In the entire time he had been recovering at her house, he had never so much as twitched an eyelash. Now all of the sudden this? Winry started to stand up, ready to run and fetch her Grandmother, but she halted as she felt Ed's hand tighten on her wrist.

"Win-ry…"

Her eyes widened in shock. "Ed?" She knelt back down by the bed. His eyes were open – not only were they open, but they were clear. They were clear, and looking at her pleadingly.

"Ed!" She begged him, "What's wrong? Tell me what's wrong so I can help you!"

"It h-hurts," he choked.

Reflexively, she began to check his bandages to see if they had begun bleeding again. They didn't seem to be. "What hurts? Tell me what hurts, Ed." When he did not answer, she leaned over and took his face in her hands. "Ed! Talk to me! Tell me what hurts!"

He shuddered. "My- m-my arm…"

Winry blinked. "What?"

"My arm…" He looked over at the empty space on his right side.

"Ed," Winry soothed him. If she could just calm him down enough, she could feel comfortable leaving him for the few moments it would take to run and get Pinako. "It's just a feeling of phantom limb. It's not real, Ed. Your arm is gone."

"B-but…" Ed let out a strangled groan, "Oh God, it h-hurts…"

Winry felt tears come to her eyes. She was so frightened. Suddenly, she felt so young and so inexperienced. Her parents had been surgeons and her Grandmother an automail engineer; despite her age, she knew quite a bit about caring for the injured and ill. But right now…

She gently tried to pry Ed's left hand from her wrist, but with every attempt he only tightened his grip. When she felt her bones grind together under the pressure, she gave up. "Ed," she pleaded, "Let me go!"

He did not seem to hear her. A haze had settled across his eyes again, but instead of falling back into that frozen state of shock, he continued to mumble nonsense under his breath. Though he was looking right at her, Winry knew that he was no longer aware of where he was.

"No… no… n-no… no…" he muttered ceaselessly, tossing and turning. Winry tried to calm him down, but to no avail. Then, he mumbled something that made Winry's stomach twist.

"M-mom…"

Suddenly, there was the sound of clanging metal. Winry turned around to see Al standing at the door. He hurried forward, his feet clanking against the floorboards.

"Brother!"

At the sound of the hollow, echoing voice, the grip on Winry's wrist was released. She stood shakily, backing away to make room for Al, who took her place by Ed's side. He seemed to be hesitant to touch his brother, as if he were worried that the cold metal would be more of a shock than a comfort. At long last, he softly laid a hand on Ed's left shoulder, the bed sheet shielding the vulnerable skin from the metal.

"I don't know what's wrong with him," Winry whispered, rubbing her wrist. "It's like he's delirious, but there's no fever."

"Brother," Al said, "Can you hear me?"

Edward leaned in towards his brother's voice. "Al?"

"That's right." Al's relief was palpable.

Winry took a step forward. "Is he – "

"Winry."

She jumped at her Grandmother's voice. Pinako stood framed by the door.

"Granny!" Winry let out a breath. "Thank goodness you're here! Something's wrong with – "

"Come on, Winry." Pinako gestured for her granddaughter to follow her. "You should get back to bed."

"But Ed - "

"He's fine." She looked over at the injured boy. He was already calming down. Al was murmuring something to him, but neither Pinako nor Winry could make out what he was saying.

Winry blinked worriedly. "Are you sure?"

"Positive." Pinako led Winry out of the room, shutting the door quietly behind her. When Winry turned a confused glance to her, Pinako only said, "We help Ed when he is hurt physically. Tonight, he needs his brother."


The next morning, when Winry peeked into the room, she couldn't believe what she saw.

Al was sitting cross-legged on the floor, a couple blankets arranged on his lap to form a crude bed. Edward lay snuggled inside, his head cushioned by a pillow nestled in the crook of Al's elbow. Although he was pale and there were dark shadows under his eyes, his features were calm. He was breathing so softly, Winry could not help but assume that he was asleep.

Noticing her presence, Al looked up. "Good morning, Winry!" He said so cheerfully that Winry could half-imagine a smile plastered across the armor helmet. Turning back to the bundle in his arms, Al gave Ed a small nudge. "Look brother. Winry's come to check on you."

Ed's golden eyes opened wearily. After blinking a few times, he focused on the girl standing hesitantly in front of him. He managed a small tired smile, "Hi, Winry." As he registered the fact that he was being cradled by his younger brother - in front of Winry, no less - a faint blush colored his cheeks. He suddenly found the floor and the ceiling and pretty much everything but Winry's face much more interesting to look at.

The sight warmed Winry's heart more than anything else. If Edward had the energy to give in to embarrassment, then he was most certainly feeling much better.

As Al noticed his brother's discomfort, he shifted uncertainly. "Um… Winry," he said, "You think you can bring up some breakfast?"

"Of course!" Winry breathed, smiling at the scene before her, still unsure if it were really happening. She backed away and stepped softly out of the room. As soon as the door closed, she set off down the hallway, eager to tell her Grandmother the good news.