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He woke with blurry vision and pain in his head. To say that he was disoriented was putting it lightly. It didn't help that the room was so dimly lit, he couldn't focus his eyes on anything. Something felt dry and stiff on his upper eyebrow. Was he bleeding at some point? He tried to move his hand to investigate, but they were tied to something, and they were too far apart to clap and break the binding. He then realized that he, himself, was completely bounded.
Fuck.
Blinking heavily, he let out a loud groan, to which something squeaked.
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She did her best to hide in the dark. Never, in her entire life, had she been in contact with another human, other than Kimblee. She was so frightened, she involuntarily jumped when he finally came to; oh, how would she handle this?
He was looking around the room suspiciously, and she wished she could control her breathing. His eyes were almost following her as she moved through the shadows. He could hear her, but not see her.
"I know you're there." He grunted, and he turned his head directly to her position.
Her heart was beating so fast, she wondered if he could hear that, too. The anxiety was almost too much. How could she handle being on her own, if she couldn't stand her ground in this very moment? She took in a deep breath and hardened her stance.
It was now or never. This was her moment to prove her strength. She could handle this.
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If he was going to be someone's prisoner, he wouldn't make it easy.
He wiggled in his seat, doing his best to fight against the binding, even if it was a losing fight.
"D-don't move!" A shaky voice let out.
He lifted an eyebrow to the dark. "I can't."
"What-" The voice said, then took in a breath. "What are you doing here? State your business!"
His nose crinkled. "What kind of interrogation is this? Who the hell are you?
He heard a gasp and slowly, ever so slowly, a figure stepped out of the shadows.
The man's jaw went slack. The figure was, in fact, a very pretty girl. Her eyes were large and looked quite frightened. Tightly held in both hands was a large tool, she lifted it high in a fighting stance as she tried to appear intimidating.
"Answer me." She managed to say, stepping awkwardly around him.
The man rolled his eyes and drooped his head. This was just ridiculous. He didn't want to scare the girl any more than she already was, but he didn't want to waste any more time. It was starting to eat at his nerves.
He sighed loudly. "Look, I was being chased and needed a place to hide. Want me out? Then let me go."
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She paused her circling and eyed his disinterested expression. Did this man take her for an idiot? Ha! He couldn't possibly be telling the truth… Could he?
No. He was trying to trick her, so he could take control of her power. He had to be!
She let out a weak laugh. "And let you use me!? I don't think so."
The squeak that escaped his mouth caught her completely off guard.
"What the-" He shot his head in her direction. "What kind of man do you take me for?"
Winry was very much befuddled at this point. The man looked as if he were offended.
"Well, why else would you be here?!" She shouted, trying to maintain her steely demeanor. "What do you want with me?"
"I don't want anything to do with you!" He shrieked.
The conviction in his tone was too strong to ignore. Was he really telling the truth?
She took a step closer to him, and he gulped as she stared into his eyes, scrutinizing his every twitch.
"You.. Don't want me?" She finally whispered.
"Nng-no." He blurted.
She stared at him hard for another moment, then crept even closer to him. He took in a deep breath as she placed her hands on his vest, running her fingers down its lining. She stopped right under his heart and slipped her fingers into a hidden pocket.
"Ah-ha!" She exclaimed and ripped out the item that he was hiding inside. "What's this?"
She dangled the pocket watch in front of his face, then curiously pulled it to hers.
The man panicked. "Give that back. Now!"
Her hand snapped to her chest, making the trinket thud against her abdomen as she shot a hard glare at the man. Whatever this thing was, it seemed important to him. An idea popped into her head, and her glare turned into a smirk.
Ha! Perhaps she found some leverage to get the truth.
"Tell me everything I want to know," she said, fiddling with the chain tauntingly, "and, maybe, I'll give it back to you."
The man scoffed, throwing his head dramatically to the side. Oh! How he picked at her temper! Her cheeks puffed in aggravation as he just stared off into the shadows, ignoring her.
It took a moment, but, eventually, he let out a sigh and hung his head. "Look, I have someone waiting for me. I've gone through Hell to get that and I can't go back without it."
He turned and looked at her, resolve glowed in his warm-colored eyes. "I meant what I said, I want nothing to do with you. Just give it back and I promise I'll be gone before you know it."
She wasn't sure what made her believe him, but she did. He wasn't after her power; he was just trying to get home. She wondered what it was like to have a place she would want to call home.
Then, a thought struck her. It was crazy, almost too crazy, but she was in the kind of situation that called for such thoughts.
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He watched her as she stood, her brow was knitted tightly together in thought. Her eyes kept darting back and forth between him and his precious watch. Eventually, she straightened her posture and focused her sights on him, as if she were to speak.
He didn't expect her to pull the corset of her dress as far out as she could, and drop the watch inside of the garment.
He could feel his eyes nearly pop out of his head at the sight. The shriek that passed through his mouth reached octaves that would put a soprano to shame.
"I will give you back your treasured item," she began, "but only if you take me with you."
Just like that, he was back in Hell.
"Absolutely not." He replied; there was no way he could possibly deal with this woman the entire trek back to his brother.
The girl's cheeks puffed in a childish fit of anger, and he might've laughed as she stamped her foot and placed her hands on her hips if he weren't so angry himself.
"Fine." She stated. "Then you can stay there and rot."
He glared defiantly at her, but she matched him with an equally hard stare. They stayed like that for quite some time, waiting for the other to give in.
After many minutes, the man groaned and dropped his gaze.
"Fine," he exasperated, "you can join me."
The girl let out a joyous squeal. "Really? Promise?"
He nodded his head reluctantly, and she cut him free.
Rubbing his wrists as he stood from his seat, he hoped that he would be able to retrieve his watch and leave her in a nearby town. She was a pretty girl, he doubted he'd have trouble handing her off to a decent man.
"Excuse me." She muttered, and his musings were stopped as he turned his attention to her. "Might I get your name?"
He smirked at the girl and posed his hands to his sides.
"Edward Elric." He answered proudly. "And you?"
The girl smiled. "Why do you have two names?"
Edward laughed. "Everyone has two names; a first and surname."
"I don't." She replied, the look on her face was unreadable. "I'm just Winry."
Odd, he thought, but shrugged his shoulders in response. "I'm sure you'll get one eventually, but let's go. Don't want to waste time."
The girl nodded her head in response, and they started their ascent to the world above.
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They were heading to the hidden entrance, the entrance that would lead to the outside world, for the very first time, and Winry's heart just wouldn't be still. She was enthralled, nervous, excited, and terrified; all at the same time.
When they reached the end of the tunnel, Winry felt panic begin to build inside of her. Was this the right choice; running off with a man she didn't know and leaving behind everything she ever knew? Perhaps her life underground wasn't so bad. If the world was really as evil as Kimblee claimed, would she even stand a chance?
The sound of Edward's hands clapping together pulled her from her worries, and she watched as he placed his hands on the stone. Blue light emitted from his fingertips, and, suddenly, she was staring at her gateway to freedom. He stepped out and started to leave, but noticed that she wasn't following behind.
"You okay?" He asked, dropping his head to the side.
She looked down and fiddled with the ends of her hair, embarrassed by her reluctance to leave. "I'm just nervous."
She heard him sigh, and her view of the ground was blocked by his gloved hand.
"C'mon." He urged, and when she lifted her gaze to his, a confident smile took hold of her face.
"Okay."
He pulled her out of the entrance and resealed it, while she stared at the moss that hid the secret passage. There was sunlight peeking through the cracks in the plant, and the brightness mesmerized her, like a moth to a flame. She walked to it, and lightly touched it. Oh! It felt quite strange. She couldn't help but giggle.
"Are you gonna go through it or what?" Edward said behind her, and, before she could answer, shoved her through.
It was so bright, she had to squint her eyes closed for a moment. She blinked them open slowly, taking in the foreign colors and strange scents that attacked her scents. She breathed in deeply and smiled as she exhaled. When her eyes adjusted to the sunshine, she couldn't believe that she was really looking at the world above.
It was so beautiful, better than anything she had ever dreamed.
She screamed and began to run through the grass in circles and dance through the flowers, picking them and throwing them high in the air. She couldn't stop jumping and squealing at every little thing, it was all so amazing!
Edward stood by the boulder and watched as she ran rampantly about the area, laughing to himself as she did. She bounded to him and grabbed his hands, forcing him to follow her through the little flower field and pointing out every little thing she saw. None of these things were new to him, but he was intrigued by her enthusiasm. He wondered how long she had been in that place, or if she ever left it before.
Winry fell back into the grass and smiled at the sky, watching the clouds drifted through the vibrant blue above.
"This is incredible." She sighed, and closed her eyes.
Ed watched her from the corner of his eye and softly shrugged. "If you say so."
He helped her stand once she caught her breath, and, soon after, they started their journey.
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