The Letter
Winry slammed the door to her bedroom. She'd hurried past Pinako and Al with the excuse of "I need to get something" before they'd had a chance to get a decent look at her, so neither of them had seen the expression on her face. Slowly, she picked up a mirror from the floor.
She was bright red. Her eyes showed deepest shock, and her mouth was half open. She dropped the mirror and put her hand over her heart, feeling it beating faster than it should have been doing. She scrabbled through her drawers and pulled out the letter. Unfolding it, she began to read.
Edward,
I've been waiting for you to call… but I don't know if there's any chance of that any more. You and Al are always off on some adventure, so I'd not be surprised if, even as I write this, you're fighting something… I hope not, I don't want you to be hurt.
I'm really worried about you. I need to know where you are, but at the same time, I don't want to know… I think I know why.
Back after I first visited Central I was on the train back, and I realized something. Ed, I love you.
Please, please write back.
Yours forever,
Winry
Xxx
She'd never sent it, but just reading it had sent a chill down her spine. 'Ed, I love you'. She wondered what those words meant, she couldn't remember. It was just… everything. Everything about him was perfect, even his imperfections… she adored his arrogance, worshipped his ability to break his automail. It gave her a chance to see him…
And she was trapped with him for the next – at the least – seven months. Rehab would take some time.
Hopefully he wouldn't leave again afterwards. She needed him to stay. Just once. Just this one time. She needed him to stay, to be with her, to just lie back and hold her just one time.
Al had regained his body, but Ed still missed an arm and a leg. They would want to leave. She wondered what she should do, but slowly the realization stole over her she knew exactly what she had to do.
Slowly, she picked up the discarded envelope. She sealed the letter within it and kissed the back, closing it and locking it in her chest of drawers.
Slowly, she nodded. A tear fell from her closed eye, running down the eyelash and then crashing into the ground with a drip that sounded like a thunderclap in the stony silence. Silently, motionlessly, Winry cried.
There was a gentle knocking at her door. She rubbed her eyes and silently moved to her bed, shutting her eyes tightly. The slight creak told her someone had entered, and the creaking floorboards were a sign of someone approaching. There was a pair of voices coming from downstairs, and she recognised the voice of her grandmother and Al's child-like laugh.
That meant the person now stood behind her was…
"Winry?" Ed whispered.
Winry didn't respond, but drew herself into a ball. Ed sighed. "Winry…" He seemed unable to say anything else, so Winry murmured something.
"What?" Ed said, "I couldn't hear you. What did you say?"
Winry remained motionless, but made her voice slightly louder. "Don't go…" she whispered.
Ed put his hand on her shoulder. "I won't."
Winry whispered, "Promise." It occurred to her how very childish she sounded.
Behind her, Ed said, instantly, "I promise."
A tear dropped from
her eye. "You won't, though."
Ed didn't say anything.
"You're going to go off after Rehab."
Nothing.
"You're not going to stay."
Nothing.
"You want your arm and leg… the real ones… back."
Ed hesitated, before saying, slowly, "I… I don't know."
Behind her, she felt him turn around, pulling his hand from her shoulder, and heard him walk away. She closed her eyes even more tightly and controlled the urge to burst into tears as he walked out. The door snapped shut with a finality that seemed like a gunshot.
