Chapter 6: The Small Things Matter

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA or any aspect of it (besides Seren Soulheart and any other OCs that I add).

"Al, slow down!"

Al stopped his mad scramble down the hall and waited for Armstrong to catch up. He began tapping his foot impatiently as Alex appeared to run through of a list of things inside his head to talk about.

Armstrong sighed before saying, "Your brother is alright now, if you wanted to know. He just had a slight accident late yesterday."

Al nodded and started down the hall again, Armstrong tagging along behind him. As they rounded a corridor in the hospital, Al spied a familiar face seated a short ways down, her head in her hands. As they drew closer, Winry lifted her face. Her eyes don't seem to be red from crying, but then again, I don't know how long she's been here, Al thought. Winry jumped up from her seat and ran towards Al, nearly knocking him over.

Winry seemed to sob as she said, "I don't really know what happened. Ed and I were arguing about his automail always getting beat up, so I decided to run after him with a wrench. He stopped running away from me for a few seconds, his mouth slowly dropping open. I heard him mumbling something about 'Why is there another Circle here?' before I hit him in the back of the head."

Al cocked his head at Winry. Winry shrugged, her face slightly flushed.

He asked, "Do you know how late it was when this happened?"

Winry shook her head, but Armstrong replied, "By my reckoning, it was around five hours after noontime."

That was around the time that the Gate appeared, Al thought. I wonder how Brother was able to sense it? He pondered upon the situation for a few moments before catching wisps of a conversation from inside the room. Al pointed at the door, his eyebrow rising. Winry listened to the muffled words, trying to make sense of them.

".. If you don't drink the milk, you'll stay short, Ed!"

Armstrong, Al, and Winry winced as a glass object slammed against the wall inside the room, shattering.

Ed snarled, "Who did you call so small that he has to rely on that disgusting liquid in order to grow larger?"

The other voice dryly said, "You just did."

Winry let out a short giggle while Al and Armstrong grinned. They could envision Ed's confounded face. There was an audible sigh from within the room as the door opened. A doctor walked out, ruefully scratching his chin with his clipboard. Noticing the trio standing in a group a short distance from him, he shook his head.

"I don't know how he manages to walk away each time after getting hurt, but it always seems to happen." The doctor put his head into the room momentarily and cheerfully stated, "Maybe short people heal just heal faster!"

He shut the door shortly before what sounded like a plate broke against it. Winry was redfaced from trying to hold her laughter in, lest Ed hear her. The doctor wrote a few notes on his clipboard before sighing and holding it in the crook of his arm. He walked over to Armstrong and shook Alex's hand.

"Thanks for bringing Fullmetal in, Alex. I'll write off his accident as an act of nature." He peered at Winry with a jaundiced eye, prompting her to turn around before she chuckled. Lifting his face to the ceiling briefly, he rolled his eyes and continued, "I don't want to see anybody here for awhile again, okay?"

He sighed as they all nodded. Waving to the group, he continued on down the hall and turned the corner. Al cocked his head at Winry; she was trembling. Right as he was about to shake her, she burst out laughing and ran towards the door, slipping inside.

"Hey Shorty!"

Ed growled, "What did you just say, Automail freak?"

Al and Armstrong glanced at each other and they both sighed. Riza joined them shortly after and they all looked at the door as Winry and Ed began to yell at each other.

Al aridly stated, "Seriously hurt, huh? It sure doesn't seem like it."

Riza sighed as she said, "You can never tell with Ed."

Al thought for a second and wholeheartedly agreed. Hearing footsteps, the trio spot the doctor running back towards them, his face pale. He stopped in front of them, trying to catch his breath.

After a few moments, he straightened and coughed, "You came in with that silver-haired girl, right?"

Al nodded, his face already turning a sickly hue.

"You need to go see her. Something is wrong."

Ed glanced up in annoyance at the door. He could hear people talking about something and what sounded like the doctor trying to gasp something out, but he couldn't quite make out what was being said. Winry opened the door in order to ask what was wrong, but stopped when Al let out a sharp cry and began to run back down the corridor, Riza and Armstrong following him.

Winry ran over to Ed's bedside and grabbed his boots, shoving them onto his feet. Ed slowly stood up, testing his weight. Satisfied that Winry hadn't destroyed his sense of balance, he rushed out of the room. Winry held back for a few moments, blinking in surprise.

She murmured to nobody in particular, "I guess he doesn't realize that he's wearing a hospital gown."

Looking around the room, she spied a pile of his clothes, neatly folded. Shaking her head, Winry bundled the clothes up in Ed's coat and walked out the door. As she followed the voices echoing down the hallway, a package slipped from the coat. Winry picked it up, eying it. It was hastily wrapped in oiled parchment, as if the person handing it over had been under a very short deadline and grabbed the first thing next to him. Turning the item over, Winry discovered a note written in Ed's handwriting. Looking around, she furtively lifted the gum sealing the note shut and began to read.

Winry,

Seeing as to how you lost your last wrench,

I went to the trouble of buying you a new one.

Thanks for going to all of the trouble to help me

I (The line is heavily crossed out)..

Yours Truly,

Ed

P.S. You owe me 400 Cenz for the wrench.

Winry read the note over again, smiling. Trust the lunkhead to cross out what I've been waiting to hear from him for awhile now, she thought. Replacing the gum on the note, she continued on her path. It seemed ominously quiet, however. She frowned and hurried on, discarding ideas on how to apologize to Ed for what had happened yesterday along the way.

What was it that Ed scribbled out? Why was Winry happy about it (Don't kill me, kind reviewers, i beg you!)? What is wrong with Seren or Mustang?

All (or at least part) will be revealed in the next chapter, The Beginning Revelations!