Brief Commentary:
Ugh, I'm sorry this is so late...I'm suffering from a major case of writers block and I have a lot of homework. -sigh- Not to mention my final exams are coming up reeeeally fast. Less time to write, and not to mention that this section here (and another chapter or so on) are going to be very boring parts, until we finally have a climax then a bit of resolution. -le sob- I'm sorry...

You take
the breath you didn't make,
What's left, you did forsake,
Lift me up, my soul's so hollow...


Reasons Not For Your Ears
Chapter Twenty-Nine

Winry shakily launched into a very-much abridged version of the events of that evening, editing minuscule details; for instance that she had a knife, not a gun, and Scar had been threatening her with a dagger the entire time. After all, knives, while still a potentially lethal weapon, were better than guns. Ling, Ranfan, Mei, and Edward wisely chose not to correct her, only watching on in silence, one of them offering a fictional detail every once in a while so that the event seemed less dangerous than it actually had been. She was angry with Edward for not offering more, however, seeing as he had been with her for half of the entire episode.

Pinako sharply asked about the gunfire she heard; Winry had to fib, explaining that a nervous police officer had been firing his pistol wildly at Scar, and the other officers were concerned he might shoot one of them if they approached and tried to calm him down. He had eventually run out of bullets, and was restrained.

Eventually, Scar's death was mentioned, Ling volunteering himself to explain a slightly edited version of what had actually happened. He came up with the excuse that Ranfan had brought a small gun for safety when they had arrived, and Scar had been charging towards her to try and kill her - she had simply reacted out of fear and shot him in the head. Ranfan seemed mortified by this, but nodded vigorously, mumbling something as she did so. Winry, feeling sympathetic, did her best to back it up.

By the end of the summarization, her grandmother seemed suspicious, Alphonse only extremely concerned (for her), but they appeared to believe the story and no further questions were asked.

Instead, the room lapsed into an uncomfortable silence; the exchange students sitting again on the couch they had finished cleaning not a few minutes earlier. Winry hadn't been paying attention as they did it, but it looked better than it had been even before it was bloodied. She had wanted to ask exactly what they had done, but from the menacing auras swirling around the room, it would be too ridiculous to even consider such a thing.

Instead, she nervously glanced at the clock mounted on the wall to her left, blinking in surprise as she realized the time was 2:18 AM. It had all seemed so much longer...Winry had almost been certain that the sun would rise very soon. Pinako followed her gaze with narrowed eyes, reading the clock before announcing,

"All right, all of you damn kids go home."

The exchange students and the panda exchanged doubtful looks, but obediently shuffled out the door, the rifle in Ranfan's hands held tightly as she passed Pinako. Alphonse, however, was hesitant, his eyes flickering from Winry to his older brother, obvious distrust and suspicion held in his eyes.

"I don't think-"
"Shut up, they'll be fine. Nothing will happen - they wont try anything while I'm here."
"But with my br-"
"Leave, Elric-san. Please."

Pinako ambled over to the door, twisting the knob sharply and offering it open for him. He paused for a moment longer, before giving Winry a look filled with some emotion that she could not place, before following the exchange students outside.

"Well, moron, are you leaving?"
"For where?"
"Home, obviously, you dumb ass."
"Shut your trap, hag. I ain't got a home."
"Well, then where are you going to stay, y'little shit?"
"I'll stay here, on the couch," Edward's voice was stonily cold, leaving no room for argument. Still, Pinako continued to press as Winry looked on helplessly.
"I don't think so," was the growled reply.
"Baa-chan, why don't we just let him stay - he's still healing from his old wounds and now he has this new one. We can't just put him back on the streets, Baa-chan," she mumbled quietly. Edward glared at her.
"Don't talk about me as if I'm some stray dog, you damn-"
"Not another word," Pinako's voice was icy cold. Stiffly, she turned to Winry. "Are you absolutely certain you want this goddamn bastard to live with us?"
"U-until he gets...better...?" Her answer was hardly a squeak.
Her grandmother paused, contemplating, before letting out a reluctant sigh and slowly nodding.
"But only until he heals entirely," she agreed, glaring pointedly at Edward. He returned the look, then visibly relaxed, shuffling over to the couch and flopping down on it with a wince. There was a mutter of "Stupid," before Pinako ushered Winry off to bed, clearly too angry to do much else than grunt as she did so. Hastily, her granddaughter obeyed, with a single backwards glance at Edward's head before she disappeared down the hallway.

"I swear," Pinako grit her teeth. Edward looked up. "I swear, if you put one hand on that girl, I will personally kill you."
He snorted and turned away, folding his arms across his chest and crossing his ankles up against the side of the couch. From the slight sweat on his skin (obvious in the lighting), it was easy to tell that he believed her.

As the elderly Rockbell woman began to shuffle out of the kitchen/family room, she allowed a snide remark before she left.

"You know...I noticed, Winry's lips were rather bruised, and she seemed to keep touching them near the end of her explanation. I wonder what that could be all about...?"

She smirked as Edward froze up, visibly tensing on their little green couch.

"Perhaps I should ask. Also...you owe us the money for a new window...we don't appreciate what you did to Winry's room." Pinako knew she wasn't imagining the way he anxiously bit his lower lip, a sense of triumph overriding her previous outrage.

"Good night," she said in a mock-pleasant voice, before making her way into her own room.


Winry stumbled haphazardly from her room, dressed in a wrinkled school uniform and her hair in obvious disarray. Due to the previous night's circumstances, the blonde-haired adolescent had had little sleep, written as plainly across her face as the heavy bags under her eyes. She hadn't had time to fix anything with make up, as she was already running a bit late.

Pinako looked up from whatever she was making as Winry made her way into the kitchen, looking her granddaughter up and down before speaking aloud.

"Winry, why don't you take the day off? You've gone through a lot recently, and I think you need a break. You haven't done your homework either, anyway."

Winry grimaced as she remembered. She hadn't. Damn.

"Um, is that really okay?" She glanced hungrily at the fried eggs currently sizzling on the pan over the miniature stove. Pinako offered a smile.
"It's really okay."
"Oh, well, thanks," Winry let out a sigh of relief, slumping into her chair and allowing her eyes to close. She was so tired...ugh...her eyelids felt so damn heavy at the moment, and she was still starving. It was impossible to remember the last time she had eaten.

"And you say I don't go to school."

She was startled out of her stupor by the sudden comment. Glancing up, her eyes involuntarily swerved towards the couch, widening in surprise as her field of vision landed on Edward. She felt suddenly incredibly guilty; she had completely forgotten he was staying with them...again. Winry swallowed as she noticed the pointed glare on his face.

"Well...I go more than you do, at least," she sniffed. Pinako set her eggs down in front of her, accompanied by a fork and a knife. Absolutely famished, she dug in, barely able to savor the salty, eggy flavor before it was down her throat. A glass of orange juice clinked down by her plate. Half of its contents were gone within a few seconds.

The two others in the room with her looked on with slight impatience and with awe at the sight.

"More eggs, Winry?" her grandmother muttered, rolling her eyes as she moved to fry more, not waiting for a reply. Her granddaughter nodded vigorously, swallowing another bite and reaching again for her glass of orange juice. It was only after two more of the fried breakfast that she declared herself full, slumping backwards in her chair and glancing lazily at the kitchen clock. 8:03 AM. Take that, school schedule. Winry allowed herself a small smirk before standing again, rubbing her eyes with two fingers as she blindly walked in the direction of what she hoped was her room. She let out a small grunt as her hip bumped into the side of the couch, and warily, she removed her fingertips and opened her eyes, not daring to look to her left, where Edward was surely glaring up at her.

She tried again, this time successfully making it to her room without bumping into any more furniture. She didn't need to tell her grandmother she was going to sleep; she was sure Pinako already knew as she twisted the knob and pushed the door open. Stumbling over to her bed, which looked oh-so comfortable at the moment, Winry did not hesitate to climb onto it, still clad in her wrinkled school uniform as she did so.

The previous nights events had been rolling around in her head the entire night, causing painful and frightening nightmares she had woken up from many times. Another reason for her lack of sleep. Winry bit her lip, quickly regretting the decision as the bruised flesh began to throb slightly.

Did he have to be so rough? she thought absent-mindedly, touching her lips again without really realizing it. When it came to the concept of the kiss she had been given...Winry didn't know what to think or feel. Besides the fact that it was a dreadful, awful kiss, and now her lips, her head, and her shoulders hurt to an extremity she didn't want to think about. There was another foreign emotion gnawing at her stomach, nearly driving her to insanity trying to figure out what it was.

But it was hopeless.

Did he have to be so rough?


There. Done. I never thought I'd say this, but now I can get started on my homework. Yes, I have a lot. And I'm going to cry if I don't get started on it soon. D: