HIHI! Here's... *Drumroll* ... CHAPTER 3!!! WOOO! ok, I'll let you enjoy. ( 3
Disclaimer: I do not own FMA, or anything like that. FMA belongs to Arakawa-sama.
Bursting in through the doorway, Ed and Al happily flopped onto the enormous couch, though they didn't remain there for long. The excitement of being where they felt they belonged kept them in such a state of hyperactivity, the only way they could get rid of it was by having one of their sparring matches, for now that Al wasn't made of metal, Ed was actually as good as his brother at martial arts now. So, by the time Winry actually made it to her house, she wasn't shocked at all by the sight of her friends pummeling each other in her front yard. Giggling, she let herself in, to find her grandmother, looking much better then she had before, carefully making her way down the steps wrapped up in a blanket. Before Winry did anything else, she yelled out the door behind her, "Guys! Come in and say hi to Grandma!"
"Who are you talking to, Winry? And what's all that rack--"
Her next question was cut off by two rambunctious blond boys bursting into the house, sweeping her off the floor, hugging her fiercely and yelling, "Granny Pinako! It's so good to see you again!" Pinako, quite shocked by two boys whom she'd thought were gone forever being suddenly thrust into her life again, could only say, "How on earth did you boys get here?" And, seeing how much taller Ed was, teasing him by adding, "And Al, what happened to that bean you used to always travel with?"
Ed, deciding to humor her, said ferociously, "WHO ARE YOU CALLING A BEAN YOU OLD MIDGET!!!" She was about to retort when Ed burst out laughing, saying, "Just kidding, Granny. Those old 'short person' jibes don't work anymore."
Pinako was about to reply, when a fit of coughing cut her off. Immediately concerned, the boys put her down and attempted to wrap the blanket even more tightly around her. Winry, suddenly taking charge, said sternly, "Back to bed, Grandma. This has happened more than once. You feel a little better, and decide you can come back to work. I told you I'll decide when your bed rest ends." Ed, already knowing what to do, scooped Pinako up and carried her upstairs, despite her many protests.
Al, looking over to Winry, asked concernedly, "How long has she been sick?"
"About a week." she replied, sighing. "I know it doesn't seem like a long time, but you gotta remember how old she is." Going into the kitchen, Winry started heating up the soup. "I'll get us something to eat as soon as I take some of this up to Grandma." In a short time, the soup was hot, and Winry made a bowl and started taking it up the stairs as Ed came back down. While she was taking care of her grandmother, the boys looked around the house, taking in all the wonderful sights, sounds, and smells of their home.
"Alright, now who wants something to eat?" Winry asked, coming back down the stairs. The answer she got was two young men scrambling for a seat at the table and staring at her like hungry dogs. Laughing, Winry made three bowls and, serving the boys first, sat down to eat. Ed and Al's dishes were empty in record time, and soon after, they were fighting over who got seconds first. When they started getting loud, however, Winry stood up, saying forcefully, "Don't make me come over there. Grandma's sick, and I'm personally making sure she gets maximum rest."
At that, they quieted down and, with now refilled bowls, sat down yet again at the table. After dinner was through and the dishes were done, the three friends sat down on the couch to talk. Ed and Al, overjoyed to find themselves home again, couldn't possibly stop talking even if they wanted to. Winry, however, was simply content to listen to their adventures, smiling and looking at the both of them all the while. Not having had the chance to talk the last time they had been in their own world, Ed had to tell Winry the things that happened to him before he found Al again, as well as both boys relating their encounters after they had left to seal the gate.
"Anyway, after we did that," Ed said. "We decided to find a place to live in the city. We didn't really want to live in the country."
"How come?" Winry interjected.
"We just didn't feel like it." Al answered, rather evasively, Winry thought.
"ANYWAY." Ed asserted, annoyed at having been interrupted. "We hadn't been settled for very long when Al overheard some shady-looking guys talking about some meeting. Apparently they were anxious to hear about a new weapon someone was introducing. Since it sounded a lot like the uranium bomb we had been searching for, we decided to follow these guys to wherever they were going."
Yeah." Al added. "The whole time we followed them, Ed kept asking me if I was sure I heard them right." He said with a grin. In retrospect, the matter seemed funny.
"I just wanted to be sure!" Ed said. "You know I was tired of all the false leads!"
"Anyway," Al continued. "When we got there, we could hear them talking about some weapon, but we never actually heard them refer to it as a uranium bomb. That was put aside, though, when someone in the room started shooting a gun. Running into the room, we saw…"
"Envy," Ed said, picking up where Al left off. "And the very bomb we had been looking for all that time. Envy, who still hates me, if you hadn't noticed, tried to shoot both of us, but was a little distracted by something." He said on a rather smug note.
"Which was?" Winry asked, hungering for the details.
Ed, still looking smug, said, "Oh, just an automail fist connecting with his skull. I really gotta hand it to you, Winry. Two years after its installed, without a single professional tune-up, and the thing still works like a charm. So anyway, I end up fighting Envy, while Al snuck by us, grabbed the bomb, and started back out. He was almost out the door, but noticed that Envy had aimed his gun at me. Running back toward us, Al accidentally flung the arm that was holding the bomb in between me and Envy. By pulling the little catch out of the bomb, he set it off, and the next thing we knew, we were back home. I already know that you heard us talking, so there's no need to tell you we don't need to go back."
Winry, rather astounded and shocked by all the things her closest friends had been through, couldn't say anything. Instead, she stood up, walked over to them, and hugged both of them tightly, saying, "I'm just so glad you're back." Al just grinned, but Ed, who hadn't quite gotten used to the change, blushed furiously, and was quite grateful the other two couldn't see his face. He tried to play it off by stretching, but failed when he felt a sharp pain in his right shoulder. Winry, noticing his flinch immediately, got out her toolbox, and proceeded to remove the prosthetic limb. Now that she was looking at it, Winry wondered how long it had been bugging Ed, it was at least a size and a half too short, and she saw that she would have to make an entirely new one from scratch. Using Ed's other arm and leg for measurement, she started to jot down on a piece of paper all the lengths and widths she needed to make a temporary arm and leg. They would take her all night, she knew, but she was simply happy to be making her friend's automail again. While she was writing, however, she noticed Al give a huge yawn, though he tried to hide it.
"Bed, Al. You too, Ed. I've got all I need, so when you're ready, just call and I'll come up and remove your leg. I have a feeling you'll sleep much better without it bothering you."
Gratefully going upstairs, the boys didn't bother saying goodnight just yet, for she would be up shortly. About four minutes later, Winry heard Ed's voice and, taking a wrench and screwdriver with her, went upstairs to take off the offending limb. Though he tried to hide it, Winry clearly heard a sigh of satisfaction escape her friend's lips as the extra weight was removed. Seeing how the leg was almost five inches too short, Winry wondered how on earth he was able to even walk at all with it on. Then she noticed that one of his shoes had a lot more heel on it than the other. Marveling at Ed's ingenuity, Winry said goodnight, and went back downstairs.
Working through the night, Winry decided that since Ed would need the leg more, she made that first. It being only a temporary limb, she only made it strong enough to withstand any possible threats of Ed and Al having another sparring match. When it was finished, she decided to take a short break. Going into the kitchen, she glanced at the clock, and was shocked to see that it read 1:12 AM. Shrugging, Winry got herself a drink and sat on the couch in the living room. She didn't dare lay down though, for she knew if she did, she would fall asleep, and Ed would be expecting both a leg and an arm for the next few days while she worked on his new automail. Sighing, Winry stood up and, stretching for a bit first, went back to her workshop.
She hadn't been working on Ed's temporary arm for very long when she heard someone coming down the stairs. Knowing that Pinako's room was right above her, she knew it wasn't her grandmother, for she would have heard her get up. Therefore, she assumed it was Al getting a drink or something like that. So, standing up, she thought she'd go say hi. She was slightly surprised when she saw, not Al, but Edward making his way awkwardly down the stairs. Seeing as he looked like he could fall any minute, Winry rushed to help him the rest of the way down. Making him sit on the couch, she asked him what he was doing up so late.
"I just woke up, and I couldn't get back to sleep. Something's just been bothering me." He replied. Before he could continue, however, Winry said "Hold on a sec." and, retrieving her toolbox and her friend's new leg, came back out of her workshop and proceeded to attach the leg, so that Ed wouldn't fall over when she made him go back to bed, which she would do, in due time. But for now, she would listen to his worries, and put them at ease, so that he could sleep. Finishing with his leg, she asked again, "Now, what were you going to say?"
Ed, looking much more comfortable with a limb that fit after a few years of dealing with one that couldn't, was suddenly silent for a moment. Just when it seemed he was going to speak, he just sighed and said, "It's nothing. Forget it." Winry, not having any patience after dealing with being kept in the dark for so long, snapped.
"I should have expected that!" She exclaimed, though not too loudly, so as not to disturb anyone else. Ed looked up, a shocked expression on his face, saying, "What?"
"Oh, come on Ed. Don't even pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. You and Al both have done this to me ever since you first left years ago! Always shutting me out, keeping me in the dark, and never, EVER telling me anything!" Winry, starting to get on a roll, kept going, but she still kept her voice low. Her concern for the other's wellbeing far outstripping her anger and frustration. "I'm absolutely sick and tired of it! And the worst part is…" she said, her voice starting to crack, which Ed noticed in a heartbeat, and it instantly made him feel horrible.
Winry, her eyes now beginning to tear up, continued, "The worst part is, no matter how many times I've been shut out, I always end up asking what's wrong all over again. Well, I've had it, Edward Elric!" Ed started, it had been a while since anyone had used his full name as an angry implication, and hearing it from an upset Winry, when he was already feeling bad, only served to make him feel worse, as well as put any retort he may have had to rest.
"If you and Al won't tell me anything, then I simply won't ask, and pretend I don't care!" Winry burst out with a finality that somewhat frightened Ed. Turning to leave, Winry found that she only went a few steps before someone grabbed her wrist. Turning around, Winry found herself looking at Ed, though he would not meet her gaze. When he looked up, Winry was shocked to see an expression of regret and something else that might have been tenderness, but she could not be sure. So used to seeing the hardened expression he had always shown her before, this display of emotion so surprised Winry that she couldn't pull away.
"I'm sorry, Winry. You're right. We shouldn't have kept secrets from you, it's just that Al and I don't want to worry you." He said quietly. Winry, the surprise now beginning to wear off, noticed that Ed's grip on her hand had not slackened. This, in combination with the softness of his face and voice, sent her heart racing, and she felt herself blush, thanking her lucky stars that it was so late at night. Sitting back down on the couch, Winry asked again what was bothering her friend.
Sighing, Ed said, "Well, I'm kind of concerned that Envy's still around."
"How come?" Winry asked. "He's the only homunculus left, right? I can't see him tricking anyone into making a philosopher's stone be himself."
"I know." Ed replied. "But he still holds a grudge against Al and me, because we're Hoenheim's kids."
"But I don't think he'd attack you guys anytime soon." Winry persisted. "Both you and Al are a match for him on your own, and since you guys are near impossible to separate, he'd have to be extremely stupid to challenge both of you. I already know for a fact from what you've told me about him that he's not."
Ed, hesitating for a moment, continued, "I'm not worried about me or Al. I'm worried that he'll try to hurt you or granny Pinako to get back at us." He finished, slumping over and covering his eyes with his hand. Winry, not entirely surprised at his protective behavior, placed a hand on his shoulder, making him look up suddenly.
"I really appreciate the concern Ed, but I don't want you to lose your rest over it. I can protect myself somewhat, and you and Al won't be gone as often, because you don't need to look for the stone anymore, right?"
Ed smiled, which made Winry feel very happy. She always tried her best for those she cared about, and making her friend feel better was possibly the most she could do for him at any time. "You have a point." Ed said. Then, smirking, he continued, "besides, I don't think Envy wants to go anywhere near you for the time being."
"Really? Why's that?" Winry asked, perplexed.
Laughing, Ed said, "Because you beat the snot out of him. I have to say, it was nice seeing my enemy get beat up with the same wrench that's given me more lumps than I can count." At this, Winry laughed and said, "Alright, go back to bed, Ed. I'll be up soon. I'm almost done with your arm, and I'll start making your regular automail tomorrow." Both stood up and, heading out of the living room, stopped at the doorway to Winry's workshop. Standing so close to Ed, Winry now fully took in the extent of his height. With a shock, she realized that the top of her head only came up to about his nose. Looking up, Winry saw, to her astonishment, what looked like a blush creeping over Ed's face. She mentally shook her head, thinking that he wasn't like that. He wasn't the emotional type at all, really. He had his moments, but most of the time he remained in a stubborn state of indifference
Smiling, Ed said, "Thanks Winry. And goodnight."
"Goodnight Ed." Winry replied. Then, before he could react, she gave him a quick hug which, though she didn't realize it, caused his face to turn an even deeper shade of red, then walked back into her workshop, a plan formulating in her mind.