I'm taking forever, I know, I know, I KNOW! I'M REALLY REALLY SORRY, TOO! PLEASE forgive me! T-T

A special thanks to: Orange Singer, Very Swampeh, baconinthesoap64,Pink Pagoda,WingedMusicAlchemist, and shinespire! Thanks!! -^.^- The support helps! Really!

Me: -huggles Ed- ZOM GOSH ED! I haven't seen you in forever!

Ed: ?

Winry: She's having a fan girl spazz moment.

Ed: …Why?

Winry: -Whispers in Ed's ear-

Ed: Ohhhhhh! Okay. But, hey! I didn't die!

Winry: Shhhhhh!

All of you peoples reading: ?

Ed: Can I tell the readers?

Winry: No, Silly! They have to wait until chapter six is actually typed and NOT STILL in Fan Girl's notebook.

Ed: Oh alright. –turns to readers- FullMetal-EdwardElric-FanGirl doesn't own or claim to own FullMetal Alchemist.

Chapter Four: Not Just Needles

At first, Ed was just silent. He felt himself tremble a little before asking in a quiet, slightly child-like voice. "What?"

He had been confident about it the first time. But again?

He reran what was wrong through his head. The metal plate connected to my shoulder has a major crack in it. If another piece of automail is connected, the connection will fail. And according to Granny, it had a higher chance of killing me than the surgery itself.

It had been bad enough the first time, with two limbs starting off fresh. But this time… This time they'd have to disconnect the old port, meaning they'd take all of his nerves from the port and have to connect it to a new one.

Just thinking about it made him ache.

"Alright." He said firmly, regaining his grip. "I'll do it."

"Somehow I knew you'd make your mind up that fast. You know this is going to hurt like hell, right?"

Ed slightly chuckled. "I've gone through it once already, haven't I?"

"This is nothing to laugh about."

Winry's voice startled Edward.

"This surgery could kill you."

"I'll be fine. I promise."

"You'd better keep that promise."

"I will!"

~*~*~*~

Ed cringed. All he could feel was pain; a throbbing that pulsed through his body. He gripped the side of the bed and another bead od sweat trickled down his face.

Twick

"Gnnnnnn!" He muffled the shout of pain that was trying to escape his throat.

"I'm sorry, Ed!" Winry said. "This is the best we can do!"

Ed's reply was a shaky breath and another cringe in pain. "I-I can handle it…"

Winry narrowed her eyes at the sound of the door behind her creaking open. "Alphonse!"

"Eeep!"

Slam!

To Winry, this seemed all too familiar. Everything seemed just like it had been when they were kids, except them being older and things of the sort.

Al sighed. He didn't know how long he had been sitting there, leaning against the wall in the darkness, where just on the other side his brother was in immense pain; all for his sake, no doubt. Finally, when the sun was just appearing over the hills and soft light was creeping its way into the room, the door beside the fifteen-year-old opened.

"We're finished…"

Al walked into the room, and set his gaze on the short blonde taking ragged breaths on the bed before him.

The suit of armor let out a sigh.

It had been a success.

Ed was still gripping the bed. That had freaking hurt. He let out a small moan that no one but himself could hear. Now it was time for rehabilitation.

Joy.

He grimaced at the thought of having to retrain his arm. At least this time walking would be a problem. Now it was just writing, picking things up, using alchemy…

Crap…

Winry groggily walked over stairs and subconsciously made her way to her room. She slid across her carpet and, not very gracefully, fell face-first into her bed with an urumph.

She sprawled out and almost instantly fell asleep. Ed would be fine for the time being…

~*~*~*~*~

Morning seemed to come all too soon. Sitting up, she crawled out of bed and slowly made her way down the stairs. "Good morning, Granny!" She said with a cheerful tone when she reached the kitchen.

Pinako looked up from the letter she was reading. "I'm surprised you're up the early."

Winry slightly laughed, then gestured towards the patient room. "Is Ed doing okay?" In response, the older woman gave her a puzzled look. "What are you talking about?"

"Ed. He's in the 'sick bed' still, right?"

"Edward isn't here, Winry…"

"What are you talking about? He is too here! We did automail surgery on him yesterday!" She was pretty sure it was yesterday, anyway. She had no idea how long she had been asleep.

Winry quickly went past the surgery equipment and walked into a cream colored room with one bed with plain white sheets on it and a table beside the bed. Surely enough, the room was empty.

"Ed hasn't come home from w-…" Pinako stopped midsentence and kept her eyes planted on the letter in her small hand. "Oh…Oh God…" Winry grew silent, but then asked, "What's the matter?"

"P-put a hold on that new design for Ed's arm, will you?"

Shock grasped Winry and didn't allow her to think straight. She suddenly found herself shaking her head rapidly and trembling. "No! He's not….He can't be…"

Practically on cue, a loud clap of thunder took hold of the silence and the lights flickered. The thunderous sound of rain falling filled their ears. Instantly, Winry dashed for the door and flung herself out into the storm. She could hear her grandmother's voice in the background. "Winry!!"

The stinging liquid that was escaping her eyes mixed with the precipitation rolling down her face. She felt her legs go numb, and she tumbled into the mushy ground, causing a flood of mud to cover her.

It couldn't have all possibly been a dream! He's been back! I know he has!

She lay there, letting the rain soak her to the bone, making her clothes heavy and stick to her skin. She let a moan escape her lips and squeezed her eyes shut. "Ed…You can't…"

"Winry!" She felt a nudge on her shoulder. "Winry!" Ed…? She cracked her eyes partly open. "Winry! Wake up!"

The blond stared at the elder lady for a few moments. Had it really only been a dream?

"Winry, get up. It's already one o'clock."

Yep. This was real.

Winry sighed and said, "Okay, okay." She crawled out of bed and watched Pinako leave her room and close the door. She felt her bottom lip tremble and she fell to her knees. In a hushed tone, she said to herself, "Man…That was scary…"