Chapter 7

Ed knocked on the door of the Rockbell house and waited for an answer. Usually he would just enter but after his fight with Winry's he felt uncomfortable doing so. It had been a week since he and Al fought the chimera and more than a month since he'd been here last. Even though he'd done it so many times before, Ed couldn't help re-playing that final fight with Winry in his mind.

The entire train ride over he'd worked on repeating the mantra she's your sister, she's like your sister over and over again. He didn't actually think he'd ever believe it but it was worth a shot. He was hoping that when he saw her again he wouldn't feel anything at all. Except remorse of course, because he still definitely needed to apologize.

No one appeared to be home, so Ed anxiously opened the door and looked around.

"Pinako? Winry?" He shouted into the empty house. No answer. Well, one last place to check. He headed over to Winry's automail shop next door. The shop was one floor with 12 food ceilings and a loft for storage. Winry had wanted it painted a pale blue with white trim and Ed thought the colors had been a good choice. Seeing it again made him proud. He was happy that he had contributed, however minimally, to helping Winry achieve her dream.

The door to the shop was wide open and Ed could see Winry working inside. He stood in the doorway, watching her like he'd done not so long ago. She was facing away from him, sitting on the ground with her knees bent and her legs sprawled out behind her. She appeared to be taking apart an automail leg and was facing some difficulty as the occasional grunt and curse came from her lips. And at this point his hopes were dashed, because at seeing her again he was certainly feeling quite a bit.

She had just paused with a sigh and wiped her hand across her brow when Ed spoke, "Hey Winry."

At the sound of his voice she stiffened but didn't turn around. Ed wondered if she was trying to compose her face. She was likely still furious with him.

But when she got up and turned towards him he was surprised that along with resentment she also looked resigned and a little sad.

"What are you doing here Ed? You should have called first, Granny's down in Rush Valley for the next couple days picking up some speciality parts."

Ed understood the obvious subtext of her statement, that Pinako was the only one here who'd actually want to see him, and she wasn't even here.

"I came to apologize."

Winry raised her eyebrows and looked skeptical.

"Well, I'm having some problems with my leg too, but I really did want to apologize in person."

"Fine. Let me take a look at it." Winry gestured impatiently for him to sit down.

"No. Apology first, then automail repair."

The corner of Winry's mouth twitched slightly. "Go ahead."

Ed took a deep breath. "I had no right to say the things I did to you, Winry. I was beyond rude and completely insensitive to the whole situation. You know that I can get a little…..overly sensitive when it comes to Al. You're both so important to me and I just want you to be happy. If you can't be happy with Al then I hope you'll find that happiness with someone else and I'll just go and keep my opinions to myself." He looked up to see if that would get a smile from her. No smile, but she no longer seemed resentful, just thoughtful and a little wary.

He ploughed on, "You were just being honest and as kind as possible towards Al. I see that now. I hope you can forgive me for being a hot-headed asshole…...I really am sorry." He finished, sincerely.

She studied him for a minute and he gave her an imploring look.

Then with a nod and a slight smile, "Ok, you're forgiven."

Very much relieved Ed fought hard to suppress a grin.

"Ok, now that that's over," Winry said, pulling a wrench seemingly out of nowhere, "let me take a look at that leg. Sit down and tell me exactly what happened."

Ed walked over and plopped himself down in the chair. It was similar to a dentist's chair in the same way that it supported and raised his legs with his upper body partially reclined. Winry sat down on a low stool next to him and waited patiently while he took off his boot and rolled up his pant leg. "There were rumors of an old state laboratory in the East and Al and I got assigned to check it out. Turns out it was there after all but had been abandoned not long ago, likely right after the Promised Day. There were a couple chimeras, the type that are more animal than human. They had just been left in their cages to starve. While we were trying to figure out what to do with them one of them got loose and attacked. It was some kind of giant lizard and it shot streams of acid." Ed grimaced at the memory, "I got sloppy and acid hit my leg. I was lucky that it hit my automail leg and not my real leg. Flesh and blood corrodes a lot more easily than plastic and metal."

"Jeez, it's a mess down here." Winry said as she poked at his automail leg, taking mental note of the half-melted components and which ones could be salvaged. "I'm surprised you can even walk on it. You might need a whole new one, but I'll see if this one can be salvaged first."

She worked on in silence. There was still one elephant left in the room. Ed noticed that Winry looked guilty as she paused, laid her wrench down and looked up at him, "How is Al doing?"

Ed searched for the right words. "He's not great, but he's actually doing well. Passing the State Alchemy exam helped. I think he's optimistic for his new position and the future. And you know Al, he's a good looking, sweet guy. Although he swears he's not interested, he's already got ladies breaking down his door in Central."

Winry seemed relieved and nodded. "That's good. I'm really glad. Hopefully he'll recover even faster than you think he will."

From there her focus was absolute as she assessed his leg, prying out melted and fried components and occasionally getting up to search the cabinet and loft for more parts. "It looks like the internal pistons are still intact, so I think I can get away with a repair and not complete replacement." She looked up at Ed and smiled.

Suddenly Ed grinned. "You know, this really brings me back." he mused, "Sitting in this chair with you adjusting my leg were the only times I ever got to look down on you. And now, just think that I get to do it all the time!"

"Yeah, well. To grow that fast in such a short period of time I'm sure your body had to sacrifice some brain cells or something." was Winry's rejoinder.

"Brain cells I have plenty of," Ed faked over confidence, "I'd take the height anyday."

"Hmphh." was Winry's only reply as she re-focused on her repairs. But Ed couldn't be happier, he felt like they were regaining their old rapport. Maybe if he could just get their friendship back to the way it was before Al's confession and their huge fight it would all be ok.

But as he watched her working he felt the familiar tightening in his chest, reminding him that it was always going to be much harder to think of her as just a friend than he thought.

"Actually Ed, I just remembered, but while you're here I do have one teeny, tiny change I'd like to make to the shop." Winry looked up at him from her work with a guilty smile.

"What! Another change? I feel like we've redesigned this place a dozen times because of your 'teeny, tiny changes!' " Ed made a show of sounding exasperated.

"Please? It really is small, I promise!"

"Fine. What is it?"

"I noticed that this corner over here gets kind of dark." Winry motioned to the space next to the cabinet. "If we put another window in on this wall it would be so much brighter and then I'd also have a great view of the valley."

"Alright, fine." Ed replied. "Where's the window?"

Together they lugged the new window down from loft and laid it up against the wall.

"Alright, here it goes." Ed thought for a second, then clapped his hands together and the usual blue lightning crackled up from between his palms. Placing them on the ground, the lightning erupted from the floor and then shot up towards the wall. The window was suddenly put into place with a neat little stack of lumber on the floor in front of it, leftovers from the wall where the window now sat. But something was wrong.

"Ed! What the hell is that?" The window had been properly installed, but now sported a garishly painted dragon over the top of it's frame. It stared down at them defiantly, breathing carved, wooden flames.

"Oh c'mon. I just thought I'd decorate the place for you a little bit."

"God, your taste is as questionable as ever." Winry groaned, but looked amused. "Please fix it."

"Fine." Ed gave a mock sigh and clapped his hands together to get rid of the dragon. "No more dragon. You happy now?"

"Yes, quite." Winry inspected the window and smiled. "Ok, now back to leg repair."

Ed threw himself back down into the chair and Winry once again took her place on the stool. They chatted intermittently and Ed was glad to realize that they must both be feeling more comfortable. The sun was low in the sky by the time Winry began to finish up. Finally she started to clean up by gathering the old melted and corroded pieces that she'd dropped to the floor during the repair. "Hah. Look at this piece Ed. Doesn't it look like it melted into the shape of Al's old helmet?"

Ed leaned down to take a look. "It does actually look like a flattened version of Al's helmet." He smiled to himself. Although he was thrilled that Al had his real body back, he would always have a certain fondness for the suit of armor that had housed his brother's soul for so many years.

He glanced over at Winry only to notice that their faces were now very close. She had been staring at him, her face slightly red and her expression unreadable. Ed felt his heart start to pound, but he just couldn't look away. Up close she was even more beautiful. Her skin looked so smooth and perfect and he couldn't help but notice how soft her lips looked. He tried to order himself to sit up, but his body just wouldn't comply.

Suddenly, Winry dropped the melted piece of metal. Ed was barely conscious of it clattering to the floor as she launched herself forward and in an instant she was kissing him, hard and fast, and with a longing that mirrored his own. Ed couldn't think, only feel, and respond. He was almost overwhelmed by the feel of her, the sheer presence of her body against his own. Her lips were just as soft as they'd looked and Ed reveled in their touch. She had pinned him down against the chair and was practically in his lap. Her arms were around his neck and his arms had come to settle around her waist. Unconsciously he pulled her closer and heard a small moan escape her lips.

Then, almost as suddenly as she'd come to him, Winry pulled away. Her face was flushed, and she looked breathless. But her eyes contained what he thought could only be hope. "Ed, I, I love you. I have for a long time now. I'm sorry to just surprise you like this, but I just…..I couldn't wait any longer."

The shock that Ed felt could only be equalled by his joy. Winry loved him. She had for a while! Dully, he wondered if it had been as long as he had. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered! Except that they loved each other. Fighting his natural embarrassment and inability to express his emotions he managed to take her hand and blurt out. "Winry, I love you too."

The look on her face was radiant and Ed couldn't believe that he was the cause of it. And suddenly they were kissing again with even more fervor than before. She was fully in his lap now and he fought his hands' desire to roam her body, forcing himself to focus on the feel of her lips and tongue as they collided with his. God, had he ever been this happy? Not since Al had gotten his body back, surely…...Al! Holy shit, how could he possibly forget?

Ed pulled away suddenly. "No, no. We can't."

"What? Why not?" Winry was breathless and felt a little high.

Ed didn't respond, but shook himself a little. Winry thought she understood. She was definitely have trouble composing rational thoughts right now herself.

Ed was looking down at this hands and she could no longer see his eyes. "Al loves you Winry. I, I can't do this to him."

There was silence as Winry processed this statement.

"But, but I'm sure he would understand. In the end." she said, feeling uncertain. "I mean, in time he would come to accept it. Right? Maybe even be happy for us?"

Ed put his hands on her waist and gently lifted her to the side so he could get up. He went and stood by the newly created window, still not looking at her. "Maybe. But we'd be causing him an awful lot of pain before he got to that point."

"So, so you're saying we can't be together?" Winry felt desperation rising up in her chest.

Ed said nothing.

"And what about my happiness, and yours? You would sacrifice being with me for your brother's peace of mind?!" But as the words left Winry's mouth she knew them to be true. She had always known that if it were her or Al it would be Al. And besides, there was something fundamentally wrong with coming between the Elric brothers. It would be like smashing some holy object or desecrating a grave. And even with her inability to return Al's feelings, the resentment and pain it would cause Al seeing her and Ed together would be severe. She knew that Ed would never purposefully do that to his brother.

Ed finally turned to look at her and took her hands. "I'm so sorry, Winry. This is…...it's really hard for me too." She thought he did look truly miserable with his golden eyes unusually hooded and his whole face tense. And it had only been minutes ago that they had been so happy…

She pulled her hands away in frustration but said nothing. She couldn't help but be resentful. It was a choice he was making, really. A choice that she understood, and even supported, but the anger came nonetheless.

"Maybe, in a few years….after Al's had some time, found someone else...maybe, maybe then?" Ed implored, the desperation evident in his voice.

But Winry just shook her head sadly. "That's fine Ed. I'm your automail mechanic and you're my foster brother. If that's the way it has to be then…...then..." But the tears were already welling up in her eyes and her voice cracked. God dammit, she cried too easily.

Ed hugged her to him, her head tucking naturally under his chin. Winry didn't feel like there was anything brotherly about it, but she felt comforted. Comforted and miserable, knowing that after tonight she could never seek this same comfort again.