11. Is it ok to cry?
Ed sulked in the workshop in his underwear while Winry tinkered with his foot, arms crossed as best he could, which amounted to his left arm across his chest and his right slumped across his lap. Winry stopped abruptly and he heard the tool hit the floor. He glanced nervously at the furious woman rising up in front of him, eyes livid. Ed braced for wrench-impact, but she smacked him hard across the face.
"What. Did. You. DO?" she demanded.
"What did you hit me for?" he cried, wincing in pain. He knew she was strong, and he taken far worse beatings, but not from her bare hands.
"The automail is fine, but your ports are blown to all hell," she explained, still fuming. "I'm going to have to work on your nerve connectors themselves."
"Sounds about right."
"WHAT?" she shouted, and backhanded him, but he was ready this time and caught her hand.
"Stop hitting me, woman, don't you think I get that enough?"
That stopped her dead. "Tell me what happened," she ordered softly.
Ed sighed, and figured he owed her the truth. "We were going after this guy who had a crude stone," he said softly, "and he was using it to screw up people's nervous systems. He's already paralyzed a dozen State Alchemists. He was the muscle for some other bastards that the colonel took care of. I was the only one with replaceable nerves, so..."
He cut off as Winry sank to her knees. Ed dropped to his own knee (the left one sort of sagged under him) in front of her. "Win, I'm sorry I had to wreck it, but your automail probably saved South Headquarters," he told her, resting his left hand on her head. "If I hadn't been able to bust the automail, who knows how many this guy could have taken out."
Winry swayed and leaned into him. "That's good," she whispered. Ed felt her shake against him, and he wrapped his arm around her as best he could.
"Please don't make me break my promise," he said, barely audible. "Don't cry, Winry."
"It's ok," she said at last, look up (up? The little brat grew!) at him. "The automail actually saved you, and I'm happy you're alive, so it's ok for me to cry."