A/N: One of two chapters coming up tonight. One of my best friends from college blew back into town from Kansas on Wednesday night, and I haven't even turned either of my computers in two days!
Back in Brotherhood land for this one, Briggs to be specific.
31. To hurt and to heal
Ed had never gotten a chance to really talk to Winry about Scar. Sure, he'd talked her down from gunpoint, and later with the entire military potentially eavesdropping, but that didn't really count. She always seemed so… past it, even when they were kids, so Ed never thought about it. Clearly, she was better adjusted since she never thought about reviving them.
Once her armor was cracked, though, Ed realized her shell was even thicker than Al. She wasn't any less hurt than they were; she just hid it better. She threw herself into work, she cried about everything else, and it all melted away that day she met Scar. Ed couldn't help worrying how she was doing, leaving as Scar's pseudo-hostage. She hadn't forgiven him, but she still wrapped his wound and went on with her life. Ed, on the other hand, still resolved to knock out his father's teeth if they ever met again.
As they trudged on through the snow, Ed wondered what he would have said to Winry if he'd had the chance, if she hadn't thrown her life down for his escape. Al said there'd almost been visible steam coming out of his ears when Winry went to confront Scar. Ed was beyond caring what it looked like to everyone when he literally snatched Winry back after she'd said her bit. If they'd been able to meet back at Briggs, he would have shirked off duty (Al could cover two shifts anyway) to make sure she was ok.
What he actually said in his fantasy escaped him, but Winry would sniff tearfully and try to hold it together for a moment before she'd throw herself into Ed's waiting arms. He would hold her, rock her while she cried into his shoulder, heal her as her sorrows poured out, promise her that they'd fare better than both sets of parents, shift her weight to his automail knee, cup her tearstained face in his left hand while his right worked its way to her b-
WHOA. Where had his fantasy taken the abrupt left turn into that? Groping a woman with tear tracks on her face? Ed resolved to block out everything he'd ever heard from Mustang or Havoc, and started reciting the elements in his head again.