I'm a day late, sorry. I hope the length makes up for it, but this chapter was really difficult for me.

At the beginning I had thought I would write the chapter in Ed and Al's point of view, but then it got really complicated. And then Winifred popped up, and it just kind of...came to me. I hope you enjoy it, it took me a while to write it. :) And by the way, I don't actually study anatomy, I just looked up pictures on google and used it based on those diagrams. So don't kill me, please.

Winifred blocked out the noises of children playing on the playground where she was sitting on the swings, studying the bones of the hand. But her usual technique for blocking out nightmares wasn't exactly helping now, and she found herself floundering in images of the past as Edmund's smiling face reappeared. She could almost feel the warmth of his arms around her.

She sprawled another set of notes on the notebook she was borrowing. Maybe if she focused hard enough she could lose herself in the mysteries of the human body. "Bones in the fingers…?" She questioned herself before looking away from the book and using her own hand as a model. "The tip is called the distal phalanges. The next bones are called the middle phalanges, although the thumb doesn't have one. Next are proximal phalanges. And then…" She thought for a moment, determined not to sneak a peek at her book. "Next are…the metacarpals!" She smirked in self-satisfaction at herself.

"At this rate you'll become a successful doctor."

Winifred almost fell off her swing in surprise. Most of her precious resources drifted to the ground in a flurry of papers and pens. Her hands clenched around the chains that held her swing up. "Jessica," she growled. "You almost scared me half to death!"

Her best friend smiled smugly at her. "Aren't you going to pick up all the papers you dropped?" Jessica's brown eyes stared imploringly into her, despite her brown hair half-sweeping into them.

Winifred muttered something under her breath but bent down and picked up all of her papers, which was much more difficult than she had expected to do on a swing. She glared at Jessica. "Aren't you going to help? You were the one who knocked them all off anyhow," she muttered accusingly.

Jessica shrugged and with a giggle she settled herself beside Winifred. "But I'm serious Winifred. You're eighteen, for Pete's sake, and yet you're on the swings talking to yourself."

Winifred's face flushed and she couldn't hide her embarrassment. Still, she ignored the comment hoping that her voice sounded somewhat cool. "And what are you doing here? I assume you didn't feel the sudden need to go watch little kids at the park. Going to stalk them?"

Jessica just laughed nonchalantly, setting Winifred's nerves on edge. She really didn't have time for this. Jessica ignored her obvious aggravation and began swinging. "How are your nightmares?"

Yep, she really wanted to piss Winifred off. Or kill her by embarrassment. "Just fine," she answered, crossing her arms over her flat chest.

"Oh, that's good," Jessica answered lamely. She shot a nervous glance at Winifred, which made her even more furious. But really, it made her feel helpless. She needed the pity of a friend who would never understand the pain of losing someone as close to her as Edmund was. She didn't even argue; just let Jessica gaze at her with sympathy. Like she could ever understand.

"So how are your studies going, Mrs. Engineer?" Winifred offered as a change in subject.

Jessica shot her a self-confident smirk and dug her heels in the ground. Her swinging stopped abruptly and she faced Winifred. "I think I'm going to flunk as Mr. Dominic's apprentice."

Winifred put her head in her hands. "You know, if you studied, you might actually be a good engineer."

Jessica shook her head and her nose wrinkled in distaste. "What? Why would I ever do that? You know, some people aren't completely absorbed in their studies." She shrugged and leaned back while maintaining her balance. Winifred glared at her in envy. If she even tried that trick she would end up on her butt, while Jessica lounged with obvious ease. "Besides, I don't think I want to be an engineer anymore."

Winifred rolled her eyes, a smile turning up the corners of her lips. "You never want to be anything for long. You know, you keep switching tastes like this and Dominic is going to dump you on the streets." She was kidding though. Both of them knew that Mr. Dominic adored Jessica with a gruff love. He wouldn't throw her out if she truly needed the help, and the way it was looking, Jessica was going to need someone like that on her side.

Jessica frowned at the statement though. "I don't want to hang onto him for the rest of my life. He doesn't deserve that. Especially not after how much he has helped me." Her eyes furrowed and she sat up in her swing. Her fists grabbed the swings so tightly that her knuckles turned white. "I thought I could take up his work, but I just can't. Sometimes I'm so jealous of you Winifred."

Winifred stared at Jessica in dazed shock. Jealous? Of her? Jessica was popular and easy to get along with everybody. She wasn't a Jew, so she wasn't criticized, even with her looks. Besides that, she had a loving family and a strong mentor. So why would she ever be jealous of plain, old Winifred? "What do you mean?"

Jessica heard the surprise in Winifred's voice and shot her a knowing look. "You know exactly what you want to do in life. I never had that kind of sense of direction. I don't know how you can do it."

Winifred had never had to do anything, that was the thing. Her parents were doctors, and so growing up she had always admired them and their ability to heal. And she read textbooks instead of picture books when she was a child, molding into the doctor she knew she wanted to be. Her parent's death drove her. And then Edmund…

Winifred was jolted out of her thoughts by a cry of pain. She instinctively dropped all of her books, grabbing the mini first-aid kit she hid in her pockets out. Hopefully it wasn't anything too bad.

Of course, all her papers fell out of her lap again and lodged themselves into the dirt, but Winifred was too busy focusing on the victim. It was a little boy with tears streaming down his face and a big scrape on his leg. She walked up to him, and saw the mother staring at her nervously. She looked up into the big brown eyes of the little boy. "What's your name?"

"M-my name?" he stuttered before coming to his senses. "Jacob. What are you going to do?"

Winifred waved her first aid kit off for him to see. "I'm going to help you. Now first I have to wipe some disinfectant on it, and it's going to sting a little, alright?"

The boy shook his head. "It's alright, just put a Band-Aid on it," he insisted. His eyes stared into hers nervously.

Winifred shook her head. "The disinfectant keeps it from getting an infection, and if I don't do this then the wound will hurt even more. It'll only be a few seconds, I promise." She got out a wipe and began talking, hoping to distract him. "So, Jacob, what do you want to be when you grow up?" She began wiping the wound.

He whimpered but answered in a strained voice, "I want to be a soldier for the German Military."

"Oh, really?" she answered with false cheerfulness. "Well, I bet you'll be an amazing soldier, especially if you're as good there as you are now." She pulled off the wipe. "Is that better?" She wondered.

Jacob examined his leg, seeming astounded that it hurt less than he thought it would. "Yeah, that's okay. Do I have to put a Band-Aid on it? I want to show this off as my battle scar."

Winifred gulped but shook her head softly. "If we do, you could get it infected. We don't want that." She put the Band-Aid on and whispered in his ear, "Don't worry, it still looks cool."

He grinned at her. "You really think so?"

This boy was so convicted that he wanted to be in the military, but he had no idea how many lives could be torn apart if he joined. Still she smiled. "Coolest ever."

Winifred stared at the grocery list in her hand. "We need more carrots, and even more eggs." She sighed and walked into the multiple outlets that held her requirements. She found the carrots and gathered along with others in front of her.

There was a Jew in front of her. She had two children with her, each less than seven years old. They were clinging to her dress, groceries in their hands. They looked so tiny and helpless. Winifred had a nagging feeling that this wasn't going to end well. But she didn't say anything until they reached the front of the line.

The store owner stared at them just a little better than he would a rat. The displeasure in his eyes was a film as he turned away from them. "Sorry, we don't sell to Jews." He didn't sound very apologetic, more like eager to get them out of his store.

The woman made a sound of astonishment before her eyes dropped into a familiar sadness and hunger. "Please sir, we need these groceries. I'll pay you anything. My family…they need this food."

He glared at her distastefully before shrugging. "You dogs can survive in the streets."

Winifred shoved back an angry retort. They were people too! Just because someone was a little different… She clamped her jaw until it hurt because she was biting down so hard, and her fingernails dug into her palms. Keep quiet, you need these groceries. For a moment she wavered. She was no better than the people behind her, who were shifting their eyes downward or glaring at the starving woman. She heard an angry 'get out of line!'

"Please-"

"I'll pay for her groceries," Winifred growled, stepping up. "Here, this should be enough right?" She shoved two hundred franks toward him, enough to pay for both hers and the woman's food.

The owner narrowed his eyes but shoved her money back at her. "That will be over enough for your carrots, but nothing can pay for them. They'll just have to starve," he added heartlessly.

Winifred felt all her hidden anger boil over and she slammed her palm down on the table. "I don't think so. This whole prejudice thing is stupid. They are humans, just like you and me, not dogs meant to die on the streets!" Her voice rose higher than she expected it to, and she fought to keep up some kind of control. "Please, just let me pay for their food."

"Ma'am, you don't have to-" The woman interjected, but her children clung onto Winifred's garments while still having a hand firmly on their mother. Winifred looked down in astonishment at their tiny support. Their eyes were brewing up with tears, as were the mother's.

Winifred stared at the store owner with a newly found determination that filled her with a stronger sense of righteousness. This was right. Her steely blue eyes stared into his coolly. "I'll be buying these, and then I'll be leaving."

The man's face flustered face filled with embarrassment and weakness, because they both knew that she had won this fight. He still fought to maintain the smallest amount of control. "This is my store, and…and…" He shook with self-restraint before - quicker than Winifred could react - he raised his hand and began to bring it down hard.

Winifred flinched, expecting the hard streaks of pain on her cheek and the breathlessness afterwards as she spun backwards. She expected the pain to well up a huge bruise. She expected her dignity and her strength to both go flying out the window.

What she didn't expect was a hero.

She was tossed backwards and stared into the back of her saver, golden hair and a long, brown trench coat. In his left hand he clutched a bulky suitcase and his right hand was raised up defensively. There was metallic clang and shocked silence. No one moved.

This stranger was too familiar. Her mind was spinning with everything that just happened in the last few seconds and she couldn't find one logical explanation for anything besides the fact that this man was the man who saved her. Or at least he saved her from a lot of pain and embarrassment.

She heard a whimper from the store owner but was too dazed and furious to even register it.

"Edmund." Her voice failed her but she was too stunned to do anything about it. Because there was no way around it. This was Edmund.