Winry

Winry scrubs the blood off between thumb and forefinger as she runs after Edward. Edward's blood. And suddenly she's hit with a flashback that takes her breath away. A sky that broiled with electricity late in the evening as she stood on tip-toe to look out the window. Granny told her to come away from the window and sit down and she did, wondering anxiously if Ed and Al would be alright in the storm. Then, not half an hour later, amid the thunder-cracks, a voice screamed out side their door in desperation. It was Al's voice—she had known that at once, in spite of how oddly hollow it sounded. They ran to the door, threw it open and—she stumbles a bit, pressing a hand to her forehead and trying to get rid of the memory. Edward's blood. There was a suit of armor cradling him—that was Al, she knew, somehow, but all she could think about was how much Edward was bleeding. She couldn't focus for a minute, couldn't comprehend where it was all coming from. Then she put her hands over her mouth. His leg was gone. Completely gone. And—oh, gods. His arm too. He was going to die right in front of her. "Winry!" her grandmother snapped, and suddenly her hands dropped from her mouth and clutched the front of her dress. "Yes, okay, yes." She tore herself away and ran to get bandages, tools, anything, blinking furiously to stop the water in her eyes from blurring her vision. Everything passed in a dream like vagueness until he was finally laying on the bed, unconscious, but bandaged—and alive. "Winry, go get some sleep." Granny ordered. She glanced at Al, who sat huddled in the corner and hadn't said a word. She wanted to know what had happened. She wanted to stay there and stare at Ed's blond hair until it erased the memory of red. But she turned and went up the stairs.

"Ed, slow down." He slows a little and looks back at her with an impatient glare, face smeared with dirt. She has to snap out of it. She couldn't sleep, though. She just kept hearing Alphonse's hollow scream and seeing Edward's blood. So in the middle of the night she crawled out of her bed and crept down the stairs again. Al was still hunched in the corner, and she couldn't tell if he was looking at her or not, so she went over to where Edward lay. He was still asleep or unconscious, but restlessly so. She was crying now, and felt sick to her stomach looking at him, so she climbed up onto the bed next to him and wrapped her arms around him, careful not to get near his wounds. He murmured and shifted, and she felt his arm come around her shoulders and his hand come to rest on top of her head. Tilting it to look up at his face, she saw that his eyes were half-open, looking down at her. "Edward." She whispered.

"Winry." he whispered back. Then she buried her face in his shoulder and cried until she fell asleep.

Winry stumbles to a stop and falls on her knees, panting a little. "Edward." She calls out. He stops and turns with a look of exasperation. "What? We're in a hurry, come on." She puts a hand to her chest, trying to calm down. She's never told him about the nightmares she had for so long. She doesn't know if he even remembers her crawling up beside him.

Edward

He walks back to where she's kneeling on the ground. "Come on." There's something a little scary in her blue eyes when she looks up at him. Ed rubs the back of his neck uncomfortably. "What's wrong?"

"I'm just a little dizzy!" she snaps, getting to her feet with a wobble. "Did you have to spiral so much on the way down?" He looks up at her—because they're standing on a slope—in disbelief.

"Winry!"

"I'm just saying, if you hadn't-"

"We need to get my arm fixed! Julia's in trouble."

"Well if you hadn't broken it in the first place—you always break it-"

"You made it!" That is a mistake. He takes a step back, a vein in his neck pulsing. Her eyes are definitely twinkling with scary now, and he thanks heaven she doesn't have a wrench handy.

"Well, if you had a real arm, it would probably break too because you're so reckless and you never drink any milk." He blinks.

"What does that have to do with anything?" he asks incredulously, raising his voice. "You're just saying random stuff now!"

"Am not!" She screams back, balling her hands. "Milk makes your bones stronger, and it also makes you grow!" He clenches his fist and leans forward, anger bursting into flame in his blood. "Who are you calling so short he might as well be a newborn baby?! You're the one who cries like a baby!"

"Well maybe that's because you never cry!" There's silence. Shadows strike harsh lines across her face and her earrings glint with firelight. They both stand still, suddenly subdued. "Edward, that first day, you didn't even..." he has a sudden memory of her arms wrapped around his chest and her tears soaking his shoulder. She'd fallen asleep, and he'd lain awake, what was left of his arm and leg endlessly aching, the hand he still had resting on her hair. He takes a step back as heat rises to his face. The stupid valley is so hot. He needs to help Al and Julia stop the lava. "...drink your milk." He frowns. "Huh?"

"You didn't even drink one glass." She says. "Maybe if..." he stares at her with incredulity, then slaps his forehead. "Dammit, Winry! This is important!"

"I..." she begins, but then the ground rumbles as the lava begins to erode it. It shakes violently under their feet and he's thrown onto his back. Winry staggers, trying to keep her balance, but falls forward anyway, landing on top of him. "Ow!" He's about to shove her away when he sees a huge chunk of the cliff break off above them and plummet downward. Instinctively he throws his arm around her and rolls sideways, squeezing his eyes shut. The rock hits the ground behind his back and bounces off to the side. A shower of smaller rocks and bits of dirt batters at his head and shoulder for a minute, then everything is calm again. He opens his eyes, looks into Winry's scrunched-up face inches from his own, and realizes his hand is resting on her head. Her eyelashes are pressed against her cheeks and her nose is crinkled. Ed gulps and sits up quickly. "You okay?" She sits up too, rubbing her elbow and finally opening her eyes. Strands of hair are falling all over her face. "Yeah." He helps her get to her feet and dusts himself off. "See?" He says. "This is why I need to get out there and help them!"

"Okay, okay." She sighs, smoothing her hair back in place and tucking stray pieces back into her ponytail. "Let's go."