Every Visit Counts | FMA

Chapter 5

That Rainy Night

Your POV 

[Resembool, Amestris, you and Ed are still 11]

The thunder cracked and lightening flashes through the room, causing you to cringe. It was late at night, and you were staying over at Winry's. It's not like you two were the closest, though you wish you could be friends with her. It's more so that Pinako had her invite you, so you didn't have to sit through the storm alone.

Ed and Al haven't come back from training just yet, and you were still trying not to be mad at them for leaving you all alone. It was dreadful, staying in an otherwise empty house that teemed with horrible memories. When you first came to live with the Elrics, it was warm and welcoming. Now, it scared you.

"Oh breathe, the storm should pass soon enough," Winry scoffs, throwing you a pillow and a sleeping bag while laying out her own. 

"Thank you," you say politely, causing Winry to scoff again and turn her back on you. You feel a slight amount of guilt; what did you do that made her hate you so much? But it wasn't something you'd worry about too much, I mean if she invited you to sleep over, that makes it so that you weren't completely hated.

"So you haven't heard from Ed and Al?"

Though her back was turned, you could tell that Winry's expression has softened. You shake your head no, your [h/c] hair shaking with it. Winry sighs and finally turns to face you, blue eyes sparkling in the flickering lights.

"I hope they come home soon," she whispers softly. You nod in agreement, wanting her to like you. Thinking that agreeing would mean having something in common, and would bring the two of you closer. Sadly, Winry didn't quite feel the same way.

Suddenly, with a sound that chilled your very bones, you heard a scream come from the outside, which mixed in with the hard pattering of the rain. Winry jolts her head up, looking around fearfully.

Just as the two of you relaxed, you heard it again. This time, much more agonized. Neither of you able to take much more, you both burst outside. Ignoring the cool rain and freezing temperature.

Pinako quickly followed, and looked stern.

"Just what do you two think you're doing!?" she scolds. "It's freezing out here, and you're just in your pajamas!"

This much was true; the two of you were in thin nightdresses that exposed your knees. But you didn't care, and, as far as you could tell, neither did Winry.

"That sounds like Edward!" Winry exclaims, confirming some of your worst thoughts. She starts to run out in the rain, but Pinako grabs her elbow.

"Just wait a minute," she suggests. "We'll just wait and see what happens."

Anger boiled within your chest, but you had no choice but to obey. Glaring silently, you walked grudgingly inside, the blonde behind you.

As each minute passed, the anxiety began to grow within you. You couldn't help it; what if Edward was in danger? What if he was out there, seriously hurt?

[A/N: seriously hurt? Like, what, *cough cough* loss of limb? (and bruddr?!) XD couldn't resist]

Suddenly, a few knocks on the door added to your naucious worry. Who could that be? Edward? Alphonse? Both?

Winry, evidently as worried as you, sprang up from her position on the floor and scurried to the door, flinging it open. You quickly followed, then gasped in surprise and horror.

The 'visitors' happened to be a man in armor, and Edward. Except, Edward wasn't conscious. In fact, Edward was in the man's arms, knocked out cold and bleeding everywhere. 

As you near the two of them, you resisted a scream as you saw that Edward was missing his limbs. You could feel your heart pounding against your chest in fear, and you were frozen in the spot. Your stomach seemed to writhe within you in an unpleasant sensation.

"Please!"

Even if you couldn't see him, Alphonse's youthful voice was unmistakable. You look around to find him, until the realization dawned on you. 

The man in armor was Alphonse.

"Al..?" Winry whispers in shock. The armor nods its head, confirming what you were already thinking. Alphonse wasn't inside the armor, but was the armor itself.

"My brother is going to bleed to death..." the armor- or should you say Alphonse- whimpers. Of course it was Al, no one else would act in such a state of panic.

"Set him on the surgery table!" Pinako orders. Alphonse nods frantically and runs off to the surgery room, where the grandmother and Winry would perform automail procedures. Winry quickly gets out of her trance, and followed Pinako.

I can't be useless... you think desperately. Then, you decide to follow and see how you could help. What kind of friend would you be if you didn't?

"Get out," Winry says flatly, holding a dangerous looking medical tool. You flinch, not wanting her to use it on you, but stand your ground anyways.

"I wanna help," you state firmly. Winry glares at you.

"No." The automatic refusal only made you more stubborn than you were previously intending.

"I wanna help," you repeat, more persistantly this time. Winry sighs in exhasperation, and rolls her blue eyes. You couldn't help but look up to the girl, not only cause she was taller than you, but because she didn't have an ounce of panic.

"Fine, go with Alphonse and get his bed ready," she commands, causing Alphonse to look confused. He glances at the two of you awkwardly.

"I'm doing that now...?" He trails off uncertainly, and Winry grunts in annoyance.

"Yes. You are!" she moans firmly. Then, she pushes the two of us out of the room and proceeds to perform the surgery. Before she shuts the door in your face, you whisper one request.

"Don't hurt him."

"No duh," Winry grunts, though she seemed to soften at the request. "I would never dream of hurting him."

And she shut the door, leaving you and Al alone in the hallway. You look at him awkwardly, unsure of what to say. What to think.

Then, without a word, you went to the patient's room and pulled the covers down. Fluffing the pillow with your hands, you silently cry to yourself.

"A-are you crying?" Alphonse stutters from the doorway. "[y/n]?"

"No!" you deny instantly, wiping your eyes from the salty liquid and forcing a smile on your face. You turn to see Alphonse looking at you awkwardly, and another tear fell.

You couldn't help it.

Sweet Alphonse, trapped inside of a steel shell.

Edward, your best friend, missing two of his limbs.

This was so nightmarish, that you didn't want to accept it at all. It was too hard to accept, and too scary. How would you deal with this?

"What happened," you manage to choke, tears thick in your throat. Alphonse seemed to be taken aback, but began to explain anyways.

"Well, we got back from training," he states awkwardly, and obviously. "And we tried something...not smart...And I don't remember."

"You don't remember!?" you demand, more salty tears falling down your face. "How could you not remember anything!?"

"I remember my brother's leg," Alphonse sniffs, obviously wanting to cry, but being physically unable to do so. "That's the last thing I remember, watching it be broken down by the forces of alchemy. When I woke up, I was in this shell."

You were about to retort, when you heard a scream tear through the awkward room.

"[Y/N]!"

You look around in surprise, then immediately want to rush down to the incapacited Edward. But something glued you to the floor. Alphonse lets out a sad sigh.

"You know?" he says softly, tears practically in his voice. "The last thing he said, before he passed out, was your name."