The Same Coin

Send You a Telegram

Garfiel was outside the store, waiting to flag her down as Winry came in line of sight. They were easy to spot, standing a head taller than the rest of the crowd ambling around them. She hurried her steps.

"That Elric boy is on the phone for you," Garfiel called out when she was in earshot. "Ed?"

Garfiel gave her a wink that made her flush, and stood off to one side holding the door ajar so she could shuffle by with her bags. She let the bags on her left arm slide to the ground as she picked up the receiver from where Garfiel had laid it.

"Ed?"

"I got the telegram that you called. Everything okay?" he asked.

"Everything's good," Winry said, beaming as she propped herself against the corner of the table, lowering the rest of her bags to the ground. "Actually, great. Where are you that Central had to reach you by telegram?" He hesitated a second too long. "What kind of trouble have you gotten into now?!"

"I'm not in trouble! Al and I are in Dublith."

She twisted the cord to the phone around her finger. She remembered all too well how Ed and Al had disappeared for an entire month when Izumi had taken them under her care. Winry had cried every night the whole month, terrified for them. A whole month before they sent a letter and told her that they were in Dublith.

"Oh. Will you be there long?"

"I'm not sure. Why were you calling? Normally it's me calling you to tell you I need repairs," Ed said with a laugh.

"I'm going to Saherta for Garfiel tomorrow."
"Saherta?" Ed repeated slowly. "Isn't that across the sea? Can't someone else go?"

"It's to check out an auction, to look for automail stuff." He didn't respond. "Ed? Are you there?"

"Yeah, I'm here."

"I just finished shopping for the trip. I bought—"

"I don't think you should go."

"What? Why?"

"I don't think it's safe for you to travel that far on your own. You're going across the sea, and if something were to happen—"

"I travel on my own all the time. I go back to Resembool, I travel out to Central to see you —"

"This is completely different — you're going across the sea."

"I didn't call you so you could argue with me about going, Edward. I called so you could be excited for me."

Winry hung up the phone, turning her nose up in annoyance. It began ringing almost immediately, and Garfiel's head poked in.

"Going to answer that?"

She waved her hand in dismissal as she stood up, picking her bags up from the floor while she pointedly ignored the ringing.

"It's Ed. He's just mad I hung up on him."

"That's not how you keep a man interested."

She rolled her eyes. "Please."

Garfiel chuckled at her expense as they took an envelope from their leather work apron, handing it to her as the phone finally stopped ringing.

"It's all the tickets, make sure to keep track of them. You go by train to the Xing border, and then transfer to stagecoach from there to the port in Xiamen. Once the ship docks, you have a ticket for an air carrier."

Forget Ed. She was beaming again, excitement pulsing faster now. Tomorrow.