The Same Coin

The Only One

Winry rounded the corner and found Chrollo, Pakunoda, Nobunaga, and Machi waiting together. The two latter looked bored and displeased to be there at all, while Pakunoda at least seemed attentive. Chrollo was the only one who looked even remotely pleased to see her.

It dawned on her in that moment that, in all the instances their paths had crossed here, she'd hadn't felt accepted. She had been an outsider to them all this entire time. When she went to new places back home — to Rush Valley, to Central — she had always felt the warmth of acceptance from the people around her, like she was one of their own. She thought of the Hughes family, how they had literally taken her into their home. The only person who had shown interest in her companionship here had been Chrollo. And Hisoka.

"Did he hurt you?" Chrollo demanded, and Winry looked up at him in bewildered confusion — then realized she was crying. She wiped her face with the backs of her hands, and shook her head.

"No, he didn't do anything. I'm...just ready to go home."

Winry slipped past them and pressed the button for the elevator, bowing her head so that her hair hid her face. At last the doors parted and she dodged in. Only Chrollo followed, and that fact wasn't lost on her. Especially now. These people were not her friends. Winry kept her face down.

"Hisoka told you how to close your nodes," Chrollo commented, and Winry nodded.

"Yes. He said he noticed during the match." She stole a glance at him from the corner of her eye before directing her gaze back to the floor. His expression was solemn. "He implied that you knew they had been opened and could've helped me to close them yourself."

"He is correct. I saw it when you got in the car, but we had our meal before going directly to the fight, and I thought saying something would have alarmed you. Teaching someone to close their nodes that takes times to go through, and I believe should be done with privacy. Forgive me, Winry-san, for I intended to assist after we left the match — before he interfered. I'm sorry if he put you in a position where you felt as though you had to accept his help."

That was really what happened, wasn't it? She had felt cornered, and she'd need to repay him in the future now — equivalent exchange. She didn't want to see Hisoka ever again. She couldn't shake, however, that maybe Hisoka knew something that she didn't with regard to Chrollo. Perhaps even now Chrollo was only addressing this because she had brought it up. Maybe Hisoka really was the only one who would have helped her. The thought of that was almost nauseating.

"Would I really have died?" Chrollo nodded. She wiped at the last of her tears as the elevator reached the bottom floor. The doors opened. "I'll be leaving on the next ship home," she announced, then gave him a bow. "I'm glad to have met you, Chrollo Lucilfer, and I thank you for the kindness you've shown me."

She knew he could have stopped her if he'd wanted to, but he didn't make the attempt as she hurried away. She wasn't sure she even wanted him to try to interfere with her leaving. This place was so foreign, and now felt so hostile, and her heart longed for familiarity.

The next morning she took an airship to a western seaport in the Republic of Panokea. She spent two more nights in a hotel, wasting her days going through more gift shops and collecting tokens. The return home felt much longer than the trip to Yorknew City. Her heart felt heavy, and she spent most of her time focusing on keeping her nodes closed until it was as Hisoka had said it should be — second nature.

At last the train arrived in Rush Valley and, as she finally stepped back onto the familiar ground of home, the tightness in her chest loosened. She was home. Looking around the platform as she climbed down the stairs, carrying her bags in her arms, everything that transpired across the sea felt like a bad dream. The things that happened here were real — they were what mattered. Winry shouldered her luggage and climbed down the stairs to the platform.