Winry hadn’t understood it at first. Perhaps it was just the nature of the Elrics and alchemy. Even so young, they were drawn to it as much as Winry had been to automail. But why they went, though, confused her. They had spent so long talking about alchemy just the home next door, even more fervently so after their mother’s death. So why did they need to go to some island with a strange woman? Winry pouted as she watched Ed and Al leave, but at least the pair would be back soon.
Everything had changed after that night. Ed and Al weren’t the same boys with grins that Winry had known. Even beyond their bodies, something had shifted in the Elric brothers. It wasn’t surprising, then, when the military came. Two young boys with an aptitude for alchemy and nowhere else to turn? They would be leaving her, leaving for longer than the month at Yock. It felt wrong to see Edward leave, a military alchemist now. No matter how much the young girl wanted to run after them and beg to be taken along, she knew what they were doing was far beyond her ability.
At this point Winry was accustomed to seeing his back, the braid hanging across his red cloak, right hand waving. She knew every inch of him. She knew the way his metal hand looked underneath his glove, hell, she’d made nearly a dozen copies of that over the past few years. Winry knew what it was like to watch Ed leave again, but that never made it easier. He was more comfortable in the military, in his quest for their bodies, only dropping by for quick visits. Whenever he wrote, Winry always hoped he would tell her everything was fine and that he would return to Resembool. He never did.
Things accelerated far beyond what that ha been. Government conspiracies, homunculi, and no bodie returned. There were still two constants: Ed Elric breaking his automail, and leaving. Winry clung to this certainty, when all else was spiraling out of control. The time she could spend with him, it always reminded her how good it was to have him around. And yet like always, he had to leave. He was taller now, broader. The same Ed she knew from years ago was becoming a man. But he still gave her the wave as he left. The mechanic could only wonder when he would be able to finally stop, and stay.
The two years that had passed had blown by quickly. The brothers were always around now, it made everything more lively and vibrant again. But it also meant that Winry couldn’t ignore what she had been feeling any longer. Ed felt the same though, he made that much clear as he went away once again. He was off, but Winry selfishly wanted him to stay. At least this time, he left with the promise of a future together. Maybe this would finally be what would keep Ed Elric in one place.
It took years, a piles and piles of letters between them, before the pair were reunited. Ed had told her he was heading back, but no actual date. Was she just meant to wait at the train station? Of course not, she had piles of automail to build and repair. She was in one of her famous all-nighters, too focused on the machinery to hear the sound of the door opening behind her.
“And here I thought I’d find you fast asleep. I should’ve known better.”
Edward was finally here to stay.