When they came out of the portal they were behind the same tree that Natalie had come out behind when she’d first met Edward. Nothing was different at least not at first glance. She transformed back into her regular clothes and they both stepped out onto the path and started walking up to the yellow house on the hill. She hoped she hadn’t screwed this up.
As they got closer to the house and dog started barking at them, they could see it’s head perk up from the spot it had been laying in.
“Den,” Edward said, smiling a bit. He hadn’t seen that dog in awhile.
Hearing the dog barking, a tall, blonde woman came out of the house. “Den, hush don’t scare…” Her voice cut out as she was now able to see Natalie and Edward approaching. “Ed?”
Edward knew that the Winry standing in front of him wasn’t the one he knew but he could still feel the twinge of pain in his heart and he stopped. Natalie put her hand on his shoulder. “Ed,” she whispered just loud enough for him to hear her which snapped him out of his momentary hesitation.
Winry walked down the steps to meet them. “Ed… where’s Al?”
Edward shook his head, the look in his eyes sad. “I’m not who you think I am,” he said softly.
“But… but you look…” she started then she saw his right hand. Reaching out she took it into hers, it was flesh and bone not automail. She then looked at him. “No, you’re not…” she said as she released it. “Who are you? Why are you here?”
Natalie took a step forward. “Um, I think I better explain.”
Winry looked at Natalie suspiciously. “Who are you?”
“My name is Natalie Simon and you were partially right when you recognized Edward. He is the person you think he is and yet he’s not. We’ve come from another world, one alternate to this one. I know it might be hard to believe and I’m sorry for bringing this to you but you’re the only one that can help us. As you’ve already seen, Ed’s arm is his own but his left leg is still automail and…”
Winry sighed. “Let me guess, he broke it again right?” She actually had no trouble believing the alternate world story. She already knew it was possible after what she had seen a few years ago when the flying machines had come from the other side of the gate, from the world that she knew Edward and Alphonse were in now.
Edward made a goofy, apologetic face and nodded. “Yeah, I could patch it up but it really needs to be fixed up right.”
Winry sighed. “And why did you come to me? Why didn’t you get this fixed in your own world?”
Edward opened his mouth to answer but Natalie got it out before he could. “We couldn’t… like I said; you were the only one who could help. I know we’re imposing but please forgive us.” She was hoping that Winry wouldn’t push the issue more. Natalie didn’t want to have to explain why they couldn’t go to the other Winry.
She just shook her head. “How can I say no? Come on inside and we’ll have a look.” Natalie and Edward both breathed a heavy sigh of relief then followed her inside. “Alright, I’m sure you know the drill Edward. Ms. Simon…”
“Please, just call me Natalie, Ms. Rockbell.”
She nodded. “Then please just call me Winry. If you’d like you can have a seat over there but while I look at his leg, would you two please tell me about…”
Natalie smiled sympathetically. “You want to know about the other Amestris?”
Winry nodded. “Obviously things happened differently there than they did here,” she said as she started looking at Edward’s leg now that he’d taken off his pants and was sitting in the chair. “I can tell just by the look in your eyes,” she said looking up at Edward. “The Ed I know, well his eyes look a lot sadder and distant than yours do though it’s clear that you haven’t had it very easy yourself.” She tinkered with a few things. “Hey, who made this for you anyway? It looks familiar…”
Edward looked at Natalie not sure if he should answer. She sighed heavily then nodded. She hoped he would only tell her what was absolutely necessary.
“Pinako did, well the one from my world.” He lied but it was only a little white lie so he figured it would be alright. It had actually been Winry that had done the handy work just before she’d left for Rush Valley permanently.
Winry seemed to buy it though. Actually Edward mentioning Pinako seemed to make her sad again. Natalie was actually surprised they hadn’t seen the Pinako here yet but she didn’t say anything. “That’s not surprising. Well I can see where you used alchemy to fix the cable. How many times have I…” She stopped herself. “Sorry, I have no right to scold you.”
Edward just chuckled. “Don’t worry about it, scold away, I deserve it.”
“You’re just as much of an alchemy freak, I swear… Anyway, it’s going to be a day at least to fix it between replacing the alchemized parts and adjusting the height since it seems you’ve grown.”
“Really?!”
Winry couldn’t help but to laugh, even this Edward was happy to be taller. “Let me guess, you’re just as sensitive about your height?”
“You bet he is,” laughed Natalie.
Edward shot Natalie a look. Why did they both have to gang up on him like this?
Natalie just laughed at him. “Oh chill out would you Ed? Just be glad you got taller, makes it harder for me to make fun of you for being short for a guy.”
“I’m still taller than you,” he grumbled.
Winry just laughed. They sounded like her and her Edward when they were growing up. The memory made her face turn a little sad but she quickly shook it off. “Anyway, since it is going to take a day, you guys can stay here with me if you want to. I’m pretty sure you don’t have anywhere else to go,” she said as she removed the leg and started fitted him with a temporary one.
Natalie looked to Edward for this one. “Thanks Winry, we appreciate that very much,” he said.
“No problem. Granny always said it was best when company was around,” she said as she went looking for something. “Hold a sec, I’m missing a screw.”
Natalie and Edward both nodded as Winry got up and walked out of the room. Edward sighed a bit.
“What’s on your mind Ed?” Natalie asked.
“I just thought it was weird that Pinako wasn’t here and that Winry seemed to keep referring to her as if she wasn’t here anymore…”
“You noticed too then. Is it just me or does it seem like she’s here alone now?”
Edward nodded. “Yeah…”
Natalie rubbed her chin a bit thinking.
“What are you plotting now Natalie?” he said looking at her suspiciously.
“Something dangerous…”
“Why am I not surprised?” he said with a laugh. “Care to fill me in?”
Natalie heard the sound of footsteps coming back. “Later…”
Winry came back into the room and sat back down to finish putting the spare together for Edward. Natalie could only sit there and watch but she noticed that Edward seemed to have something running through his mind too.
“Winry, do you mind if we go out for a bit when you’re finished?” he asked.
Natalie looked at Edward confused. What was he thinking? It wasn’t smart for them to go wandering around too much here considering she had been right and the Edward of this world was in fact gone. What if someone saw him? How would they explain?
Winry smiled and nodded. “Doesn’t bother me at all; just be careful seeing as you’ll be walking on a leg that you’re not used to,” she replied as she locked the spare leg into place. Edward winced, it wasn’t as painful as when the real one was attached but it still wasn’t anything to scoff at.
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