The next morning Winry came downstairs with Edward’s leg completely finished. She’d pulled an all-nighter to get it done. Neither of them were too surprised, it didn’t matter what Winry it was, she would bend over backwards to get Edward’s automail fixed.
“Come on Ed, let’s go,” Winry said patting the chair.
Knowing he didn’t have a choice he got up into the chair. “Just warn me when you’re ready to attach the nerves…” he said knowing full well she wouldn’t.
Natalie sat in the chair next to Winry’s work table and waited.
Winry went to work removing the spare and then attaching his again. “OK Ed, one, two…” and before she said three she locked down the nerve connection.
Edward let out a yelp of pain then gritted his teeth. “That’s always the part I hate…” he said still wincing as Winry made all of the final adjustments. “I thought I told you to warn me first!”
“Oh quit being such a baby Ed,” she said she tightened down the last of the connections. “Natalie, can you give me a hand? We need to move him over to the couch so he can rest and let his nerves adjust again.”
Natalie hopped up and went over to help Winry hold him up while they moved him over to the couch. He lay there, still wincing. His nerves must have been doing summersaults. Natalie had never actually seen that pained look on his face before. “Is this normal?” she asked Winry.
Winry nodded. “Yeah, most actually scream more than he did. Seems he has the same determination as the other Ed. He wouldn’t allow himself to cry or cry out when we attached his automail either. I wish he would just let it out though, it would be a lot easier on him if he did…”
“No,” he said still holding his eyes shut against the pain. Natalie and Winry both just shook their heads at him. Sometimes he was just too stubborn for his own good.
It didn’t take long for Edward to pass out. Natalie sat down on the couch with Edward and brushed his bangs out of his face. Carefully she lifted him a bit so that he could rest his head on her lap. Even given the fact that he was in pain when he passed out he still looked so peaceful when he slept.
“Thank you…” Wintry said lowering her head a bit as she sat down in the chair at her work table.
“For what?”
“For bringing him here. It’s good to know that at least one version of Ed got to be happy since I have no idea what’s happened to the one I know. Also, for loving this Ed just the way he is. He’s strong no doubt but he also needs someone who is going to stay with him even when he finally breaks down and shows his weakness, at least if he’s as much like the one I know as I think he is.”
Natalie chuckled and smiled. “You don’t have to thank me for that. He can be a stubborn pain in the butt, that’s true, but loving him… well that just seemed to come naturally to me.”
Winry smiled. “That’s the way it should be. Just promise me you’ll always take care of him. He deserves that.”
“Of course I will…” Natalie couldn’t help but think of when Edward had been nearly killed and she’d met him and his mother in that in between world. Trisha had made her promise the same thing then too. Edward really did have a lot of people that cared for him even if he didn’t always realize it. She looked down at him again, sleeping in her lap. “Besides, if I don’t take care of him, who will?” she said, running her hand over his forehead and brushing his hair back again.
Her touch made him slowly wake up. He seemed a bit surprised to look up and see Natalie smiling down at him. “Hey…” he said still half asleep smiling at her.
“How are you feeling?” she asked him.
Slowly he sat up and turned so he could put his feet on the floor. He started flexing the toes on his automail foot before standing up on it. When he was sure it was alright he started to stretch it out. “Feels a lot better, thanks Winry,” he said with a smile as he grabbed his pants and boots and put them back on.
Winry chuckled. “You’re welcome; just try not to be so rough on it oh and…”
“Don’t forget the maintenance, yeah, yeah I know…” he said sounding a bit exasperated. Didn’t matter what Winry it was, he always got this speech from her.
“Yeah well if you don’t you’re going to end up back here and I know how much you hate interrupting your little adventures just to get fixed up…”
Edward couldn’t help but to laugh. “I wish I could meet your Ed,” he said winking at Natalie. “Sounds like he’s more like me than I thought.”
Winry just laughed. “No you don’t, you two would just kill each other for no other reason than proving who was more stubborn.” This comment made Natalie almost lose it laughing.
“What’s so funny?!” Edward shot back at her.
“She has you pegged Ed, that’s all.”
He just shook his head. “Whatever…” he said looking a bit embarrassed.
“Now that you’re all set, we should get moving Ed,” Natalie said changing the subject. “If we’re going to get to that little task we had planned.”
“Oh yeah, you’re right,” he said heading upstairs to get their jackets.
“You don’t have to leave so soon you know,” Winry said to Natalie.
She shook her head. “No, we do, but don’t worry I know you’ll see us again,” she said with a smile. “I know it.”
Winry smiled though there seemed to be sadness in it. She actually doubted Natalie’s words. “Yeah when he breaks his leg again and you guys can’t go back home to fix it…”
“No, we’ll be back just to be back. Remember, I’m the one that makes this world jumping stuff happen,” she said with a wink. “We’ll come visit you again.”
Just then Edward came down the stairs. Natalie looked over at him just in time to see her jacket coming flying at her. “Hey! Warn me first!” she said as she grabbed it.
“Come on, we gotta go,” he said pulling his jacket on. He then went over to Winry and gave her hug. “It’s going to be alright, thank you for everything.”
Winry hugged him back and then lightly pushed him away. “You guys be careful OK? Now get going,” she said with a sad smile.
“We will!” he said as he and Natalie went out the door.
Winry stood in the door watching them as they walked down the road. Natalie knew she was but it didn’t matter, she knew their secret so as long as no one else was around they didn’t need to go hide. She took her pen and transformed.
“Ok Ed, you ready to try this?”
He nodded firmly, “Yup, let’s give this a try.”
“Alright,” she said as she pointed her staff. “Put your hand on mine and then I’ll open the portal. Hopefully my theory works and we’ll end up close to where the other Ed and Al are…”
Edward put his hand on hers as she asked him to and Natalie concentrated on the other world and on Edward and Alphonse. When the portal opened, they stepped through, Edward making sure to keep a hold of the staff until they were through.
When they emerged they were on a stone street in an alley. A car rumbled by them out on the main street. Natalie guessed it had to be from the 1920’s. Then she looked around and recognized the place from pictures she’d seen in her history books, the buildings, the clothes. They were in New York in the later part of the 20’s. Wow, if they had succeeded in landing where Edward and Alphonse were, those two had travelled a long way from Germany over the last three years. Natalie quickly changed back and looked for Edward.
“Ed, I think we made it…” she said as she turned around. When she did, Edward was on his knees holding his head. “Ed!!!” she exclaimed kneeling down beside him.
“I’m alright, just a little dizzy. It feels like I’m looking through someone else’s eyes… and I see… Alphonse…”
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