Rating: T (traumatic imagery)

Pairing: EdWin/Edward x Winry

Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist.

Word Count: 964

Title: Softly, Gently

Description: EdWin Drabble/Childhood EdWin

(Both eleven-years-old) Winry talks to an unconscious Edward while he recovers from his wounds inflicted from the failed attempt at human transmutation.

A/N: Happy reading!

Winry • age 11

I'm hiding in the kitchen. Granny told me to go to bed over an hour ago, but she can't keep an eye on me. Not with everything that's going on.

I was helping at first. I got towels and hot water and…bandages. But then the shock set in, and…all that blood. I couldn't handle the smell. The sight of it. Of Edward. He looked…

Dead.

I almost fainted. I don't know if it was the blood or the idea of him dying, but… I had to get out of there. I started crying. I couldn't stop, even when Al…the suit of armor, tried to calm me down. He was confident Granny could fix Ed. I mean, I am too. She has to fix him.

But that didn't help me. I was like a faucet stuck in the on position. I was shaking and hiccupping so much I couldn't breathe. I got really light-headed, and Al made me lie down.

Now…Ed is lying in a bed in the living room with a needle pumping fluid into his arm. His remaining arm. He lost so much blood. Granny says he'll be weak for a long time. He'll need a lot of rest. And she isn't sure when he'll wake up.

I peek into the room, and see Granny adjusting another blanket over Ed's leg.

He only has one leg now.

What the heck were they doing? Why? Why would they do something so dangerous?

"Rest now. I'll be back to check on you soon."

I hear Granny talking, and I watch as she turns and heads up the stairs. I wait until she disappears before I look back at Edward. His face is twisted with pain, even in his sleep.

I move closer, leaving the kitchen, and crossing the distance to the make-shift hospital bed.

"He's so pale," I whisper.

That makes sense, I guess. Pain and blood loss.

My gaze travels over his damp, tangled hair, over his grimacing face, to his arm, and his lack of one. I suck my lower lip into my mouth when I see the blooming blood stain on the bandages Granny applied. Even now, he still hasn't stopped bleeding.

I tear my eyes away from it and turn to his chest, slowly rising and falling with his breathing. Something about it is hitched. Like it hurts him to breathe. It probably does, honestly. I look from his chest, down to the uneven lumps in the sheets, where one leg is extended, and the other is…bandaged like his shoulder.

"Mmphmp," he grunts in his sleep, and I gasp.

"Edward?" I ask softly.

His eyes squeeze shut, and I see his jaw clench. He turns his head violently, and my heart speeds up. He's having a bad dream. Should I try to wake him? Granny said he needs rest. But if it's hurting him? Should I call for help?

He jerks his head to the other side, and I act on instinct, reaching out to stroke his cheek.

"It's okay," I whisper. "I'm here. I've got you."

His body stills, and I see the hitch in his breathing slowly even out. Whatever I'm doing seems to be helping, so I keep talking.

"It's me. Winry," I murmur. "Granny had to go upstairs, but I'm going to stay here, okay? I'm not going anywhere."

My hand moves on its own, gently stroking his forehead, brushing his hair off of it, and then repeating the motion.

"You just sleep and get better, okay, Ed? I'll stay here and keep you company. I'm…I'm going to keep you safe."

He moves again, not like before, though. Slowly, turning his head into my palm. I feel new tears threatening my vision, and I take a deep breath to steel myself against them.

"I…I really don't want you to die, Edward," I confess, brokenly. "Please, get better, okay? For me?" I sniffle. "And Al, too. And Granny. We need you."

His lips part slightly, and I freeze. He doesn't say anything, but I feel like…he can hear me.

"I need you," I add softer. "Don't leave me."

Leaving my hand on his forehead, I lean in and press my lips to his cold cheek. When I sit back, I can see tears on his face. My tears. I reach up and brush them off with my thumb, feeling even more of them form behind my eyes as I do.

I walk over to the chair Granny brought in, and pull it up closer to the bed, where I sit and reach for his hand. I'm careful not to mess up the IV line, when I slide his fingers between mine. I know Granny will be back soon, and she'll probably make me leave, but for now, I'm going to wait with him. He shouldn't be alone.

Suddenly, exhaustion pulls me down, and I drop my head onto Ed's chest, falling asleep to the steady beat of his heart.

Pinako

Standing on the stairs, looking into the living room, the small old lady watched her precious granddaughter whispering and calming the shattered boy in the bed. At first, when it became clear she wasn't handling the trauma to Edward's body well, Pinako thought it would be best for both of them if Winry kept to herself until he was further into his recovery. Now, though, after watching her handle him so tenderly and effectively, she changed her mind.

As much as she believed Winry needed a good night's sleep in her own bed, she wasn't going to wake her. She was doing far more good sitting at Edward's bedside than she would be upstairs. So, with a final glance at the two exhausted, unconscious children, Pinako alighted up the steps, and went to her room.