She couldn't believe that he had broken his automail again. How many times had she fixed it? Winry now believed that she could efficiently fix and repair any breakage, malfunction, or automail-related problem that Ed would ever experience. In her sleep. Sighing, she returned to examining Ed's shoulder.

"Ed, what on earth did you do to this thing? It looks like it was shoved down a blender or something." Seeing the sheepish smile that had appeared on his face, she then added, "Never mind. I don't want to know," and went back to fixing his shoulder. Peeking out from under her lashes, Winry couldn't believe how much he had grown over the years. It had been about 5 years since she had last seen him and Al. They had promised to visit one another, but with her auto-mail business, and Ed's work as a state alchemist…time had just seemed to drift by. However, one thing had been made very clear to Winry from the moment Ed had stepped off that train from Central.

Little Ed had seemingly grown up.

He was still rather…petite…as a result of his failed alchemy all those years ago, but he had grown in other ways. His chest had broadened some, and his muscles had become more defined. His face had become a tad more angular, losing the baby fat that it once held to reveal high cheekbones and a sunny smile. His eyes, however, were still the same laughing gold they had always been. All in all, one indisputable fact had been circling around in Winry's head ever since he had greeted her at the train station.

Mr. Edward Elric was a total and complete hottie.

She had tried not to think of it. It was wrong on so many different levels. She was practically his sister, for crying out loud. She had grown up with him and Al, and had watched the two of them mature.

Hell, she remembered when his voice had first started cracking.

But something deep inside of her was slightly jealous of the way women seemed to flock to Ed. They giggled. They flirted.

They jiggled.

Winry's eyes narrowed as she tightened one of the screws in Ed's automail. How dare they come onto Ed like that? He wasn't the sort of person who would consider any of those hussies. He believed that there was more to a girl than bouncing breasts and a pretty face.

Right?

A snapping noise resounded throughout the room as Winry pondered this.

"Damn Win, something the matter?" Winry's eyes fell unto the broken screwdriver that she now held in her hand. Her eyes traveled up Ed's automail arm, to the screw she had been tightening, then to the floor, where the other half of the screwdriver now resided. Heat rose to her cheeks as she stammered out,

"No, no! Of course not Ed! Everything's fine, I was just daydreaming! Eheh, silly me!" Winry bent over to pick up the rest of the screwdriver. Straightening up, she nearly screamed as she saw Ed's face hovering a few inches away from her own.

"You sure? 'Cuz you're looking a bit flushed." Reaching out with his left hand, Ed felt her forehead. "You're a tad warm as well. You sure you aren't catching a cold? I think the flu is going around. I can have Al make up some tea for you." Winry sighed at his concern.

"I'm fine Ed. I've finished fixing your arm, so you can just go now." Ed peered into her eyes. He leaned close to her, his face stopping mere millimeters away from hers. Heat once again rose to her face.

"The hell you are. You haven't even yelled at me yet for breaking the automail. You haven't told me how irresponsible I am, how lucky I should consider myself to have such a knowledgeable friend." He tweaked her nose. "I think you're sick." With those words, Ed swooped Winry up into his arms and carried her towards her bedroom. He shouted out at Al to make up some tea, and deposited Winry with a flourish of his arms onto her modest twin bed.

"Damnit Ed, I'm not sick!" Winry tried to get up again, only to be shoved back down by Ed. Glaring at him; Winry crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. Ed simply crossed his arms in reply and took a seat in the armchair that was next to her bed.

"Then what the hell, might I ask, is wrong with you? Your face is red; you get mood swings all the time…" Ed's face took on a drastic change as an inkling of an idea seemed to probe at his brain. He raised his finger, pointed it at her, and asked in a shaky voice, "W…Winry…You aren't…you aren't pregnant, are you?"

For a moment, she just sat there, staring at Ed. Then, her jaw began to clench and unclench. Her eyes became slits as she addressed him.

"No, Ed. I am not pregnant." Winry's eyebrow began to twitch, and Ed began to fear for his manhood.

"Oh…good, because if you were, I would have had to beat the shit outta the bastard who–" Ed was cut off as Winry's fist plowed into his stomach.

"You jerk!" Winry stomped out of the room, passing a rather confused Al as she marched out the front door. Al sighed and looked at the cup of tea that he had made for her.

"Guess she didn't want any."

It had started to get dark out. Ed was still in Winry's armchair, pondering just hat he had done wrong. It wasn't like her to react so violently to something non-automail related. Ed's musings were broken as Al walked in through the doorway.

"Where's Winry? It's getting awfully dark out, and it isn't safe for her to be outside by herself." Ed mumbled under his breath. "What was that, brother? I couldn't hear you clearly."

"I said that all I did was ask her a question, and she just ran out of here! It's not like it's my fault or anything!"

"What was your question?" Mumble. Mumble. "What was that?"

"I said I asked her whether or not she was pregnant!"

Ed blinked as he rubbed his aching backside. After telling Al what he had asked Winry, Al had shoved him outside of the doorway and told him (rather angrily as well) to not bother coming back unless Winry was with him. It wasn't fair. Wasn't there some universal law that declared that younger brothers be shorter than older brothers?

Then again, since when had he Universe ever shown compassion towards Edward Elric?

Ed mused on this thought while he perused the streets of the town. Where on Earth had Winry gotten to? Ed didn't quite feel like looking through the streets for a girl who could take care of herself. It's not like it was crime central around there. Not to mention that it was dark and only thing that could make it worse was if it started to….

Rain. Yup, the universe proved that it truly hated Edward by sending down torrents of ice-cold water.

Sometimes, life could be one hell of a vengeful bitch.