Season of War: A Time to Cast Away Stones

S J Smith

Disclaimer: I am not now, nor have I ever been, Hiromu Arakawa. (I just play her on TV.)

Rating: Teen for language but mature overall due to situations

Summary: It only takes one little thing to change your life.

Winry woke abruptly, her eyes fluttering open. She stared in confusion at the ceiling above her; slanted, fabric; felt her back ache, then realized, all over again, where she was. Sitting up cautiously, she slipped out of the blankets, shivering as the cold desert air stroked her skin. Why did someplace so uncomfortably hot during the day drop temperatures so much during the night? She knew that Ed or Al could explain it to her, if they were even up to talking. Edward had become even more tightlipped than normal since they arrived in the Eastern Desert and Al, well, Al had become both a walking branding iron and an object for radiating cold at night. If they could figure out a way to keep him that cool during the day, it wouldn't be bad, but once the sun came up, Alphonse stayed far away from people, horses and tender skin.

Ed suffered, too; not just because of Al but because his own automail heated up just like Al's armor. There wasn't anyway for Edward to get away from it. He was obviously miserable, burning himself during the day and, Winry could only assume, freezing during the night. She had some thoughts on how to help with that; maybe enameling the plates, and promised herself that she'd work on that when she had the chance.

Glancing at her sleeping companions, Winry could see, even in the filtered light of the fire outside, the strain this was taking on Mrs. Hughes. Lines marred her face, even while she slept, and Elicia's poor skin was bright pink with sunburn. Winry thought that Granny might've been a help and a comfort but Pinako Rockbell had been adamant – she was not leaving her home. Ed had been all for staying with her – for returning to Central – at least until Al reminded Ed that he'd been ordered to accompany them.

Winry guessed they were lucky the fight took place at the house. Who knows what might've happened at the train station. Granny had shaken her head at the idea of leaving. "This is my home," she'd said implacably, "I was born here. I raised my family here." The implication that she would die there, if necessary, remained unspoken.

Ed's eyes had darkened at Granny's words and he glanced off, to the west, toward Central City. "Me, too," he grumbled.

"I don't want to leave, either," Winry argued, poking a finger into Ed's chest, garnering his attention. How could she tell Ed that she hated the idea of running away as much as he did? That she hated that there wasn't any way to warn her friends in Rush Valley; no, everyone in Amestris what was going on? Very little spooked Winry but this was all too strange. "We have to take care of Miss Gracia and Elicia. That's our job now."

Ed had visibly chafed at that restraint but had slumped in agreement. Since then, he'd become further withdrawn, responding only when asked a direct question. He hadn't been surprised at all to find someone waiting to guide them through the desert, a grey-haired man with a bristling moustache who called himself 'Fuu.' Winry had asked him why he was waiting and he replied that he'd gotten word from his contacts in Central that someone needed a guide. He dropped Colonel Mustang's name, supplying enough information that Alphonse agreed that he wasn't there as a plant and, after outfitting them with supplies, Mr. Fuu led them into the desert.

That had been three days ago, three of the most hellish days Winry ever remembered. Misery clung to everyone in the group like a shroud. Even Mr. Fuu wasn't quite immune to it, though he did his best to keep everyone in as good as spirits as possible. He did his best work with Elicia, since she was young enough to see all this as a grand adventure. If the circumstances were different, Winry thought she might see it the same way.

The reason for her abrupt waking made itself more clearly known and, wincing, Winry crawled out of the tent. Her bladder ached, as if she'd drank a whole pot of tea before going to bed. The lit fire cast weird shadows up over the two tents and the line of horses and Winry picked her way carefully past the men's tent, where Ed and Fuu stayed, waving a hand at Alphonse where he sat guard. He raised his gauntlet in acknowledgement as Winry moved a little away from the campsite to pee.

The desert at night was amazing, she had to admit, even if it was cold. The stars were so bright overhead, far brighter than they'd ever seemed back in Rezembool, though Winry thought they'd probably be like this in Rush Valley. She hadn't spent enough time outside to notice. Winry finished what she'd come out of her tent to do, kicking sand over afterwards. There weren't a lot of noises in the desert, not like back home, no crickets or birds or bats. Rubbing her hands over her bare arms, Winry tried to create some friction heat as she started back for the camp.

"Don't move!"

She froze, eyes widening, watching as Ed slipped down a dune, trailing a cloud of dust in his wake. "What," Winry began but he touched a finger to his mouth, pointing down at her feet. Lowering her gaze, Winry swallowed hard at the sight of the snake in front of her. Two more steps, if that, and she'd have stepped on it. The wedge shaped head reminded Winry of the cottonmouths and copperheads back in Amestris.

Edward eased in front of her, leading with his left foot. "Back up." He spoke almost conversationally but Winry recognized the tension in his shoulders. "Slow, okay?"

"What are you going to do?" Winry almost didn't know her own voice, breathy and shrill as it was.

Touching his palms together, Ed transmuted the grill of his automail arm into a blade with a flash like blue lightning. He stepped forward and the snake reacted, its head lifting and tail vibrating. Winry could hear a peculiar buzzing sound and wondered if she was going to faint, then realized the noise came from the snake itself. Its mouth opened and Ed moved, his arm chopping down suddenly, sending the snake's head flying. The body whipped around and Ed snatched it up with his flesh hand, holding it up as the tail whipped around his arm.

Winry gulped at the size of the snake. It hadn't looked that big, coiled up, but now, the still body was nearly as long as Ed was tall. He glanced over his shoulder at her, his expression unreadable. "You should watch where you're going," he said gruffly.

Shock transmuted itself into anger almost immediately, sizzling through Winry's veins. She fought it down, realizing what it was, though her voice still sounded sharp when she asked, "What are you going to do with that?"

Ed shrugged. "Snake doesn't taste too bad. It's just hell picking the meat off the bones." He blinked and Winry realized what she saw in his face was worry, and exhaustion, and even a hint of self-loathing.

Taking a step closer, Winry rapped her knuckles against the transmuted blade on Ed's right hand. "Put that away and let's get back to camp." Ed stared at her blankly for a few seconds then obeyed, having to drop the snake to the ground to do so. Before he could pick it up again, Winry caught his hands, pulling them up under her chin.

"Winry, what," he began but she shushed him.

"I know you don't want to be here, Ed, but thank you for doing this." His left hand smelled like blood and his right like oil and metal, tucked up close. "Thanks for taking care of me." Winry squeezed his fingers before lowering and releasing them.

Ed sighed, some of his tension bleeding away. He laid his right hand on the crown of her head, a quick smooth of her hair, then let it fall away. "I just feel like I'm useless out here, Winry." His gaze turned toward the west, as it had so many times in the past three days. "If something is going on in Amestris, I should be there." The corner of his mouth turned down sharply. "It feels wrong to be…safe, if everyone else is in danger."

"I know." Winry took a deep breath and let it go again with a shiver. The false warmth of adrenaline was gone and she was starting to feel cold again. "I understand how you feel, Ed, I really do. But," she waved her hand back toward the camp. "We have our duty right now."

Sounding unconvinced, Ed muttered a, "Yeah," before looking her way again. "You're cold. C'mon, let's get back to camp." A hint of his old teasing came back into his voice. "Just watch where you're walking this time."

"I think I've learned that lesson," Winry said dryly, falling into step with Ed, "at least with the desert." She wasn't sure about anywhere else, particularly with Ed involved. Her shiver didn't go unnoticed and, frowning, Ed shoved the tail of the snake in his teeth, skinning out of his jacket and offering it to her with a bounce of his hand. "Thanks." The word came out soft and shy and Winry wondered at her voice again.

Ed glanced away but Winry could swear she saw his cheeks brighten with a wave of color. "Don't want you to be cold," he muttered while Winry covered up the shock of Ed blushing by pulling on his jacket. It felt warm, even the right sleeve, and smelled comfortably of Ed. Winry almost decided then and there Ed wasn't getting it back. "C'mon." Gesturing with hand and head, he started toward camp, trusting her to follow.

A giddy little smile spread across Winry's face as she caught up to Ed, walking next to him. "Mr. Fuu said we'd reach the Cselksess ruins tomorrow and we can rest there." She stretched her arms overhead and winced. "I never thought riding a horse would be so painful."

"At least Elicia will be able to run around a little." Ed brightened a bit. "And the ruins…I mean, a whole country that vanished in one night. Who knows what we might find."

"Hopefully, not another snake," Winry nodded to the body in Ed's hand.

He shrugged in response. "They're still pretty good to eat." As they walked back into the campsite, Ed pitched his voice to carry. "Hey, Al, we're back."

"I was starting to wonder if I should come looking for you." Al sounded…different, Winry thought, though she couldn't place how. "But I thought you might be busy."

Ed shot his brother an evil glare. Al somehow managed to miss it, watching Winry as she sat in front of the fire, arranging the coat around her. "Winry nearly stepped on a snake." Holding up the body, Ed made it wriggle. "I'm gonna go clean this. We can throw it in the pot for stew."

"You're not kidding?" Winry stared up at him.

"It tastes kind of like chicken." Shrugging, Ed walked off, Al's helmet squeaking as he nodded in agreement to his brother's statement.

"It does, Winry. Just a lot of rib bones."

"Let's not tell Mrs. Hughes and Elicia what they're eating," Winry said with a delicate shudder.

"Yeah," Al chuckled, "that's probably a good idea."

They sat in companionable silence, Winry watching the flames dance in front of her. The heat felt better than she really wanted to say. It was easy being with Al, she thought, easier, sometimes, than being with Ed, yet there were things she'd never tell Al that she'd share willingly with Ed. Though she'd had to bully him into bringing her along, Winry knew that Ed liked having her around, even if it was just because he could show off. That stunt with the automail arm wrestling, the whole chase through Rush Valley after Paninya – all right, some of that wasn't showing off. Neither were Ed's attempts to transmute a bridge so a doctor could be fetched for Satera's baby. He'd been stricken that he couldn't do anything.

Winry knew that was part of the problem now – Ed wanted to help, he wanted to be a part of whatever Mr. Hughes had warned them off of – and he was stuck out in the desert with a bunch of women who most likely didn't need protecting. She almost wished she could tell him to go, return to Amestris, but a part of her was selfish. Closing her eyes, Winry let herself acknowledge the guilt she felt for leaving home, leaving Granny and Den behind and coming out to the desert. If she felt like this, how much worse would Ed feel, after everything he'd done to help people all around the country?

Somehow, after he died, Mr. Hughes had somehow managed to place a telephone call to Edward. He'd told Ed to take Al and her and get out of Amestris. The more she thought about it, the more Winry didn't think it was right. Why would Mr. Hughes warn Ed rather than Mrs. Hughes? Why not warn Mr. Mustang? It made no sense to her and Winry didn't like that. Mr. Hughes had proven to her how much he loved Mrs. Hughes and Elicia. How would he know that Ed would bring them back to Central and Mr. Mustang would order Ed to take Mr. Hughes' family with them when they ran?

"Winry? What's wrong?" Alphonse was leaning forward, the firelight glinting on his breastplate, when Winry opened her eyes in response to his question.

What if it wasn't Mr. Hughes at all? What if someone wanted Ed and Al out of Amestris for another reason entirely? "I think," Winry spoke slowly so her voice wouldn't quaver, "you, your brother and I need to have a talk tomorrow, when we get to Cselksess." Her mouth tightened. "I think it's time to go home."