Winry had been planning to haul everything into the studio after confirming that all the parts they had ordered had been delivered, but she hadn’t had time that day and had left them out. She now brought in both of the large boxes at the same time, placing them down in the studio with a weighty thump. She didn’t even check their contents before she heaved the box containing Milia’s automail and some tools onto her shoulder.
“I need to go before it gets too late! Well, I’m heading out!”
“Oh, wait … !”
Winry’s hair fluttered as she smiled and ran off, Garfiel’s call to stop her falling on deaf ears.
once winry was out of the studio, she made a beeline to Milia’s house.
When she looked up at the clock over at the edge of town, its big hand had just ticked to point at three o’clock. The large mechanical clock, apparently created by automail engineers living in the town as a way for everyone to keep the time, was outfitted with an arm holding a hammer and a bell on top. Every hour on the hour the arm would come alive and swing the hammer up to strike the bell and toll out the hour.
The bell rang out three times overhead, informing those who worked in the town of the time.
“It feels like it barely struck twelve just earlier,” Winry mused. “I can’t believe how fast the time has flown by.”
By the time she would get back to the studio, it would probably already be five o’clock. After that, she was planning on drawing up provisional schematics for some new clients and checking on the automail maintenance she had finished the day before.
Winry kept a firm hold on the automail she carried as she quickly wove between people.
She had been incredibly busy the past few days, but she had started seeing her clients smile a lot more than before. All her efforts were paying off in results. Those satisfied smiles and the trust in her clients’ eyes as a result of her work and painstaking care were what brought her joy—they were what motivated her.
As she ran along, feeling a pleasant sense of satisfaction and fulfillment, she heard a familiar voice coming from somewhere.
“Um, so I want a chocolate cookie and orange juice and also, uh …”
She turned her head to find Lettie and Darish ordering off a menu in front of a roadside stall. The large, roofed cart served juices made from vegetables and fruits, as well as muffins, cookies, and other snacks. Though it served alcohol and bar snacks at night, it often sold chilled drinks during the hot afternoons.
Winry stopped in her tracks to watch the two from behind. The street and passersby separated her and the children.
She hadn’t seen Darish since that day. He hadn’t visited her and she hadn’t had the guts to go see him. But she had been hoping for another chance at a conversation with him, if she could get one. Barring that, she at least wanted to apologize to him. Though she’d been dreading this, the smiles of her clients from the past few days spurred her to approach him.
Darish was preoccupied with his thoughts, leaning against the stall while on his crutch. Lettie was looking at the menu and trying her hardest to get a response from him, but he wasn’t paying attention in the slightest.
Winry mustered up her courage and called out, “Darish?”
Hearing her voice, Darish sprung up and turned around.
“Oh, it’s you!” Lettie said when she realized who was there. She leapt onto Winry, who accepted the small girl with open arms while she looked straight at Darish.
Darish immediately averted his eyes.
“Hello,” Winry said, but he put his elbow on the counter and kept his head turned away without returning the pleasantry. He seemed to want to have nothing to do with her. That stung. Lettie innocently looked up at her.
“Did you come to buy juice too? I got orange juice and Darish got apple juice. We’re gonna eat chocolate cookies too.”
“And what did you order for your mom?” Winry asked with a small smile as she tried to endure the stabbing pain in her heart from Darish’s cold reaction. That was the point when Darish decided to finally say something.
“Our mom went home. She’s coming back the day after tomorrow, though.”
“I see.” Winry had been told that their father had stayed behind and was alone in their house, which was far from Rush Valley. Karen had likely headed back temporarily in order to check on her husband and the state of their home. While Winry processed the information, Darish kept avoiding her eyes and shifted away from the counter.
“You’re here to buy something too, right?” he assumed.
“No, I’m not,” she said, her hands waving in the negative, which made Darish let out an indifferent hum between a sigh and a reply.
Though it hadn’t been much of one, they’d successfully had a conversation. Winry felt like the heavy atmosphere between them had begun to clear, even if only slightly. She once again faced Darish, standing right in front of him.
She knew exactly what she wanted to say to him.
“I’m sorry for earlier.” She bowed her head low. “I was convinced that if I learned the right techniques for creating the best automail possible, that was all I needed to make my clients happy. But that assumption hurt you. I’m really sorry.”
She kept her head bowed with genuine sincerity. Her hair swept down and spilled from behind her back, fluttering to the sides of her face.
When she raised her head after some time, Darish was scowling suspiciously at her. Lettie, who had no idea what had led to this, looked from Darish to Winry with wide eyes.
“I’m listening to clients now,” Winry continued, “and I’m making sure I communicate with them so that I can consider their feelings when I do my job. There are times when I still don’t get things right, but I’m making sure that I never forget to be considerate.”