"Wi-Winry?"

Edward's voice trembled as he spoke. He looked around nervously, eyes darting rapidly in every direction.

"Winry, where are you?"

The six year old Edward took a step forward. In the midst of the dark forest, the young Elric continued his desperate search. Earlier, for some inexplicable reason, his beloved blonde-haired girl had disappeared. He saw her running in the direction of the trees. She didn't answer his call then, and now she was no where to be found. Edward continued deeper into the forest.

"Winry, this isn't funny. Please come out."

His voice continued trembling. As he took another shaky step forward, a twig snapped in the distance. Edward froze, eyes widening and face paling.

"W-Winry? I-is th-that you?"

His voice grew smaller and smaller. As time continued, the sun set down, making the forest even darker. He could no longer see even 3 feet in front of him. An animal called out in the distance, making the already scared Edward jump up. He moved slowly, stepping backwards. He hit a tree and sank to his knees.

"Winry, please. Please…"

Edward shut his eyes tight and held himself. He tried to shake off the fear, but it only continued to build. He shrunk himself into a tiny curled-up ball, hiding his head in this arms. It was now pitch black. There was no difference between opening and closing his eyes. He couldn't even tell anymore.

Suddenly, something grabbed him. In his shock, he couldn't move. Nothing came out of his mouth as he screamed. His eyes snapped open, but he still couldn't see anything. Something dripped onto him. The thick, dark liquid continued to drip onto his body as a shaky, but familiar voice called to him.

"Ed-Edward, h-help me."

The blonde's eyes widened as he recognized the voice. "W-Win-Winry?"

The strange liquid continued dripping onto him as a body collapsed onto his. "Edward… H-help…I-I th-think…dying…"

Edward's mind felt like it had been stabbed repeatedly by a blunt knife. His eyes opened slowly and hesitantly. Sweat drenched his face and sheets as he twisted and turned. Breathing had become difficult and forced.

A soft mewing noise could be heard beside his ear. Edward turned sharply in its direction. For some reason, a wave of relief washed over him as he hurriedly took the little kitten into his hands. He gently pressed his face into her soft fur and tried desperately to confirm its existence.

Tears started pouring down his face, confusing Winry even more. She looked at him with worried eyes. He began speaking, but the low mutters could just barely be heard by the little kitten.

"Wi-Winry…"

Edward choked and continued crying. Her eyes widened. Had he discovered her identity?

"Win-Winry…it was… so-so dark… sc-scared…a-and… Winry… d-dying…blo-blood…"

Winry could barely make out what was said between sobs, but what she heard caused her eyes to widen. Realization dawned upon her. He was having a nightmare… about me?

Feeling guilty, she tried her best to be comforting. It was hard, being a kitten. The only thing she could do was mew softly and rub her paws against his face. After a while, it somehow seemed to work. Edward's sobs became quieter and his tears had stopped. His whole body was still shaking, however.

"Winry… pl-please…"

The sixteen year old Edward finally opened his eyes. He looked at the little kitten he held in his hands. An apologetic look came across his tear-stricken face.

"S-sorry, Winwin. Y-you're all wet n-now. L-let's get you cleaned up."

Edward left the bed and carried the kitty into the bathroom. Winry ignored the blush that came on her face again; she was too concerned for the boy that held her.

The young alchemist set the water and prepared the bathtub. Gently, he placed Winry into the tub and washed her, although he was a bit absentminded. The water wasn't deep this time, since he didn't plan on getting in with her. It was just enough to cover most of Winry's kitty body, reaching just up to her chin when she's on all fours.

"I'm so sorry, Winwin. I don't know what's gotten into me. The dream was just too much, I guess."

Winry listened to him with as much attention as she could give. It was rare for her to hear Edward talk about his problems.

"I guess telling you about the nightmare might help, eh?"

Anxiously, Winry nodded her head. Ed looked at her for a minute, but then he smiled.

"Almost forgot you can understand me. Well, that makes it easier."

For the next half an hour, Edward bathed Winry and dried her while telling her about his nightmare. He stuttered and shivered at certain parts, especially when it was about her. She couldn't help but feel warm at his concern and worry for her.

"I guess it's kinda silly now, but it was so… real… and scary. I've never been afraid of the dark, but I guess the idea of losing Winry there was what scared me so much. She means a lot to me, you know? In fact, I think I might even be in love with her."

Now Winry's eyes were as large as dinner plates. She couldn't believe what she just heard. Suddenly, she felt lightheaded and dizzy. Desperately, she tried to do something about it, but all she could do was meow softly. She felt anger and frustration, and at the same time, guilt. Edward never meant for her to find out this way. He doesn't know that she's the little kitten that he's pouring out his soul for. Sadness filled her little heart.

"I should tell you about Winry. She is the one I named you after. At times, she can be unfair and mean, hitting me on the head with a wrench and taking advantage of my automail. She likes to argue too. I don't know why, but I like making her a little angry. She looks so cute when her face is red and she has a little pout. Hm… that probably means she'd look even cuter when embarrassed… I gotta try that when she comes back…"

Winry's sadness and guilt melted away, replaced by embarrassment and a huge blush. She looked down at the water, trying to cool her heated face. The torture wouldn't stop, however, since Edward decided to continue.

"She's really beautiful. Her hair is all silky and shiny. I wanna just run my fingers through it, but I don't think she'd let me…"

Winry was having other thoughts. Oh, I'd let you run your fingers through my hair. Just as long as you let me braid yours. Hehe…

"Even though she works with metal and stuff, her skin is smooth and soft. I'm afraid to touch her, though. Last time I accidentally bruised her because I underestimated the automail strength…"

Edward's face looked pained for a moment. Winry faintly remembered the incident. However, she had forgiven him a long time ago. He's still worried about that? No wonder he flinches everytime we touch…

"Well, anyway… Speaking of automail, Winry makes the best! I mean, I've never tried anyone else's, but I wouldn't want to anyway. She makes them perfect! I mean the weight is right, the strength is right, sometimes I forget that it isn't a real arm. Of course, I remember when I break it. I hate breaking her automail, but I can't help it sometimes. I can tell she puts a lot of effort into it and breaking it makes me feel guilty…"

Edward looked thoughtful for a minute, then turned back to the kitten. He smiled playfully at her.

"Don't tell Winry I said this stuff. I like seeing her angry sometimes, so I argue with her about her automail and pretend not to care about it. She looks so cute when her face gets red and she pouts. I swear sometimes she growls at me. It's so cute!"

Winry felt herself blush with embarrassment and anger. I do not growl! Rawr!

Meanwhile, Edward blushed, but kept his smile. He snuggled cutely against Winry's fur again. All her anger instantly evaporated. Hmph, you win this time.

"I definitely think Winry would look cuter when embarrassed than angry. I should try that instead. Hmm… Winry doesn't embarrass easily though… We've grown up together and she's probably used to being around me and Al… What can I do to make her blush?"

Edward put Winry back down and started thinking. "I know! I'll put my ideas into a notebook. I'll just transmute it shut when I'm done writing so she'll never find out! Heh heh…"

They were back in his bedroom now. He had put Winry down on his bed and was now searching through his drawers for a notebook. Finally, he found one and searched for a pencil. It seemed he didn't have one because he ended up transmuting one out of the walls.

"I can't think of anything right now, so I'll just leave it there. I'm hungry, let's go get something to eat, Winwin."

He picked her back up and walked out of his room, down the stairs, and into the kitchen. Once there, he put Winry onto the counter and prepared her milk. This time, instead of feeding her, he decided to put the milk into a tiny bowl and place it in front of her. He watched as she tried to figure out how to drink. She couldn't sip, since she didn't have lips. Finally, she decided to do what she'd seen cats do: lick. It was a traumatizing and horrible experience for poor Winry. She sent a glare at Edward, who was laughing so hard, he almost fell out of his chair.

Milk flew in every direction as her inexperienced tongue tried to lap up the white liquid. She ended up flicking the drops of milk away from her mouth. Yet somehow, it had gotten all over her face. Winry scowled and turned away from the milk, feeling embarrassed and angry. Edward had calmed down from his giggling fit.

"I'm not feeding you this time, Winwin. You need to learn how to feed yourself. It's okay to make some mistakes, just keep trying. It can't be that hard. Even I can do it."

To demonstrate, he bent his head down to the bowl and took a lick. However, before he could retract his tongue, he froze. Suddenly, he jerked back, face paling. His voice came out in a hoarse whisper.

"Oh god… I forgot that it was milk…"

This time, it was Winry's turn to laugh. She started rolling on the table after seeing Edward's face. Edward shot her a glare, but then realized something. Cats cannot laugh. It was in the kitty book, although the information was quite useless to a normal cat owner. (A/N: I'm not sure about this fact. Just go with it for this story, please.)

Winry sensed something was wrong. She stopped laughing and turned to look at Edward, who had become serious. She tilted her head in confusion.

"I thought something was strange. Cats cannot laugh, cats cannot understand English, and most of all, cats do not have blonde fur and blue eyes… Plus, you are waaaay too similar to Winry…"

Edward's face paled. "Are you Winry?"

She wondered if she should lie or not. She could very well pretend to be the cat she is and that she didn't know who Winry was. However, she already felt guilty for Edward's confessions and didn't want to continue. Also, if Edward knew, he could probably turn her back to normal!

Slowly, hesitantly, Winry nodded…

…and Edward fainted.

Actually, no he didn't. Come on, he turned his brother into a suit of armor, lost two limbs, saw a strange "gate" thing, and fought against undead creatures that have superpowers; let's face it, nothing surprises Edward anymore.

His eyes widened. "How did you get like this, Winry?"

Winry shook her head, trying to show that she didn't know. Edward picked her up again.

"I don't suppose you know how to change back, huh?"

Winry shook her head again. He sighed. Suddenly, something in his mind clicked.

"Winry, I found you by the station. I remember you rushed out the door without your bag and ran to the station to catch up to Al and Pinako. Try to remember, Winry. Did something happen to you at the station?"

Winry closed her eyes and thought. She replayed the event in her head until she realized the answer. Her eyes snapped back open. The ring.

She looked at her front paws and saw it. The ring, a simple golden band, was on her right front leg. She lifted it and tried to show Edward.

"Your leg? Oh wait… what's this?"

The blonde alchemist gently brought Winry's leg closer and saw the ring. There were engraved markings on the band. Edward's eyes widened when he realized the significance of the markings.

"Winry, where did you get this? This ring has a transmutation circle on it! Even worse, it's the one that the Homunculus used to make the Philosopher's Stone!"

Winry's eyes widened. Edward had, reluctantly, told her about the Homunculus and the stone. He had wiped them out already, even the one in control. He had used their last stone to resurrect Al's body before clearing the history of their existence, hoping nobody could have access to them ever again.

"I think someone tried to make you a sacrifice for a stone, Winry! I also think I might know who… Anyway, we need to figure out how to get it off. I don't think we can just take it off without activating it. I have alchemy literally running through my body, so I can't touch it. I think we can break it though…"

Edward thought for a minute. "Yeah, we can break it. I'm sorry, Winry, but it might hurt you. It isn't easy to break a transmutation circle, especially this one."

Winry was frightened for a minute. She looked into Edward's worried eyes. Immediately, determination rushed into her head. She needed to get back to normal so she can show Edward that she loves him as much as he loves her! She needs to apologize for invading his private thoughts! She needs to make it up to him for his care and concern.

Winry pawed his hands lightly and gave a firm nod. Edward breathed out slowly. "Alright, if you're okay with it, we can do this."

With that, Edward took Winry and they walked out into the backyard.

Whew, finally. Sorry, Shadowdragon, I meant to update sooner, but my computer crashed and I lost half of the story that I forgot to save. When I rebooted it, I didn't feel like writing anymore, so I just put it off. Now, however, I think it's even better than the previous one! Maybe the crash was a good thing.

I have decided that I will do oneshots from now on. I cannot stand updating these long stories any longer. I have no idea how you guys do it. After this one, and my other one for DN Angel, I will stick to oneshots or short chapter fics.

I'm really sorry, but I'm running out of ideas of what they can do everyday, so I'm rushing ahead. Instead of a week, like I originally planned, Winry is going to be a kitty for 3 days. I will have probably 2-3 more chapters.

Also, yes, Edward is a little, if not extremely, OOC. I guess he needed to be for this to work. An in-character Edward would have left the kitty on the street and that would have been bad for Winry. I'm going to make the excuse that all fanfic writers make when they have an OOC character.

Ahem:

Edward is older in this story, so he is more "mature" and is not as crazy and stupid as he was.

Thank you.

Lol, well, he is also in the company of a cute little kitty that resembles Winry. My fanboyism forces me to make him OOC for a character like that. As well as my incredible need to make Winry blush, in human or kitty form.

Thank you for reading. Please review and tell me of any imperfections, besides OOCness, that I need to correct. Feel free to make suggestions.