Chapter 18: The Value of Sincerity

Following Paninya through the barren hills beyond Rush Valley, Edward, Winry, and Alphonse look back on how they came to be on this road. In town, Winry had examined the pickpocket's automail legs and found their metalwork and engineering beyond her own skill, so she agreed to overlook the stolen watch if Paninya would introduce her to the builder. After Ed grudgingly undid the damage his chase had caused, the four set out for the secluded mountain home of Paninya's engineer, Dominic.

Paninya explains that Dominic lives apart both to escape the city's noise and to mine iron from the mineral-rich peaks. On arrival, the group is met not only by the gruff old man but by his son Ridel and Ridel's pregnant wife Satella. Dominic warms quickly to Winry's evident expertise, while Ed and Al take to Satella and her coming child. After inspecting Edward's limbs at Winry's request, Dominic praises her design but observes that the heavy prosthetics may be stunting the boy's growth. Impressed, Winry asks to become his apprentice, and he flatly refuses, saying he takes no students, and asks the visitors to leave. A sudden downpour, however, traps them all at the house.

Waiting out the rain, Paninya tells Winry how she lost both legs and her parents in a childhood train wreck, and how Dominic found her sunk in despair and fitted her with new legs for free, giving her a reason to live. When he refused her repayment, she took up pickpocketing to raise the money, but Winry disapproves, urging her to earn it honestly to match Dominic's honest generosity. Persuaded, Paninya decides to begin by returning Ed's watch, only for Winry to notice he has sealed it with alchemy. Prying it open, she expects something embarrassing but instead finds an etched message reading Don't forget 3.Oct.11. Sobered, Winry resolves again to seek the apprenticeship, but before she can, word comes that Satella has collapsed into labor. Dominic rides off for the doctor and returns almost at once, alone: lightning has struck down the rope bridge to town. Ed, Al, and Winry go with him to attempt an alchemical repair, but the gorge proves too wide and the water too fast to build anything sturdy. Dominic sets off the long way while Ed berates his own helplessness, and back at the house Paninya reports that Satella's water has broken. To stop another round of panic, Winry declares that she will deliver the baby herself.

Winry bargains her way to meeting Dominic, the master engineer who built Paninya's legs, hoping to apprentice under him, but he refuses. A storm strands the group at his home, where Winry learns Paninya's tragic history and discovers the cryptic message sealed inside Edward's watch. When Satella goes into labor and the bridge to town is destroyed by lightning, the doctor cannot be reached, so Winry commits to delivering the child.

The dog that attacked Edward in the previous chapter is named Julie. Dominic's analysis finds the steel in Ed's automail is seventeen percent chrome and one percent carbon. Alphonse shows unease crossing the rope bridge, whether from the drop or worry that his weight will overload it. Like Edward, Paninya's joints ache when the pressure drops during a storm.