Summary: Figure skating time! Part 1.

A/N: Long time no see! Sorry about the long wait, but here it is, the first part of the “grande finale”. I can’t believe we are finally here :’) I’m so excited (and also terrified) to write… whatever it is that comes next. Some important figure skating info for those who are not that familiar with the sport: like I hopefully make clear enough in my fic, the competition consists of two parts, short skate and free skate, and this chapter has the short skate part.

This chapter is dedicated again to some of my very favorite people on this website, aka @criis55 and @automail-freak-and-alchemy-freak because you guys have blessed me with so many pics, and there aren’t enough words to describe how much it means to me. You are simply wonderful ♥

Please enjoy and REVIEW because that way we’ll finally get to the part you all have been waiting for 😉 (Oops now I spoiled it)

Previous chapters:  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5.5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 pt 1, pt 2, 16, 17

Next chapter: coming

Companion pieces (note: these are all post Olympics happenings so reading the main fic first is recommended): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Words: 2100+

Genre: general

Warnings: swearing, no news there 😀

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“Brother,
you seem kinda anxious,” Al noted as the two of them were approaching the
figure skating arena. It was finally the day of Winry’s individual short
program, and like promised, Ed was taking Al to see the competition. Which of
the brothers was more nervous (about two very different things), was up for
debate.

“I do not!
You’re the one who hasn’t shut up about Mei Chang the entire morning! I don’t think we should interrupt her
today; this is her most important competition so far and I bet she is just as
focused as Winry is.”

“Since when
are you the voice of reason of the two of us?” Al frowned at his brother,
looking genuinely surprised. “Are you really the same person who left home two
weeks ago?”

“I… of
course I am! Why wouldn’t I be?” Ed asked nearly aggressively, his stuttering
and the red blotches on his cheeks betraying him.

“I don’t
know, maybe because you’re in looooove,” Al stressed the last word as
annoyingly as possible. “And you know what they say about love? They say it changes
people.”

“I… just…
Listen, can we just go inside now? It’s fucking cold out here.” The glare Ed
shot at Al would have scared someone who wasn’t as familiar with him as Al was.
He didn’t let the topic go that easily.

“We can,
but you can’t deny what I just said.”

“You can’t
deny a fist on your face soon. The automail one.” Ed lifted his right hand
threateningly.

Al snorted.
“You know, that sounds more like the Edward I know.”

Ed punched
Al on the shoulder, although just lightly, but the younger brother didn’t even
seem to notice. He stopped on his tracks, his gaze on a person who had just
come out from the arena through the side door only the competitors and staff were
allowed to use. She had dark, braided hair and a red (Xing’s national color)
coat covering her short, pink dress in which she was supposed to perform. She
seemed to be on her way for a quick warm-up jog, not noticing the two golden
haired boys near her. When she started running, a small bow fell from her dress,
and Al decided to yell after her.

“Ex-excuse
me, miss, you just dropped something!”

She turned
to look at the speaker and noticed the bow on the ground, picking it up before
turning her attention fully to the two quite fascinating looking boys.

“Oh! Thank
you so much!” She had an unreadable expression on her face for a moment, as she
kept taking them in. “Do I… know you from somewhere?

“I don’t
think so,” Al answered.

“Wait a
second…” She finally recognized them, and Ed swore she had stars in her eyes
when she asked Al: “Oh my god, are you Edward Elric? This is such an honor…”

Al just
stood there awkwardly for a moment, not knowing what he should tell her.
Finally, he decided to go for the truth: “Sorry, I believe you got us mixed…
I’m Alphonse Elric, and this is my
brother Edward.” He pointed at his shorter older brother. The girl eyed Ed suspiciously;
admittedly, he didn’t look his best at that moment. Everything about him
screamed he had just been in a fight; he had small bruises on his face, his leg
was in a cast, his untied hair was sticking to various directions, and the worn
leather jacket he had chosen to wear to avoid being associated with team
Amestris was hazily thrown on his shoulders.

“Re-really?” she asked, “I… always had a different kind of picture of
you in my head…”

Ed grumbled something incoherent under his breath, making Al laugh and
say: “Don’t mind him. He’s always been like that. I… I’m gonna assume that you
are Mei Chang, aren’t you?” he asked, suddenly more shyly.

“Yes, that’s me,” she admitted. “How did you know?”

“I may have watched your performances on TV…” Al answered, blushing just
slightly.

“That’s funny because I’ve heard a whole lot about you! My brother’s the captain of team Xing so he talks about hockey
and different hockey players a lot…” She shook her head and continued: “Honestly,
I can’t believe I ran into the Elric brothers right before my competition! Are
you going to watch it?”

“Yes, actually! Well, Ed here is going there to see his girlfriend” (Ed’s glare towards Al was
nearly deathly this time) “but I am really looking forward to seeing your
performance!” Al said smoothly.

“Oh, really? So, Mr. Alphonse.” Mei seemed to have lost the last of her
interest in Ed with the g-word, but instead she casted Al a curious look when
she asked: “Are you the older brother?”

Ed, who understood she was referring to his height, had almost reached
his boiling point and asked angrily: “What makes you think that?”
Al immediately stepped in: “I think my brother here is simply trying to tell
that he’s the older one. But that doesn’t matter, I got the looks and the
wits.”

Mei giggled at Al’s joke. “Alphonse, you’re too much.”

“Pffft.” Al waved it off.

May checked her watch and noted: “Hey, I should be going, but do you
think we could continue this conversation maybe once my competition is over?”

“Su-sure!” Al replied, flustered and surprised by the fact that he had
managed to attract this girl’s interest so quickly. “Where should we meet? Do
you know any good cafes or restaurants here?”

“I know
some! But I really need to go now so let’s text later, OK?” She slipped a piece
of paper with her phone number into Al’s hand. “See you soon!”

“See you!”

“How… did
you do that?” Ed asked when Mei was out of hearing distance, looking beyond
shocked.

“Oh
brother, some people just have the skill. And you know, politeness can take you
far.”

Ed just
rolled his eyes and started heading towards the front doors of the figure
skating arena.

…

Winry was waiting
for her turn in her dressing room. Even though she was nervous, a weird kind of
confidence was surging through her, making her feel less awful. After all, this
time she was only responsible for her own performance, and no matter what
happened, at least it’d be over after this competition. Weirdly enough, one
part of her was very eager to find out what would happen after that… And she
realized she felt that way because she’d finally get to know what was going to
happen to her and Ed.

Ed. She
wasn’t 100% sure if she had done the right thing by asking for some space,
because after the practices, when she was alone in her room, her thoughts
started drifting towards unwanted direction. But she tried to reason that he
needed that space just as much as she did, because admittedly things between
them had progressed fast. It would probably do good to him to have some
thinking time.

She allowed
her thoughts to drift for one more second, wishing she’d see the brothers in
the audience, before someone announced that it would be her turn soon. She closed
her eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, stretched her back and arms and started
walking towards the rink. There was a mirror on her way, and this time, she
could see the swan she was supposed to be for this performance more clearly. As
she observed her reflection for a moment, she realized the white dress or the
feathers in her hair didn’t do it, it was her facial expression.

The
previous skater got her points, and Winry started gliding on the ice. There
were so many people watching her that she couldn’t spot the two golden haired
boys, but she trusted they were there. Now it wasn’t time to think about them,
it was time to convince everyone who was watching her that she was worth an
Olympic medal.

Thankfully, the routine was so familiar to her that even her nervousness
couldn’t make her forget it. Her first element was the layback spin. Winry started
pretty carefully, having just enough speed to keep the spin up long enough to
not lose points. In the story she had built around this routine, it was
supposed to represent all the confusion the swan felt when she realized she
didn’t belong to the group she was in. After that she took her first steps in
the outside world, shaky and insecure. The step sequence had always been her
favorite part, because it allowed her to express the vulnerability she herself
had felt after her parents’ death, a feeling that was difficult to express
orally.

Next came the difficult triple lutz – triple loop combination, and she
knew that if she nailed it, she’d be a strong medal contender. The landing wasn’t
as perfect as she had hoped but at least she had done everything she was
supposed to do and didn’t think she’d lose a lot of points for it. After that she
was time for her axels. That was the part she was particularly nervous about
because of the outcome last time. She knew a double axel was usually no problem
for her, but… what if her foot started hurting again? She had another
performance already the next day and she couldn’t afford to get injured…

She sighed of relief (hoping it wasn’t too obvious, though, because even
her facial expressions mattered in a tough competition like this) when she
managed to land safely, and the foot didn’t react to it in any way. Now she had
gone through the hardships the swan of her story experienced, and the rest of
her routine would be easier. The last jumps, another short step sequence, and two
different spins (that she was notably more confident about than the first one)
to finish the routine. Her smile was wide and genuine when she bowed and curtsied
to the audience. Suddenly, she thought she saw a tiny bit of gold in the
audience, not too far from her, her smile widening even more. She was out of
breath and her ears were ringing a bit, but that didn’t matter at the moment.

She knew she had definitely done better than last time.

Would it be enough, though? That she couldn’t say yet, because some of
her toughest competitors were yet to skate, and a lot would naturally depend on
her free program as well.

Garfiel came to her when she left the rink and hugged her.

“You nailed it, girl! I’m sure you’ll win this!”

“Uh, thanks,” Winry said modestly, “but I wouldn’t cheer too much yet.
We don’t even know my points!”

“Don’t worry about that. I’ve seen you perform thousands of times and I
know that was one of your best ones yet. If the judges didn’t see that… they
are blind.”

Winry just smiled as Garfiel guided her to the seats where they would
listen to the point announcement.

…

“Aand Winry Rockbell’s points are… 81,95!”

“Is that good? Is that good? Al, is that good?” a very nervous young man
in the audience asked his brother as the audience around them was roaring
excitedly.

“Hell yes it is! There are only a couple of skaters in this group who
can come anywhere near that amount of points,” Al answered, happy about Winry’s
success.

“In that case…” Ed jumped from his seat and yelled: “FUCK YES! THAT’S MY
GIRL!”

“Ed, you might want to calm down a bit,” Al reminded him. “Unless you
want that reporter to find you again…”

“If she wins this entire thing, I don’t care to whom I’ll be telling how
awesome my girlfriend is.”

“Ed. Girlfriend?”

Ed’s eyes widened when he realized what he had just said, but there was
no point in denying it anymore.

“Um… I am… kinda… planning to ask her once this thing is over…”

“That’s awesome! I’m so happy you’ve finally come to your senses!” Al
exclaimed, getting a sour look from Ed.

“I wish we could go to celebrate with her,” Ed said much more to himself
than to Al, but Al tried to cool him down:

“This competition isn’t over yet. Mei’s pretty good, you know.”

…

Everyone’s points were announced, and it turned out Winry finished the
short program in the second place. Lan Fan from Xing had bested her with 0,10
points, and Mei Chang was only 0,2 points behind her. Paninya was fourth with
78 points and Rose wasn’t far behind either. Overall, Winry was content because
she knew she had done her best, and everything was still up in the air; 0,10
points was nothing in the free program event where more points were given. When
she left the arena, she felt happier than she had in a while. But that was only
until she saw a conflicting view in front of her.

Ed was talking with one of her rivals.