Avainsana: edward x winry

EdWin drabble: Potions class

A/N: yup, a Hogwarts AU, the Potterhead that I am.

Words: 542 (whelp this was supposed to be a very short one…)

No warnings

“So tell me,” Professor Mustang showed a potion with a mother-of-pearl sheen to his class, “do you know what this potion is?”

“Oh, I know,” Winry exclaimed happily. “It’s amortentia, the most powerful love potion in existence!”

“Why would you know that?” Ed whispered to her, raising his eyebrow in suspicion. Winry was good at a lot of things, but potions wasn’t her favorite subject, so it was rare she answered to Mustang’s questions.

“My… granny has told me about it. Apparently she used to slip a couple of drops of it into her dates’ drinks when she was young.”

“I’m not surprised! That old witch…”

“Hey! You should be grateful for what she’s done to you and Al…”

“I am, I am. She could still be nicer to me.”

Winry was about to retort back when Professor Mustang stopped right in front of the two teenagers and asked:

“So, you two lovebirds…” (”Don’t say that!” Ed almost yelled) “… Since you are clearly all about Amortentia, could you tell me what specific trait this potion has, besides of course making you infatuated?”

.”It…” Winry answered shyly, “Its smell depends on the person smelling it…  It reminds you of things you find attractive.”

“Correct! 5 points to Ravenclaw!” Professor Mustang said and turned to talk to the class, letting them sniff the potion. When he wasn’t paying attention, Ed asked Winry, curiously, even though he tried to be nonchalant:

“So… what does Amortentia smell to you?”

“Umm…” Winry blushed slightly. “Oil and grease and metal… You know I’ve loved playing with muggle inventions ever since I was a child… but also, grass and… I don’t know, something I’ve smelled at home…”

“You’re such a gearhead,” Ed teased. Winry punched him lightly on the arm and demanded:

“I told you mine, you tell me yours now. Don’t you always say ‘equivalent exchange’?”

Even Ed couldn’t argue with that, since it indeed was the principle he believed in, so he answered:

“I smell…” his eyes widened as he realized the smells were surprisingly similar to Winry’s. “metal, like my automail… grass… new books… uh… something like shampoo?”

“Really? What kind of shampoo?” Winry tried to act uninterested but didn’t succeed very well. Luckily for her, Ed was so deep in his thoughts he didn’t notice. 

“I don’t know! I guess… Maybe something back in Resembool?”

Winry snorted. Why had she even asked that? She bet the shampoo Ed had smelled was the one he had once bought from muggles’ shop, claiming it smelled so much better than any of the flowery stuff she used. 

Her smile left her face as she leaned closer to Ed to see his notes, and her nose was filled with Ed’s scent.

She smelled the shampoo she had just thought about. The scent was the very same one as in her Amortentia.

At the same time, Ed got a whiff of Winry’s hair, reminding him of the flowers at the Resembool garden. His eyes widened as he recognized it as the same scent he had just smelled in the Amortentia. 

The duo stared at each other awkwardly for a long while, then moved their chairs as far from each other as possible, trying to convince themselves that what had just happened was just some weird trick caused by the love potion. 

Edwin one-shot: Wedding Day

Summary: the title says it all. 

A/N: I was inspired by yesterday’s royal wedding and simply had to write this. I may have borrowed a couple of things from the rl events because I thought they were very Edwin like. Dedicating this fic to @vvavavoom, @kilmartin85 and @odadesu because I feel bad for not writing your drabbles yet. Will get to it soon! Enjoy and let me know what you think! 

Characters: Ed, Winry, lots of wedding guests on the background 

Warnings: I don’t think there’s anything too major? 

Genre: fluff, fluff, fluff, maybe slight hurt/comfort

Words: 2100ish (whoops)

Ed couldn’t
believe he was standing there right now.

Less than
two years ago the woman who was now about to approach him at the Rockbell yard had
promised to give him 100 85 per cent of her life. A lot had happened
between that day and this; Ed had been traveling as much as he could, with an
occasional visit to Resembool “to fix his leg” even though Winry could see the
automail leg was surprisingly fine. He had also found her a ring from Creta; it
was a simple silver band with a single sapphire, same color as Winry’s eyes,
decorating it. To Ed’s surprise, giving the ring to Winry had gone better than
the proposal at the railway station (although some awkwardness had definitely been involved).

As the
wedding approached, Ed spent more time in Resembool to help Winry with the
preparations, but it turned out she tried to keep him from helping her. When Ed
got irritated and asked why she did that, she explained: “Do I really want
black flowers and fangs for my wedding? Yeah, didn’t think so.” She did,
however, let Ed participate in inviting the wedding guests (“Why Mustang?” he
growled) and choosing the music, because despite the different tastes, they did
share a few songs that were important to both of them.

Back to the
wedding day: Ed was going through a lot of emotions as he stood in front of the
rather big audience and the music started to play. Nervousness, happiness,
excitement, even worry.

He had to
admit he was a bit afraid. For such a long while he had spent his life without
commitments, without tying himself into one place or thing for too long. He had
tried his best to not get too fond of anything or anyone because he had lost so
much, but somehow his mechanic and best friend had affected him far deeper than
he had expected.

Admitting
that he loved Winry had been one of the scariest experiences of his life,
because he still remembered all too well what had happened to too many of those
who had been important to him. He couldn’t bear the thought of losing Winry
too. Luckily, Al had kicked his ass and said life was too short to worry about
such things. Ed had realized he was right, going through Al’s words in his mind
as he was waiting for Winry to arrive.

Ed’s
thoughts went back to the wedding day and to Winry. ‘I hope she’s alright,’ he
wished as he glanced at his clock. 1 more minute.

There was a reason for Ed’s worry: as he had
been trying to his brother (who was in charge of organizing everything) a few
hours earlier, he had heard crying behind one of the doors of the Rockbell
house. He didn’t need to hear much to know who it was.

“Winry?”

“D-don’t
come here, you’re n-not supposed to see me!” she managed to sob from the other
side of the door.

“What’s
wrong?” Ed’s heart seemed to sink deeper and deeper with every passing moment
as he listened to his wife-to-be’s sobs.

“It’s…
n-nothing!”

“Don’t you
want to get married anymore?” Ed asked the question that had started to bother
him.

Winry seemed
to gain her voice back as she got mad at him for even considering something
like that. “Of course I do, you idiot!”

“Then why
don’t you tell what’s wrong with you? We’re supposed to get married, I need to
know.”

“It’s
stupid…” Winry mumbled, embarrassed. “I-I just suddenly started thinking about
my m-mum and dad and h-how t-they are n-not gonna see my w-wedding… Y-you are
in the same situation b-but you’re not crying!”

“You’re not
stupid for missing your parents! The reason I’m not crying is because, you
know, I’m not good at dealing with such emotions. So I just sort of push it
away.”

“Right now
I wish I could too. I’m ruining our wedding,” Winry said quietly. It hurt Ed to
hear her like that.

“No, you’re
not! Listen, I’m coming in.”

“Ed, don’t!
You’re not supposed to…!”

“Screw the
superstitions! At least let me hold your hand. For better, for worse,
remember?”

“F-fine…”

Winry
opened the door enough to reach Ed’s hand rather eagerly. Ed intertwined their
fingers and stroke her knuckles with his thumb. The gesture seemed to calm her
down, and Ed said in a surprisingly soft tone:

“Listen. I
don’t know where your parents are, but wherever that is, I’m sure they are very
proud of you.”

“You think
so?”

“I know so.
You know, I’ve been trying to figure you out in my head, and here’s what I got:
you’re the sweetest, most emphatic person I’ve ever met. Sure, sometimes you
threaten me with your wrench, but I’ve drawn the conclusion that I deserve it.

“You do.”
Ed thought he could hear a quiet chuckle from Winry’s room.

“But either
way, even though I’ve done a lot of stupid and reckless things, you have
always supported me in every situation. You have carried me when I’ve needed
it. You even cried because we didn’t, and I never understood why, not until the
Promised Day. It was because you cared so much. By the way,” Ed remembered suddenly, “did I ever tell you that when I nearly died in
Baschool, it was my promise to you that helped me to save myself?”

“What?! You
never mentioned that.”

“Well, now
you know. I thought about how I’d make you cry if I died… so I managed to create a Philosopher’s stone of myself.”

“Oh, Ed…”

“What’s done is done. We’ve been through this, it’s better that I’m here to see our wedding day, right?”

“Right.” 

Winry had been very upset when she had found out about Ed potentially losing years of his life because of the accident. That’s why Ed wanted to return to the original subject quickly:

“Anyway, continuing my list: you are also the most strong-willed person I know, and I’ve always admired your ability to put your heart into everything
you do. You have always hated being useless. You also call me out on my
mistakes when needed. I don’t think I could marry a woman who wouldn’t be able
to do that.”

“Thanks Ed.”

“Last but
not least, you are a damn gearhead, but in the best possible meaning of the
word. I wouldn’t be here right now if you weren’t such a brilliant mechanic.
You always strive to develop, not just for yourself, but because you want to
help others. You’re a healer, and you have healed me more often than you know. I’m a damn lucky guy and I can’t believe I’m
gonna marry you today.”

“What you
just said was far sweeter than any of those traditional weddings vows.” Winry
smiled through her tears, even though Ed couldn’t see it.

“I have my
moments. Don’t get too used to it, though.” Ed joked and Winry couldn’t help
but chuckle.

“Ha! No
worries, I know you well enough by now to not expect such sappiness from you.”

They were
quiet for a moment, still holding hands, but finally Winry said:

“Thanks Ed.
You really cheered me up. Guess I need to go fix my make-up now, I must look
like a mess.”

“I’ll go
then. See you in a bit, Mrs. Elric.”

“See you in
a bit, Mr. Rockbell.”

Nothing
particularly eventful happened after that (if you ignore Alex Louis showing off
his masterpiece of a cake in the kitchen, reminding everyone that his baking
skills had been passed down the Armstrong family line for generations), until
it was time for the ceremony itself. Al was naturally Ed’s best man, but he had
a second job too; he had promised to walk Winry down the path that took them to
the river near the Rockbell house where Ed and the guests were waiting.

When Ed
finally saw the two people he loved the most walk towards him, with Elicia
Hughes as Winry’s flower girl, he was completely stunned. Winry looked gorgeous. Her hair was in a stylish bun
with some flower decorations attached to it, the tresses left out of the bun curled.
She was wearing a white a-line satin dress with a v-shaped neckline, lace
sleeves and a pearl belt around her waist. 

Ed let his gaze stop at the
still flat stomach for one moment longer than necessary; a small, affectionate
smile rose on his face when he thought about the secret that not even Al knew
yet. But soon they’d have to tell… For probably the millionth time since finding out, he thought his wife was really amazing, being able to
create something the alchemists never could.

When he
looked up to her face that was covered with a lace veil and saw her smile, his
heart skipped a beat. He remembered having claimed once that Winry was
very “uncute”, now admitting to himself that he couldn’t have been more wrong. Suddenly his vision seemed to get blurry and cheeks wet as his bride got closer. The moment was ruined by Winry who
stuck her tongue out at him when she saw that Ed was crying, revenging for all
the times he had complained about her crying. That elicited a small chuckle from
Ed. Somehow that woman managed to make him cry and laugh at the same time,
which alone was a miracle.

“Holy
shit,” Ed mouthed when he took Winry’s hand to his as she reached him, and they
turned towards the official that was to legally wed them.  

“Is that all you
can say in this situation?” Winry nudged him but smiled widely because she knew
that it meant he must have liked what he saw.

“You… look…
wow.”

“Why, thank
you,” Winry smiled even more widely if possible at her flustered soon-to-be
husband and squeezed his hand slightly.

The
official started talking, but Ed was mostly focusing on the warm hand in his
and the woman next to him. Truth to be told, he hated being stared at by all
those people, but with Winry there with him, it felt bearable.

A song started playing, and that was Ed’s cue to lift the veil, so he could see
Winry’s face better. She only had light make-up on, but her eyes were shining brighter
than he had ever seen. When they looked at each other, Ed’s smile was so soft
that Winry almost wondered if this really was the same boy who had left
Resembool as a 12-year-old. Even though he still had the hot-headed foul mouth
side of him, he had changed a lot, for the better. He no longer carried his
burdens alone and he was calmer and more relaxed now. She had to admit that he
cleaned up really well too; Al was responsible for getting his brother a white
tux, and his hair was on a neat ponytail instead of the usual braid. But what
really made him look good to her was what was underneath the surface; a brave
and caring heart that had gone through a lot but somehow she was lucky enough
to be able to be with him, to marry him, that
day.

The
traditional vows were said, and rings exchanged. Winry got all teary-eyed as
she looked at the ring Ed had personally made her; it was a piece of his old
automail that he no longer needed, with a small diamond on it. Inside the ring
was a text: “Don’t forget: I love you”, the wedding date and their names. Ed
knew how much Winry’s work meant to her and hoped that this gift somehow showed her
how much he appreciated her efforts.

The
official didn’t even need to finish his “you may kiss the bride” line when the
bride already attacked the groom with her lips, and the couple shared a long,
passionate kiss. They didn’t separate until General Mustang whistled
inappropriately and made everyone among the guests laugh.

“We did
it,” Ed whispered to Winry as the crowd continued cheering for the newly-wed
couple.

“We sure
did,” she answered happily as she waved at their guests.

“Guess
you’ll officially be stuck with me from now on,” Ed teased, referring to one
day a long time ago when Winry had said the same thing to him.

“Same right
back at you,” she answered and sealed the promise with another kiss. Ed could have sworn he felt her mouth the three magical words against his mouth, and he responded to the gesture before the couple exited the wedding venue to start their lives as a husband and wife.

Edwin week day 4 (I’m v late): Endure

Summary: Pregnancy and Winry are not a good combination, but luckily she has someone to take care of her.

A/N: finally I finished this fic! I’ve been wanting to write this for a while, but for some reason it took longer than expected. Ps. please forgive Winry, the hormones drive her a little bit crazy, but that’s to be excepted, right?

Characters: Ed, Winry, a couple of OC:s (salesman and neighbor)

Words: 2024

Warnings: some implications if you know what I mean 😉

Winry woke
up in a sour mood. She was already stressed because she had to finish an
automail leg that day, yet she had run out of materials, which meant a trip to
the market. Usually, she’d make Ed run errands like that, but of course her
husband was in Central to discuss something research related with General
Mustang and wouldn’t come back home until later that day.

That’s why
she quickly dressed up, not bothering to brush her hair, instead pulling it into
a messy ponytail, and grabbed an apple from a bowl before heading out. She had
already slept a bit too late, so there was no time for such luxuries as a proper
breakfast. Den looked at the young woman slightly worriedly as she slammed the
door behind her a bit louder than usually, but continued her nap when the peace
returned to the house.

The walk to
the market was agonizingly slow in Winry’s opinion. She was used to getting
there from her and Ed’s house in less than ten minutes, but the added weight
slowed her down and she swore it took her five minutes longer to finish the
walk. Finally, she was in front of the shop she was looking for, and she wiped
some sweat from her forehead before stepping in to get her supplies.

“Oh, Ms.
Rockbell, how can I help you today?” the salesman, Mr. Thompson, approached
her, not realizing the mistake he made. Winry had been his customer for a long
while but married to that twerp Edward Elric less than a year, so it wasn’t
that surprising he got the name wrong. Still, it annoyed Winry.

“It’s Mrs.
Rockbell-Elric these days!” the very pregnant young wife huffed, “Besides, I
have been your customer ever since I was 6, I think it’s time you start calling
me Winry.”

Her
response came out way sharper than she had originally planned, but she wasn’t
going to apologize for it. She felt hot, frustrated, stressed and so damn
bloated, and she was allowed to be rude this one time, damn it. The salesman
saw from her expression that she was about to blow up and tried to fix his
mistake:

“Right,
right. Sorry, Mis… Winry. So, what do you need today?”

She gave
him a long list of supplies she needed for automail building, and he started
searching for them as she waited in silence. She started already feeling bad
about snapping like that while Mr. Thompson had always been nothing but polite
to her, but the baby made her hormones so overactive. She couldn’t wait for the
moment it would come out of her and she’d feel normal – well, as normal as a
tired new parent could – again.

After Mr.
Thompson handed her the heavy pack with all the metal parts in it, he looked at
her worriedly for a moment.

“Are you
sure you can carry that alone all the way to your house? Is it even safe?”

“Yes, I can
do that perfectly fine, thank you very much.”

Great. She
had snapped again. But if there was something Winry hated as much as feeling
tired and bloated all the time, it was people trying to baby her. She was
pregnant; she hadn’t just suddenly lost her ability to do her everyday chores.
When Ed was home, he did that exact same thing to her. “Are you sure you can do
that?” “Do you need some help?” and “Please take it easy” were sentences she
had heard too often (in her opinion). She did NOT want to be treated like that.
After seeing the insides of Ed’s clock years ago, she had decided she would do
her best to never be useless, but here she was. The people around her weren’t
even trusting her to carry her packs home.

She tried
her best to carry them, but she had to stop to get more air into her lungs at
one point. To her annoyance, a young man from the neighborhood just happened to
pass her in that moment and stopped to ask if she needed any help. Clearly, she
did, so she didn’t shoo him away, which would have been the case in any other
situation. The neighbor, who had never particularly liked Ed, had picked a
wrong day to annoy Winry, though.

“So where’s
that husband of yours? Shouldn’t he
be the one to do this? Did he already freak out and run away? I knew he would…”

“Stop it.
For your information, Edward has been nothing but great about this baby. Almost
too great, if you ask me. And if you really need to know, he’s in Central to
finish a very important research, which should help thousands of people once
completed. My amazing husband will be
back tonight, though, and I can’t wait to see him.”

Finally,
the neighbor understood it would be better he he’d spend the rest of the way
quiet, and he left Winry alone with her packs as soon as they made it to the
Elric-Rockbell house.

Winry
sighed of relief when she set the items on the floor of her workshop and felt
the familiar smell of oil and grease around her. This was her happy place. Even
now that she was almost 7 months pregnant, she could let go of her thoughts
here, just focusing on the pieces of metal and nothing else.

Well, at
least that had been the case until now. Unfortunately, as soon as Winry sat
down on her working chair, the baby pressed against her bladder so hard she had
to run to the toilet immediately. When she was done, she realized she was
really hungry too. She had only eaten the apple on her way to the market, and
now it was well past midday, yet she hadn’t eaten anything else that day. She
was glad to see the stew her Granny had prepared the day before and felt a bit
better after eating almost all the leftovers at once.

She tried
to continue working after that but noticed that she couldn’t concentrate when
the baby kept kicking inside her, as if saying ‘no work allowed’.

“You are
gonna be your dad’s child, aren’t you?” she sighed and waved her wrench at her
stomach.

“Aww, are
you talking to our baby?” a voice behind her said suddenly. Winry turned on her
chair and almost fell on the floor when she saw that Ed had already returned,
several hours earlier than expected.

“What, how,
hi!” she stammered, “I wasn’t
expecting you to come back so early!”

“I managed
to take an earlier train, after all, and you know I like surprises, so here I
am.”

“Idiot. You
could have at least called so I could have made you something … you must be
hungry!”

“Don’t
worry about it! I can cook for myself. I’m sure you have your hands full even
without feeding me.”

“Who are
you and what have you done to my husband?” Winry raised her eyebrow. “Before I got
pregnant, you never… oh.”

He had just
gotten home and he was already acting so overprotective? The annoyance started
to come back, but Winry did her best to not lash… at least quite yet. After
all, he was being sort of sweet too.

“Fine. Just
do it. I have this automail to finish.”

Ed didn’t
want to leave her alone quite yet, though. He had a lot to tell Winry, and he
also wanted to know how she had been doing while he had been away. He could
sense that something wasn’t quite right, so he wrapped his arms around her from
behind, pressed his chin against her shoulder and asked:

“Are you
OK? You seem pretty tense?”

For some
reason the gentle tone and the touch made Winry finally break down. Ed could
feel she was shaking, and he turned her around, so they were facing each other.

Ed pushed
Winry’s bangs out of the way and tilted his head questioningly.

“You can
tell me, no matter what it is, you know you can.”

Winry
buried her head against his collarbone and sobbed: “It’s… I’m so damn
frustrated all the time! I can’t do anything normally, I can’t work, and you
all act like I’m dying even though there’s a living being growing inside me. I
feel so helpless and worthless and tired and bloated and ugh! I just want this
to be over! Remind me to never have babies again!”

Ed held
Winry a little bit tighter and just let her sob until she was done.

“You know
what I think? I think you need a break. And before you throw wrenches at me… I
promise I’m only trying to think what’s best for you. I don’t think you are worthless,
I would never think that way! In my eyes you have never been more awesome. You
are carrying our child, which is a miracle in itself, and it’s only natural it
causes restrictions. If I could… If I could, I would take all those bad
feelings out of you and carry them myself. I hate seeing you this way. Just…
know that it’s OK to feel bad. You should let me know every time you feel that
way. I’m here for you whenever you need me.”

Winry
couldn’t believe her husband, who back in the day used to be so thoughtless,
could say something so thoughtful,
and that alone made her feel better. But there was still one problem left:

“Thanks,
Ed. But… I promised Mr. Watson to finish his automail today, I can’t just have
a break right now…”

“That can
be fixed easily. You’d be surprised by how many people are ready to help you if
you just ask. They all adore you, Winry.”

“I don’t
think anyone likes me after today… I acted awfully at the market.”

“Shhh, that’s
OK. I’m sure they understand. I think I’m just gonna call Garfiel and ask if he
knows someone who’d be ready to travel to Resembool to help you as soon as
possible. And I’m gonna call Mr. Watson
as well and tell him you are very sorry but he’s gonna have to wait for the new
leg a little bit longer.”

“Ed, you
wouldn’t!”

“Yes I
would! Your and our baby’s health is more important to me than someone’s
prosthetic leg when he can just as well keep walking with the extra one one
more day!”

“But…”

“No buts.
Now let’s get some food and then I have a couple of phone calls to make.”

Ed did what
he promised. His phone call with Garfiel went better than expected; Garfiel
said he’d personally travel to Resembool on the first possible train and let
his new apprentice take care of his business meanwhile. Winry thought it was
too much, but her old teacher insisted he wouldn’t take no as an answer. A
couple of previous patients of Winry’s had also been at Garfiel’s when Ed
called and they sent her their best regards over the phone.

“You know, Granny
would have been happy to do it,” Winry sighed, though oddly happy, when Ed
finished the phone call.

“I know,
but she has done so much for us already, and you know she needs to take it easy
these days… It’s better this way.”

Ed pulled
Winry onto their sofa and started massaging her shoulders. Winry moaned
contently and congratulated herself on picking her husband well.

“Now that
that’s out of the way…” Ed broke the silence, “I know a way or two how to get
both of us relax.”

He raised
his eye brow suggestively, and Winry asked in disbelief:

“Really,
Ed? Have you even seen me? I feel gross. I look
gross.”

“Then you
must have some error in that automail brain of yours because I think you look
stunning. Wait, no. That’s an understatement.”

“Th-thank
you.”

Winry
blushed at the compliment and let her husband kiss her. He had grown so much,
and not just physically.  He’ll make a
wonderful father, she thought, and for the first time that day, she truly felt
happy.

EdWin week day 5: Home

A/N: this isn’t the fic I promised yesterday, but it’s coming, I swear! Meanwhile, enjoy this drabble (and please let me know what you think)!

Characters: Ed, Winry, Al

Words: 461

For a long
while, Ed had been wondering what force kept bringing him back to Resembool
again and again. To him, the feeling that made him come back didn’t make sense.
So many bad things had happened to him in that town that he should have hated
it.

It was
where his father had abandoned his family, for reasons he didn’t understand until
over ten years later.

It was
where his mother had died, taken away from her sons way too early.

It was
where he had had to watch Winry cry for several weeks after she lost her own
parents.

It was
where he and Al had performed the human transmutation, with disastrous consequences.

It was where
he and Al had burned their house, so they would have no place to come back to.

It was
where his father had been buried next to his mother, so soon after finally getting
to know the truth about his absence.

But still, Ed
always came back.

Before the
Promised Day, his excuse had been that he needed to have his automail fixed,
and his mechanic happened to live there. But now, the Promised day was over,
and he and Al had already spent several weeks in Resembool. His only automail
was working perfectly, and his only ‘excuse’ for staying there was that Al still
needed time to recover. Ed could have continued his traveling life, had he
wanted. But the weird thing was that he didn’t want to. And he didn’t
understand why.

It finally
started to become clearer to him when he observed Winry one day.

When she
laughed at his silly joke, some part of his brain said he wanted to see her
laugh for the rest of the life.

When her hand
brushed against his as she asked him to hand her wrench to him while fixing
someone’s automail, it made his nerves tingle.

When she
teased Al about a letter he had received from Mei, it made Ed laugh, a real,
genuine laugh (however, Al teased Ed back, about
Winry, and that wasn’t fun).

When Winry
suddenly burst into tears as the relief of getting her best friends back hit
her really hard, he wanted to hold her close to him until she would calm down.

When she was playing with Den outside, her hair shining in the light, he wanted to join them
and brush his fingers through that ponytail of hers. She smiled gently when she
saw him, and it warmed him more than the sunshine.

When she
heard he was having a nightmare that night, she ran into his room and wrapped her arms
tightly, and he felt safe.

It was then
that Ed realized why he wanted to be there. It was because she was his home.

EdWin week day 2: tears

aka. Gold Medal Celebration

a/n: the title says it all. I wasn’t supposed to write quite this much for today but it just… happened. This is sort of a sequel piece to my ice skating au (which I need to continue asap) but you don’t need to read that fic to be able to understand this one. There aren’t really that many tears in this fic but… there are some. I’ll dedicate this fic to my favorite team who won the Finnish championship last week and inspired me to write this, and also to those readers of mine who might have been waiting for an update for my ice skating au.

Characters: Ed, Winry, Al (a few of Ed’s teammates are mentioned)

Words: 663

Warnings: alcohol+smoking mention

The puck
was in the opponent’s net. The crowd was yelling so loudly Ed wasn’t sure he
was gonna hear anything the next day. His team was hugging him and patting him
on his head and shoulders and saying things he didn’t understand. The opposing
team was looking around with empty eyes, just wishing they could withdraw into
their locker room far from the cameras. But Ed didn’t notice any of that.

For some
reason, the moment he knew he had scored, he had wanted to see the reaction of
one person in the audience. To his surprise, it wasn’t Al. No, he knew how Al
would react; he would probably jump in the air and highfive the person next to
him, smiling so widely it shouldn’t even be physically possible. The person in Ed’s
mind had lighter hair than Al’s and piercing blue eyes.

Finally, Ed’s
eyes found what he was looking for. The girl was looking directly at him, her
expression a mix of so many emotions. Pride. Relief. Happiness. Love. Ed had
once promised her he would only make her cry tears of joy, and it seemed he had
succeeded in his mission. Her face was wet with tears, but her smile was so
wide.

Ever since
the Olympics, Winry had been a huge support to Ed. She had always been there
for him in his difficult moments, kicked his butt when needed, pushed him to
aim even higher and even talked him out of quitting after one difficult season.
Of course Ed had done the same for her. They had had some rough moments through
the years they had known each other, but it had all made them grown as people
and athletes too and deepened their bond. That’s why it felt so right that she
was there to share that moment with him.

When the
celebration on the ice was over, the team rushed into the locker room and many started
their own party right away. Roy as the captain poured some drinks into the cup
they had won, Havoc smoke a cigar and the coach was pushed into a cold shower,
but Ed was already looking forward to seeing the people important to him. When
the families were finally let in, Al was the first to march into the room, taking
Ed into a huge bear hug. To Ed’s surprise, Winry didn’t show up, though. Al
seemed to read the expression on Ed’s face correctly, because he told him there
was someone waiting outside.

When Ed opened
the door, he saw the blonde haired young woman sitting on the stairs looking at
the starry sky. He sat down next to her and smiled.

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

“How does
it feel?” Winry asked curiously.

“It’s… so
bizarre. Awesome. But I also feel empty. We have worked so hard for this, and
now… it’s over. Just like that.”

Winry traced
Ed’s knuckles with her fingers slowly before taking his hand to hers.

“I know how
you feel. But the memories you have made will never go away.”

“True. Hey
Win?”

“Hmm?

“Your
nickname just sounds particularly good tonight.”

“What a
dork.” Winry nudged Ed’s shoulder, fake annoyed.

“Seriously,
though, thanks. You have done more for me than you probably realize.”

To prove
his point, Ed gave Winry a small kiss on the cheek, then traced her jaw with his
lips until he reached her chin. Finally, his lips met hers and they felt so
soft against his more ragged ones. They continued until the door behind them
opened and Al showed up:

“Hey Ed,
the others are gonna… Oh I’m sorry! I didn’t know you already had your party
here!”

“Al! Leave
me alone! And don’t you even think of telling Mustang about what you just saw!”

“Why not? I
don’t think he cares much anyway, he’s smooching with Hawkeye back there.”

“About damn
time.” Ed grumbled. “Now can you go away so we can continue our gold medal
celebration?”

EdWin Week day one: Travel

aka “Packing issues”

Summary: Ed, Winry and their two children are about to travel to Central, but getting ready for it seems more challenging than expected.

A/N: it’s been a little while since my last fic (if you ignore the drabbles)! However, I’m excited to contribute as much as I can for the EdWin week. This fic is really more about getting ready to travel than actually traveling, but hey, you can’t travel without packing, right? I hope you guys enjoy, and please let me know what you think!

Characters: Ed, Winry, their children Emma and Alan

Words: 1400ish

No warnings

”Winry,
where’s my leather jacket? You know I won’t go anywhere without it!”

The Elric
family was getting ready to travel to Central to visit friends (and Mustang,
whom Edward didn’t count as a ‘friend’ even though Winry knew that somewhere
deep down they did care about each other), but packing was proving to be
challenging. Ed’s beloved leather jacket, which was bigger than the one he used
in his teenage years but otherwise similar, was nowhere to be found, and he had
already checked half the house.

“How would
I know? You’re the one who uses it, not me. Besides, you’re not 15 anymore, why
don’t you just stop using it?” Winry asked, hoping that he would listen to her
even though she knew the odds weren’t in her favor.

“WHAT? Do
you have something against my jacket?” Ed shot a glare at his wife.

“Of course
not Ed. But like said, I haven’t seen it around. Why don’t you ask Alan? He
sometimes puts your clothes on for fun.”

Ed did what
Winry told him to do and yelled towards his son’s room: “ALAN! Have you seen my
leather jacket?”

“Pretty
sure it was on Emma when I last saw it.” The little boy peeked from his room, stopping
from packing his favorite books for the trip.

“Emma, my
darling, did you take dad’s jacket?” the frustrated ex alchemist changed his
tone to a sweet one. Emma was his little princess, and Winry had warned Ed many
times that he needed to stop spoiling her, but he didn’t listen.

Emma simply
giggled at her father before running away. Ed sighed and grumbled something
like “I wonder from whom she’s learned that” beneath his breath. Winry heard
his comment and laughed. It was clear Emma had taken after her father, more
than Alan had. On the surface she seemed really sweet, but she was planning
something mischievous every moment she got a chance to do so.

“She’s your
daughter,” Winry retorted and earned an angry glare from Ed.

“Hey! I
haven’t taught her to steal her father’s belongings!”

“Right,
right. I’ll go and get her.”

Winry wanted
to say that maybe if Ed spoiled his daughter a little less, she would learn
that not everything was hers to take. However, that would have meant another
fight, and she really wasn’t in mood for that right now. Not when they were
supposed to sit next to each other on the train for at least 8 hours with no
place to withdraw to if the fight got too heated. Besides, her current state
was making her overly emotional and she didn’t want to say something she’d
regret later.

She found
Emma in her room, apparently playing a wax winged man about whom Ed had told
stories to her and Alan. She used Ed’s jacket as “wings” and jumped on and off
her bed, trying to reach the sun.

“Emma,
please, stop doing that. We should leave soon, and your dad really needs that
jacket.”

“But I’m
the wax winged man! I need to fly to the sun!”

“No, Emma!
Didn’t you understand what that story was about? Bad things happened to that
man because he was trying to reach for something he couldn’t have. You should
never do the same. Just ask your dad, if you don’t believe me.”

“Fiiine.”
Emma pouted for a moment but cheered up when she remembered something.

“Hey, will
cousin Edwin be in Central? I want to play with him!”

“Uncle
Alphonse said they would be coming too, because they haven’t visited Central in
a while. So yes, if you now put these clothes that Mummy has left for you on
the bed on and take your teddybear with you, you will be able to play with him.”

“Yay!,”
Emma exclaimed and started to dress up quickly. Unfortunately, her favorite
plush, a black dog that resembled Den, was nowhere to be found, and that caused
another show. Emma refused to leave without the plush, which meant everyone had
to start looking for it. it wasn’t until half an hour later that Winry
remembered she had already packed it that morning just so it wouldn’t be
forgotten, because she knew how important the toy was to the girl. Winry was
ready to cry by the time the plush was found, although she blamed her
overactive hormones for her emotional state.

As if the
lost jacket and plush hadn’t been enough, Alan had decided to test his alchemy
skills on his clothes. In his opinion, they took too much space in his suitcase,
so he had tried to make them go into a smaller space by transmutating them. To
his parents’ annoyance, he hadn’t mastered the particular transmutation circle
quite yet, which meant the clothes were now an unusable mess. Ed regretted his
choice to give up on alchemy for one moment, because he knew that if he could
still use it, he could change the clothes back to their normal state in less
than two seconds. Maybe they’d take the bundle with them and make Al help, so
they wouldn’t have to buy entirely new clothes…

Finally, the
family was ready to take off, and despite the issues they weren’t even late yet.
Everything was going fine until suddenly Ed’s leg, the one with automail
attached to it, started acting up. He was dragging a huge suitcase behind him
when the pain started becoming unbearable, and he had to stop for a moment.

“What’s
wrong?” Winry asked worriedly.

“I… think…
it’s the phantom limb pain…” he said with difficulty. “My guess is… it’s gonna
rain soon. A lot.”
Winry looked at the clouds above them and realized Ed wasn’t wrong. The weather
seemed to get worse really fast, and if they wouldn’t hurry, they’d be wet
before they’d make it to the station.

“Are you OK
papa?” Emma asked too, taking his hand in hers.

“I… will
be. Sometimes in the bad weather my leg hurts a bit… But it will be fine.”

“I want to
help,” the girl insisted. “If Uncle Al taught me al…ka…estry,” she had still
trouble saying the difficult word, “… I could take the pain away.”

“I’m afraid
not even alkahestry can bring my leg back, sweetie… It was a payment for
something bad I did when I was younger.”

“That’s
wrong! You haven’t done anything bad, dad!”

Ed only
smiled at his daughter sadly when she looked at him with a very serious
expression. One day the girl would find out about his and Al’s past, but now
was not the time yet.

“We all
make mistakes, dear. But maybe you could help me with this suitcase by pushing
it, we have to get to the station fast or we will be as wet as Den after
swimming in a lake.”

Emma gave
Ed’s metal leg a brief hug and then helped her dad with suitcase. The family
made it to the railway station just in time for the first rain drops to fall.
They waited inside the station building until the train showed up and finally
settled down on their seats on the train.

The
adventures of the day had made the two kids tired and they fell asleep against
each other soon after the conductor had checked their tickets. Ed smiled at the
sight lovingly and said to Winry quietly:

“They look
so sweet when they’re sleeping.”

“Yeah. It
feels good to hear my thoughts again,” Winry sighed and rubbed her slightly swollen
belly through her hoodie.

“Soon we
will have one more of those to cause more chaos,” Ed said, but in a way that
Winry knew he was actually very excited about the newcomer.

“You wouldn’t
want to have it any other way, though.” Winry smiled and lifted Ed’s leg on her
lap.
“Does it still hurt?”

“Well, a
bit, but it’s getting better. I’m lucky to have such a great family to take
care of it.”

He leaned his
head on Winry’s shoulder as she rubbed the sensitive skin near the port, and
soon he fell asleep there. Watching her family sleep there next to her, Winry
felt weird peace and happiness that she knew she wouldn’t have achieved without
them. Maybe life was a bit chaotic sometimes, but repeating the words she said
to Ed, she wouldn’t want to have it any other way.

EdWin one-shot: A Nightmare

Summary: Winry sees a nightmare about the past events and finally opens up about something that has been bothering her for a long time. (Post promised day, I guess when this happens would be up to you)

A/N: This is my first fic using first person narrative, so please be gentle. Also, Winry is an interesting character to study. Enjoy & let me know what you think! Ps. tumblr is messing up with the text, please open it on my blog so it should work normally.

Genre: hurt/comfort (kinda fluffy tbh)

Words: 2400+

Rating: T

Winry

After the
long, long trip to Briggs, I was finally coming home. I had to hide the entire
way to Resembool, because the military was looking for me. Hostage. The word
sounded so ugly in my head, but that I had been, without even knowing it. That
didn’t matter anymore, though, because soon this would be over. The Promised
Day would be here soon, and according to Mr. Hohenheim, it was going to decide
a lot. Either the evil that was trying to take over this country would be beaten. Or then it wouldn’t. And I didn’t even want to consider that option.

According
to Envy, the Homunculus we caught, Ed had gone missing in Baschool. Apparently,
a building had collapsed there… And I couldn’t help but worry that he had been
trapped there. What if he had… I couldn’t even finish that thought in my head.
I had to focus on getting home safely now. Unfortunately, there was a lot of
time to think in the milk container I was in.

When I finally
made it to the familiar house, the first thing I wanted to do was to change
into clean clothes. I marched into my room, not even bothering to put the light
on (it was probably better that way, because people were still trying to find
me). I didn’t have any idea that someone would be there, because why would
they? But just as I was pulling my shirt over my head, I noticed that someone
was staring at me.

It was Ed. For
one millisecond my brain stopped functioning, going through a million different
emotions from happiness and relief to anger and embarrassment about almost
stripping myself in front of the person I loved. When I snapped out of the shock,
I quickly pulled my shirt back on, and both of us screamed so loudly that our
companions came to see what was wrong. After throwing them out of my room, Ed
tried to pathetically explain that he had just wanted ‘some place private’ to
eat his sandwich. Apparently my room was also a good place to keep an eye from
intruders. I didn’t believe him for one second. A big part of me was still
happy to see him fine.

The idiot was
in need of tuning his automail once again, and so I started working.
Surprisingly to me, though, it wasn’t quite as beaten as it had been some
times. While I was tuning the automail, we talked about what had happened after
we got separated in Briggs. After I mentioned the Promised Day, Ed made a
suggestion that Granny, Den and I should leave the country. My blood started
boiling at his suggestion; he still didn’t understand how I was feeling about
all this! There was absolutely no way I would be in a foreign country while he…
he could be dead. I scolded him badly for saying such nonsense, telling him to
do his everything to stop the bad things from happening. I started regretting
it right after the words came out of my mouth, though. He was already doing his
best. And not just that, he was against something that was almost too difficult
to me to understand.

We got into
a fight, and Ed stormed out of my room, slamming the door behind him. I heard
him talk to Ling… or Greed… or whatever he was, behind the door, but suddenly
he stopped, and I heard steps getting closer. The door opened again, and there
he was standing, breathing heavily and looking like he was hesitating to do
something. Without any warning, he stepped closer to me, took my face into his
hands, and… kissed me.

However, it
wasn’t at all like I had expected my first kiss to be; I had imagined it being
soft, gentle and brief, as if testing how I’d feel about it. Instead, it was
sloppy, passionate just like Ed was, and… desperate? Like he was trying to tell
me he was afraid, having no idea about the future, and I was the last thing
that kept him together. I felt tears fall on my face, but to my surprise they
weren’t all mine. I combed his hair with my fingers, trying to soothe him, but
honestly speaking, it was to calm myself too.

After what
felt like a very long time while it probably wasn’t more than a couple of
minutes, Ed broke the contact, his expression saying he had to go… even though
he really wanted to stay. I walked with him to our porch, squeezing his hand
with my own briefly before we saw the others waiting for Ed. No explanations
were needed. I understood that what had just happened was something Ed needed
just as much as I did.

The men said
their goodbyes, and I was expecting Ed, who usually managed to find the right
words to cheer me up, to say something, but the words never came. He didn’t say
‘see you soon’, he didn’t say ‘I’ll come back before you notice it’, or not
even ‘have an apple pie waiting for us’. He only stared at me with a blank
expression before turning away. Something about all of this caused an awful
thought to form in my head: he has already given up. He isn’t going to survive.
Nor is Al. He already knows this mission is impossible, and there’s no way he’s
gonna come back alive.

I only watched
as he walked away, and after that the only thing I could do was to wait. And I
waited. And waited. The time seemed to go in a blur, until suddenly, it stopped
entirely. We received a phone call from Central. It wasn’t Ed, it wasn’t Al, it
was Roy Mustang. And the message he had nearly made my heart splitter into a
million pieces.

The boys
would never come back.

“Winry, Winry,
wake up!” a voice ordered me. I slowly regained my consciousness, realizing that
my throat hurt for some reason and my face was all wet. Finally, I opened my
eyes to see Edward staring down at me.

“Ed! What…
I… You’re alive!” I breathed, and a huge wave of relief went through me. Another
tear fell on my cheek, but this time it was a happy one. I reached for Ed’s
hand just to feel that he really was there, and I was actually awake.

“Why wouldn’t
I be?” Ed asked, frowning at me. “If you are referring to the fact that Granny
Pinako threatened to cut my balls if I get you pregnant before we’re married…
well, that hasn’t happened yet.”

I couldn’t
help but snort pathetically through my tears. Still too upset about the dream, I
didn’t tell Ed that in reality, Granny hoped to see great-grandchildren before
she died. She just loved to mess with Ed.

“N-no, what
wasn’t it…” I finally found my voice, “It was… just a dream.”

“You saw a dream
that I died?” Ed asked me worriedly as he swept some of my tears away with his
fingers.

“Yeah,” I
admitted.

“Do you
want to talk about it?”

One thing that
had changed about Ed during his journey was that sometimes, he could even be
rather considerate. The Ed who left from Resembool years ago wouldn’t have
asked me that question. But I certainly wasn’t complaining about this change.

“Do you…” I
started, “… remember when we last saw each other before the Promised Day?”

A smug
smile rose on his face as he remembered the day, and he said cheekily:

“How could
I forget? It was that time when you almost…”

“Ed!” I
punched him on the ribs, knowing well what was in his mind. “How can you make fun of that in this situation? I’m
serious. Besides, that was your fault, you didn’t give me any warning!”

“Ouch,
sorry, sorry. That was stupid of me. But what about that day?”

“Well, in
the dream I sort of went back to that day. Except that, there was a twist. You
didn’t… you never came back,” I said sadly.

Ed was
quiet for a while, clearly thinking about something. Finally, he squeezed my hand and said:

“But I did
come back. I’m right here, safely with you.”

“I know… It’s
just… that dream made me remember the times when I didn’t know what would
happen. You have no idea how it felt.”

“You have
never talked about it to me,” he stated quietly. That was true. I hadn’t wanted
the boys to worry about me when they had their own problems to worry about.

“I didn’t
want to bother you! You guys had already enough in your minds. I couldn’t give
you even more weight on your shoulders.”

“Well, now’s
your chance. Tell me what it was like. I want to hear,” Ed challenged me.

I took a
deep breath and closed my eyes for a moment to gather my thoughts and started:

“Ever since
your mother died, I’ve been so worried about you. Both of you. First you tried
to shut me out and claim I couldn’t understand what you felt. I remember that,
Ed.”

I couldn’t
help but think what happened to my own parents not too long after that. Ed
could probably hear the hurt in my voice, because he said:

“I’ve said
a lot of stupid things in my life, Winry. Sorry.”

I simply
nodded, letting him know it didn’t matter anymore. For some reason, the anger and
frustration that I had been keeping inside me wanted to get out of my system in
that moment. That’s why what I said next probably came out harder than I meant.

“Then you
performed the human transmutation. Have you ever, even once stopped to think
how I felt when I saw Al carrying you all bloody, unconscious, missing limbs?
We thought we were gonna lose you. And when you recovered, you decided to join
the military, even though there was always a risk you’d have to fight in a war!
I had already lost my parents… I have no idea how I would have coped losing
you.”

“Gosh,
Winry, I had no idea…”

“It’s OK.”
I felt the frustration starting to fade away once I finally said aloud the thoughts that had been bottled inside me too long. “I shouldn’t have made it sound
like it was your fault. Those things just happened. Sorry.”

“Anyway,” I
continued, “if I’m honest, it didn’t even properly occur me how dangerous your
trip was until we found out about Mr. Hughes… I didn’t cry only because of him,
I cried also because I realized the same could happen to you any day. And all I
could do was to fix your stupid automail. Then, before the Promised Day… I wasn’t
actually angry at you, I was just so damn frustrated. Frustrated that the
weight of our entire country had fallen on your shoulders, and if something
went wrong… I knew there was a big chance that could happen, but I didn’t want
to consider it! I couldn’t be there for you, and I was so damn scared!”

I started
sobbing again and Ed pulled me against his body to comfort me. He didn’t say
anything, but with his simple actions he showed he was listening. It helped me
to gather my thoughts, and I finished:

“And when our
phone finally rang a week after the Promised Day… I was fully prepared to take
the bad news. The first time in over 10 years I finally felt I could breathe
again was when you two got home. Ed, this is why I was always so angry at you
because you never called or wrote. I wanted to know you were safe… Yet most of
the time I had no idea where you were, not to mention, if you were still alive.”

“That’s a
huge burden to carry… I’m so sorry we put you through it,” he whispered into my
hair and gave me an apologetic peck on my forehead.

“Don’t be. Although,
a phone call wouldn’t have hurt… But it doesn’t matter anymore. I guess… love
makes you deal with all kinds of crazy things.”

“Hey,
Winry?”

“Yeah?”

“Just so
you know… I can’t really even express how thankful I am for all the times you
have helped me, which is more often than you realize. You built my automail. You
literally taught me to walk again. And every time I came back with my arm or
leg smashed, you fixed it as soon as possible. Sure, you might have been angry
about it, but you still worked all day and night to get me moving fast again. You
also gave us mental support more often than I can count. Like you just said, you are always selfless, never wanting to burden us with your worries. Not to
mention, you have always been nothing but helpful towards the people you’ve
met. Watching you help Satella give birth made me wish I could be like you. And
any time you have kicked our asses, we have deserved it. You are pretty damn
awesome.”

At this
point I couldn’t stop my tears from coming anymore, so I buried my face against
Ed’s tank top and sobbed. He kept stroking my hair with one hand and gently
massaging my back with the other one. Finally, I managed to say:

“Thanks Ed. I needed to hear that.”

After a while I voiced a thought that had been forming in my head for a while now: “Sorry, this is gonna sound so cheesy, but I’m gonna say it anyway… As all this proves, love hurts. But I’m ready to deal with it
if it means I get to love you.”

“Then it’s
equivalent exchange… because I love you too.”

I laughed through
my tears again.

“Of course
you had to bring that up. Nerd.”

“Your nerd.
Who isn’t going to go anywhere,” he answered and twirled a strand of my hair
between his fingers.

I finally
raised my head, so I could see Ed better, and gave him a small smile. He gave
me a handkerchief from the bed table and I dried my face before settling back
next to him on the bed. He looked at me with a warm expression that had become familiar
to me during the past few months, but for some reason it seemed like he wanted me to
initiate the next move. And so I did. I closed the distance between us and
brought my lips onto his. This kiss was more like the one I had imagined in the
dream; soft and gentle, no extra pressure on either of us, just two people
loving each other and trying to tell about their feelings through the kiss. I
could finally feel the anxiousness brought by the nightmare fade away as we
continued to kiss and explore each other’s bodies well into the night.

EdWin ice skating AU, part 4

Chapter 1 – Chapter 2 – Chapter 3 

Next chapter: [x]

A/N: Sorry for the wait! I promise I didn’t forget about the cliffhanger I left you with 😀 This chapter wasn’t the easiest one to write since we are getting to the “angsty” part, but we do learn a bit more about Ed’s background/thoughts about Winry in it. The biggest thank yous to @rockbelric, @kilmartin85, @xxroy-mustbangxx and everyone else who has given me feedback, you guys are awesome and the reason why I’m doing this. (Ps. sorry if the ending is confusing, I promise I will explain it better in the future chapters). Enjoy!

Words: 1241

Genre: romance, slight angst in this chapter

“Ed! Ed,
please answer me!” Winry yelled through the door and knocked on it hard. She swore
that she’d get her toolbox and break into his room if that was what it took.
Someone might be in Ed’s room hurting him… What if someone had heard their conversation
about Ed’s automail and that someone was now threatening him?

Winry was
just about to turn towards her room when she heard steps from Ed’s room, and within
seconds the door opened. Winry took an attack stance, ready to fight if someone
had done something to her friend, but she relaxed quickly when it was Ed who
came out. He seemed unharmed, but Winry quickly realized he was covered in
sweat and he looked slightly frightened, though he tried to cover it.

“Is… is
everything OK? I heard screams from your room and thought…” Winry asked
quietly.

Ed seemed visibly
embarrassed as he answered: “Um, yeah… I got back from lunch early and
accidentally fell asleep. What are you doing here anyway?”

“Did you
already forget we were supposed to…” Winry took a quick glance towards Mustang
who was still observing the two of them. “… meet today? After lunch?”

“Meet? In
his hotel room? Fullmetal, we have rules about that!”

“Shut up,
Mustang! It isn’t what you think it is. Sorry, Winry, I didn’t forget, I just kinda…”

“Forgot?”

“No, I fell
asleep and saw a nightmare and… ugh, fine, whatever.”

“Were you
screaming in your sleep?” Winry asked worriedly.

“Maybe, I
don’t know…” Ed answered hesitantly. “Can we go inside? I don’t want everyone
to hear our conversation.

Ed gave
Mustang a look that told him he could go now and let Winry into his room.

“Nice
place,” Winry commented and pointed towards the mess Ed had made on his floor.
Hockey equipment, laundry and chemistry books were all in a huge pile next to
his bed.

“Yeah,
sorry about that… I haven’t really had time to clean.” Ed rubbed the back of
his neck awkwardly.

Suddenly
Winry’s eyes caught a familiar children’s novel among the biochemistry books on
the floor and took it in her hands:

“You like
The Adventures of Mr. Magpie? I used to read that so often when I was a kid.
Well, I still do read it sometimes,” Winry admitted, looking at the pictures in
the book admiringly.

“Uh, yeah…
my nanny and skating coach read it to me and Al countless times while our dad
was gone. She left that book with us when she moved to Dublith.”

“Why do you
have it here, though?”

“I guess it
brings me comfort. When I see Mr. Magpie flying around the world seeing new
places, meeting new friends, finding his goal, it makes me forget about my own
issues for a moment. Sorry, that must sound ridiculous…”

“No, it
doesn’t sound ridiculous at all! I understand what you mean. When I felt alone
after my parents’ death I took that that book and imagined I was in Xing or
Creta or Aerugo…”

“One day I
will visit all those places. I’ve already seen a lot thanks to my job, but I
want to see more,” Ed stated, determination in his voice.

“That
sounds great.” Winry smiled. The book had made her forget what had happened
earlier, but the weirdly dark look in Ed’s eyes reminded her of it again.

“I was
worried that something had happened to you when I heard your scream,” she muttered.

“Really?”

“Of course
I was! It sounded like something was hurting you,” Winry said defensively.

“It was just
a dream, don’t worry about it.”

“But… are you sure you are OK now?”

“Yeah… Hey,
you wanted to take a look at my automail, didn’t you? Can we just get to that
now?” Ed started getting uncomfortable. He wasn’t used to someone being so worried
about him.

“Oh, of
course!” Winry exclaimed, having forgotten her original reason for being in Ed’s
room. Ed took his shirt off with some hesitation and settled on a chair next to
his bed.

Having seen
Ed without his hockey gear the day before, Winry knew Ed was muscular, but she
still couldn’t help but admire his torso as she sat down next to him to get a
closer look at the automail. The years of working out and playing showed, but
Winry noticed a couple of other details too: on his flesh arm Ed had a small tattoo
resembling a cross with a snake curled around it, and below his ribs he had a
scary looking scar. Winry wondered if Ed would mind asking about it, but she
decided to keep her mouth shut since he still seemed rather tense, probably
because of the nightmare he had seen.

“Winry!” Ed
said impatiently, and she realized he must have noticed her staring. A slight
blush rose on her face, but she tried to cover it.

“That’s a
cool tattoo. I’ve always wanted one too.”

“Then get
one.”

Winry tried
to ignore Ed’s sudden rudeness and asked:

“Do you
have any tools around? Or will I get some from my room?”

“My
mechanic would kill me if I didn’t have any. They’re under the bed.”

“Great! Let’s
just… do this then. I’m just gonna see that everything’s in good condition,” Winry
said as she reached for the wrench.

The room
was quiet for a good while, and Winry tried to come up with something to talk
about, but for some reason that seemed really difficult currently. She focused
her attention on the port that connected the automail with Ed’s nerves and
realized that she still didn’t know how Ed had lost his arm. His answer earlier
had been rather vague.

“Hey, Ed… I know it’s none of my business, and you don’t need to answer
if you don’t want to, but… what really happened to your arm?”

To her surprise, Ed answered: “It’s a long story. One kid on my team
hated my guts ever since I joined it. I don’t know, apparently his family had
something against mine, particularly my father, and he was probably jealous of
my playing skills. Ironically, he called himself Envy. I have no idea what his
real name was. Well, we fought, more than once, but suddenly he decided
fighting me wasn’t enough, so he attacked Al too. First verbally. He said some
awful things about our mother. Al said I shouldn’t care, that Envy had an even
worse situation than we did, but I couldn’t accept him insulting my mother…”

“So you attacked him?”

Ed could still see Al and Envy in front of him way too clearly. He had
gone through those events in his head too many times to count. Only now
something new was mixed into his memories; for some reason Winry was in Al’s
place, and that made Ed wonder what was really going on between the two of them.

The thought of him possibly starting to have feelings for Winry made Ed
uncomfortable. He ignored Winry’s question and suddenly jumped off his chair,
telling Winry that he had just remembered that he had some place to be (which
she didn’t believe) and pushing her out of his room. Nothing else was said.
Winry was left to watch as Ed disappeared into the elevator.

He couldn’t let the same thing that had almost happened to Al happen
again. That’s why he couldn’t let Winry any closer to him.