Aka ice skating au ch. 12!

A/N: That’s right my peeps, this fic /finally/ has a name. I hope you find it fitting! (Obviously I’m not referring to literal ice this time, but instead a certain character who’s acting a bit cool sometimes :P) I don’t really have much else to say this time, enjoy and review! This chapter continues directly from the events of last chapter 🙂

Previous chapters:  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5.5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

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

Next chapter: [x]

Words: 1940+

Genre: flooof in this chapter, even a tiny bit of humor? (I feel we are back to ch 1 in a way)

Warnings: swearing and some drinking on the background

---

“So, how’s
everything going, brother? How’s your leg?” Al asked when he and Ed made their
way into a quieter corner in the room. With the room full of Ed’s teammates and
music playing loudly, it was hard to hear your own thoughts, but the brothers
decided to at least try since they had a lot of catching up to do.

“I wish I
could already get rid of the cast, but other than that, it’s fine. I just want
to skate already.”

“I’m sorry,
brother,” Al said with genuine sympathy. “Hey, I brought something to cheer you
up.”

Al handed
Ed a gift bag and he took it curiously. Inside it was a book that Ed recognized
as one he had wanted for a long while, Advanced Biochemistry, but much to Ed’s
surprise, it wasn’t the only gift. There was something between the book. Two small,
thin foliage packages that must have had…

“Al!” Ed
yelled with a red face. “How the fuck did you… why… what the hell is this
supposed to mean?!”

“Thought
you’d need some extra protection with the way your love life has been
progressing…” Al chuckled. “I know you well enough to know that you’d never have
the guts to get them by yourself.”

“Oh my God.
I can’t believe you. We aren’t even dating!”

“It’s funny
you say that when you both are practically undressing each other with your eyes
every time you look at each other.” Al pointed out, nodding towards Winry
significantly.

“I’m not… Fine,
she’s hot,” Ed said through his teeth, “but surely I’m not the only the only
one who’s noticed that! Just look at Havoc trying to tell her jokes…”

“She doesn’t
look too impressed,” Al noted. “Oh, look at that, she’s coming here. Hi there,
Winry!”

“Hi guys.”
She turned to Ed and noted his mortified expression. “Why are you so red? You sure
you don’t have a fever or something?”

Ed didn’t have
time to answer when Roy started speaking into the mic and everyone turned their
attention to him.

“So, as you
all know, we have all gathered here to celebrate the 18^th birthday
of our very own Fullmetal Forward, Edward Elric. Congrats, kid! Now that you’re
officially allowed to buy alcohol, don’t forget the promise you made me!”

“Hah, you
haven’t won anything yet!” was Ed’s immediate response, and everyone burst out
laughing.

“Anyway, I’d
like to suggest we sing for the birthday boy. Everyone, on the count of three.
One, two, three.”

Roy gave
his sign, and the choir of more and less talented singers started: “Happy biiirthday
too you, happy biiirthday too you…”

Ed felt a
bit overwhelmed when a room full of people sang for him but waved his thanks when
they finished. Soon Roy continued speaking to the crowd:

“Before we let
Fullmetal give us, without a doubt, a very amazing speech, there are a couple
of other people in this room as well we should congratulate. The little birds
have told me that in less than a year this team will have a brand new member.
Congrats, Maes and Gracia! Your kid will without a doubt become an amazing
skater.”

Nearby,
Maes started rambling about the greatness of his future wife to anyone who was
willing to listen, but Winry barely noticed because she squealed happily at the
news and rushed to hug Gracia who had been approaching the trio.

“A baby!
That’s absolutely wonderful! I’m so happy for you guys!”

“Aw, thanks
Winry-dear. I got the confirmation from my doctor about an hour after the free
skate. I’m gonna have to discuss this with him and Maes, but with this piece of
news, I think I might skip the individual competition.”

“But you
would have done amazingly…” Winry said, upset for her friend.

“Maybe, but
I’ve seen you skating and I dare to say you would beat me 9 times out of 10
these days. And I already won gold 4 years ago, so really, I’m not too upset.
How could I be when I look at him?”

She turned
to see her fiancé flailing as he told Riza, the only person patient enough to
listen to him ramble for ages, how he would decorate the baby’s room and how he
secretly (or not so secretly) wished the baby was a girl.

Ed hadn’t
had a chance to say anything while the women were chattering, but now he decided
it was his turn to get himself heard.

“Congrats,
Gracia! I’m sure you’re gonna be a great mother, but I’m a bit worried about
your fiancé. I bet he’s that person whose locker will be 100% covered with
photos of the kid and he’ll forget how to skate when he keeps staring at them.”

“Don’t
worry, I will make sure to kick his butt if he starts slacking because of it,”
Gracia smirked.

“That’s
good to hear. But seriously, I’m happy for you guys. Babies are amazing!”

“Thank you.
I think someone’s gonna be one lucky
lady to be a mother to your kids in the future, Edward.” Ed wondered if it was
just him or did Gracia look at Winry one second longer than necessary when she
said that. And did she emphasize the word
someone? He felt himself getting flustered for the second time within
minutes and he was about to turn away when Winry asked, pointing to the pack
still in Ed’s hand:

“Did you
get a present from Al? What did he give you?”

“J-just a
biochem book…” he stuttered and left before she could ask more questions. Damn
Al. He’d show him. Speaking of the devil, Ed noticed his little brother was
snickering almost uncontrollably nearby after seeing the scene between Ed and
Winry unfold.

“Are you
trying to kill me?” the older brother growled and punched Al on the shoulder
when he got close enough.

“Relax,
bro, it was just a joke! I won’t change my mind about you two though, I have
never seen you this flustered over a girl before. It’s adorable. I didn’t have
a chance to ask you earlier, so did you tell her?”

“Yeah, I
did. I hate to admit it, but you were right. I do feel better now. And things…
are going quite nicely.” He turned his head towards the spot where Winry chatted
with her friends (Paninya and Rose had joined her and Gracia now) and Winry
gave him a small smile.

“That’s
great to hear,” Al interrupted Ed from his thoughts. “Hey, I heard Mustang
saying something about a speech, so how about it?”

“Do I have
a choice?” Ed sighed and wheeled to where the captain of his team was clearly
waiting for him. Taking the mic from his hand, he started:  

“It’s so
weird to see so many of you here! To be honest, if it weren’t for a couple of
friends, I wouldn’t even have remembered what day it is. And the worst part is
that I’m not even allowed to drink because of my condition!”

Many of Ed’s
teammates laughed. They knew Ed had never particularly cared about drinking.

“I’m not
one for long speeches, so I guess thank you everyone for coming, and special
thanks to that one gearhead who made this happen.” His gaze met Winry’s for a
moment, and he thought he could see her blushing slightly. “Now, let’s have
some fun! But not too fun…” His gaze stopped at Havoc this time. “… because some
of you have a big game tomorrow!”

The
guests chuckled and continued their partying. Mustang was now dancing
with Riza, Havoc was having a drinking contest with Breda despite Ed’s warning,
Armstrong was wiping his tears into a huge tissue, Paninya was trying to sneak
a small bottle from Roy’s back pocket and Al was probably telling Winry some
embarrassing stories about Ed. For some reason, all of that made Ed feel calmer
than he had felt in a long while.

---

Later that
evening, Winry was sitting alone on the balcony, enjoying the fresh, cool air
when Ed appeared behind her.

“Hi.”

“Hi. Why
are you sitting here alone?”

“I guess I
just wanted a moment to hear my thoughts. No offense, but you hockey players
are loud.”

“You’re not
wrong about that.” Ed rubbed the back of his head. “But your friends are kinda
interesting bunch as well. You should have seen Havoc’s expression when that
Paninya chick made a show of kissing Rose right in front of him. It was almost
as if his hopes and dreams had both been shattered into pieces and fulfilled at
the same time.”

“Oh, that
definitely sounds like a Pan thing to do,” Winry laughed. “They’re great
though. After losing my parents they’ve become like a new family to me. I guess
you could say the same about your team.”

“I guess…”

“You said
you have tried to push people out of your life, but you know, one way or
another, you have affected all of them,” she gestured towards the full room. “They
all care about you. And for some weird reason, so do I. You don’t have to carry
your weight alone.

“Yeah…”

“I guess
what I really wanted to tell you after our chat earlier is that if you think
you’re the only person in this world who’s feeling guilty about something, I
have some news for you. For so many weeks, I kept thinking that things would be
so different if I had simply told my parents to not go into that car. Finally,
my granny wrenched some sense into me and told me that I can’t change my past,
but I can chance how it affects my future. It didn’t sink into me right away,
but I understand what she meant now. I’m not saying that I’m never thinking
about it anymore, because that’s a lie, but I know my parents would want me to
live my life, so that’s what I’m doing. And that’s what you should do as well.”

Ed stared
at her with surprise. He realized Winry’s words were very similar to the ones
he had used when confronting Rose, but he wasn’t living by his own advice.

“I probably
deserved that.”

“Yes, you
did.” Her tone got softer when she continued: “By the way, I want you to know
that I’m not going anywhere. We are way past that point now.”

For some
reason, Winry’s statement made Ed remember the realities of their situation,
and he asked: “How are we gonna stay in touch after the Olympics, though? We
are both busy with our sports, traveling on different sides of the country and
sometimes even out of country.”
“Phones exist, Elric. If you know how to use one. And it’s not like I’m always
gone, there are off-seasons, breaks, and so on… And to be honest, at the moment
I can’t say how long I’m gonna continue my skating career. I’m kinda itching to
move onto mechanics soon enough.

“Sounds
like you have already given a lot of thought to your future.”

“What about
you, though? Do you have any plans?”

“I want to
continue playing as long as I can and study as much as I can. Maybe I have some
other wishes as well, but… one day you might know.”

“You think
so?”

“Yeah.”

Ed leaned
his head against hers and wrapped one of his arms around her shoulder. They
stayed like that for a good while, until the tender moment was interrupted by a
crash inside the restaurant.

“What was
that?” Winry asked worriedly.

Ed just sighed. “I think it’s
time to take Havoc back to the hotel.”