I think I’m gonna do 4 as well because I already got an idea for it, but here’s 1: “I’m sorry I scared you, I
    didn’t mean to.”

(2 notes: 1) whoops this got longer than planned and 2) English is not my first language so… mistakes happen. This is only my 2nd edwin fic so I’m a bit nervous.)

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The day Ed
and Al returned to Resembool for the first time after the Promised Day was a
hectic one. After receiving a fierce and emotional tackle hug from Winry,
laughing, barking, and more hugging (plus a very red-faced Ed) ensued, but
eventually they managed to make it inside the house. The boys settled into
their room, which they shared because Ed insisted he wanted to look after Al who
was still recovering, but in reality having someone in the same room with him
helped him a bit with his nightmares.

Later that
day, the boys finally opened up about everything that had happened in the past
months to Winry and Pinako. It felt so relieving to be able to share all that
information with them, after being quiet about their travels for so long. No
one would hunt the two women down for that information anymore. Winry had to
bite her lip several times to keep the tears away, getting overwhelmed by the
sight of her boys sitting on her couch, alive and well, or at least more
whole than they had been before leaving, and telling their stories. Not just
that, the stories made her realize how lucky she was they had made it… She
had been so close to losing them several times, and that thought was almost
unbearable to her. Ed cast a couple of worried looks towards Winry when they
got to the worst parts, but said nothing.

After
eating the apple pie Winry had baked (just like she had promised), Al started
to feel weary, and Ed – after almost making Al mad by insisting he shouldn’t
climb the stairs on his own – carried him to their room on his back. The
younger brother seemed to fall asleep pretty fast, but Ed couldn’t sleep. He
went through everything that had happened that day in his head, and couldn’t
make himself relax. For some reason Winry’s expression when seeing them for the
first time, her dark eyes when he was telling about his arm getting impaled (she
didn’t know about his torso yet; Ed had avoided that particular topic) and Al
sacrificing himself to save him, and her genuine smile after Al complimented
the pie seemed to linger in his mind particularly long. After thrashing around for
half an hour, he finally decided to get up and go get a glass of cool water.

On his way
back to his room, Ed passed Winry’s bedroom, but froze suddenly. He heard
sounds coming from her room, and to his dismay, it sounded suspiciously like
her sobs. At first he couldn’t figure out what to do, but finally he decided,
even at the risk of getting a wrench to his head, to open the door slightly and
peek in. He saw the blonde girl laying on her stomach on her bed, her face
buried in her hands.

“Winry?” He
asked, in a cautious tone. She was a bit hard to predict sometimes, so he
wanted to make sure it was safe to enter until he fully opened the door.

It seemed
that this time she wasn’t up to yelling or throwing anything, though, so Ed
stepped in and closed the door behind him. He glanced around, and suddenly a
brief flashback of what had happened in that room the last time he was there
flashed in front of his eyes. Trying to push away the embarrassment of the
memory (“Damn hormones! She needs you do be a friend, you /cannot/ have such
thoughts!” he cursed in his mind), he sat down on a chair near the bed, and
finally focused his eyes on the girl. She looked so miserable that all the
thoughts he had had moments before left his mind faster than Ling could
disappear when Ed asked him to pay for his food.

“Ed? What
are you doing here?” Winry mumbled against the pillow, barely audibly, still
not showing her face to him.

“I… thought…
I heard something… and wanted to, I guess, make sure everything is OK…” Ed
stuttered, suddenly not having any idea what to say to comfort her.

“I’m sorry…
I promised I wouldn’t cry… yet here I am… and it’s totally ridiculous.” Winry finally
lifted her head from the pillow, and Ed felt something hard punch his guts as he
saw the red circles around her tear-filled eyes, and the wet cheeks. It felt
worse because Ed had a strong feeling Winry being so upset had something to do
with him. Too many times, he had done that to her, he felt.

“Don’t… say
that. Did I… did I do something? Was it the thing I said about where you could
put all the milk at dinner today?”

“Ed… You
know I’ve stopped caring about your obscene language a long time ago. It’s not
that.”

“Then what
is it? If someone made you cry, I’m gonna go after that guy and punch h…”

Winry
stopped him midsentence: “It’s not like that! I just… I just started thinking…”

“Yes?” Ed
asked quietly.

“After you
told us what really happened to you guys… It made me properly understand the
danger you were in. How close I was to losing you. Both of you.”

“I…” Ed
didn’t really know what to say to that. He always felt so helpless in situations
like this, and he hated it. Not being able to come up with anything else, he
tried: “We’re here now, though?”

“Yes, but
you don’t understand. You were the ones who left, and I was the one who had to
stay and wonder if I’m ever gonna see you again.”

“Oh…”

“I haven’t told
you before how scared I was after you left this house before the Promised Day… Well,
I’ve always been worried about you two, but it was even worse that time,” the
girl admitted, and continued: “Anyway, I realized it was wrong from me to say
those things about you saving the world, but… I didn’t want to accept what
could happen, and… it came out the wrong way.”

Ed hadn’t
ever considered Winry might feel guilty because of those words, and he hated
she felt that way.

“Winry.” He
didn’t even realize he did it, but he was now holding her hand in his own. “I
don’t care. To be honest, it was probably the push I needed, because at that
time I had no idea if I could do it or not… Thanks to all you guys, Al and I succeeded…
and we’re here now… and that’s what matters, right?”

Winry
simply stared at him. It seemed the boy who left many years ago, determined to
return his brother back to normal, had actually grown into a man.

“Also…” Ed
broke the silence, tugging her hair to get her attention, “I’m sorry I scared
you like that… I… didn’t mean to.”

Their eyes
met and suddenly they realized they were much closer to each other than they
had been just a little while ago, and their cheeks were burning.

“Um… it’s
OK… Like you said, everything is fine now. I just overreacted earlier.” Ed
wanted to disagree, but he didn’t get a chance to say anything when Winry
added: “Although, your leg…”

“I don’t
mind it. Having Al back is so much more important. And hey, I had to leave some
work for you.” He smirked.

“Thanks,
that’s very thoughtful of you,” Winry sassed back, but she couldn’t hide her
smile when she saw his golden eyes shining happily. In that moment, she couldn’t
help but wonder what was really going on between them. She knew her own
feelings, but Ed… she would probably have to be patient with him.

“Ha, did
you just call me thoughtful?” Ed continued teasing her.

“You idiot,”
she shook the hand that was still holding hers away, and got up.

“Seriously, though, thanks, Ed. I’m feeling
better already.”

“Where are
you going?” he asked curiously.

“Since
neither of us can sleep… How about some hot chocolate and a slice of apple pie?”

“That
sounds good… wait a second. Do NOT put milk into that hot chocolate!!!”

“Oh, there’s
the Ed I know,” Winry laughed, and added in her mind: “and love.”

They raced
to the kitchen, and somehow Ed managed to convince Winry to not put milk into
his hot chocolate (“But Ed, it tastes so much better that way!”). They ate and
talked for a long while after that, and the next morning Al found them sleeping
on the couch huddled against each other, and the grin on his face when they
woke up was something they wouldn’t forget in a long while.