Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Fullmetal Alchemist: Revised Version ❯ The House of the Waiting Family, part 4 ( Chapter 12 )

Continuation of Chapter 9

Ed paused, knees bent in preparation to pounce. And he charged directly at Winry to deliver a blow to her ribs. Quick to react, she caught his metal arm in both hands. She slid back a good four inches, putting some force behind her heels and countered with a high kick aimed for his chin. He blocked the attack using his free arm and pulled away to return to his starting position, and she did the same thing.

They were out in the grass outside the Rockbell home sparring, Armstrong watching them. Winry had changed clothes again, keeping the white tank top and replacing her overalls with a pair of yellow, knee-length shorts, long hair once again in its usual ponytail. Ed sported his black sleeveless top and blue shorts, his hair in its braid. Both were barefoot; they cleared the field of rocks and pebbles and filled holes to ensure no distractions during their training. As usual, Ed was being careful not to be too hard on Winry. Something that bothered her a lot, and made her think Ed was being sexist for going easy on her. Just because she was a girl didn't mean she was delicate. Afterall, they were both taken under by a very talented, and very unmerciful instructor.

That, and plaster wasn't as fragile as Ed thought either.

It had been some 30 minutes ago, when Ed and Winry were sitting in the basement of the Rockbell home, a can of paint at their feet, Winry's plastered unpainted leg propped on a stool while Ed applied copious but sparing amounts of flesh coating in fine, even strokes from thigh to foot using a paintbrush with a foot-long wooden handle. They spoke quietly yet contentedly during these times of recuperation from recent events they'd taken part of. A moment to reminisce, to reflect and learn from their past experiences. Using what they gained in their journey as stepping stones for their chance to expand their minds, and open them to the possibilities of what may lay ahead of them, so that they'd be prepared to face what's forthcoming.

In that moment, Ed's insights on sugarcane's correlation to licorice was the heaviest topic they'd ever undergone. Something bigger since his “830 Reasons Why Milk Was Actually Hazardous For One's(His) Health”.

“I'm telling you, Winry!” he was saying. “Licorice is a root crop. Sugarcane hybrids spawn liters of molasses every year, donating 99 percent more sucrose after refinement. And licorice is fifty times sweeter than disaccharides, so—“

“…Ed, why are we talking about this again…?”

“…I just wanted to talk about something…” he grumbled, dipping the brush into the can for a refill. “I told you Winry. I hate breaks.”

She rolled her eyes to the side, smiling for his sake. “But that doesn't have anything to do with alchemy at all.”

“It does if licorice makes molasses thru transmutation.” Ed pointed out stubbornly.

Winry reverted cerulean glass orbs in his direction again. “…Was that what you were trying to do yesterday?”

He made a little sound in his throat, and blushed, pausing in his work.

She blinked, and tried to keep the smile up with brows furrowed. “So, did it work…?”

A pause.

Winry regarded Ed for a while, before turning her head to the side, put down somewhat. “I guess…you really hated being stuck here.”

He lifted his own head to look at her, and was surprised to see that look on her face. “Winry?”

“Heheh.” she laughed weakly. “Sorry. I was just thinking.”

Ed wasn't convinced. And the rest of the afternoon had gone without much talking.

Even now, there was less talking during sparring. It was important not just for Winry, but for Ed too, to adjust to their fixed limbs. He still thought there might be some complications sometime after with the joints in her leg. She was used to it; he always got rattled about the idea that she would just fall apart before his very eyes.

…Which she kind of did back at East City.

Winry smiled grimly to herself. At least it was just a leg and not two.

“Hm, they seem to be doing fine.” Armstrong mused to himself, regarding the pair from the top of a small hill. “Perhaps they do not require my presence here.”

Then, a familiar glimmer appeared in his eyes. “Ohoho…of course.”

And without further ado, he stepped forward. ”Edward Elric! Miss Winry!”

They turned in unison, and saw to their horror, a shirtless Major with flexed biceps.

“I shall join you both!” he declared openly, the pink sparkles blindingly bright and dancing in the air around him.

Ed was the first to react, blue-faced. “NO WAY! Don't you come near us!”

Their recent experience with the over-enthusiastic man still had them quaking in their shoes.

And Armstrong charged, fists in front.

“Kyaaaaaa!” Winry screamed, she and Ed parting to let the eager giant through.

Ed grabbed her wrist when Armstrong tried for another hit again.

“ARE YOU NUTS? YOU COULD KILL SOMEBODY!” the young alchemist yelled, mortification written on his face.

“Nonsense!” the Major responded, flexing all of his upper body muscles from trunk to jaw. “Strength and beauty cannot be attained without hard training! Pain earns power! Power gains beauty!”

He shifted poses again, looking pretty much like Hercules for a moment in that one pose. “Behold, this perfect specimen! Edward Elric must refine himself to be this way as well!”

Ed's brow twitched uncontrollably; the horrifying idea of becoming someone like Major Armstrong dismayed him to no end.

Al was watching the scene play out from the balcony, cap in his gloved hand, and he sweated. “…What are they doing…?”

-sss-

Needless to say, their spar ended very quickly with a rather triumphant victory for Major Armstrong and two exhausted and disheveled(one pissed) alchemists.

“Thank God, dinnertime…!” Ed groaned, rubbing his head as they walked back into the Rockbell household. “I hope I don't stay in the same rank as the Major for the next six months…he'll be the death of me before that Scar creep.”

Winry, tired in spirit, still found it in her to laugh at Ed's grumbling, and he turned to fix her with a stare. Some part of him was happy to see her cheered up like that. The other part, which was attached to the feeding line to his stomach, was screaming for food.

“About time then, kids.” Pinako welcomed them by the door with a grin.

-sss-

Dinnertime came and went, with much prodding from Pinako and Al(especially Al) for Ed to take care of his automail more. The alchemist just sat and stuffed his mouth, pointedly ignoring Al's teasing comments of “grows like a shrub more than a weed”. Afterall, food should never be wasted on an all-out brawl at the dinnertable, especially Granny Pinako's cooking. In fact, he'd never waste the quality of her cooking, which was by the way, exquisite.

So much he just plopped on their green sofa and passed out, belly full, and exposed. The bellybutton.

Winry was left to sigh over him in mild exasperation. “He's doing it again…what is wrong with him?”

She covered him with a blanket she borrowed from the Rockbells. Al was standing behind her along with a chortling Pinako.

“Does he always sleep like that?” Al remarked in good humor.

“You'd never believe it.” Winry sighed again. “He does it everywhere! In hotels, camping out, in restaurants if he ate too much…the list is endless!”

Pinako cackled. “You sound like his mother, Winry!”

She looked up quickly, startled by the comment. “I am?”

The old woman came to stand by the sleeping alchemist and regarded him. “Well…not really. It's not that image that comes to mind foremost.”

“What does?” Winry asked.

Pinako tilted her head and cast a secretive glance towards the girl. “Maybe…a babysitter?”

She made a face, obviously doubting it. “I don't know if I wanna be that…”

Winry let her gaze wander to Ed's face, and silently marveled the way he just let his features go slack in his sleep, in a really nice way too. Al sat near his head, taking his cap off and fumbling with it in both hands. After a while, he spoke up.

“Winry?”

“Hm?” she looked up, tearing herself from Ed for a moment.

The young mechanic looked uneasy at first, then before he knew it, it came in one string, “AreyouandEdcomingback?”

She stiffened and almost looked away from Al. Struggling for a proper response, she answered with enthusiasm, “Yeah, of course we are. How can we not come here, back to Granny and Al?”

The boy looked away. “…Because you and Ed don't seem to look at this like it's home at all. I mean, you probably do,” he corrected, “But I don't think Ed feels the same way. And I can tell by the way he just stares ahead and lets his mind go somewhere else. He's never down-to-earth. He just…never looks at us.”

Winry's false brows drew together in concern. “That's…”

Strained silence.

Pinako's voice floated up between them, breaking the sudden tension. “Winry, I don't think I had a good chance to say this to the both of you since the past three days. But…” she smiled kindly, “Al and I are just so glad to have you home again.”

Winry stared, touched by the simple belated welcome. “Thanks, Granny.” she fixed her glass cerulean eyes upon her sleeping friend again. And let a quiet giggle escape her. “You know something? Even if Ed says that he doesn't have a home, or doesn't need it, he kind of does. We travel a lot, halfway across Amestris in only six months, and he's growing further and further inclined to sleep wherever he wants. Even he knows to act like a guest in towns we come through.”

Ed snored a little, then turned on his side, back turned to the three. Winry's warm smile shifted to a fond one. “Basically, he's home everywhere. No matter where or when.”

And she smiled at Al. “So he's never without a home. And I'm not either. Especially here. Even if Ed won't say it out loud.”

Al mirrored Winry's expression and looked down at the sleeping alchemist. “Ed's such a guy. The road has to be hard on you two. But he's still pushing forward.” he scratched his head sheepishly. “It's times like these I wish he really was my older brother.”

Pinako laughed at her grandson's remark, saying, “I don't know. I'm not sure if I'd ever raise Ed to be an automail mechanic. He doesn't fit that picture, for some reason.”

Winry beamed. “Ed was born for alchemy. I guess it stuck for the last fifteen years.”

“How about you, Winry?” Al asked suddenly.

“Me?” she blinked.

“Yeah. What were you born for?”

Winry paused. “Eh. I…”

That was an interesting question. One she seldom pondered on. She thought as a child between two doctors, she'd take up medicine. But…she grew up studying alchemy with Ed. And she really caught on to it as well as he did like a second nature.

She froze as several other thoughts came to mind.

What if she and Ed never met? What if the war never happened? What if her parents were still alive? Would she have followed in their footsteps? Become the doctor she should have been if not for the war? If not for Edward Elric?

…Would it have been worth it?

The girl fell silent for a long time. And Al, catching that look on Pinako's face, regretted asking her that, and backpedaled.

“Uh, Winry!” he stammered, waving his hands before himself. “Forget I ever asked, sorry! I didn't mean to be too persona—I mean, nosy about the `what ifs' in your life.”

She stared at Al, processing his words and she shook her head. “No, Al. It's okay. It's not personal. I just…never thought of it that way.”

Winry turned her eyes to the wall clock. “Aw, look at that. It's late. Maybe we—no, you guys should turn in.”

The old woman twiddled with her pipe. “So it is. I'd like to get some sleep myself for once.”

“I can't sleep now.” Al interjected, rubbing his eyes. “I still have some work to do. I think I'll be in my room. Goodnight, Granny, Winry.”

“'Night Al.” the two women replied.

The pair turned to leave the living room for upstairs. Winry was the last to leave, when she heard some quiet mumbling coming from Ed. She turned back to see his lips moving rapidly, possibly dreaming about something.

“…sequence of atomic mass in descending order,” he was mumbling, “another layer for the color of earth…fifteen-minute warning.”

Winry shook her head fondly, walking back over to him to readjust the blanket so he'd be warmer.

“…can't process…” he went on, “let it cool off for another…zinc's good for…”

“Shhh.” she hushed him, and stroked his head once before whispering, “Goodnight Ed.”

-sss-

“Winry!”

A panting boy, a much younger Ed, raced down the road in search of his friend. All around him the rain came down hard, lightning and thunder coming together in a frightening combination.

A combination that he knew Winry didn't like.

Mud caked his shoes, hair and clothes sopping wet. He felt his nose clogging up, the coughs rising to his throat. But he didn't care.

He wanted to find her. He wanted to find Winry.

“Winry! Where are you?” he hollered against the rain. “WINRYYYYYYY!”

-sss-

Gold eyes snapped open in the darkness. Panting a little, Ed gave himself five seconds to calm down and check that he was still in the Rockbells' home. His gaze fell on their distinctly white ceiling, and caught a whiff of that faint smell of oil and grease emanating all around him, and he relaxed. He was back in reality again. He sat up and wiped his face once with his real hand.

What the hell was that…?

“Ed?”

Winry's curious voice came from across the room. His eyes found her sitting on the floor, her back against the wall. She'd been watching him. She was still in her yellow shorts and white blouse. Fresh and clean, of course.

“Ed, what's wrong?” she asked, concern on her clayed face.

He shook his head quickly. “Nothing. Just a bad dream.”

She perked up and was immediately at his side, startling him. “Are you okay?”

“O-of course I am!” he stuttered, not comfortable with how close she'd brought herself. “It was just a stupid dream! I didn't even know what it was!”

Winry furrowed her brows in contemplation. She wondered what sort of dream he had to make him so jittery. Deciding to be a little more helpful, she offered, “Can I get you anything?”

Ed seemed to compose himself enough to consider that, then mumbled, “Maybe…a glass of water.”

She nodded and headed into the kitchen directly. He watched after her retreating back. And somehow, he felt just how restless Winry must be every night; with everyone asleep and nothing to do, living for the days and the nights. Putting himself in her shoes, he could see how unbearable that was. He was amazed how well she took to her situation. He knew he'd crack in her place.

Thinking about it, made Ed all the more determined to get Winry's body back, and put an end to her suffering.

She came back with a full glass, and she knelt beside him to offer it. “Here.”

“Thanks.” He reached for it with his metal hand. Their hands, both copies, overlapped each other briefly as Ed reached for the glass of water. She let him brush her hand, and swallowed a sound that threatened to rise in her throat when he did. As he drank, Winry's filmed blue eyes scanned the back of her hand, eyeing the small indistinct ridges his automail hand made on her soft, painted skin.

“…Hey, Ed?”

“What?” his glass was half-empty now.

With some hesitance, Winry asked straight out, “Am I a good alchemist?”

Saying Ed was taken off-guard by the question wouldn't hit the mark. Eyebrows raised past his hairline, he responded with, “Where'd this come from? And why are you asking me that?”

She frowned, suddenly doubting herself. “I just want to know, that's all. It would be nice if the answer came from you, was what I thought.”

The pair were quiet for a while; Winry staring at the floor hands clasped, Ed staring at his glass of water with an unreadable expression.

He seemed to make up his mind after a while, and answered, “You learned pretty quick for a girl. I'll give you that.”

Maybe that wasn't the best answer, when Winry lifted her eyes to him, staring flatly. “That's sexist. And a blow to my self-esteem.”

“Don't take it like that.” he chided, frowning. “I just told you what I thought, didn't I?”

She considered that for a moment, then decided to probe for both their sakes. She didn't want to argue at this late time of the night. “Okay. Elaborate.”

Ed shifted on the sofa to sit up, sighing with the glass in his hand. “To put it, you were the only one who took my interest in alchemy seriously other than Mom. Some of the village kids thought I was a weirdo, and a geek for getting so obsessed. Hell, I got into fights frequently because of that.”

The corners of her mouth twitched uneasily hearing that, a faint and brief memory playing in her head before she returned her attention to her childhood friend once more.

“I made stuff for you and Mom, mostly Mom because I was making her happy. I don't know how, but I could tell how sad she was sometimes. No doubt because of…him.”

Winry didn't have to ask who “him” was. That name was forbidden.

“'Course I made stuff to make you happy too.” Ed went on. “It made me glad when you didn't get scared or weirded out with what I can do. I got my own happiness when you started on alchemy too.” A faint smile crossed his lips. “And you were learning at a good pace; you weren't too slow or too fast. And you were happy, that was what was most important. So yeah.” Ed flashed her a broad smile. “In my opinion, you're excellent at alchemy, with passion.”

Winry's bottom lip quivered slightly, couldn't help being touched by her best friend's words. She didn't realize her happiness was as important to him as was Trisha's before. How did she not see that? Maybe it was lurking behind the transmutation flashes and the toothy grins of a young boy she never knew she'd come to be so caring about.

Unwilling to restrain herself, Winry leaned forward to wrap her bare arms around Ed in a hug.

“Thanks.” she whispered in his ear.

A red-faced Ed sat stock still on the sofa, engulfed by Winry's embrace. Too shocked to move, or speak. Then, with some hesitation, he reached up to pat her awkwardly on the back with his free hand.

With a shaky sigh, he thought, smiling dimly, Women. They'll sponge up anything to be happy.

“So are you sure you don't want to tell me what that dream you had was?”

Ed couldn't remember even if he wanted to.

-sss-

They left the next morning. Al stayed awake long enough to bid them goodbye. And he caught Ed off-guard with the words, “I won't stop believing in you guys.”

Rubbing the back of his head, Ed just mumbled an inaudible response that he refused to repeat for everyone's ears to catch.

“Try dropping in for lunch, won't you?” Pinako told them, grinning broadly. “I'll make all your favorites. As well as yours, Winry. Once you get your body back.”

“We will.” Winry smiled, happy about two things: one was that they were just miles from the finish line. Two was the freedom to walk in broad daylight once again rather than be stuck in a wooden crate carried by the Major, who seemed quite tearful all over again about the departure. The old woman assured him, chuckling, that even he could drop by anytime as well.

“Ed, how's that?” Winry bounced next to him, suitcase in hand. “A family's waiting for us back here in Resembool. Don't you think it's nice?”

He spared her a side glance before casting brilliant irises back towards the Rockbells' residence, and beyond that, where their old house used to be. The strong wind whipped their hair and clothes as they stood on that small hill, but neither took notice.

Armstrong stood close by, following their gazes, before stating with a firm tone, “Home is where the heart is.”

Ed and Winry turned to look at the man, before Ed grinned. “No turning back though, right?”

A chuckle. “Of course.”

Winry just smiled, prepared to walk the path with Edward Elric once again. With a heavier suitcase, but lighter spirits.

End of Chapter 9…FOR REAL