I never really saw myself writting much EdWin, but this idea came to me and I knew I couldn't NOT write it. This follows the original anime universe, Post-Movie. I don't beleve that Winry would ever actually move on, and when I thought of this character, Andrew, I knew I had to write something about him wondering about why his teacher never married. I imagine that a lot of people would want to marry a pretty automail genius, but she wouldn't want to marry any of them. Thus, this was born.
Italics are recaps/memories. Normal text is Andrew talking about Winry.
I don't own FMA
I used to wonder why Teacher had never gotten married.
"Teacher! Please, I just want the day off!"
"Andrew, what did you say when you came begging for an apprenticeship?" Teacher's eyes flashed and she had her hands on her hips. Nothing good ever happened when Teacher had her hands on her hips. Andrew Zankon had seen her take down men twice her size when she was in a bad mood.
"I told you I'd work day and night without stop if that's what it meant."
"And what did I say back?"
"You promised me that I would," Andrew mumbled to the ground.
"Don't forget that." Teacher turned away from him and returned to the steak she was chopping up for them to eat latter that day. He sighed in defeat and turned away dejectedly, until he heard her speak up again.
"Andrew."
"Yeah Teacher?"
"Pick up something nice for that Hodgeson girl when you go, will you? She's had eyes for no one but you ever since you arrived here." Andrew grinned and let out a whoop of joy.
"Yes, ma'am!"
She wasn't very old; late twenties or early thirties at the very oldest. She was brilliant, funny, kind, and, though it almost made him want to barf to admit it, very pretty. With long blond hair and sparkling blue eyes, Andrew could imagine that if she had been his age and didn't possess the ability to knock him out in less than five seconds, he would have been one in a long line of suitors.
"Teacher!"
"What is it this time, Andrew?"
"Someone dropped off flowers again!"
There was the sound of a heavy sigh, then footsteps. Teacher appeared in the door soon enough and took one look at the flowers before telling him to throw them in the trash.
"Why don't you ever accept the flowers, Teacher?" Andrew asked as she turned around to continue with her work. She stopped mid-step and didn't turn. For a moment he was scared she was going to be mad, but when she answered her voice was very small and quiet. She sounded almost like a teenager.
"Because they aren't… they don't come from him."
Without another word or gesture she continued to her workshop. She didn't emerge until late the next day.
She always surprised me too. With the people she knew, the things she did, the way she reacted to simple comments, even the way she never seemed to celebrate important holidays. One time she had taken one look at my friend Michael's hair and ran away. Michael had been reasonably offended; he had spent a long time growing out his hair long to wear in a braid.
"Teacher," Andrew began as he straightened. They had both spent the past few hours hunched over pieces of metal. In those few short hours they had turned a hunk of metal into crafted mechanical pieces that would soon change someone's life. That was one of the reasons he loved automail so much. All it took was some metal and a few wires to make a difference in the world.
Teacher nodded without looking up from her plating. "What is it?"
"What's the best compliment you've ever gotten for your automail?"
She did stop at this comment. The sparks stopped flying and she even removed her glasses. Andrew watched in her in fascination. Winry Rockbell was considered one of the best, if not the best, automail mechanic in Amestris. Even Roy Mustang himself had complimented her automail in a press conference. As he waited for her to respond (it would probably take a long time to sift through all the recommendations she's been given) he tried to imagine what she would say.
However it only took a few seconds to come up with an answer.
"Thanks. You always made the best."
"Really?" he asked, incredulous. Surely there must be something grander than that.
"Yup. Now get back to work. If you don't finish that by today Mr. Winch is going to have an unbalanced shoulder joint and we both know how bad that would turn out."
It wasn't until years later when I had already set up my own automail shop that the news came. It hadn't been a very special day. Melanie, my wife, had taken our two year old and gone to the market to pick up some groceries and a few parts for me. I was working diligently on a leg for Mrs. Kurios when a paper boy ran past the front door.
"Hey you! Paper boy!" He stopped and looked around. When he saw Andrew sitting outside he approached the gate cautiously. It must have looked odd, a man in his mid-twenties sitting the middle of his yard on a cold winter day holding a metal prosthetic limb.
"Yes, sir?"
"Do you have any extra copies? I'll pay you fair." The paper boy nodded.
"You're in luck, sir. The Abercrofts just canceled their prescription and it hasn't gotten around to HQ yet. I have their copy right here in my bag. That'll be 20 cens, sir."
Andrew mutely handed over the money and took a look at the paper. The paper bore a huge headline reading
"GIFTED AUTOMAIL MECHANIC NO LONGER WITH US"
Winry Rockbell, a gifted and well-known automail mechanic, passed away in a fire at her home around 4:22 PM on May 30. The cause of this fire is unknown, but Rockbell was famous for bringing her work home with her and it is quite possible the fire started while she was working on automail. Neighbors reported the fire around 4:30 when the smoke was spotted rising from the home.
Rockbell was a self-made name in the automail industry. Her grandmother, Pinako Rockbell, was also an automail engineer and taught Rockbell how to make automail at a young age. By fifteen, the prodigy was already famous to some degree for her work on State Alchemist Edward Elric's own prosthetic limbs. When she arrived in Rushvalley shortly after Elric's disappearance, she caused quite a splash by blowing away most of her competition. It was not a well-kept secret that the best automail to be found in Rushvalley was Garfeil's, where Rockbell was apprenticed.
The automail mechanic's career was only improved by her influence in what has in recent years been dubbed "The Tin Soldier War". While visiting Central during the battle, Rockbell was able to provide much needed medical care to injured citizens, even offering free automail for those who needed it. The newly reinstated Brigadier General Roy Mustang praised Rockbell for her actions and presented her with the State Alchemist pocket watch of Edward Elric, which was personally searched for and retrieved by Mustang a year or so previously.
When experts found Rockbell's body in the wreckage of her home, the blond was holding this very same watch tightly in her hand. Apparently, she had returned to her home to grab the pocket watch when she was killed. Beyond being her first customer, Edward Elric was a close personal friend of Rockbell's, as was the Fullmetal Alchemist's little brother.
Her death is a blow to automail mechanics and users across the entire country…
The newspaper dropped to the floor.
When Melanie came home from the market, she found me curled up in a fetal position on our couch. I couldn't believe that Teacher was dead. It took her almost a whole hour to coax me off the couch and into bed where I cried for a few more hours. Even after I had left her apprenticeship, she had still played a huge part in my life. She became a friend.
"I can't believe you actually got married. And you're a father to boot!" Teacher exclaimed as she bounced Andrew's son on her knee. Melanie smiled and held Andrew's hand tight. Jacob was almost seven months old and Melanie was still having major problems letting him out of her hands for longer than a few minutes.
"Well, I do partly have you to thank for that, Teacher. You're the one who gave me the advice to bring Melanie something nice when I met her at the park."
"And for that, I thank you," Melanie finished up, addressing his teacher directly for the first time since their arrival. Teacher smiled at her and started cooing to Jacob. The baby giggled and cooed in return.
"Melanie, darling, could you go get our things arranged?" Andrew asked suddenly. His wife looked at him strangely but she stood up and left the room. The room grew silent and for a moment Andrew almost lost his courage.
"Teacher. Why did you never get married?"
The finger which had been hovering near Jacob's mouth halted. She didn't look up. Just sat there, frozen. Swallowing his fear, he continued.
"Don't tell me you've never been given the opportunity because I know that's not true. There are hundreds of men who would jump at the chance to be your husband. Why did you never accept any of them?"
She still didn't say a word.
"Teacher, I know it's not my business, but please. Please tell me."
He was almost about to give up and go join his wife when she spoke.
"I never got married because I don't have a heart to give. It's been someone else's since we were little children."
The funeral was a very quiet affair. For all her fans and customers, Teacher actually had very few people she really cared about. Her grandmother had passed away a decade or so previously and the Elric brothers were dead. There was a woman named Rose there with a child that looked a few years younger than me. I recognized Roy Mustang, his wife, and Alex Armstrong for pictures in the news. Shecka, who had visited us a number of times, was crying into a hankercheif. A woman about his age he remembered being named Elicia was crying and holding on to another crying woman that looked like her mother.
A lot of people spoke, but Andrew couldn't follow most of what they said. Elicia said something about Teacher being an older sister and helping her through tough times. Armstrong started crying enough to practically drown the crowd and barely said any words at all. Shecka was sobbing between phrases that included "breaking in", "space aliens", and "water secretary monsters". Riza Mustang talked about a strong woman who was always there for people when they needed it most. Rose testified that Winry was always welcoming to her and her child. The boy said that Winry acted as a second mother or an aunt to him.
When Andrew stood up he could barely choke out a few words.
"Teacher… Teacher was an amazing person. She taught me everything and she loved me. I know that. I loved her too. Even though she was never married or had any kids of her own, she was mine. I… I'm really going to miss her…"
Roy Mustang stood up after her. Much of what he said didn't make sense; something about forgiveness and kindness.
"Winry was always there for the Elrics, especially Edward. He put her through a lot of crap—" A handful of people chuckled quietly. "but she was always there anyways. Winry- Winry knew what it meant to forgive and forget. Even when she discovered the worst of people."
Not many other people choose to speak after that. When there was no one else to go forward, whoever was in charge stepped forward and told us that it was time to lower the coffin. If we wanted to, we could step forward and add a memento to the box before it was lowered. I moved forward to add a letter before it went down. I saw other people adding things (one of which was her favorite wrench) and then I added mine.
I didn't mention the fact that Roy Mustang was crying as he placed a beat up State Alchemist's watch on the very top. Nor did I mention the fact that I knew exactly what that would have meant to Teacher. Because for all she tried to hide it, I knew exactly why she had never chosen the other men. They weren't him.
Winry Rockbell's heart already belonged to Edward Elric and couldn't give it even if she had it.
I've been getting better at reviewing things I read, so I have no guilt in saying PLEASE REVIEW!