Title: Penelope
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist (compared to the Odyssey)
Author: Sofipitch
Rating: G
Word Count: 977
Summary: Penelope is waiting for her husband. Winry is used to living without the Elrics. And they won't be overshadowed by their men. (Penelope and Winry character comparison)
Warnings: Spoilers?
Penelope waited faithfully night and day for her husband to come home, walking the slopes of the Ithican cliffs, wondering when the familiar sails would pull into the horizon. And as she watched the world around her grow and change, her beautiful baby grow into a strapping young man, the thought of Odysseus' success never waned from her mind, although she is eventually tries to focus positively on his return rather then lamenting that he hasn't returned for twelves years now and Telemachus is staring at his father's bow with longing.
-X-
"Today is the anniversary. They burned down their house today." Winry looked out the kitchen window and could barely see the oak tree that once stood in front of the Elric house out of the corner of her eye. "One year," she said lightly. Not quiet enough to be whisper, but yet still simply a breath of air in comparison with her normal speaking voice.
"Those boys are lucky they haven't been drafted into any wars, with the way this country is; they're very lucky." Pinako handed Winry some milk to have with her breakfast and gestured for her to go sit down at the table. Winry let go of the window curtain she hadn't realized she had fisted in her hand.
"Only Edward would have been deported," Winry said as she sat down.
"But you know Alphonse. He'd follow."
Her grandmother was right about that. Alphonse would follow Edward to the ends of the earth. He believed in his older brother. And if he didn't go too, who would take care of Ed?
"He needs his brother." Winry took a sip of her milk. She was thinking of Ed.
"Both of them do."
Winry turned and looked back out of the window. From where she sat she couldn't see the ruble, but the bleak gray sky was enough to remind her of what anniversary she and her grandmother where celebrating.
The most antagonizing thing was that it simply wasn't her journey, even if she would fly to their side the moment they asked. But meanwhile, as she waited of the said call, she would wait patiently at her loom.
-X-
Sometimes Penelope would see sails in the shoreline. Most of the time the boats turned out to be travelers just sailing by, on their way to a destination nowhere near Ithaca. But once she swore she saw Odysseus' sails, but they quickly receded from view.
-X-
Edward didn't come for repairs on his auto mail as often as he needed to. Only when it was in enough of a critical condition that it would impede his mission would he come. In other words, he would come needing the ligament to be either completely rebuilt or would need a new hand, or other important section replaced. Winry had tried to explain to Edward that it cost him a lot more to not schedule a normal bi-monthly appointments, but he claimed the price of the repair to be the the same when you filtered in the train tickets.
His refusal to return to Risenbool as little as possible was almost astonishingly strong willed. And Winry couldn't make out whether Alphonse had the same feelings towards his hometown, but she suspected that he also only came because he had to.
To some degree, how belligerent they were to coming back hurt Winry's feelings, but over time she would learn that Edward's actions couldn't be held against him, since it rarely ever passes through his head to consider how other people feel-unless it's Al, he tries with Al.
Winry still made sure to do her absolute best job whenever they came, putting off all other work for them. She knew how important this mission was.
-X-
Although Odysseus' sails didn't appear in the horizon again, many others did. Perhaps even to men more grateful and overjoyed to see Penelope.
-X-
When Winry was finally needed back in Rush Valley, the disappointment on the brothers' faces as to her departure was baffling. She would've thought that they would be happy that she was leaving. She understood at this point though, that it wasn't only because she was annoying to Edward that he would want her gone, he wanted her out of harm's way. Yet she could tell that they wanted to keep her close, maybe for protective reasons as well.
Nevertheless, the list of customers and orders she had expended in her absence, and although the Elrics always came first, she was now an individual mechanic. She would forever be pinned to the title of the Fullmetal Alchemist's mechanic, but now she was becoming known for other reasons, for her own merit. Her connections were becoming less and less relevant for her career.
It was nice to not stand in the shadow of a great male and for once be recognized for her own genius.
-X-
Penelope would always be known for her husband's merit and cleverness, but that didn't make her any less of a hero in her own story. If the story where about her, she might not have only been recognized as simply the hero's wife. The prize to be won at the end of the story. She might be recognized for her own cleverness. Her own strength in ruling Ithaca and raising her son on her own. But the story is of her husband and his adventures, and while her story is interwoven with his, she still retains her individuality. She is respected and loved for simply being Penelope, the wife of Odysseus who was loyal and would fool all suitors to stay with her husband. She was the hero's wife, yet at the same time, if one where to peer into the background, you would see her triumphing in her own Odyssey.
Her story was apart of her husbands, yet still all her own.