Hey everyone! Gabunny reporting for duty )
This story is my first songfic, first FMA fanfic, and my first published fanfic. So you really have to let me know what you think of my writing, and this story! Criticism is great, flames not-so-great, but every review is fantastic.
I know that it's a pretty weird song choice, what with Ed being an Atheist, and there are some pretty big holes, but this is fan fiction, guys
Rambling is distracting, so on with my songfic! I hope you enjoy )
-Gabrielle
How Great Thou Art
Winry dropped the wrench and automail she was repairing and wandered into the kitchen.
There was no sign of Granny Pinako – not surprising, as it was nearing midnight. The mechanic yawned as she looked for something to drink before she turned in for the night. And the first liquid she saw was sitting innocently on the kitchen table.
Winry picked up the bottle of milk and sighed. Was he ever going to get over this anti-milk complex? She strode into the living room to grill the state alchemist about his cow paranoia.
"Yo Ed, are you ever going to drink this…"
Winry stared around an Ed-free living room. "Oka-ay, I guess not."
She fell onto the sofa and sighed. "Where did he get to."
Her long-time friend had returned to Risembool with his mechanical limbs working just fine. And it made no sense.
Winry frowned as she thought back to the afternoon.
"Heeyy, it's the automail geek!"
Winry whipped around to see a familiar figure making his way up to her house.
"Whatever, alchemy geek. What have you done this time?" Winry got up and ran over to inspect the damage.
"N-nothing. I'm just back for a couple of days."
Winry narrowed her eyes. "Oh reeeeaaaallly?" she said skeptically.
Ed waved his hands and laughed nervously. "Yeah! Al's still up in Central, though."
The mechanic smiled. "Well, that does make a nice change. But while you're here, I'll do some maintenance anyways..."
At the time she had joked with him as always, but now Winry was kind of worried. Risembool held a lot of bad memories for Ed, and since that fateful day in October a few years ago, Ed had only returned for automail repair. There had to be a reason for him to turn up again out of the blue.
Unfortunately, Winry knew jack about what Ed was doing these days, and knowing Ed, he would never tell her anyway. The mechanic sighed, and looked over at the coffee table beside the couch.
O Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder
Consider all the works they hands have made,
Winry smiled at the flowers and wrench on the table.
"Here you go, Winry! Flowers!" The alchemist beamed as he handed them over to her.
"Uh…" she said, staring at the freesias. Flowers? The hell did THAT come from…
"I had already transmuted them before I realized that you'd want another wrench instead. So you can have both." Ed flung a wrench at her – literally. She ducked and the wrench hit Den instead.
"What was that for?!" she yelled.
"Well, you're always throwing one at me." Ed retorted.
Winry replied by throwing another wrench right back at him.
It was definitely the most confusing thing Ed had ever done for her. Winry didn't know what to make of it.
The mechanic rolled off the sofa and walked out onto the porch, to see if her friend was outside.
At the absence of the blond alchemist outside Winry's home, the mechanic sighed again and sat on the steps to think.
'Where could he be at this hour?' Winry thought, looking around. It's not like there was anywhere else he could be in Risembool…right?
Den trotted out onto the porch and looked at her, panting and wagging her tail. And suddenly the blonde girl started babbling.
"There is no way I like him, you got that? I mean, geez, he's never around, and even if he was it wouldn't mean anything, and-" Winry stopped her denial lecture and looked at her dog. "What am I telling you this for, anyway? You're my DOG."
Den replied by panting some more.
Winry sighed. "Oh god. I've lost it. I guess I'm in trouble now, huh Den?" she said to the dog, and patted him on the head. "Here I am talking to a canine about a little short guy I've known since I was a kid."
Winry leant back and stared at the night sky.
I see the stars,
"…Ed" Winry whispered, the stars twinkling above her.
I hear the mighty thunder
The sky lit up like it had done in Risembool once before, and the deafening bang was heard for miles around.
"ED!!" Winry screamed, jumping up and trying to see through the blinding light.
Thy pow'r throughout the universe displayed
Den barked at the source of the power, confused and scared, and his owner started shaking uncontrollably.
Then sings my soul,
"NO!!" Winry screamed, as she stumbled forward and lost her balance. There was another bang as the mechanic tripped over the porch steps and fell onto the path leading up to her home. "NO!!"
My Savior God to thee
How great thou art
How great thou art
The light dimmed a little, and the stars twinkled through the blinding rays, lighting and shining upon the two overcome figures by the house with a sign proclaiming "Automail".
Then sings my soul
The blonde mechanic keeled over, gasping for breath as she felt like she was being ripped apart. This was wrong, this was all terribly wrong –
My Savior God to thee
- no, it couldn't be happening, it was not happening, not again, please let it not be happening, please let it be a dream –
How great thou art
Winry pushed herself off the ground and stared at the extraordinary night sky, stars twinkling and reflecting like diamonds.
"Wake up" the blonde girl told the sky, shaking her head and screwing up her face. "WAKE UP!"
How great thou art
But the beautiful display of light and space did not disappear, no matter how many times Winry screamed and wanted it to. Slowly, regretfully, Winry realized that the power was coming from the place where the Elric house used to be. And the mechanic knew what she had to do to try and stop this nightmare.
When through the woods and forest glades I wander
Winry ran as fast as she could to where he was, the familiar scenery of Risembool flashing by as she stumbled down the hill and turned the corner to the Elric's old home.
And hear the bird sing sweetly in the trees
"Look, Winry! Look what I made!"
"That's not the present, silly!"
"I…I'm sorry, Winry"
"What's wrong?"
"Winry? Winry, are you alright?"
"Why are you crying?"
"You're hopeless"
"Heeyy, it's the Automail geek!"
"Here you go, Winry! Flowers!"
"...I hate milk"
"You have to eat, you know, or your body won't hold up"
"It's delicious"
"Next time we make you cry, it'll be tears of happiness!"
Tears welled at the blonde girl's eyes as memories came crashing back, drowning and overwhelming her. What has going to happen? What HAD happened? What was going one?
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur
He had done so much for her – why hadn't she noticed? Why hadn't she noticed till now, now when what if it was too late?
And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze
No matter how you looked at it, that was the cold, hard truth – Ed had always been there, even when he left Risembool, even when he traveled far from home and was scarred in many hardships. That was the truth – but why was she only registering how much he meant to her now?
And when I think that God, his Son not sparing
Winry slowed down as she reached the hill where she knew Ed was – not so much as out of breath rather than everything had suddenly gone pitch black. The sky returned to its normal dark colour, and Winry couldn't see a thing.
The mechanic grimaced and, putting her hands out in front of her, began to make her way up the hill.
Sent him to die, I can scarce take it in
The immediate shock started to subside, and Winry was starting to get really distraught. Why wasn't there any anguished scream this time? No cries of despair and regret? And the…that…that was missing, too.
That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing
So what forbidden art had been attempted this time? What did he try to do? What DID he do?
He bled and died to take away my sin
And with that thought consuming her, Winry braced herself as she approached the top of the hill.
When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation
"Ed?" Winry's voice shook as she looked around the top of the hill where she knew he was.
When all Winry got back was a suffocating, quiet silence, she started to panic.
"ED! Where...where are you, Ed? Where…where…"
Winry's voice trailed off as she saw a huddled figure bent over a transmutation circle.
She was scared, she was really scared, but her courage and love were strong, and Winry knew that she had to be brave. So, trembling but determined, the blonde girl stumbled over to the circle.
"Ed?" Even though she whispered, Winry's voice was like a scream in the painfully stiff quiet. But the alchemist has his back turned to her, and Winry uttered a gasp as she realized that his artificial arm lay on the ground at the edge of the circle.
The terror struck through the mechanic like a knife, but she knew she had to reach out to him. She had to be brave. She had to be strong.
Winry raised her hand and, shaking and terrified, bent down and placed it on Ed's shoulder.
"Ed?" she asked quietly, looking at the ground by her feet.
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart!
The alchemist finally responded, and Winry started as he stood up and turned to face her, moonlight streaming onto his face.
Winry looked at him worryingly, and desperately searched in his golden orbs for that light, that spark that she was looking for, that would make everything okay.
But she was distracted when he took her hands with not one, but two real, human arms.
Winry gasped in surprise, and with that breath the nightmare faded and the terror lifted.
Then I shall bow in humble adoration
The tears came again as Winry and Ed cried with relief, and held each other tightly as the worries and burdens flooded down their cheeks.
"You did it, Ed!" Winry whispered as she held him and never wanted to let go.
And there proclaim, my God how great thou art!