Melody of a Fallen Tree
Summary: Post-manga oneshot. Ed/Winry. Passive-aggressive hijinks, fluff, and heart attacks ahoy! Also, spoilers. If you haven't finished the manga/Brotherhood, that is.
A/N: First, I must address the title. It literally has nothing to do with the oneshot. It's actually the name of the song I was listening to while starting this thing off. It's from the Marie Antoinette (2006, with Kirsten Dunst) Soundtrack, if you're wondering. Secondly, this is my first FMA fic even though I've been following the entire series since the first anime came out. I've seen Brotherhood, and read the manga as well. The end of it all officially wrenched my heart ^^ Thirdly, this plot bunny hopped onto my word processor via the TV show "Scrubs." I don't claim to own the plot, since I literally ripped it from the show – so don't get angry. It's just an itty-bitty scene that happens so fast, you literally miss it if you blink. It's toward the end of the episode called "My Lawyer's In Love" and for some reason after watching it, I thought of Winry pulling this on Ed. Fourth, you may just need to humor me for a bit (in regards to names of children, Ed's workplace, spans of time, and whatever else I hide behind my scapego – I mean, artistic license for!) Which brings us to the fifth subject at hand: enjoy!
"Hey, Ed!"
The blond man looked up from the desk he was previously slouching over, wiping a bit of drool from the corner of his lip as discreetly as possible. "What is it?"
"Phone." His co-worker pointed to the receiver he held in his hand. "It's your kid."
Edward furrowed a brow. "Isaac?" Well, it obviously had to be. Mary was still too young to properly navigate a telephone.
"I guess so." The co-worker replied, with a light shrug. "You only got one son, right?"
Ed took the phone and nodded before placing it to his ear. "Hello?" He paused for a response, but got nothing more than the sound of breathing. "Isaac?"
"Daddy?" The pathetic whimper of his 4-year-old's clearly frightened voice sent a cold punch to his gut.
"Isaac?" He gripped the phone, as the co-workers within earshot gave the tone of his voice looks ranging from mild curiosity to moderate concern. "What's wrong? Where are you?"
"Daddy, I'm scared." His son told him. "I dunno where I am."
"What are you talking about?" He turned around to ignore the respective stares of his co-workers. "Where are you calling me from?"
"I dunno." He answered. "But there are a lot of scary people here." Isaac paused, and Ed's keen ears picked up another set of whispers. Someone was feeding him lines. "You were supposed to come get me from school today, but you never showed up." His son parroted. "So I tried to come find you instead, and I now I'm lost."
He reminded himself to keep a cool head as he felt the hot gazes of busybodies boring into his back. "What do the people look like, Isaac? Do you recognize anyone or anything? Are you still in Resembool?" There was a lapse in his response, during which Ed heard more whispering. He was definitely being told what to say.
"Uh…no." He knew when his own son was lying, dammit. "It's dark. The lady – ow! – I, um, I mean these people…they want the Fullmetal Alchemist."
Ah, shit.
It had been several years since he'd last heard that name. Who could possibly want revenge against him after so long? He scanned his memory for any sort of loose end, but no face would appear.
But something wasn't quite right – Isaac was acting so meek. And with his father's own courage and tenacity running in his blood, the boy didn't exactly do 'meek.' Hell, with Winry's own disposition toward homicide rampage via nearby objects, neither of their children seemed likely candidates for kidnappings. Cooperative ones, at least, considering they had a hard enough time getting them to eat their damn dinner each night…
"Isaac, I need you to focus, okay?" He kept his tone even and controlled, like he was merely explaining how to plant seeds in their garden again. "What is the last thing you remember seeing?" More whispers. "Don't listen to them!" He shouted. "Listen to me! Answer me, Isaac!" Ed felt a hand on his shoulder and whirled around, using the motion to knock it off with his opposite arm. He instantly gave an apologetic look when he remembered where he was.
"Is everything alright?" his co-worker asked, arms up in surrender.
Ed wasn't sure how to respond.
"Daddy?"
He snapped back to attention. "Yeah! Isaac, I'm here."
"She says – ow! – I mean, um, they say that they want you."
"They want me?"
"Yeah…uh…now." Isaac added. "They want you to meet them in town – with your pocket watch."
His State Alchemist pocket watch? "Isaac, don't worry. I'm on my way right now. Don't worry." The phone choked him up as he headed for his desk to retrieve his coat. "Goddammit…" he growled under his breath, before deciding to forget about it. "I'm gonna come get you, Isaac, okay? I'm gonna make these people wish they'd never lay a hand on you. I promise. Just stay strong for now, alright?"
"Okay, Daddy." His son's voice was as distraught as it was when he'd first called, making Ed even more suspicious. "They say to hurry up. They aren't patient people."
"Hello?"
"Hello, Winry." Another woman's voice greeted cordially. "This is Miss Noam, Isaac's teacher, remember?"
Winry felt a migraine coming on. "Yes." She nodded, eyeing Mary like a hawk as the 2-year-old dashed across the carpet. "I remember. What can I do for you?" A pause. "Did Isaac get into another fight again?"
"No, no." Miss Noam assured with a chuckle. "I'm here with Isaac right now. Are you aware that class ended nearly 45 minutes ago?"
Winry frowned and searched her ambient surroundings for a clock, coming up short. That was another thing she really should add to the basement, she noted. "No, I'm afraid I lost track of time. Besides, Ed was supposed to come get him today."
"That's what Isaac told me, but he only knows the house number…hence this phone call."
The blonde sighed. "Alright. I'm on my way now. Thank you for staying with him, Miss Noam."
"It's no problem. Isaac's quite the little charmer."
Winry just released a dry laugh before hanging up and scouring the grounds for her daughter. "Mary? Get your shoes, we're going for a walk!" There was a clatter from behind and she spun around, heart leaping as her little girl managed knock her trusty wrench to the ground. "Mary Susan Elric!" She scolded, retrieving the fallen tool with a huff of vexation. "What did I tell you about touching Mommy's tools?"
Mary just stared up at her with her big blue eyes about to burst. "Twubble?"
Winry nodded, shaking her wrench like a ruler at the small girl. "Yes. Mary is in twubble. Lots of twubble." Then she sighed. "You could have gotten hurt if this thing fell on you, you know that?" She slung the tool in question over her shoulder and chuckled lightly. "You should see what happens to your nitwit father when he lays eyes on…" She drifted off, a brilliant plan taking her mind hostage for a moment. "C'mon, where are your shoes? We're about to teach Daddy a lesson in responsibility."
"You want me to lie to Dad?"
"What?" Winry laughed dramatically, wrench slung across her shoulder like a baseball bat. "Don't be silly, Isaac. Of course I don't want you to lie!" She paused, cursing their son's adroit nature. Even at 4, he was able to keep up with adult conversations. She and Ed had been forced to come up with several outlandish code words when it came to dealing with certain topics. It was just another thing she could blame her husband for, giving their son a brain like a damn sponge. "Well, you know. It won't be lying, per se. More like…uh…story-telling? Yeah, let's go with that." She laughed some more. "You'll be telling your father a story!"
Isaac's blue-green eyes narrowed in consideration. "Like the people on the radio do?"
"Yes!" She grinned deviously. "Exactly like the people on the radio shows! So whaddya say, son? Will you do Mommy this favor and put on a show for your father?"
Isaac shrugged. "Okay."
She squealed and shoved herself and her two children into the phone booth, dialing the numbers she'd memorized long ago and handing the phone to Isaac. "Remember that time you got lost in that cornfield? Try and sound like that."
He nodded and put on a face of concentration when someone on the opposite line answered. Winry stared at the nondescript building across the street and grinned like the devil. The greatest minds in Resembool were assembled in an office somewhere up there, Ed being one of them.
"Is Edward Elric there, please?"
Winry nodded in satisfaction at her son's politeness and grabbed Mary when the little girl stretched her arms out for her. It gave her and Isaac a bit more room to space out, at the very least.
"Daddy?" He looked up at his mom excitedly as she beamed back down at him, jiggling Mary at her hip. "Daddy, I'm scared. I dunno where I am."
Damn. Winry gave the top of the boy's head an appreciative glance. If it turned out he wasn't the nerd his father was, there would always be radio shows to fall back on.
He looked up at her anxiously as he spoke into the receiver. "I dunno."
"What'd he ask?" she demanded.
"A lot of questions."
"Figures…" She rolled her eyes. "Just tell him…that there're a lot of scary people."
"There are a lot of scary people here."
Winry grinned and crouched down to whisper into her son's ear before taking the receiver altogether. She'd listen to her husband's voice as it fluctuated from the levelheaded alchemist of old to the panicked father as of late. She'd whisper lines and hand the receiver back to Isaac, who'd deliver them quite well until she sensed his boredom and decided to wrap it up.
"Tell him to come outside with his pocket watch." In all honesty, she had no idea where she was going with this. At first, she planned on making it seem like an old nemesis had returned to Resembool to kidnap his only son for revenge…until she remembered that she had no clue who the hell Ed's enemies were anymore.
Isaac climbed to his tiptoes to hang up the receiver.
"Is he coming?"
"He's on his way now."
"Great!" She grabbed his hand and kicked the door open again. "Hurry, we have to beat him to the door!" She ran across the road and crouched behind the building's stoop with the kids, a wide grin plastered on her face. Amusedly, she wondered who the true children were here – the ones looking bemusedly up at her, or the one running around town with them?
Suddenly the door opened and she jerked at its slam. Yep. That was definitely Edward, making a ruckus and raising hell in distress. God, and she married this guy? She released a resigned sigh as a flash of blond zoomed by.
"Hey, Ed!" She cried, standing to wind up her pitch.
He turned, realization dawning across his features, just in time to catch the wrench square in the face. Passers-by froze and gaped in horror as the blond man in a blazer went down, and quickly walked the opposite way when they spotted the blonde woman in work boots descend upon him.
"Ugh…Goddammit, Winry!" He exclaimed, covering his face with his hand and sitting up on the opposite elbow. "Are you trying to become a single mother or something?.!"
"Don't tempt me, dear." She told him sweetly, crouching down to retrieve her wrench. "My job would be a helluva lot easier if I was the only doing it! You forgot to get your son from school. Again."
He fell back onto the sidewalk, defeated. "I know…"
"His teacher called to tell me they'd been waiting for 45 minutes!"
His golden eyes smoldered. "So you stage a kidnapping?.! Are you completely off your rocker?.!"
She gave him another wallop as a tiny crowd began to form – from a safe distance, of course. Windows from Ed's building were opened so his co-workers could have a good view, too.
"For Christ's Sake, woman!" He covered his head with his arms. "I'm not the only one who needs my brain, you know!"
"Alchemists are a dime a dozen." She scoffed, looming over him. "Deadbeat dads are too."
He glared at her. "I'm not a damn deadbeat and you know it." He began to stand up and dust himself off. "Don't go giving them the wrong impression."
"I'm not the one in charge of how you choose to project yourself to the world, Edward." She pointed the wrench at him and he flinched away on instinct. "None of this would have happened if you just remembered to pick up your son."
Ed sighed. "You're right that I should have remembered."
"Damn right." She corrected.
"But you've definitely got a screw loose if your reaction to something like that is to stage his kidnapping!" He added. "How is that logical in any way, shape, or form, Winry?.!"
"Shut up!" She snapped. "You're a scientist – you think in the objective. I'm a mechanic – I think in the subjective!"
He stared. "Alright…now explain to me how that was logical in any way –"
She flung the wrench again, but he was able to dodge due to her anger fueling bad aim. He stopped the wrench with his foot as it skidded against the sidewalk and smiled at her, holding it up like a peace offering. She took it back grudgingly, grumbling under her breath about stupid y-chromosomes and scatter-brained husbands.
A/N: Okay, so the reason why the ending is so lame is because this isn't the original one I wanted to use. But it was getting too long, so I decided to cut it off here. The original ending will be posted as a second chapter, but I've labeled this as "complete" anyway considering this still has a form of closure and can still stand on its own. I hope you enjoyed because I wrote this in one night and get the feeling it's a bit contrived and predictable. Hopefully chapter 2 will fix that! Thanks for reading!