Hello, Holly here! I'm adding to the romance of the weekend. A request from Pandora for a cute and fluffy story based on Imogen Heap's 'The Walk'. I'd never heard the song before but I thought it suited Ed and Winry perfectly. Happy Valentines for Sunday 3
"Um... Winry..." he says nervously. He's shuffling from foot to foot and I can tell he's trying his best to hold it together. "can I ask you something?"
"Sure..." I say and I find I'm almost whispering.
"Would you maybe want to get married... you know, when we're older?" he asks.
Oh...
I hesitate and he looks at me expectantly, hope filling those huge puppy-dog eyes of his. I don't want to hurt his feelings but how can I tell him the truth?
"Um... see the thing is Al... I..." Pause. Just see you as a friend? Have no romantic feelings for you at all? Am really in love with your brother? "...can't marry someone who is shorter than me." Good save? Al smiles warmly and lets out a soft laugh.
"I thought you'd say that." he says. "It was worth a try though."
"Al..." He doesn't look disappointed. He doesn't even look as if he's expecting any other answer. He just continues to smile at me and I feel like the worst person in the world, like I'm all inside out and upside down.
"Are you and Granny still coming over to ours later?" he asks when I don't say anything. "Mum is making her amazing stew specially."
"Um sure thing," I say, now I'm the one who's shuffling. "we'll be there." Al practically beams at me.
"Awesome," he says. "I'll see you later." He runs back towards his house probably to go and find Ed. He turns at the end of the path and waves to me. I wave back and he continues running. I stare after him for a little while before I turn to make my own way home. I feel sad. Al why did you have to go and ask a stupid question like that? Stupid! Stupid Al asking me stupid questions that I can't answer because of my stupid feelings!
"Wow! That was kinda harsh don't you think?" a voice says from behind me. I had been so wrapped up in my own thoughts I hadn't noticed anyone else was here. I ignore him. I don't have the patience to deal with him right now, especially if he was watching us.
"Go away Edward." I snap. I feel a weakness coming on but I ignore it. I push it down and pretend that it's not there. He doesn't need to know how I feel about him and if he's going to give me a hard time about what just happened I don't want him to know. So what if I love him? He's a jerk and I don't want to be in love with him! Stupid feelings, stupid Ed!
"Ah come on Winry," he says running to catch up with me. "I'm just making an observation." I stop and round on him, glaring.
"Were you spying on me?" I hiss, placing my hands on my hips so that I look even more menacing... well at least I hope I do. "Because that's low, even for you Edward!" He holds up his hands in defence, backing away slightly.
"I wasn't spying I swear." he says. "I just saw Al leaving and I wanted to make sure that you were alright."
"Then you do know why he came to talk to me?" I growl. I'm so angry with him I want to hit him and I know that if he keeps talking then I will hit him. Maybe this is better. Maybe if I get angry at him and I stay angry at him then I won't be thinking too much about the fact that all I want to do is have him ask me the exact same question Al just did. He's just grinning at me and the urge to punch him gets stronger. "I think you'd better leave."
"Why?" he asks. "What did I do?"
"Do you want me to write you a list?" I ask sarcastically. Now it's his turn to glare at me.
"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked. I feel myself getting even angrier. Oh... and I was doing so well.
"You're such a jerk!" I shout and I can feel tears pricking the corners of my eyes. I didn't want Al to ask me a question like that and I didn't mean to make him sad by turning him down. I couldn't tell him the real reason so of course I made something up! I don't want this and I don't know what I can do to make this right. It's not meant to be like this. It's not what I planned at all – I don't want to feel like this! I turn so that he doesn't see me crying. I hear him gasp behind me and feel his hand on my shoulder.
"Hey Winry are you crying?" he asks and suddenly appears in front of me. "Please don't cry! Oh man, I didn't mean to make you cry." I can't stop them, tears are falling down my face now and I'm rubbing my eyes trying to stop them but it isn't helping. Through the tears I can see him looking terrified and flapping because he doesn't know what to do when there is a girl crying in front of him. It's the look he has on his face every time he sees me cry.
"It's all your fault!" I sob as I try, without success, to wipe my tears away. I continue to cry until I feel his arms wrap around me. I stop crying as soon as I feel him hugging me. I'm so surprised I don't know what else to do. I just stand there with tears drying on my cheeks and my hands handing uselessly by my sides.
"I'm sorry." he whispers. "I didn't mean to make you cry."
"It's okay." I say. It's not but I don't know what else to say.
"No it's not." he says. "I'm a jerk. I'm sorry I made you cry. Can we just be friends again?" He sounds so sincere that I can't help but smile. I wrap my arms around his waist and hug him back. I take a deep breath and he smells so intrinsically Ed that I feel my heart flutter a little in my chest. I realise I need to say something – I've been quiet for too long – but I don't know how much I trust myself to say something sensible.
"Sure." I say. That's nice and safe. "Just make sure you don't make me cry again."
"Deal." he says. I sigh against his chest, this is all his fault.
I flop down on to the floor beside Ed's makeshift bed on the sofa. I'm exhausted, I'm sweaty, I'm covered in grease and my hands are killing me. I lean against the side of the sofa and close my eyes, letting out the breath I was holding. I feel like I've been awake for weeks. Since Al had shown up at the door a few days ago in a giant suit of armour carrying Ed, who was missing his arm and his leg, Granny and I had been all over the place.
Trying to stop Ed from bleeding to death, trying to find out what happened to him and to Al (especially as neither of them seems to want to talk about it), then yesterday that tall man from the military came and spoke to Granny about Ed. I didn't talk to him but I spoke to his friend, Miss Hawkeye, and she was really nice. I don't know what kind of trouble Ed and Al have gotten themselves into (and neither of them are going to tell me anytime soon) but I guess it's pretty serious for the men from the military to be getting involved.
Once they had gone Ed said that he wanted me and Granny to fit him with automail, the determination that is just so Ed coming back to him. Designing it and actually fitting it had taken forever, especially with Ed squirming so much all the time, but now it's done and he's sleeping soundly on the sofa. Granny's gone to make some tea and I'm just sitting on the floor leaning against the side of the sofa not really sure what to do with myself. It's been a long night for Ed and he deserves the rest after everything. I need to stay awake in case he wakes up and needs me but my eyes feel really heavy. Maybe if I just lean back and take a little nap for a couple of minutes, I'll make sure that I'm awake before he is.
"Winry?" Ed asks softly. I feel him place his metal hand on top of my head. I can tell he's trying to be really gentle with it which makes sense as he doesn't know what he can and can't do with it yet. I look up and see him leaning over the side of the sofa looking down at me. There are dark circles under his eyes and there are probably dark circles under mine too – we must make a right picture together. God knows how long we've both been awake. I smile up at him in, what I hope is, a non exhausted way.
"You should be asleep." I tell him. He doesn't reply. "Does it still hurt?" I ask when he doesn't say anything. He shakes his head slightly.
"Not really." I can tell he's lying (I've seen people getting automail fitted and it looks like it sucks) but I don't say anything because I know he's putting on a brave face for me. I feel tears at the corners of my eyes again and my heart aches. I hate to see him in this much pain. It was hard enough when his mum died and I couldn't do anything to cheer him up but when Al first brought him here he looked so broken and knowing that there was nothing I could do to help him. All I want to do is hug him and tell him that everything is going to be okay and do whatever I can for him but I don't know how much I can do for him right now. It hurts every time I look at him. His eyes widen as he stares down at me. "Hey Winry don't cry!"
"I'm not crying." I tell him and wipe my hand over my face. I smile so that he doesn't know I'm lying. "I'm just need some sleep. I'm kind of tired."
"You promise?"
"Yeah," I nod. "and you need sleep too. You've had a really hard thing done and your body needs rest to get itself back together. Now lie down and get some rest, you idiot." I'm sharp with him but if I scold him then maybe he'll do what I tell him and he won't see just how much it is breaking my heart to see him like this.
"Fine." he grumbles and lies back down. There is a moment of silence before I hear his voice again. "Hey Winry?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you." he says softly. The tears start rolling down my cheeks.
"No problem." I say and I'm grateful that my voice doesn't catch. I don't want him to know that I'm crying. It's not meant to be like this... I don't want to feel this bad for him and for Al and for everyone... Stupid Ed for getting himself into this. This is all his fault.
"Hey Winry!" Ed yells at me from across the train station. I had just put him and Al on a train to go wherever the hell it is they're going now (they won't tell me where they're off to, they never do, and I've given up asking). I turn to face him. There is a determined look on his face and it seems as if he is struggling to get out what he's thinking.
"What?" I ask frowning at him. If I look annoyed he might spit it out faster. He takes a deep breath, swallows and then points at me, his face bright red.
"The next time I make you cry..." he say, glaring at me. Good start Ed, thanks for that. I wait for him to carry on. He takes another deep breath. "The next time I make you cry they're going to be tears of joy because Al and I have our bodies back!"
He doesn't say anything else but gets on the train along with Al and is gone before I can react. I stand there and watch the train pull out of the station. Al leans out of the window to wave at me and I wave back. Ed doesn't come to the window and I imagine that he's sitting slumped down in his seat pretending that he hadn't just yelled that out in a crowded train station. If it had been me I would have been embarrassed but at the same time I can't help smiling to myself.
I had promised myself when Ed and Al first left home to come to Central and Ed took his State Alchemist exam that I wasn't going to think about him the way I had been before. I couldn't think about the possibility of maybe one day me and Ed getting married, moving back to Resembool, having kids and a normal life. The possibility for a normal life is no longer an option for Ed or Al and I guess that means for me as well.
I realised that the night I fitted Ed's automail so I stopped thinking about him like that. It had been difficult but it was getting easier, especially as he wasn't around at home that much. Then Ed had to go and say something like that, the idiot. I mean how stupid could you be? 'The next time I make you cry they're going to be tears of joy'. For goodness sake Ed! Now all those feelings that I have been trying to ignore are rushing to the surface and I can't help but smile at him. He really is such an idiot but that is why I love him because ever since we were little he has, and always will be, my idiot.
"Okay..." I say softly just staring after them. "Enough of that." I turn, sigh and walk out of the train station. I don't have anymore time to dwell on silly little things like my feelings right now, I need to keep my head focused on more important things. Ed has his quest and I guess I have mine, I have no idea what I'm going to do but I have too do something. I can't just sit by and do nothing while he goes off and finds the secret to the universe, or whatever it is that he's planning, so I'll just go and do my own thing and try not worry too much about Ed and Al. Who am I kidding, I'm always going to worry about then (Ed especially) but I guess that's what love does to you. This is all his fault.
Oh god it's good to be home! As much as I love being in Rush Valley it is nice to come back to Resembool every once in a while. Ever since Ed and Al had gone off on their quest to get their original bodies back I had ended up in some of the strangest places but now it was good to be back home. It's been strange following Ed around – he's so determined to keep me at arm's length but that just seems to make me more determined to follow him. He keeps telling me he wants to protect me but who's going to protect him? He's such an idiot.
Granny's nowhere to be seen so I guess she's asleep. Making sure that I don't wake her I quietly make my way up to my bedroom. I close the door behind me. This is going to be amazing – a night in my own bed and then Granny's amazing breakfast when I wake up (well if she's seen the note I left her on the fridge telling her that I'm here). I begin to strip off my shirt, I might have a bath as well, really go the whole nine yards on this one, when something in the corner of my room catches my eye. What the hell?
Slowly I turn and I see Ed sitting at my desk, eating a sandwich. He stares at me and I stare back at him, neither of us moving just maintaining eye contact with each other. Ed's face begins to turn red and I realise I'm holding my top to the point where I'm almost exposing myself to him. I open my mouth, about to scream, and he jumps to his feet. He's in front of me with his hand over my mouth before I have the chance. I let my top fall back down, grab his wrist and pull his hand away from my mouth.
"What the hell are you doing here?" I hiss.
"I was just looking for somewhere to eat my sandwich!" he says raising his hands in defence. He hasn't changed. He still looks terrified whenever I shout at him or cry in front of him. I can understand the fear when I'm shouting – I do have a tendency to embed wrenches into his skull when I shout at him.
"So you chose my room?" I ask incredulously. "How did you get to be this much of an idiot?" He laughs.
"Lots of practice." he says. "Anyway this was the only place I could sit and not be seen for a few hours."
"My god Edward!" I hiss at him, glaring up at him. "What is wrong with you? You know what will happen if anyone sees you! The danger that you're putting yourself in? Putting Granny in?"
"Hey, I thought about that!" he hisses back. "I checked to make sure that no one was around before I came in." He's glaring down at me and I'm glaring up at him and it's only then that I realise that it's just us in the room and he looks good. The last time I saw him was in Briggs and he was constantly wrapped up in layers and layers of huge coats and jackets. Now he's in just a shirt and it's like I've only just noticed that he's grown muscles.
I told myself long ago that he wasn't interested in me – he's been way too wrapped up in his own problems to notice me – so I would ignore the fact that I was interested in him but now that he's standing in front of me, we're alone in my bedroom and he's all filled out muscles, gorgeous hair looking a little tousled and... hang on, when did he get taller than me? He's a close as it gets without touching me and I feel a weakness coming on. I feel my face heat up.
"Stop that now." I tell him.
"I'm not doing anything." he says looking confused. He's always looked so cute when he's confused. I could lean forward and just kiss him. I really could, oh god! Big trouble! I'm losing control. My primary resistance is at a critical low if I'm thinking about kissing him. He leans a little closer, even more confused that I haven't said anything. "Hey Winry, you in there?" Oh no! Ed please don't make this harder than it already is...
"Will you just get the hell out of my room?" I practically yell at him, choosing anger over making a fool out of myself. I grab the collar of his shirt and drag him over to my door. I throw him out into the hallway and slam the door in his face, no longer caring about being quiet. I press the heels of my hands into my hot cheeks trying to calm myself down. My heart is beating faster than I would have expected and I really need to get a hold of myself.
It's not meant to be like this – this is not what I planned at all. I don't want to feel like this about Ed, not until all of this is over. I can't even entertain the notion because until he has got his and Al's bodies back to normal he's never going to notice me. Damn it! He shouldn't look that good when he's been on the road for so long and probably hasn't showered in days and I certainly shouldn't be this attracted to him. This is all his fault!
I never thought we'd get to this day. Ed and Al with their original bodies back and all the problems that they and the rest of the country had been having were resolved. Ed never did tell me what actually happened on the day that everyone in town ended up passing out for a little while. Al gave me the cliff notes but I'm still sure there's something they're not telling me. I will bring it up on occasion but Ed will give his typical Ed reaction – blush, splutter and avoid the subject. What an idiot. Even now he can't stay still though and I'm already walking Ed to the train station again so he can run off to god knows where on another adventure.
He hasn't said anything today. I've been talking to him since we left Granny's but he's just been surly and silent and it's making me want to smack him round the back of the head and tell him to stop being such a brat. There is obviously something on his mind but he needs to pull his head out of his arse and tell me what the hell is going on. God this is such an Ed way to deal with things and it's so frustrating! He's never going to change! I've been sitting here talking like an idiot while he sulks like a teenager.
"Hey are you listening to me?" I ask him. He heaves himself to his feet and begins to walk to the edge of the platform.
"Yeah whatever." he says.
"Whatever?" I ask, also getting to my feet, and fold my arms over my chest. "I was the one who was nice enough to walk you over here in the first place and keep you company. You know what I should have just left you to do it by yourself you ungrateful jerk!"
"Winry will you shut up a second." he says. It takes a second for that to sink in and I glare at him. I open my mouth to begin shouting at him again but he places his hand over my mouth to stop me. "I want to say something before I leave."
"Okay what is it?" I ask when he takes his hand away. He doesn't say anything but his ears turn red. "Ed?" Just like he did at the train station all those years ago. He points at me, his face bright red and his eyebrows furrowed.
"Equivalent exchange!" he practically shouts at me.
"Excuse me?" I ask when he doesn't make any other response. He's shaking as he stares at me and he looks so flustered I don't really know what to do.
"Equivalent exchange," he says again. "I'll give you half of my life if you give me half of yours!" I blink and stare at him. Was that supposed to be some kind of proposal? No! It's not meant to be like this! This is not what I planned at all! No girl wants the guy of their dreams to ask her to marry him with a freaking alchemic equation! Only Edward Elric would think that was a romantic proposal, I mean come on. My face heats up and I'm not totally sure whether that is out of embarrassment or out of anger.
"You idiot!" I shout at him. His jaw drops and his eyes widen a little. "You don't ask me like that! If you're going to ask me do it properly and while we're on the subject why don't I just give you my whole life seeing as you've already had what I've had up till now anyway!" The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them. I slap my hands over my mouth as if that will help me take them back.
He stares at me and I stare at him. Both of us are bright red in the face and neither of us seems to know what to do. I certainly don't. After all these years of keeping it hidden from him I'm suddenly blurting out that I've loved him all along. Why make me feel like this Ed? This isn't fair, is it? This is the point of no return now and even though he had already practically asked me I'm still terrified that my confession will scare him off. Ed's face crumples and he throws his head back and laughs.
"That was amazing!" he chortles, holding his stomach. "You just knocked equivalent exchange right on it's arse!"
"Hey don't laugh at me!" I shout still glaring at him. Then suddenly his arms are around me and he pulls me close into a hug. He can practically rest his chin on top of my head now, when on earth did that happen?
"I'm not laughing at you." he says softly. My face is on fire and I bury myself into his chest so that he can't see just how embarrassed I am. I raise my fist and gently hit him on the shoulder, barely even a punch at all.
"You're such an arse." I tell him and he only responds by hugging me tighter. After a moment where neither of us says anything he pulls back slightly. He smiles down at me before slipping one of his hands around the back of my head and leans his forehead against mine. I'm too scared to move, too scared to do anything unless I shatter the illusion and everything I've ever wanted is suddenly taken away from me. He uses his hold on the back of my neck to tilt my head upwards, looks at me for a second before leaning forward and kissing me softly.
My eyes snap open as his lips touch mine. Total brain overload, systems down, no response on any level. Ed's in total control and I am completely helpless to him. He increases the pressure on my lips slightly and my eyes slide close and I kiss him back. It's like I come back to myself and I give in. Clearly I'm not dreaming, this isn't an illusion and I'm going to relish every minute of it, freeze this moment in time forever. Far too quickly he pulls away. The train as pulled up and he has to leave. He presses a kiss to my forehead.
"I'll be back before you know it." he says softly and I feel a weakness coming on.
"Make sure you are." I say softly. I watch as he gets on the train and waves to me out the window as it pulls away. Once he has gone I gently touch my lips, I can still feel his against mine, and before I know it I'm laughing and crying at the same time. I chuckle softly to myself. This is all his fault.
"Ed!" I call through the hallway. The door to his study opens. "There you are now listen... oh hi Al." I realise as soon as the person steps out of the study that it's not Ed which still begs the question of where Ed is. I frown and hitch Sara slightly higher up onto my chest. She keeps wriggling and I know she just wants to be crawling around on the floor, which is why I want to get this done as soon as possible.
"You okay Winry?" Al asks grinning at me.
"Al have you seen Ed?" I ask him. "The photographer's all set up and ready to take the picture, I just need to find my darling husband."
"Last I saw of him Brother was up on the roof with Danny." he says. I roll my eyes and sigh loudly.
"Please tell me he's not hanging Danny over the roof like he's displaying a lion cub to a herd of animals again." I say. Al opens his mouth and then closes it again. "Al..."
"I promise nothing." he says.
"Oh for crying out loud." I sigh. I hitch Sara up again. Honestly how does she have so much energy? Just like her father I guess "Can you get him down please?"
"I'll try," Al says. "but you know Bother; he and Danny could stay up on that roof messing around for hours."
"Well tell him that if he won't come down when you ask, I'll go up and if that doesn't work I'll send May up." I tell him smiling sweetly. Al's eyes widen slightly.
"And then I'll have to make sure that he's still breathing." he says before returning to the study to go and fetch Ed. I just shake my head and go to find the photographer again to tell him that it will be a few more minutes.
A couple of minutes later all of us were standing in front of the camera; Ed holding Danny (both of them with manic grins on their faces, Danny the utter picture of his father), me holding Sara (who stopped wriggling long enough for the picture to be taken) with Al and May behind us – the perfect family photo. It's only after the photographer has taken the photo, packed up and left do I notice the matching grazes on both Ed and Danny's elbows. I raise an eyebrow at Ed and he grins at me sheepishly as he takes Sara from me.
"Care to explain why you and Danny were up on the roof and now have matching grazes?" I ask.
"Not really." he says and kisses my cheek quickly. I just place my hands on my hips, still fixing him with a raised eyebrow. His grin widens. "I love you." I roll my eyes.
"I love you too." I reply flatly. He reaches forward with the hand that isn't supporting Sara, slips it round the back on my neck and pulls me into a long kiss. I want to stay mad at him, I really do, but with his lips on mine I just can't help myself. I place a hand on his cheek and kiss him back with equal force. He's such an idiot but he is my idiot and I'm crazy for loving him. This is definitely all his fault.