Dream with Me

By Vitreux

Standard Disclaimers Apply.

Chapter One

Arrival

Winry wiped the sweat off her face; she looked down at the pieces of mechanical devices on the table and wondered what the next step should be. After all the fuss over Edward's and Alphonse's sudden stay this night she never really had the time to think about the new process on Ed's auto-mail. She picked up a piece of tool and without warning; a picture of Ed came to her mind.

It had been a year since Ed and Al's last stopover at her house, she would not call it a visit or anything nice like that, they came here only because Ed's auto-mail had gotten into a really bad situation. It was the same reason every time. They came as they went, without leaving a goodbye they only told her the cause of their departure. They always left before she had the chance to tell them to be careful, or to watch out for danger. But who was she kidding? They live a world made of danger. She wanted them to stay more than anyone else, but she knew the determination on their faces was something she could not stand upon. They carried a deep burden, and she understood the pain that they held.

What could she do to help them? Ever since her parents died her wish for helping the sick and poor was planted deep in her mind, and after she saw the tragic that happened to the Elrics… her determination grew even stronger. She knew what she had to do.

Father and mother… I'm trying my best.

She thought about the condition she was in, and felt a sharp pain of guilt. Would her parents be happy with the state of her shop? She lost aunt Pinako two years ago; she was left all alone to continue the business. Feeling the weight of her thoughts bearing down on her, she bit her lip. She would never admit it to herself, but now she felt it clearly- she was so tired. Tired of worrying about the money, about Ed and Al, most of all, she was tired of being alone. Sure there was the dog… but at night, or times like this she had to bear the worry and the guilt alone.

She stepped back and stared at the door of the room where Ed slept in. Ed, her heart ached, don't you see how much I missed you? There are so many things she wanted to tell him, so much emotions burning inside of her.

You never really see me, do you? She realized sadly, she could see the distance between them, how Ed was trying not to get too close to her, and it hurt.

Shutting her eyes Winry allowed this short period of time for her to actually remember, remember the apologetic smile they had when they entered her house, remember how the scars had gained both on Ed's auto-mails and the empty shell that kept Al's sanity through these years, remember the shadows that loomed on their backs when they talked, and remember the slightest tremor on her lips when they refused to tell her what they went through. All these images washed over her, crashed over her.

Stifling back a silent sob, droplets of tear fell on the cold surface of the auto-mail she held close to. She must not let them see her fear; she must not let them see her crying. This was her own little secret- it was the least she could do. She had to be the strong one; the very being supporting their backs silently during all these suffocating years. Throwing her shoulders back and adjusting her pose, she watched the white ceiling above for a few moments before forcing herself not to think much further.

With a rustle of her gloves to wipe away the tears, Winry wordlessly concentrated back on the fixing.

Darkness. In every direction, everywhere he turned; there it was, slithering, engulfing his body. It made his head throb, his breaths rapid and his heart pound in panic. He tried to open his mouth, but no sound came. The silence ringing in his ears was driving him mad. He advanced forward as darkness enveloped him deeper into an endless dimension.

Unexpectedly, a gate emerged before him. His pace quickened until he reached the towering pieces of steel and paused, watching the lights dance on his face through the crack between the doors that seemed so heavy. He heard laughter, childish laughter brushing past his cheek luring him to push open the gates and step into this unknown territory. He did, with a light touch of his fingertip, the gate creaked without warning and he found himself standing in a familiar room facing the faces that were all too painfully well-known.

There were three people crouching on the floor, giggling and smiling, two boys with bright golden hair sat on either side of a woman, drawing a huge circle while the woman stared in awe. She patted softly on their heads when they finished, the looks on the boys' faces were of mere happiness, their eyes shining with pride. He felt his breath caught in his throat when he saw the boys nodded to each other, both placing their hands on the ground where the circle was drawn.

No, his mind pleaded.

Then, electric bolts flew, blinding his eyes as the room flashed in colors of blue and white. The laughter died, the walls were splattered by a sickening shade of crimson as the smell of smoke and blood assaulted his senses. When the smoke cleared, he no longer saw three people crouching in the middle. Instead, a dark, shadowed twisted form of a human lied in the circle, its eyes reflected horrible flames of hatred and blame directly at him.

"You," the creature hissed like a knife piercing through his very core. "You made me turn into a monster!"

He covered his eyes with his hands and stepped back, despair creeping into his mind as a silent scream of agony ripped through the gloomy atmosphere. His knees gave away and he slid down to the floor, clutching onto his head madly.

"Ed…" a very soft, melodious soothing voice echoed.

He loosened his grip when a gentle breeze fluttered by, whispering his name into his ears.

"Don't be afraid…"

A calming wisp of air penetrated the darkness like a blow of breath; he couldn't help but close his eyes and leaned in to the warmth.

"Come to me."

A pair of frail hands clasped onto his cold ones suddenly. He opened his eyes again and his muscles froze rigid cold at the sight of the person kneeling in front of him.

Her beautiful long blond hair fell around her shoulders and hung down her back delicately, the color of her flesh was of china white. She smiled at him, a heart wrenching smile that gnawed at his mind but her blue orbs were seas of calm and reserved beauty. Her fingers clenched around his securely and right at that instant he wanted nothing more but to touch her face. It shattered him to pieces by seeing her with a smile so heartbreaking. He reached out to her when she seemed to speak with her eyes as they were gazing upon him with a sense of foreboding. His pupils expanded, when he saw shadows lurking after as two hands were placed on her shoulders, and she closed her eyes. The scene made his stomach churn, more hands came forward clawing and snatching her away from his body. He cried out in torment but found out he couldn't move. Her eyes stayed closed, seemingly unaware of the swarming arms. He struggled madly but felt another pair of strong hands pressing on his own shoulders, crushing him to the ground.

"I need you…but…"

The last thing he glimpsed before he collapsed were the deep, sorrowful eyes that belonged to the only woman he had ever cared.

＊

Edward Elric bolted awake, cold sweat dripping from his face as he gasped for breath, his heart pounded heavily against his ears and he fought to sustain himself.

"Brother?"

Ed whirled his head to the sound and was met by two empty holes of a metallic armor standing before him.

"What's wrong?" His brother, Alphonse asked in concern.

"Winry…" was the first word that escaped his mouth, and his eyes searched around the room frantically. "Where is she!"

"Winry? I guess she's in the dining room-" before Al could finish his sentence Ed scampered out of the bed and shoved the door open. There she was with her back to him, the lamp on the table cast shadows down her spine; her work outfit hung limply around her waist and loose strands of gold hair fell on her bare shoulders. He gazed at the imaginary hands that weren't there.

A dream, he said to himself. Damn that dream.

Al, who watching his brother in confusion the whole time was about to call out, but when he saw Winry turning toward Ed he decided to keep silent.

"Ed!" Winry noticed the door was yanked open behind her and she turned to see Ed with a relieved expression on his face. "You scared me! Aren't you supposed to be in bed right now?"

When she heard no reply, she stepped toward him and discovered he was sweating. Her concerned eyes locked with his gold ones. "Are you all right?"

"What?" Ed had been so caught up with his dream that he didn't realize he was standing in front of Winry practically naked with only his boxers on. He felt the situation very awkward as he stammered, "Uh I-it really was nothing, yeah, I should go back to bed-"

He stopped when she touched his shoulder, sending electric bolts throughout his body. He followed her stare and looked down at the auto-mail that wasn't there. He left it to Winry to repair it a few hours ago.

"I'm sorry, I should've given you another auto-mail while I work on your broken one." She showed an apologetic smile that brought up his dream again. "It must be difficult not having your right arm ne?"

He didn't say anything.

"Wait here I'll go fetch an auto-mail for you temporarily." She left and scurried upstairs, leaving a speechless Ed standing rooted to the floor. He glanced at the clock on the wall. It was three in the morning and she was still fixing his auto-mail? Did she get any rest at all? He turned and saw the scattered mechanic devices on the table where his busted auto-mail laid. He never knew the reason why his auto-mail could be restored so quickly every time he passed it to Winry. He never thought about the dim lights that peered through the crack of the door every time he dozed off to sleep. He never questioned, he only told her to hurry up and finish the work so he could set off on his journey again. And yet she never really complained.

"Sit." Winry instructed when she came back downstairs with an auto-mail in her hand. He obeyed and pulled out a chair to sit on, Winry did the same. In the room where Ed and Winry sat, it was quiet as each concentrated on the task ahead.

Furrowing her brows and focusing on the essential shoulder joint, Winry leaned closer. Ed could smell the light sweet scent of her hair, he missed that smell. He recalled, it was the first time they had ever been this close with only the two of them alone.

"It has been a long year, hasn't it?" Winry was the first to break the silence.

"Yeah." Ed's whole body relaxed, sinking deeper onto the chair. It had been so long since his last trip to her house to get his auto-mail repaired. Although he knew he would never admit it, but he liked these moments, because it was a time between Winry and him only and thus were special and meant for them only.

"So…what happened?"

"Usual." He replied quietly.

Winry didn't look up. She expected this answer somehow. "You haven't changed a bit you know."

He stared down and a small smile dawned on his lips. "And you have changed a lot."

Winry didn't seem to hear him as she sighed, "You know I just can't see what you've been doing to your arm. Each time you gave it to me the conditions only gotten worse. Do you know how much effort I have put to get them into shape again and again?"

Ed snorted and looked away. "It's not like I want this to happen."

Winry's eye twitched. "Well you could at least prevent it from happening! Don't you know you're supposed to listen to your mechanic?"

"I would if you will stop shouting at me every time my arm is broken!"

"Do you think I want to? And I don't think you will listen to me either!"

"That's because you always say the same stuff!"

"They're for your own good you idiot!"

"Geez Winry you can be so annoying sometimes!" The glare she sent him was painful but not nearly as much as the screwdriver hilt Winry slammed into his knee.

"OW DAMN IT! What the hell Winry!"

"Shut up Ed! You're such a baby!"

"Abusive mechanic freak!"

"Midget!"

That certainly infuriated him. He jumped off the chair attempting to catch Winry ignoring the fact that his auto-mail was loosely attached to his shoulder, his blond mechanic yelped and was about to make a dash away from him when he took a good hold on her shoulders too quickly that she didn't have time to react, before they knew it they were both falling down to the floor and Ed switched sides with Winry hastily so that he was underneath to hit the ground followed by a loud thump. Moments later hearing the person underneath her groan, Winry opened her eyes and saw a very irritated Ed glaring up directly at her. She noticed a piece of metal lying a few feet away, his auto-mail had been detached from his shoulder.

"Oops," Winry giggled at the scowl on his face.

"You stupid girl," Ed shot her daggers with his golden eyes.

Winry laughed, her musical tone drifted into Ed's ears. "Welcome back home Ed! Welcome back home."

He blinked when she got up and reached down her hand with a warm smile plastered on her face. His mind was a total blank and he lied there on the floor, staring at her palm.

"Get up you big baby."

Slowly, he sat up from his original position and scratched his head, his face hidden by golden bangs. He took her hand timidly as she helped him stand up.

She could never see the look on his face.

Winry picked up his temporary auto-mail and stuck her tongue out playfully.

She must not see.

-

-

-

Later that night, Ed entered his room to find Al standing behind the door suspiciously and when Al saw his brother return, he chuckled nervously.

"Al? What were you doing behind that door?" Ed asked in a flat voice pointing toward Al's direction.

"Nothing! I'm just wondering why you haven't return yet!" he waved his hands in the air.

"…Were you prying?" Ed asked in a deadly tone.

Al paused for a moment, then nodded his head.

Ed held up a trembling fist slowly, "Tell me, what did you see?"

"I saw the expression on your face." Al said in a happy tone, unaware of an alchemist who was about to explode.

"YOU WERE WAYCHING THE WHOLE TIME!"

"Uhh…yes?"

"ALPHONSE ELRIC!"

An angry shout roared from Winry's house that night, Al sniggered inwardly. He did see his brother's expression when Winry held out her hand to him.

Stupid brother, why don't you let her see?

Al saw it clearly from behind that door earlier, Ed was blushing. Even now when he angrily marched to his bed and almost tore the bed sheet to pieces, the blush still stayed on his face.

It was the first blush in many years.

My first attempt on FMA…

It will get darker in later chapters, I kinda had a vague idea in my head.

Suggestions are always welcome! Please tell me what you think :D

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