First Apple Pie
Ed and Al sit at the table in the Rockbell kitchen, waiting for Winry to return with dessert.
"Tell me what it tastes like again, Brother."
Ed sighs and leans back in his chair, patting his full belly. "The crust is flaky and buttery. And the inside is warm and gooey and sweet. It's the best I've ever had."
Al lets out an impatient little groan, but he speaks with excitement. "After all this time, I can't believe I'm finally going to eat Winry's apple pie."
"You've waited long enough for it, Al."
They'd only returned to Resembool the day before. Al had spent weeks in the hospital, trying to get strong enough to travel. And when they'd showed up at Winry's front door, she tackled them to the ground. She cried all over them and called them dummies for worrying her. She couldn't stop hugging them, and Al happily let her. There was even little complaint from Ed.
She invited them inside, all the while berating Ed for not giving her some warning. "How was I supposed to have a pie waiting for you, when you didn't tell me you were coming home!" she'd cried. Pinako got home soon after that, and she and Winry made dinner. They all talked well into the night, and Winry promised that she would make Al that pie tomorrow.
"Here it is!" Winry says, returning to the kitchen with the dessert. She puts it on the table and removes the cloth napkin with a flourish. Sitting there in front of Al is the apple pie he's waited so long for.
While Winry cuts them each a slice, Al tells her, "You know, I haven't had any pie yet at all."
She looks at him in surprise. "But apple pie was the first thing on your list!"
"I know, but I wanted yours to be the first."
She positively beams at him and hands him a piece. "I hope it can live up to your expectations." She puts a slice in front of Ed before sitting beside him. They both have their forks at the ready, but before they start eating they wait for Al to try it first.
Al breathes in that wonderful smell. When he takes that very first bite, his eyes immediately widen in shock. The explosion of flavor in his mouth still manages to catch him by surprise sometimes. The sweet apples and the flaky crust and the warmth all meld together to create the most perfect bite he's had of anything ever. Of course, he's made that proclamation many times over the past few weeks, but this time he really means it.
He then bursts into tears.
"A-Al?" Winry asks, truly alarmed at the sudden display of emotion. "Are you okay?"
"He's fine," Ed says with a small smile. "He does it all the time."
It had worried Ed the first time too, and even the several times it happened after that. Of course, it was simply in Ed's nature to panic at the sight of tears, no matter the cause for them. But he soon realized that Al was just overwhelmed, and overjoyed, at the return of his senses. They were tears of joy, Ed knew, and there was nothing scary about that.
"It is good, isn't it?" Winry asks, her voice still filled with worry. She walks over to Al to put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Of course it is," Ed assures her, before finally taking a bite. "Really, he's fine. You should have seen him at the hospital when they gave him mashed potatoes for his first meal. He blubbered like a baby. I thought they were going to have to sedate him."
"Don't exaggerate, Brother," Al says, finally speaking up. He wipes his eyes on his sleeve and smiles. "It's delicious, Winry. I've waited for this for so long and now to finally get it . . . thank you."
The gratitude in his voice causes her eyes to fill with tears too, and she bends down to hug him yet again. Ed watches them, unable to eat with the lump forming in his throat. When they finally break apart, he picks up his fork again and rearranges his face into what he hopes is a look of exasperation.
"Come on, are we going to eat this pie, or are we going to cry all over it?"
Winry snaps the napkin at him. "Hush you! Don't make me get my wrench." She sits beside Ed again, and they all dig in. Al sheds no more tears. Instead they're replaced with happy little sighs after every bite.
"How much longer do you think you're going to keep doing that? The tears, I mean?" Ed asks. There is no air of judgment in his question, just simple curiosity.
"I don't know," Al says thoughtfully, already helping himself to a second slice. "I don't much care if it never stops."
"It doesn't really happen that often, does it?" Winry asks.
"Oh, he cries at the drop of a hat!"
"It's true," Al agrees. He speaks with absolutely no embarrassment. "I cried the first time I felt rain. And the first time I smelled Ms. Gracia's quiche. And even after the first time I woke up from a really good dream."
Al becomes enamored with his pie again, while Ed and Winry meet each others' gaze. They smile wider and wider at Al's every moan of pleasure. Ed's expression then turns serious, and he surprises her by mouthing, Thank you. She nods and takes his right hand, examining the smooth skin of his fingers. He doesn't pull away.
Their intimate moment is witnessed by Al, who grins down at his plate. He can feel his eyes filling with tears again, but this time it isn't the pie.
A/N: So I have two papers due on Monday, but instead this was begging to be written today, RIGHT NOW. It's a bit of a rush job, but I thought if I published it now it would finally leave me be. And I realize this probably(?) isn't a wholly original idea either, but I swear to have one eventually. ;) I just loved the thought of Al crying over delicious food, and everything else, and not being embarrassed about his emotions. Unlike Ed.