So… who's ready for an Edwin cheese-fest? (Slowly raises hand)
I just rewatched the anime again, and decided to finally write out something kinda Christmas-y and Edwin-y and fluffy as heck, so please enjoy my fangirly rendition of Ed's return from the West (Post-Anime).
Cold and bitter winds blew across the plains of Risembool that day, bringing with them stray flurries left over from the last night's pre-Christmas Eve snowstorm. The train station was freshly swept, but the tracks were still blanketed in a foot of snow. There were only a few people there, all bundled in coats, scarves, hats, and all sorts of other clothes, and all but one was seeking escape from the deep freeze, their trunks held steady by their feet. Not all that many people were willing to come to the wind-swept and freezing hills of Risembool in midwinter, except a certain someone who was finally coming home after a very, very long time abroad.
The solitary person who was actually staying in Risembool was Winry Rockbell, mechanic extraordinaire, and she was waiting for that certain someone. She was shuddering in the abrasive wind, arms folded tightly over her chest to preserve heat, and a big, fluffy hood was pulled over her head. Her ears were very carefully listening for the blare of the train's horn, the signal that the one person she'd written daily was nearing his destination.
During a lull in the buffeting air, the near earsplitting screech echoed across the plains that heralded the arrival of the train at last. Winry bolted up and scanned the track for the approaching engine, all its cars in tow. The snow had increased from tiny flurries to earnest snowfall in only a few minutes, so she had to squint to make out the distant figure of the train in the distance. But once she saw it, she was instantly reminded of the scene on that very same platform, all the way back when the rolling hilltops were still green and dotted with clovers. Of course she remembered. Who wouldn't remember something like that? Winry definitely wouldn't, and she was pretty certain she would remember that until the day she died.
She had to press her mittened hands firmly to her ears to dull the edge of the brakes against the metal tracks as the train shrieked to a stop. An anonymous couple hurried out into the snow, collars turned up against the harsh wind. Winry eyed them with confusion, as it made zero sense that they would want to be in Risembool in the dead of winter, but she supposed it was for similar reasons that she always stayed.
The other few people besides her hefted their trunks up and boarded the cars, desperate to scurry into the warmth of the idling train. Winry was just about to freak out a little bit when the one person she was waiting for wasn't coming out when he stepped into the freeze, in the same trench coat he had worn when he had left, plus a few other fur-lined things to keep him from freezing. But the kind and wild gleam in his golden eyes were still the same, and now his nose and cheeks were reddened by the cold, and perhaps other reasons, Winry realized with a smile.
The train's horn shrieked again, signaling its departure to someplace warmer and it sped off into the distance once more, disappearing in the snowstorm. He watched it leave, then turned to Winry with a lopsided smile, and as if on cue, Winry practically flew into his arms, and she was greeted by a warm embrace one she'd longed for for all the days he was gone. She freed an arm to pull back her hood and let loose her blonde locks, taking the chance to look up at his face, wearing the biggest smile she'd ever smiled. "Welcome home, Ed," she said quietly, returning to the warmth of his chest and arms.
He rested his chin on her head and squeezed her a little bit, saying,"Glad to be back."
Christmas is a thing, it's my story, and I thought it would be sweet for Ed to come home just in time for Christmas. Also cheese. Lately my brain has been super fluffy and cheesy and I kinda want to write it down. Soooooo yeah.
~Siena