Yay, second fic! Okay, so I tried to make Ed a bit more in-character in this story, but.. I'm not sure how I did.
Added a bit more humor, here for all to enjoy!
Disclaimer: Yeah, right.
"Come on, Edward!" Winry called to the alchemist, "This is the first time it's snowed in, like, forever! And when you're visiting, no less!"
Edward watched the mechanic standing in the middle of the white field as she manically waved her arms around. He scoffed.
"You look like you just escaped from an insane asylum", he called back to her. He saw her arms cross and she turned around.
"Fine then," she yelled, stomping away, the end of her scarf nearly brushing the top of the snow, "who needs you!"
He rolled his eyes at her quickly retreating back and slowly began to follow after her from a distance. He shoved his hands into his coat pockets, remembering what Pinako said. Shorty, you'd better keep a good eye on her while Al and I are at the market, or you'll wake up hanging from the ceiling by your feet! Now, Pinako didn't scare him or anything, but he had been planning to keep an eye on her anyways.
Edward was starting to feel the biting chill of the winter. He rubbed his flesh arm to create some friction, but it was hard considering his hand was cold metal. Just how far is the woman planning on going?! he wondered as he stopped, his vision scoping the fields.
And suddenly, he couldn't see anything. He lay there for a minute, face down in the snow, trying to sort things out in his head. It was when he felt something icy and wet seep through the back of his clothes that he had an idea of what happened.
Edward positioned himself on his hands and knees and shook his head to clear his hair of any excess snow. He then proceeded to sit on the snow and closed his eyes.
"Edward Elric!"
Golden eyes shot open to reveal none other than Winry Rockbell, staring at him angrily with a snowball in hand.
"What the hell was that for, Winry?!" he yelled.
"Just how long were you following me?!" she responded.
"Why did you come all the way out here, anyway?"
"What, did you stalk me?"
"Why won't you answer my questions, woman?!"
"WHY DOES IT MATTER?!" And suddenly, the snowball was hurled at Ed's face.
Ed let out a long string of curses while wiping off the snow. Then he glared at the blonde smirking at him. "Dammit, Winry!" he seethed. "Quit it!"
"Why?" she stuck her tongue out at him. "I think you deserve it for following me."
"Why do you care? You wanted me to come with you in the first place!" Ed felt his fists clench.
"Yeah, but I didn't ask for you to stalk me!"
"FOR THE LOVE OF HUMANITY, I WAS NOT STALKING YOU!" he cried. Winry tried to hold back her laughter at the outburst, but one snigger managed to escape her lips.
"This is NOT funny, Win!" Ed pointed a finger accusingly at her. She couldn't hold it in anymore.
"Yes it is!" she laughed and threw another snowball at him. This time, he dodged it and smirked.
"I'm gonna get you!" he declared, running towards her. "I'll tell you what's funny! You stuffed head-first in a pile of snow, now that's funny!" Winry shrieked and took off, scooping up snow as she went and pelting him with snowballs.
He didn't dodge all of them, but simply ignored those which struck him and soon, they were just running.
"Get back here!" he called after her. She was a lot faster than he remembered, that's for sure.
"No way! Stalker." she said, giggling. Of course, this only fueled his energy.
Ed was beginning to catch up with her. "I am not a stalker! I thought we went over this!"
"You were following me without my knowing! That sounds like a stalker to me!"
"No," Ed corrected, stumbling when she turned a sharp corner. "I was following you to make sure you were okay."
Winry glanced back at him. She opened her mouth to say something, but quickly shut it again. A look of contemplation appeared on her face as she slowed to a halt next to a large tree. Soon, she seemed to be deep in thought. Edward, on the other hand, was beginning to get concerned. Why had she gone so quiet so suddenly?
He slowed to a stop a few feet away from her and silently watched as she squatted, her back facing him. When several moments passed and she did not move, Ed began to worry. What if she was hurt?
"Win-" POOF!
Edward was frozen for but a moment, then he slowly wiped the snowball off his face, stiff with anger.
He shot her a glare. "What the hell?!" Winry stuck her tongue out at him and pelted his unsuspecting face with another snowball, knocking Ed off his balance.
Hey, the girl was strong, okay?
The alchemist jumped to his feet and furiously shook the snow from his face, then shot another glare towards where Winry was.
Or, where Winry should be.
"Geez, Ed, you're just like a dog!" That was her voice, but where was she?! "If I didn't know any better," she continued, "I'd say that you and Den were practically twins!"
He located the source of her voice in the large tree. And sure enough, there she sat on one of the branches, approximately 15 feet off the ground and holding the tree trunk with one arm.
"Winry!" Edward shouted angrily, "You're like a freaking monkey! Now get your sorry monkey ass down here!"
She glared right back at him. "And what if I said no? What then, huh?"
"That's it! I'm coming up!" Ed nearly screamed. He tried to scramble up the tree like she did, but he almost instantly slid back down the trunk. So he tried again. And failed again. And again. And again.
Clearly, automail was not designed to climb trees. And besides, his joints were becoming creaky and slightly painful, so jumping up to the branch was not a possibility. Then there was the option of alchemy... but with Winry on the old, gigantic tree, he decided against taking any risks. So that option was out.
Oh, if looks could kill...
Edward was having an all-out Glare-Fest, glaring at her like never before.
At least until Winry sneezed.
Ed's gaze softened a bit as he watched the girl, dazed cerulean eyes downcast as she attempted to control her shaking. A short silence fell over the two.
Edward sighed. "Winry..." She looked up at him and sniffed as quietly as possible. "You'd better get down-"
"Why? S-so you can get your revenge and attack me with snowballs?-"
"So you don't get sick!"
The mechanic's eyes widened slightly. Why would he care...? Well, it didn't really matter, anyways. She was freezing and he didn't seem to be bent on revenge (at the moment)... Going back was the best plan.
Winry nodded to him slightly and began twisting around to climb back down the tree.
She froze, looking with wide eyes at the fifteen-foot drop below her.
Edward's brow furrowed when he saw her move back to her previous position, covering her eyes with her hands. The wind carried her voice, and he faintly heard her mutter "Well, crap..."
"Uh, Win? Something wrong?" he asked. She looked at her best friend sheepishly.
"Well, um, you see the huge drop below me?" She pointed and he nodded, wondering where she was going with this and hoping she'd get to the point. "Ah, when I was coming up here... there was a branch that I used as a step..." Edward was silent. "But the branch seems to have moved..." Now, she pointed to a thin branch that lay in the snow below her.
"In other words," he said blankly, "you're stuck."
She bit her lip and nodded once. He sighed in return, then held out his arms.
Silence.
"Ed? W-what are you doing...?" She had a feeling she knew, but...
He threw her an annoyed look. "What does it look like? I'm gonna catch you." Yep.
"But, but... you're too short. You won't catch me without falling!" In truth, it wasn't really height that was the problem, so much as it was the fact that she'd...
She'd have to jump...
Too caught up in her own thoughts, she missed the vein that clearly pulsed in Ed's forehead. "Just jump into my arms, or I'm leaving you." he seethed through his teeth, struggling to keep his temper in check.
When she did not move, he turned and began to walk away.
"Ah-" Winry's hand shot out. He stopped and looked at her over his shoulder, raising an eyebrow. "Alright..."
He resumed his previous position, waiting as she moved to stand, slowly and shakily. She finally managed to stand to her full height, clutching the trunk much more forcefully now, and she looked fearfully at the ground.
She tried to will herself to jump, but she kept losing her nerve. Winry closed her eyes and moved closer to the tree trunk, hugging it fiercely.
"Come on, Winry, I'm not gonna wait all day!"
"Edward, I can't!" Their gazes locked. Ed pulled back a bit, shocked to hear her say such words. For all the time he'd known her, he never remembered her saying such a thing. Even more shocking was the outright fear evident in her eyes. A look of sheer terror.
It was quiet. A breeze presented itself, tossing hair as a whirlwind of snow danced around the two. But they had yet to break eye-contact.
The breeze caused Winry to stumble a bit and she let out a sudden squeak, quickly shutting her eyes and gripping the trunk with newfound strength until she managed to set her feet right once again.
She frantically looked back at frightened Edward, tears now finding their way into her eyes. Even though she had fixed her footing, Winry refused to let go of the trunk, instead choosing to hold on tighter, until her knuckles turned white.
"Winry! Just jump!" Ed sounded almost pleading, still scared about what just happened, and even more scared that it could happen again, only with different results.
She shook her head, tears now rolling down her cheeks. "I can't!"
A sudden snapping sound caught both of their attention, and Winry lurched downward a bit. With wide eyes, fear shot through both of them as realization set in.
The branch was breaking.
The branch that Winry was standing on...
Was breaking...
If that branch broke while Winry was still on it, well... with that fifteen-foot drop, the chances of her surviving weren't likely. As if that wasn't enough, Edward couldn't alchemize the snow; it was too loose and soft, it would not do anything to slow down her fall. Along with that, his automail was stiff due to the weather, so he would not be able to run and catch her in time.
If that branch broke while Winry was still on it...
She would die.
"WINRY, JUMP!" Ed yelled frantically. She stepped away from the trunk a bit, readying herself to jump, but the branch suddenly lurched again and she found herself latched onto the trunk once more, tears freely streaming from her eyes. Fear began clouding her rational thoughts.
"I can't!"
"You have to!"
"No! I'll fall!"
"I'll catch you!"
She shook her head, "Ed, I can't!"
"Yes, you can! You're a Rockbell!" Her sky-blue eyes shot open and looked down at him. His arms were stretched towards her and he looked calmly at her, all traces of fear gone from his face. But his eyes...
His eyes held that familiar, yet unfamiliar look to them... That look of fierce determination...
He believed in her. He believed, he truly believed she could do it.
Before she knew what was happening, Winry stepped away from the trunk, leapt from the cracking branch, and squeezed her eyes shut.
It barely registered when she collided with another person, feeling strong arms wrap around her torso and hitting the snow-covered ground with an audible thump. The person beneath her grunted as snow splashed in every direction, then slowly fell back to earth around them.
Winry opened her eyes to find her face buried in a mess of blonde hair. She slowly pulled back, leftover tears still running down her face, and looked at the alchemist beneath her.
Ed groaned and opened his eyes, blinking a few times to focus his gaze. He looked at her and smiled softly, sighing in relief.
"See," He lifted his flesh hand and wiped a stray tear from her cheek, "That wasn't so bad," he panted, slightly out of breath, "was it?"
A flood of emotions quickly took over Winry and she weakly slapped his chest, then buried her head in the crook of his neck and cried, hugging him like nothing else mattered. And nothing else did matter, Ed decided as he hugged her back just as fiercely.
She was alive. Winry was alive. That was all that mattered.
"Don't ever scare me like that again." Ed whispered, squeezing his eyes shut as the danger and fear of the situation set in once again. He relaxed a bit when she softly nodded, then began rubbing her back in circles, waiting for her to calm down.
Minutes passed before her heart-wrenching sobs quieted down to a few mere sniffles. She blinked a few times and he struggled to keep his blush down and his heartbeat at a normal pace. The feeling of her eyelashes fluttering on his neck was not doing him any good whatsoever.
It took a moment, but Edward managed to find his voice. "You okay now?"
She nodded again and, to his confusion, she began moving a bit. Although, the thing that confused him was not that she was moving. No, it was the fact that, instead of moving off of him, she only adjusted herself and then dipped her head back down.
He froze when he felt her lips just barely brushing his ear.
"Thanks, Ed." she whispered, then placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. She pulled back and threw the alchemist a small smile and rolled off of him, getting to her feet and dusting off.
Edward was still on the ground, no longer fighting his tremendous blush, but instead working on calming his heart and getting his limbs to move again. He lay there, staring at the sky for a while and focusing on bringing his heartbeat back to a healthy pace. Suddenly, Winry popped into his view again. His throat emitted a small surprised noise.
"Earth to Edward! Are you coming?"
He looked at her for another moment, then blinked a few times. "Y...yeah. I'm coming." Then, the alchemist got to his feet and brushed himself off, much like she had done not long before.
When he looked up, he had to focus on not blushing again.
Her grinning face was mere inches from his.
"I'll race you to the house!" Her grin grew even wider, if possible, and she suddenly turned and dashed off in the direction of the house.
He was still rooted to the spot when Winry tossed him a look over her shoulder. "Last one home has to organize the workshop!"
"Gah!" And he was off. "Hey, no fair!"
She stuck her tongue out at him again.
"My automail is stiff and you have, like, a gazillion-and-three tools in that workshop!"
She laughed. "Sucks to be you, Ed!"
"Winryyyyyy!"
Ah, yes... at times, it would suck to be Ed...
So, this one's longer than the last one... uhm...
Please R&R! I will love you forever! And not in the creepy, stalker-ish way, either! 8D
~Vee