When Did We Fall?
Disclaimer: No I don't own the PAWSOMENESS work of the brilliant Hiromu Arakawa! She's amazing~! Woman+shonen manga=EPIC WIN. Yeash it's nice to not have damsels in distress everywhere you look! Rather refreshing to have some girl characters that can keep the boys in line! I also could never own the songs.
A/N: DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU HAVEN'T FINISHED READING THE MANGA! Just some sweet fluff cus I'm a hopeless romantic. But you have to wonder how their first/last date went right? XD This is a half-song-fic in a way. Didn't start that way but eh it works. And yes…finally a short story. (Edward I didn't call you short geez…)
Song of the Mo: I'm In by Keith Urban (it's THE PERFECT LOVE SONG FOR THEM) Those of you who don't like country. Please listen to the lyrics at least. I'm not that country fanish (except for Keith Urban and Rascal Flatts) and I live IN TEXAS. Oh and listen to the other song I had in mind of this genre. Once in a Lifetime by Keith Urban as well~
Love doesn't come with a contract
You give me this, I give you that.
It's scary business.
Your heart and soul is on the line.
Baby, why else would I be standin' 'round here
so tongue tied?
He'd been contemplating it for quite some time now. Words were ringing in his head and he had no idea how they were supposed to completely fall in a comprehensive manner from his lips. "What do I…say?"
The train was nearing the station and with each chug of the transport beneath him, the faster his heart pounded in his ears. The trill that shot through that heart was unbearably eager with memories of the last time he had been to this station one year ago. That was the day he left, confessing enough to understand there was mutual harmony in her eyes. Clutching his chest, he took a shaky breath.
This year had been hard. He'd studied till words became blurs in his eyes, learning until his head ached with too many thoughts and theories. And…to make matters worse…he couldn't concentrate in those brief moments of break…people would be speaking to him and where did his mind wander off to?
Even now as the train stopped, his face still burned with the exchange of parting words that day. The talk of feelings in the form of his unromantic alchemy catchphrases… And yet she went along with it and since then…it was like they had signed some sort of unspoken treaty, that every single day since…he would dream of her face and of her voice.
Standing on the empty platform finally home, he wanted to run the entire way. His feet seemed connected to the heart fluttering inside.
"My my!" The usual lady at the counter smiled. "Mr. Elric! You're back!"
Edward smiled, rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah. I've learned a lot too. Ahaha this is kinda a surprise visit home. I didn't tell them."
"Well they shall be mighty excited to see you after all this time!"
He started the long walk home. Trying to remain calm and composed against the raging storm of emotion within him. When did it get to be this bad? When did I become so able to function without thinking about her? With a toss of his golden hair, he sighed. Over this one year he had tried calling the Rockbell residence way too many times. When she picked up, it was as if he had suddenly gone mute, and could only sputter something unintelligible and slam the phone down in embarrassed frustration. For as long as I can remember…I've always liked Winry. But I was so good at hiding it. So good at not showing my feelings to her because…And now all that coolness has completely shattered…
"Damn." He gave up. Blushing, he let his legs take over, running over hill after hill, soaring with the clouds above, heck he was on those clouds above in the sky that was the same color as her eyes. When he finally reached that familiar crest of the valley, that house where she rested her head…he sprinted full tilt. But pride made him wipe his brow with a kerchief, straighten his suit, fix his hair, and calmly knock on the door. Grinning slightly, heart meanwhile threatening to explode, he pretended not to hear the shouts from inside and cooly thrust his hands in his pockets. Trying not to look to eager.
As the door swung open…Granny Pinako smiled, gesturing inside. "Hello there stranger. For once I can say you've gotten tall."
She waited for his surprise, his retort with a 'shut up you tiny hag'…but to HER surprise…he merely watched the staircase with a hopeful expression. "Edward?"
"H-Hi Granny." He glanced down, shaken from his staring contest with an inanimate object. God…what am I going to say?
She smiled knowingly and shouted up to the second floor. "I think you want to come down here Winry."
"No I don't! I'm exhausted!" That oh-so familiar voice caused his heart to finally go off the deep end.
"She's been pulling three all-nighters to finish a customer's leg." Pinako whispered to Ed in explanation. "Fine then. Don't see who's here to visit." She called up again.
There was an earthquake of movement from her room and finally, oh so finally, Edward saw that face he now kept dreaming about. "Ed?" The joy in her eyes made his legs weaken beneath him. Forget that one of them was strong as steal.
"Winry…" He murmured. And it would seem that was all he had to say.
THWACK! "OW! WHAT THE HELL-!" "YOU IDIOT! DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME YOUR LEG IS INJURED!" "NO IT'S NOT!" And there she was…suddenly tangible before him, so beautiful and perfect, with a bloody wrench in one hand, the other hand…wiping her eyes. All he could do was blink as she proceeded to take a thwack at him, but missing because her eyes were blurry. "I keep telling you to call before you come…" She sniffled, the circles under her eyes dark.
"I-I'm sorry…" Gently, he stopped her from violence by taking her slender wrist. "Winry…"
"Why…" She tried to shove him away but he somehow managed to wrap his arms around her shoulders, holding her close, breathing her in, words stumbling around like stones in his mind. She was really here. Damn that heart it was trying to fly away in glee. "You called so much but you never said anything you didn't want to talk to me…"
"I am an idiot." He blushed when she dropped the wrench and arms snaked around his back, blonde hair in his vision. "I'm sorry Winry…I just…I just couldn't speak…" "I know…" She buried her face in his chest. "I know that…it still drove me insane…you don't know how badly I wanted to speak to you…"
"You'd better make it up to her Ed." The two jumped, they had forgotten that Pinako was there. Both immediately moved away from each other as if they were the same poles of a magnet all of a sudden, faces as bright as tomatoes. "E-Ehh! G-Granny!" They spazzed as she chuckled. "Ah young love. It's nice to see that again. Last I saw that was with Hoheinem and Trisha. And your parents Winry." "L-Love? WHAT A-ARE YOU TALKIN BOUT YOU OLD HAG!" Ed sputtered. Winry just stared. "You…you IDIOT!" "DAGHH! I TOLD YOU I CAN'T TALK WHEN I'M AROUND YOU DAMMIT!" "N-NO YOU DIDN'T!"
Pinako rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah." She poured herself a cup of tea. "Ed you might want to think before you speak right now. Winry is not in a good mood as it is." The girl shoved him away and started to storm up the stairs.
He growled, flushed and confused he just couldn't take all the emotion surging through his entity when he was usually so stoic about it. "GRRAHHH! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" Like a Dark Prince he snatched the struggling princess, carried her bridal style down the stairs, through the house, and straight out the front door. "ED! EDWARD PUT ME DOWN!" "NO GODDAMMIT!" Pinako raised an eyebrow, calmly sipping tea as she watched him carry her down the field . "Hmm Ed finally got aggressive huh?"
"Ed…" Winry had long since given up struggling since the firm strength in his arms was startlingly strapping. All she could do was pout with her arms crossed, glaring up at his flushed determined 'v' face. "What are you doing?"
But he didn't stop until they reached the old lone oak where he, Al, and she had played under as children. When he finally did pause in his kidnapping, he gently let her down and gripped her by the shoulders. "Winry. We need to talk. That's…why I came. Well yeah I'm done with my schooling for now…but I really have to speak with you okay?"
Blue eyes sparkled waiting expectantly for certain words. Only…someone became too red to speak. "Ed?"
"G-Gralskdfj-…ehh…" Edward Elric…destroyer of great evil…was not physically able to speak what was on his mind. However, he could outdo the color of a strawberry on the red spectrum.
"Edward?" Winry cocked her head to the side. Had he short-circuited?
"I…I…daogdjslfj…GRAHH!" Despairingly he hit his head against the tree. "DAMMIT WHY CAN'T I JUST-GRHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"
Winry sighed, sitting down on the knoll like they all used to. "Oh Ed…"
Giving up on the function of his mind and tongue, the golden eyed man flopped down on the grass next to her. She lay down too and together they watched the clouds morph into animals and words and faces. "Ed." She glanced over at him. "That one there…it looks like Den."
His mouth refused to open. She couldn't help but smile in amusement. "And that one…it looks like a glass of milk." He turned his head to her, glaring bitterly but nothing else. "Edward…remember when I told you and Al…that I wouldn't marry a man that is shorter than me?" Ed tried not to. Her voice rang with the cue for him to finish off. "Well…Edward…have you noticed how…tall you've gotten?" Unbeknownst to the innocent girl, Ed was struggling not to stutter out every single aesthetically pleasing word that could be substituted for the words he wished so despairingly to actually say without allusions to alchemy.
If I knew what I was doing,
I'd be doing it right now.
And I would be the best damn poet;
Silver words out of my mouth.
"Dammit Winry." Ed sat up. "It was hard enough to…say what I said that day! I just…I just want to spit it out and-" "Oh just say it Edward!" Winry took his hand, his real hand that had been recovered after some long years. "I know what you are trying to say. But…I really need to hear you say it for real Edward. This whole year…I've just wanted to talk like we used to…I've been the usual patient Winry that worries about you and Al, waiting for you to call for a patch job seeing as how you always get in trouble…and now, even after I tried so hard to control myself. I feel like I need you to admit it or else I will just have to beat it out of you! I'm sorry I'm so selfish! I thought that that parting would be enough and for some reason it isn't Ed! I know I'm being pushy and disgusting and moody. Who knows maybe I should just go take a nap and start over. I'm sorry Ed, I'm sorry I'm just making this harder by acting so greedy like this I-"
"Fair enough…" He grasped her hand now and her mouth closed on contact. She frowned at his mean words. He took a deep, cleansing breath like he was about to jump into a pool of crystal clear water. "But I love how you can be all of those things…and I'll…" Their eyes could create sunsets. "And I'll still love you."
Tears streamed without warning down her face, it shocked even herself as she widened her eyes. "T-That still wasn't romantic Ed!" She tried to punch him, but he took both her hands and stood with her.
"I'll have to learn." With tenderness, he wiped away her tears. "You know I've never been able to say or show what I'm feeling."
"Damn right Ed!" She choked.
"I love you, you stupid crybaby." He stroked her blonde tresses.
"That's not cutting it!" Her eyes squeezed shut.
"I love you."
"…" She couldn't reply because the blush seemed to tighten her lips.
My words might not be magic,
But they cut straight to the truth.
So if you need a lover and a friend,
Baby, I'm in. I'm in.
"It's been too hard Winry." Only one word could describe his heart right now. Exploded. "I'm sorry for hurting you. But I'm too stupid to know what to say to my own childhood friend. I'm too stupid to find the right things to convey that won't sound stupid." "It's too late for that Ed." "I want us to be happy. I want to know true happiness Winry…" His voice grew softer. "…with you Winry. With you I know that I can achieve that. Because…only one person can drive me as insane as you have this entire year without even being there. It's you Winry…It's you."
"I'm sorry Ed. Oh I feel the same." She whispered. "I'm sorry for everything I said that was cruel. Of course I knew all of this…I don't know why I feel so jumbled up…I'm not making any sense at all."
"This is love isn't it?" He laughed gently. "It doesn't make sense. But it's so perfectly real. Just not as perfect as you…" Then he took a sudden step back from her. "But this exchange hasn't been equal Winry." Both of them cracked a slow smile at his dorky unromantic phrase once again.
Winry stared down at their feet, flushed then looked him straight in the eye. "Let's get one thing straight you idiot. I love you." Forget his heart exploding. His entire soul exploded, disintegrated and all he could do was smile dumbly. Who knew that just saying those letters all together in a word in a sentence could make him feel this way. "But I don't love you going off on dangerous adventures all of the time. Sometimes you just need to come home so I can make sure your stupid leg doesn't rust up or fall apart okay?"
"Winry. That day at the train station you said you would give me eheh 'almost' all your life." Without warning, he dropped to one knee. "I meant what I said. And so…you won't have to worry about me anymore…" Winry gasped, clutching her heart as he reached into a pocket. "I'm not going anywhere. I just want to be here with you." Right then and there he knew somehow, as if by instinct…what to say.
"Winry. Will you marry me?" A small diamond ring danced meaningfully in her eyes.
She embraced him in a tackle. "Only because you are taller than me Edward Elric! Only because of that." Happiness...achieved.
When is it that I first fell…when is it that I couldn't stop falling for you?
They didn't know it…but up on the hilltop, looking out a window with the view of that one lone oak where one man and one woman agreed to create a new life-not with alchemy- but with their own two human hands, was Granny Pinako. She smiled, wiping tears as she saw the scene.
"Why did you all have to die before me?" She shook her head at the sky. "Urey, Sara, Trisha, Hoheinem…I hope you can see this…your kids have grown into beautiful, strong, courageous people. I hope you are just as proud of them as I am…" Then she glanced over at the old she-dog. "C'mere Den, it's high time I pulled out Sara's old wedding dress."
Baby, come here next to me
I'll show you how good it can be
I'll breathe each breath you breathe;
I can pour out everything I am,
Everything I am.
FIN
Wow that was real REAL I mean REAL fluff! Gawd I'm so disturbed I think I'm going to hurl no wait…too late already did…NEED DARKNESS UGGHHHH lol still a hopeless romantic lol
READ AND REVIEW~ PLEASE. Or Edward will track you down. And tickle you. And Scar…will tickle you…with a spoon. WAH? Jk :3
Finally a short story. Gosh when did I start writing novels TEEHEE!~