S u n s h i n e

The day was perfect.

It was just the sort of day that Ed loved. It was the sort of day where he just lazed around, reading a book or two whilst lying outside amongst the grass on the front lawn, listening out every so often to hear the occassional clank of metal as Winry worked on her automail...

It was a day with plenty of sunshine; just the perfect weather, not too hot but not too cold. Gentle beams carefully decended through the clouds, warming his stomach and legs as he idly flicked through the book in his hands, half-reading it and half-dozing.

The only thing that could really ruin the moment was being disturbed. Ed knew that she was going to come out here eventually, he could feel it in his bones. And that would mean... conversation.

It wasn't that he didn't like her company, oh no. He loved it; there was a warm aura around Winry that seemed to spread whenever she was around (except when she was angry). It was just... he never knew what to say to her, exactly. Winry was by far the most complicated person he knew. And that gave him a feeling that he didn't like; confusion and frustration, which were by far some of the most annoying emotions he'd ever had to face. Hmph.

Bang.

Ed knew straight away as he felt her presence behind him that she was in a bad mood. It wasn't from the door slamming, or the heavy footsteps from the porch as she stormed out; it was just the fact that he couldn't feel the usual sunshine that she tended to carry around.

He gulped, dropping his book into his lap and closing his eyes, almost expecting a wrench to fly his way.

But instead he only felt the gentle breeze and the sun's warmth. It was almost silent; so quiet that he could just about hear her breathing, laboured and breathless, as if she'd been raging about something.

Cautiously, he cracked open an eye.

The first thing he happened to notice was how close she was; in fact she was so near to him that all he had to do was move one leg and it'd be touching hers. The next detail he saw was her position, finding himself to be right: yup, she was angry. Her face was buried in her arms, leaning on her knees, yet she was completely still, except for her breathing.

"...Winry?" The question had come out as almost a whisper, not wanting to destroy the silence; but she still heard, lifting her head after a few moments and glancing over at him, eyes almost matching the sky above their heads.

Winry's face split into a frown. "What?"

Ed's slight taken-back look made her expression soften, moving out of her former stiff position to spread her legs out, lowering her hands to the grass.

"Sorry... I didn't mean to snap." A slight smile suddenly graced her lips whilst she closed her eyes, tilting her head back into the sunshine.

"It's nice out here, isn't it?" Ed could only nod in response, still studying her.

She glanced at him and he abruptly averted his eyes, causing her to frown again.

"You're too quiet..." Winry muttered, causing Ed to blink at her in surprise, golden eyes almost full of innocence.

"Just trying to work out what's wrong with you." His shoulders shrugged and it was Winry's turn to be surprised.

"You care that much?"

There was no reply from him for a few minutes, only a light blush covering his cheeks before he nodded.

"O-Of course I do..." He finally muttered, face downcast to the floor.

There was no more conversation after that. Just the sunbeams and the silence and the warmth they felt towards each other.

It was only when Winry's hand moved to rest on his that Ed jumped, snapping out of his doze. He panicked, unsure how to react as he glanced down at the soft fingers covering his, heart thumping for what must have been at least a minute-

...Then he saw her face and relaxed. She was smiling at him in a way that just... well, she was practically beaming. He felt a feeling go through him that the sun's rays had nothing to compare to; no kind of fine weather could make him feel this... complete. So warm and content. And happy.

His fingers closed around hers and they continued with their silence.

It was in this moment that Ed realised that his favourite kind of weather wasn't just sunshine.
It was Winry's sunshine.