As the rain collided with my window, I decided to make chicken soup for dinner. Though I did plan to make beef stew, the sudden storm put a slight delay on that idea. Pulling out the chicken, I heard a loud knock on the door.
"Don't bother, Granny." I said sweetly, "I'll get it."
Walking towards the door, I opened It to find a very wet Alphonse. Smiling like an idiot, I pushed him inside.
"Alphonse!" I cried, hugging him tightly
"Hey, Winry! Hey, Granny!" He waved "How have you guys been?"
"Great!" Granny answered "Winry was JUST making chicken soup for dinner. Perhaps you could stay the night and have dinner with us?"
"That's the thing," Alphonse said, "Is it okay if I can stay here for two weeks or so? Xing really took the life out of me. I would really love to take a break here at home. That is, if you're okay with it."
"Of course it's fine, Al." I smiled. "Not to mention, how are you and Mei? Seemed like you two were getting it on, huh?" I added, laughing.
"It's….well…..just…." Al stuttered, majorly blushing.
"Someone has a crush…" Granny muttered
Cutting the chicken, Alphonse blushed more deeply, and stared down at the floor.
"Al, if you want to eat our food, you must was up for dinner." Granny said
"Of course!" Al said, and ran upstairs.
Staring into the pot, Granny put her hand on my shoulder.
"I'm fine.." I sighed
"I know you're hurting. He looks so much like Edward…"
Shrugging her hand off, I continued making dinner. Cooking always takes my mind off of…of him.
"Winry?"
Ignoring her, I poured the chicken bits into the large pots. Then, I pulled out the carrots and lettuce.
"Winry, dear? Are you listening to me?"
Not responding, I continued cutting the carrots.
Edward. Edward Elric. The Fullmetal Alchemist. Or well, used to be. Do you remember the train station, Winry? Those cute little words Edward spat out of his mouth?
"EQUIVALENT EXCHANGE! I'LL GIVE HALF OF MY LIFE TO YOU, IF YOU GIVE HALF OF YOURS TO ME."
"Shut up." I thought.
Not to mention his golden hair, his eyes that melted you away…
"STOP IT!" I screamed
"WINRY!" Granny yelled
Snapping back into reality, I looked onto my hand. It had a large cut running down to my wrist.
"Stupid knife…" I murmured
Alphonse came back into the room, and stared at my hand. Before I knew it, he was by my side, examining my hand. It's funny, he is a lot like Ed…
"What the HELL happened, Winry? Here, let me get the first aid kit."
"It's fine. I'm fine."
"Does this LOOK FINE? Winry, be careful. You keep getting hurt. And I definitely do not like seeing you hurt." Al huffed.
Wrapping my hand up, Alphonse decided to finish making dinner for me. Sitting at the table, Granny sat by my side and held my non-injured hand. She smiled her nice ol' smile, as Alphonse served us our meals.
"Thanks, Al." I smiled
"No problem, Winry. Just go on and eat. I'm starving!" Al laughed
Looking around the table, Granny and Alphonse smiled at me. Smiling back, I realized something. No matter how bad things get, no matter how rough the road gets, I will always have family. THEY will get me though this. And as I was realizing this, I found myself letting go of Edward. And when I took in a deep breath, it felt like I was LIVING again. Not bragging or anything, but it felt GOOD. Taking a bite of the chicken, we all heard three loud knocks on the door. Grunting, I got out of my chair and headed to the door.
"You guys keep eating." I said, "I'll be back in a minute."
Opening the door, I said, "I'm sorry but-"
My words were cut off by mere shock. Edward was standing right in front of me. His golden eyes were staring at me. I don't know if it was me or something, but I swear he had tears coming out of his eyes. His golden hair tied tightly in the back, and his amazing smile made me step back a little.
Immediately, I started crying. Edward tried to pull me into a hug, but he was interrupted by Alphonse punching Edward in the face. Slamming into the ground, Edward yelled, "WHAT WAS THAT FOR!"
"FOR NEVER CHECKING IN WITH US, YOU IDIOT. DO YOU NOT KNOW HOW WORRIED WE WERE?" Alphonse yelled back.
Alphonse stepped outside into the pouring rain, as he stood right in front of his brother.
"Al-" Ed started
"EDWARD. Every damn day, I was WORRIED SICK. I always pictured you running back into the house, with all of us getting the biggest embrace yet. But what do you do? You left for a YEAR without telling anyone where you were. we thought you were dead. i….i thought you were gone forever. do you know how much that scared me? i couldn't picture my life without you in it."
Edward took a few steps back, taking in the words his own brother yelled at him. His face suddenly rose and his eyes…his golden eyes stared into mine. He had this 'I'm sorry' look on his face. And just when I was about to let go, to let go of him…he just pops RIGHT back in front of our house.
"Edward." I sighed walking up to him.
"Winry.." He said tears rolling out of his eyes
"How can I forgive you?"
Alphonse and Granny's eyes opened with shock.
"You never checked in. You NEVER let me know if you were alright. I cried EVERY DAMN DAY, knowing that the man I love is gone."
Realizing what I just said, I blushed. I mean, CMON WINRY. YOU JUST SAID YOU LOVED HIM. SAY SOMETHING. HURRY. SAY SOMETHING! GAHHHHHHHHHH.
Edward's eyes opened wide, as he and I soaked in my words.
"I meant that, well, the man I cherished never…uhh…checked in with me!" I yelled
"Winry, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I never checked in. It was stupid of me, I know. But I couldn't live with you dying or-"
"Dying!" Alphonse snapped. "What do you mean DYING?"
"Al," Edward started, "I never checked in because I wanted you all to be safe. To be out of harms way. How could I live if any of you were injured because of me? He would've…..he would've…"
Staring at Ed, I realized his whole body started to shake.
"Ed? What happened to you?" I slowly asked
"Do you guys want to catch a cold? Go inside. We'll continue this conversation by the fire." Granny piped in, already heading inside.
Looking at each other, we all shuffled into Granny's home. This conversation was about to get a lot more interesting than it already was….