Writers Note: From all of the chapters, I love this one so much. This was supposed to be called Phonecalls and Letters but after rereading the first draft, I decided to make it just Letters. Its something we didnt get to see in the Anime/Manga so, I thought it would be kinda funny to see what the characters are writing to eachother. I included slight AlMay in this chapter, but as always, it focused more on Ed and Winry. Anyways, I hope you like this as much as I do. And sorry that this turned out kinda long. Enjoy! R & R Please!
Special Thanks to my Editor Robin Sparrow!
Disclaimer: I dont own FMA, cause if I did, Alphonse would be a Prince now :D
Letters
Months passed.
Winry was working in Rush Valley again; already, she'd spent some time thinking about possibly settling down there and opening her own Atelier. But that was no longer her decision to make alone; she would have to speak to her grandmother about this, and to Ed of course. She knew he could never love this town the way she did.
She hadn't heard anything about him for a while now, but she knew that he wasn't big on phone calls. Besides which, he never stayed in the same place for very long. He was studying alchemy again. Nothing else was as important as that.
It had been a long day, and already it was late. Mr. Garfiel had left for vacation, leaving Winry alone at the Atelier. Closing late, she walked over to lock the door and noticed an envelope with her name on it lying on the floor. Picking it up, she turned it around and read the foreign address. It was a letter from Alphonse.
Locking the door, she switched on the light, sat down, and opened the envelope.
Dear Winry,
I'm really sorry I didn't write you sooner, but I have so much stuff going on here! Xing is a really great land, and Ling as an Emperor… Well, he still seems to be a little Greedy sometimes, but all in all he's doing a good job!
So how are you doing? I heard from Brother that you're in Rush Valley again (that's why I sent the letter here, instead of your house). Ed couldn't remember it all, so I had him call Granny to make sure I had the right address. It took him a week to send me a letter with the address, can you believe it? He's really irresponsible sometimes…
Congratulations, by the way, Miss Rockbell – soon to be Mrs. Elric! Brother told me that he made the "big promise" – as he calls it. You know him, not much of a romantic. May and Lan Fan send you a kind "HELLO, WINRY!" and "Congratulations!" of course. May is a really nice girl; I like her a lot. Plus, she's a really good teacher; she's taught me a lot about alkahestry. I can't wait to show you what I've learned!
So how's it going in Rush Valley? I hope everything is good. You must be an automail genius by now!
I miss you, and Granny too. How is she, by the way? I need to write her too, or else she'll get mad, don't you think?
Well, I gotta go now! May wants to show me some new alkahestry techniques.
Take care! I'm looking forward to hearing from you!
Greetings from the great land of Xing,
Alphonse
PS: I couldn't help it – I told Ling about your delicious apple pies… he said if he ever comes to Risembool, he wants you to bake him some.
Winry put the letter down and smiled. "He hasn't changed a bit," she said to herself.
She took a piece of paper, picked up a pen, and began to write.
Dear Alphonse,
I'm happy that you're having a good time in Xing and I'm sure that Ling is a great emperor. After all he's been through! And I'm fine, thank you! I LOVE RUSH VALLEY! I LOVE AUTOMAIL! I LOVE THE SMELL OF OIL!
And that's just typical Ed, huh? He always gets so excited about something that he forgets the rest of the world. But I'm used to it already. After all these years…
I don't know how much Ed told you about his "big promise," but it was kind of really weird. He brought up equivalent exchange while proposing… geez! But actually, I guess it was kinda sweet… it was his way of saying he wants to spend the rest of his life with me, after all. I'm okay with him not being a romantic – I like him the way he is, and I miss him every day. He doesn't call very often, but I'm used to it. At least I don't have to worry that he will get killed or something. I'm okay with everything as long as he comes back in one piece.
Tell Lan Fan and May "HELLO" back and "THANK YOU!" So you like May too, huh? It was obvious she liked you a lot… well anyways, I'm happy for you two! And I bet she is a really good teacher… She needs to grow, though – tell her I said so, cause if not, Ed's going to tease her about it!
Everything is fine here in Rush Valley. The weather is beautiful as ever, though I'm not yet an automail genius – I'm not so sure I ever will be, but I'll try my hardest. I designed new legs for Paninya, and also a new one for Ed. I hope he'll like it. :)
I miss you too. And I'm sure Granny does too! She's fine – she has Den, after all. You better make sure you write her, though… You know, I haven't used my wrench on anyone in a long time… (he he he)
I hope I see you all soon!
Best wishes,
Winry
PS: Tell Ling that I'll bake him some pies next chance I get… I'm just afraid he'll end up in a fight with Ed again…
"Well Winry seems to be fine, too," Al said after he finished reading her letter. "I wonder what my brother is up to…"
"He'll be fine," May said, annoyed.
She still didn't get why Winry was marrying Edward. But that seemed to be love. She glanced at Al, and blushed.
Al noticed, and asked, "What's with you now?"
"It's... nothing," May stammered. "I just thought... it's cute that Ed finally proposed to Winry, even if it was weird."
"Yeah," Al agreed. "But you know, Ed already asked Winry to marry him when we were little kids… she shut him down though, because she was taller than him. It's funny how things work out, don't you think?"
May nodded thoughtfully, leaning her head on Al's shoulder. "Let's go home," she said, and they continued walking home together.
Ed had finally arrived at the military base in Central City. He wanted to do some research after visiting Gracia and the not-so-little-anymore Elicia – and where else to find good books but the Central Library?
Entering the building, he looked around, realizing nothing had changed. The tables and chairs were in the same places as they were a few years ago; the bookshelves hadn't budged an inch.
Before diving into the books, he remembered he hadn't talked to Winry in a while. All he knew was that she was back in Rush Valley working. He would've called her if he could have stayed longer in the library, but he only had a few hours, so he decided to write her a letter.
Dear Winry,
I don't even know how to start this… I'm sorry I didn't call very often! You're probably angry with me, so I decided to write you instead…
I'm currently in Central, and I'm staying for a week – I want to visit some of the old military gang. I'll probably visit the... ColonelGeneral Whatever-the-hell-he's-called Mustang later as well… I can just hear him being sarcastic about my height and how I'm still shorter than him. I hate him sometimes! Do we HAVE to invite him to our wedding?
I visited Mrs. Gracia and little Elicia earlier. Well, she isn't really all that little anymore… Anyway, they told me to say hi. I told them about our "promise"…
How are you doing in Rush Valley? Did you design a cool new leg for me yet? And have you talked to Al lately? How's Granny doing?
I've been travelling a lot these last few months, and I've learned a lot of new things about alchemy. It's really hard sometimes – but then, I never thought it would be easy. It would be a lot easier if I could actually use alchemy, of course… but I'll manage – always do!
I'm planning on visiting Al in Xing soon. I really want to see the land, and I'm really curious about how Ling is doing as a king… I wonder if he married Lan Fan yet…
I know – I need to do some automail maintenance before I cross the desert. Don't worry, I won't forge
You know, I miss your apple pies… and sometimes I really miss you.
I should get back to my research now. I'll tell everyone you said hi – and if I do need expert automail maintenance before going to Xing, I'll call and stop by in Rush Valley, okay? Or you can come to… wherever Imay be then… I'll let you know.
I'm looking forward to seeing you again! Hopefully this letter will make you forget you're angry with me for not calling…
Take care, Winry.
Love,
Edward
PS: Tell everyone in Rush Valley I said hi.
Winry smiled when she'd finished reading the letter. He was right; she had been a bit angry that he hadn't called. But now everything was good; it meant a lot that he wrote to her. She folded the letter back as it was and put it in a box she used to collect all of Ed's letters.
"That's so Ed," she said to herself, grinning. "Just like Al, he hasn't changed a bit… how can someone be that crazy about alchemy?"
After re-reading the letter one more time, she decided to write him back, addressing the letter to Central Military base. Everyone there knew Ed, so even if it didn't reach him in time, at least someone would be able to forward it to him.
Dear Ed,
I'm happy you wrote! Don't worry, I'm not angry anymore. Receiving your letter was one of the highlights of this week.
I hope your friend Roy Mustang is all right… Sorry Ed, but I kinda like Riza, so I guess we have to invite him as well. It's funny you're still worried about him teasing you about your height – you're freakishly tall now, so stop worrying!
I'm sure Elicia has grown a lot. You need to visit Mr. Hughes's gravestone if you haven't already… I've been thinking about him a lot these days. I would have loved to have him as a guest at our wedding. After all, he helped me understand you…
Things in Rush Valley are good, as always. I have some new customers. An eleven-year-old girl, can you believe it? It was kind of déjà-vu… She lost both of her arms and begged me to make her new ones. She's really cute! But it was also really heartbreaking… she entered rehabilitation two days ago. Hopefully she'll make it.
I did design new automail for you, of course. Who do you think you're dealing with here, huh? And don't worry about Al, he's fine. He's learning a lot about alkahestry, at least that's what he told me. It seems he and May are pretty close these days.
Granny is complaining about you two, by the way! You never send a single letter or call her or anything! I think she deserves at least one call a week – she's old, Ed… we have to appreciate her. She raised us, don't you forget that! You don't want to get hit by my wrench, do you? (he he he he he)
Hopefully you'll find what you're looking for. I'm sure you will.
You can't be serious about travelling to Xing? I have to design a completely different leg for you then…
I miss you every day. But it's okay. :) I can't imagine you sitting around here doing nothing.
I love you for being the way you are.
Just come back in one piece, okay?
Love,
Winry
PS: Take care of your automail! Remember to check the screws, oil it, and don't let it get too wet! (Just a little reminder!)
Winry's letter reached Edward just in time. If the train had left one minute earlier, Havoc would never have reached him at the station.
After reading the letter, Ed thought about what she'd said regarding Hughes. He still felt guilty sometimes about his death. But Winry was right about him; Hughes had done all he could to help them discover that the corruption in the military went straight to its core, and his sacrifice had probably saved more than a few lives in the end.
But Ed knew also that if he was alive now, Hughes would have loved to be at their wedding. And he would have been as crazy as ever about his wife and daughter.
Smiling to himself, Ed folded the letter and placed it into his coat pocket, next to his heart.
"Yep, he's probably the same as ever… wherever he may be now." Ed paused. "I would have loved to have him as a guest at our wedding, too."
I decided to let this Story endhere. First of all, because my dear friend and editor Robin Sparrow is working on the sequel to this, and second because I think if I would continue, it would be too mu
ch. I just wanted to show with this my Ideas on how I guess things could've worked out after the Promised Day and yeah, I think it turned out well. As I said earlier, I liked this chapter a lot, I figured that its easier to write things down than actually say them out loud, so yeah, I guess Ed's letter to Winry isnt too ooc, because my guess is, that he knows that no one else will read it except her.
Thank you guys for liking, reading and reviewing! You're loved! :) *bows*
I promise this wasnt the last EdWin I wrote. I'm currently working on a EdWin Collection, I just need some more Inspiration.
Keep checking for my Work, and Thank you again!
Love
Sonja
