Alphabetum
by. Poisoned Scarlet

Y is for Yearn

Winry drowsily opened her eyes. She stifled a yawn and turned her head, only to stare at Hohenheim. The seven-year-old girl let her eyes stray to his outstretched hand, which trembled very slightly in the dim room. She could feel Edward and Alphonse doze quietly beside her; she even felt Edward give one of his infamous kicks and shove her a little more to the side as he got comfortable once more.

"Mister Hohenheim?" Winry asked, softly. "Wha'sa matter?"

Edward's father had always been a mystery to Winry. He was very sullen and silent and did not say a single word whenever the Rockbell's and Elric's spent some time together out by the Elric's front porch; speaking about old times and laughing at memories.

He was huge – the size of a bear, her granny had once joked – but he was also very...sad. There was a gloomy, pained, glimmer in his golden eyes that she could clearly see. There was always a controlled way to his movements; to his words. She would see him stiffly nod at her whenever she greeted him, because her mother told her it was the polite thing to do, and there was always a restraint to his motions whenever they were close to him.

Trisha did not seem to mind. She patted his shoulder affectionately and smiled warmly at him whenever he got too wound up. She could see the love between them and she remembered thinking that, one day, she wanted something like that. Her parents had that same gaze in their eyes – that sparkle of warmth and adoration – and she found herself wishing to the shooting stars she saw at night that one day, when she was older, someone would look at her like that; with that twinkle of yearn, that soft smile of care.

Hohenheim retracted his hand as if he had burnt it and smiled tightly in return. "It is nothing, Winry, please go back to sleep. I am sorry for disturbing you."

Winry picked at her blanket, rubbing her scratchy eyes. "Okay..."

The man stood, towering over her, and turned on his heel mechanically. She watched him leave with droopy eyes. But she was awake enough to say: "Good night mister Hohenheim! Mommy says that its not healthy for someone to stay up so late and Ed and Al tell me that you stay up all night sometimes! Be careful cause it could cause hazard...hazardous health problems!" She beamed proudly at managing to use the word her mother so often repeated whenever she did something reckless with Ed and Al.

Hohenheim became very still. She watched with curious eyes as he slowly looked over his shoulder and, through his spectacles, warmly smiled at her. That had been the first time she had ever seen such an expression of warmth fleet his rugged face.

"Thank you for your concern but I'll be fine."

"'Kay..." Winry snuggled back under the covers and watched Hohenheim close the door behind him. His heavy steps resounded in the drafty house before another door opened and shut and all was silent once more. Her crystal blue eyes flashed to the clock overhead and squinted when she couldn't see the numbers right. She could make out a six and she assumed it was six in the evening by the darkness in the room.

She thought back to the warm smile. Then she thought about Ed and Al – her best friends – and smiled a little.

She wondered if they would grow up like Hohenheim – big, scary, but with a soft heart.

She hoped so but she was a little wary about Ed...

He was a runt, after all.

But maybe he would have this so-called 'growth spurt' her mother assured her about when she asked why Ed was such a shorty.

In that moment, she vowed to shove as much milk as she could down his throat so he could grow up to be big and strong like his father.

She fell back to sleep with a small smile on her face.

A/N: I wanted to include Hohenheim again. Sue me. This was actually going to revolve around the Elric family but then I decided to make it Winry-centric. I was reading the manga and I saw that Hohenheim really wished for the warmth of a family but his belief of him being a monster prevented him from forging a bond with the boys. That's really sad, if you think about it D:

Poor Ho-Ho!

Review!

Scarlett.