Author's note: I don't own these characters but they are so much fun to write about.
Characters: Edward Elric, Winry Rockbell, Granny Pinako, Alphonse Elric
Time Doesn't Heal All Wounds
Winry and Edward were living in their new home that was built on the Elrics' previous home. They had just celebrated their first wedding anniversary, and Winry was 5 months along with their first child. Edward would stay and write at their house while Winry went to work at her grandmother's.
Winry walked with their puppy, Eva, to her grandmother's home, and arrived to a quiet house that normally would smell of breakfast and smoke from a pipe. "Granny? Are you up yet?" She yelled upstairs. 'Maybe she overslept.' Winry walked up the stairs to her grandmother's door. She knocked, and asked if she could come in. No response. "Granny, I'm coming in." Winry walked into the room and saw her grandmother laying in bed. "Granny, it's late. We have some orders to work on." She walked to her bedside and noticed the stillness. "Granny, are you okay?" She shook her shoulders and noticed that the elderly woman was cold. "Granny…." Winry felt for a pulse on her neck, and couldn't find one. She brought her hands to her face. "No…. You're not supposed to go yet. Granny, you said you would help me." The tears started falling. She sat on the bed, and cried. 'How can I do this without you? We still need you.' Winry thought to herself. Her dog put her head in lap to try to comfort her.
Winry collected herself, and made her way to the telephone. She dialed her house number, and waited for Edward to answer. "Hello?" he answered, sounding irritated. "Edward! I need you to come to Granny's house now!" she yelled into the phone, and started crying again. "Winry! What's wrong?" "It's Granny. She's gone." "Gone, what do you mean gone? Did she go into town?" Then the realization hit him. Winry was crying too hard to answer. "Winry, I'll be right there. I have to hang up now, okay?" "Ok." She weakly replied. 'Oh shit!' he thought. 'This was not a good time for this.' He thought about his pregnant wife while he was running to the house.
He found her sitting next to the phone still. She looked up at him and started crying harder. Edward sat next to her on the couch, and let her cry into his chest. He still couldn't believe it. Edward trusted her judgement but once she calmed down, he went upstairs to verify for himself. They made the appropriate phone calls to the doctor and undertaker to make arrangements. Next was making phone calls to family and friends. Edward did most of the phone calls so Winry could rest. It was really hard to her to tell people without bursting into tears. He called Alphonse knowing there was no way he would be back from Xing in time for a funeral but Al did promise to be there when the baby was born.
Later that evening, Edward and Winry went home to rest. It had a been a long emotional day for both of them. Winry just wanted to go to bed even though she wasn't sure if she would sleep. There was a light knock on the door shortly after they got home. Edward answered the door, and it was one of their neighbors offering their condolences, and a pot of chicken noodle soup. Winry met them at the door, and thanked them for the soup. Their neighbor told them if they needed anything, to let them know. Edward brought the soup into their kitchen, and made them each a bowl. He sat them on the table. They sat at the table but Winry didn't start eating. "I'm not really hungry." She said with her eyes staring into her lap. Edward was worried. She hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. He took her hand. "Winry, you need to eat something. It's not just you that I'm worried about." He put their hands on her pregnant belly to remind her that it needed nourishment. "Please." Edward was practically begging her. She nodded in affirmation, and began to eat. It was the most quiet dinner they ever had together.
Three days later, Edward and Winry were getting ready for the funeral when another knock on the door was heard. They had a lot of visitors from town visit over the past few days so it was becoming normal to have people constantly visiting. Edward opened the door, and he was surprised. "General Mustang! What are you doing here?" He also saw Riza and Armstrong behind him. "We're here to pay our condolences." They were in black suits and Riza wore a dress. Winry came downstairs after putting in her pearl earrings that Edward had gotten her. She was surprised, and offered them to come inside. Riza and Winry hugged. "You didn't have to come all this way." "We wanted to. We know this is hard for you."
At the funeral, Winry held on to Edward at his side. She was crying even though it felt like she couldn't cry anymore. 'This is harder than I thought it was going to be.' Edward thought as he held his grieving wife. Even his eyes got glossy. Granny was the one that had taken them in when Trisha had died. She was a grandparent to him, too.
Everyone at the funeral went to Pinako's house. So many clients had shown up, and their friends from Central had come down. Winry asked Riza "Where are you staying tonight?" "We were going to get a room at the Inn." "Nonsense! Come stay with us tonight. We would love to have you, right Edward?"
"Wait, seriously?" He looked into Winry's eyes as she pleaded him with just a look. "Fine, they can stay." He couldn't say no to her today.
Everyone said their goodbyes, and Edward and Winry and their Central friends went to their home for night. And the next morning, Edward got up and made pancakes for their full house. He wanted Winry to sleep in because he knew she hadn't slept well. He heard her get up in the middle of the night, and found her reading a novel. At least she was eating now even if she had to be reminded. Mustang found him cooking, and was amazed that Edward knew how to operate a stove. "Well of course I can cook. Sometimes, Winry gets breakfast in bed." Riza elbowed Mustang. "I wish I got breakfast in bed." Edward smirked because he had gotten Mustang in trouble with his new wife. Winry came downstairs, and was happy to have breakfast made for her. They all made light conversation, and the new baby was an easy topic. No one really wanted to talk about why they were here to visit. Yesterday was an emotional overload.
Their guests stayed a few days because it seemed to cheer Winry up to have them there. Once they were gone, Winry had to learn how to live without her grandmother's constant companionship. Winry would want to tell Granny something but then remembered she was gone. She cried a little every now and then but it was getting better. But the hardest thing was she was so tired. She would take a nap every afternoon but wake up in the middle of the night, and stay awake for an hour. Edward got used to her leaving their bed and reading downstairs a little bit to distract her mind. Then she would come back when she got tired again. He didn't know if this was the pregnancy or grief, or maybe a combination of both. He noticed that some days were easier than others but some were still difficult. He knew they would get through this. He helped more with the housework and cooking meals so Winry could rest more.
A few months later, Winry was eight months pregnant. She had gotten back to doing her usual work and housework though she was having to adjust to doing certain chores due to her size. She was still having trouble sleeping but she wasn't nearly as tired during the day. She smiled more, and Edward noticed that she was feeling better.
Edward and her were waiting at the train station for Alphonse to arrive. Al got off the train and hugged Winry first. He looked at her very pregnant belly. "Wow, Winry! You look amazing!" "Aww thank you Al. I needed to hear that. I feel huge!" The brothers hugged and greeted each other.
"I want to go to see Granny now." Alphonse told them. They all agreed to go together, and bought flowers while they were in town. They arrived to the cemetery, and saw their family's graves. Al kneeled down and put flowers on Granny's grave. "I'm sorry I wasn't here but I'm here now." Winry put her hand on his shoulder. "She would have understood. She was really proud of the work you've been doing." Bringing a medical alchemy back to Amestris had been one of their goals, and Pinako had been hoping to use it with her patients' recovery. Now Winry would be able to use it to help her patient's pain levels.
About 6 weeks later, Winry had her baby. It was few days early but the boy was healthy. Once mother and baby were cleaned up, the brothers and Winry looked at the baby in awe. "Hey little guy." Al said to the baby. "Don't call him little! It might bother him." Edward said to his brother. "Edward, he is little, and so cute." Winry said as she looked at the baby. Edward was annoyed because he knew he had lost. He took a serious look, and told Winry "You know, she'd be really proud of you." "Edward, don't make me cry." She hit him with her free arm. "I'm sorry but she really would." "Yeah, Winry. She also knew the baby would be early because brother's the father." Winry smiled at that. "I'm not that impatient anymore!" Edward defended himself. "His patience has gotten better." Winry said with a smile.
Edward saw Winry's smile, and reflected on how much her smile had changed over the past few months. It didn't have a hint of sadness in it. The dark cloud had lifted slowly. Time doesn't heal all wounds. The wounds can leave a scar. They had gotten through a dark period of their lives, and now the sky was clear. Winry would be a little sad every so often but there were still smiles and laughter to be had. Her heart had grown more. She had become wiser, and learned to cherish more because she knew that these moments were precious.
Author's note: My mom passed away 3 years ago. I thought a grief story would suit well to the theme of 'Mending'. There is hope for anyone grieving. There is also help. I had to get help through my grief, and I have no shame in saying that.