Category: Friendship Fluff/ Mild Romantic Fluff

Characters: Edward Elric, Alphonse Elric, and Winry Rockbell

Edward swung the door open with a small sigh, a few iron nails clenched between his teeth and a hammer tucked under his arm. Yeesh… That took way too long, he thought grumpily as he walked into the house and set the hammer down on the wooden table, then reached up to rub the sore muscles of his neck. Through the window, golden light spilled in, washing the entire kitchen with its brilliant hue as the sun slowly sunk below the horizon of fields and forests and farmsteads. Edward slid his hands in his pockets, finding that the house was unusually quiet; as he opened his mouth to call Winry's name, joyous laughter echoed through the house, bouncing around the walls and seemingly coming from the direction of her bedroom. A golden eyebrow raised, he walked down the hall to find her door slightly ajar, and he pushed it lightly to peer inside.

"I remember that!" Winry was giggling with her back to him, sitting on her bedroom floor and apparently pointing at something in her lap. Alphonse was leaned up against her bed with the puppies gathered in his lap, smiling brightly as he snickered to himself. Pinako was sitting in the chair from Winry's work desk, chortling along with them. Edward was thoroughly confused, so he pushed the door open all the way and entered the room.

"What's so funny?" The three turned to look at him as he entered the room, Winry in particular looking positively radiant with happiness. As he approached, she suddenly jumped up and ran over to him, shoving something in his face. It was so close for a moment that he had absolutely no idea what it was, so he reached up to take it from her, blushing lightly when his rough hands fell over her soft, smooth ones. Hastily, he grabbed the mystery item and held it at an angle he could appreciate it. "Oh. It's a photo album," he realized.

"Mhmm! They're all photos from when we were kids!" A small smile formed on his face from the nostalgia, and he walked over to sit beside Alphonse as he perused the contents of the various pages. There was a photo from a day they helped Pinako make an apple pie, and he and Alphonse had gotten in a fight where they threw flour at one another and had made a mess of the house. There was another where Edward had dressed up as a ghost to scare Winry, but instead it just made her laugh hysterically, which made him pretty mad. There was yet another photograph from when they had visited a nearby lake to go swimming.

"Huh? I don't remember this one!" he frowned when ha came across a particular photograph. It featured Winry with a white pillowcase tied around her head, while Edward stood next to her looking extremely irritated. Alphonse was standing on a stump reading from an upside-down book and wearing a top hat. The other residents of the house gathered around him to peer at the photo in question, and Winry lit up with a radiant smile.

"Oh! That's the day we got married!"

"Do what?" Edward shrieked, his voice several octaves higher than normal as he snapped the photograph album shut and whipped around to glare at her in incredulity. Her wide blue eyes gazed at him in confusion.

"Don't you remember, Ed? It went like this…"

-In the Past-

Little Edward was squatted down in the yard with a stick in his hand, his golden eyes wide with curiosity as he poked at a slow-moving beetle crawling across the lush green grass. He pouted when it abruptly fluttered its wings and flew off with a buzz, disturbed by the sound of elated laughter and the feverish stomping of footsteps. He stood up, dropping his stick, as Winry and Alphonse came careening around the corner of the house giggling giddily.

"What's all this about?" he blinked.

"Alphonse and I have a great game we can play!" Winry giggled as she stopped in front of him. He blinked in slight confusion as she turned to his brother, who was holding various items in his little arms. Winry grabbed one of them and whirled around with a flourish. "Ta-daaaaaa~" she sang as she pulled a single white pillowcase around her head, draping it over her blonde hair and holding it there while she looked at him expectantly.

"I don't get it."

"I'm a bride, you idiot!" she shrieked at him, her face reddening, and he cried out as she socked him in the head with her fist. He nursed his head tenderly, glaring at her with his cheeks puffed out defiantly.

"You're a mean bride! Who would wanna marry you?" he snapped at her, and they dissolved to an ugly squabble, trading various insults until Alphonse laughed nervously and physically inserted himself between them.

"Guys, guys, come on! Let's just play the game!" he smiled widely, and the two children glared at one another before turning their backs on each other with haughty huffs. "Now, Edward, you're gonna be the groom!"

"Do what?" he shrieked. Winry giggled and spun around with her makeshift veil while Alphonse scampered behind him and clambered onto a nearby stump and plopped a tall top hat onto his head. It was much too big for him, so he had to hold it up with one hand while he balanced the book on his knee. He cleared his throat dramatically before opening up a book with a sophisticated expression, but Edward thought he just looked dumb because the book was upside-down. As he went to complain about the stupidity of the game, his words were whisked out of his mouth as Winry grabbed him by the air with a girlish giggle and dragged him over to the stump. He slouched in front of his brother, who was blathering some nonsense about marriage rights, while Winry was standing straight up with gleaming eyes like she actually was getting married."This is so dumb," he hissed to her under his breath.

"Shut up and pretty to be happy!" she hissed back at him, and the glare she shot him scared his spine as stiff as a board. This sucks!

"Do you, Winry Rockbell, take Edward Elric to be your lawfully wedded husband?" Alphonse announced suddenly.

"I do!" Winry beamed brightly.

"Do you, Edward Elric, take Winry Rockbell to be your lawfully wedded wife?" his brother asked solemnly, turning on him next. Winry also turned to face him, her blue eyes sparkling with pure bliss and her cheeks slightly pink as she stared at him hopefully.

"Nah," he answered without missing a beat, then screamed as Winry snarled and stomped on his foot with all the might her little body possessed. "Yes! Yes! I mean yes, I do! Nehhhhh!" he screeched as he hopped on one foot, cradling the other which undoubtedly contained broken toes. Winry beamed happily and whirled back around to face Alphonse, smacking Edward in the face with her pillowcase veil. Edward, positively fuming, just half-listened while Alphonse continued reciting some half-baked marriage rights before he went as rigid as a wall of stone.

"You may now kiss the bride!" he declared gleefully and snapped the book shut, looking quite pleased with his performance. Winry looked at him, flushing shyly as she nervously wrung the edge of her veil, and she fluttered her eyelashes at him. Edward felt a shudder travel up his spine, and his eyebrows twitched incessantly as he tugged at his collar, which was sticking to his neck due to the cold sweat. How did I get dragged into this? He moped as he edged toward the waiting girl. She had her eyes closed and her lips puckered, looking completely innocent. Edward knew that a devil hid behind that angelic face. I don't wanna kiss Winry!

"Come on, brother, or she'll hit you with a wrench this time!" Alphonse hissed down at him. Edward exhaled deeply, not wanting to be on the receiving end of her violence, before clenching his fists tightly. He squeezed his eyes shut tight as he jerked forward, lightly kissing Winry on the mouth; then, in the next second, he had jumped back, as red as a tomato, and was wiping off his mouth with disgusted noises.

"Why do you have to act like that, Ed?" Winry pouted as she put her hands on her hips, that light shade of pink still on her chubby cheeks.

"This is the worst game ever!" he shot back. They all glanced up when they heard amused laughter, just in time to see a camera flash. Pinako lowered the camera, chuckling, while Edward went dark red. "Delete that picture! You old haaaaaag!" he wailed and ran for the camera, but the dog thought it was a game and jumped on him, barking happily as he bowled the young child over.

-In the Present-

Edward's face had taken on a hue that was some mixture of pink and green after Winry had finished relating the story. "No wonder I don't remember. It's so traumatizing that I repressed it," he muttered. He cried out as Winry grabbed a nearby wrench and whacked him over the head with it. "Ow! God damn it!"

"Told you she would hit you with a wrench!" Alphonse laughed. Edward just whimpered as he bent over, cradling his bruised head. The rest of the room laughed at his expense, and they were so busy doing that that they didn't notice him blushing darkly.

Me and Winry married, huh? Alphonse and I are going to be leaving on our trip soon… Maybe… Maybe I should tell her how I feel?