Chapter 5: Scrapbook
The sound of rain against metal awoke Ed with a start. Sitting up in his bed, he quickly looked around, glancing over Al's sleeping form across the room. He breathed heavily, trying to remember his dream…
He'd been walking toward his old house, confirming even more that it was a dream, since the Elric house was burned before they left. He'd come up to the familiar door and when he opened it, Winry was standing on the other side, a happy smile on her face. He was surprised to see her there and backed away, unsure. When he had, she began to disappear.
Scared that she was leaving for good, he stepped forward. He'd reached out to grab her, but she was gone.
Ed rubbed his head, smoothing his fingers through his long locks. He could still remember the pang of terror he'd felt in his chest. What had it meant? He sighed into the stuffy air around him. He realized then that he was really hot and a little sweaty from his dream. As he stepped out of bed to cool off, his fingers shaking slightly, a part of him knew it had been a nightmare.
OOO
"A letter came from the school today."
Three pairs of eyes turned to Pinako. Everyone was sitting at the living room table, sipping coffee or eating breakfast. Edward sat quietly, lost in his own thoughts. Winry shot him glances now and then, still worrying over his silence. At the prospect of news, Ed and Winry both looked to Al, who was staring at the starch white letter as though it were gold.
Pinako handed it to him from across the table. Winry smiled as Al fumbled to open the envelope. He was so anxious to read it he couldn't get his hands to cooperate! Finally, though, the letter was opened, and Al was reading it quickly, his eyes moving across the paper like lightning.
Suddenly, he stood up with the letter inches from his nose. "Really! Tomorrow!"
Ed looked at Al with a slight smirk on his face. "What's tomorrow?" he asked.
Al never looked away from the paper, but replied, "The school's having an orientation for all of the students. I've been invited to come!" He seemed so happy about this news; Winry didn't have the heart to tell him that every one got a letter to the orientation, so she kept quite about it.
"You know Al, this is gonna be your first time around so many kids your own age. You aren't worried, are you?" Ed asked, all joking aside. It was true that Alphonse could be really shy, especially around his peers.
Al uncharacteristically rolled his eyes. "Come on, brother! I'll be fine."
Winry laughed. "I'm sure you will, Al. If you want, I can take you tomorrow. What time does it start?"
Al returned his gaze to the letter and found the time. "It says to arrive at 4:00," he read.
She leaned back in her seat, glad that fate had worked out so well. "Perfect. I have another delivery to make around three. We'll stop by there, then head over to the school."
"Thanks, Winry. You're the best." Al stated, scooting back into his chair. He resumed eating, a large smile on his face.
Winry and Ed were both smiling at Al, glad that he was so excited about school. They turned to one another, catching each other's eye. When they realized they were both smiling at one another, Ed blushed and turned away, taking a long sip of his orange juice. Winry was about to blurt out, "Do you still like me, Ed?" but the words quickly died from her lips. With a frown, she began to munch on her eggs.
Pinako watched all of this from her seat at the table. Taking a long drag from her pipe, she began to wonder just how this behavior came about. Either way, the old woman didn't like it. Ed was seemingly ignoring Winry, and vice versa. How could this be fixed?
Deciding to give Edward some help with this problem, she began to come up with a way to let him see the softer, sweeter side of Winifred Rockbell.
OOO
"Bye, Aunt Pinako! We're heading into town!"
It was a Saturday, the bright blue sky clear and beautiful. Winry and Al were going into town early, hoping to get some groceries for the house before they went to Winry's customer. Ed watched them leave from the window in his room, pondering his reoccurring dream as he did.
Pinako was outside, working on her garden and pulling out any unwanted weeds. Al had been helping her, but Winry had stepped out into the front yard, calling, "Al! You ready?"
He'd been gone in a second. Pinako had secretly smiled as she watched the two walk down the dusty road to Risembool. Now, she could put her plan for Edward into action.
She stretched her aching back, hearing it crick and crack in places. Pulling off her gloves, and setting them aside next to her hand shovel, she walked into the house. She found Edward sitting at his bedroom desk, a book about alchemy in front of him.
"Edward?" she asked, standing in his doorway.
He looked up, the faintest hint of confusion in his eyes. His whole face looked distant and far away, like he'd been thinking over something for a long time. Pinako grinned inwardly. She knew exactly whom he was thinking about.
"What is it, Pinako?" he asked, turning away from the book, which had been open to page one, to face her at the door.
She feigned boredom and tiredness. "Oh…I don't know. I've got some gardening to do, and with Al and Winry gone into town, I thought maybe you could help me some." She said it, not as a question, but more of a thought she'd just stumbled upon.
Edward sighed, standing up from his desk chair. "Sure, I'll help. What should I do?"
From behind her, Pinako produced a feather duster, seemingly out of nowhere. Ed blinked in shock as she extended her arm and handed it to him in one swift motion.
"Thanks, my boy. I'll be outside if you need anything." She turned and walked out of the room, her hands behind her back.
Ed stood in the room, looking at the feather duster. Sighing once more, he tried to push the thoughts of Winry from his mind, but as he began dusting the wood of his desk, her beautiful face began to slide back into place at the front of his mind.
He worked his way out of him and his brother's room, past the bathroom, and into Pinako's room. She had many old trinkets that gathered dust like bees gather honey. He'd sneezed many times as the little particles launched into the air, and into his nose.
Suddenly, he was in Winry's room. And just as he was about to dust her bookcase, he stopped short. With amazed eyes, he looked around at her walls, taking in her bed and her floor and her window. This was her room. He'd never really been inside it before.
He dusted, but his thoughts were all focused on the things that lay around the room. A book on auto mechanics sat propped up by a wrench on the floor. Ed smiled at the book, and cringed at the wrench. How many times had she thrown that thing at him? More than he could count…He looked at her row of machine parts dictionaries that lined her bookcase.
A picture of Pinako as a younger woman, and Winry as a little girl hung on the wall by her bed. The two of them were sitting at a park bench, probably down in Risembool. Winry was smiling widely, her blue dress and straw hat making her look a lot younger than she was. Ed's eyes widened. The picture was only from a few years ago! A date scribbled on the bottom edge proved that.
He continued dusting, and as he went to dust the bedside table, he tripped and almost fell right into it. Angrily standing up, he scanned the wooden floor for the culprit. There! A book, thick and old looking sat on the floor, right where he'd tripped.
"Damn book." He muttered angrily, but his anger was replaced with curiosity when he noticed the word etched into the front cover. It read, in curly, scroll-like letters: Winry's Scrapbook. Setting the duster aside on the bed, he reached over, and took the book into his hands.
AN: Oh, I know, cliffhanger. But you CAN hang in there, cause I'll have the next chapter in real soon, promise. Thanks! &Niiroke&
