Disclaimer: I do not own FMA. If I did, I'd be a very happy, very, very rich person… with a yacht and loads of people to do my bidding.
Warnings: Er… old people… but if you didn't get that from the title then… you make me very sad.
The country, she decided, was the very best place to live, open spaces, fresh air, and peace to bask in. The lazy, half-frozen wind of spring lifted up her gray hair and tossed it about carelessly as she bent down to trim a dead stem off a budding tree of tea roses. The combination of fresh, half grown green leaves and the buds of barely pink roses made her smile. This patch was special. An anniversary gift from a past time, to remind her of the bouquet she had carried as a blushing bride.
She turned suddenly, wiping at the thin film of sweat that swathed her brow, as she heard a faint uproar of young voices, the pruning shears hanging limply in her hand. Using her free hand to block the noontime sun, she watched as the man she loved came limping up the front walk, a lone little boy still begging for just one more story. She half feared for the child as her husband whirled around and crouched down to the boy's eye level. He was not known for his even temperament… at all. She shouldn't have worried, for with a flourish, the crouched man offered a shiny token to the boy, whispering directions on how to spend it in the nearest candy shop no doubt. Gleefully, the child danced away to the gaggle that awaited him at the front gate, waving his piece about proudly. Her husband watched him go with fondness in his eyes, then rose stiffly from the ground, grimacing as his bones protested.
"I thought you said we should be saving our money," his wife accused playfully, putting her hands on her hips. Her husband smiled and merely shook his head, leaning on his cane as he waited for the aches to pass.
"That's not spending money," Edward said slyly, "it's investing it in the future."
"You spoil those kids Ed," Winry admonished, laughing lightly and tossing her messy bun around.
"I think I can indulge it that every once and while," Edward smiled and began to limp up the porch stairs. With one foot in the door he turned, "I love you."
"I love you too," Winry glowed as he disappeared into the small one-story house. She cast a cursory glance at the tidy little garden Edward had planted for her after they turned the shop over to the kids and decided that was all she really needed to do for today.
Edward was stirring a pot of spaghetti sauce while reading an alchemic text, leaning up against the counter to keep his balance. After fifty years of marriage, that was one habit Winry never could really break him out of.
"You're going to catch your sleeve on fire," Winry rebuked as she washed her hands.
"You've told me that for how many years now?" Edward asked, not looking up from his book. "I'll be fine, you don't need to worry about me, Sugar."
Winry grinned as she began to strain the pasta, the smoke billowing up from the sink in a great cloud and flattening the flyaway hairs on her head against her head. She walked over to her husband and rested lightly against his chest, happy to feel the beating of his heart next to hers, listen to his steady, slow breathing in the sunlit kitchen. The tranquility made her want to fall asleep right there, as she had found herself so prone to do nowadays. Edward had laid down his book and wrapped his flesh arm around her waist, pulling her closer and rested his head against hers. They lived for the moments like these, the times of quiet just between the two of them, when the words they could have said really didn't matter. It was just the two of them, living in a fraction of time, together.
And like a wisp of fog that suspended moment they had created faded back into the flow of things as the kitchen buzzer sounded, a harsh little bell. Sheepishly, both adults started, still a bit drowsy from the almost nap. Edward continued to put the homemade meal together while Winry busied herself with setting the table.
Conversation was soft, but it was always present at that kitchen table. Winry mentioned that Eleanor was expecting again, and that this would be the fourth grandbaby they'd be able to spoil when she came over to visit. Edward went on about how well David was taking care of the shop… would he be okay, because he was the youngest and running that shop was a huge amount of work? The weather was sometimes included, but it was their family that was their main topic during every meal. Even though they'd grown up and most had moved away, somehow Mom and Dad always knew what was going on with their brood.
With the dark came the end of the day, both physically and metaphorically. By now, the plates had been cleaned and put into the cupboard. Most of the chores had been done, and a few naps taken, though neither would admit it. It was during the twilight, when the sun was fading and the stars were just coming into being that they could still their world for a moment, just a breath, to enjoy the comfort of companionship.
"I love you, Sugar," Edward murmured as he bent over to place a gently kiss on his wife's forehead. The porch swing drifted lazily back and forth as his automail foot pushed gently against the ground. Winry smiled from her comfortable place against her love's chest as she heard the whirr of the engines and such that composed that leg… a leg she had built for him long ago. The wind grew a bit harsher of a bite and she snuggled deeper into the warmth that was Edward.
"I love you too, Ed," she whispered, her hands twined with his in a knot on their laps, their heads resting one on top of the other. The stars seemed to sing in the sky over the two lovers, perhaps that's the reason that both managed to fall asleep, wrapped only in each other.
So what did you think? It would be nice if you told me… like in a review. So please review. It makes me happy.