Poetic Apology

OoOoO

Ed was bored. When he was bored, he got fidgety. And when he got fidgety, he was usually on everybody's nerves or in the process of doing so.

Without much to do in the sleepy town of Resembool, he decided to see what the others were up to. Al was fixing a broken window; Pinako was smoking her pipe, while Winry was reading…

Wait, she was reading a book?

With an angry huff, Ed stomped his way over towards her, scowling as he asked, "What are you doing?"

She looked up, annoyed at this rude interruption. "Reading."

"I can see that," he rolled his eyes. "And just what exactly are you reading?"

"Poetry," she replied, loosing interest in the conversation as she became absorbed in the text.

"Why?"

"Because I like it," she said defensively.

"Why?"

She groaned. There was that stupid question again. "Because… because I just do, ok?" she snapped, frustration brewing.

Ed "uh-huh"ed, crossing her arms as he tapped his foot on the floor boards rhythmically. Tap tap tap.

Winry frowned. "What are you doing?"

"No, the question is, what aren't you doing?" Ed barked back, pointing a finger at her. "You're supposed to be working on my automail!"

"I'm taking a break ok?" she fumed, slamming the book shut. "Why are you always nagging me? I'll get your arm done in time!"

"Yeah, in time for my thirtieth birthday!"

"Edward, if you don't shut up and leave this room, you won't even live to see tomorrow!" Winry yelled, using her wrench to make the threat more convincing.

Ed growled. "Gee, that's odd of you to say, especially when you're the one who's always telling me the exact opposite." He muttered loud enough for her to hear, "Hypocrite."

"I am not!" she cried.

"Then get back to work!" Ed said more forcefully than intended. He backed up a bit as Winry's face screwed up in anger, hot tears gathering in her pools of blue. She clenched the wrench in her hand, bringing it down so hard and strong that she was convinced it'd leave an imprint on his head.

"You jerk!" she shrieked before stalking out of the room, leaving an unconscious Edward on the floor.

Ed felt terrible and it wasn't because of the super-sized bump on his head or because of the crash-landing impact Winry's wrench made. He felt like the most horrible person on the face of the earth, absolutely and completely disgusted with himself. But why?

Because he had made her cry again.

He didn't know why he was overreacting back there or why he had to act like a total idiot, but one thing was for sure; he owed her an apology. He needed to tell her sorry, but he didn't know what he could say. He was never good at giving apologies or saying them. He racked his brain for something he could do to make it up to her.

Come on Edward, think. THINK.

A little light bulb went off in his mind as an idea popped to life. He would make a poem for her! Yes, that would be it! She said she liked poems, didn't she? He grabbed a piece of paper and a pen as he sat on the front porch, thinking for a moment just what he could write the poem about. He stared at the white sheet in hopes that words would spring to life on the page, but when nothing happened, he thought harder.

Another light bulb turned on. He would make a poem using the letters of her name! He smiled at his genius ness, scribbling down the letter 'W' on the piece of paper. It's just five letters, how hard could it be?

The light bulb short-circuited as he gaped blankly at the 'W.' Ok, so maybe this is going to be hard…W stands for… he tapped the point of the pen on the page, his mind thinking of words that started with the letter. Whale? Walrus? He shook his head. Winry was not a whale or a walrus, or any animal for that matter. How about… ah, got one…

W is for wrench, as in the thing you hit me with.

He read that over, and instantly wished he had a talent for writing. Crossing that out, he came up with something else.

W is for winsome. When I tell you that I think you're uncute or unsexy- don't listen. I'm just lying to you. You really are pretty.

A tint had colored his cheeks, but he feverishly went onto the next letter.

I is for…

"Uuummm…" he looked at the sky in hopes of finding an adjective to describe her.

Angelic? No, that's starts with an 'A.' He shook his head; he couldn't have just thought Winry to be angelic. Because… she wasn't.

Liar, and you know it, an annoying voice said in his mind.

Oh, shut up, he snapped back. Fine, it was true, but there was no way in hell he'd tell her that. He would just keep that a secret to himself.

Innocent? He thought about it for a second, but it just didn't feel right. Infuriating? He chuckled to himself at that one. She was very infuriating and annoying when she was scolding him. But he quickly reminded himself that he was writing a poem to make it up to her and telling her she was infuriating would not help out at all, so he jotted something else instead.

I is for irreplaceable. A girl like you who's so annoying yet very caring and patient is someone of unique quality. Seriously, I don't think there's anyone else out there who can take your place.

Beautiful. He nodded impressively at how deep he could get. He was blushing like crazy by now, and he was glad no one else was around to see him.

N is for neat. You're neat in that cool way. You're cool so you're awesome like that.

There, that one wasn't so hard. Alright, he was on a roll. See, this poetry stuff wasn't so hard after all.

"Alright, next letter," he said to himself as he wrote down an 'R.' R… R… Radiant? Responsible? For some reason, those words didn't seem to fit. "Rrrrr… refined? No. Rrrr…romantic? Huh, maybe…"

He thought long and hard for this one that he was sure his brain was going to malfunction from all the words he was trying to process that started with the letter 'R.' He was starting to get irritated now. Okay, so he thought of what Al would write. He snorted; it'd probably be something random like ribbon or rabbit.

With a frustrated sigh, he leaned back on the porch lamp. He felt something tickle his back, setting down the pen to scratch it off, but this proved useless since he couldn't reach it without his right arm… Wait, right arm… Feeling excited, he jotted down some words.

R stands for right. From all your hard work and toiling, I have a temporary limb to help me when I'm out there. I guess I could say that it's about the best present anyone's ever given me. You made it, and for that I am grateful.

Yes, just one more letter! He clicked his pen a few times as he thought about this one. It was the last stanza in the poem, so it had to leave a good impression, right?

Smiling, he wrote down the rest of it.

Winry found Ed outside sitting on the porch. Still a little angry and fumed about their argument, she could have cared less as to why he was outside eating dinner. But she asked anyways,

"Ed, what are you doing out here?"

As though he had gotten a sudden boost of energy, Ed jumped to his feet, waving a piece of paper in her face in the same way a child does when wanting to show a perfect test score to their parent. "Look! Look!"

"What is it?" she asked, snatching the sheet from his grasp.

"Just read it!" Ed remarked. "It's a poem."

"A poem?" she asked, looking at him disbelievingly. She didn't know he had a capability to write poetry.

"Just read it!" he repeated irritably.

This is going to be an interesting read she thought as she looked at the paper, feeling flattered yet hesitant.

W is for winsome.

She blinked, not having read the rest of it. "What does winsome mean?"

"Read the rest and you'll find out," Ed retorted, transfixed by an ant on the ground.

When I tell you that I think you're uncute or unsexy- don't listen. I'm just lying to you. You really are pretty.

A furious blush crept onto her cheeks as she stared at Ed with wide eyes. "Do you really mean that?"

"Well… if I didn't, I wouldn't have written it down," he replied, now taking a fascination in his toes.

She smiled softly as she proceeded to the next part.

I is for irreplaceable. A girl like you who's so annoying- she pretended to have skipped that- yet very caring and patient is someone of unique quality. Seriously, I don't think there's anyone else out there who can take your place.

She "aaww"ed, causing Ed to turn red in embarrassment. That was very sweet of him to say and surprisingly deep. She never thought he could be the poet or writer, giggling girlishly as she continued.

N is for neat. I mean neat in that cool way. You're cool so you're awesome like that.

Winry snorted. It was just like him to write something so casual after putting such a sappy line before. She guessed it was nice to be called neat, cool and awesome although Ed rarely said those words anyways.

She read the 'R' part with a happy smile, once again feeling surprised at him expressing his soft side. It was the first time he told her he appreciated his automail. She beamed at Ed, who was turning redder and redder by the second. She laughed softly before going onto the last one. She wondered what word he could have put that started with a 'Y.' She thought she would see 'Young' or something like 'Yellow,' or whatever. But then she read it.

She gasped.

Her heart began to race.

Air caught in her throat.

Blood began to rush to her face.

She forgot completely about the earlier fight, and all the arguments and times he had made her made washed away with the tears that sparkled down her cheeks.

Ed began to panic. "W-Winry, why are you-?"

He was cut off short when Winry leaped into his arms, wrapping herself around him in a warm embrace. Smiling, she whispered one word into his ear, "Ditto."

Y stands for You because you are my all, my love. My everything.

OoOoO

Sorry if this one was toooo sappy! Anywho, wanted to say THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! to all those who reviewed! You guys make my day with all your kind words. -smiles gratefully and gives you all a big huggle-