Ten Years

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The rain beat mercilessly on the rooftop, resounding musically as it made contact with the tiles- pitter patter, pitter patter- like its own wet symphony. The sound was soothing, calming almost that it had managed to cast three children into a sweet nap.

Or, at least one of the three.

Ten year old Edward Elric sighed as he sat on the couch in an upside-down fashion, feet sticking up in the air, head dangling a few inches from the floor. Next to him was Winry, who was doing the same thing, imaging what it would be like to see the world upturned. Trapped inside without much to do, there were beyond the brink of boredom and stumbled into a world of complete dullness with the rain as their main enemy.

"I'm bored," Ed complained, kicking his feet. "Bored, bored, bored, bored, bored!"

"Me too," Winry agreed, staring at the ceiling. Alphonse, who was napping soundly on the other sofa, shifted in his sleep as he murmured something about an orange cat.

"Let's go do something then, "Ed declared as he sat upright on the couch.

"Like what?" Winry flopped right-side up.

"Dunno," the elder Elric shrugged. "We could… play hide-and-seek?"

"Nah, we played that four times already," Winry shook her head and a few strands of hair shimmered across her face.

"Tag?"

"Grandma said we can't make noise in the house."

"Um… we could draw?"

"You borrowed my crayons," Winry said as she shot him a look. "Which I haven't gotten back yet."

"I'll give them back to you later, sheesh," Ed muttered, sitting upside-down once again. He couldn't think anymore; boredom and the lack of something to do turned his brain into a pile of mush.

The sound of the rain grew louder in the silence. Ed closed his eyes, wishing he had the power to control the weather. When his request went ungranted, he outwardly sighed once more.

"Hey Ed," Winry called out suddenly, poking him hard on the stomach. He tumbled to the floor from the unexpected jab with a thud, groaning as he scowled at her.

"Whaddya want?" he asked irritably. "You didn't have to poke me like that!"

"Sorry, but I was wondering."

"Wondering what?" he questioned hotly.

"Wondering what'll happen in ten years," Winry turned to him. "Don't you ever wonder about that?"

"Well… I don't know," Ed replied. He had never really thought about the future- all he knew was that he'd live out his life with his mom, Al and Winry. It was as simple as that, there were no complications to his plan and he was content with it. "But ten years is so long from now, Winry. We'll be twenty!"

"I know, I know," she waved the matter aside. "But what do you think will happen to everyone?"

Ed climbed back on the couch, pausing to think of a good explanation. Seconds passed before he came up with one. "Dunno."

Winry rolled her eyes. "Geez, Ed. You babble on and on about alchemy, and you can't even come up with an answer to my question? You're hopeless sometimes."

"Well, what do you think will happen, huh?" he sneered.

"I think I'd be the best mechanic in the world!"

"Oh yeah? Well, I'll be the best alchemist in the universe," Ed proclaimed.

"Yeah, but first you have to grow taller," Winry stuck out a tongue at him playfully. "Shrimpy Eddie!"

"Don't call me that!" Ed yelled, throwing a pillow at her. Al stirred in his sleep, rolling over on his side and sticking a thumb in his mouth.

"What's gonna happen to Al?" Winry mused, glancing over at the napping boy.

"He's going to have cats," Ed said with a concluding nod. "Lots of 'em."

"And he's going to marry Julia," she added, referring to the girl that played with the three of them every so often. "Then they'll live happily ever after."

"You make it sound like a fairy tale," Ed remarked, wrinkling his nose.

"Well, everyone deserves a happy ending," Winry responded somewhat dreamily as she gazed out of the rain-washed window. Silence crept its way back into the room, the pitter-pattering growling louder once more.

"What about us?"

The confusion was evident on the young boy's face and Ed couldn't help but peer over at his friend curiously. "What do you mean?"

"You know, do you think we'll have a happy ending too?" Winry asked, taking her eyes off the window to look at Ed.

"Yeah! I mean, you'll be the best mechanic, and I'll be the best alchemist- we'll be happy."

"And we'll still be friends right?"

"Of course!" Ed looked appalled at the very idea of not having Winry around. They had been friends for a long time now, so why not turn that time into some forever?

"Are you sure? Are you sure we will?" she asked, worried. "'Cause people change and stuff, and time changes things."

"Well, I swear things won't change-"

"Don't swear!" Winry gasped.

"Why not?"

"Swearing's bad!"

"Ok, fine. I promise things won't change, except that we'll grow older," Ed replied knowingly.

"And taller," Winry snickered.

"Hey, I'm looking forward to that," he threw another pillow at her. "And we'll have jobs."

"Plus, I'll be married to you," Winry happily said, only to have Ed stare at her like she had announced something incredulous.

"… You want to marry me?"

"Yeah! I mean… you make me happy," she smiled shyly.

"Oh… but you want to marry me?"

"Stop saying it like it's a bad thing!"

"Ok fine…" a few lines of red tinged his face. "I- I wanna marry you too."

Winry's expression brightened, a blush playing across her cheeks. "Do you really?"

"Yes."

"Really really?"

"Really really."

She let out an excited squeal, her pools of blue glazing over with that dreamy look as she smiled. "We're gonna have a happy ending after all!"

"Well, everyone deserves a happy ending, right?" Ed asked, repeating her earlier words.

Winry nodded eagerly, a wish growing with a wanting to fast forward time to live that fairytale dream. "We're gonna get married!" she cried in the utmost joy. "And don't you forget it, Edward Elric."

"I won't, I promise!"

"Pinky it," Winry extended her pinky finger. Ed did the same, hooking his finger with hers in a solemn oath swearing their promise made to each other. "Now neither of us can break it," she said before suddenly lunging towards Ed. He squirmed underneath her grasp, protesting wildly as she placed an innocent kiss on his cheek. He pushed her away and wiped the spot that had been butterfly-touched.

"Ew, yuck!" he grimaced. "When we get married, you better not do that to me!"

"You're so immature!" Winry frowned although a grin tugged on her lips. She threw a pillow at him, only making the already embarrassed boy even more riled up. He threw one back in retaliation, but she had dodged it, dashing swiftly into the havens of the kitchen. Ed tucked another pillow underneath his arm, ready in pursuit as he went after Winry. This was war.

"Hey, come back here!" he laughed, a hope burning, wanting to know if things would indeed remain this way for the next ten years…

A roar of thunder rattled the windows, jolting a twenty year old Edward awake. The bed sheets lay tousled on the floor, pillows were everywhere except underneath his head as its intended purpose. He groaned and fetched one, stopping to glance outside. The rain beat mercilessly on the rooftop, just as it had done ten years ago… ten years ago…

The dream came to mind, the memory he had kept in the back of his thoughts, cluttered beneath everything else, only to resurface in the unconsciousness of sleep.

"It was just a dream," he said outloud to no one but to the darkness in the room. Sadly, he listened for a moment in the silence that comes with being alone before repeating those five words. "It was just a dream…"

With a heavy sigh, he climbed back into the bed that was meant for two and closed his eyes. He knew it wouldn't be easy to find rest, all he'd find was his mind wandering to the memory of ten years back, to the pinky-promise made with a girl with a butterfly-kiss that was left unkempt. To the happy ending he never got to have.

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