Chapter 4
Ed and Al sat in their seat on the train with Winry next to Ed, hands tied. Winry did not say a single word. Her eyes were red and her face stained by tears. Not only Ed had humiliated her, he also violently dragged her away from her home. And it was her wedding day.
"Come on Al, lighten up!" Ed said to the gigantic armor.
"Brother, I really think the way you behave was not appropriate!" Al told him sternly. "You made yourself look like a fool. Not only that, you destroyed an event that a girl had dreamed of her entire life!"
Hearing this, Winry's tears returned. She tried to hold back her sob, yet she couldn't help but weep.
"Here," Al handed a tissue to her. Winry wanted to take it, but her hands were tied.
"Brother," Al gave Ed a glare, telling him to untie Winry's hands. Ed took the tissue from Al and tried to wipe the tears away from her face. But Winry turned away. She buried her face in the corner and continued to cry.
Ed ignored her and started to eat, loudly. Every time he took a bite, he described the appetite. He did not offer a single bite to Winry. Winry did not have any thing to eat for the entire day. She spent all morning preparing herself. She spent the afternoon waiting for Ed. Then Ed carried her all the way to the train station. She starved for the whole day. She thought about the wedding cake. It was a gift from Mr. Hughes. It was tall, decorated with pink and white frosting. It composed the flavor of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. Hughes told her proudly that his beautiful wife Gracia made it all by herself. What happened to the cake now? Probably was already eaten by her hungry guests. She was the bride, but she didn't even get to touch it.
She may be angry with Ed, but she was hungry. With the sound of Ed's chewing and swallowing, Winry couldn't take it anymore.
"Can I have something to eat?" she asked him.
"Sure," Ed stabbed the fork into his meatloaf. "Open wide Win!"
"Damn it, you shrimp! Can't you just untie me and let me eat by myself!"
"Don't want it! Fine!" Ed put the meatloaf in his own mouth instead.
"Can't you just untie me? I'm on the train now, there is no where else I can go!"
"Yeah, brother," Al added. "Winry never has been to Central City before. She has no other choice but to follow us."
"True…" Ed said thoughtfully. "But I don't want to!"
"Untie me you bean!"
"Don't call me that!"
"Bean!"
"I'm warning you!"
The two of them yelled at each other back and force. They attracted attention from all other passengers. "Newly weds," an old man murmured, shook his head.
They arrived to the Central City. Ed did untie Winry. After all, there was nowhere else she could go. Before they hopped of the train, Ed warned her about Scar, "the serial killer of Central City, who only aims for women". If she was smart, she would follow him and Al closely, he told her. Winry ignored Ed, but she did what she was told. She was a country girl, never went to the city before. Everything was different. It made her feel somewhat insecure .
"Shall we call a cab?" Al asked.
"No, let's walk," Ed replied. "We don't live that far from here."
The trios headed down the street. For Ed and Al, it was no problem. They knew the directions. Yet, things were not so comfortable for Winry. Poor thing, she was wearing high heels and a wedding gown. She looked beautiful when she walked down the aisle, but she certainly did not look good while walking down the street in a big city. Her hair, which was nicely done in the morning, was now messy. To make things worse, it started to rain. Ed walked fast as ever. Winry tried hard to catch up.
"Home sweet home!" Ed yelled when he appeared in front of a big apartment building. Winry was far behind him, but she saw the building where Ed and Al lived.
"Hurry up Win! We live at 902A!" with that said, Ed ran into the building. Al followed him.
Winry sauntered in the rain with her dress all soaked. She spat on the ground and cursed. Suddenly, she felt something soft rubbing against her feet. She lifted up her skirt and saw a huge rat. Winry screamed. The rat startled and bit her. In shock, Winry kicked her leg and threw the rat in the air. However, when she was only standing on one foot, she lost her balance. As result, she fell on the ground in a pool of water. Pulling herself together, she got up and strolled to the apartment building with an injured foot. And Ed just happened to live on 9th floor, with no elevator.
---x---x---
As Ed sat comfortably on the couch, the door flew open. There stood Winry, soak and wet with a bloody foot.
"It's nice that you finally join us," Ed smirked. "What took you so long?"
Winry exploded. "EDWARD ELRIC YOU SHORTEST MIDGET! I HATE YOU!" She grabbed the nearest object and launched it at him. Then she sank down on the floor and cried.
Ed dodged from the fly object. "Why are you behaving like this? Today is our wedding day for God's sake. You cried and cried and cried!"
"You just noticed that it's our wedding day? The way you behaved, you really humiliated me…"
"Win, I don't like the way you are speaking to me."
"I speak to you anyway I please!"
"Don't forget I'm your husband!"
"Don't forget I'm also your automail mechanic!"
"Don't forget I'm the one who is feeding you!"
"Don't forget…" before she could finish, her stomach growled. Winry didn't feel like arguing with him anymore. She was hungry and exhausted. She strolled to the bedroom.
It was a two-bedroom apartment. Al had his own room of course. The other one was Ed's. Winry walked in and found a twin-sized bed. She fell on the bed and felt her body falling apart. Ed entered the room after her and closed the door behind him. Hearing him walking towards her, Winry jumped up from the bed.
"Sit down," Ed told her. Winry sat. Ed opened the drawer of the nightstand and took out bandages. Carefully, he wiped the blood from her foot and wrapped her wound. Then, he threw her a towel.
"Here, clean yourself up," he said to her. His tone changed. Now, he sounded quite caring.
Winry took the towel and began to dry her hair. She turned her back to Ed. Ed watched her as she was drying her hair and her arm. Her slender arms, her creamy skin, her slim shoulders…She was perfect. If one hadn't known about her temper, one would think that she's an angel.
Ed removed his shirt. He stood half-naked behind her. Slowly, and quietly, he went behind her. Without a warning, he wrapped his automail arm around her waist and stroked her arm with his flesh hand. He pressed his lips against her shoulder. Winry shrieked and jerked away from him. In turn, she stepped on her skirt and fell on the floor, face down. Groaning, she shook her dizziness away and looked up. She found Ed standing right in front of her, offering his hand. She ignored him and climbed up herself.
She climbed on to the bed. She just lied there, staring out from the window. In her mind, she was thinking of a way toavenge. She rolled over and looked at Ed. Half-naked, his upper body was quite muscular. There were some scars at the area where his automail connected to his flesh. Meekly, she smiled at him. Ed took it as a sign of safe invitation. He got on the bed, and leaned down to reach for her lips. His face became closer, and closer…
WHACK!
Something hard had hit him behind his head. It was Winry Rockbell's best friend, the wrench. Ed saw stars everywhere, then he blacked out and fell on his back on the floor. Winry felt victorious. She got herself under the cover and went to sleep.
In the nearby bedroom, Al heard everything. He shook his head. He never saw his brother behave this way before. Ed told him that he knows what he's doing, and the best thing for Al is to stay out of it. So, this is Mr. and Mrs. Edward Elric, he thought. I wonder how long they will last.
In the middle of the night, Ed got up from the floor, rubbing his head. Geeze, that girl is really something, he thought. He looked at the sleeping Winry. She looked so peaceful and so beautiful under the moonlight that shrines from the window. Quietly, Ed tiptoed to her side. He pulled up the cover to make her warmer and gently kissed her cheek. Then, he looked at her again and left the bedroom. He slept on the couch for the night.
Sooner or later, she will learn to appreciate me, he thought.
