Chapter 6

"Win, are you ready?" Ed asked, somewhat impatiently. "Hurry up, we are going to be late!"

Stood in front of the mirror, Winry was wiping her eye-shadow with a tissue. "I'll be there in a sec!"

"You just said that thirty minutes ago!"

"Okay, I'm done!" She stepped out of the bathroom in the white dress Ed bought her along with the pearls.

"My, my, my, you are really taking my breath away!" Ed said and took her hand.

"You like it?"

"Yeah."

"Sorry for taking so long, I just want to look good for you," Winry said sweetly. Make him happy, and I'll get whatever I want.

"I know," Ed replied.

The two of them exited the apartment building. Al stayed home. He had to take care of the cat. And plus, what could an armor do at the ball?

"Are we going to walk?" Winry asked meekly.

"You wanna walk?"

"It's up to you."

"Listen to the question Win: do you want to walk?"

Winry paused for a second. "No." Ed gave her a questionable look.

"You don't like the fresh air of such a lovely evening?"

"Yes, but…my shoes…my feet, they still hurt," Winry lifted up her skirt and showed Ed the unhealed scar resulted from being bitten by a rat a few nights ago.

"Fine then. We'll take a cab," Ed said with a carefree attitude.

"You don't mind? We could walk if you like to."

"Nah, I don't want you to walk in pain! Besides, it will be a lot quicker! Plus, you can sit on my lap in the car."

Winry didn't say anything else. She just went along with Ed. In the cab, she did sit on his lap, just to please him. Not that she really wanted to, but because she wanted to go to the carnival in Resembool. "If I'm happy, you can get whatever you want," he had told her.

When they arrived, the first person they encountered was Colonel Mustang. In his dress uniform, he was really handsome. No wonder he came without a date. Other soldiers' girlfriends gathered up around him, taking turns todance with him. Havoc, Fury and Breda just hanged around. Maes Hughes was dancing with Gracia.

"Ah, Fullmetal," Mustang came to greet them. "I see you are here with your wife."

"It's nice to see you Colonel," Ed replied. "Doesn't his green uniform look good on him?" he asked Winry.

"Yes, Edward. It sure does."

"Winry, colonel's uniform is blue!"

"Sorry, my mistake."

Mustang was stunned by the dialogue between the two. He could hardly believe that the girl in front of him was the same girl who once threw wrenches at Ed.

"You like to dance, Win?"

"Yes…" Winry said reluctantly. "But I never danced with a man before."

"I can teach you, if you want," Mustang offered her his hand.

Winry looked at Ed, as if she was asking for his permission.

"You can go if you want," Ed told her.

Winry looked at Ed again, then asked him, "Do you know how to dance?"

"Yes, but not as much as experienced as the colonel."

"I don't mind." She turned to Mustang. "Thank you for your offer, Colonel Mustang. But I like to dance with my husband first." She took Ed's hand and went down to the dance floor.

Mustang couldn't be more bewildered. Then, a smile appeared on his face. He remembered the bet between him, Fury, Havoc and Breda. He was definitely the winner. Thirty thousand dollars would be in his pocket in no time. He walked over to Fury and Breda.

"So, have you seen Fullmetal and his shrew wife yet?" he asked them.

"Just a while ago," Fury said.

"So far, they are married for about a week. Ready to lose your cash Fury?"

"No, believe me, colonel. They are just here to put up an appearance."

"Have you talked to them yet?"

"No, not yet."

"You should, 'cause you'll be in shock!"

---x---x---

"Now, place your right hand on my shoulder and wrap your left arm around my waist," Ed instructed her. Winry did what she was told. "Now, the tricky part is the footsteps. You don't want to step on me, and I don't want to step on you. It's not that complicated. It's like drawing in a box. You take a back-step on your right…" And they began to waltz.

Ed held her in his arm with a powerful strength, guiding her around the dance floor. Winry simply followed. Things turned out well. She had to admit, she liked it.

"You never danced with anyone before?" Ed asked her while waltzing.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because," Winry told him honestly. "Whenever there was a dance, not a single guy asked me. I was like the spinster of the village."

"So how do you feel now?"

"What?"

"You still think you are a spinster?"

"No, I'm married to you, I'm your wife."

"No, that's not what I meant. Are you happy now?"

Winry thought about it. She looked at Ed. He was good-looking and a young state alchemist. He did look handsome in his dress uniform. And he was nice to her, for now at least.

"Yes," she replied.

As they were dancing, Hughes got off the dance floor with Gracia. "You are tired, darling?" Gracia asked him.

"Yes, a little," Hughes said.

"Hey Win, did you hear what Mrs. Hughes calls her husband?" Ed asked Winry.

"Yeah…she calls him darling."

"What does a girl call her husband?"

"Well, there are many names."

"Can you call me all different sorts of names that a wife calls her beloved man?"

"All of them?"

"Yes, all of them."

Winry thought for a moment. "Darling."

"Yes," Ed responded.

"Honey."

"Hmmm."

"Dear." Winry became a little sleepy.

"Uh-huh."

"Sweetheart."

"Hmmm."

"Love." She rested her head on Ed's shoulder.

"Yeah."

"Ed."

"What?"

"Ed. When you are very close to a person, you would like to call his name by the shortened version. That's what everyone else calls you, right?"

"Yeah, and that's what you are going to call me from now on. It's Ed," he said, playfully tipped on her nose. "You look sleepy, wanna take a break?"

"Sure, Ed." Hand in hand, they began to walk away from the dance floor.

"Kiss me Win," Ed said suddenly.

"Here, in front of everyone?"

"Yeah. What, are you ashamed of it?"

"Well…" This really troubled her. Not that she was uncomfortable kissing him in front of so many people, but the real problem was that she never kissed anyone before. "I don't know how to kiss," she told him. "I never kissed a man before."

"But have you at least seen a girl kisses a guy before?" Ed asked.

"Yeah, once."

"Just do what she did."

Quickly, Winry pressed her lips against his cheek. "There."

"No, no, that's not what I mean. Looks like I really have to teach you," Ed smirked. "Close your eyes."

With her eyes closed, Winry felt his lips pressed against hers. Then, she felt that his tongue had entered her mouth! She tried to pull away, but Ed held her too tightly. In the next few seconds, she began to kiss him back.

In a few feet away, Havoc, Fury and Breda watched in shock.

"Why, I don't believe it!" Fury said. He sure lost his bet.

"Well, I betted a month," Breda said with hope. "We'll see."

"I did bet that they will remain together—," Havoc said.

"In chaos," Mustang added. "And looks to me, they are very happy."

Winry broke away from the kiss to catch her breath. Her skin was hot. Her heart was beating fast. She needed some space.

"I…I need to go outside for a while, Ed," she turned and ran.

---x---x---

She needed to be alone, and she needed some time to think. Her and Ed. Winry touched her shoulder where Ed rested his hand on. Did she like his touch? Did she like him? How did all begin? Winry remembered how she used to waiting for the right man for her. Yet, all she got was disappointments. Boys in the villages, all of them, picked on her and rejected her, saying that she was too masculine. Because of that, her disappointments evolved into anger. Since then, she was mad at all the men in the world. She thought they were all jerks and assholes. Then one day, he came by, asked for her hand.

She disliked him at first. Not just because he was short, but also because he was only marrying her to get his free automail. Was that all she worth? An automail? And he embarrassed her in front of everyone at her wedding. He even tortured her somewhat afterwards. But now…she looked down at her dress and the pearl bracelets on the wrists. He bought it all for her without a hesitation. He did not choose them for her. She had her eyes on them the first time she first saw them. Ed just noticed it and gave what she wanted before she opened her mouth. Does he love me? Winry asked herself. She touched her lips. That kiss, it was passionate.

As Winry was wandering around, she spotted a huge shadow of an armor. "Al?" she asked. "Al, is that you?"

"Yes, Winry," Al stepped out.

"Al, what are you doing here?"

"I just came…to…to…"

"To spy on me and Ed?"

"Ed? You called brother Ed?"

"Yeah, what about it?

"You used to call him Edward."

"He said he liked me to call him Ed."

"Oh," before he could say anything else, something purred inside him.

"Did you hear it? What is that?"

"What is what?" Al asked innocently.

"I heard it. Sounded like a cat." Before she knew it, a cat jumped out of Al's armor. It was the same cat she picked up from the garbage a few days ago.

"Where did you find him?" she asked him surprisingly, took the cat in her arms.

"Brother gave it to me."

"He did? I thought he…"

"Threw it out of window? Brother would never do that! He actually threw out an object he transmuted to freak you out, that's all. He knows how much you like the cat. He would never harm it."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Al paused for a second. "Winry, do you love brother?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you love him?"

"I…I don't know. Well, I'm married to him now. He only married me to get his automail without charges."

"Winry, brother has money now. He could find other automail mechanics. But he didn't."

"Your point is?"

"He does love you."

"He loves me? Yeah, right. Should I give you a list of things he did to hurt me. Number one: he touched me without asking for permission. Number two: he was late on my wedding. Number three: he humiliated me. Number four: he made me walked on my heels in the rain. Number five…"

"Winry!" Al stopped her. "Brother isn't a bad person. I admit, it is wrong the way he treated you. But he only acted like that for a purpose."

"A purpose?"

"When he buys all those luxuries for you, when he is nice to you, how do you feel?"

"I feel…I feel, quite touched actually."

"And?"

"And happy."

"That's what he wants."

"What do you mean?"

"Brother just wants you to have a chance to appreciate his kindness toward you. Before, you always yell at him or throw wrenches at him. You never give him a chance to show his affection toward you."

"How could he love me? We never met each other before he came to Resembool. We hardly know each other."

"Maybe it's your destiny. You know, brother told me that he really met his match. His temper is not any better than yours. I see that you two are made for each other. All you need to do is to listen to each other and open up to each other."

"Did he tell you that he loves me?"

"He did, through his actions. Do you know that he booked the train tickets to Resembool already? He did that a few days ago. He had a heated argument with Colonel Mustang for extra days off. That dress you are wearing, he had it made for you."

"Really?"

"Of course, I would never lie to you. And remember the night he brought your dinner? He made it by himself. It was the first time ever that he cooked."

Tears gathered in her eyes. "And this cat?"

"He asked me to keep it secretly. But it's staying with us. Brother told me that once you find out, it has to be yours." Al said a little sadly.

"Al?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks, for everything." Winry gave him a hug. Then, she turned her heel and went inside searching for Ed. She saw him. There he was, standing at a corner, chatting with Hughes, Mustang, and Mustang's subordinates.

"I'm sorry colonel, but I have to go now," he said to Mustang. "Winry is getting tired…"

With her heart pounding, Winry ran to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and crushed her lips against his. She knew the others were watching them, but she didn't care.

"What is that for?" Ed asked her, when they broke apart.

"For everything," Winry said to him, looked into his golden eyes. His golden eyes. It was the first time that she actually noticed. He has golden eyes? Winry suddenly remembered something thirteen years ago…

Little Winry was skipping down the road in Resembool, playing with a flower in her hands. A group of soldiers passed by. She looked at them, admiring how handsome they looked in their uniforms. She always loved the story about a princess and a soldier. So, when will she meet her soldier? Then, she saw an old lady. She looked like she was lost.

"Are you lost?" she asked her.

"Yes, my dear. Can you show me the direction to the train station?"

"It's down that way," she pointed to the left.

"Thank you, darling. My, because you are a such a good little girl, I like to do a favor for you in return. I can tell you your fortune."

"Really?" Little Winry's eyes widened. "Can you tell me who I'm going to marry?"

The old woman studied her face for a while. "You will marry a soldier. He has golden eyes."

Golden eyes…golden eyes…The man standing in front of her was a man in military uniform and had golden eyes. Al was right. It was her destiny to marry him.

Ed touched her face. "Feeling sleepy? Let's go home." He lifted her up in his arms and carried her in a bridal style.

"So," Mustang proudly looked at his stunned subordinates. "Where is my money?"

---x---x---

Ed did not call a cab. He carried Winry all the way home in his arms. The two admired the beauty of the moonlight and quietly whispered in each other's ears. Winry enjoyed the warmth in his arms.

"What do you want to do when we get back?" Winry asked him.

"What do you want to do?"

"Well, let's see: I'm still somewhat mad about my wedding. It did not turn out the way I wanted."

"I know. Do you want to marry again?"

"What?"

"Do you want to get married again? This time, it will be a real wedding. I can give you a real ring band: white gold with diamonds. There will be…"

"No! We are married already. It's just, we missed something that night."

"What did we miss?"

"I slept alone." Winry looked at him seductively.

Ed laughed. "All right. Let's just make up everything we have missed, tonight!" Winry buried her face in his neck.

---x---x---

The room was filled with candlelight. Winry lied on top of Ed, listening to his heart against his chest. Her hand traced the scar in the area where his automail and his flesh met. Ed's automail arm held her protectively. His flesh hand gently stroked her hair.

"And Winry?"

"Yes, Ed?"

"Don't die."


Author's Note: And that's end of the story. In Shakespear's words: All's well ends well.