Heh, finally I've updated this one. I took a break from iccing after completeing Illegitimate Child (bar an epilogue wich I will do). FMA isn't mine
He sat on the sofa with one leg rested on a chair in front of him. Winry had gone to fetch some more ice to rest on his swollen ankle. Rose for some unknown reason and locked herself away in her room and refused to come out. The moment she saw Ed had opened his eyes she made a dash for her bedroom and had been there ever since.
'Does it hurt brother?' Al asked.
'Not too much, I've had worse then this.'
'Not recently you haven't,' Winry pointed out as she re-entered the room, 'You've got bruises all over you, a bump on the head and a twisted ankle.'
'It could have been far worse Winry…'
'Well it didn't have to happen at all! Why did you fall?'
Al held up a sock in front of her, 'This must have been on the top step and brother slipped on it.'
'What was a sock doing there?' Winry asked.
'It was my fault.'
They all turned to see Rose stood in the doorway. Her face was streaked with tears and her arms wrapped around her defensively.
'How was it your fault?' Ed inquired.
'I had done the washing and carried it upstairs. I must have dropped that sock and not noticed which meant I just left it there. If I had been more careful with what I was doing Edward would be okay.'
'Rose that was nothing but an accident…'
'But I appear to be making more and more mistakes! I've been clumsy these past couple of days and these accidents just keep getting worse!'
Ed sighed and realised Rose was still too upset to realise that none of it was her fault. She made a bolt for the door, narrowly missing Pinako who was coming through it at the same time.
'Careful Rose,' Pinako called after her but Rose was already out of the house. They stood in silence for a while, none of them sure just how to react. It was finally Winry who spoke up again
'She isn't going to stop accidents happening if she plans to tear around like that.'
After a couple of hours Rose still hadn't returned and so Al was keeping an eye on Jack. It was because of Jack they knew Rose would return soon. She was too devoted a mother to leave her son alone for too long. Ed was succumbing to the sleep that was trying to catch him so after much effort he made it up the stairs. As he passed Winry's room he saw she was kneeling on her bed looking intently out of the window.
'Is everything okay?' he asked.
Winry gave a small squeal and whipped round at the sound of his voice. She put her hand to her heart and scowled at him.
'Did you need to sneak up on me like that?'
'Winry it's taken me about five minutes to get up the stairs. I couldn't sneak if I wanted to.'
'Well make more noise next time,' she snapped and returned her gaze to whatever was through her window.
'Looking at something important then?' he inquired, secretly savouring the sound of her sharp tongue.
'Not really. Not that it has anything to do with you anyway.'
She stood up and turned to face him. For a moment or two she didn't say a word but soon her eyes wandered and fell upon a pair of her shoes.
'Well I take it none of you plan to look for Rose then? Then again it's probably best I find her anyway. Guys aren't very good at handling women in a delicate state,' she sighed, lifting her nose into the air. Although his mouth opened to respond she sauntered past him, making sure to flick her head as she went out of the door. He listened to her hum all the way down the stairs and eventually out of the front door. He would never understand women but he preferred this Winry to the reserved character she had been of late.
He hobbled over to the window to take a look himself. He could see Winry walking toward the lake where they had played often as children. Although it was a distance away he could just about make out the figure of a girl sat on the swing they had built by the riverside. It had to be Rose and Winry must have spotted her too. As Ed wandered his eyes back to where Winry was walking he jumped as much as Winry had done earlier. She was stood on the spot looking directly at him but her face showed no signs of an expression. Afraid he was in trouble for something he gave her a friendly wave before backing away from the window. He was in no doubt that by the end of the night there would be a second bump on his head.
He must have only dozed for an hour before he heard the joyous call of Jack greeting his mother. It must have meant that Winry had successfully persuaded Rose to come home. He smiled to himself as he marvelled at how complicated women were.
As he heard footsteps slowly ascend the stairs he sat himself up in preparation. Sure enough he heard a soft knock at his door and he called for them to enter. However although he had expected Rose it was a rather meek looking Winry.
'Is Rose okay?'
Winry let out a rather sharp breath, 'She is still too embarrassed to come and see you. Looks like she is going to be blaming herself for a good long while so I would just drop the subject with her.'
'Was she okay when you found her?'
Winry shrugged her shoulders, 'She was lost in her own little world as I walked toward her. Once I got her to talk she was very blunt with me as if she was trying to hint at me to drop the subject. Frankly I think she's being ungrateful!'
Edward was taken aback by the sudden outburst from Winry. Although her face was just as expressionless as it had been before something in her voice sounded bitter.
'What makes you say that?'
For a moment or two her eyes stayed glaring at the wall and she was silent. After furrowing her brows for a while she locked her gaze onto his. He resisted asking her again as she walked over to the bed and sat herself close to him. Her eyes were still locked on his as she finally spoke up.
'I'm not saying Rose has had an easy life but there is no doubt it would be worse if you hadn't been there. She told me what you had done for her and I don't think she should forget it. You put yourself in danger for her…'
'She put herself in danger for me which possibly saved my life!'
'But she put herself back in danger as well. Then you had to save her again from that underground world and...Dante. You have done so much for her Edward and she doesn't seem to appreciate that. If she remembered all the times you have saved her she would not believe she was cursed.'
He looked away from her as she took a hold of his hand. He suddenly felt very uncomfortable near her again and her words sounded too selfish to be coming from Winry. Yet he had to remember it had been two years since he had last really spent time with her; this may have been a character change.
'Tell me you understand Edward? I am only thinking of you here. You know I will always remember all the things you did for me?'
He hesitantly looked straight at her and his heart lurched. He couldn't remember a time she had acted in such a way around him. Sure she had cried or got upset with him but never had she seemed so very…feminine. He found his mouth to be too dry to speak and he just sat gaping at her.
'Although I cannot remember what happened to me I knew that it would be you who would save me. All I could think of was seeing you again after so long. Nothing was going to keep me from seeing you again Edward. And now here I am, safe and sound and with you.'
'It was more like you had escaped then I rescued you. It took me far too long to get to you…'
She leant even closer to him and he closed up once again. Her blue eyes were glistening with tears but she kept moving closer and closer. He didn't know what to do with himself as all he could do was look into her eyes.
With a rather heavy thump he fell on the floor. Obviously he had been shifting away from Winry without realising and hadn't noticed there was no bed left for him to move along. When he looked once again at Winry he noticed she seemed to have resumed to her normal self and she was giggling at him.
'Still clumsy as ever hey Ed?' she laughed as she got up to exit the room.
'Tha….that was your fault,' he yelled in defence but she had already shut the door behind her.
After picking himself up and letting his anger settle Edward decided to head downstairs and make himself something to eat. His ankle was still tender but the bump on his head appeared to be receding. If Winry had been teasing him he was going to find out right away. He heard the phone ring downstairs but he was not going to make a dash for it. Luckily with a few people in the house it was soon answered.
As he walked down the stairs he could hear Winry's voice. He tried to make out what she was saying but her voice was too low. He knew it wasn't right to eavesdrop but if it was a client she would be loud and happy. This tone sounded low and hushed.
He faltered on the last step and made an obvious thump. He suddenly heard the phone be put down and Winry ran into the room.
'Are you okay? You didn't fall again?'
'No, I'm fine. Who was on the phone?'
'Oh it was Miss Hawkeye. She was just updating me on their investigation.'
'I see. Have they found anything?'
Winry sighed heavily, 'No and I still can't remember anything to tell them. Not doing too well am I?'
He shook his head before he noticed Rose sitting in the front room. He decided to take Winry's advice and he was not going to mention the accident to her. With Winry to support him he walked over to Rose and sat next to her. He could see she tensed up and he could also feel Winry's gaze on him. The next words he was going to say would have to be well chosen or he would end up with a wrench in his skull.
'Hey Rose…do you know where Al has gone?'
He couldn't have picked anything much safer then that. He heard Winry let out a breath again and Rose seemed to smile ever so slightly.
'He's gone to play on the swing by the river; says it calms him.'
'I think I will join him,' Winry suddenly chirped and left before either of them could say another thing to her. She was certainly a bemusing character of late.
Although Winry had gone he knew he would still have to be careful as to what he would ay to her. Several times he took in a breath to say something but only silence followed. He was actually taking this time to marvel at just how difficult he was finding it to talk to females. Not in the sense that he got hot under the collar near them but rather they just got more confusing with age. Noah had been different because of the situation she was in. Winry had changed, Rose had changed and he just couldn't keep up with them anymore.
Some time passed and the only sound to be heard was the ticking of the clock. He didn't feel awkward for Rose looked strangely serene. The reason was that she had finally accepted she wasn't cursed at all but that she had just been around some unfortunate accidents. She guessed Edward was being quiet as he felt a bit unsure about her after her outburst. She went to speak but was interrupted as the door burst open. In fell Winry and Al, both soaked to their skin and gasping for breath. Winry let out amoan and collapsed.
