Disclaimer: You Oughta Know.
Here we are—the last chapter before the epilogue. This is a nice sort of slower filler chapter, just to create some space between The Realization and The Ending, if you know what I mean. Kind of feels a bit melancholy, which is a nice change, in my opinion.
It also helps to set up for a sequel. Heh heh heh.
Ed: Oh NO.
Michi: It's not about you.
Ed: Thank God.
Roy: Oh NO.
CHAPTER SIX: EPIPHANY
When Winry found Riza, the older woman was in the garden, and in the process of reloading her handgun. Roy was nowhere to be found, and Winry chose not to think on that too much as she sat down on the bench next to Riza.
"I don't understand—why did Ed just run off like that?" Winry asked, a hint of despair creeping into her voice, "I would have expected him to either try and kill Roy or maybe even to ignore him completely—but to just run off? It's not like him." Riza sighed.
"Well, during the train ride—when General Mustang shouted the same thing—that notion was too ridiculous to be considered—or not worth bothering over. But tonight I think that Roy—" she blushed, "I mean, General Mustang, read Edward's mind exactly.
"But—he wasn't—I mean—it was just a speech—and I—we—"
"But you didn't see the way he was looking at you while you were making your speech." Riza pointed out. "I think he may have just had an epiphany."
"About what?"
"About his feelings for you." Winry shook her head.
"That's silly. I love him like a brother—like I love Al, and he loves me the same way." She stood up before Riza could object. "I think I'm going to go back inside." Riza waited until she was back inside before turning to the hedge behind her.
"So what do you think?" Al popped up from behind the hedge, and shook his head.
"No, she still isn't convinced." He sighed. "I don't know what else we can do."
"And what about Ed?"
"I don't know. I tried talking to him, and he just told me to go away." Riza grimaced.
"I'm going to kill R—General Mustang when I find him. He ruined it. We were so close." She thought a moment, "I have an idea." She said suddenly, and Al looked at her. "Follow me, and I'll explain everything.
"Hello, Ed. Mind if I sit here?" Ed looked up, nodded sullenly, and looked down again.
Riza and Al had found the one person they were certain Ed wouldn't tell to go away—apart from Riza herself, who would have seemed too suspicious.
"Nice party, isn't it?" Gracia asked. Ed sighed.
"I wouldn't know. When I got here, they made the speeches, and I've been out here ever since."
"Why? No one takes Roy seriously when he spouts off nonsense like that." She noticed Ed's faint blush and added, "Unless, of course, it wasn't nonsense?" Ed put his head in his hands.
"Mrs. Hughes?"
"Yes, Edward?"
"Can I tell you a secret?"
"Of course." He hesitated a moment before speaking. The entire garden seemed to hold its breath.
"I think I'm in love with Winry." He confessed.
"You think, or you know?"
"I'm pretty sure about it, ma'am." She patted him on the back.
"That's wonderful, Ed." He looked up in surprise.
"Wonderful?" he said in disbelief, "How is it wonderful? I mean—I can never talk to her again!" Gracia smiled knowingly.
"Believe me, Ed, when you love someone, it's very hard to stay away. You'll be able to talk to her again." He looked at his shoes.
"No I won't."
"Yes, you will." Gracia said patiently. "Come on, let's go back inside."
"All right," He said, standing up.
Riza was wrong, Gracia thought, that wasn't hard at all.
"Good evening, Miss Rockbell." Winry looked up.
"Colonel Armstrong," She said in surprise, "Hello." He offered his arm wordlessly, and she accepted it, wondering what this was all about. The she spotted Ed and Gracia walking towards them. She tried to steer Armstrong away, but it was about as effective as an ant trying to steer a pitbull.
"Hello Winry, hello Colonel Armstrong." Gracia said warmly, "Nice night, isn't it?"
"Very," Armstrong said, "All the dancing, socializing, camaraderie . . ."
"It's especially uplifting to see all of the younger people having a good time." Gracia said, then brightened suddenly, "I've got an idea! Why don't Edward and Winry dance?" Armstrong nodded, and gently pushed Winry towards Ed.
"Excellent idea!" He proclaimed.
"But—" Ed began, but before he could say anything else, he found himself with a hand on Winry's waist, and the other holding hers, while her other hand rested on his shoulder. Armstrong and Gracia then proceeded top push them onto the dance floor, and left—but not before Gracia whispered to Ed, "Tell her. But if you can't seem to do it, just remember that actions speak louder than words." And she was gone.
"What do you think all that was about?" Winry asked.
"I have no idea." Ed lied, thinking quickly. He couldn't tell her yet, but he could ease his way into it. "You look really beautiful tonight, by the way." She smiled at him, and his heart skipped a beat.
"Thank you. It's all thanks to you, for buying this dress for me."
"I'm really glad that I did."
"Me too." They fell silent for a while after that, just dancing, enjoying being together, and holding each other. Finally, Ed couldn't take it anymore.
"Winry, there's something that I need to tell you." She looked up at him.
"Is something wrong?" he shook his head. Was this it? Was he really going to do it? He found that he was suddenly having a hard time breathing normally. How could she make him so nervous with just an innocent glance from those big blue eyes of hers?
"No. Well—I don't know. Hopefully not." She looked concerned.
"What is it?" Ed took a deep breath—
"It—well—I—" he couldn't. "Never mind."
"No, tell me. Please?"
"It's nothing, really." He felt himself slowly turn red. What had Gracia said? Actions speak louder than words. But he couldn't do that either. Not here; he'd never hear the end of it. Winry looked a little disappointed, but said nothing, and they lapsed into silence once more.
"Why does Ed have to be so shy?" Al exclaimed. He and Riza were dancing a safe distance away from the two blushing teens. Riza shook her head.
"It doesn't seem like there's much more we can do." She said. "It's up to them now." She saw the despairing look on Al's face, and laughed. "Don't worry—it'll all work out. Once Winry wizens up, she'll have the courage to tell him, at least." Al looked skeptical.
"Let them work it out themselves? Do you think that will work?"
"Hopefully, with a little help from the music, the moonlight, and that dress, we'll see results by the end of the night." Al nodded.
"Ok," He said, "Let's see what happens." He looked around, "Hey, where's Roy?" Riza shrugged nonchalantly.
"Probably hiding somewhere." She guessed, "He's in big trouble, and he knows it."
"You know all those gunshots? Well . . .what exactly were you doing?" She grinned wickedly, and Al decided that he really was probably better off not knowing. "Never mind." He said hurriedly.
Meanwhile, on the dance floor, the song ended, and Ed, without so much as a word to Winry, left. He couldn't stand just dancing with her as though nothing was wrong, when everything was. He knew that it was rude to just walk away like that, but surely it was better than blurting out that he loved her in front of half of the military, wasn't it?
Winry watched Ed go, wondering what she could have possibly done to make him leave like that. Was he angry? No, he didn't seem angry with her. He seemed . . . frustrated, somehow.
"It's not your fault." Winry turned, and saw Roy standing behind her.
"You're lucky that Ed didn't see you," she told him. He nodded, and offered her his hand.
"May I have this dance?" he asked, and she nodded and took his hand. They danced in silence for a while before Roy spoke again. "So, what do you think about Ed?" Winry blinked; she hadn't been expecting this.
"Didn't you hear my speech?" Roy sighed.
"Yes. It was very nice and all, but you didn't tell us how you really feel. I bet you haven't told anyone how you really feel. I just wanted you to know that you can tell me. I won't tell anyone." Winry raised her eyebrows.
"So says the man who shouted 'kiss her' in front of half the military." She reminded him. He shrugged.
"Well, it's not my fault that he didn't take my advice the first time." He pointed out. "I was only reminding him."
"I'm surprised that you're still alive, actually." Winry said. "It's amazing that Riza didn't kill you."
"Eh, well, I'm good at dodging bullets—and she wasn't really trying to kill me. If she had been, I'd be dead. Naah, she was just trying to scare me."
"And did it work?"
"Hell yeah—I'm not that much of an idiot. Anyway, you were just about to tell me your true feelings for Ed."
"Well—no I wasn't."
"Yes you were."
"No, I wasn't."
"Please?" Winry sighed.
"I am not in love with Ed." For some reason, she got the distinct impression that this denial was what Roy had been waiting for.
"Oh, really?" he challenged, "Then why did you give him that look while you two were standing on the platform?"
"What look?"
"That 'kiss me now' look."
"WHAT?" Roy nodded.
"It's true. And what's more—don't you get butterflies in your stomach whenever he looks at you?"
"Well—"
"And don't you want to run your fingers through that silky blonde hair?" Winry had to admit to herself that that did sound pretty appealing. But no way would she ever say that to Roy.
"I—"
"And that lean, muscular body—"
"I GET IT!" Winry exclaimed loudly, more out of embarrassment than anything else. "But I don't—I . . ." Suddenly Ed's face flashed in her mind. His smile. Those warm golden eyes. The way he looked at her as though they were the only ones in the room. The way he smelled. Everything about him. Roy noticed the look on her face, and smiled, and gave her a nod.
"You see?" Winry nodded, hung her head, and gasped. "Your leg is bleeding!" She exclaimed. Roy looked down.
"Oh that? Nothing, just a graze. Anyway, what were you going to say?"
"But—don't you need to get that bandaged up?" The floor they were dancing on was slightly smeared with blood.
"Stop trying to change the subject. The longer you hesitate, the more likely I am to die of blood loss."
"All right." Winry snapped. "I'm in love with Ed. But—but he won't even look at me anymore." The dance had stopped by now, and they were just standing there. Roy reached forward and patted Winry on the shoulder.
"Don't worry—I have the utmost confidence that everything will turn out fine." She looked up, and he bowed. "Not if you'll excuse me, I need to go find some bandages." And with that, he turned and walked off.
Winry left also, and went outside to the gardens, where she spent the rest of the evening wondering if anything would be the same as before, when life was simple.
The train ride back to Resembool was quiet, despite the fact that Roy and Riza were going back with them—for a 'holiday' they claimed, but Winry suspected it was really just to see what would happen. Riza had forgiven Roy after Winry had told the other woman about how comforting he had been.
She and Ed had barely spoken at all since the farewell party, In Winry's mind, this whole being-in-love business was far more trouble than it was worth. At this point, she would gladly trade all of her warm and fuzzy feelings for simple friendship.
"Al?"
"Yes, Big brother?"
"You were right." Ed and Al were alone in a compartment. Winry was somewhere with Riza, and Ed really didn't care where Roy was.
"About what?"
"Winry." As expected, Al's face lit up.
"Really?"
"Mmm-hmm."
"You love her, or she loves you, or both?" Al asked eagerly. Ed winced a little at that; Winry didn't love him, of course. She never would.
"The first part." Al's face fell a little.
"Are you going to tell her, then?" Ed jumped slightly.
"NO! And you're not going to tell her, either! Not her, or Mustang, or Hawkeye, or Den, or anyone. Ok?"
"But—"
"No."
"She needs to know." Ed looked at him.
"She's better off not knowing." He said, "We both were."
Perhaps it was the pain in his brother's eyes the convinced him, or perhaps he simply realized that love was not something to be trifled with, but, at that moment, Al was thoroughly sorry that he had ever interfered.
"Winry? Winry?" Winry snapped back to reality, and looked at Riza.
"I'm sorry." She said, "I've been kind of out of it for the past few days. I don't really know why . . ."
"I do." Roy said. "Broken heart. You'll get over it." Riza grabbed a pawn from the game of chess she and Roy were playing and threw it at him.
"May I have a work with you, Sir?" She asked, through clenched teeth. Roy grinned.
"What's the magic word?"
Cha-chak.
"Ok, ok, just put the gun down!" He said, standing up quickly. They walked into a separate compartment, leaving Winry alone momentarily.
In reality, it wasn't so much a compartment as a broom closet, as they soon discovered, and there was barely enough room for them both to squeeze in. They managed it, however, and Riza shut the door firmly.
"This is getting ridiculous." She snapped. Roy slid an arm around her waist.
"If you can feel that you cannot hide your feelings of lust for me any monger," He said, "I completely understand." She removed his hand with a look of disgust.
"I meant Winry and Ed." She explained, fighting the urge to just shoot him in the face and be done with it. "It's horrible to watch." Roy smiled.
"Ah, tangled teenage love lives." Riza shook her head sadly.
"They're a bit past that stage, aren't they?" She said, "And you and I both know that it's not going to go away anytime soon." Roy, in a rare flash of seriousness, nodded.
"I know that as well as you do," He said, "But at this point, it's up to them. It either happens, or it doesn't. Either way, we'll just have to wait and see." Riza raised an eyebrow at him.
"I thought you hated waiting for anything?" She asked. He shrugged.
"Sometimes the best things in life are worth waiting for." He said softly. She didn't entirely like the look he gave her as he said it, and was sure to exit the broom closet as soon as possible.
As the train worked its way steadily towards Resembool, Winry made a decision. She had to say something, or she would go insane—that was all there was to it. If Ed never wanted to see her again, well then there was not much she could do. And if Ed loved her as well . . .
She pushed the thought from her mind.
You're fooling yourself, she thought, Somehow he must know, and that's why he's avoiding you. Yes, that was definitely more likely than anything else.
Ed: What a depressing chapter. . .
Michi: Shut up, emo boy. Another late night, folks. 12:35, and I'm still planning on writing the epilogue. Gaaah, my poor fingers . . .
Al: I can't wait to find out what happens!
Review, por favor! Reviews make Michi a happy spazzbasket!