HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE
The Gift
12
Thankful
November 23rd - Thursday
Roy slowly came into awareness as he felt fingers massage his shoulders and back. It just felt so good. He moaned softly and let a smile spread across his face. After all the stress from yesterday, this was heaven...
"Good morning," Ed whispered in his ear, and Roy muttered something that was supposed to be a morning greeting but it came out unintelligible, even to himself. He felt the teen run his lips softly across the back of his neck, then, "Me and Al have to go pick up the turkey. Do you want to come?"
Roy opened one eye and looked blearily up at Ed before he turned over and grabbed the teen around the waist. "Actually...yeah, I would like to cum..." he murmured as he planted kisses on the boy's throat.
The younger alchemist laughed and said, "That's not what I meant, you pervert!"
"What was that?" Roy asked, pulling up Ed's shirt and kissing the teen's chest and stomach.
"Lecherous old man! Let me go!" the blond said through laughter and squirmed in his hold.
With an exaggerated sigh, Roy let go of the boy and said, "How cruel... Offer, then take it back..."
Ed grinned widely and said, "That wasn't a sexual offer. Unless you find the prospect of dead turkeys arousing..."
Roy rolled his eyes and sat up. "Hardly."
Ed watched Roy as he got out of bed and began to get dressed. Despite the joking, Mustang seemed a little depressed. Ed had meant to wait in Roy's room until the colonel came back from his walk, but he'd gotten caught up in a conversation with Al, and by the time he'd realized Mustang was back, the door was closed and the light was off.
He still could have gone in, but...
There had been that bit of lingering doubt; the thought that maybe Mustang didn't want him to come in. The older man could be very recluse when he was depressed sometimes.
Ed sighed.
He wanted to ask how Mustang was, and all that, but the man seemed to be cheering up and the teen didn't want to bring him down again.
"So…what? Turkey, or no turkey?" he asked.
"Turkey. It will be safer, I think." This was said with a wry grin and a chuckle.
Ed shook his head, thinking about Winry. He hoped today would be better than yesterday...
As they made their way downstairs, Pinako walked out from the kitchen and said, "Oh good. You're awake. I need some help in the kitchen."
Ed looked to Roy who blinked and said dumbly, "Me?"
"Of course, you. Edward, go pound on Winry's door and tell her to get her toosh out here and help me. I don't plan on doing all the cooking by myself you know."
"Actually, Roy was going to come with me and Al to pick up the turkey," the teen said.
Pinako folded her arms and said, "It doesn't take three people to bring back a dead bird. Actually, I should just send Alphonse and have you help me in the kitchen too. He can do that by himself."
The thought of spending time in the kitchen with a bossy Pinako, a crabby Winry and a depressed Mustang was an incredibly unappealing thought.
"How about you have Al stay here and I'll go pick up the turkey?" he asked hopefully.
"Not a chance," Pinako muttered.
Ed scowled. "Why not?"
"Because Alphonse, at least, is bigger than the turkey."
"This kind of reminds me of KP duty when I first enlisted."
Ed glanced up from apples he was pealing to where Mustang sat pealing potatoes.
"'KP duty?'" he asked.
"Kitchen Patrol. Everyone gets the 'privilege' of doing KP duty during basic training, and of course if you do anything wrong then you get to be even more 'privileged'," he said with a chuckle.
"Hm…I never had to do KP…" Ed said.
"Yes, well…that's because you didn't join up with the regular army."
Ed opened his mouth to say something, but at that moment, Winry walked in with a bowl of flour and dumped it, deliberately, on Roy's head.
"Oops," she said, unremorsefully.
"You did that on purpose!" Ed shouted, feeling protective of his lover who only ran a hand along his face and hair before continuing to peal the potatoes. It wasn't fair that she should keep treating him like this. What was more frustrating was that Roy didn't even fight back. He took it all, and Ed had a sneaking suspicion that the colonel believed he deserved everything that Winry was doing.
It just wasn't right...
Pinako glanced over from where she was working with the pie crusts and sighed at all the commotion.
"What do you think you're doing, wasting flour like that!" she growled, then looked down at the mess.
"It was an accident," Winry said in an unconvincing tone.
Pinako stared at the girl with a flat gaze for a moment before saying, "I'm out of flour here, you'll have to go down to the cellar and get more."
Without a word, the blonde mechanic turned around and left the room. Pinako shook her head and grabbed the rolling pin to roll out the dough.
"I'm finished," Ed said and sat the bowl of pealed and cut apples on the counter. "What next?"
She thought for a moment, then said, "We need to go down to Terry Anderson's patch to get a pumpkin for the pumpkin pie. I'll have to go with you, but I need to finish this right now. Why don't you go downstairs and help Winry find the flour. I'd hate for any more of it to accidentally spill."
The teen rolled his eyes and nodded before leaving.
For a few minutes Pinako continued to work with the dough, then she heard the colonel say, "I've been wanting to talk to you about something..."
"Edward and I are going to pick out a pumpkin for the pie."
Winry looked up from where she was setting the flour on the counter and said, "Okay, I'll get my coat."
As she turned to leave, Pinako said, "I didn't say you, I said Edward and I. I want you to stay here and clean up these dishes we've been using."
"But..."
"No 'buts.' I also need someone here to get the turkey ready if Alphonse gets back with it before we get back so it can be ready by dinnertime."
Winry sighed and nodded with a frown. It all made sense, but...
"I don't see why I have to clean these dishes by myself. Why not let Ed do it, and let me go with you?"
Pinako stepped off her stool and wiped her hands on a towel. With a shake of her head, the old woman said, "Edward did the dishes by himself yesterday, and besides, you won't be by yourself. Flame boy will be here to help you."
Her eyes widened and she yelled, "What? I don't want to be left here with him!" Tears came to her eyes and she quickly looked away. She didn't want to be left alone with that man. She hated him! If it wasn't for him, her parents would still be alive..."
"Maybe you should take Roy with you and leave me here..." she heard Ed say hesitantly.
For her this would be a great solution, but it also hurt a bit to know that he probably wasn't suggesting this so that she wouldn't have to deal with him, but rather so that he wouldn't have to deal with her.
"I'm sure your commanding officer can take care of himself, Edward. Now let's get going." Pinako started out of the kitchen, then turned and said, "I mean it, Winry. These dishes need to get done. I won't be very happy to come back home and find them still there."
Winry nodded unhappily and watched them leave out of the corner of her eye.
Not fair.
It just wasn't fair...
For several moments there was silence, then she heard a sigh behind her and footsteps.
"Well...we should probably get this over with."
She glanced over and saw him turn on the water and put the plug in the drain. He measured out the soap, dumped it in, then began rolling up his sleeves before putting the dishes in the hot water.
"Do you want to wash or dry?" he asked mildly.
She didn't say anything for a moment, then asked, "What do you prefer doing?"
"I'd rather dry, if you don't mind," he answered.
"I'll dry," she proclaimed and stepped to the other side of the sink. She knew it was mean, but she shouldn't help it. She just felt so angry at him, and she felt angry that he was here. She didn't want him here; she wanted him to go away, just go back to Central and leave her alone...
One by one he washed the dishes and she dried. They worked reluctantly together in an uneasy silence. After a long time, the man whispered, "I'm sorry."
Winry swallowed hard and stared fixedly down at the dish she was drying. 'Sorry' was not what she was expecting to hear. In fact, none of what had happened yesterday ended up how she had expected.
No matter what she did, the man never got mad. He just took it. When he did say anything to her, he was always polite and...
Tears came to her eyes.
He made it very hard to keep hating him... It was hard to be mad at someone who was nice to you...
Why?
Why couldn't he just act like the monster she'd always thought of him as?
"I never wanted it to happen," he said softly.
No...please...I can't handle this... she thought.
"I could give you a million excuses on my part. I was young. I had a very intimidating commanding officer. I felt like I had to obey my orders no matter what. If I didn't do it, someone else would be ordered to and then I would get into trouble for disobeying orders..."
He rinsed off another plate and handed it to her. "But they're all just excuses. They didn't deserve to die. Out of everyone, they deserved to live most."
Her vision turned blurry and a tear trickled slowly down her cheek.
"I'd never...I'd never killed someone like that...I mean...I'd killed people while fighting, but never...never just shot someone that wasn't fighting back." His voice broke and he stopped talking.
She whimpered slightly at what he was telling her. No one had ever said how they'd died...
There was a rustling sound and then, "This is it."
When he said no more, curiosity got the better of her and she looked at him. In his hand he held...
"This is what I used. It was issued to me when I joined, and I've had it since then..."
Another tear escaped from her eye and she sniffled, trying to hold back the pain.
He stared at it for a moment, then turned the barrel toward himself and said in a half whisper, "I tried... Several times I tried... but, I was never able to pull the trigger..."
The man looked at her with wet eyes and held the gun toward her before kneeling down on the floor. "I was never able to..." he whispered quietly. "Can you?"
Ed glared at Pinako as she inspected the pumpkins.
"Just pick one and let's go," he said irritably.
"Patience, shortstop. Picking out produce is an art."
"What did you call me, you..."
"Stop whining. He'll be fine," she said, riding over him.
Ed stopped what he was about to say and muttered, "Yeah right... You just don't like him, that's why you left him alone with her..."
The old woman stood up and gave him a flat stare. "You listen here; I think you're being too protective over him. He's a grown man, and he can take care of himself, or at least he should be able to. Both he and Winry need to work out some issues. Perhaps leaving them alone together will do some good."
Ed rolled his eyes. Why were women always like that? They always seemed to think that talking was the answer to everything.
Winry reached out and hesitantly took the gun. It was heavy, but that didn't bother her since she worked with automail, but... It had a weight to it that was unseen...unfelt...
Swallowing hard, the girl glanced from the weapon to the man who was kneeling in front of her. The colonel gazed steadily at her with wet, but determined, eyes.
She should...
He deserved to die...
Winry lifted the gun and pointed it at him. Her hands shook and she had to blink away more tears. Her heart beat heavily in her chest and her finger itched to pull the trigger.
She should kill him... just like he'd killed them.
It was only fair.
She squeezed her eyes shut and a sob broke from her. He was still there, in her mind. She could see him just as well as she could with her eyes open. This man... This horrible, murderous man...
That was him.
This man she saw in her mind.
This was who she'd imagined, who she hated.
This was him...
She gritted her teeth together, and squeezed the trigger. She felt the gun buck in hands and the lingering ring from the gunshot was still loud in her ears.
She watched him fall, watched him die...
Another sob escaped her as she opened her eyes.
He still knelt there, looking at her.
She looked past him to where the bullet had gone through the wall.
"You're dead..." she whispered. "You're dead..." She felt like a heavy burden had been lifted off of her and she sighed heavily as she shakily lowered the gun.
He stared silently at her for several moments before asking, "And what does that mean? What now?"
She looked up in thought and let the tears that remained in her eyes trickle down her cheeks. "It means... It means you're dead. The man I hated is dead. The man I was so angry at all the time... he's gone." The last was said in a whisper.
"Is he?" the colonel asked softly.
She nodded and held out the gun to him. When he took it, she said in a whisper, "But you... you're not him, and I can't hate you..."
Roy let his lips turn up in a small smile. It seemed to him that what she was saying shouldn't make sense, but it did.
For a moment, he'd thought she would really shoot him. That would really have put a wrench in his plans. Dead men can't...
But now wasn't the time to think about that.
He stood slowly and looked down at her. Roy liked the thought of that part of him being dead, that part of his life gone... Perhaps that would be best. Maybe he should think that way from now on...
He didn't know if he could, but he'd try.
Winry looked at him as he tucked the gun in the back of his pants and pulled his shirt over it.
What now?
Guilt tugged at her, not only for all the bad things she'd thought about him, but also for everything she'd done to him since he'd arrived.
"I'm sorry..." she whispered.
"You don't have anything to be sorry for," the colonel answered quietly.
Winry shook her head. "No... I've been so mean to you, and..."
The dark-haired man placed a finger on her lips and said, "Please, don't worry about it. What matters is that we go from now forward."
She thought about it for a moment, then nodded. He was right...
"Perhaps we should finish the dishes before they get back?" he said with a small smile.
She smiled back and nodded again.
Again they worked on the dishes, but this time the silence wasn't uneasy. It was a comfortable silence and it startled her when he spoke.
"I...actually have something I'd like to talk to you about, if you don't mind."
When Ed sighed, Pinako asked, "What?"
He looked over at the short woman and said, "There's still a house left."
"Excuse me?" she asked with a 'you've lost it, boy' look on her face.
"I thought for sure there would be nothing left when we came back, but everything seems to be okay... on the outside at least." The last was muttered in a low voice.
"How much trouble could they get into while doing dishes?" Pinako asked. Suddenly there was a booming noise and smoke began to rise from behind the house.
They stopped and looked at each other for a moment before Pinako said, "Perhaps we should hurry..."
As they ran around the side of the house, Ed saw Al, Winry and Roy standing beside the large stone oven. From this angle, he could see that the turkey was inside and a fire was burning hotly.
"Don't you think that was overkill?" He heard Winry shout.
His eyes moved to look at Mustang who shrugged and said, "You said, light a fire. You never specified how much fire you wanted." Ed sighed. Well at least it wasn't some fight or something. He could just picture a Roy verses Winry battle.
The colonel might lose...
Mustang pulled off his gloves and tucked them in his pocket before looking over in Ed and Pinako's direction. He smiled slightly and beckoned for them.
They finished walking the rest of the way to the group of three, and Ed was about to speak when Pinako beat him to it.
"What's going on here?"
"Well, Alphonse came back with the turkey and we stuffed it and thought that we'd get it cooking, as you instructed if he should get back before you did," Roy said smoothly, and Ed thought that the colonel seemed to be in a much better mood than he had been when they'd left.
"What was that smoke and the 'boom' noise?" the old woman asked irritably.
"Well, we wanted to get the oven at the right temperature as soon as possible, and..." he began but never got a chance to finish because Winry cut him off.
"It was way too much! We're lucky we still have an outdoor oven left." She turned to Mustang and poked him. "You're lucky that wasn't the regular oven we have in the house!"
"Nag, nag, nag," Roy said, and grinned. "Do you do anything else besides nag?"
Ed's eyebrows lifted as he watched the exchange. They were bantering with each other? Something had definitely happened while he was gone...
Winry opened her mouth to say something when Al cut in, "Nope, she doesn't. You'll just have to get used to it."
"What did you say?" Winry growled and held up the large cooking fork that was in her hand.
"Nothing!" Al whined and scooted closer to Ed.
When his brother crouched behind him, Ed grinned, but that turned into a scowl when Roy said, "That's like an elephant hiding behind an ant."
"WHAT!" he yelled.
Winry nodded and said, "Too bad he wouldn't drink milk when he was younger. Now he's probably doomed to be that size forever."
Ed opened his mouth to rant at her, but was cut off by Pinako saying, "Let's continue this in the house. We need to get the rest of the food ready."
Feeling cheated out of his rant, Ed watched sourly as Pinako, Winry and Al started back toward the house, then began to follow them when he felt a hand close around his arm and pull him back.
Mustang brought him around the other side of the large stone oven and kissed him before whispering, "I think you're the perfect size." This was accompanied by a hand on his...
Ed's eyes widened at the touch, and he moaned into the next kiss Roy was giving him. The teen slipped his hands under the colonel's shirt and as he was about to reach down with his other hand when he heard, "Brother, colonel... I know you're back there. Pinako sent me to get you, so just come out okay? I'm perfectly happy just pretending you're not doing anything strange back there..."
They broke apart and Mustang shouted, "We're coming, Alphonse," before pecking Ed on the lips once more.
There was a moment of silence, then a yelled, "I DIDN'T NEED TO KNOW THAT!"
The two of them stared at each other for a moment as they heard Alphonse running away from the oven, then they both started laughing.
Ed's stomach growled as he set the last plate on the table. He was soooo hungry, and all that food just looked so good... His eyes wandered over the feast they'd prepared.
Turkey, miraculously not burnt to ashes by Mustang's little stunt. Mashed potatoes, slightly lumpy because Ed insisted on it, but not too much because Roy liked potatoes without lumps. Green beans with cranberries. Candied yams, though not a lot because neither Ed nor Winry would eat them; cranberry sauce made from a recipe that had been handed down to Pinako from her mother and from her mother before that. Thick gravy made from the turkey drippings. Stuffing, and homemade rolls with fresh butter from the Marv's dairy farm on the other side of Rizembool.
In the kitchen were the two pies they'd made: apple and pumpkin. In the icebox was also a tub of whipped cream, also from Marv's dairy.
Ed's mouth watered as he thought about it all.
"Well, I think that's everything," Pinako said from behind him and Ed hurriedly took a seat. He was starving and he planned on eating a whole lot once they got started.
When everyone was at the table, Ed reached out to start dishing himself up some food when the sound of a throat clearing met his hears. The teen looked up to see Pinako staring fixedly at him.
"What?" he asked, then it hit him and he groaned. "Do we really have to do that? I'm starving!"
"What's the point of having Thanksgiving if you can't say what you're thankful for?" the old woman growled.
Ed rolled his eyes and sighed. This was something he didn't like doing, but every year, Pinako insisted that they all take turns saying what they're thankful for before they eat.
"Now, who wants to start?" Pinako asked and looked around. When no one volunteered, she said, "Fine, I'll go first. I'm thankful for the family and friends I have. At my age, you start seeing your old friends start to die off and you think, 'that could be me.' Also, it's hard to see your kids die before you do. But at least I have my grand-daughter and my foster grand-sons left. I'm also thankful that I can move around freely and can still work…another thing at my age to be grateful for... And of course to have all my teeth and all that. Now, who's next?" she asked and looked around at them.
There was silence around the table for almost a full minute before Alphonse said, "I'm thankful that I'm here." That one sentence seemed to say a lot. He very easily could have not been here... "Even though I don't have a flesh and blood body, and I can't eat this meal with you, I'm still thankful I could spend this time with you. I'm thankful that brother hasn't given up on me and that he still loves me."
At that, Ed swallowed hard and touched his brother's arm.
"I'm also thankful for you guys," Alphonse said and glanced at Pinako and Winry. "You've helped us so much. I don't know what we could have done without you... And finally, I'm thankful that we had mom... even for a short time... we still had her..."
At that, Winry looked down at her plate and sniffled. Ed frowned. He wanted to comfort her too, but she was on the other side of the table. Instead, Pinako reached over and patted the blonde mechanic's hand.
When it became obvious that Al was done, Winry looked up and with tears in her eyes she said, "I'm thankful that I had my mom and dad too..."
A tear trickled down her face and she roughly wiped it away. I'm also thankful for you." A glance at Pinako. "I'm thankful that you taught me how to work with automail. I'm also thankful for you guys." A look at Ed and Al. "You've been my friend ever since we were really little. You guys are like brothers to me."
She paused, and looked at Roy, then whispered, "I'm even thankful for you..."
Ed's eyebrows knit together in confusion at that, and he waited for Winry to say more, but she didn't. She was clearly finished.
Ed looked at Mustang and Mustang looked at him. They were the only ones left.
Suddenly Roy cleared his throat and said, "I'm thankful for..." He paused for a moment then went on. "I'm thankful for the officers under me." A small grin. "They push me forward when I'm being too lazy."
He swallowed and glanced at Winry, then away before saying, "I'm thankful for forgiveness..." Mustang paused there, and Ed decided that Winry and Roy must have come to some sort of understanding. He made a mental note to glean the man for information later.
The colonel's gaze moved to Ed and he said in a soft voice, "And lastly, I'm thankful to have someone in my life that cares about me..."
Ed felt a burning in his cheeks and knew he must be blushing furiously. Unfortunately, everyone was looking at him too, since he was the last one.
The young alchemist sighed and looked down at his empty plate. He did feel thankful, about a lot of things, even though sometimes it seemed as if he didn't have anything to be thankful for. Funny how this was all working out... usually they just hurriedly said the first thing they could think of to get this dumb ritual over with so that they could eat.
Figures that this year would have to be different.
Without looking up, he said, "I'm thankful for Al." Ed looked up at Winry and Pinako and said, "I'm thankful for you too, but... Al and I have been through so much together. He's like... my rock. He keeps me anchored when the storm comes..."
Ed looked down when his vision became blurry. "I'm thankful we didn't die when we... when we tried to transmute...her..."
He blinked and tears dropped onto his lap.
"I'm thankful you took us in and helped us, and I'm thankful that you guys are the best automail mechanics around." He lifted his automail arm and said, "I'm thankful for this," then touched his automail leg. "And for this because with them I can do things I never could. It would be difficult for me to get around with only one arm and only one leg."
Ed swallowed and said quietly, "I'm thankful that I could become a State Alchemist. Even though I don't like it, it's opened up so many opportunities for me to find more information that could help us."
He glanced up at Roy, then back down again. "If I'd never become a State Alchemist, then I never would have met you..." he said in a whisper and glanced up again at Roy before looking down at his plate.
There was silence around the table for what seemed like an eternity before Pinako said, "Okay... this is getting a bit too sappy for me. Let's eat."
And there it is! I can't believe it! haha. Seriously, I thought I'd never get this chapter done. I was prepared to stay up all night to work on it if I had to, but I was able to finish it by 5:58pm on the 22nd! Yay!
Okay so next update is on the 24th I'll have more dates to you when I post then.
Thank you, everyone, for reading up to this point. :) I'm thankful for all of you! I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. (And for those of you who don't celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you have a great day!)
Please Review!