#edry

“Mhmm! They're all photos from when we were kids!” A small smile formed on his face from the nostalgia, and he walked over to sit beside Alphonse as he perused the contents of the various pages. There was a photo from a day they helped Pinako make an apple pie, and he and Alphonse had gotten in a fight where they threw flour at one another and had made a mess of the house. There was another where Edward had dressed up as a ghost to scare Winry, but instead it just made her laugh hysterically, which made him pretty mad. There was yet another photograph from when they had visited a nearby lake to go swimming.

“Huh? I don't remember this one!” he frowned when ha came across a particular photograph. It featured Winry with a white pillowcase tied around her head, while Edward stood next to her looking extremely irritated. Alphonse was standing on a stump reading from an upside-down book and wearing a top hat. The other residents of the house gathered around him to peer at the photo in question, and Winry lit up with a radiant smile.

“Oh! That's the day we got married!”

“Do what?” Edward shrieked, his voice several octaves higher than normal as he snapped the photograph album shut and whipped around to glare at her in incredulity. Her wide blue eyes gazed at him in confusion.

“Don't you remember, Ed? It went like this…”

-In the Past-

Little Edward was squatted down in the yard with a stick in his hand, his golden eyes wide with curiosity as he poked at a slow-moving beetle crawling across the lush green grass. He pouted when it abruptly fluttered its wings and flew off with a buzz, disturbed by the sound of elated laughter and the feverish stomping of footsteps. He stood up, dropping his stick, as Winry and Alphonse came careening around the corner of the house giggling giddily.

“What's all this about?” he blinked.

“Alphonse and I have a great game we can play!” Winry giggled as she stopped in front of him. He blinked in slight confusion as she turned to his brother, who was holding various items in his little arms. Winry grabbed one of them and whirled around with a flourish. “Ta-daaaaaa~” she sang as she pulled a single white pillowcase around her head, draping it over her blonde hair and holding it there while she looked at him expectantly.

“I don't get it.”

“I’m a bride, you idiot!” she shrieked at him, her face reddening, and he cried out as she socked him in the head with her fist. He nursed his head tenderly, glaring at her with his cheeks puffed out defiantly.

“You're a mean bride! Who would wanna marry you?” he snapped at her, and they dissolved to an ugly squabble, trading various insults until Alphonse laughed nervously and physically inserted himself between them.

“Guys, guys, come on! Let's just play the game!” he smiled widely, and the two children glared at one another before turning their backs on each other with haughty huffs. “Now, Edward, you’re gonna be the groom!”

“Do what?” he shrieked. Winry giggled and spun around with her makeshift veil while Alphonse scampered behind him and clambered onto a nearby stump and plopped a tall top hat onto his head. It was much too big for him, so he had to hold it up with one hand while he balanced the book on his knee. He cleared his throat dramatically before opening up a book with a sophisticated expression, but Edward thought he just looked dumb because the book was upside-down. As he went to complain about the stupidity of the game, his words were whisked out of his mouth as Winry grabbed him by the air with a girlish giggle and dragged him over to the stump. He slouched in front of his brother, who was blathering some nonsense about marriage rights, while Winry was standing straight up with gleaming eyes like she actually was getting married. “This is so dumb,” he hissed to her under his breath.

“Shut up and pretty to be happy!” she hissed back at him, and the glare she shot him scared his spine as stiff as a board. This sucks!

“Do you, Winry Rockbell, take Edward Elric to be your lawfully wedded husband?” Alphonse announced suddenly.

“I do!” Winry beamed brightly.

“Do you, Edward Elric, take Winry Rockbell to be your lawfully wedded wife?” his brother asked solemnly, turning on him next. Winry also turned to face him, her blue eyes sparkling with pure bliss and her cheeks slightly pink as she stared at him hopefully.

“Nah,” he answered without missing a beat, then screamed as Winry snarled and stomped on his foot with all the might her little body possessed. “Yes! Yes! I mean yes, I do! Nehhhhh!” he screeched as he hopped on one foot, cradling the other which undoubtedly contained broken toes. Winry beamed happily and whirled back around to face Alphonse, smacking Edward in the face with her pillowcase veil. Edward, positively fuming, just half-listened while Alphonse continued reciting some half-baked marriage rights before he went as rigid as a wall of stone.

“You may now kiss the bride!” he declared gleefully and snapped the book shut, looking quite pleased with his performance. Winry looked at him, flushing shyly as she nervously wrung the edge of her veil, and she fluttered her eyelashes at him. Edward felt a shudder travel up his spine, and his eyebrows twitched incessantly as he tugged at his collar, which was sticking to his neck due to the cold sweat. How did I get dragged into this? He moped as he edged toward the waiting girl. She had her eyes closed and her lips puckered, looking completely innocent. Edward knew that a devil hid behind that angelic face. I don't wanna kiss Winry!

“Come on, brother, or she'll hit you with a wrench this time!” Alphonse hissed down at him. Edward exhaled deeply, not wanting to be on the receiving end of her violence, before clenching his fists tightly. He squeezed his eyes shut tight as he jerked forward, lightly kissing Winry on the mouth; then, in the next second, he had jumped back, as red as a tomato, and was wiping off his mouth with disgusted noises.

“Why do you have to act like that, Ed?” Winry pouted as she put her hands on her hips, that light shade of pink still on her chubby cheeks.

“This is the worst game ever!” he shot back. They all glanced up when they heard amused laughter, just in time to see a camera flash. Pinako lowered the camera, chuckling, while Edward went dark red. “Delete that picture! You old haaaaaag!” he wailed and ran for the camera, but the dog thought it was a game and jumped on him, barking happily as he bowled the young child over.

-In the Present-

Edward's face had taken on a hue that was some mixture of pink and green after Winry had finished relating the story. “No wonder I don't remember. It's so traumatizing that I repressed it,” he muttered. He cried out as Winry grabbed a nearby wrench and whacked him over the head with it. “Ow! God damn it!”

“Told you she would hit you with a wrench!” Alphonse laughed. Edward just whimpered as he bent over, cradling his bruised head. The rest of the room laughed at his expense, and they were so busy doing that that they didn't notice him blushing darkly.

Me and Winry married, huh? Alphonse and I are going to be leaving on our trip soon… Maybe… Maybe I should tell her how I feel?

He’s doing what he thinks is important. I can’t be selfish. Before he had left, they had confessed their feelings to each other, in their own strange way. It had been hard for her after that, to watch him get on that train and leave. She had wanted to scream, scream with everything she had and beg him to stay. She had wanted to do that every time she had been forced to say good-bye, but strangely, even though he no longer faced any danger, that time had been the worst. Winry would never admit that to him, though. She didn’t want to get in the way of the things he wanted to do, or what he thought was important. She knew he would come back. He always came back to her.

“Winry? Is that you?” her grandmother called from further in the house as Winry tromped lazily down the stairs. Her body was still stiff and sore, but was beginning to loosen up from all her activity.

“Yes, Granny, it’s me. I just woke up.” The old woman was standing over a bubbling pot on the stove when Winry walked into the kitchen. Winry patted the dog’s head as it ran over to her, demanding attention, and smiled sleepily at her grandmother. “I may have stayed up a little too late trying to design that new order,” she admitted as she sat down at the kitchen table while her grandmother spooned a helping of what she had determined to be porridge into a bowl and sat it down in front of her. She didn’t want to admit to her the other reason why she wasn’t sleeping.

“Tsk,” he grandmother tutted as she lit her pipe and looked at her critically. “Winry, I know you can handle yourself, but you’ve been getting less and less sleep lately. It’s not good for your health. It’ll start taking a toll on you sooner or later,” she warned with narrowed eyebrows. Winry giggled, flattered that her grandmother was worried but wanting to be more or less unconcerned, as she blew on the steaming-hot breakfast soup.

“I’ll be fine, Granny!” she reassured her and began hurriedly eating her breakfast. She had things to do, after all. She had to get her mind off of him. Granny only exhaled deeply in defeat as Winry scarfed down her breakfast, dropped the empty bowl in the sink, and darted up the stairs to get herself dressed. “I have to go into town to buy a few parts! I’ll be back in a few hours,” she called cheerfully down while wiggling herself into a sundress. As she came stomping back down the stairs, slinging a purse over her arm, she gave her one final wink. “I’ll be fine, Granny!”

“I know you will,” she sighed while Winry, not even waiting for an answer, bounded out of the doorway and down the path. The shop that supplied most of the small parts Winry didn’t need to order specially was about a twenty-minute walk, in the heart of Resembool that also housed the train station and local market. Winry inhaled deeply as she walked down the road, savoring the scent of honey and flowers mingling with freshly cut grass and loamy soil in the air. There really was nothing like the country. Though the cities that she had been to were impressive, Winry would never be able to live there; no, she needed peace and quiet and nature. The city much better suited the boys, who were always itching for something to do or something to happen. She cast her blue eyes down to her feet, saddened at that thought.

What if they decide the city is better, and want to stay there forever? She vigorously shook her head as soon as the thought entered her mind. That wouldn’t happen. Even if they got bored, this was Ed and Al’s home. They would never abandon it. Edward would never abandon her…

You say that, but what if you’re overthinking what happened at the train station? It’s not like he said he loved you. Winry grimaced uncomfortably. Sure, he had said something about spending the rest of their lives together, but that could mean a lot of things. Friends wanted to spend the rest of their lives together too, right?

“Oh, stop it, stupid brain!” she cried and knocked herself on the head, but in her agitated state, hit herself a little too hard. She hunched down in the road as she tenderly cradled her pounding head, tears nearly forming in the corners from her eyes from the frustration and pain. What was wrong with her? She never thought too deeply about these things; she had always contented herself with the fact that Edward and Alphonse would come back, and more recently, that Edward had feelings for her. Why was she thinking about it so much? “Ugh, maybe I do need more sleep,” she muttered as she straightened back up and continued walking. Now that she thought about it, her limbs were dragging along, and her eyes were kind of droopy. Her mind was a little unfocused, too, shifting from one thought to the next in a haze. She slapped herself on the cheeks a few times, leaving them stinging and pink. “I am not sleepy! I can handle this!” Besides, if she slept, then…

He always comes back.

Despite her best efforts, as she drew closer to the central part of Resembool, her condition rapidly deteriorated. By the time she arrived at the parts shop she was slouched over and barely able to keep her eyes open. Whatever burst of energy she had received that morning was all but spent. As the shopkeeper greeted her cheerfully, all she could managed was a sleepy grunt, and she shuffled into the aisles while wracking her brain for what she had come for in the first place. “Lemme see… Three of these… Two of these doohickeys… One of this thing…” she muttered as she plucked items off the shelves.

“Oof, Winry, you don’t look so good. Have you been getting enough sleep?” the storekeeper frowned at her when she approached the counter and slung the little nuts and bolts down.

“Of course I have! What is it with everyone and sleep?” she screeched and slammed her fist on the counter, making the parts jump and skitter about. The shopkeeper raised his eyebrows at her, but thought better of continuing the conversation with the irritated girl and focused instead on calculating the total price of the items. Winry ground her teeth as her eyes began to droop again. I am not tired. I can handle this, she repeated silently. When the man told her the price, she fished out the bills and handed them over, and her mood soured even more when he told her she had miscounted. It’s not because I’m sleepy! Everyone miscounts sometimes! She reassured herself as she paid the remaining balance and grabbed her bag of parts to stomp out of the door. She moved a little too quickly, however, and her head began to swim. She collapsed against the frame of the door, her chest heaving as she suddenly became light-headed and short of breath. “I’m… not tired…”

I have to keep working hard. Ed and Al are always working so hard; I have to keep up. She had never thought that before. What was happening to her head? What did her auto-mail business have to do with those two? Stubbornly, she pushed forward and stumbled out into the street. She was fine. She was always fine. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest. Was it racing? Why? Everything was blurry. The shops and people and streets melted into a confusing abstract painting. Dumbly, she stood out in the middle of the street trying to collect herself, and was unaware of the honking of a car horn and the screeching of tires until the car was practically on top of her.

“Winry!” Huh? She knew that voice.

“Ed?” she whispered, then let out an oof when the wind was knocked out of her. Her head smacked backwards against the dirt ground as she was forcefully tackled, and she wearily lifted her head just in time to see the car roll on by, the driver cursing at her out the window. What a jerk, she thought, her mind still in a daze and unable to compute that she had been at fault for standing in the middle of the street. She tried to sit up, but found she could not from a heavy weight. Her blurry vision focused for a moment to reveal golden hair and eyes. “Edward?” she mumbled in confusion, then screamed as he grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her vigorously.

“You idiot! What the hell were you doing, standing out in the middle of the street like that? Jeez, Winry!” he scolded her angrily before letting her go. As her eyes rolled around in her head, he sat up, crossing his arms as he straddled her on the edge of the street. “If I hadn’t been here, you’d have been a goner for sure! Jeez, I can’t leave you alone, can I?”

In her exhausted delirium, Winry didn’t care that he had yelled at her and called her an idiot. She just cared that he was home.

“Ed!” she gasped and threw herself at him to wrap him in a tight hug, the tears flooding her eyes and rolling down her cheeks. He made a confused sputtering noise, both embarrassed and probably shocked she hadn’t returned fire, then pursed his lips and awkwardly hugged her back. Winry had told herself that she didn’t want to admit it, but in her emotional and sleep-deprived state, she righteously didn’t care. “I missed you,” she whispered and buried her face into his golden hair. Was it always that soft? It smelled nice, too.

“You’re acting weird,” he mumbled, and despite her attempts to keep latched onto him, he pulled back to peer into her face. “Winry, have you been pulling all-nighters again?” he asked accusingly. She nodded miserably. There was no point in lying to him. “Winry…”

“I have dreams, too,” she sniffed. She never wanted to admit her weakness, so why was it so easy to be weak in front of him? “Nightmares, where you never come back.” A complicated expression formed on his face, halfway between happy and concerned, and she just miserably slouched there with tears running down her face. There. I said it. Now say something, you bastard. His gaze flickered from her eyes to the side of her head, and he gently lifted a hand to press it into her hair.

“You’re bleeding,” he sighed. “Winry, what am I going to do with you?” Winry’s eyes widened slightly, and sure enough, she could feel thick blood caking her hair and dribbling down the side of her head. Edward smiled softly and grabbed his suitcase, flinging it open to rummage through the contents. “You’re lucky I was here,” he repeated as he procured a roll of bandages. Winry just sat there mutely as he wound them around her head, her cheeks turning pinker and pinker every time he had to lean close to her to reach. Was he going to say something? How could he act so natural about it? With a small sigh, he dropped the bandages back into his suitcase and closed it, then turned around and held his arms out as an indication for her to climb onto his back. “Come on.”

“Why?” she asked him, but climbed onto his back anyway. He stood up easily, even carrying the suitcase while holding her with one arm. She wound her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder. It amazed her how broad his back and shoulders were now. He used to be so small and scrawny. He’s a man now…

“You always take such good care of me. It’s time I returned the favor,” he answered simply as he began walking past the street. Winry’s vision had stopped swimming, at least for that moment, and she could see all the concerned passersby staring at her. The fog was beginning to fade from her mind, too. I… Was in a really dangerous situation. “You said you have nightmares?” he asked her suddenly. She flushed, hiding her face into his golden locks as she uttered a shy, “Mm-hmm.” They terrified her. She would stand there in the dark, at the end of the road, screaming into the void and crying and begging for him to come back, night after night. He never did, even though she told herself he always came back… She tightened her grip around him.

“Is this a dream, Edward?” Had she fallen asleep after all, and this was just the new addition to her tortuous subconscious? He laughed dryly. Her head bobbed up and down as his shoulders shook lightly.

“No, Winry, I’m really home. Just for a visit, though. My leg needs maintenance.” Of course. He wouldn’t stay forever. He never did, but he always came back. He always came back…

“What if I told you that I don’t want you to leave again?” She expected him to tense up, but he kept on walking smoothly down the road, staring straight ahead. He was always like that; charging ahead without faltering, leaving her to only watch his retreating back. She was tired of looking at his back. She lifted her arm to grab his face and turn it towards her. “Ed.”

“You’re really demanding when you’re tired,” he smirked at her, and then his face was close, really close. He pressed her forehead against hers, his golden eyes staring into her blue ones, both swimming with emotion. “What if I told you I don’t want to leave either?” he murmured softly. Her heart skipped a beat and her reddened face darkened. He had never looked at her like that before, and frankly, she didn’t know what to do about it.

“Then don’t go.”

“I have to, Winry.”

“Why?” she snapped, puffing out her cheeks defiantly. He laughed again, but there was a hint of sadness in those chuckles. He smiled sadly at her.

“I just have things to take care of. There’s a lot more I have to do and see.” She wanted to be selfish, to tell him “no” and that be the end of it, but even in her tired state she knew that wasn’t the right thing to do. He had turned away from her again, staring straight at the path ahead like he always did. “Winry… I don’t want to leave, but it makes it easier knowing that you’re here waiting for me,” he sighed gently. She bit down on her lip. Why did he have to go and say something like that, the smooth bastard? When did he even get so smooth?

“I know,” she grumbled and once again wrapped her arms tighter around him. She knew it wouldn’t do anything. She knew that sooner or later, she would have to let go; still, in that moment, she wanted to hold him as tightly as she could. “I’ll always wait for you, Ed, even if it hurts…” She would always wait, because he always came back. He didn’t look at her, but gently bonked her in the side of her head with his.

“Take a nap.”

“Will you be there when I wake up?” She knew he had to leave, but that selfish part of her wanted him to stay as long as possible. This time, he glanced out of the corners of his eyes at her and smiled.

“Of course I will. I wouldn’t leave without saying good-bye.” No, no he wouldn’t… Because he always wanted her to know that he would come back. Winry nestled her face into his neck, breathing in his scent. It was quite nice, now that she thought about it.

“You’d better not,” she whispered as she allowed the sleep to finally claim her, because she knew she wouldn’t have nightmares anymore.