Title - Ringing the Solstice Bells
Author--
cornerofmadnessDisclaimer - Arawaka owns all
Rating - PG 13
Characters/Pairing - Roy, Riza, Ed, Winry, Al and Gracia (implied Ed/Winry, Roy/Riza)
Word Count - 617
Warning - none
Summary -The solstice has come and they celebrate it.
Author’s Note - Author’s Note - This little story is doing triple duty for the ‘Bells/fireworks/singing at midnight ’ prompt for
celebrate_fma, for
12_daysofficmas and the December bingo on DW’s allbingo for the song ‘Silver Bells.” It’s a follow up to my story,
The Light of the Solstice XXX
They played cards all night, having settled the matter of who put up better solstice lights, Ed or Roy. Winry was glad Ed had been happy enough to accept that - Roy too - so there wouldn’t be any more bickering. She glanced around her cottage which had been crammed with every sort of decoration Ed could manage. She didn’t know if he was entirely sentimental or if the competition was to blame for all over this.
It had taken Gracia the better part of the hour to get Elicia to sleep. The young girl wanted nothing to do with going to bed. Winry rubbed her belly, thinking on the life within. What had she gotten herself into? What if Al was right and it would be an unholy combination of her temper and Ed’s? She could hope their baby would have Uncle Al’s temperament. At least their child would be intelligent. Winry felt confident of that.
“You ever leaving, Mustang? Riza’s welcome to stay the night,” Ed smirked. “On the couch I’m afraid if Gracia is going to share the back room with Elicia.”
“Edward, be nice!” Winry wondered if she would need to tattoo that somewhere on her body.
“I’m never leaving. It’s too cozy here.” Roy rocked back on his chair, mimicking Ed’s smirk.
“You can stay with me in my cottage, Riza, you too, Winry because I think we can all see where this is going,” Al said, swaying a bit in his seat. He had been pacing Roy in drinking, and Winry suspected Roy was far more experienced.
“It’s not going anywhere. Roy will behave himself, too.” Riza put her hand on Roy’s arm.
“I’m mellow,” Roy reached for his beer. “Shh, listen”
Gracia went to the window and threw it open. “They’re singing in the solstice down in the city center. You can hear them. And the bells are ringing, too.”
Winry joined her, smiling at the sound of voices. It put her in mind of those days back in Resembool as a child when they could go from house to house singing half the night. The homeowners could give them little cups of tea or hot cider. She missed those days. Rush Valley hadn’t done much singing, and the heat of the desert in the day and the coolness of the night, it had never really felt like the solstice.
She knew the song the crowd down in the city center were singing. She added her voice to it. She didn’t have a very strong singing voice she knew and her sense of pitch was dubious at best. Still, she enjoyed singing. Winry turned hearing a deep, rich voice behind her.
Roy stood near the other window with his arm around Riza, singing. What a melodious voice he had. It was almost a shame she mostly heard it teasing Edward. Riza sang with him. Ed walked over and draped his arms around Winry. Al joined Gracia. All of them sang that song, and several more until the last strains faded away from the center. They closed the windows, still singing one last song.
“It’s late,” Al said. “Roy, Riza, you really can stay in my spare room if you want.”
“Thanks, that sounds nice.”
They cleaned up a bit. Gracia retreated to the back bedroom, and Al shepherded Roy and Riza across the lawn to his place. Winry took Ed’s hand and pulled him into their bedroom.
“it was a nice night,” she said.
“It was. We have good friends,” Ed replied, toeing off his shoes.
“We do.”
They crawled into bed whispering I love yous. Winry curled up with her head on Ed’s chest, a perfect ending to a lovely night.