December Prompt: First Kiss Fail | "A Happy Mistake"
Title: A Happy Mistake
Author: evil_little_dog
Series: Manga
Word Count: 1041
Rating: K+
Characters/Pairings: Original Female Character, Winry/Edward
Summary: Becca wants to know all the history of the family.
Warnings: Future fic (from end of manga)
Disclaimer: Hiromu owns all. I just futz around with her characters.
fma_fic_contest prompt: First Kiss Fail
X X X
It fell to Becca to be the family chronicler, mostly because she was the one most interested in the history of everything, not just local or even country-wide, but all over the world. That her parents had something to do with causing actual history to happen fascinated her; that her family was involved during a major event in the history of Amestris couldn’t really be fathomed for years - maybe decades to come - and her parents and uncle and aunt always downplayed their parts in it.
It made her mad that she had to go to others and even then, she knew she wasn’t getting the whole story. There were secrets that she was told would have to wait until she was older - but she was already fifteen, the second-eldest of the Rockbell-Elric brood, and that had to count for something! She already knew Dad and Uncle Al had nearly died trying to bring their mother back from the dead using alchemy. She knew her Dad gave up his ability to do alchemy to save Uncle Al. She knew all of it was tied into something big that happened across the countryside, something celebrated every May and called ‘Remembrance Day’, something that made her Dad look at his right hand or tap his left leg, and sometimes wander off by himself or get on the telephone with Uncle Al and talk for hours in hushed tones. And Mom wouldn’t say anything, either - she was even more tight-mouthed than Dad sometimes.
So Becca figured she’d work her way up to the important things by asking little things.
It was with a studied casualness that she asked, while Mom rolled out dough to make a pie crust, “When did you realize you loved Dad?”
Mom stopped, giving Becca wide eyes and a curious eyebrow slant. “I think I’d always loved him,” she said, “but I realized that on a train trip out of Central City on my way back to Rush Valley.” Her expression softened just a bit, her eyes taking a distant sheen, and Becca knew Mom remembered something that happened then.
“Did he kiss you then?”
The question made Mom cough and sputter and break into a couple of sharp laughs. “No!” she managed to say, “No, not then! I thought he never would.”
“Never?” Becca leaned closer to the pie crust and earned a flick of icy water on her skin for her curiosity. “C’mon, Mom, you have to share! Was Dad a bad kisser? When was your first kiss? I know you have to remember that!”
Mom’s cheeks pinked and her lips compressed and Becca wondered if she’d pushed too far. But then Mom’s shoulders slumped and she said, “I do remember,” with a fond sigh.
“So? Tell me!” Becca wanted to know so much, maybe the first kiss between her parents could unlock some of the other stories she wanted to know. “I ought to know,” she added.
“Why? Is someone courting you?”
The blush hit her face so hard, Becca wondered she didn’t erupt in flames. Her mother’s knowing smile made her want to screech in response but that was Simon’s trick - she swallowed down her emotions and offered a little cat smile in reply. “If someone is, do you think I’d let you know? Then Dad would know and he’d chase off any boy coming around.”
Not that there were any boys coming around - Becca despaired of being old enough to go off to school in Central City or Rush Valley - her education here was nearly over and she needed to move on to the next step. And all the boys locally were nice but kind of dumb and reminded her too much of Simon - all of them like annoying bratty brothers.
“I see,” Mom said and rubbed her chin, leaving behind a film of flour before she turned her attention back to her pie crust. “Well, if you have to know, your father didn’t kiss me until we were betrothed.”
Becca slammed her mouth shut, realizing it hung open. “That long?”
Mom shot a glare her way. “Your Dad used to be shy.” She waited for Becca to stop laughing. “And he was afraid your Granny would twist his testes in a vice grip if he hurt me.”
That sobered Becca. She could imagine Granny doing just that. “So when did it happen?”
“At a barn dance celebrating Pitt’s and Nancy’s wedding.” She rolled out the dough but Mom’s mind obviously went back to that night. “We’d both been drinking and dancing - ” she slanted a warning glance at Becca’s snort - “and Ed nearly fell over a bale of hay and dragged me down with him. And before I knew it, he kissed me.”
“How was it?” Becca asked.
Mom absently looped a strand of hair back behind her ear. “Awful. Our teeth hit and it was so loud to me, it reminded me of rams bashing their heads together. And it hurt. And we didn’t know what to do with our noses and how to breathe and there were people whistling and stomping their feet - and we weren’t sure if that was about us or something else so we just stopped and split up for the rest of the night.”
Becca asked, wheedling, “Was it about you?”
Mom gave her another sharp look. “Granny commented on it when we were walking home - that we looked like a pair of chickens fighting over a worm - and I figured your Dad would never kiss me again but he took that as a challenge and grabbed me and kissed me again.” Her lips pursed in remembrance. “He dipped me there on the road, like in one of those movies your Uncle Garfiel likes, and kissed me and Al whistled and Granny clapped and that time, it worked.” From the look on her Mom’s face, Dad’s kiss worked really well. Becca wondered if she was going to be sick. “I got pregnant with your brother that night.”
“You…you…”
With an innocent grin that didn’t cancel out the wickedness in her eyes, Mom asked, “Isn’t that what you wanted to know? All the little dirty bits of history in this family?”
Becca fled, squealing, Mom’s laughter chasing behind her.
X X X
Author: evil_little_dog
Series: Manga
Word Count: 1041
Rating: K+
Characters/Pairings: Original Female Character, Winry/Edward
Summary: Becca wants to know all the history of the family.
Warnings: Future fic (from end of manga)
Disclaimer: Hiromu owns all. I just futz around with her characters.
fma_fic_contest prompt: First Kiss Fail
X X X
It fell to Becca to be the family chronicler, mostly because she was the one most interested in the history of everything, not just local or even country-wide, but all over the world. That her parents had something to do with causing actual history to happen fascinated her; that her family was involved during a major event in the history of Amestris couldn’t really be fathomed for years - maybe decades to come - and her parents and uncle and aunt always downplayed their parts in it.
It made her mad that she had to go to others and even then, she knew she wasn’t getting the whole story. There were secrets that she was told would have to wait until she was older - but she was already fifteen, the second-eldest of the Rockbell-Elric brood, and that had to count for something! She already knew Dad and Uncle Al had nearly died trying to bring their mother back from the dead using alchemy. She knew her Dad gave up his ability to do alchemy to save Uncle Al. She knew all of it was tied into something big that happened across the countryside, something celebrated every May and called ‘Remembrance Day’, something that made her Dad look at his right hand or tap his left leg, and sometimes wander off by himself or get on the telephone with Uncle Al and talk for hours in hushed tones. And Mom wouldn’t say anything, either - she was even more tight-mouthed than Dad sometimes.
So Becca figured she’d work her way up to the important things by asking little things.
It was with a studied casualness that she asked, while Mom rolled out dough to make a pie crust, “When did you realize you loved Dad?”
Mom stopped, giving Becca wide eyes and a curious eyebrow slant. “I think I’d always loved him,” she said, “but I realized that on a train trip out of Central City on my way back to Rush Valley.” Her expression softened just a bit, her eyes taking a distant sheen, and Becca knew Mom remembered something that happened then.
“Did he kiss you then?”
The question made Mom cough and sputter and break into a couple of sharp laughs. “No!” she managed to say, “No, not then! I thought he never would.”
“Never?” Becca leaned closer to the pie crust and earned a flick of icy water on her skin for her curiosity. “C’mon, Mom, you have to share! Was Dad a bad kisser? When was your first kiss? I know you have to remember that!”
Mom’s cheeks pinked and her lips compressed and Becca wondered if she’d pushed too far. But then Mom’s shoulders slumped and she said, “I do remember,” with a fond sigh.
“So? Tell me!” Becca wanted to know so much, maybe the first kiss between her parents could unlock some of the other stories she wanted to know. “I ought to know,” she added.
“Why? Is someone courting you?”
The blush hit her face so hard, Becca wondered she didn’t erupt in flames. Her mother’s knowing smile made her want to screech in response but that was Simon’s trick - she swallowed down her emotions and offered a little cat smile in reply. “If someone is, do you think I’d let you know? Then Dad would know and he’d chase off any boy coming around.”
Not that there were any boys coming around - Becca despaired of being old enough to go off to school in Central City or Rush Valley - her education here was nearly over and she needed to move on to the next step. And all the boys locally were nice but kind of dumb and reminded her too much of Simon - all of them like annoying bratty brothers.
“I see,” Mom said and rubbed her chin, leaving behind a film of flour before she turned her attention back to her pie crust. “Well, if you have to know, your father didn’t kiss me until we were betrothed.”
Becca slammed her mouth shut, realizing it hung open. “That long?”
Mom shot a glare her way. “Your Dad used to be shy.” She waited for Becca to stop laughing. “And he was afraid your Granny would twist his testes in a vice grip if he hurt me.”
That sobered Becca. She could imagine Granny doing just that. “So when did it happen?”
“At a barn dance celebrating Pitt’s and Nancy’s wedding.” She rolled out the dough but Mom’s mind obviously went back to that night. “We’d both been drinking and dancing - ” she slanted a warning glance at Becca’s snort - “and Ed nearly fell over a bale of hay and dragged me down with him. And before I knew it, he kissed me.”
“How was it?” Becca asked.
Mom absently looped a strand of hair back behind her ear. “Awful. Our teeth hit and it was so loud to me, it reminded me of rams bashing their heads together. And it hurt. And we didn’t know what to do with our noses and how to breathe and there were people whistling and stomping their feet - and we weren’t sure if that was about us or something else so we just stopped and split up for the rest of the night.”
Becca asked, wheedling, “Was it about you?”
Mom gave her another sharp look. “Granny commented on it when we were walking home - that we looked like a pair of chickens fighting over a worm - and I figured your Dad would never kiss me again but he took that as a challenge and grabbed me and kissed me again.” Her lips pursed in remembrance. “He dipped me there on the road, like in one of those movies your Uncle Garfiel likes, and kissed me and Al whistled and Granny clapped and that time, it worked.” From the look on her Mom’s face, Dad’s kiss worked really well. Becca wondered if she was going to be sick. “I got pregnant with your brother that night.”
“You…you…”
With an innocent grin that didn’t cancel out the wickedness in her eyes, Mom asked, “Isn’t that what you wanted to know? All the little dirty bits of history in this family?”
Becca fled, squealing, Mom’s laughter chasing behind her.
X X X