Envy/Winry, Anti-ship table, "Questioning"
Title: Questioning
Author: Sofipitch
Disclaimer: I could own FMA?! Oh, I can't…Darn it!
Claim: Envy/Winry, Anti-ship table
Prompt: prompt 2: Anger
Characters: Edward, Winry, Alphonse, Pinako, mentions of Envy
Word Count: 1,448
Rating: PG
Summary/Warning: Edward wasn't sure who she was angry with. {Spoilers but is also AU}
Edward wasn't sure whether or not it would be smart to put his arm around her. He desperately wanted to; she looked so sad, but she also looked to be furious. The only thing was that he didn’t know who she was furious with.
The promised day had ended, and along with it went seven of the eight homunculi, including Lust who had already been dead. Edward and Scar hadn’t managed to convince Mustang he shouldn’t kill Envy for his past crimes. Although he didn’t look to be haunted or scarred from the action like Edward had said he would be, he was the one to finish Envy off.
Edward wasn’t sure who she was angry with, to be able to console her. Mustang, for killing her…boyfriend? Envy for killing Maes Hughes and the child in Ishval? Him, form not being able to stop Mustang. All three? He didn’t know who, but what terrified him was the idea that she had known for Envy’s past crimes all along. Although it seemed like a weak possibility, Envy didn’t seem like the type to give out important secrets. But that’s what haunted Ed the most, that there was a possibility that she had always known. And that there was a possibility that she had stayed with him anyways.
Could it be possible? The great Winry Rockbell, a force to be reckoned with, to be so blinded by love to ignore the fact that the person she loved killed someone to start the war which would kill her parents? The thoughts were swirling around his head, sickening him by the second. He wasn’t even shocked that she had been dating Envy right now; all he could think about was the cruel thought of her knowing the culprit behind the murders.
Ed watched Winry sit down of the sofa and put her hands over her eyes. She looked like she was ready to cry. ‘But for who?’ Edward wondered.
“I can’t believe it. That lying scumbag!” One tear made its way down her cheek.
Ed’s brows furrowed as he sat down next to her. “Win,” he started, “What’s the matter?” He didn’t think it was the most intelligent thing to ask, but it sure did beat accidentally saying something stupid that would make her furious with him.
She didn’t face him, she just kept her head in her hands. “He lied to me. All this time he had… He killed those people! He started the war in Ishval, and he killed Mr. Hughes. I… I was fooled into thinking…thinking...” She started sobbing. Ed all of the sudden felt great remorse for what he had been thinking. Of course she hadn’t known. How could she ever have known? Winry wasn’t like that; she wouldn’t just accept murder not even if she was in love with the guy.
He slowly put an arm around her shoulders; slow enough for her to push him away in the occasion that she didn’t want him to touch her. When she didn’t push him away he pulled her closer and buried his nose in her hair as he attempted to rub soothing circles on her back. He felt his shoulder start to get wet when she buried her face in the crook of his neck.
“I can’t believe,” she sniffled, “That I let myself be fooled like that. That I let him so far under my radar, and he was…” Ed moved his thumb up to her neck, rubbing circles there. “I’m so angry with myself. How could I have let him lie to me like that?”
Ed didn’t know what to say. He wanted to try and say something to make her feel better, but he didn’t know how. He didn’t normally do things like this, and he was afraid that if he opened his mouth he would reveal that he had thought she had known. And that sure as hell wouldn’t make her feel any better. So he just sat there holding the sobbing girl, wishing that Alphonse were here, for he would know what to do to help her.
He swore to himself he wouldn’t let such occurrences happen again. He wouldn’t let her cry and blame herself for something she didn’t cause. It was just like the incident with Scar, except this time he hadn’t known. He had been so keen on his mission he hadn’t paid attention to Winry and what she could possibly have been getting herself into. ‘This is all my fault.’ He thought as he pulled her closer to him. ‘Dammit.’
---X---
They hadn’t said anything to each other the rest of the evening. They didn’t say anything about what had happened while eating dinner, which Granny and Alphonse had made, and they hadn’t said anything before that. He had held her in his arms until, well, until he finally told himself he had to let her go. He hadn’t wanted to; he felt she would be safer in his arms, but he had to let her go eventually.
After everyone finished dinner, Edward and Winry were ordered by Pinako to wash the dishes since they hadn’t cooked.
Winry had been in the middle of washing a plate when she stopped and put it down. She didn’t look at him, she just kept staring at the sponge in her hand. “It’s not your fault, if that’s what you’re thinking.” She said it so quietly Edward nearly didn’t hear her say it.
Edward’s teeth ground together when this brain finally processed what he was saying. Of course it was his fault! If he had just been more attentive, if he had just cared to ask her what she had been up to when he came to visit…
“I know what you’re thinking Ed, and it’s not. If I had just-“
“It’s not your fault either.” Edward cut her off. He turned to face her; she still had yet to move. “It’s not either of our faults. Shit like this just happens. You don’t need to blame yourself, Envy, he’s an actor, and he can fool anyone. And if it’s not my fault, it’s not yours either.” It seemed fair to him, equivalent exchange. He couldn’t blame himself, so she couldn’t either. “Okay?”
He saw her eyes flicker and he knew she was chewing on the inside of her lip, like she always did when she was debating something. She put the sponge down and finally turned to face him. He was shocked by how sad and weak she looked. How broken she was, how this dilemma was tearing her apart from the inside out.
“Thanks Ed.” She managed a weak smile. She shifted awkwardly, like she wanted to do or say something, but wasn’t sure of it. Edward just put his arms around her. “It’s okay, it’ll all be okay.” He felt her nod from where she had placed her head in the crook of his neck. “It’s gonna be okay.”
“I know, I just…” She didn’t finish her sentence, she didn’t need to. He understood. She wrapped her arms around his waist, and she felt him squeeze her harder.
---X---
“Do you think they’ll be okay, with all that happened?” Al asked Pinako as he glanced at the kitchen door. “Winry barely ate any of her dinner, and they weren’t talking at all.” Al’s brows furrowed together with worry for his brother and best friend.
“I think they’ll be fine. They just need to talk some things over. They’ll work it out.” Pinako said as she headed out the front door, her pipe and lighter in hand. “Come sit on the porch with me Alphonse.”
“Okay Granny.” He shot one last glance at the kitchen door before going out to join Pinako. He sat down on a chair next to Pinako. “Do you think she regrets it?”
Pinako looked up at Al, one eyebrow raised. “Regrets what?”
Alphonse shifted in his seat, slightly embarrassed to be asking the question. He felt as if he was invading her privacy. “Dating Envy. Do you think she regrets it?”
“I think right now she is very angry, and very torn,” she shrugged her shoulders, “But whether or not she regrets it is a question to be asked in the future. Not all bad came out of that relationship, and she was happy for some time. So that’s more of a question she has to ask herself, whether or not she regrets it.”
Al nodded. “I know that whatever that girl chooses to decide, that she’ll eventually get over it and move on with her life.” Pinako said.
“And she’ll be happy.” Al finished.
Pinako nodded in agreement. “And she’ll be happy.”