"Remembering You"- FMA fic
Title: Remembering You
Rating: PG (a curse word or two)
Pairing: EdwardxWinry
Warnings: None
Spoilers: None
Summary: Even if the distance keeps him away from home, it's his memories that keep him close to her.
"As we grow older, as we continue to change with age, there is one thing that will never change: I will always keep falling in love with you."- Karen Clodfelder
--
It was years before he realized exactly how he felt about Winry. And it was strange the way it came about. It had been a typical day of destroying the town he was saving with his armored brother Alphonse and listening to Mustang bitch about always having to clean up his mistakes. And something about needing new gloves because he had quite possibly dropped his only dry pair in the river by accident....Possibly.
"I'm not saying I did or didn't (and then he promptly changed the subject), but the fact of the matter is that I can't keep doing this, Ed. You run around like a mad man and I'm just expected to clean up your leftovers. Well I'm tired of these leftovers, dammit! It's the same thing every time! I would like a little variety, please."
"Colonel Mustang, you requested an audience?" Riza questioned dully, hiding all too well the sparkle the raven haired man brought to her eyes.
"Indeed!" He answered with a false sense of gusto, something he tended to do only around Riza. "I need you to either find a method to dry my igniter gloves or I'm going to need some new ones made stat!"
She blinked at him lazily, and not the least bit surprised, "What happened to the last pair?"
Roy swallowed, "That's not the point-"
"What happened to the last pair, sir?" She questioned again, folding her arms just under the swell of her breasts.
Mustang fidgeted a bit before ducking his head, "They fell in the river."
She sighed, "Of course they did. You're completely useless when you're wet, do you realize that?"
Ed smirked up at his younger brother, "Maybe that's our cue to leave, Al. Maybe the lieutenant would like to dry off the colonel."
It was then, in that moment, with the flash of light off of Riza's unveiling of her best friend, her handy gun, that a weird memory hit Edward. The metallic shine was all too familiar as he was sent hurling back into his memories of reprimand and awkward touches.
*
"EDWARD! CAN YOU NOT WORK A PHONE OR SOMETHING? AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY AUTOMAIL?! IT'S NOT LIKE IT'S THE
EASIEST THING IN THE WORLD TO FIX! YOU'RE SUCH AN IDIOT!" She cried, her voice edging on outright anger and sadness. The anger part frightened him, sure. But the sadness portion of her teetering tone was what made him shiver. Sadness caused yet again by him.
And before he could issue his apology, a wrench was being swung (although sometimes thrown) at his golden hair.
*
But it wasn't just near death experiences that brought the blonde from home to mind. It was peaceful moments that caught his muddied mind as well.
One day at dusk, when the world was settling down for sleep, and Al was bound and determined to train the ducks that lived at the local pond to respond to his calls, he saw her. Or dreamt of her. Either way, it was nice.
He was in a dozy state of simply admiring the surface of the blue water when he heard his brother speak: "Do you know what I want right now, brother?"
And before he could catch himself, he breathed out Winry's name like the ending of a prayer. Immediately his eyes rounded and his jaw clenched as he waited to see if his brother had heard him or not.
"Windy? No, it's not that windy out right now. Are you cold, brother?"
Sighing in relief, Ed resigned to the fact that he would have to leave his reflective pool of blue to immerse himself in the drabbles of alchemy indoors. He couldn't have Al guessing at any other possibilities of what he had said.
*
And whenever someone cried, he thought of the ballsy girl as well. It was something Winry never did. And if she happened to let a few tears shed, it usually meant the death of whoever had been unfortunate enough to witness such a rare occurrence. He could count on one hand the amount of times he had seen her cry. And each of those times, along with the bruises to match on his skin, stained his mind. It was when he thought he was surely going to die that he envisioned her crying. Envisioned her needing to abuse someone for the pain she was feeling. Then his heart would twist because he was certain it wouldn't be him.
However, fate had other plans and Ed and his brother were sparred an afterlife of regret and granted another day to adventure, conquer, dream, remember, and want.
*
Then, on days that there was a nice breeze, she came to his forefront of thinking as well. It was hard not to. As time passed on, not only did his memories grow more intense, but so did his awareness of her and her physical appearance. It had been on one of their rare visits home that this memory had been forever branded onto the surface of his brain.
They had been visiting the Elrics' former home, or what was left of it anyways, and they had been heading back when the elder of the brother's had noticed that Winry was not with them. It was then that he turned around frantically in search of the tow-headed mechanic. And what he found stayed with him.
She had been bent down, picking at a few wild flowers, humming to herself when she stood and took a deep breath of the sweet fragrance the untamed beauty offered her. A whisper of a breeze then brushed past her, ruffling her long hair and clothes with a silent laugh as it rushed past Ed's frozen body.
Every curve, line, tone, and shaping of her body was just beautiful. Her calf muscles flexed as she stood on her tip toes and let the flowers ascend into the wind to be carried off to a better place. Her skirt ruffled enough to give him a fleeting view of a perfectly rounded rear, equipped with a glimpse of white ruffles which could have only been her panties. And the way her hands seemed to flow and become one with the wind, he realized that the calloused hands that adored machinery were not only useful, but that they were indeed feminine and beautiful. She was the epitome of a physical specimen and she hadn't the slightest idea. He hadn't at the time, either.
But with the mocking of the breeze from time to time, he was reminded of his lack of foresight. His lack of everything, it seemed, in Winry's wake.
*
And that was why, when they returned home for one of their infrequent visits and laid eyes on Winry for the first time in what seemed like ages, he couldn't help but smile. She was the same, if not more developed, and still wielding that damn wrench.
"Winry doesn't look too happy, brother," Al whispered with a worried tone, more than aware that his brother was about to receive a physical beating for the two of them.
Edward scratched at the back of his head, breathing in deep as Winry ran at him, "Isn't it great?" He asked his brother rhetorically, making sure to memorize every aspect of his childhood friend (love maybe?) this time. He would use every bit of this visit for himself at night when he was lonely. During missions when he was afraid. During unfairness in the world when he wanted to scream. When innocent people died and he wanted to ruin his automail in an effort to avenge their deaths.
But most importantly he would use these memories later on, down the road, when time gave him the chance to tell Winry just how much he loved her.
--
Ehhhh so how was that? There's that EdWin fic I was promising you all. I've worked this and worked this and this is the final result. IDK why but Ed and Winry are incredibly difficult for me to write. But anyhow, enjoy!
<3
Nikki