3Sorry this chapter took so long to get out but I have been very busy and I got distracted by some other fan-fics... anyway, please enjoy the longer chapter!
(TRIED TO ADD A TAD BIT MORE DETAIL...)
I do not own FMA(B).
-x-
Chapter: 4
Sunlight entered through the gap in the curtains, illuminating the two sleeping blonds. Edward was the first to wake. He removed his arms from Winry's waist and proceeded to sit up, scanning her face to check if she had awoken. The previous night was the only night that Edward had slept peacefully, the best part being that he slept next to the love of his life. After years of waiting they finally managed to express their feelings to each-other.
Edward continued to stare at Winry for a while before she rolled over and opened her tired eyes. "'Morning Ed," Winry whispered, not moving from her position.
"Good morning sleepy head," Edward smiled as he leant towards her face. He gently pressed his lips to Winry's forehead, making her slightly blush, but enough for Ed to notice.
Winry proceeded to cuddle in closer to him for some additional comfort. She looked up into his golden eyes. "Would you like to come home and properly visit us soon? You probably need a checkup already!" she grinned. Ed always found a way to damage her precious automail.
"Yeah, sure," he sighed. "Maybe tomorrow. I have to go practice weapon skills and other stuff if I want to keep this job. For today I've got to do stupid paperwork in the morning before lunch, then I've got gun practice with Riza, then all of the afternoon doing paperwork that Roy hasn't bothered doing!"
"If you say so... Lieutenant!" Winry teased. She didn't mind Edward's new job but she would rather he wasn't associated with the military as much so that she knew he was safe. I should probably stop worrying about his reckless choices so often. Eh, I guess I can't help but worry for him, even more so now.
While Edward was changing, Winry told him that she would be going off to visit Alphonse and Mei for the day. After saying goodbye, Edward pulled away from their hug and started to make his way up towards the Fuhrer's office.
-x-
The office itself was complete chaos, to the normal soldier at least. The whole Mustang crew were crowding around Riza, inspecting the shiny item on her hand.
"Hey guys," Edward asked cautiously as he closed the office door behind him. "What's the commotion?"
Havoc spun around and grinned at him. "I know that the frat laws have been gone for a while now but we only just noticed this!" He held out the Captain's hand for Edward to inspect, his eyes widening when he saw the gold and silver ring. Riza turned her gaze elsewhere with visibly pink cheeks. Roy lay back against his chair with his signature grin.
"Congratulations Fuhrer Mustang and Captain Hawk- I mean, Mustang," Edward smiled at her. Everyone there laughed, everyone except for Riza.
Riza turned and looked at him with a serious face. "We're not yet married Edward," she replied in a flat tone, before addressing everyone else in the room. "And can we all please keep the news inside this office only. Nowhere else, understood?" Everyone nodded.
"Soooooo... when is the wedding?" Falman asked Roy, who was now spinning in his chair with joy. He stopped when he heard his name being said.
"Oh! Ahhhh..." Roy averted his eyes to Riza who was staring straight back at him. Roy smiled. "Well I guess I need to discuss that properly with the Lieutenant first."
"Okay, but now can we not let ourselves get too far off topic," Riza looked back over the group. "We have a lot of work to get done today and we have already waisted too much time!"
"YES SIR!" saluted everyone before heading back to their desks to start working. Except for Roy, who's mind was lost in deep thought.
-x-
After the lunch rush, Riza led the way to the shooting range out the back of the central military headquarters. Edward followed behind. "Hey Captain, I've been wondering, how did you get to know Mustang?"
"I've actually known him for quite a long time," she said in thought. "We first met when he showed up on my father's front door, asking to learn alchemy from him. During that time I got to know him really well as he lived with us, but one time he left unexpectedly and didn't tell us where he was. One day he came back in a military uniform and soon after he arrived, my father passed away."
"Oh, sorry to hear that." Edward looked towards the Captain but she just continued to walk forwards.
"After his death, Roy paid for a proper funeral and said that he would head back to the military. I actually have him my father's secrets to flame Alchemy after proving himself worthy. Once he left again, I decided to join the military in order to find him. We met in the Ishvallian war and the rest is pretty much history." Riza smiled at Edward as she saw him in deep thought. "We're here!" she said to break him out of his trance.
They set up their weapons down the far end of the shooting range. Edward picked up the pistol that he recognised to be the one from when he was being chased by gluttony and envy. "I guess I should start s... sm... s-small..." Edward visibly cringed at the word. I'm not small dammit! he thought.
"That's always a good idea," Riza replied while struggling to not laugh at Ed's... reaction.
After a while, Riza started to notice that Edward was catching on quick. His major advantage came from his built arms as they suppressed most of the weapon's kick. His accuracy was also better than most people of his rank, probably due to the high amount of detail and accuracy used to control his transmutations.
I wonder how well he'll do with a rifle... Riza thought to herself as she watched him change the now empty magazine to a full one. "How about we upgrade to something a little bit bigger?"
He nodded.
-x-
Edward was busy stuffing clothing items into his bag when Winry walked into the apartment. "How long do you reckon you'll stay with us?" asked Winry as she went to sort out her own belongings.
"Maybe a night or two... I don't really need to stay longer and I have to come back by Monday." Edward looked up into her eyes. "If that's fine by you?"
"Yeah, sure. I asked Al and Mei if they would like to come down too. They said yes but only for dinner and one night because that's all the spare time they have before heading to the recovering Ishval region."
"Hmmmm, I should probably head there too sometime," Ed said as he got up and headed towards the door. "You ready, Win?"
"Yeah, let's go."
Besides the hard seats and bumpy tracks, the train ride was actually very pleasant. Edward was comfortably resting his head on top of Winry's while she had snuggled onto his shoulder. The scenery of green hills and meadows kept on reappearing briefly outside of the carriage windows before disappearing behind the blurry orange trees.
"Ed, we're here!" Winry tried waking Edward from his rest. Realising that wasn't working, she elbowed him hard just below the ribs.
"GAAAH, WHAT THE HELL WINRY!" Edward jumped up in pain before rubbing the area of contact. "That's where my bloody scar is!"
"Your what?!" Winry exclaimed in suprise.
"Don't worry about it now, I'll explain it all later."
They duo reached the Rockbell house later that evening and said their hello's to Granny Pinako. Shortly after they arrived, Alphonse and Mei showed up too. Dinner was full of noise and laughter, viewing old photos and exchanging news. Once they started to calm down, Al and Mei went to Al's old room and Ed and Winry went to Winry's room.
When Edward removed his shirt before entering the bed, Winry noticed the large scar below the left of his ribcage. "Is that it?" she said as she gently poked him on the wound. Ed flinched.
"Yeah... I got that from the mining town up in Briggs, y'know, after Al went off to warn you about the military during the blizzard."
"Oh, it's from there... but how did you get it?" Winry asked while positioning herself next to Ed.
"To put it simply, I had almost beaten Kimbley but he had two stones so after losing one he used the other to try and kill me. He almost succeeded. I managed to get impaled by the metal beam from the collapsing mineshaft on the side instead of my chest." Ed looked over to Winry only to see her crying into his shoulder. "Are you alright Win?"
"K-keep g-g-going..." She managed to get out between sobs. Edward held her closer before continuing.
"With the help of two chimeras, we removed the beam from my body and I sealed it up by taking some years off of my life. It took me a while to recover but here I am now."
Edward lay Winry down on the bed and pulled the covers over her. He lay down next to her and wrapped his arms around her body so he could pull her up against his chest. Winry finally calmed herself and relaxed into Edward's embrace.
-x-
"I do have an item which might cheer you up Winry," Edward whispered in her ear.
"What?" she asked, looking up at his smiling features. Edward sat up and lent over to his bag and pulled out a wrench. Not any old wrench though, but one that had Winry's name on it and Edward's name was on the end that she usually hit him with.
"I managed to get this wrench made just for you to hit me with, and here is the pouch to store it in for wherever, whenever." Ed smiled knowing fully well the grave he just dug for himself.
Winry studied the wrench before looking back at him with an evil grin. "Mind if I give it a go?"
"Yeah, sure... wait! No Win-"
Edward feel into the bed unconcious with the 'Edward' part of the wrench in his head.
-x-
I've got a pretty good idea for next chapter so I hope I don't make you guys wait too long. Schools staring again soon so I don't know how much time I'll have to write but please stick with me! (Possible JealousEd next...)
Reviews appreciated.