Work Text:
She’s lying on her back in a field of flowers and the sky is blue.
It’s these little details that Noah registers the second she opens her eyes.
It’s a beautiful first look at her new home.
“Hey.” Ed crouches over her, eyes warm, and something in her heart flutters. “Welcome home.”
He offers a hand to help her up. She accepts and, at his touch, a thrill runs up her arm.
“Come on,” he says, once she’s on her own two feet, and she doesn’t miss the sudden longing that fills his eyes. “There’s somebody I gotta see.”
The house comes into view and, right away, it takes Noah’s breath away.
A pleasant, creamy yellow with green trim, it seems homey upon first glance.
A hand-painted sign out front says Automail , declaring the owner’s chosen profession.
So they’re here to see a mechanic for Ed’s automail then.
There were automail mechanics in her world, of course, but, after two years away, it makes sense that Ed would want to have his limbs looked at.
It’s not what Noah had expected his first visit back home to be.
The way Ed had said it- she’d thought it was somebody important. Didn’t he have a brother?
Even so, something in it awakens a painful sense of longing in Noah’s heart as she trudges slowly up the dirt road.
It’s so peaceful, so quiet, with nothing but the wind and the birdsongs to keep you company.
She thinks she could be happy in a place like this.
Edward’s pace has picked up considerably since the house first came into view.
A dog’s bark announces their presence and a black and white dog runs out onto the porch.
Even from the distance they’re at, she can see the automail leg it wears.
A figure runs out onto the porch, drawn by the dog’s parking.
Even from this distance, Noah can see that the figure is female.
“Winry!” Ed breaks into a run. Something in his voice is frantic, desperate. Needy. And she realizes with a jolt that in all of her dreams, she’s never accounted for there to already be somebody. “Winry!”
A wordless cry from the young woman on the porch and suddenly she’s flying down the steps to meet them.
“Ed!” She all but flings herself into Ed’s arms. Ed staggers back, his knees buckling under the weight of his own emotions and he collapses, dragging the girl down with him. He wraps his arms around her, holding her to his chest, burying his hands in her hair. “ Ed!”
Noah approaches tentatively.
There’s something so tender, so intimate and yet innocent, in this moment between these two- like they’re the only two in the world- like she isn’t even there anymore- that she’s not even sure she’s supposed to be privy to it.
The girl is weeping openly, her face buried against Ed’s shoulder. “I thought you were gone for good, Ed. After everything, I couldn’t lose you.”
“I know. I know. I’m sorry.” And there’s so much grief, so much heartache , in that apology that Noah’s heart thumps painfully against her ribcage. “But I’m here. I’m here and I’m never leaving you again, Winry. That’s a promise.”
He grips her chin gently between thumb and forefinger, tilts her head up, and meets her lips with his in a gentle kiss.
She melts into his hold, eyes sliding closed, arms tightening around his neck.
The kiss is chaste, yet filled with the kind of desperate longing that can only belong to two people forced apart for years.
They break apart after only a brief time together.
“I’m sorry,” Ed says, flushing red. “I shouldn’t have…”
He breaks off and pulls her close, hands twining through her hair.
Winry laughs tearfully, head resting on his shoulder, but she says nothing.
Something twists uncomfortably in Noah’s stomach, jealousy leaving a bitter taste in her mouth. Ed had started as a way to a better place, a world where she could be who she was without fear, but somewhere along the way, she had started hoping that maybe her new life could be with him.
None of her fantasies had ever involved there being someone waiting for Ed on the other side.
She shoves the feeling down before it can grow. She doesn’t want to feel that way.
Ed is standing then, offering a hand to Winry and helping her up.
Much in the same way he did for her.
He turns to face her and his expression is as welcoming as it had been when they first emerged on this side of the gate.
“Noah,” he says, beaming from ear to ear, and Noah wonders how, when she read his mind, she could have missed something like this, “I’d like you to meet Winry.”
…
“Where’s Alphonse?” Ed can’t quite keep some of the hoarseness out of his throat when he speaks. He sips some of the herbal tea Winry had made for him, hoping it will help steady his nerves.
Noah isn’t down here with them, having accepted Winry’s offer to clean up in one of the rooms upstairs.
That leaves just him and Winry. Alone.
She’s got a pot of soup cooking and already the smell is wafting in the air. His mouth waters when it reaches his nostrils. He hasn’t realized until now just how much he’d missed her home cooking.
It’s nice, being back together, just the two of them, and Ed can’t deny the soul deep ache that had taken hold of him since they were forced apart, but after two years… he’s feeling a little awkward.
After two years, he feels like a different person. He’s sure Winry could say the same.
But there’s one other thing he can be sure of: what they shared hasn’t gone away.
“He went to Xing,” Winry tells him. She stirs the soup once, then lays it down on the stove, turning to face him.
Xing.
That makes sense. Al had wanted to go to Xing to learn Alkahestry. And then there was that girl - Mei.
It leaves Ed feeling a little hollow inside- that his brother isn’t here to greet him when he returns- but he wants Al to be happy and, well, he’s doing what he always wanted to.
And he’s been gone for two years. Two years.
Al had to live his life, he couldn’t spend his time waiting, putting everything on hold, when there was no guarantee of Edward ever returning.
“He left with Mei several months after you disappeared,” Winry continues explaining. “He wanted to find a way to bring you back. Said it was the least he could do after everything… after everything you’d done to get him his body back.”
Ed can’t help the little choked noise that escapes his throat and his fingers clench unconsciously around the mug of tea.
After everything…
Worrying about him is the last thing he ever wanted for Alphonse. He’d put his brother through enough hell already.
And then to go and disappear for two years… To go and do that to both of them...
“I’m so sorry, Winry,” he whispers.
Winry gives him a tired smile. “I don’t think it was your fault, Ed,” she says. “You came back. That’s what matters most to me. And what will matter most to Al when…” Her eyes grow wide. “Al!” She covers her face with her hands. “I need to write to him! He needs to know…”
“Hey.” Ed is at her side, almost immediately, taking her hands gently in his own. He tips her chin back and smiles softly. “I can handle that, okay? He’s my brother so… Don’t stress out over this, okay?”
“It’s not…” Winry laughs a little, wiping at her eyes. “I’m not stressing.”
“Yes,” Ed says seriously, “you are.”
She laughs again, voice tinged with the slightest bit of hysteria, clutching at his shirt. “Please don’t go. Please don’t go again.”
“Shhhh.” He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him.
She doesn’t resist, shoulders shaking.
He threads the fingers of his flesh hand through her hair. “I told you, Winry. I’m not leaving you again.”
Gently, he presses a kiss against her forward.
“That’s a promise I’m going to keep.”