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batsutousaiTitle: Pieces of Me
Series: Paper Walls
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Author: Batsutousai
Rating: Mature
Pairings: Lan Fan/Winry Rockbell, Izumi Curtis/Sig Curtis
Warnings: Modern AU, meet the family, angst, canon-typical violence, canon-typical gore, dying character,
Summary: Okay, so maybe bringing her girlfriend home over spring break to meet her family hadn't been Winry's brightest idea, but, in her defence, she'd just wanted everyone she loved to meet once.
Disclaim Her: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Arakawa Hiromu and various publishers. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
A/N: For FMA Rarepair Week on tumblr. Today's prompts included Modern AU and "I have a confession to make.".
Originally meant as a dinner with the family sort of thing, for tomorrow's prompt, but it ended up not really fitting, in the end, and since today has a helpful 'Modern AU' prompt...
This is sort of a prequel to Forgiveness is a Gift, but you don't need to read either one to enjoy the other. I'll do my best to fill in the backstory in the fic, but if you're confused, go ahead and ask. (I somehow ended up with a fuck-tonne of backstory for this universe, ugh. ^^; )
Age-wise, Winry and Ed are 17, and Lan Fan and Al are 16. Winry's on her second year of undergrad, Ling's in his first year, Al's trying to catch up on secondary studies, and Ed's insane. (He's on the first year of his PhD.) XD
This ended up focussing almost as much on Winry and Ed's relationship (friendship/siblings) as on Winry and Lan Fan's, sorry.
You can also read this at Archive of Our Own.
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Almost as soon as she'd invited Lan Fan to visit over spring break, Winry started having second thoughts.
She'd only ever sort of explained her past to Lan Fan, for one. Her parents dying in the civil war, of course, and that she and Ed and Al had been taken in by the Curtises. That there'd been an accident and Al'd ended up in a coma, certainly, she couldn't have hidden how worried she still was about him if she tried. But how her parents had died, that she'd barely made it out of the east herself, the reason behind the 'accident' – that she'd found out about Ed and Al wanting to bring Auntie Trisha back, had begged and pleaded until they'd agreed to try for Granny, instead, for her – and the fact that Ed had lost his arm and leg, too, that she'd run away from home to learn her grandmother's trade...
Well. It turned out that five months of dating might have been enough to bring her girlfriend home to meet her family, but it wasn't enough to explain the worst three years of her life, or the nightmares that woke her, screaming, more often than not.
(There were nights – days, weeks, months – when Winry wondered if there wasn't some sort of alchemy to erase her memories. But then she remembered that this was her punishment, these horrible memories of seeing Al and Ed torn to pieces, of being knocked out and waking to find Ed bleeding out and Al whole, but deathly still, while Izumi and Sig shouted for them as they searched the island. She knew the cost of human transmutation, now; she would never wish more pain on Ed or Al just to ease her own suffering.)
Ling walked them to the station, despite his promise to remain on campus for the entire break, to lessen the chance of getting attacked while Lan Fan was away. Which, well, Lan Fan was not pleased – she'd actually been in the process of tying Ling to a chair when Winry went to find her, and Winry's arrival had distracted her just long enough for Ling to wiggle his way out of her grasp and dive out the open window – but it had been fairly obvious (to Winry, at least) from day one, that Ling did what he wanted, despite Lan Fan's attempts to keep him safe.
"Prince Ling," Winry called as the station came into view.
"Miss Curtis?" Ling returned in that cheerfully polite way he had; Winry was never certain if he was taking the mickey or not, which annoyed her as much as every time she'd had to realign Ed's arm because he did something stupid again. (She dreaded how bad it would be this time; she really should have warned Lan Fan about that.)
"Winry," Lan Fan murmured.
Winry shook herself and turned her best 'if you break my arm again, Edward, I will beat you with it myself' glare and informed Ling, "If Lan Fan ends up havin' to rush back here 'cause you ended up in hospital or somethin', I'll make you regret it."
Ling caught her free hand and brought it up to his lips to press a quick kiss to the back, while Lan Fan let out an embarrassed moan next to her. "I promise you," he murmured, his gaze as serious as Winry had ever seen it, "that I will do my utmost not to disrupt your holiday."
"I–" Winry cleared her throat, a bit thrown. "Uhm, good. Thank you."
And then Ling let her hand go and smiled, back to his usual self. "Anyway! There is a poker tournament over the break, and if I am in hospital, I will be disqualified."
Winry rolled her eyes, because of course Ling was going to waste his holiday on playing cards instead of, oh, studying. Even she was intending to get some studying time in during the break. (Though, part of that was wanting to keep her grades up for Izumi and Sig's sake, and part because something about the way Ed always had his nose in one book or another made her want to study.)
Lan Fan lecturing Ling on his bad habit of betting with commoners – one that Winry had heard so many times, she probably could have delivered it herself – got them to the station entrance.
There, Ling sent Winry his best wide-eyed pleading look, and she sighed and hooked her arm around Lan Fan's waist. "Come on, before we miss our train."
Lan Fan shot Ling one last look – by the way he hunched down a bit, Winry was glad she couldn't see it – and said something in Xingan – she really needed to learn their language.
Ling quietly agreed, "Shí," which Winry knew meant 'yes'. (It was one of the few words she'd assimilated from spending so much time around the two Xingans.)
Lan Fan nodded, then offered Winry one of her rare, shy smiles and said, "We can go. He will behave."
Winry somehow doubted Ling would behave well, necessarily, but pointing that out might actually result in them missing their train – or Ling getting dragged along – so she just smiled back and they headed into the station and onto the waiting train.
It would only take them a little over an hour to get to Dublith, and Winry managed about twenty minutes of complaining about one of her assignments – and hearing about Ling complain about one of his own, in trade; some days, it was a little weird having a girlfriend who wasn't actually a student, but still went to class – before she sighed, rubbed at her face, and said, "Lan Fan?"
Lan Fan's eyes sharped on her in that way that they did when she was giving Winry all of her attention, which always felt both really awesome, and a little terrifying. "Winry?"
Winry stared down at where she'd folded her fingers together in her lap. "I told you...that I wanna be an automail mechanic."
"Yes," Lan Fan agreed, the faintest hint of concern in her voice.
Winry nodded and unfolded her fingers, pressed them tight together like the way Izumi and Ed did when they were performing alchemy. "Ed has automail."
Lan Fan let out a loud breath, and Winry looked over to find her wearing a relieved look. "That is a good reason to wish to learn the craft, to help your family."
Oh, if only it was as simple as that! But Winry couldn't find the words to speak the truth – they were trapped at the back of her throat, dug in as deep as they could go and held in place with the same steel bolts that she'd watched Izumi's doctor drill into Ed's flesh to keep his automail in place while she helped to hold him down – could only manage a smile that should have been a scream as she said, "He keeps it hidden, but you'll probably see it while you're visitin'; I always have to do minor repairs 'cause he's careless."
"I do not know how that feels," Lan Fan said drily, instead of asking if Winry was okay, because no way she couldn't see the agony that ripped through Winry's chest every time she remembered those years.
"Pretty sure Ed would give Ling a run for his money. Probably manage to cheat him all out of it, too; I don't think he's played an honest game of poker in his life."
"I am not certain His Highness knows the meaning of 'honest'."
Winry caught herself laughing, was fairly certain she saw relief flicker through Lan Fan's dark eyes, and smiled, grateful. Because Lan Fan had seen, but she was willing to let Winry take her time with her demons, and that just made Winry adore her all the more.
She dropped her head down to Lan Fan's shoulder and, while she was stiff with surprise for a moment – Winry was getting used to that quirk, did her best not to let it bother her any more – she arm slid around Winry's back and her head leant gently against Winry's quickly enough, most people wouldn't even have noticed the hesitation. "Thank you. For agreein' to come home with me," Winry said, even though that was hardly the only thing she was grateful for.
"Of course," Lan Fan replied, squeezing Winry's shoulder just enough to be felt.
They filled the rest of the trip joking about how much money Ling would end up losing while they were gone, and debating which of his classmates would be most likely to take pity on him and loan him a little extra cash so he could win it all back.
Getting off at Dublith require rather a bit of elbowing their way through crowds of other students and commuters, but they both made it onto the platform with their luggage intact, which Winry counted as a victory. She didn't see Sig, which didn't really surprise her – it was the middle of the day, so he was probably minding the shop – but it turned out there was a familiar face waiting for them:
"Al!" Winry shouted as soon as she caught sight of him, her heart near-to-bursting to see him. Awake. Standing under his own power.
Alive.
(It had been two and a half years since he'd woken up, but it was so hard to shake off five years of seeing him lying in bed, chest barely rising and falling; that he'd woken at all would be one miracle Winry would never stop being grateful for.)
Al's face broke into a grin and he ran forward to meet her, calling, "Welcome home!"
Winry let herself be folded into a hug, held him back a little too hard, but she couldn't stop herself. At least Al understood; he hadn't noticed those five years passing, but he had woken to a world where everyone was five years older, and Ed and Winry had both moved on without him. (Had moved on for him, really; they'd never said as much, but Winry had ended up trading automail for medicine in hopes of finding some way to wake Al, and she didn't once doubt that Ed's impossible ascent through his higher education was solely in hopes of finding some way, through alchemy, to get Al back.)
Al was the one to end the hug, saying, "And this must be Lan Fan."
Winry took a cautionary swipe at her eyes – at least Ed wasn't there to complain about how often she cried – and smiled a bit apologetically as she turned to where Lan Fan was watching with what Winry had learnt was as close to a patient smile as she usually got. "Yeah. Lan Fan, this is my little brother, Al."
Lan Fan gave a short bow, then stepped forward with her hand extended, which Al took to shake. "I have heard much of you."
Al gave a helpless little laugh. "That doesn't surprise me; Winry talks about you all the time when she calls, too."
Winry huffed and waited until they'd let go before shoving Al a bit. "Shut up," she ordered. "And, speakin' of callin', have you heard from your idiot brother?"
Al pointed at his mouth, raising his eyebrows.
Winry, in response, pulled out the spanner she'd put in the front pocket of her bag for easy retrieval. Just in case she needed to brain Ed to remind him of his place.
Al coughed and took a careful step back. "Yeah, rang him soon as I got up. He got on the first train this mornin', so he should be in in a couple hours. Assumin' he doesn't get 'lost' in Central again."
Winry rolled her eyes, assumed Al had done it, too; Ed'd had about two hours between trains the first time he came home from East City University, so he'd decided to go out into the city. And then found a library and apparently turned off his mobile, because he didn't notice the twenty or so times they'd tried to call him until he'd been kicked out at closing. And then he'd barely made it to the last train south of the night.
"He'd better not get 'lost' again," Winry commented drily. "Izumi 'bout murdered him last time."
Al's expression fell a bit as he ducked down to grab Winry's bed. "Yeah," he agreed quietly.
Winry's heart sank. "Al? Is Izumi okay?"
Lan Fan's hand curled around hers, and Winry threaded their fingers together, grateful for the silent support; she'd told Lan Fan that Izumi's health wasn't great, but she didn't think she'd ever explained exactly how bad it was.
"It wasn't a good week," Al admitted as he motioned with his head that they should head into the city. "Doc Richardson gave her some new medication, though, and we're hopin' it'll kick in fast enough that she's not stuck in bed this week."
"Shit," Winry whispered with feeling; she hated that they'd left Al behind, alone, to watch Izumi's health deteriorate ever more. And she hated, even more, the absolute certainty Izumi's doctor had that there was nothing modern medicine could do for her, and the grim looks Ed and Izumi had traded the only time Winry'd found the courage to ask if alchemy could fix it.
(She'd lost her parents and grandmother without even a chance for a real goodbye, hadn't been able to do anything for Al, and there was nothing she could do to help Izumi. Making Ed's arm and leg had been the only good thing she'd ever done for her family, and even that was haunted by the memory of Ed doing his damnedest not to scream as it was installed.)
(She hated that bastard, Roy Mustang, for burning her world to cinders.)
Lan Fan squeezed her hand, dragging her away from the shadows of her past, and Winry forced a smile onto her face, managed to get it into place just in time for Al to look back. "Well, new medication, that's good. It usually helps when he switches her, so I'm sure she'll be up and kickin' all our arses within another twenty-four hours or so. You'll see."
Some of the worry faded from Al's expression, and his return smile was a lot more honest than the one Winry was barely keeping in place on her own face. "Sig said something similar."
"See? Izumi's strong, don't you worry 'bout her," Winry insisted, because Al didn't deserve to suffer the grim certainty that Izumi wasn't going to last much longer; at least one of them should be able to believe in a happy future for their broken little family. "So, how're your studies goin'?" she asked, that being the first new topic to occur to her.
Al shot her a poisonous glare that he'd almost certainly got from Izumi. "It's so much fun," he replied in a dry tone, then threw the hand not holding her bag up into the air. "How the hell'd Brother manage university at thirteen?!"
"Ed's insane," Winry reminded him, though she had a suspicion that it had something to do with whatever he'd seen that horrible night, the thing he and Izumi had both seemed so grateful to learn Al didn't remember. "If he doesn't have his PhD before he turns twenty, though, I'm gonna hafta suspect alien abduction."
Al let out a sort of choked giggle, which was largely hidden under the disbelieving, "Twenty?" that Lan Fan let out.
Winry glanced over at her, wincing a bit at her wide eyes, while Al just flat-out started laughing. "I did mention Ed's an alchemical prodigy, right?" she had to ask, because that was such a well-known fact at South City Uni, she might well had assumed Ling and Lan Fan just knew Ed was terrifyingly brilliant when it came to alchemy.
Lan Fan shook her head, though Winry was fairly certain it was more in disbelief than a negative response to her question. "I had heard he was very smart, but I had thought it was as you or His Highness, not..." She shook her head again.
Al coughed and warned, "Whatever image you're buildin' of my brother, I can promise he's nothin' like that."
Winry couldn't quite stop a giggle because, yeah, the sort of studious student that came to mind when you said 'PhD student' was...nothing at all like Ed. Which wasn't to say he couldn't talk about complicated arrays for hours, or get lost in some ancient text for a couple days, just that he wasn't normal. At all.
(And that was as terrible as it was funny, because Winry knew what he'd lost, some of it: You didn't get things for free, and he'd paid more than his due; they all had, even if it didn't seem like they'd ever break even, some days. Most days.)
Al led the way into the front of the shop with a cheerful, "Found Win and her girlfriend!"
Mason – Sig's only employee, who was as much a part of the family as any of them – was standing behind the counter, and he grinned widely at Winry as she led Lan Fan inside. "Welcome home, Winry!" he offered brightly, before nodding to Lan Fan.
The smell of the shop was familiar, despite how little time she'd actually lived there, between living in Rush Valley and going to university. And it really shouldn't have been a comforting smell – cuts of bloodied meat should be stomach-turning, especially after what she'd been through – but it was comforting, was settling in a way that pushed back the constant reminder of nightmares. It was home and family, the only ones she had left.
"This is Mason. He helps Sig run the shop," Winry explained for Lan Fan, before turning to Mason. "This is Lan Fan. Is Sig in the back?"
Mason nodded. "Finishing up an order for Mz Sour–"
"Sauvageot!" Al said a little too loudly, scowling.
Mason put on a wide grin that didn't look even a little apologetic. "Her! He'll probably want you to run it down to her, Al, since she actually likes you."
"I wonder why," Al deadpanned, and Mason's grin widened.
Winry shoved Al's shoulder. "Shouldn't you know better than to let him rile you? Move."
Al huffed, but obediently led the way past the counter and into the back room – Winry had to tug Lan Fan's hand a bit and smile at her when she hesitated at the 'No Admittance' sign on the door into the back of the shop – where they found Sig wielding one of his larger cleavers against what looked to be the remains of a cow.
Lan Fan stiffened at her back and shifted a little closer, and Winry couldn't tell if that was because of Sig's appearance – he was massive and only very rarely smiled; she'd been a little scared of him when he'd picked her up from Resembool, but it hadn't taken her long to discover that Izumi was actually the terrifying one – or the fact that he was holding a cleaver that was as large as her head that had her on edge. Either way, she squeezed her hand and offered a reassuring smile while Sig swung the cleaver down.
"Sig," Al called before he could raise the cleaver for another swing.
Sig glanced up, his expression as stony as ever, but there was a kindness in his eyes that Winry had learnt to spot while she was trying to accept the fact that her parents and Granny and everyone they'd grown up with were dead. "Winry," he said when he spotted her, and the creases at the corners of his eyes deepened in that way they always did when he was happy about something. "It's good to have you home. Izumi will be happy to see you."
"I hope so," Winry admitted, because as much as it hurt to see Izumi's slow death, knowing she enjoyed having them home helped a little bit. Especially since she knew their own stupid actions had only worsened her condition; the least they could do was give her a reason to smile by coming home every few months. "This is Lan Fan, by the way."
"Nice to meet you," Sig rumbled, as close to friendly as she'd ever seen him with someone who wasn't family. "I'm Sig Curtis, Winry's adopted father."
"Pleasure to meet you," Lan Fan offered quietly in return, still staying close to Winry's side.
Sig looked to Al, then, and said, "The order for Ms Sauvageot is ready, but I can send Mason if you'd rather stay here."
"Better not," Al replied drily. "He might actually insult her into changin' butchers."
Sig's eye crinkles deepened again and he inclined his head as he motioned toward the freezer where they stored orders waiting for pick up or delivery.
Winry reached out and tugged on the handle of her bag. "Here, give that back. I'll go show Lan Fan to my room, peek in on Izumi, if she's okay for visitors?" She looked toward Sig.
He scratched at his sideburns as he gave a slow nod. "If she's awake," he decided.
"Okay," Winry agreed, then tugged on Lan Fan's hand to get her moving through the back room, past Sig, and through the door into the house proper. "I probably should have warned you that Sig can be a little...startlin', the first time you see him," she said by way of apology, once the door had closed behind them.
Lan Fan shook her head. "You Amestrisans get very large, sometimes. Like bears."
Winry coughed, reminded about the story of Izumi taking out one of the monstrous bears that lived up in the Briggs Mountain Range. "Not a bad comparison."
Lan Fan let out a rough little snort and, when Winry glanced back at her, she found her dark eyes sparkling with amusement. "It is fine. You had told me your family was a little unusual."
Winry snorted at that, because she wasn't certain 'unusual' was enough to describe how weird her family was. But, well, at least she had them, which made living with them more than worth a bit of oddity. "Wait 'til Izumi's on her feet; she's the real terror around here."
Lan Fan squeezed her hand and, when Winry glanced back again, she found sorrow on her face. "I had not known she was so unwell."
Winry shrugged, had to look away as she admitted, "She's been sick since before we met her. There's no cure, so her bein' bedridden's a pretty normal state of affairs, honestly. It sucks, but she always pulls through."
"No one lives forever," Lan Fan cautioned, and Winry knew she was talking about her grandfather, who had died protecting Ling's mother a couple of months before she and Ling had come to Amestris.
"I know that," she replied quietly, blinking back tears and refusing to look at Lan Fan. "It's a miracle Izumi's still alive, we all know that. But givin' up on her–"
"I am sorry," Lan Fan whispered, stepping around Winry and drawing her into a hug. "I had not intended my words to hurt you."
"I know," Winry whispered, couldn't find the words to explain how, if it wasn't for her and Ed and Al, Izumi would probably have plenty of years left to live. But that truth got caught up in her throat, and what she said, instead, was, "I don't want to lose her, too. She and Sig're all we have left."
Lan Fan's arm tightened around her, and Winry dropped her bag so she could cling to her in turn, hiding her face against Lan Fan's shoulder.
Lan Fan didn't offer any platitudes, like Al would have done, or made some sort of stupid comment about how she always cried, like Ed; she just held Winry silently, giving her both comfort and the privacy to pull herself back together. And she was so, so grateful for that, for finally having someone in her life who understood that, sometimes, she just needed to cry, because she couldn't channel her emotions out through her fists, or banish her pain by making other people happy.
When she felt a little less like the shadow of Izumi's impending death was grabbing at her arms, Winry pulled back and reached up to wipe at her wet face, but Lan Fan beat her to it, her dark eyes so very warm and kind, Winry almost started crying again, because how did she deserve Lan Fan?
"Better?" Lan Fan asked quietly, her thumbs stroking carefully against the lower lashes of Winry's eyes.
"Yeah," Winry admitted. "Thanks."
Lan Fan offered her one of her rare smiles, though it was edged with sadness in a way that none of the handful Winry had seen from her had been. "I cannot imagine how it would be to watch one you love slowly die in front of you. I have only known sudden death, and that is painful enough. But to see their suffering, always, constantly... I cannot think that would be easy."
"Loss is never easy," Winry whispered, because she had far too much experience with losing the people she loved: Auntie Trisha, Mum and Dad and Granny and everyone in Resembool, Al to his coma, and now Izumi. "But it's part of life, I guess."
"I guess," Lan Fan echoed.
Winry managed a smile that only ached a little bit, then ducked down to grab her bag. "My room," she said, partially to remind herself what they'd been aiming to do before they'd got distracted. "It's upstairs," she offered as she led the way to the stairs and up to the first floor, Lan Fan quick on her heels. "You can settle in while I check on Izumi; you might hafta wait 'til tomorrow to meet her, sorry."
"It is fine. I think I will have more than enough meeting people today, already."
Winry couldn't stop a slightly helpless smile, at that. "Yeah. Sorry."
Lan Fan huffed a bit. "It is a good family. You should meet Ling's; that is a large family."
Winry grimaced, because she'd heard plenty about the Xingan emperor's habit of keeping concubines and his many, many children. It sort of a lot grossed her out, but she'd determined pretty early on to just ignore Xing's weird shit; her sanity was better off that way. (That said, she didn't for one second think Ed wouldn't have something scathing to say the minute he heard about it, because he never let a chance to insult someone go. The moron.)
She left Lan Fan and her bag in her room, then made her way back downstairs to Izumi and Sig's room, easing the door open as quietly as she could and poking her head in.
Izumi's eyes were open and she was apparently reading one of her cookbooks, but she set it down almost as soon as Winry's head cleared the door and smiled at her. "Hello, Winry," she offered, her voice that careful, quiet one she always used when she was afraid raising her voice would set off her gag reflex.
Winry smiled back and stepped into the room properly. "I'm home," she replied, and Izumi's smile widened and she held out a hand toward her. Winry stepped quickly over to the bed, leaning over to give Izumi a hug, utterly unsurprised by how firm her grip was; bedridden or no, never let it be said that Izumi Curtis couldn't throw someone across the room.
"Al said it's been a bad week," Winry commented as she freed herself from the hug and checked on the glass of water on the side table.
"I'm afraid so," Izumi admitted, and Winry was glad she'd stopped trying to hide how poorly she felt a couple years ago, because it was so much less stressful for all of them when she was being honest about her bad days. "But Martin gave me something new, so I hopefully won't be stuck in her the whole time you kids are home."
"I hope so," Winry admitted, casting around for the pitcher that was usually in the room, since Izumi's glass was getting a little low. She spotted it over by the door, clearly in need of a refill – Sig or Al had probably been called to help with something on the way to do so – but there was still enough to fill Izumi's glass. "Watchin' you throw Ed across the back garden for bein' a mouthy shit's the best part of the holiday."
Izumi choked out a laugh, her eyes bright with amusement, even as she pressed a blood-stained cloth against her lips.
"I'm sorry!" Winry breathed, feeling horrible; she knew Izumi wasn't doing well and she'd still made a joke she knew would make her laugh.
Izumi just shook her head and caught Winry's arm, holding her fast. "Stop that. I'm happy to cough up a little blood in trade for a bit of laughter." She sighed and shot Winry a slightly helpless, fond look. "You three are as bad as each other; stop blaming yourselves for my sin."
Winry ducked her head, couldn't meet Izumi's eyes as she said, "But, if we hadn't–"
"I'll beat you over the head with my book if you complete that sentence," Izumi warned flatly.
"Yes'm," Winry whispered, and busied herself with refilling Izumi's water.
Izumi sighed again. "Al said you were bringing that Xingan girl you're dating with you?" she asked, kindly changing the subject.
Winry managed a smile for her. "Yeah, Lan Fan. She's upstairs right now. I figured it was best to wait 'til you're doin' a bit better tomorrow before introducin' you."
"Hm. Can she fight at all?"
Winry almost splashed water everywhere when she threw her arms up into the air, but managed to stop the hand holding the pitcher before it raised above her head. "I didn't bring my girlfriend home just so you could beat her up!" she complained.
Izumi raised an imperious eyebrow at her. "I need to make sure you're not dating weaklings."
Winry rolled her eyes, because of course that would be Izumi's excuse. "She's the bodyguard of the favoured Xingan heir; she can handle herself in a fight."
"Good," Izumi decided, relaxing back against her pillows a bit. "When is Ed supposed to arrive? Assuming he doesn't get 'lost' in Central again."
Winry couldn't quite stop a snicker, and the amused glint in Izumi's eyes promised that neither of them were ever going to let him live that incident down. "Couple hours, accordin' to Al, so you should have time for a short nap before he starts stompin' 'round the place."
"As if the amount of noise he makes is really going to make up for how short he is," Izumi commented drily, and Winry couldn't help but laugh; Izumi was the only person she knew who terrified Ed so much, he'd actually let her get away with short jokes with only a minimum of grumbling and a couple dirty looks. "Good," Izumi decided, closing her eyes and relaxing back against her pillows the rest of the way. "Take Lan Fan out to see the city; I don't expect she's seen much Amestrisan architecture."
So far as Winry was aware, that was quite true, so she smiled and agreed, "I think I will. Sleep well, Izumi."
"Mm," was Izumi's only response, so Winry quietly left to refill the pitcher, slipped back inside to replace it next to the bed, then made her way back up to her room.
"Everything is okay?" Lan Fan asked when Winry stopped in the doorway, her eyes filled with concern.
Winry smiled and nodded. "Yeah. She was up, readin', so we talked a bit. She's gonna take a nap, though, for now. Suggested we might go see Dublith a bit, if you're up for a tour?"
Lan Fan nodded and stood, dusting off her trousers. "I would like that," she agreed. And, when Winry held out a hand toward her, she didn't hesitate to take it, their fingers lacing together.
Winry had gone back and forth about going with Al to wait for the train they were expecting Ed to be on, a bit, but then Al'd pointed out that Izumi needed her sleep, and Winry and Ed regularly devolved into violence when they met back up on the holidays. She she'd sighed a bit and walked out with him, Lan Fan tagging along, even though Winry'd said she was welcome to stay behind.
Miracle of miracles, Ed was on the expected train. Al was the one to spot him, shouting, "Brother!" and Winry followed his gaze to find Ed just before he managed to shove his way through the crowd, his eyes bright and grin so wide, Winry wondered if it didn't hurt.
"Al!" Ed called back, right before he caught Al in a hug and squeezed him tight enough that Al let out an odd sort of squeaking sound.
And then Ed caught sight of her and let go of Al, a gleam in his eyes promising trouble. "Gearhead! Have you got uglier?"
Winry started to reach for her spanner, but she clearly needn't have bothered, as Lan Fan swept around her and had a kunai to Ed's throat before she could get it out. "Watch your tongue," Lan Fan ordered flatly.
Winry managed to resist an eye roll, but there was nothing for the warmth suffusing her face.
Ed, of course, just grinned a bit wider. "You must be Lan Fan!" he called, right before dropping his bag and ducking to the side, away from the blade. Lan Fan managed a surprised half-gasp before Ed's real hand clamped around her wrist and he crouched, sliding one foot out to unbalance her so he could – Winry knew from experience – fling her over his head to face plant on the ground.
Except Lan Fan somehow managed to turn her forced tumble into a somersault – Winry needed that trick – and managed to land in a crouch, hands held in a ready position.
Ed flashed Winry a wide grin. "She kicked Al's arse, yet?" he asked. Which was insanely high praise, from him, and Winry hadn't realised she was tense until it eased away.
"Some of us," Al said drily, "don't go around greetin' people with violence. Unlike some barbarians I could name."
"Sorry about him," Winry offered to Lan Fan, who looked a bit thrown for a loop. "There's a sayin' about shortness resultin' in immaturity, which isn't true in most cases–"
Cloth-covered steel locked around her neck, tugging her down to the side a bit, and Ed roughly knuckled his real fist against the top of her head while she attempted to jab her elbow or a finger in his side hard enough to make him let go, cursing at him while he cackled, the crazy idiot.
"Just leave them," she heard Al say, his tone utterly unimpressed.
Ed loosened his grip, his arm dropping to her shoulders, as he said, "Hey, Win."
Winry made a point of straightening, but he'd been growing again, apparently, because it didn't have quite the effect she'd been hoping for. "Hey, Ed," she offered in return, reaching up to rough up his bangs.
He shook his head, clearly amused, and motioned with his head after where Al was coaxing Lan Fan back to the shop without them, carrying Ed's bag because of course he was. "When'd you get in?"
"Couple hours ago," Winry admitted as they both started after Al and Lan Fan. "Izumi's been havin' a rough week."
Ed's arm left her shoulders, and she glanced over to find his jaw clenched tight, both hands balled into fists, and she knew he'd pulled away because he was afraid of hurting her. Of gripping too tight and breaking bones, just like he had the first time they'd sparred after his surgery, breaking her wrist because he didn't know his own strength.
She had to look away and swallow, her heart aching. "Doc Richardson adjusted her medication, though. She'll probably be up tomorrow."
"That's good," Ed muttered, shoving his hands into his pockets. After a beat, he offered, "I like her."
Winry followed his gaze to where Lan Fan was glancing back at them, a hint of concern in the line of her brows. Winry offered her a reassuring smile in return, even as she elbowed Ed. "Hands off."
"She's not my type," Ed promised, flashing her a quick smile that didn't reach his eyes.
As far as Winry knew, Ed's type was exactly Lan Fan: Dark-haired and pretty. Instead of pointing that out, though, she suggested, "Too tall?" as sweetly as she could. (Although, previous experience said he didn't discriminate against people based on their height relative to his own, which would never not be hilarious.)
"Nah. Taken," Ed shot back.
Winry rolled her eyes; she'd hardly suspected Ed to chase after her own girlfriend, as much of an obnoxious shit as he could be, but she did sort of appreciate the reassurance. (And, well, yeah, when she thought back on it, she'd never known Ed to have so much as a one-night fling with someone he knew was in a relationship with someone else, even if the other person swore it was an open relationship, or whatever. And she'd always wondered, a bit, if that wasn't related to his father leaving and the rapid decline of Auntie Trisha's health once he was gone.)
"Shouldn't've gone on to East Uni, then," Winry said, a little belated, but she knew Ed wouldn't hold it against her; he knew something of getting lost in his own thoughts because of something his conversation partner had said.
Ed just snorted and waved that comment away. "Had to give the rest of you a chance, eventually," he said, then shot her a sharp little smile.
Winry shoved him. Ed shoved her back. She pulled out her spanner and aimed it at his head, he blocked it with his right arm, then jumped back, out of the way of her follow-up kick to the spleen.
"All I ask is five minutes!" Al complained from ahead of them.
"She started it!" Ed called back, catching her foot before she could pull it back and trying to yank her off balance.
Winry threw her spanner and managed to hit his real arm. His grip loosened and she spun out of reach, calling to Al, "I thought that was five minutes!"
Ed flashed her a grin while he ducked to pick up her spanner, while Al let out some loud huffs that, Winry was nearly certain, were meant to disguise laughter. As Ed tossed the spanner back to her, Winry heard Lan Fan make that choked noise that meant she was trying very hard not to laugh, and she couldn't help but grin at her.
"So," Ed said as he started walking again, "let me know when you two break up."
Winry was fairly certain even Al wouldn't blame her for kicking him between the legs.
Forgiveness is a Gift
Pray the Sun Will Rise
.
