Amoroso

AN: I actually meant to put this up yesterday, on Arakawa-sensei's birthday, but I couldn't finish it in time… happy belated birthday anyway, Arakawa-sensei!

Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist does not belong to me!

EPILOGUE: Calore

Two months.

It had been two months since Winry Rockbell had returned to Rush Valley, and Edward hadn't received any sort of contact from her even once. Admittedly, he was usually the one who called, not vice-versa, but that was because Winry often had no way of knowing where he would be. Now that she knew, without a doubt, that he was living in the Rockbell home… why, why hadn't she tried to contact him?

When he looked back on his behaviour during those months, Edward always laughed and cringed in equal measure. He was, in short, a nervous wreck. He stalked the hallways of the Rockbell home like a golden-haired, bad-tempered ghost, and he frequently answered Pinako and Alphonse's well-meaning queries with heated retorts.

Finally, it reached a point where he decided that he had to do something. Call her, maybe? It seemed like the best option, so Edward picked up the phone and dialed the number that had long ago become engraved in his mind. Garfiel answered – he could tell by the little sigh he made when he spoke. Edward sighed as well, nerving himself for the 'reunion'.

"Hi, Garfiel. Is Winry around?"

The man's voice seemed to sour as he replied, and Edward wasn't quite sure why. "I'm afraid she's busy, Fullmetal Alchemist. Perhaps you could call another time?" Without waiting for Edward to protest, Garfiel hung up.

Edward slowly lowered the phone from his ear and stared at it blankly. All right, so Winry was busy, but… she was too busy to even pick up the phone and call him? He felt vaguely irritated. Was she avoiding him? Why?

Oh. Maybe his gift hadn't been as well-received as he'd thought it would be. Maybe she was too embarrassed to talk to him, to tell him that she didn't feel that way for him. Edward's head hurt with all of the random thoughts racing through it.

He decided to ask Alphonse about Winry, and his younger brother's reply was quick and lacking hesitance. "Don't be ridiculous, brother. Winry's been in love with you for a long time. I'm sure that hasn't changed. She's probably just really busy, like mister Garfiel said."

Predictably, Edward seized upon only part of the sentence. "In love with me… what are you talking about?" he spluttered. Alphonse frowned at his brother – it wasn't a secret that Edward was irritatingly oblivious to normal human emotions like love, but really…

"Why are you reacting like this, brother? Especially since you've realized you love her, too. I thought you'd be happy?"

"Oh." Edward was quiet and thought about it for a while. "Oh, yeah. I guess I should be happy." He wandered off, and Alphonse wondered if his brother had gone into a state of shock.

"It's the only way to resolve all of this," the older Elric brother announced. Alphonse was secretly proud of his brother's determination to go visit Winry – it proved that Edward really was stubborn about the important things. He'd wanted to go visit Rush Valley, too – to see Paninya and the LeCourts and Garfiel – but he'd make that visit another time. Edward and Winry would probably want time alone. It made Alphonse feel a little strange, because he was so intimately tied to both of them, but this was one time that he couldn't include himself in their interactions.

"I agree," Alphonse smiled in reply. "Have fun in Rush Valley, brother, and don't destroy anyone's house again, okay?" He grinned teasingly at Edward, whose ears turned red.

"Neither of those times was my fault," he muttered rebelliously. Pinako shook her head indulgently at the brotherly banter and folded her arms.

"Take care of yourself, squirt, and hands off when it comes to my granddaughter," she spoke. Edward blushed and looked flustered, ducking his head to shove his trunk underneath the seat.

Alphonse decided that his brother had endured enough. "I think the train's about to leave, brother." He stepped back from the edge of the platform as the train whistle shrilled in warning. Edward gave a wave to his brother and his pseudo-grandmother, his eyes on them until they vanished from his sight. He leaned back in his seat with a sigh – the train ride was going to be long and boring, with no companionship.

Eventually, Edward managed to endure the entire trip – mostly by sleeping through it. When the whistle finally went off for Rush Valley and the conductor began to make his rounds, Edward roused himself and peered out of the window through groggy, half-lidded eyes.

"Finally," he grumbled, yawning widely and leaning over to pull out his trunk. He'd packed it with only the bare essentials – he wasn't sure how long he was going to stay, but there was definitely no need for months' worth of clothes. He got up from his seat, offered his companion for the journey – an elderly man – a faint smile and walked towards the exit of the train, his entire body wishing he could just magically appear at Garfiel's doorstep. He was anxious to speak to Winry and curious to know why she'd severed contact with him.

His feet took the path to Garfiel with instinctive ease – he'd walked the same route so many times before, but he was usually thinking up an excuse for wreaking his auto-mail that would save him from Winry's wrench. It wasn't often that he had leisure time to just stroll along and enjoy the surroundings. He still didn't, not completely – part of his mind was mulling over the girl he was going to meet, and he was almost embarrassed that he couldn't get her out of his mind.

"I guess this is how she felt when she went for months without hearing from us," he muttered to himself. It wasn't a pleasant feeling.

When Garfiel's shop came into view, Edward tried to restrain himself from breaking into a full-out run – and then decided that that was pointless, and ran anyway. He arrived at Garfiel's doorstep a few minutes later, breathless and red-faced.

As if he had some sort of sixth sense, Garfiel opened the door just as Edward dropped his trunk on the ground and bent in half, hands on his knees and sides heaving. The auto-mail engineer looked at the young man in amusement before clearing his throat.

"Are you here for any particular reason?" Edward shot up at the sound of Garfiel's voice, and he tried to glower at the man. Unfortunately, his face faltered halfway and didn't become menacing enough.

"Yeah, I… needed… to speak to Winry…" he muttered, still trying to catch his breath. "Is… she… here?"

Garfiel was about to say that no, she'd gone out, but the tired determination on Edward's face stilled his words. "Yes," the man replied in an oddly gruff voice. "Come in, I'll call her."

Edward sucked in a deep lungful of air and threw back his shoulders, finally composed once more. He picked up his trunk and ventured inside, taking a seat at the well-worn table.

"Winry, dear! Someone's here to see you!" Edward tapped an irregular rhythm on the tabletop as both of them waited for the young auto-mail engineer. Finally, Winry appeared in the doorway, her blue eyes masked by a pair of work goggles. Her mouth dropped open and she yanked the goggles off hurriedly, staring at Edward in amazement.

"Well, then. I'll let you two be." Satisfied that his plan had worked, Garfiel disappeared into the interiors of the shop.

"Winry…" Edward breathed out, his cheeks quickly becoming a violent red once more. "Hey."

"Ed!" Winry flew towards him and wrapped her arms around him, squeezing him painfully. "Oh my goodness, I missed you so much!"

Edward returned the hug instinctively. "But… what have you been up to all this time?" he asked, slipping out of her embrace as gently as he could. "Two months, and not a single word from you." He realized that his voice had become a lot deeper and huskier than it usually was, and swore at himself.

"I…" Winry looked uncomfortable. "I'm sorry, Ed. Master Garfiel had me working pretty hard for the past few months. I didn't get much time off at all. I hope I didn't worry anyone too much."

Edward cast a dark glance in Garfiel's direction. He should have known that it was his fault.

"No, it's not like that… we were just surprised," he muttered in reply, still hesitant to express his individual concern over her. "You must be happy to be back, right?"

"Absolutely!" Winry beamed. "Come on, let me take you to my workshop – we can talk more comfortably there." She reached out and grasped his flesh wrist firmly. "And I want to show you something, too."

Edward's eyes widened in curiosity as he allowed himself to be dragged away by Winry. "Something to show me?" he echoed. "What sort of something?"

"You'll see," Winry sang as she released his wrist and shouldered open her workshop door. "Come in, come in!"

Edward ventured in, glancing around the room. He caught a glimpse of sunlight shining on dark wood and turned his head.

The upright sat in one corner of Winry's workshop, its mahogany sides sleek and unmarred. Winry had set a small photograph on top of it, and there was a short, round table with a single drawer that sat next to it. Edward guessed that she was storing sheet music in it. The table, too, had a few photograph frames. He walked closer to inspect them, catching sight of one familiar picture with a young Winry and her parents. There were a few pictures with granny Pinako, Den, Paninya… and Alphonse and himself, of course. Edward turned his attention to the single photograph sitting on top of the piano.

It wasn't what he'd expected. Since she'd kept the piano and had hardly treated him coldly, he guessed that she felt the same way. So maybe he'd expected a picture of just the two of them, yelling at each other or laughing together or something. Instead, it was a photograph of his sleeping face. His mouth wasn't open, like it usually was, and his hair was scattered around on his pillow. He wasn't sure when it was taken, but it must have been early morning or so, since there was light on his face.

Edward stared at the photograph thoughtfully. "Why this one?" he finally asked. Winry moved next to him and gazed at the photograph as well, her hand knocking gently against his.

"Because I think this is the you I love the most – the one who's dropped all of his defenses and lets the world in. Lets me in." She tilted her head up and smiled at him, her eyes shining.

"Of course, I understand that you don't do that only when you're sleeping, but I think this picture expresses it the best," she added. Edward's pulse throbbed.

There wasn't any need to say more. There wasn't any need for them to both declare their undying love for each other. He intertwined his fingers with hers and drew her close, and she rested her head on his shoulder for a brief moment. He moved closer to the piano and sat down – she sat with him, their legs rubbing together. She started to play, and he started to sing – softly, almost as an afterthought.

Far away from here,
Over the shining sea,
There's a voice, so very dear
Calling "Some things are meant to be."

Far away from here,
Over brown hills and lea,
We'd never met and loved at all
Never seen the deep blue sea.

Her fingers stopped and his picked up from where she'd left off. He watched her out of the corners of his eyes as he played, watched how her eyes softened and how her lips mouthed along to the words.

When he finished, they sat together in the comfortable silence. Her hand rested on his knee, and his hand rested on top of hers, and he felt warmth coursing through his body – but it wasn't the aching warmth of embarrassment or the fierce fire of anger and temper. It was a gentler, more natural warmth, and when his eyes met hers, they both smiled together.

In their own way, they had both already acknowledged it and even said it. So when Winry rested her head on his shoulder again, Edward felt no hurry to seize her and kiss the living daylights out of her.

After all, they had all the time in the world.

AN: Um. Yeah. That wasn't the best ending, but I didn't want to write a kiss, because I'd never be able to manage that! My kiss scenes are really bad.

I like the idea that Ed and Winry don't have to outwardly acknowledge to anyone else that they love each other. It's like they both just know, instinctively. Of course, in the actual manga, I certainly hope they do… so yeah. For clarification's sake, Ed spontaneously thought of the new verse to the lullaby. Or did he plan it in advance so that he could sing it to Winry? Who knows? Not even I do! ^^;;

And that, my friends, is that. I'm so happy you stuck through with me all this time. Thank you for bearing with me and for liking this story. (:

Title means warmth.