Title: Sake
Author: Auto-Alchemechanicist (miss_auto1621)
Pairing: Edward E. & Winry R.
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Genre: Romance/General
Theme: 81: Sake
Rating: T
Disclaimer: I don't own FMA. 'nough said.
Warning: Alcohol use, some sexy scenes, and some naughty Ed & Winry. AlxMei hints.
Summary: "For your sake, I suggest you stop drinking sake." "You have no idea how much alcohol can relieve a person, do you?" Winry never thought she'd have to prove her husband wrong in such a manner. Choosing sake over her? The nerve! Post manga.
Part of LiveJournal's 101 kisses challenge

Edward stared at the invitation with an indescribable expression. This couldn't be right. It had to be a joke. Why else would he feel funny? It had to be a sick prank by someone who wanted to see him suffer. Yes, that was it.

But Winry thought otherwise. That invitation, with the fancy letters and foreign calligraphy, was their entrance ticket to the future wedding that couldn't be avoided. She felt a slight sting in her chest, knowing very well that this was bound to happen sometime or another. She just didn't realize it would hurt the way it did. She bet Ed was having it rougher than her.

"Ed?" she asked, trying to get him back to reality.

He just kept staring at the paper in front of him because that was what it was to him: a simple piece of paper with writing on it. The feelings that it was supposed to convey didn't kick in like they were supposed to. Instead, he felt numb, as if he had just had his automail connected to his leg port. But the numbness was all over his body and his chest hurt, as if his heart were made of automail and it had suddenly disconnected itself.

"Is this really his invitation?" he asked, ignoring the fact that his wife had addressed him.

"It says his name, Ed," Winry answered.

"I can't believe this."

"Why not?"

"It…it's too soon," Ed answered. "There's no way in hell Al's getting married."

"Unless the date is wrong, I don't see a delay," Winry said. "Does it bother you?"

"He's my little brother, Winry," he began. He brought his hands under his chin pensively. "I can't think of him as anything but that."

"He has to grow up sometime," Winry said as she took off her bandana.

"I just didn't think he'd grow up so fast."

"We all grew up quickly," Winry pointed out. "Look at us."

"That's…different."

"No, it's not. Marriage is a part of life that we adults face, Ed, and you have to realize that Al's an adult now." Winry admitted to herself that this affected her as well. Al was like a little brother to her since childhood, so to see him grow up was a sight she couldn't take in until a few days after it occurred. But out of the two of them, Winry had to hold Ed together.

"It's still different," Ed repeated stubbornly.

"How is it different?" How would he attempt to answer this now?

"You, Al, and I have always been together," Ed explained. "We reunite with each other every time we get separated. Our marriage has still held us together, but this…this…"

"…You don't want for the three of us to break apart," Winry finished for him. Ed had a stubborn expression. He didn't want to admit that he was saddened by the situation. His pride had to do with it and she knew that he wasn't the type to show weakness in front of her, even if she was his wife. However, she sensed that he was upset and he needed her comfort to release his tense mood. She wanted to tell him that the three of them would still be together, but she didn't want to lie to him. She knew the husband always went where the wife lived. Instead of saying the thoughts that wouldn't help, she simply stood from the chair she sat on and hugged him from behind, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"We've always been a trio," Ed stated as he let Winry hug him. "If he leaves, it'll just be you and me."

He felt a wrench smack his head.

"What's wrong with just us?" Winry asked as she let her fury go on that head whack.

Ed rubbed the back of his head. "Why do you get so violent?" he whined.

"If you didn't provoke me, I wouldn't be so violent," she pointed out.

"Hm," Ed said, giving a wry smile. "Without him, it'll get noisy here."

Winry's face pulsed with annoyance as she gave him another smack on his head. "Isn't it supposed to be the opposite, honey?"

Ed touched his injury as his face twisted in pain. "This is what I mean, Winry. Who's going to keep the peace between us?"

Winry rolled her eyes. "We're mature enough to work out our problems. If not, we'll place the kids as referees."

"Are you sure you want to expose them to these examples of domestic violence?" Ed asked as he turned his face to look at Winry with a smug smirk.

"Domestic violence?" Winry asked. "Please, Ed, this is hardly any of that."

"Right." He considered his next reply, hopeful that his wife would stop with the slaps and drop the wrench. He sighed instead. "I can't believe that bean girl got to him. And she looked so innocent."

"Ed, Mei's grown up as well. It's not like she was going to stay a 'bean girl' forever."

Ed chuckled at his realization. "Well, I guess Al's the future prince of Xing."

Winry blinked. "I…guess so, too."

They just couldn't avoid making the full realization then as they looked at each other stiffly.

"HOW'D THAT HAPPEN?"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Winry didn't expect a Xingese wedding to be so strange. She knew that the culture wasn't the same as hers, like the alchemy, the attire, and the lifestyles of the clans and the emperor. However, she hoped that a ceremony would resemble the ones she was used to. It hit Ed and her by surprise that they had to wear kimonos, those Xingese dresses that looked nice, but it's not like she considered wearing for pleasure. Because it was Al, they would wear them.

It took her a while to convince Ed to dress in it, though.

"Ed, you're being selfish."

"So what if I am?"

"It's not like you're going to keep your brother to yourself."

"What if I do want to keep him?"

"You can't. How did Al react when you and I announced our engagement?"

Ed hesitated for a moment. "He was happy for us."

"Exactly. The least you can do is return those feelings and support his decision. Don't be an ass."

"Fine. Um…do I really have to wear that?"

"Yes."

"Damn it, A! Why couldn't your fiancée be Amestrian?"

"You're so racist, Ed," Winry accused as she chuckled.

"Can't I wear a suit instead? It's more formal, and it doesn't look like a dress."

"You're wearing it."

"I AM NOT."

Yet there he was, wearing the attire his brother requested, trying not to force a smile. He wanted to give his brother a genuine smile, one he could claim as joyful to let Al know that he was happy for Mei and him. Ed couldn't contain himself when Ling tried flirting with Winry, though.

"That kimono fits you well, Winry. Ever tried getting married in one?"

"Thanks, Ling, but I prefer the white dress I wore when I married Edward," she said, trying to avoid having her husband spark an argument with the Emperor of the country they were guests in. But to no avail.

Edward caught Ling by the collar of his silky kimono and pulled him towards his face menacingly. "Ling, get your own wife." He didn't give a shit if he was Emperor; he was flirting with his wife, damn it!

Winry hadn't noticed her husband's defense as she walked with her kids and Granny and led them to their reserved table. At least that was something she recognized: a table just for her family, like in the weddings she had attended in Amestris. That and she knew Al had written 'For Brother, Winry, and family'. Who else would write 'Brother' other than him? The table wasn't as tall as she imagined and it didn't have chairs, obviously meaning they had to sit on the floor. Damn those Xingese customs. She gave a sigh of relief as she saw and greeted the faces she recognized: General Mustang and his subordinates, Fuher Grumman (who had to get invited because of the ties Amestris has with Xing), Ed and Al's teacher and her husband, and Ms. Gracia with Elycia. She felt awkward as the party progressed, but she managed to like some of it. At least Al was enjoying it and Mei looked happy. The food wasn't as bad as it looked and she was thankful to have handled the sticks that were supposed to be used as eating utensils. Her complication was feeding the kids. Well, Nina, at least. Ed handled his son, which never ended with a clean table and always ended with a messy Edward. This time, however, the boy behaved himself and let his father feed him properly.

Winry's legs were getting numb as she held the glass that had been brought by her husband from the beverage table. She examined the contents, which looked defenseless, so she sent the okay to her brain and body to sip the drink. It tasted horrible and she felt the need to spit it out, but she couldn't be rude. And she couldn't find a place to spit. So with a sacrificial expression, she slowly swallowed the warm drink. It took a while for her body to respond and noticed that after a while, it didn't taste so bad. It made her gag a bit, but she was able to block out the taste for a while. She didn't know how Ed could gulp it down so easily, though. It was as if the drink was water to him, yet it wasn't, and they both knew that.

Winry had made sure to keep those types of drinks away from the kids because 'sake' (or that's what was written on the invitation to point out the alcoholic beverages that were to be served in the reception), was not something that kids could actually drink. At first, she felt reluctant taking Nina and Ed to their uncle's wedding, and also considered her grandmother's health, because crossing the desert was something she didn't want to do again. But her grandmother was as chipper as a nine year old with a box of fireworks (due to her own glass of sake) and her kids were enjoying the party, which was culturally foreign to her. She should have considered leaving her husband behind, though. IF he got drunk at his brother's wedding, she'd never forgive him for that and would never let him live it down. That would be embarrassing to remember, not to mention stupid, since Al was like Edward's conscious and always pointed out the right from the wrong for his brother. Maybe that's why Ed was a bit depressed as well. He had been down since the arrival of the wedding invitation and showed his sorrow sometimes by taking a few shots from the not so restricted bottle Pinako had kept from them when Ed, Al, and Winry were kids. It wouldn't be 'Ed, Al, and Winry' anymore. It would just be 'Ed and Winry' (well, it had been 'Ed and Winry' for years), or 'Alphonse and Mei', and that upset Ed. He did make sure not to turn it into a vice because one: Winry would kill him with her wrench, two: he didn't want to give a terrible example to his children, and three: he didn't want to be the reason for an economic crisis in his home. The man could only drink so much, too.

But at the moment, it was as if the sake he was taking in was the only thing in the world to him.

"Ed, stop drinking too much of that," Winry whispered as she leaned towards him.

"Have you tried it?" Ed asked, surprising Winry that he was still sober. How many shots had he drank? Winry didn't want to find out and took away his glass.

"It tastes like burnt rice." Her eyes were wide and menacing. "Stop. Now."

Ed managed to take the glass away from her and drank its contents. "Why? It's not like I'm drunk."

"For your sake, I suggest you stop drinking sake."

"It's pronounced saké," Ed corrected, his speech taking a small step to being slurred. Winry wished she'd taken count.

"I don't care what you call it," Winry continued, "you're getting drunk and I don't want to drag you back to the hotel room. Granny and the kids wouldn't enjoy that, either."

"You have no idea how much alcohol can relieve a person, do you?" Ed asked as if his wife hadn't said a thing since she took away his shot glass.

"Do you really want to know how a person can relieve themselves?" Winry asked with irritation.

"Sex?" Ed asked. He was obviously drunk now and Winry felt like there was nothing she could do to fix him.

"Edward," she hissed after blushing.

"Wanna dance, honey?" he asked.

"Don't you even dare try standing up," she threatened, "…alone."

"Why?" he asked as he leaned in. This was the very first time she had dealt with a drunken man, and she felt so ashamed it had to be her husband.

"You're acting like an idiot," she answered as she stood and took his hand. A wife had to do what a wife had to do; so if she had to lead him out the room for a time out, like a little kid, she would.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"You're beginning to look like a mess," she began as she stood patiently by her husband and made him wash his face in the unisex washroom. Xingese customs were very strange to her; she had never thought there'd actually be unisex washrooms, but the day was full of surprises.

"Thanks for the encouragement, Winry," he said sarcastically as he wiped his face with a dry paper towel. At least he wasn't too drunk. But he still had his shot glass and Winry didn't know how to get rid of it. He had replaced it and had taken more saké from the beverage table before he let Winry drag him out of the reception room. Luckily, nobody was paying them much attention, so they escaped quietly. The public just didn't know how rowdy Ed and Winry could get without a moderator to keep the peace. That had become Al's job.

He got another shot glass and attempted to drink the alcohol, but Winry caught a part of it and pulled it towards her. "No more, Ed," she ordered. This was making her impatient.

"Just let me drink for one night," he begged as he pulled the shot glass towards his body. That caused him to jostle Winry towards him as well.

"Stop, Ed," she said again, but as she pulled on the glass, so did Ed, and the content came spilling all over her neck, the bust of her dress, and some of it even reached her mouth and chin. Luckily, the kimono was the same color as the saké. But Winry wasn't as easy to gulp down. "ED!"

Ed stared at her intently, but his eyes traveled to where the saké had landed. Winry was pissed, but when her husband flat-out kissed her, she wanted to beat the crap out of him. He wasn't getting out of this one so easily. It dawned on Winry that Ed was tasting her to see if there was some saké left in her mouth because when he didn't find any he moved to her chin, and then her neck, and then her chest. Her legs felt number than when she was sitting at their table.

"You wanted to teach me how a person could relieve themselves without alcohol," he hinted as Winry's blush began to creep over the places Ed had kissed. "Alcohol seems like a good pain killer, Winry."

Winry never thought she'd have to prove her husband wrong in such a manner. Choosing sake over her? The nerve! She removed him from her chest and led him to one of the stalls to get them some privacy, forgetting the fact that she was upset with him for spilling sake on her. But as they continued their method to relieve Ed, they heard a familiar giggle enter the public restroom and a familiar voice followed before they heard the door lock. The couple didn't speak, though. Ed and Winry could only hear what it was that they were doing, forgetting their intimate activity. They didn't mean to eavesdrop, but it was hard to simply ignore. How could they when Al and Mei were the ones kissing in there?

Winry adjusted her dress as Ed shamelessly peeked through the crack in the left wall of their stall. It was as if Al was trying to eat Mei alive and all she could do was smile and let him. Edward blushed as he looked at his wife. Shit. How would they get out of that bathroom now?

Winry dared to peek as Ed formulated a way out. She noticed that at least Al had Mei pushed up against wall where the mirror and sinks were. Compared to that, Ed and Winry were far from them and could easily escape without making too much noise. The lock on the door would make a sudden metal sound, but if they ran quickly, Ed could unlock the main door and he and his wife could leave. The married couple was too distracted to notice their movements, but they did flinch when they heard the metal lock of a stall and felt the need to rush to the door when it was suddenly opened.

The blonds panted as they exited the room. At least there was a wall to shield them from the eyes of the guests and they could lean on it to catch their breath for a while. Winry was still blushing from all that had gone on. Ed was just surprised. His little brother could kiss with so much passion and he had never noticed. Where the hell did he get that example from?

"Al…" Ed began.

"I…can't…believe him," Winry panted.

"…It's like he was attacking her, Winry," Ed continued.

"Mei didn't seem to complain," Winry stated. They could only stare at the door of the public restroom as they relaxed. Winry looked at Edward carefully.

"So…no more saké?" she asked with hope.

Edward's breathing rate steadied. "Not in this reception."

I missed writing stand-alone one-shots. Hopefully, I did the theme and the pairing some justice and also hope that you all enjoyed! It was fun, actually, because I remembered a conversation I held with one of my teachers and he mentioned hot saké. I know that Xing is supposedly mirroring China, but I decided to just make it Asian in general. I'm also not a trained writer in weddings, but I tried my best. Anyways, reviews are highly appreciated If I did something wrong, please be kind and point it out so I can learn from my mistakes. I forbid you from flaming, though. R/R,plz. Support is love!

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