Edwin Week Day One: Firsts
My first Edwin Week! I’m very happy to participate this year as I always enjoy these kinds of events. Can’t wait to see what everyone creates!
Edwin
Romance
1,125 words
https://archiveofourown.org/works/18677875
@503week
The sun was setting on another busy day at Rockbell Automail. Winry had been working non-stop to finish all her orders on time and she was ready for a break. She quickly put away the tools she had been using and wiped down her work station. Her body felt greasy and sweaty but she always felt proud at the end of a busy day having done her part to help her clients to the best of her abilities. Stretching her arms above her head, she climbed the stairs to find some food before a shower.
In the kitchen Winry was greeted with the sight of Edward stuffing his face with apple pie over the sink. “Couldn’t make it to a plate, huh?” she said with a raised eyebrow.
“Hmrph,” Ed attempted to respond despite his full mouth. Winry rolled her eyes and lightly hip checked him out of the way so she could wash her hands.
“As I said, this way I don’t make more dishes. It’s practical.” He brushed the crumbs off his hands and placed an arm around Winry’s waist.
“It’s lazy. You just don’t want to clean up after yourself.”
Ed smirked while leaning against the counter. “There may be a small part of that, yes. Do you want some dinner? Or more accurately a late night snack.”
Winry finished drying her hands off on the nearby cloth and said “Yes I’m starving.”
Edward turned towards the stove and turned it on to reheat the soup. He took off the lid and stirred it with a wooden spoon. “How was work?”
“Oh, it was great as usual. Mr. Gabrielle’s shoulder was acting up because of all the humidity but it was nothing I couldn’t adjust. And I was able to put in the new piece for Emma too. She was worried about the pain but she handled it like a champ.”
“Sounds like a full day.”
“Yeah, I’m really tired." Something caught her eye. "Hey, what’s this?”
On the table lay a book with pink trim and white lace. It had beautiful embroidery done on the edges and on the front said Family.
“Al and I found it when we were cleaning up the attic for Granny. You should open it.” Ed pushed her towards the table slightly.
Winry slowly opened the book. Something about it made her feel very delicate. She looked closely at the opening page. There was a blurry photograph with three smiling faces on it and underneath it the words Winry’s Third Birthday.
“These are my parents,” Winry said turning to Ed.
Ed walked over and wrapped his arms around her. “Yeah, the whole album is full of pictures from your childhood. You can even see Al and I in a few of them.”
Winry could feel her eyes misting over. This was her history, her family. She didn’t even know she had this. She had a few photos of her parents in a journal upstairs along with some of their medical textbooks but this was different. This was a record made with their hands. Something they wanted to pass on to her.
She flipped through the pages pausing on some of the more prominent pictures. “This was my first day of school and this one is from that picnic. You know, the one where Al fell in the water and cried for half an hour until I gave him an extra cookie.”
Ed chuckled. “Yeah I remember that. He was such a crybaby.”
Winry giggled and said “that’s only because you picked on him so much.”
“Older brother privilege. What’s this photo from?” He pointed over her shoulder.
Winry dragged her fingers slightly over the edge of the photo. “This is from my ninth birthday party.” They both went silent as they remembered that day. It was a few months before her parents got called to the war front. It was a happy time before illness and fear and death.
Winry’s ninth birthday was one of her most treasured memories. Granny had made her favourite cake; chocolate marble. Edward and Alphonse had transmuted her a small silver dog and their mother, Trisha, had knitted her a red scarf. Her parents had gotten her 2 books, one on automail and one on human anatomy, at her request. But the most special gift of all was her very own wrench. Her parents had tied a bright blue ribbon on it and it was the last gift she had unwrapped. In the photograph Winry could see her younger self smiling brightly and clutching that wrench with her small fists. That wrench had seen her through so much of her life and was still important to her to this day.
Winry could feel the lump in her throat beginning to form as she blinked back tears. She could feel Ed begin to panic behind her, he was never good with crying.
“Sorry, I’m fine. I just… Thank you for showing me this, Ed.” She turned in his arms to hug him.
“S'not a problem. Are you sure you’re okay?” Ed squeezed her slightly as he spoke.
“Yes I am. Honestly, I’m really happy.” She looked at him and smiled. “I have pictures to go with my memories. This is a wonderful gift.”
Ed rubbed her back and said “I’m glad you like it.”
They stood their for a moment longer enjoying each others’ embrace.
“You know, Winry. Maybe we should make one for us.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Our own family album. Call it Elric and Rockbell. We could put photos of us and the new house. Al and Mei in Xing. Granny and Den. Maybe even our own kids one day.” He looked at her nervously.
Winry looked at the photo album and imagined her own. Maybe a daughter running through the house with pigtails and grease stains. Or a son with the signature Elric grin and a book in each hand. She would take pictures of all the important moments: their first day of school, their first birthday, their first time down by the pond, their first house. And then one day she could give them their own family album but in person, something to pass on with her love and her memories.
“Edward.” She turned to look at him. “I really love that idea.”
He grinned and kissed her until they smelled the burning. "The soup!" Edward turned and shut off the burners before trying to salvage what was left of her dinner. Winry shook her head and laughed. She had no doubt this would not be the first time something like this happened. She closed the album carefully with her left hand, still not used to the weight of her wedding ring, before turning to help her husband.