[ed/riza; g] An Afternoon Meeting Title: An Afternoon Meeting Author:emilie_burns Theme: #15, Heart and soul (21_Hearts) Fandom:Fullmetal Alchemist Pairing: Edward Elric / Riza Hawkeye Rating: G Wordcount: 1101 Warnings: None, unless slight AU is something to warn for? Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist (Hagane no Renkinjutsushi) is copyrighted by Hiromu Arakawa/Square Enix. This is a work of fanfiction for personal entertainment only. Unless outright stated otherwise, assume AU-ishness for all Ed/Riza fics by me, with Ed 17+ in age. Notes: Can be Winry/Sheska if you squint. I have no idea where this fic came from, or what the sam hill is up with this style or anything. I just know I was poking at the themes and suddenly Winry spoke up in a first person narrative and this is what I got. Teaser:I swear, for someone as brilliant as Ed, he can be the densest doofus in Amestris about certain things. Original LJ Post Date: August 15, 2006 @ Chaotic_Library
An Afternoon Meeting
I have to admit, it was something of a surprise for all of us when we found out. Well, not all, and I did know sooner than most. It wasn't a surprise to Al. He's the one who pushed Ed to get off his butt and do something about it, after all. I swear, for someone as brilliant as Ed, he can be the densest doofus in Amestris about certain things. That's why I use a wrench on him a lot, it's the only thing I have that gets through that thick skull.
And Al told me, pretty early on. He wanted someone to gush with over 'the cute' as he called it. And I have to admit, 'the cute' described it pretty well. It's fun to see Ed red as an apple and stammering, and then that look on his face when we called him on it. What good's having brothers if you can't tease them once in a while, you know?
But the Lieutenant -- I shouldn't call her that anymore, since she left the military. Old habits die hard. But for Riza, it was like looking at a completely different person, and I think we were. Or maybe we were just seeing the person behind the rank for the first time. I always thought she'd end up with the Brigadier General though, as devoted to him as she was, and still is. So it seemed to come out of nowhere when Al told me Ed was dating her.
Yeah, he's dating her, or was, anyway, for the last three months. That's kind of why I'm here. I'm heading back to Central, and this time Grandma's going with me. Ed's getting married, so of course we're going to be there. I know, they haven't been dating long at all, but I'm really not all that surprised. When Ed devotes himself to someone or something, it's forever or until he's seen it through. And Riza isn't much different from what Al's told me. And I know how Ed is about his family. He'd have us all living together in the same house if he could, just to keep us all under his watch and protection. He wants her living with them, but even he's not so clueless as to not know that it wouldn't be good for her reputation to talk her into moving in before they're married.
You remember what I told you a while on back, about when Fuhrer Bradley and his son died? And how he wasn't really the Fuhrer at all, but a homunculus? Brigadier General Mustang brought a stop to that, as I mentioned. He doesn't want to see any more Ishbals either, and he doesn't want there to be any more orders like the ones he was given. I hated him for a while, but... you know the rest there.
Ed got what he was after then too. They had the Philosopher's Stone, the real thing, remember? But there were others after it too, of course, the rest of the homunculi and the woman behind it all. They never told me everything that happened, but Ed was pretty badly hurt, then Al stepped in and bought him some time to get back to his feet, and obviously, they won that one, since Ed was able to restore Al, just like he'd always promised.
I never told you this, but I thought they'd come back to Rizenbul then, and things could go back to how they used to be. They did come back, but not for very long. Just like always. They'd wanted to keep traveling, but Ed had turned in his State Alchemist watch, and it didn't take them long to realize it would be better to cut back on traveling. But Rizenbul... it's just too far away from libraries and other places for research. See, Ed restored his brother, but he -- the both of them, honestly -- never stopped being an alchemist. He's as bad as Sheska with the books sometimes.
He'll deny it if you tell him so, though.
They kept saying it would only be for a few months. Somewhere along the line though, they started visiting Riza, and one thing led to another. That 'another' was Ed falling for her like a sack of bricks tossed off a cliff. I'm serious. Wait until you see them. He's completely infatuated. You should see them, they really are cute together. I didn't know it at the time, since I was only in Central once in a while to visit them when I'd come out to stay with Sheska, but once Al clued me in once they started officially dating, it made sense.
Well, the thing about them not coming back to Rizenbul. You see, with Ed, I've come to understand that he can't come home until his family's all in one piece. Originally, it was just to phase out of the traveling and start to settle back down, but... Al's his soul, you know? He's the entire world to Ed. There's nothing Ed wouldn't do for Al, and I suppose that's a big reason behind Ed falling for her like he did. Not only does she get that Ed isn't Ed without Al, but Al told me she's always, for as long as they've known her, treated him like the kid he was. Not like a suit of armor.
He had his soul back, but they didn't come home then because he'd turned around and lost his heart and had to get that back too. It just took him a little over two years to realize it and for Al to finally push him into doing something about it, although Ed insists he realized it before then. Al said he thought she was seeing the Brigadier General, and then after they found out that wasn't true, he didn't think she'd take a kid like him seriously.
Ed really is his family. You can probably see it for yourselves, but he doesn't do well by himself. He lives for the people he loves, his family. He says we're what makes up the best parts of him. If that's true, then Al's his soul. Riza's his heart. And the equivalent exchange is that we're safest people ever. He won't let anything happen to us.
Al's coming home with us after the wedding, and he's gonna be staying with us for while so they can have some time alone. She's left the military, and he might finally ready to leave Central and cut back on traveling and come back here too, this time to stay. So his family's all in one place again.
I'm glad we had this chance to talk so I could get you caught up on the gossip. I need to head back now though. We have to get to the station to catch our train in an hour and Grandma has some work she wants me to finish first.
I'll come see you when we get back. I love you, Mom, Dad. I'll be sure to tell Al to come by and say hi on his way to visit Aunt Trisha.