'Homecoming'
((Bendytimed to before Ed's genderswitch LOL.))
Title: Homecoming
Author: Firebird
Rating: G
Genre: Gen
Characters: Ed, Winry, Pinako
Word Count: 1847
Warning/Notes/Disclaimer: Characters are not mine and I am not making any money off this. However, they do belong to Hiromu Arakawa/Square ENIX, MBS, ANX, BONES, FUNimation Productions, Ltd.
Ed stood on the Rockbell's front porch, hesitating, with his hand raised to knock on the door. He swallowed and then mentally scolded himself for being an idiot and knocked.
"Coming!" he heard from inside. There was the sound of approaching footsteps before the door started opening. "What can I do for-- Ed!"
"Hi Winry," he said awkwardly. "It's been awhi--ack!"
After Winry released him from her hug, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Did you break your automail again?"
"No! I mean, it could probably use you taking a look at it to make sure it isn't going to; y'know, just a general maintenance thing; but I swear that I haven't done anything recently to mess it up and--" Ed cut himself short when he realized that he was babbling. "Uh, can I come in?"
"Oh! Yes, come in. Al isn't with you?" Winry moved to give Ed space to get through the door and shut it behind him.
"Uh, no. He's okay though and says hi." Ed's nervousness catches back up with him, causing him to fidget. "Where's Aunty Pinako?"
"Finishing up repairs on Mr. Miles leg. You remember who he is, right?" she asks as she led the way to the kitchen, prompting Ed to nod before he belatedly realized that a verbal response would work better.
"Yeah," Ed said as he seated himself once they were actually in the kitchen.
"Yes, well, somehow some of the wires got twisted around..." Ed tuned out the actual words and just concentrated on the sound of her voice as she bustled around the kitchen getting coffee for the both of them. "Ed? Are you actually listening?"
Ed shook himself and looked at her guiltily. "Not really. Not to the words anyway; they just sorta started blending together."
Winry shook her head and slid his mug of coffee across the table to him as she took her own seat. "I suppose that's only fair, since I do that to you when you start going into detail about some alchemical thing or other."
Ed gave her a strained smile over the edge of his mug. "Guess so."
Winry frowned at him before putting her mug down. "Okay, what's going on? You never come here without Al and you rarely come by without needing repairs. Not to mention the soldiers that showed up a few months ago saying that you disappeared and wanting to know if we'd seen you. In fact, there's a small detachment down near the train station."
Ed turned pale at the news about the soldiers. "I--"
"Can't you give the boy a chance to drink his first mug of coffee before pestering him with questions?" Pinako scolded from the doorway, having arrived in time to hear the last part of their exchange. "Although I'd like to know the answers as well."
Ed looked down into his mug. "I'm not sure how much or what I can tell you."
Winry frowned angrily at him. "If you're about to give us some sort of 'for your own safety' bullshi--"
"It's not bullshit," Ed snapped. "Figuring out some of what I know has gotten people killed, Winry! And I'll be damned if I let you push me into telling you something I shouldn't!"
"Language, you two," Pinako said sharply as she poured her own coffee prior to taking her own seat.
"Sorry," Ed mumbled, looking back down into his drink, wrapping both hands around the mug. "Um, anyway, I didn't bring Al with me so that if I get caught, he won't be grabbed at the same time. He's fine though. Really. Nice and safe where no one can find him."
He chewed on his lip as he thought, while Winry started to look impatient. "Remember the stuff I've told you about homunculi?"
Winry nodded. "Some of it."
"Well, there's some around. I'm not telling you how many, where to find them, how to kill them, or anything like that because that falls under information that'll get you killed."
"That doesn't explain the soldiers after you though," Pinako observed.
Ed looked away and hunched his shoulders defensively. "Actually, it does. Turns out that it's possible to make them on purpose sometimes. Or maybe I should say 'us'."
Winry gasped and Pinako started coughing from inhaled coffee. Ed flicked his eyes over to Pinako in concern to make sure she'd be all right before looking back down. "Anyway, I ran away from... I can't tell you who. Another case of it being better for you not to know. I'm guessing the soldiers are being used so there'd be less ground for the others to cover. Not to mention, so they can do other things."
"By others, you mean the other homunculi?" Winry asked tentively, stumbling over the words slightly. Ed nodded while still looking down. An awkward silence settled in.
"Well," Pinako finally said. Ed looked up apprehensively. Pinako slid out of her seat, walked around the table, and reached out with one hand to grab Ed firmly by the chin to hold him still while she examined his face. Ed couldn't help letting some of his fear of rejection show.
"Well," Pinako repeated, before releasing him. "Winry, I believe that there is something the two of you should be doing?"
Ed sagged in relief as Winry nodded in agreement. "While I did bring some cash with me, I didn't dare dip into what I've saved up too deeply, so I may have to do some woodchopping or something for you to help pay."
Winry waved that aside. "We'll figure that out later. First, let's find out how much work, if any, needs to be done."
* * *
"I can see you've had someone else work on this," Winry commented as she poked at the insides of Ed's arm.
Ed nodded. "Uh huh. My arm kinda got a little, um, damaged." He winced. "The initial damage was completely not my fault but some other damage was, since it was from putting off having it seen at."
"I ought to hit you in the head for that," Winry grumbled. "Well, whoever-it-was did a good job. Almost as good as me. Just needs a couple of tweaks. They aren't really improvements on their work so much as stuff I was already intending to do the next time I got hold of you."
Ed fought back the urge to giggle hysterically. "I'll, uh, be sure to tell her that if I see her again."
She gave him a suspicious look before making the adjustments. "Okay, let me know if you can feel the difference."
Ed opened and closed his fist and otherwise moved his arm before nodding once. "Yeah."
"Good. Now let me take a look at your leg."
Ed obediently stuck out his leg for Winry to examine. "When was the last time you had this looked at?"
"Uh... I dunno? I forgot to have it looked at when my arm was repaired," Ed sheepishly admitted.
Winry rolled her eyes skywards and sighed heavily. "Well, the good news is that it doesn't need anything major done with it. Bad news is that I still need to take it off you so I can work on it. So it looks like you'll be using a loaner leg until at least tomorrow. I hope you didn't have plans to take off again already."
Ed shook his head. "While I didn't make any plans to stay overnight, I didn't make any to leave either."
Winry facepalmed before going to get the extra leg so it'd be handy for attachment when she removed Ed's. "Figures."
"This time, it was because I didn't know if I should have had plans or not. For all I knew, I could have been sent running from the house," Ed said quietly, fidgeting.
"...Oh." Winry quietly switched legs for him as he bit down on his lip in an effort to give himself something to focus on. "So what's different for you?"
"How do you mean? Abilities? I'm faster, stronger, have improved senses, and all that crap. Just the basic stuff," Ed said as he tested his balance before reaching for his pants after looking at Winry to get the nod to go ahead and get dressed again. "I also don't need human food; I need something else now. I do eat normal stuff sometimes though. I still sleep."
"Is there any particular reason you decided to drop in? Not that I'm complaining."
"I wanted to visit Mom and check on a few things. Which I'm gonna do after supper when it's dark out, so, uh, don't be surprised if I don't come back until after you've gone to bed, okay?" Ed rubbed at the back of his neck. "To tell the truth, I shouldn't have stopped here at the house. It's a self-indulgent little trip that I hope won't come back to bite any of us on the ass. You and Aunty, in particular."
"Well, it's appreciated. Nasty shock aside." Winry gave him a weak smile.
Ed ducked his head. "Sorry about that. I guess I could have at least tried to figure out a better way to tell you two, but there isn't really any good way to share that information."
"Well!" Winry tried for a bright tone. "Now that we've gotten that out of our systems, I think it's time for us to go see about supper and talk about normal things like how you're gonna pay me for my work..."
* * *
A shadow slipped out from the treeline before making its way to its intended destination and laid a rough-looking stone flower against a grave marker. "Sorry I couldn't have made it back sooner. Life sort of got in the way." A bitter laugh.
Ed sat down, drew up his legs, and wrapped his arms around them. "Al's fine; he's safe. I'm taking care of him like you told me to and I'm going to as long as he'll let me. I'm... not doing so well though. While I have been forcing myself to work through things and get over others, I still feel like a failure. And I'm not sure that'll ever go away."
He sits quietly like that for a few minutes before resting his forehead on his knees. "I'm sorry, Mom. I'm so sorry."
* * *
The next morning, Winry found him curled up, asleep.
"Hey," she said softly, so as not to startle him. "So there you are."
"Hmm?" Ed looks up groggily, the tear tracks on his face evident.
"Granny sent me out looking for you after I checked your room and found your bed hadn't been slept in."
"Oh. Um, sorry about that. I really did mean to come back and sleep inside like a civilized person..."
"It's fine. Really. Let's get you back and your face washed off before you start working, hmm?" Winry smiled gently as she stretched out a hand for Ed to take to help pull himself up.
"Winry? Thanks. I... Just thanks," Ed said softly, after accepting her hand and getting pulled to his feet.
Winry looked at him questionly and then understandingly. "No problem."