Do I Know You (FMA_Big_Bang Fic pt.1/3)
Title: Do I Know You: A Collection of First Meetings
Disclaimer : I Don't Own FMA
Word Count: 20, 700 +/- for last minute edits
Rating: PG/ PG13
Genre: Fluff, Humor, Angst
Characters/Pairings: EdxWinry, AlxMay, Pinako, WrathxMrs. Wrath, Rebecca, Havoc, Ross, Riza, Grumman, Roy, OlivierxBuccaneer, Miles, Henshel, Meas, Alex Louis, Gracia, HohenheimxTrisha, Phillip Gargantons ArmstrongxMrs. Armstrong, ad a few other OCs.
Summary: In which Ed decides what to do after retiring, Wrath decides to find a wife, Riza thinks she's propositioned Rebecca is looking for a decent man, Olivier takes her new men out for drinks, Meas buys some stationary, Hohenheim has a hang-over, Phillip Gargantons Breaks Tradition, and May bakes an apple pie.
Warning/Spoilers: Spoilers for chapter 88, Ishval Arc, and Hohenheim's past
A.N.: Posted in two parts because apparently it's too much for one post. Also posted here @fanfiction.net Beta'd by Everystep of fanfiction.net. Written for fma_big_bang <--a new fic posted there each weekday, go check it out
Messy Beginnings
Set Post-Manga
Ed stood at the edge of the road staring at the balcony of the yellow house, part of him hoping she would step out into the morning and call to him, demanding he get back inside before she beaned him with her wrench. The other part of him, the part that had planned this stealthy departure, was glad that even on her vacation she worked into the early hours and slept like a rock once her head hit the pillow.
Grumbling under his breath about how she’d wrench him when he got back, he turned away from the house and continued his walk to the train station.
.-.-.-.-.
Winry didn’t know where to look first. The open air market offered vendors selling everything under the sun: jewelry, pipes(she’d have to get one for Granny), paintings, needlework, glass work, food, weapons, automail, books, clothing, ceramics, furniture, and then there were the buildings surrounding the market: teashops, healing houses, bath houses, rentanjutsu temples, the royal garden, the clan houses, the palace, and so much more, more than their trip would allow her to see.
A door closed, and as she turned to look to her right, she blinked.
Suddenly she was looking at her desk. She sighed. After being home a couple days, she was ready to begin her vacation. Part of her wanted her vacation, her first real vacation, to last longer than three weeks, but so many people would be waiting for her to return to Rush Valley.
Her eyes widened as she realized Ed’s red coat was missing from where it had been hanging on the back of her desk chair.
Ed hadn’t worn the coat since he’d brought Al back after the eclipse. When she’d asked, he’d claimed the Resembool summer was just too damn hot for a coat, and it wasn’t like he had automail to cover anymore.
From what Al had told her, he never wore it anymore, but always took it with him when he traveled.
She wondered if it had become a second pocket watch, a reminder of past mistakes. As she threw back the blankets and ran into the hall calling his name, part of her hoped he was outside burning that coat and melting down his pocket watch, moving on.
He didn’t answer.
She checked his room-he always complained she kicked him in her sleep, maybe he’d gone back to his room-but it was empty.
Thunder filled the yellow house as she stormed down the stairs, still calling for him.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a blond head poke out of the kitchen door and she skidded to a halt.
“Told you she’d be up soon” Al said as May joined him at the kitchen door.
“Alphonse was teaching me to make pancakes, There’s even enough for Edward,” May announced, the dried up batter splattered on her apron evidence of her attempt at cooking.
“Ed’s here?” Winry asked, looking at Al.
Al’s smile faded. “He wasn’t in your room?”
She shook her head.
“He told me he’d have to go into town today. He must have left early.”
“Just into town? He took his coat,” Winry told him.
“That’s what he told me,” Al said through a frown. “Said he needed to pick up a few things before we leave,” he elaborated.
She nodded. She needed a few things herself. “I should go get what I need, too,” she mused.
“Why don’t you eat first,” Pinako said as she emerged from the staircase leading down to her workroom.
May nodded in agreement, an anxious smile on her face.
Winry’s shoulders sagged as Pinako gave her a push towards the kitchen.
“No use going into town on an empty stomach, you’re pockets will be lighter than you planned,” Pinako reasoned as she followed her granddaughter to the kitchen table.
.-.-.-.-.
Winry sighed as she got another no to her inquiry about Ed. No one had seen him. Either the whole town was conspiring against her finding him, or he’d become invisible-a feat impossible for someone so full of himself.
“Are you finished, Winry?” Al asked as he joined her in the sweets shop.
“Why don’t you go back ahead of me,” she suggested.
Al’s forehead wrinkles as his eyebrows knit together with worry. “We probably just missed him. He’s probably sitting at home complaining about,” he paused to look over his shoulder and continued when he saw they were alone aside from the shopkeeper, “May’s cooking.”
“I promised Nellie I’d visit before leaving,” Winry explained-not a complete lie-she was supposed to meet with Nellie before she left, but before she left for Rush Valley, not Xing.
“Want me to take those for you?” Al offered, reaching for her bags.
Despite her concern for Ed, she couldn’t help but grin at Al’s offer. “No thanks, it looks like May could use your help, though,” she suggested, pointing out the window to where May stood with her arms weighted down by bags, her little panda looking just as exhausted her.
Al groaned. “She didn’t tell me she wanted to buy souvenirs for all of Xing. Don’t be too late, I hear we’re having stew,” he called as he raced out of the shop.
Once Al had unburdened May of most of her bags and they disappeared from the view the shop window offered of the street, Winry left out of the door that lead to the next street over and headed to the train station.
.-.-.-.-.
“Can’t you speed things up a bit?” Ed snapped.
“Still as demanding as ever, aren’t we?” Roy asked through a smirk, purposely slowing down his writing.
“Being at the top gives him even more work to get done,” Riza cut in as she added another folder to the pile on Roy’s desk.
“Plus, I don’t want to let go of one of my best alchemists so easily,” Roy explained.
“You knew I was only doing this until I got things put back to normal,” Ed hissed.
Roy laughed. He’d miss the shrimp if only for the entertainment his visits provided.
“Sir, what have I advised about instigating, provoking, and procrastinating?” Riza asked from her desk.
It was Ed’s turn to smirk as Roy glared at him. Riza cleared her throat and Roy slid the paper across his desk.
“You have to sign and date there.”
Ed swiped a pen from Roy’s desk and skimmed over the retirement form to make sure Roy wasn’t pulling one over on him.
“And we need one last signature if the general would be so kind as to help us out, then we can retire your title,” Roy explained.
Before Ed could even turn around to look over at her desk, Riza was beside him. Once she added her signature next to Roy’s, she smiled at him. “It’s official, now,” she said, grabbing the stamp from Roy’s desk and marking the top of the paper with the Führer’s seal.
Roy grumbled about her taking the fun out of his job and snatched the stamp back.
Ed got up to leave.
“Hey, where do you think you’re going?” Roy demanded.
“What’s it to you, I’m a free man now.”
“You still have to turn in your watch.”
“What’dya mean? I thought only the alchemists who were fired had to turn them in?”
“Yeah, and the alchemists who owe me 520 cenz,” he added.
“I paid that back.”
“No, from the poker game. I won that fair and square.”
Ed grumbled as he reached into his pockets.
.-.-.-.-.
Winry checked her suit case for what seemed like the hundredth time. Part of her wanted to sit on her balcony with a lantern lit for him, while the rest of her wanted to sit out there in the dark with a wrench at the ready.
“He’d better get back in time to make the train for Xing,” she mumbled. He wasn’t going to ruin her first vacation-she’d just go without him.
A knock shook her out of her thought. Al stood at the edge of her room, nervously running a hand through his hair. “He’ll make it back in time,” he reassured her, reading her mind.
“He has to pack, too,” she reminded him.
“I already threw a few things together for him.”
She nodded, of course Al had thought of that. “You should get some sleep before we leave, trains aren’t very comfortable,” she reminded him.
.-.-.-.-.
Ed pushed away the hand that was shaking him. “I’m up, I’m up. We there yet?” Ed asked, annoyed that, despite Al having gotten his body back, he could probably still sleep through a robbery.
“The Resembool station is the next stop,” the ticket checker told him.
“Thanks.” Ed stood up and stretched to wake himself up as the man walked away with a few extra cenz in his pocket.
.-.-.-.-.
“You want to get me killed?” Ed asked as Den continued barking at him.
She wagged her tail and barked again.
Ed sighed.
The door of the house opened and Ed froze up.
Pinako flipped on the porch light. “Quiet down and get inside,” she huffed at the dog. “C’mon, you too,” she added when Ed didn’t move. “You should have told them you were going to Central,” she chided as he joined her in the house.
“Wouldn’t have been gone so long if that bastard hadn’t taken his time,” Ed mumbled in defense.
“Why’d he need you this time?”
“He didn’t,” he told her.
“Then why’d you go?” Winry demanded as she appeared at the top of the staircase.
Pinako chuckled. “I’ll be going for my morning walk, I don’t want to hear this row,” she said more to herself than them.
Den looked between Ed and Winry then padded after Pinako.
“Then why’d you go?” Winry repeated, now at the bottom of the stairs.
He didn’t answer, but pulled a box out of his pocket.
She shook her head. “No. Earrings aren’t going to work this time,” she told him as she walked away from him and to the kitchen.
Ed rolled his eyes and followed after her.
“Why don’t you go make sure Al and May are up, we have to leave soon,” she suggested, her tone telling him to obey or face dire consequences.
“No, I’ve got something to ask you first,” he said firmly.
“Fine, I’ll go make sure they’re awake,” she hissed and stomped past him back to the stairs.
“I’m going to kill Mustang for making this harder than it already is,” he grumbled as he grabbed hold of her arm.
“Ed,” she warned as she pulled away.
“I’m a civilian, now,” he blurted out.
Winry stopped in her tracks. “What?” she asked, not quite sure she believed him.
“I took my resignation papers straight to Mustang, and it’s official. No more license, no more getting called away for a mission, no more reports,” he elaborated.
She turned around to look at him, her mouth gaping open in betrayal of her cool demeanor.
He smirked.
“What are you going to do now?” she asked, curiosity getting the best of her.
“Well, I did have something in mind, but it requires your cooperation,” he told her as he took the velvet box out of his pocket again.
She gingerly accepted the box, watching him as she opened it.
“This one doesn’t go on your ears, so don’t go punching any more holes in them,” he teased.
A lump formed in her throat as she stared at the ring. She was torn between wanting to tell him he shouldn’t have worried her so much over it or that he could have been a bit more romantic about his proposal, but instead she asked, “Who picked it out?” It was so normal it couldn’t have been a pick made solely by the taste of Edward Elric.
His smirk faded. “Is that all you can say?” he huffed.
“I think I can help you with this,” she said matter-of-factly as she plucked the ring from its cushion.
He grinned at her, the weight of his proposal lifted from his shoulders. “I guess I’ll go pack for the trip to Xing.”
“Al already packed for you. Why don’t you help me make breakfast and some sandwiches for on the way there,” she suggested.
Ed nodded. “As long as it keeps May out of the kitchen,” he commented. “I didn’t know someone so good with formulas could make such a mess of cooking.”
“And I didn’t know a genius could make such a mess of proposing,” she shot back.
Melons
Set Pre-Manga
Despite his protests, the generals were still showering him with offers to set him up with sisters (some even daughters), claiming that the Führer should have someone to take care of the house and welcome him home at the end of the day.
Sometimes he wondered if they really knew what a homunculus was, to offer their loved ones to him so easily. But their eagerness to keep themselves firmly rooted in Father’s plans amused him.
.-.-.-.-.
The room was dark, the only light an eerie glow emitting from the pipes hooked up to Father.
“We should start looking into Ishval at our next meeting,” Father announced. “Anyone have anything else to report?” he asked, looking around the table to the homunculi embodying the emotions he’d cast off.
Wrath cleared his throat.
Father raised an eyebrow at his youngest creation.
“I think I should take a wife,” Wrath suggested.
“I wondered if any part of your human desires would break through,” Father mused.
Envy cackled. “You mean you don’t get enough of hanging around those insects every day?”
“Or else he wants one to toy with. Humans’ emotions are quite entertaining,” Lust offered.
“Humans seem to trust a man with a family more than a single man,” Wrath corrected.
Father nodded. “I once knew a human who told me family was important to them, made them happy. Well thought out Wrath. If you can find one who’ll agree to it, go ahead, but don’t get attached,” he cautioned. Father’s gaze left Wrath and settled on Pride. “Maybe he can adopt you.”
Pride glowered at Wrath.
.-.-.-.-.
Wrath chuckled to himself as he walked through the street market of Western. He was sure his bodyguards were going mad trying to find him. Pretty soon he’d have to leave his polka dot shirts behind for something else to disguise himself with when he ventured out of their watch, maybe one those hideous flowered shirts he saw tourists wearing. He pulled the brim of his straw hat lower as someone gave his eye patch a sideways look.
He sidestepped as someone rushed past him, and that was when he spotted them. His mouth watered at the sight of the striped melons tucked under a woman’s arms. Just a minute ago, he wouldn’t have ever admitted to being hungry.
He swerved to the left to avoid getting caught on the head by a bag of oranges a passer-by was swinging around, but he’d failed to notice the woman trying to pass him on his right.
As soon as her foot caught on his leg, he threw his arm out to stop her fall.
Before he even realized he was groping her, she slapped him, losing one of her watermelons in the process.
He stepped back.
She followed. “You…you…you lecherous cad!” she hissed.
Her eyes went wide as she was grabbed from behind and she lost her hold on the other watermelon.
“Apologize to the Führer,” a voice ordered into her ear.
Wrath clenched his jaw. “Major Fuller, release her. It was a misunderstanding, and my fault.”
The sweet scent of watermelon wafted through the air as she glared at Fuller and refused to meet Wrath’s eye.
“Let me replace those for you,” he offered when her eyes turned to the broken melons.
“They were the last two,” she told him, looking down at the mess regretfully. “Thank you, though. I’ll, I’ll just be on my way,” she stammered.
Wrath watched her as she left. She was certainly an interesting woman.
“Are you all right, Sir?” Fuller asked.
“Aside from the fact that you found me, wonderful, Major,” he said and continued on his way through the market. “I might be able to overlook the way you treated that woman if you can find out her name and address for me.”
.-.-.-.-.
She stared at the note tucked in her mailbox with contempt. That man was persistent. She vaguely wondered how he’d gotten her address, but then again, he was the Führer. She avoided the carefully folded note while she picked out the rest of her mail. Maybe, if she kept ignoring him, the notes would stop.
.-.-.-.-.
“I hear a woman got the best of you,” Lust teased.
Wrath shrugged.
She frowned. Teasing wasn’t any fun if he didn’t get riled up.
“Any luck with the hunt?” Pride asked. Father’s remark about adoption from their last meeting still haunted him. He’d have to act like a child. Let all those humans condescend to him. He repressed a shiver at the thought of that torture.
“You know women,” Wrath said as he looked at Lust.
“What of it?”
“How do I woo her?” he asked. So far she hadn’t sent a response to any of his invitations.
“Compliment her,” Lust suggested.
“Chocolates,” Glutton chimed in.
.-.-.-.-.
With her mailbox full of those notes, she finally gave in and took them inside. Just seconds away from dumping them in the trash, she decided it would be best to put an end to the Führer’s interest in her before her parents returned from their vacation.
Sorting the notes by date, she was surprised to find he was in town for the week. She found a blank sheet of paper in her father’s study and wrote out her agreement to meet him for dinner.
.-.-.-.-.
The restaurant was empty save for him, the staff, and his body guards. From where he sat, he couldn’t see outside, but he found himself turning around in his chair to peer out the windows every few minutes.
After what felt like an eternity (he’d never been made to wait before), a waiter hurried to the door and let her in. Her pink and purple gown shimmered in the candlelight of the restaurant.
He smiled and rose from his seat as she neared the table.
A busboy ran out from the kitchen and pulled out her chair. He flashed a toothy grin at Wrath, his eyes going purple for a moment.
Wrath frowned at the busboy-he hadn’t known Envy was in Western.
.-.-.-.-.
“So, you were in disguise that day?” she asked.
He nodded.
“You shouldn’t go off on your own, what if something happens?” she scolded.
He laughed. No one had worried about him like that in ages. Probably not since before he’d been scooped up for training as a boy.
“It’s really not a laughing matter,” she huffed.
“Sometimes I need to see what’s going on in the country when people don’t know I’m around,” he explained.
“Then your retinue of guards can put themselves in disguise, too,” she suggested.
He opened his mouth and then snapped it shut when no counter argument jumped to mind.
She gave him a triumphant grin and took a sip of champagne.
“You know, if you put as much time and effort into persuading Aerugo, Creta, and Drachma to stop these perpetual border skirmishes we’re always having as you did when trying to persuade me to join you for dinner, our country would be a bit more tranquil,” she criticized, opening her purse and pulling out a handful of notes he’d sent her.
“But I couldn’t get you and your melons off my mind.”
“Me and my melons?” she asked, her cheeks puffed up.
“Yes, you and your beautiful-”
SMACK
He blinked.
She was already across the restaurant when he finished his sentence. “-watermelons.”
She turned around to look at him as she pulled the door open. “And stop sending me notes,” she demanded.
His eyes followed her as she stormed down the street.
Someone was chuckling.
“Wait until I tell Lust,” Envy squealed through his laughter as he transformed back into his usual appearance.
Wrath ignored him.
“Major Fuller, go out and have a dozen flowers sent to her, something that means hope-no note.”
A Decent Man
Set between the events of chapters 83 & 88(spoilers)
As the bell chimed informing him of a customer, Havoc looked up from the book in his hand and saw a familiar woman sauntering around the store. By the way her dark eyes roamed deliberately across the shelves, he knew she already had what she wanted in mind. She wasn’t there to look around.
He dog-eared the page he was on, setting the book on the counter as he wheeled around it to meet her.
At the sound of his wheelchair gliding across the hardwood floor, she frowned at him.
“I thought Havoc Sundries had everything,” she complained, folding her arms under her breast, drawing even more attention to the area than the shirt pulled taught across them did.
“Everything but you,” he replied, trying to be suave.
She laughed. “And why would I be looking for another me?” she asked. Her eyebrow rose in question and she tapped her booted foot impatiently. It had been a long day, and she already had to put up with Grumman’s winks and mentions of how it’d be shame to mankind if she ever stopped whatever workout was keeping her butt in such great condition. To top it all off, he was the one who sent her to the shop in the first place, ensuring her she’d find who she’d talked to Riza about in the sundries shop, and she knew Grumman well enough to know that there was more to her pit stop on the way home than finding a good man.
“I suppose you wouldn’t. What were you looking for, Ma’am?” he inquired, drawing out the nicety to irritate her.
She huffed indignantly.
He smirked.
“A good man, with plenty of money to spoil me,” she paused for a moment and brought her hand to her chin while she sized him up, “Obviously you don’t have any of those in stock,” she hissed.
“No, because we only have men looking for women who’ll be good to them,” he shot back.
She narrowed her eyes at him, but refused to take his bait.
“Well,” she drew out the word as she made a show of glancing around the shelves again, “since you can’t give me what I want, I think you owe me one,” she declared.
“Oh, I do, do I?”
“That’s right.”
“That’s not really how we work here,” he told her, rolling back and forth in his wheelchair.
“Really?” she asked, quirking her brow again as she tapped her chin. “I do recall haggling here, before.”
He sighed. “My mother’s always had a soft spot when it came to dealing with military women, but she’s not here right now.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “Well?”
He ran a hand through his hair, lost in thought.
“You know, I could help you out if you wanted to bat for the other team,” he suggested, smirking at her pursed lips.
She tilted her head to the side for a moment, considering his offer; sure he knew exactly why she was there in the first place. “Well, it couldn’t be anyone from around here. I wouldn’t want the word spreading. I do like men after all, but maybe I could try…” she trailed off.
“I always knew you were adventurous,” he murmured.
“Adventurous, is that the word? I thought people called it curious,” she corrected.
He nodded in agreement. “I guess you could call it curious, but curious isn’t what she’s looking for,” he explained, rolling himself back behind the counter.
She followed him to the counter, leaning her elbow against it as she watched him fish around for something in a cubby hole. “Why, because curiosity killed the cat?”
He laughed, but didn’t answer.
She looked along the closest shelves, uncertain what his silence meant.
While he continued digging, she held out her hand and inspected her nails. She’d given up hope on ever making them look decent unless she was on leave. It was either chip one while running drills or during target practice. Not that they were really worth keeping long in the end, not with gunpowder caking under them, or even dirt if she was on assignment.
Havoc slammed his hand down on the counter, a rumpled, well used looking piece of paper poking out from under his fingers.
She reached for it.
He slid his hand back.
“You know, she’s looking for adventure, maybe a reason to return,” he cautioned.
“I thought I said I wouldn’t want people talking,” she reminded him.
“Well, I’d pass her number along to Hawkeye, but it seems someone’s already got their eyes on her. She’d give her what she wants,” he said matter-of-factly.
Rebecca glared at him. Since when was Riza more adventurous than her? Now she had to follow through, prove herself.
“Give it,” she ordered, her palm open and ready for him to follow her command.
“Not quite yet, I need to make sure you two get along. I promised. Not to mention I’m still the only one she’ll talk to,” he explained when she growled at him. He motioned for her to join him behind the counter. Just as he rounded the counter, he turned his wheelchair around and disappeared into the back room. She followed.
Light from the backdoor silhouetted him as he called for someone outside.
A boy pushed by Havoc and into the backroom. “Yeah?” he asked.
“Watch the counter for a few minutes. I need to call in an order,” Havoc told him.
“Same payment as usual?” he asked.
Havoc nodded, and the young man quickly made his way from the back room to the shop.
“Close the other door,” Havoc ordered as he pulled the back door shut.
Rebecca pushed the door shut separating the shop and stock room. The room went dark around her. She followed the soft whir of the rotary dial to where he sat, cursing under her breath as she caught her leg on something and nearly fell.
Chuckling, he flicked open his lighter and brought the flame to a candle.
“Ha ha,” she laughed unenthusiastically, shooting him a glare as she doubled over to rub her throbbing shin.
“Hello, I’m calling for Miss Ross. Mhm, Jean Havoc. I’ll wait.”
Rebecca’s eyes narrowed. Ross, she’d heard that name before. She straightened and spotted a chair at the desk. Without a word, she plopped herself in it while she wracked her brain for the name.
“Xing still treating you well?” Havoc asked.
Rebecca was brought back from her thoughts as he laughed.
“Yeah, well I’ll stop if they can find some way to get me out of this chair. How’s that sound?” he bargained into the receiver, a grin on his face.
“Yeah, I’ve got a curious one here with me.”
Rebecca’s eyes widened as Havoc suddenly thrust the receiver in her direction.
“Uhm, hello?”
“Rebecca Catalina?” a voice asked.
“Miss Ross?”
The voice laughed. “Call me Maria.”
Rebecca nearly dropped the receiver as the name slid home. Maria Ross, dead by Mustang’s…
Havoc gave a smug, amused smile at her reaction. Oh how he wished he had a camera with him to capture the way her lips formed a perfect “o” as the pieces fell in place.
Now she was nodding to the phone and Havoc knew Maria was recounting her escape to the sniper.
“Happy Bear Ice Cream? Yeah, I like it. Mhm, I’ve seen the trucks before. I think I could get leave, go on a trip,” Rebecca stammered.
“Then it’s all set,” Havoc said as he reached for the phone.
Rebecca pulled away, but a click sounded in her ear and then the dial tone beeped. She frowned at the receiver a moment and then handed it back to Havoc.
“So, there’s no turning back,” he told her as he placed the receiver in its cradle.
She chuckled. “I think there was no turning back a long time ago,” she scoffed as she recalled the first information gathering operation she’d done for Grumman. The filthy old codger. She really needed to find a decent man after this was all over.
Business taken care of, she stood.
“Payment?” Havoc demanded.
Her eye twitched. “Payment?” she echoed, an eyebrow rose in question as her foul mood started to return.
“Mhm, payment.”
She nodded and leaned down so they were eye to eye, and then leaned forward. Her breath was on his cheek.
With a devious grin, she blew out the candle behind him and ruffled his hair.
“Put it on Mustang’s tab,” she whispered as she backed away.
She dashed for the backdoor as he grumbled about her being a tease.
She looked back as she pushed the door open, and found him nearly on her heels. With a cry of triumph she slammed the door closed and ran around to the front of the shop, where her taxi was supposed to have been waiting.
With an exasperated sigh, she made her way to the nearest pub. They’d have a phone and she could get a cold drink while she waited for the taxi, maybe even find a good man.
Part 2/3 here
Part 3/3 here
Disclaimer : I Don't Own FMA
Word Count: 20, 700 +/- for last minute edits
Rating: PG/ PG13
Genre: Fluff, Humor, Angst
Characters/Pairings: EdxWinry, AlxMay, Pinako, WrathxMrs. Wrath, Rebecca, Havoc, Ross, Riza, Grumman, Roy, OlivierxBuccaneer, Miles, Henshel, Meas, Alex Louis, Gracia, HohenheimxTrisha, Phillip Gargantons ArmstrongxMrs. Armstrong, ad a few other OCs.
Summary: In which Ed decides what to do after retiring, Wrath decides to find a wife, Riza thinks she's propositioned Rebecca is looking for a decent man, Olivier takes her new men out for drinks, Meas buys some stationary, Hohenheim has a hang-over, Phillip Gargantons Breaks Tradition, and May bakes an apple pie.
Warning/Spoilers: Spoilers for chapter 88, Ishval Arc, and Hohenheim's past
A.N.: Posted in two parts because apparently it's too much for one post. Also posted here @fanfiction.net Beta'd by Everystep of fanfiction.net. Written for fma_big_bang <--a new fic posted there each weekday, go check it out
Messy Beginnings
Set Post-Manga
Ed stood at the edge of the road staring at the balcony of the yellow house, part of him hoping she would step out into the morning and call to him, demanding he get back inside before she beaned him with her wrench. The other part of him, the part that had planned this stealthy departure, was glad that even on her vacation she worked into the early hours and slept like a rock once her head hit the pillow.
Grumbling under his breath about how she’d wrench him when he got back, he turned away from the house and continued his walk to the train station.
.-.-.-.-.
Winry didn’t know where to look first. The open air market offered vendors selling everything under the sun: jewelry, pipes(she’d have to get one for Granny), paintings, needlework, glass work, food, weapons, automail, books, clothing, ceramics, furniture, and then there were the buildings surrounding the market: teashops, healing houses, bath houses, rentanjutsu temples, the royal garden, the clan houses, the palace, and so much more, more than their trip would allow her to see.
A door closed, and as she turned to look to her right, she blinked.
Suddenly she was looking at her desk. She sighed. After being home a couple days, she was ready to begin her vacation. Part of her wanted her vacation, her first real vacation, to last longer than three weeks, but so many people would be waiting for her to return to Rush Valley.
Her eyes widened as she realized Ed’s red coat was missing from where it had been hanging on the back of her desk chair.
Ed hadn’t worn the coat since he’d brought Al back after the eclipse. When she’d asked, he’d claimed the Resembool summer was just too damn hot for a coat, and it wasn’t like he had automail to cover anymore.
From what Al had told her, he never wore it anymore, but always took it with him when he traveled.
She wondered if it had become a second pocket watch, a reminder of past mistakes. As she threw back the blankets and ran into the hall calling his name, part of her hoped he was outside burning that coat and melting down his pocket watch, moving on.
He didn’t answer.
She checked his room-he always complained she kicked him in her sleep, maybe he’d gone back to his room-but it was empty.
Thunder filled the yellow house as she stormed down the stairs, still calling for him.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a blond head poke out of the kitchen door and she skidded to a halt.
“Told you she’d be up soon” Al said as May joined him at the kitchen door.
“Alphonse was teaching me to make pancakes, There’s even enough for Edward,” May announced, the dried up batter splattered on her apron evidence of her attempt at cooking.
“Ed’s here?” Winry asked, looking at Al.
Al’s smile faded. “He wasn’t in your room?”
She shook her head.
“He told me he’d have to go into town today. He must have left early.”
“Just into town? He took his coat,” Winry told him.
“That’s what he told me,” Al said through a frown. “Said he needed to pick up a few things before we leave,” he elaborated.
She nodded. She needed a few things herself. “I should go get what I need, too,” she mused.
“Why don’t you eat first,” Pinako said as she emerged from the staircase leading down to her workroom.
May nodded in agreement, an anxious smile on her face.
Winry’s shoulders sagged as Pinako gave her a push towards the kitchen.
“No use going into town on an empty stomach, you’re pockets will be lighter than you planned,” Pinako reasoned as she followed her granddaughter to the kitchen table.
.-.-.-.-.
Winry sighed as she got another no to her inquiry about Ed. No one had seen him. Either the whole town was conspiring against her finding him, or he’d become invisible-a feat impossible for someone so full of himself.
“Are you finished, Winry?” Al asked as he joined her in the sweets shop.
“Why don’t you go back ahead of me,” she suggested.
Al’s forehead wrinkles as his eyebrows knit together with worry. “We probably just missed him. He’s probably sitting at home complaining about,” he paused to look over his shoulder and continued when he saw they were alone aside from the shopkeeper, “May’s cooking.”
“I promised Nellie I’d visit before leaving,” Winry explained-not a complete lie-she was supposed to meet with Nellie before she left, but before she left for Rush Valley, not Xing.
“Want me to take those for you?” Al offered, reaching for her bags.
Despite her concern for Ed, she couldn’t help but grin at Al’s offer. “No thanks, it looks like May could use your help, though,” she suggested, pointing out the window to where May stood with her arms weighted down by bags, her little panda looking just as exhausted her.
Al groaned. “She didn’t tell me she wanted to buy souvenirs for all of Xing. Don’t be too late, I hear we’re having stew,” he called as he raced out of the shop.
Once Al had unburdened May of most of her bags and they disappeared from the view the shop window offered of the street, Winry left out of the door that lead to the next street over and headed to the train station.
.-.-.-.-.
“Can’t you speed things up a bit?” Ed snapped.
“Still as demanding as ever, aren’t we?” Roy asked through a smirk, purposely slowing down his writing.
“Being at the top gives him even more work to get done,” Riza cut in as she added another folder to the pile on Roy’s desk.
“Plus, I don’t want to let go of one of my best alchemists so easily,” Roy explained.
“You knew I was only doing this until I got things put back to normal,” Ed hissed.
Roy laughed. He’d miss the shrimp if only for the entertainment his visits provided.
“Sir, what have I advised about instigating, provoking, and procrastinating?” Riza asked from her desk.
It was Ed’s turn to smirk as Roy glared at him. Riza cleared her throat and Roy slid the paper across his desk.
“You have to sign and date there.”
Ed swiped a pen from Roy’s desk and skimmed over the retirement form to make sure Roy wasn’t pulling one over on him.
“And we need one last signature if the general would be so kind as to help us out, then we can retire your title,” Roy explained.
Before Ed could even turn around to look over at her desk, Riza was beside him. Once she added her signature next to Roy’s, she smiled at him. “It’s official, now,” she said, grabbing the stamp from Roy’s desk and marking the top of the paper with the Führer’s seal.
Roy grumbled about her taking the fun out of his job and snatched the stamp back.
Ed got up to leave.
“Hey, where do you think you’re going?” Roy demanded.
“What’s it to you, I’m a free man now.”
“You still have to turn in your watch.”
“What’dya mean? I thought only the alchemists who were fired had to turn them in?”
“Yeah, and the alchemists who owe me 520 cenz,” he added.
“I paid that back.”
“No, from the poker game. I won that fair and square.”
Ed grumbled as he reached into his pockets.
.-.-.-.-.
Winry checked her suit case for what seemed like the hundredth time. Part of her wanted to sit on her balcony with a lantern lit for him, while the rest of her wanted to sit out there in the dark with a wrench at the ready.
“He’d better get back in time to make the train for Xing,” she mumbled. He wasn’t going to ruin her first vacation-she’d just go without him.
A knock shook her out of her thought. Al stood at the edge of her room, nervously running a hand through his hair. “He’ll make it back in time,” he reassured her, reading her mind.
“He has to pack, too,” she reminded him.
“I already threw a few things together for him.”
She nodded, of course Al had thought of that. “You should get some sleep before we leave, trains aren’t very comfortable,” she reminded him.
.-.-.-.-.
Ed pushed away the hand that was shaking him. “I’m up, I’m up. We there yet?” Ed asked, annoyed that, despite Al having gotten his body back, he could probably still sleep through a robbery.
“The Resembool station is the next stop,” the ticket checker told him.
“Thanks.” Ed stood up and stretched to wake himself up as the man walked away with a few extra cenz in his pocket.
.-.-.-.-.
“You want to get me killed?” Ed asked as Den continued barking at him.
She wagged her tail and barked again.
Ed sighed.
The door of the house opened and Ed froze up.
Pinako flipped on the porch light. “Quiet down and get inside,” she huffed at the dog. “C’mon, you too,” she added when Ed didn’t move. “You should have told them you were going to Central,” she chided as he joined her in the house.
“Wouldn’t have been gone so long if that bastard hadn’t taken his time,” Ed mumbled in defense.
“Why’d he need you this time?”
“He didn’t,” he told her.
“Then why’d you go?” Winry demanded as she appeared at the top of the staircase.
Pinako chuckled. “I’ll be going for my morning walk, I don’t want to hear this row,” she said more to herself than them.
Den looked between Ed and Winry then padded after Pinako.
“Then why’d you go?” Winry repeated, now at the bottom of the stairs.
He didn’t answer, but pulled a box out of his pocket.
She shook her head. “No. Earrings aren’t going to work this time,” she told him as she walked away from him and to the kitchen.
Ed rolled his eyes and followed after her.
“Why don’t you go make sure Al and May are up, we have to leave soon,” she suggested, her tone telling him to obey or face dire consequences.
“No, I’ve got something to ask you first,” he said firmly.
“Fine, I’ll go make sure they’re awake,” she hissed and stomped past him back to the stairs.
“I’m going to kill Mustang for making this harder than it already is,” he grumbled as he grabbed hold of her arm.
“Ed,” she warned as she pulled away.
“I’m a civilian, now,” he blurted out.
Winry stopped in her tracks. “What?” she asked, not quite sure she believed him.
“I took my resignation papers straight to Mustang, and it’s official. No more license, no more getting called away for a mission, no more reports,” he elaborated.
She turned around to look at him, her mouth gaping open in betrayal of her cool demeanor.
He smirked.
“What are you going to do now?” she asked, curiosity getting the best of her.
“Well, I did have something in mind, but it requires your cooperation,” he told her as he took the velvet box out of his pocket again.
She gingerly accepted the box, watching him as she opened it.
“This one doesn’t go on your ears, so don’t go punching any more holes in them,” he teased.
A lump formed in her throat as she stared at the ring. She was torn between wanting to tell him he shouldn’t have worried her so much over it or that he could have been a bit more romantic about his proposal, but instead she asked, “Who picked it out?” It was so normal it couldn’t have been a pick made solely by the taste of Edward Elric.
His smirk faded. “Is that all you can say?” he huffed.
“I think I can help you with this,” she said matter-of-factly as she plucked the ring from its cushion.
He grinned at her, the weight of his proposal lifted from his shoulders. “I guess I’ll go pack for the trip to Xing.”
“Al already packed for you. Why don’t you help me make breakfast and some sandwiches for on the way there,” she suggested.
Ed nodded. “As long as it keeps May out of the kitchen,” he commented. “I didn’t know someone so good with formulas could make such a mess of cooking.”
“And I didn’t know a genius could make such a mess of proposing,” she shot back.
Melons
Set Pre-Manga
Despite his protests, the generals were still showering him with offers to set him up with sisters (some even daughters), claiming that the Führer should have someone to take care of the house and welcome him home at the end of the day.
Sometimes he wondered if they really knew what a homunculus was, to offer their loved ones to him so easily. But their eagerness to keep themselves firmly rooted in Father’s plans amused him.
.-.-.-.-.
The room was dark, the only light an eerie glow emitting from the pipes hooked up to Father.
“We should start looking into Ishval at our next meeting,” Father announced. “Anyone have anything else to report?” he asked, looking around the table to the homunculi embodying the emotions he’d cast off.
Wrath cleared his throat.
Father raised an eyebrow at his youngest creation.
“I think I should take a wife,” Wrath suggested.
“I wondered if any part of your human desires would break through,” Father mused.
Envy cackled. “You mean you don’t get enough of hanging around those insects every day?”
“Or else he wants one to toy with. Humans’ emotions are quite entertaining,” Lust offered.
“Humans seem to trust a man with a family more than a single man,” Wrath corrected.
Father nodded. “I once knew a human who told me family was important to them, made them happy. Well thought out Wrath. If you can find one who’ll agree to it, go ahead, but don’t get attached,” he cautioned. Father’s gaze left Wrath and settled on Pride. “Maybe he can adopt you.”
Pride glowered at Wrath.
.-.-.-.-.
Wrath chuckled to himself as he walked through the street market of Western. He was sure his bodyguards were going mad trying to find him. Pretty soon he’d have to leave his polka dot shirts behind for something else to disguise himself with when he ventured out of their watch, maybe one those hideous flowered shirts he saw tourists wearing. He pulled the brim of his straw hat lower as someone gave his eye patch a sideways look.
He sidestepped as someone rushed past him, and that was when he spotted them. His mouth watered at the sight of the striped melons tucked under a woman’s arms. Just a minute ago, he wouldn’t have ever admitted to being hungry.
He swerved to the left to avoid getting caught on the head by a bag of oranges a passer-by was swinging around, but he’d failed to notice the woman trying to pass him on his right.
As soon as her foot caught on his leg, he threw his arm out to stop her fall.
Before he even realized he was groping her, she slapped him, losing one of her watermelons in the process.
He stepped back.
She followed. “You…you…you lecherous cad!” she hissed.
Her eyes went wide as she was grabbed from behind and she lost her hold on the other watermelon.
“Apologize to the Führer,” a voice ordered into her ear.
Wrath clenched his jaw. “Major Fuller, release her. It was a misunderstanding, and my fault.”
The sweet scent of watermelon wafted through the air as she glared at Fuller and refused to meet Wrath’s eye.
“Let me replace those for you,” he offered when her eyes turned to the broken melons.
“They were the last two,” she told him, looking down at the mess regretfully. “Thank you, though. I’ll, I’ll just be on my way,” she stammered.
Wrath watched her as she left. She was certainly an interesting woman.
“Are you all right, Sir?” Fuller asked.
“Aside from the fact that you found me, wonderful, Major,” he said and continued on his way through the market. “I might be able to overlook the way you treated that woman if you can find out her name and address for me.”
.-.-.-.-.
She stared at the note tucked in her mailbox with contempt. That man was persistent. She vaguely wondered how he’d gotten her address, but then again, he was the Führer. She avoided the carefully folded note while she picked out the rest of her mail. Maybe, if she kept ignoring him, the notes would stop.
.-.-.-.-.
“I hear a woman got the best of you,” Lust teased.
Wrath shrugged.
She frowned. Teasing wasn’t any fun if he didn’t get riled up.
“Any luck with the hunt?” Pride asked. Father’s remark about adoption from their last meeting still haunted him. He’d have to act like a child. Let all those humans condescend to him. He repressed a shiver at the thought of that torture.
“You know women,” Wrath said as he looked at Lust.
“What of it?”
“How do I woo her?” he asked. So far she hadn’t sent a response to any of his invitations.
“Compliment her,” Lust suggested.
“Chocolates,” Glutton chimed in.
.-.-.-.-.
With her mailbox full of those notes, she finally gave in and took them inside. Just seconds away from dumping them in the trash, she decided it would be best to put an end to the Führer’s interest in her before her parents returned from their vacation.
Sorting the notes by date, she was surprised to find he was in town for the week. She found a blank sheet of paper in her father’s study and wrote out her agreement to meet him for dinner.
.-.-.-.-.
The restaurant was empty save for him, the staff, and his body guards. From where he sat, he couldn’t see outside, but he found himself turning around in his chair to peer out the windows every few minutes.
After what felt like an eternity (he’d never been made to wait before), a waiter hurried to the door and let her in. Her pink and purple gown shimmered in the candlelight of the restaurant.
He smiled and rose from his seat as she neared the table.
A busboy ran out from the kitchen and pulled out her chair. He flashed a toothy grin at Wrath, his eyes going purple for a moment.
Wrath frowned at the busboy-he hadn’t known Envy was in Western.
.-.-.-.-.
“So, you were in disguise that day?” she asked.
He nodded.
“You shouldn’t go off on your own, what if something happens?” she scolded.
He laughed. No one had worried about him like that in ages. Probably not since before he’d been scooped up for training as a boy.
“It’s really not a laughing matter,” she huffed.
“Sometimes I need to see what’s going on in the country when people don’t know I’m around,” he explained.
“Then your retinue of guards can put themselves in disguise, too,” she suggested.
He opened his mouth and then snapped it shut when no counter argument jumped to mind.
She gave him a triumphant grin and took a sip of champagne.
“You know, if you put as much time and effort into persuading Aerugo, Creta, and Drachma to stop these perpetual border skirmishes we’re always having as you did when trying to persuade me to join you for dinner, our country would be a bit more tranquil,” she criticized, opening her purse and pulling out a handful of notes he’d sent her.
“But I couldn’t get you and your melons off my mind.”
“Me and my melons?” she asked, her cheeks puffed up.
“Yes, you and your beautiful-”
SMACK
He blinked.
She was already across the restaurant when he finished his sentence. “-watermelons.”
She turned around to look at him as she pulled the door open. “And stop sending me notes,” she demanded.
His eyes followed her as she stormed down the street.
Someone was chuckling.
“Wait until I tell Lust,” Envy squealed through his laughter as he transformed back into his usual appearance.
Wrath ignored him.
“Major Fuller, go out and have a dozen flowers sent to her, something that means hope-no note.”
A Decent Man
Set between the events of chapters 83 & 88(spoilers)
As the bell chimed informing him of a customer, Havoc looked up from the book in his hand and saw a familiar woman sauntering around the store. By the way her dark eyes roamed deliberately across the shelves, he knew she already had what she wanted in mind. She wasn’t there to look around.
He dog-eared the page he was on, setting the book on the counter as he wheeled around it to meet her.
At the sound of his wheelchair gliding across the hardwood floor, she frowned at him.
“I thought Havoc Sundries had everything,” she complained, folding her arms under her breast, drawing even more attention to the area than the shirt pulled taught across them did.
“Everything but you,” he replied, trying to be suave.
She laughed. “And why would I be looking for another me?” she asked. Her eyebrow rose in question and she tapped her booted foot impatiently. It had been a long day, and she already had to put up with Grumman’s winks and mentions of how it’d be shame to mankind if she ever stopped whatever workout was keeping her butt in such great condition. To top it all off, he was the one who sent her to the shop in the first place, ensuring her she’d find who she’d talked to Riza about in the sundries shop, and she knew Grumman well enough to know that there was more to her pit stop on the way home than finding a good man.
“I suppose you wouldn’t. What were you looking for, Ma’am?” he inquired, drawing out the nicety to irritate her.
She huffed indignantly.
He smirked.
“A good man, with plenty of money to spoil me,” she paused for a moment and brought her hand to her chin while she sized him up, “Obviously you don’t have any of those in stock,” she hissed.
“No, because we only have men looking for women who’ll be good to them,” he shot back.
She narrowed her eyes at him, but refused to take his bait.
“Well,” she drew out the word as she made a show of glancing around the shelves again, “since you can’t give me what I want, I think you owe me one,” she declared.
“Oh, I do, do I?”
“That’s right.”
“That’s not really how we work here,” he told her, rolling back and forth in his wheelchair.
“Really?” she asked, quirking her brow again as she tapped her chin. “I do recall haggling here, before.”
He sighed. “My mother’s always had a soft spot when it came to dealing with military women, but she’s not here right now.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “Well?”
He ran a hand through his hair, lost in thought.
“You know, I could help you out if you wanted to bat for the other team,” he suggested, smirking at her pursed lips.
She tilted her head to the side for a moment, considering his offer; sure he knew exactly why she was there in the first place. “Well, it couldn’t be anyone from around here. I wouldn’t want the word spreading. I do like men after all, but maybe I could try…” she trailed off.
“I always knew you were adventurous,” he murmured.
“Adventurous, is that the word? I thought people called it curious,” she corrected.
He nodded in agreement. “I guess you could call it curious, but curious isn’t what she’s looking for,” he explained, rolling himself back behind the counter.
She followed him to the counter, leaning her elbow against it as she watched him fish around for something in a cubby hole. “Why, because curiosity killed the cat?”
He laughed, but didn’t answer.
She looked along the closest shelves, uncertain what his silence meant.
While he continued digging, she held out her hand and inspected her nails. She’d given up hope on ever making them look decent unless she was on leave. It was either chip one while running drills or during target practice. Not that they were really worth keeping long in the end, not with gunpowder caking under them, or even dirt if she was on assignment.
Havoc slammed his hand down on the counter, a rumpled, well used looking piece of paper poking out from under his fingers.
She reached for it.
He slid his hand back.
“You know, she’s looking for adventure, maybe a reason to return,” he cautioned.
“I thought I said I wouldn’t want people talking,” she reminded him.
“Well, I’d pass her number along to Hawkeye, but it seems someone’s already got their eyes on her. She’d give her what she wants,” he said matter-of-factly.
Rebecca glared at him. Since when was Riza more adventurous than her? Now she had to follow through, prove herself.
“Give it,” she ordered, her palm open and ready for him to follow her command.
“Not quite yet, I need to make sure you two get along. I promised. Not to mention I’m still the only one she’ll talk to,” he explained when she growled at him. He motioned for her to join him behind the counter. Just as he rounded the counter, he turned his wheelchair around and disappeared into the back room. She followed.
Light from the backdoor silhouetted him as he called for someone outside.
A boy pushed by Havoc and into the backroom. “Yeah?” he asked.
“Watch the counter for a few minutes. I need to call in an order,” Havoc told him.
“Same payment as usual?” he asked.
Havoc nodded, and the young man quickly made his way from the back room to the shop.
“Close the other door,” Havoc ordered as he pulled the back door shut.
Rebecca pushed the door shut separating the shop and stock room. The room went dark around her. She followed the soft whir of the rotary dial to where he sat, cursing under her breath as she caught her leg on something and nearly fell.
Chuckling, he flicked open his lighter and brought the flame to a candle.
“Ha ha,” she laughed unenthusiastically, shooting him a glare as she doubled over to rub her throbbing shin.
“Hello, I’m calling for Miss Ross. Mhm, Jean Havoc. I’ll wait.”
Rebecca’s eyes narrowed. Ross, she’d heard that name before. She straightened and spotted a chair at the desk. Without a word, she plopped herself in it while she wracked her brain for the name.
“Xing still treating you well?” Havoc asked.
Rebecca was brought back from her thoughts as he laughed.
“Yeah, well I’ll stop if they can find some way to get me out of this chair. How’s that sound?” he bargained into the receiver, a grin on his face.
“Yeah, I’ve got a curious one here with me.”
Rebecca’s eyes widened as Havoc suddenly thrust the receiver in her direction.
“Uhm, hello?”
“Rebecca Catalina?” a voice asked.
“Miss Ross?”
The voice laughed. “Call me Maria.”
Rebecca nearly dropped the receiver as the name slid home. Maria Ross, dead by Mustang’s…
Havoc gave a smug, amused smile at her reaction. Oh how he wished he had a camera with him to capture the way her lips formed a perfect “o” as the pieces fell in place.
Now she was nodding to the phone and Havoc knew Maria was recounting her escape to the sniper.
“Happy Bear Ice Cream? Yeah, I like it. Mhm, I’ve seen the trucks before. I think I could get leave, go on a trip,” Rebecca stammered.
“Then it’s all set,” Havoc said as he reached for the phone.
Rebecca pulled away, but a click sounded in her ear and then the dial tone beeped. She frowned at the receiver a moment and then handed it back to Havoc.
“So, there’s no turning back,” he told her as he placed the receiver in its cradle.
She chuckled. “I think there was no turning back a long time ago,” she scoffed as she recalled the first information gathering operation she’d done for Grumman. The filthy old codger. She really needed to find a decent man after this was all over.
Business taken care of, she stood.
“Payment?” Havoc demanded.
Her eye twitched. “Payment?” she echoed, an eyebrow rose in question as her foul mood started to return.
“Mhm, payment.”
She nodded and leaned down so they were eye to eye, and then leaned forward. Her breath was on his cheek.
With a devious grin, she blew out the candle behind him and ruffled his hair.
“Put it on Mustang’s tab,” she whispered as she backed away.
She dashed for the backdoor as he grumbled about her being a tease.
She looked back as she pushed the door open, and found him nearly on her heels. With a cry of triumph she slammed the door closed and ran around to the front of the shop, where her taxi was supposed to have been waiting.
With an exasperated sigh, she made her way to the nearest pub. They’d have a phone and she could get a cold drink while she waited for the taxi, maybe even find a good man.
Part 2/3 here
Part 3/3 here