Work Text:
Snow fell around them, blanketing the countryside in white. Silence smothered the hills and even through it was seven o’clock at in the evening, the snow made everything seem lighter.
High up on a hill, on the outskirts of Resembool, stood a large house. Smoke from the chimney crept up into the sky and light softly glowing from the windows lit up the snow surrounding the house even more. It was a picturesque yule scene that you would find painted on a post card.
Inside was unfortunately not so peaceful.
“Where do you think he is Granny? When I called, Mr Yarmouth said he left over an hour ago...” Alphonse stood by the window with a worried frown etched on his face. He was leaning heavily on a crutch. Granny told him to go to bed but he couldn’t shake the unease that had settled into his gut, and now he was suffering because of his stubbornness. His palm was aching and he leant heavily against the crutch and his whole body felt heavy.
“I’m sure he’s absolutely fine, he’s probably stopped off at the pub on the way back to get out of the snow and forgotten to let us know is all.” She leant back in her seat by the fire and tipped her pipe, emptying it into the ash tray.
“Here Al, sit down and have some hot chocolate. I’ll keep watch for now... but if he’s not back soon I’m going to go out there and drag him back myself!” Winry said as she helped Alphonse sit down into the arm chair. She handed him his cup and smile when he gave her his thanks.
She went and stood by the windowsill. The worry that niggled in the back of her head was steadily growing. It had been unusually cold this year and because she was unprepared, he didn’t have his automail that was suited for cold climates because she was still making adjustments to the leg.
‘This weather is crazy, we never get snow this time of year... at a push we get a tiny flurry in February...’
“It’s getting so heavy I can’t see the down the road now.”
“Right then you two time for bed, I’m tried of you two jittering with nerves. It’s only snow and luckily for us, Ed isn’t as dumb as he seems. Now off upstairs the both of you.”
“Granny, we're not children!”
“Nooo I don’t want a bed time ag-"
“No ifs or buts; get up those stairs now and go to bed. You’ll both be up early tomorrow morning along with Ed to clear the path of that blasted snow so you’ll need your sleep. I’ll wait up for him; I’ve just got to the good bit in my book anyway so I won’t be putting it down just yet.” She licked her thumb and turned the page. That action made her words final.
Alphonse and Winry glanced at each other and after slowly getting to their feet, they trudge their way upstairs and went to their own rooms.
A loud crash from downstairs made Winry bolt awake. She looked at the clock; it had just gone 10 pm. She quickly jumped out of bed, wrapping herself up in her dressing gown and slippers, and quickly made her way into the landing. When she was half way down the stairs, she came to an abrupt halt and the sight before her.
“He’s in shock and frozen to the bone!”
“We heard shouting from the main road, that's where we found him!”
“Did you see anything?”
“No but we have a good idea what happened from the tracks..”
Two men from the village were holding Edward up, an arm slung over each shoulder, his head hung down and his legs were limp. There was so much blood on Edwards’s shirt and coat it made her feel faint. Granny was already stripping him of his coat, trying to assess the damage but his shuddering made it difficult. Running down the stairs she made for the kitchen and started gathering items together.
A wash cloth, a bowl of warm water, scissors, her first aid kit and large towel.
“Quick get him to the kitchen table!”
She had just about finished grabbing the necessary bits when the two men came through the door dragging her friend in tow. They hefted him up after Winry and Pinako had pushed everything off the oak table and laid him down on his back. Pinako made quick work of his shirt and sliced it off him with the scissors Winry had passed her. Once she had got rid of the offending item and looked slowly over his chest and stomach.
“...What did this?”
“W-w...”It was Edward who answered to their surprise, well half answered.
“What was that Ed?” Winry leant down close enough to hear answer. Her eyes widened in horror and she let out a small gasp.
“Well?” One of the men asked. She looked up and finally saw who it was who helped carry her friend; William and Peter Efford. At school they were in the same class as Peter and his twin William. Neither of them got on with Edward at the time but recently since getting back after the promised day they had become closer.
“...Wolves...”
Edward needed stitches around his chest and waist and he had also hit his head; it had taken a good hour to clean him up to rid of any infection. William and Peter moved him carefully to the lounge, placing him on sofa in front of the fire. His lips were still tinted blue and he was still cold to the touch.
After giving the brothers some old work shop tools to protect themselves, they departed insisting on going back home to warn the others. They had managed to find out from Ed that the river had frozen over and this enabled the wolves to come down from the Black forest.
Winry, Alphonse and Pinako stood at the back of the lounge.
“Winry. Alphonse. I need you two to work like a well oiled machine now. You need to go and bring in the wood Ed finished chopping a couple of days ago. After that bring in the un-chopped logs. All of them. It all just needs to get thrown into the basement, so go out the back door while I’ll go and unlock the hatch from inside. If there really are wolves, which i have no doubt there are from the states Ed's in, we need to be quick about this. No lingering. Be careful and watch each other’s backs.”
“Yes Granny!”
Alphonse glanced over to where his brother was; they had managed to get out of him that quite a lot of the blood wasn’t his and during his fight with two wolves, he had managed to stab one in the side with the pocket knife he kept on him. Winry walked around and crouched down in front of Edward and while from this angle Al couldn’t see what she was doing, he had a strong suspicion that she was kissing him.
“I’m ready when you are Winry.”
She stood up and with a determined look, nodded.
“I’m ready.”
It had taken fifteen minutes to get out side, do the job, and get back inside.
Granny had made sure everything was locked up tight and the fire places were well lit before announcing that Winry was to take care of the elder boy and that she was going to bed.
Alphonse had used a small bit of alchemy to help but he still grew tired very easily so after that excursion, he flopped out on the floor by the fire place.
“You should go to bed...”
“Ed! How long have you been awake?!” his heart soared to see his brother looking surprisingly alert.
“Winry woke me up earlier just before you guys left. I think it was by accident though.”
Alphonse snorted quietly and thought to himself ‘What, when you guys smooched?’
“Most likely. How are you feeling brother? You were cut up a lot from those wolves.”
“My pride is more wounded than my body... I felt so useless Al, I only just managed to protect myself. I thought I would be fine without Alchemy but I guess without it I really am nothing.” Ed groaned and slowly shifted so he was sat up. He placed his foot on the floor and Al noticed he was wearing one on Winrys slippers.
“Don’t be ridiculous brother, even without your alchemy you’re special in a lot of ways. You know it and so does everyone else. Stop with the pity party.
“Nice slipper by the way. Pink reeeally suits you, just saying.”
“Oh har har, pick on the wounded why don’t you.”
“Brother, you’re such a hypocrite. You ALWAYS pick on me when I’m sick, and especially now after I got my body back!” Al pointed a finger at him and grinned.
“It was only to keep you on your toes. Don’t be mean to your elders you bean poll” Edward barked back in an amused tone. He jumped suddenly as a pair of delicate hands slid gently onto his shoulders.
“Then why don’t you ever respect me?” Winry said menacingly into his ear.
“Being a month older doesn’t count.”
“Charming. How are you feeling?” She pressed her fingers into the back of his neck and rubbed gently.
“ Like I got hit by a tram. My head hurts and back and neck are all stiff. I bet I won’t be able to move tomorrow.” Ed groaned.
“That I don’t doubt brother.” Alphonse stood up slowly and stretched. “Now you’re back and not dead, I’m going to bed to avoid this intimate neck rubbing session. Don’t forget to give him a happy ending Winry!” Winry launched a pillow at Alphonse’ head in embarrassment and threw insults at him. Ed started to laugh but stopped abruptly and pressed his hand into his side.
“Ugh I'm tired of this already, I really didn’t miss getting hurt all the time” Ed leant his head back against the sofa and looked above him. Winry stood there looking down at him and had placed her hands back on his shoulders. They smiled at each other, but when Winry took her hands away he gave her a questioning look. She rounded the sofa and came to sit next to him.
“Do you think you can lift up your top? I need to check the bandages.” She pulled out some cream, scissors and a roll of clean cloth wrap from her back pocket.
“Sure” He positioned himself to make it a bit easier to lift his top up. It had been an hour since he had been found and dragged back to the house and obviously Winry didn’t want to take any chances with infection.
She started by slicing down the old bandages and pulled it away from his skin slowly in case they had become caught up in the stitches. Despite the purple and black bruising that had spread about his ribs, the cuts and small punctures seemed rather healthy all things considered.
Granny had given him a tetanus injection while he was on the kitchen table much to Ed’s displeasure so that was obviously working along with everything being sterilised.
“P-pull down your waistband a bit, there was a bite on your hip too” Edward huffed through his nose. He put his thumb under the waistline and dragged the left side down giving her access to his hip.
Winry pushed his hand out the way, gently poking and prodding. He couldn’t stop looking at her own hands; they were so small compared to his. He had often thought of holding them or even playing with her fingers. He looked away and started thinking of the periodic table as her hand drifted slightly to close to his groin when she turned around to grab some cream.
“Ther- oh, you okay Ed? Are you in pain?”
“No no I’m... I’m fine. The pain killers are in full effect, honest.”
It took another ten minutes to finish cleaning and wrapping him up properly. Her hands lingered on his side when she pulled down his top and Ed could feel his face flush. He couldn’t have said if it was because of the pain killers, the fact he could have died or the fact he had wanted to do it for such a long time, but he quietly took her hand and bought it to his face , giving her knuckles a small kiss.
“Thank you Winry" he chanced a glance at her and smiled gently. Her face was beet red and her mouth was slightly open as if she was dazed.
“...Ed I...” she couldn’t seem to get her brain into gear. She came to the conclusion that if she had been standing, her legs would have buckled beneath her.
‘Since when did he know how to be romantic?!’
She didn’t notice him move his arm up to rest it on the back of the sofa nor did she notice him move his other hand to the back of her head to pull her closer to him. What woke her up was his nose brushing against hers and his shaky breath ghosting her lips before he closed the gap completely.
She signed and pressed closer to him. She trailed her arms up around his neck and held him. She couldn’t believe they were finally kissing like this, not just her stolen kiss earlier while he was asleep. His large hands moved across back, splaying his fingers wide to cover most of it. Their kiss deepened as Edward dragged his tongue across her bottom lip.
She whimpered; her head was swimming and she felt like her skin was being set ablaze. Every part of her he touched tingled and added to the fire that was building quickly in her belly.
He pulled his lips away and kissed her jaw and made his way behind her ear. Edward’s breath was hot and ragged, his grip firm on her ribs and back as he started to lean over her. Their chests were nearly flush and as she dropped her head back to give him more access to her throat, her hand knocked against his middle.
Right where the main bite was.
Ed yelped and flinched backwards; Winry leapt away from him in surprise and nearly fell of the sofa.
“Oh Ed I-I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to hurt you” she felt like she was going to die from embarrassment.
‘Oh god I’m such an idiot! How could I forget?!’
“Shhhiiiit that hurt, Win it’s okay I’m fine we just need to stop for now is all" he said weakly, shifting to make himself comfortable.
“For now.” her eyes narrowed slightly. He looked back at her.
“Well... yeah. Wait, did you not - oh god I’m sorry Winry I thought yo- and earlier! I am so sorry"
Winry blinked. Edward looked suddenly mortified but she couldn’t understand why, surely her snogging him back was an indication that she wanted it or else she would have pushed him away. What could have made him think-
‘Ah'
“Edward, when you said for now, I was thinking of when I would next be able to kiss you, you dummy. I let myself get carried away this evening and for a moment I guess forgot you were injured.
“I’ve wanted to kiss you for so long Ed” She took his hand and squeezed.
Edwards’s cheeks flushed and he laced his fingers through hers.
“Seriously?”
“Yes you idiot...since way before the promised day.”
“I’m sorry I made you wait that long Winry.” He frowned.
“Just don’t make me wait that long again, deal?” She did a gentle mock punch to his shoulder. He grinned.
“Deal"
The house was silent until gone ten that morning. When Pinako walked down the stairs she stoked the fire in the kitchen and put the kettle on, getting some heated medicine ready for Edward. Once she was done, she padded quietly into the lounge and around the sofa.
There before her were Edward and Winry on the couch. He was laid on top of her granddaughter with his head on her stomach, arms wrapped around her small waist. He had angled his body so his injuries were elevated while Winry had her hand buried in his hair. Her left leg had fallen to the floor because of the lack of space on the couch while her right was raised up pinned between the boy and the back of the couch.
But what really drew her attention was the large red blotch that her granddaughter was sporting on her neck.
She placed the tea on the coffee table and sighed.
She had better prepare herself for “the talk" sooner rather than later.
Alphonse, Winry and Edward were stood at front door. Pinako had informed them the telephone lines were down at the moment and that they needed to go to the next housing estate to spread the word of warning about the wolves.
Alphonse and Winry would be going alone.
Obviously Edward had reacted badly when she told them the plan but Granny had made a valid point.
“Well shrimp, unlike you, your brother still has his Alchemy. They’ll be fine. It’s broad daylight so they won’t be out there blind like you were, there wont be and surprises.”
It didn’t quell his nerves.
As they opened the door they were met with a white wonderland. The snow came up to the third step which none of them were expecting. In one night it had got that deep, it was unheard of, it was like being up north in the mountains again. Edward grabbed Winrys hand.
“Be careful...”
“I promise we will be.” She hesitated for half a second before she went onto her tiptoes and kissed him sweetly on the lips.
“I’ve got Alphonse looking after me and he’s got his alchemy.”
“We'll be back before you know it.” The confidence in Alphonse’ voice calmed him significantly.
“You look after her brother.”
“I will.”
It had been an hour and a half before the two teenagers came stomping through the front door carrying several large sacks. Edward walked stiffly into the hallway to meet them and Pinako took note of their clothes and walked off to get some towels.
“The Bucklands gave us food as we’re the farthest out from town. We’ve got lots of potatoes, rice and dried meats too. God it’s so cold, my clothes are soaking! Hey Ed, check out the sleigh I transmuted to carry stuff back. It’s totally bad ass.” Alphonse dumped the food by the kitchen stairs.
“We let them know about what happened and about the river so Stanley, Ted and Molly were getting ready to go and let their neighbours’ know the situation.” Winry spoke but it took her a while to get the sentence out because her teeth were chattering so much.
Pinako came into the hallway with towels for their hair and a thick blanket each.
“Strip off what’s wet here, I don’t want snow being dragged everywhere. I’ll put them straight in the wash. I’ve put the hot water on too so that should be ready soon. Edward, go put some wood on the fire and then go and put the stew in the bowls.”
“Right" Ed gave a last glance at the other two before hobbling off.
Alphonse and Winry stripped down to they undergarments and each wrapped a blanket around themselves. They had already stopped shivering but the old woman hustled them into the lounge before she went upstairs to grab them some pyjamas. By the time Edward had joined them by bringing in two bowls of stew, they has both put on dry clothes and were sat in front to the fire talking about what the Bucklands had said.
“Here, be careful it’s hot.” He handed a bowl each to Al and Winry before he slowly eased himself down into the sofa.
“They saw the tracks in the snow near their barn. The wolves were probably looking for the livestock. Mr Buckland says he thinks there must be about ten in the pack. He said the last time there were wolves here was about 90 years because of the same reason. River froze and they got hungry. His grandfather wrote in a journal that once everything started to thaw, they left.”
“So what, we just wait this out? Great.” Ed muttered.
“Sounds like it. We should ration the food and fire wood and if we start running low we ration food again and then for warmth we can share a bed and blankets or something.” Al suggested.
“If it gets any colder, I’ll need to take Dens leg off, and once you’re a bit better Ed, we can change to your winter mail. I finished it when I was waiting up for you yesterday evening... before I went to sleep.” She placed her hand on his real knee and gave a small squeeze.
“Yeah sure, be nice to have something a bit lighter on.”
Granny came in after a while and joined them for the rest of the afternoon. They swapped stories, jokes and Winry changed Edward’s bandages. Around five in the evening Alphonse glanced at his brother; he had fallen asleep on the sofa.
Edwards hand was buried in Winrys hair after stroking it from when she lent against the sofa and his real leg with her arm wrapped loosely around it.
Al huffed and shook his head slightly with a smile; they were insufferable.
It had been three weeks before the snow and ice had thawed enough for the river to become impassable again. There were lots of patches of grass between grey clumps of snow showing.
Alphonse had made the main road clear with his alchemy and the wolves, after only being spotted four times, had been sited on the other side of the river before the ice had melted.
Edwards wounds had healed up nicely leaving only a thin silver line here and there for something to show.
The phone lines were working once again and Central, although they were hit harder by the storm, was sending out some military to help with the clean up and resupply of essentials.
The day the military were arrived, the golden trio left the warmth of the Rockbell house and ventured into town to stock up. When they arrived they saw several trucks parked in the town square, surrounded by cold and disgruntled citizens.
“Oh look!” Alphonse pointed quickly over to one of the closer trucks. There stood handing out supplies, was none other than Riza Hawkeye.
“Shit. If Hawkeye's here then that bastard will be too.” Ed muttered, looking quickly around over the sea of heads.
“Right on the money there, Fullmetal. Although that’s Brigadier bastard to you.”
Winry and Alphonse laughed at Edwards reaction, which resembled one having ice put down the back of their top.
“You finally got a promotion huh? Surprised you’re out and about, thought the damp didn’t agree with you.” Edward sneered mockingly.
“Don’t worry about me, worry about your own short comings.”
Edward spluttered loudly at Roy, who just laughed and waved over Riza. The group talked for a good long while, making promises to visit each other more once everything had settled down a bit. They eventually said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.
When the brothers and Winry finally made it back, the young woman grabbed Edward sleeve and tugged lightly; hinting she wanted him to wait outside with her for a moment.
“We’ll be in in a second Al. Tell granny to get the dinner on?”
“Okay, will do brother.” Al shut the front door behind him.
“You okay Win?” Edward looked down at her. She had a look of pure concentration etched on her face as she bit her bottom lip. At that moment, Ed found that he was rather jealous of her teeth...
“How are you feeling now Ed? Are your sides all better now? No more aching?”
“Huh? Yeah I told you like two days ago, I’m good now.”
“Huh. I see. Just making sure.”
As Edward began to question he found he couldn’t voice anything but a grunt as Winry launched herself at him, latching her lips to his. His back hit the door behind him and he grunted, pulling Winry as close as humanly possible to his chest. She dragged her nails through the baby hairs on the back on his neck and he shuddered at the sensation.
He moved his hands further down her back and cupped her rear firmly, feeling smug at her gasp. Winry placed her hands on his chest and pushed him back slightly.
She panted, trying to catch her breath. As she stood for a second, Edward tilted his head so his lips brushed Winrys ear.
“I love you Win.”
Winry looked at him with her wide blue eyes. Her face slowly crumpled by a watery smile, with tears clinging to her long eye lashes.
She bought her hands up to his face and cupped his jaw with a quiet chuckle.
“I love you too, dummy.”