laography | Distance never seperates two hearts that really care

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Distance never seperates two hearts that really care

There had been times when Winry had gone above ground to do some foraging with others--always with others, she had been watched over like a hawk her entire time in this place. Not that she could blame them. Many of those times there had been run in with Kishin Eggs, so she had thought that she would be at least a little more prepared for this upcoming battle to retrieve the Time Record.

Boy had she been wrong.

Even now, with the Time Record in their possessions, and the center of the factory quiet she could feel her heart pounding, the fear pulsating through her, and the sensation of loss that made her emotional state erratic and indiscernible. It was all made worse by the knowledge that this was only a calm in a storm that could very well continue. They maybe have made their way into the factory by catching the Witches off guard, but that didn't mean they had fully captured it. Any moment now reinenforcements could come in so there really wasn't much time to spare.

She was sitting on the floor, leaning against a wall. The others were still saying their goodbyes, most people had already come to her to give her letter and messages to pass on, say their own goodbyes. She managed to keep a strong enough face, a difficult thing to do, but something she had gotten a lot of practice in doing the past couple months.

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Winry's expression flattened.

"No."

"Why not?"

"The same reason I never got rid of any other the others. They are gifts from you, and so I treasure them." She said that very matter-of-factly. She didn't really understand what the big deal was.

"It was weird then, and it's weird now! Besides...they'll be for something that didn't happen. 'I' won't remember ever buying them."

"Whatever. I'm not getting rid of them. They're still from you and that's what matters." Okay so she said that a little childishly but that sentiment was true nonetheless. If anything, these earrings would be the last to go if there ever came a point where she did part with them. These were the earrings that had stayed with Edward for ten years, the ones that had carried the hope that she would eventually return.

They would serve as a good reminder of all that had happened here, and how much Ed had changed. Something to make her remember never to let Ed fall down this path again.

He stopped, then shook his head and laughed, leaning on the wall again.

"You really never do change."

She lifted her nose in mock snootiness.

"Why change what's already good?" She felt her spirits lift a little hearing Ed laugh like that. She too returned to leaning against the wall and closed her eyes for a moment. It was surreal to think that they were finally at this point, and it seemed like there was still so much left to be said. She drew her jacket around her--or rather Ed's jacket. That old, red, frayed thing she had so often teased him about.

"Hey Ed?" she began again, this time with the intent to actually say something.

"Yeah?" he asked, not moving to look at her.

"I Love You."

It was something she had said every day since that argument they had the first month she was here. No matter if it came out of nowhere, Winry had come to learn that Ed hadn't realized this and she was determined to say it again and again until he did.

It still - surprised him after all this time, every day. Not the sentiment exactly, but the words - and now of all times. Amidst everything else, he'd actually forgotten for today.

Probably why she kept saying it.

But - it must be because he forgot - his breath caught, and he was suddenly more aware of his heart thrumming in his chest -

- from exertion after all this time.

"...Yeah."

"I mean it you know." she took a deep breath in.

"I know you sometimes you don't think so, or that I shouldn't but I do. No matter what happens, no matter who I meet in my life, you are one of the most important and precious people to me Edward and nothing is ever going to change that." Winry would always have readily admitted these things if she had thought it necessary, but before she would have been embarrassed. Now she wasn't in the slightest. With Al and all those others who had been lost to this war, she knew that you needed to appreciate the people you had while they were still around, and let them know just how much you cared for them.

They could be gone the next day--even the next hour.

"I know you think that I shouldn't because---because you think you hurt me. I'd be lying if I said that you never upset me, but I know that I've hurt you too. But the reason why I sometimes get upset with you is because of how much I care for you. There's that old adage that says you only hurt the people you love, and it sounds awful but it's really true. The people who care for you are the ones who'll be most influenced by you, what you do, and what happens to you." She stopped, she was getting off track here.

"So yea. I just want you to know that and. And that you make me happy, Ed. You really do."

He closed his eyes. Just a few months ago, he would've almost thought this moment impossible - too good to be true, at least - having her here and with him, safe and whole, saying these things he didn't deserve to hear.

...it'd been when the nightmares stopped, that he's realized - or so he'd thought - the words he'd almost said to Sakura so many times, the things he'd alluded to Winry about. Nothing left, not a family, not a memento (cold metal buried under burning sand), not even a heart. He still had one in the physical sense, of course - though even that had been a near thing sometimes - but other than that...empty.

Or so he'd thought.

He still remembered her words from so long ago, still in Death City, worries that she didn't do much for him. It was laughable - this was only the most recent time she'd saved him. If she hadn't been there after he and Al had tried to - but he was still a coward, even now, shying away from the memory of yet another failure on top of another and -

- opened his eyes.

"I love you."

On an exhale, almost inaudible.

Even though she thought it--said she knew, hearing it said outright like that made something in her chest twist. In a good way, in a bad way. That all this had to happen for them to finally be this frank and open with each other was laughable in a disturbing kind of way.

It didn't really matter in the end though.

Ed knew, really knew at long last, it seemed. She would go back in time and it would be back to square one, but she at least knew now that he could be convinced and brought to her senses--that it might not have been possible had been one of her greatest fears and the source of so much of her frustration.

She leaned in again to give him another hug, both so she could give and take comfort from him, and so she could blink away the small film of tears.

"Dummy."

He hadn't expected her to get the entirety of his meaning with that - and wasn't that weird, with him twenty-five by now and her still fifteen? - and he wasn't sure if he wanted her to or not.

He wasn't sure about many things, these days.

But he did know that the hug was a welcome thing, with - everything, and he almost gingerly put his arms around her this time.

...she didn't want to leave him, she realized. Ed had helped her more than he probably realized, and the thought of even just going back to the past scared her. What if they screwed something up? What if somehow, even if they changed this in the past, the others were stuck in this existence? Now that they were finally get somewhere the last thing she wanted to do was to leave him by himself.

Her grip tightened a bit.

"I wish I didn't have to go." She knew she did though---already, somehow in her periphery she was aware of people gathering together, of finishing their goodbyes.

There was the true answer and the good answer to that, and the choice was almost automatic.

"You'll be fine."

He wasn't letting go just yet, though.

She took a slow breath in and exhaled, resting her head against his shoulder and nodding. She had to be, otherwise this was all for naught and she'd be condemning everyone to this desolate future.

Dimly she was aware of her name being called, but she really didn't want to go. Not just yet, it seemed too soon.

He raised his head slightly, indecisive and hesitating.

He'd never get this chance again.

It was with this thought that he let his lips ghost across her hair - tangible but so briefly - and said, quietly, "You gave me the ability to stand and keep walking. Every day, I'm grateful to you for that - I always have been. It was just hard to say."

And damn if that didn't sound like something Al would say.

It was only a brief touch, but she felt it and she wasn't sure what to make of it. It thoroughly threw her off so for a moment she didn't quite process what Ed said, but when she did she felt the color rise to her cheeks.

She should have listened to Hughes more. Maybe if she had taken his words to heart, a lot of this uncertainty she felt towards them, which had caused both her and Ed and Al so much trouble could have been avoided.

"I won't forget that. Promise. And you don't forget what I told you."

It took a great amount of effort for her to finally pull her self away and stand up, but even then she held on a bit longer to his hand.

He stood with her, letting her let go as she felt ready to.

"I promise."

Her fingers curled around his hand in a small squeeze, and finally she began to step away, looking towards where the others were. She looked to Ed one last times, before finally her hand fell away from his.

He opened his mouth when he realized - she still had his jacket - and then closed it, shaking his head a little. He watched her for one long moment, then turned away, finding someone to ask about how everyone else was doing. To do something, keep busy, and not - watch someone he loved walk out of his life again.

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Distance never seperates two hearts that really care

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