Descent

Chapter Seven

Just in case it wasn't entirely clear, there has been a two-month time skip between chapters five and chapter six. We are now two months after Edward ran away from his appointment and spent the night in the forest. :)

~Kala~

Ed was excited for Winry's visit. It had been two months -give or take- since he'd seen or heard from her, and he was almost dying to know how she was doing. He was finally well enough to have some inconsistency in his life, Wally, his psychiatrist, said, and what could be more inconsistent than a visit from your fiancee? Edward had spent the few days before her arrival cleaning up every single morsel of the apartment he shared with Riza Hawkeye, so that there wasn't a spec of dust anywhere in sight! He had vacuumed, scrubbed, dusted, mopped, shined and polished the entire place. He changed all the bed-sheets, pillows and blankets of everyone's beds -including Mustang's- and de-dusted every picture frame and photo album he could find. He replaced all the dying or withering flowers with fresh ones he picked at the park three blocks from the psychiatric building where his appointments were held. Now, he stood back from one last last-minute polish of a recent photo taken of himself, Riza and Mustang all at the park. They'd been doing a lot of that sort of stuff lately, and Edward enjoyed it. It felt like having a family again. Mustang didn't seem to resent him as much anymore, especially since he had helped him so vigorously through his rehabilitation. Ed still wasn't sure what he'd done to piss Mustang off in the first place, but, whatever it was, Roy was long over it. He visited frequently now, although Ed had the distinct impression that he was blowing off work, to see how Riza was doing.

They weren't technically a couple, thanks to the military's anti-frat laws, but he could tell there was something going on between them. It was really obvious. At least, it was to him. He hoped, for their sake, that it wasn't that obvious to the military, or else they could both very well lose their jobs.

He smiled at his handiwork and checked his watch. He muttered a curse and, quickly putting the rag away, he ran full-pelt out of the apartment and to the train station. Winry's train would arrive any minute now, and he wanted to be there when she arrived! He'd been doing more exercise recently, so he wasn't quite as exhausted as he normally would have been when he finally reached the train station -just in time for her train to pull in! He sighed in relief and waited while all the passengers disembarked, pulling all their luggage with them. Winry, of course, was the last off the train. She heaved her trunk along with her and he waved and whistled to get her attention. She saw him and smiled widely, running as fast as she could with her heavy trunk. All he could take in was that she was wearing a pink shirt that was too big and baggy pants before she launched herself onto him, and wrapped him in the tightest hug possible. He wrapped his arms around her as well, and pulled her, if possible, even closer. He rested his head on hers and closed his eyes, two thoughts swimming in his head. The first one was God I love her. The other thought was Yay I'm still taller! He laughed at his own ridiculousness she laughed as well, for whatever reason that Edward couldn't fathom. Hopefully it was just because she was really happy to see him. She pulled back and smiled up at him, and it was then he noticed how terribly thin she was. Much more so than she was when they'd seen each other last at the hospital. It took a lot of willpower to refrain from asking her about it; better not to ruin the moment just yet, he thought. He would ask later.

He lead the way to Riza's apartment, his hand in hers. He asked her mundane little things, but things he was dying to know, such as how she was going, had she been sleeping well, simple things like that. When he asked how her business was she hung her head a little, but then quick as a beat she smiled again and said "Great!". He could tell there was something she wasn't telling him, but he was so overjoyed to see her that he didn't press too hard. As they passed the park, he paused for a moment, and promising to be right back, he hurried to one of the flowerbeds, and quickly picked a bunch of the nicest, most beautiful there. He shuffled them around in his hand, creating a colourful bouquet, and held them behind his back while he strode back to where she was patiently waiting. He smiled at her and gave her the flowers, and he watched in awe as her face lit up as she took them in her hands, bringing them up to her nose and taking a great whiff of the many different scents. She kissed him on the cheek and he felt it go a furious red colour, but he ignored it and slipped his hand back in hers, and they made their way the next few blocks back to the apartment. When he produced the key to unlock the door, he was surprised to find it already open. His heart skipped a beat in a moment of panic before it occurred to him that he probably just forgot to lock it in his haste to meet her at the train. But still, he felt the need to be cautious, so without letting it on to Winry, he went in first and silently did a scan of the house. All seemed in order, so he relaxed and led her into the living room, flicking the light on as he came in.