"Long time no see, boyo." Pinako drawled as they closed the gap and slowed at the bottom of the porch steps.
"Sorry, Granny. I've been rather busy." Eyes shied to the ground and then lifted with the brightest smile she had seen on his face.
"Who's your little friend then?"
"Who're you calling a shrimp, you wrinkled old hag?!" The automatic reply was in a higher pitched voice but the oh so familiar glaring golden eyes and furious face rocked her back on her heels. Her face paled alarmingly and Al jumped up the stairs to place a steadying arm around her while Ed rushed forward to grab her hand in his.
"Oh gods, I'm sorry, Granny. I shouldn't have reacted like that I know, but you always do that to me, you know that and we should have said something first I guess, but Al and I we just wanted to get here and see you all…" Ed babbled as he felt her hand shake and then grip his tightly.
"Edward?" Her voice was so hesitant. She leant back into Al but her eyes looked at the face in front of her. Her free hand reached out and lightly touched the golden hair and then skimmed down the side of a thin cheek.
"Yes, it's me." Ed paused as his eyes flicked to Al and then back to hers. "I'm just a bit changed is all."
"A bit?" Pinako whispered disbelievingly. "You're a girl! And you're alive!" She swallowed and then gathered her resilience about her. "I'm not sure which is more incredible." She stood straight and squared her shoulders back, becoming the redoubtable old lady they had known and respected all their lives. She looked from one face to the other and her sigh was almost long-suffering.
"I never thought I'd ever say this but, what have you done, Alphonse?"
Ed tried to stifle the laugh at the back of his throat but ending up choking and then just gave up and laughed as Al looked shamefacedly at the old woman. Ed had been on the receiving end of more than his fair share of Pinako's lectures and it was a refreshing change to see his brother now getting one.
"It was an accident, Granny." Al began in a hesitantly hopeful manner.
Winry woke to the smell of coffee and the murmur of voices. She considered going back to sleep but knew that any attempt would be short-lived. Voices downstairs meant customers and customers meant automail and she loved automail more than anything.
She kicked off the thin blanket and stretched her way from the bed to the window. Still earlyish judging by the light outside. She changed from one set of overalls into another before slipping into the bathroom and then heading down to the kitchen.
Three people were seated around the table but she only noticed two of them. Winry saw her grandmother and recognised Al straightaway. She rushed in and grabbed him in a wild hug wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Why are you here? Is everything alright? I thought you weren't coming for another month. The Captain rang yesterday looking for you. It's so good to see you." Winry smiled brightly and ignored his red face as she held him in his chair. She knew Al liked her.
"Plans change, Winry. Besides we were close by and…"
"We?" Winry questioned.
"Yes, we," came a soft voice from the other side of the table.
Winry turned her head and met the gaze of two wide golden eyes with the longest lashes she had ever seen. Gold like Ed's, she automatically thought. But that's not Ed, that's a girl! Al brought a girl here?! Winry felt her stomach drop as she straightened up and stared at the stranger.
Golden blonde hair swung in a long tail as the girl looked at Al then back to Winry. Winry was positively gobsmacked. Ed chuckled inwardly as he enjoyed this brief moment of success knowing that any minute now he was going to get struck by at least one heavy wrench, if not by an even dozen.
"Al, who is this?" Winry asked, her voice strangled as an emotion she hadn't known bubbled up inside. Jealousy. She had never felt jealous before. It was like a red wave in front of her eyes. Al was hers, he had always been hers. She had known how Al felt about her and she had been very happy with that and she had accepted it as her right. She and Al were meant to be together. Okay so maybe they'd never actually spoken of their feelings but they both knew it. Didn't they? Didn't he?
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‼️🎈hello everyone thank you so much for reading this chapter! 🙏 If you'd like to read the full novel "FullMetal Alchemist: Unequal Exchange", you can find it on my Ko-fi page: ko-fi.com in the store section. This fanfic will consist of 10 volumen , whit more than 200 chapter .
I'll be leaving the link to my Ko-Fi store in the first comment.🎈‼️
Ko-fi.com/arcfable/shop