EdxWinry: Eyes of the Beholder

FMA Drabble
Post-manga verse
Pairing: EdWin (duh)


In the Eyes of the Beholder


Edward sighed as he found himself, once again, waking up alone.  Winry’s half of the bed remained unoccupied and untouched since the night before.  Unfazed, he stretched and left the room to find his wife.  

This was a fairly common occurrence: Winry getting so wrapped up in a project to the point of neglecting sleep.  Edward wryly considered moving their bed to the workroom on more than one occasion.  But he could sympathize; he had lost count of the number of times Alphonse had found him passed out on a desk amongst a sea of alchemy books.  He smiled to himself, thinking about how obsessively focused both he and Winry could be.

Edward blinked in surprise as he opened the door to the workroom.  Instead of finding her still tinkering away with wires or putting the finishing touches on a sketched design, the mechanic had finally succumbed to sleep.  She usually had no trouble pulling an all-nighter, so this was new.  The gears in Edward’s mind finally clicked into place remembering what she had told him a few days ago.  It was natural for her to give into exhaustion like this.  Nevertheless, his face still pinched in concern.  He’d have to remind her to take better care of herself, not only for her sake, but for the sake of the tiny new life growing inside her.

He walked over and gazed down at her sleeping form.  Her head was resting against her folded left arm; her right hand still loosely clutching a pencil.  The designs for a new arm casing lay unfinished beneath her curled fingers. He could make out the words for Ed and change nickel percentage? among various other notes scribbled to the side of the drawing.  Further to the side lay the motor to an auto-mail wrist that she had been repairing.  Several golden strands had come loose from the disheveled bandanna that normally tied her hair back.   He leaned forward and gently brushed those strands aside to see her face more clearly.  Faint, dark circles appeared beneath her closed eyes, her face pale, tinged with grease and oil stains.  

Edward dropped his hand to her shoulder and gently shook her.  “Win, wake up.  It’s morning now.”  

Her eyes slowly fluttered open, then peered up at him blearily.  She blinked several times, as if she couldn’t remember why she was there.  Her normally bright, azure eyes were slightly bloodshot and still glazed over from sleep.  She smiled up at him apologetically before breaking out into a yawn.

Edward simply smiled back and tenderly traced her face with his fingertips as he spoke his next words honestly and sincerely.

“You are so beautiful.”