If I Were In Your Shoes (Elicia)

[pie4me]

Winry couldn't stand it anymore. She just couldn't stand it! Since she was here visiting Riza anyway, Winry knew it was only fair to go have a little check-up session with the Hughes. The pang of Maes Hughes' death hit her like a fresh wave of water. It made her depressed. The girl tried desperately to push it to the back of her head so that she didn't get too caught up in remembering. She stood up from the bench she had been sitting on and stretched, yawning. It wasn't as if she was too bogged down with work to go see Elicia and her mother... it was just that Winry knew they would eventually start talking about Maes and she wasn't sure if she could handle that emotional strain. His death still seemed just as terrible as ever in her mind.

"If only..." Winry sighed the words through her teeth and then shook her head. She was obviously irritated at herself for thinking that way. No one could or should come back to life. That was apparent from what had happened to Al and Edward when they had tried to bring their mother back. Inhaling a huge breath to clear her mind and letting it out again, Winry took a few steps forward and stared down at the ground.

The day was just slightly warm and cold at the same time. It was a good day, a nice day, a day that most people would take advantage of. Her hands swung loosely by her side as she made her way forward again, ignoring all the people in the crowds and trying to wear a smile until she found the house that she knew so well. Maes Hughes... I can't believe you aren't here to see your little girl grow up. I know... I know it sounds stupid, but I... wish someone else could have died in place of you. Dangerous thought... but I had to admit it, even if its just to myself.

Her hand came up to rap on the door and finally Winry allowed a real smile to become prominent on her features. If she was going to hang out with a cute kid like Elicia today then thinking unhappy thoughts was not the best thing to do. She needed to focus and be happy for Elicia's sake. It had been a long time, and so Winry hoped the girl wasn't frustrated that she hadn't called or visited in such a while. A lot of work at the shop had kept her busy the past year or two.

"Hey!" she shouted, hoping someone would hear her through the door. "Its Winry Rockbell! Surprise!"

[elicia hughes]

Elicia sat on the couch, her lovely little puppy sat next to her alseep. On Elicia's lap sat a pad and a few crayons. She busily drew with the purple one, making some sort of pony, a purple pony. She brushed the hair out of her eyes and stuck her tongue out in concetration, I think it should be a unicorn! Sheopped the purple crayon to pick up a yellow-gold one and was just starting to draw the horn on when a knock at the door distracted her. She ran up to it and was about to rip it open when she stopped, Oh yeah, mama doesn't want me to open the door to strangers...

She stood on tip-toe, attempting to see out the little door window, which she was a few feet shy of reaching. A muffled voice sounded on the other side, Winry Rockbell? Sister!? Now she had a name, "MOM! Winry is here!" She yellled out. She pulled open the door and smiled hapily at Winry. She moved out of the way as a groggy and half asleep Rose padded over, wondering what the noise was about.

"Winry!?" She jumped up and down and ran to hug her. "Winry! Sister? I missed you! Come in!" Elicia moved out of the way so Winry could come in. She picked up Rose, who had saw Elicia's excitment and had started to paw and jump on Winry. "I'm sorry, she's new with the whole not jumping thing..." Elicia grinned and smiled, holding Rose's collar as the dog attempted to continued her love attack.

"Um, where is Ed and Al?" She asked looking behind Winry, Elicia shrugged, obviously not caring too much. "You can sit on the couch, I was just drawing..." She gestured and turned to lead the way, until she realized the couch was covered in drawings and crayons. "Oh, sorry I was drawing! Do you want to see them!?" Elicia scrambled to pick up the colors and arrange them back into their box. She grabbed all of the papers and the notebook and showed Winry. "Look I drew a unicorn! A purple one! And a dragon, a purple one! And a bunny, a purple one!" There seemed to be a pattern to her drawings, the color purple.

[pie4me]

"Elicia!" Winry could barely contain herself from launching at the girl and wrapping her arms around the kid in a big hug. She smiled, cocking her head to the side as she followed Elicia into the house, stooping only once or so to scratch Rosie behind the ears. Her grin faltered somewhat at the question about Edward and Alphonse. "Gone. For now, she answered slowly, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear and shrugging. Winry couldn't help but smile again at the drawings. Purple seemed to be the color of the day! How cute. She patted the little girl on the head and got down to her knees to examine the colors and child-like scribbles with interest.

"These are great!" Winry had to laugh at the over excessive use of the color 'purple'. It was everywhere in these pictures. She wished Edward could have come with her. It would be nice for the both of them to visit the Hughes every once in a while. Besides, Elicia seemed to like Al and Ed a lot anyway. Winry couldn't imagine having much to do around here, especially if one was only eight years old. For a moment, the older girl frowned. Her face looked sad as she viewed Elicia from behind, detecting hints of her father in her face and her smile. Maes had loved his little girl so much. It hurt to remember.

She lifted the ends of her lips again and tried to erase any sadness from her expression before Elicia noticed and asked what was wrong. Winry didn't need those kind of questions right now. It would just make her start crying. "Really, Elicia. Beautiful pictures. In fact you draw a lot like I did when I was kid! You're sooo cute!"

With that, Winry really did hug the child, grabbing her in a bear hug. "I've been visiting with Riza and just thought I would stop by for a while! Would you like to have my company for an hour or two? I've missed you so much."

[elicia hughes]

"That's too bad they couldn't come, I was going to show them my alchemy. Ed told me to keep practicing at drawing the transmutation circle." Elicia shrugged and smiled. She played with the end of her tank top and grinned, "The colors match my shirt!" Her capris, much to Elicia's dissapiontment, were not purple as well, but rather a light shade of brown, almost matching her pony-tailed hair and bangs.

"I'm glad you like them!" She grinned, proud of the drawings, the execivly purple drawings. "You can have one! If you... If you want?" Now Elicia was embarressed, What if she doesn't actually like them? What if she was just being nice? She twirled her pony-tail in one hand and continued to play with the end of her shirt with the other as she listened to Winry's compliments. "Thank you" was all Elicia managed to utter before she was engulfed into a hug.

"You saw Aunti Riza? I love her, she comed, came," Elicia corrected herself, she tried her best to speak like the adults around her. "Over and we played tea party and Rose and Black Hayate played too! It was fun!" Elicia laughed remembering how excited Rose was to play with Riza's dog. "Would I like your company...?" Elicia tapped her chin pretending to think about it, "No..." Elicia paused for the dramatic effect and continued again giggling, "I would love it!" She broke away from Winry and patted her on the head.

"I missed you too big sister..." Elicia said before burrying her head into Winry and hugging her tight. Elicia had missed Winry, much more then she let on. To her it felt since forever since she has seen Winry and Ed and Al.

"Guess what!? I made a new friend!" She smiled again and looked at WInry with her big green eyes, "His names Selim! We played at the park and I met his mommy, Mrs. Bradley. I want him to come over so we can play with Rose, and I got new toys too, so we can play with those too!" Speaking of new toys this reminded Elicia of her new doll. She pattered down the hall to her bedroom, motioning for Winry to stay.

Once in her bedroom she dug around and pattered back to Winry. "I got a new toy, isn't it adorable?" She held the calico covered cat stuffed animal out for Winry's inspection, "I bought it with the allowance I saved up!" She grinned, expecting praise for being able to even save up the money.

[pie4me]

"Yes, it really is too bad..." Winry answered, sighing through clenched teeth. She soon brightened, however. "But I'm sure they'll be here next time." It was more of a statement to assure herself than Elicia. Winry kind of wished that Edward hadn't showed the kid how to do Alchemy. It was... disturbing that one so young would be doing stuff like that. What if the military took notice? Winry hoped that Roy - or even Riza - would have the sense not to let her do anything stupid like becoming a State Alchemist. With that kind of knowledge people usually made mistakes. Big mistakes, and Winry knew the military didn't care one wit about how they used their 'dogs' - as Elicia would no doubt be described just as every other State Alchemist.

Edward... this is totally your fault...

With a sigh, Winry shifted on the floor and her eyes glanced over the pictures again. A wide smile tugged at her lips. "Of course! I would love to have one." She gestured with her hand, urging Elicia to pick one out for her. Winry could tack it up somewhere in her shop. She was sure it would serve as a good reminder to come visit the little girl regularly (if only to make sure Elicia didn't get into any trouble with that alchemy of hers). Winry had to smile as she realized that the girl was trying to speak like an adult. How cute is that? She didn't really want Elicia to grow up though. In fact, the mechanic could remember a time when this blooming little Alchemist was barely past three years old. They all grow up, don't they? Sometimes I really do wish that May had found that secret to an immortal life... it would be interesting, anyway.

"Yep! I saw Riza. She's doing great, by the way. Black too, I'm sure. In fact I kind of wish I had brought Den here with me. Rosie would have had fun with my dog, dontcha think?"

Winry couldn't help a laugh when Elicia patted her on the head right back. This kid didn't even have to work at trying to be a cutie! Wait a minute... a friend? That was awesome! But hold up. What was she saying? Selim? As in, Selim Bradley? Well... "Thats really wonderful! I'm sure he needs all the friends he can get. You be nice to him, okay?"

Winry knew Elicia wouldn't have a problem being nice to Selim. She was a walking little basket of adorableness and love! Winry hoped she would never become like Edward... he'd seen so much in life that it was hard for him not to be like a rock sometimes, even merciless. Not all the time, just sometimes. But Winry had seen it enough to know that she didn't want Elicia to have all those bloody memories in her own head.

"Of course it is! You're becoming so big and grown up that I can barely keep up with you! Most people your age would have spent the money on small things but you saved up? Wow, Elicia!" The 'gearhead' grinned as well. She wasn't exactly a professional when it came to kids, but it was easy to get along with a kid like Elicia Hughes.

[elicia hughes]

Elicia grinned, So she really did like them! Elicia looked through the drawings and decided to give Winry the one of the unicorn. "Here!" She said happily as she handed the picture over. This was the best, Riza had visited recently, Elicia had just made a new friend at the park and now Winry came home to visit. Rose and Den? Rose would have loved it! Then we both could have made new friends! Elicia could just imagine Rose pestering Den, who was older, until Den finally snapped back. She giggled when she thought of Rose, who when snapped at would be cowering behind Elicia. I'm not much bigger, I couldn't do anything!

"Too bad, Rose would have been excited again, she'da jumped all about and probably made Den grumpy with her!" Elicia smiled and reached down to pet her beloved puppy. "Why would I be mean to him!? Daddy said to not be mean... He said it wasn't nice... Mommy says it too..." She trailed off, papa, I sure miss him... I wish he hadn't left... I wish they hadn't burried him... She wipped at her eyes and looked away so she wouldn't cry. She kept looking down listening to Winry's next words.

Winry's pride in Elicia for saving instead of spending wiped Elicia back into happiness. "Thanks, mama helped some, when I wanted to spend it before I could buy my kitty she saided, no Elicia, remember your cat you want." Elicia grinned, holding the cat close to her chest. It was well worth the saved money in Elicia's opinion. Elicia hadn't set the stuffed animal down since she got it, it was practically attatched to her.

"Hey, guess what!" Elicia smiled and couldn't even give Winry time to guess before she was out talking again, Mama got me and Rose and mama's picture taken by a photo... photo.. photo... gra..." She paused, trying to remember how Gracia, Elicia's mother had pronounced it, "Um, well a photo guy took the picture and mama gave me an extra copy!" Elicia now kept the picture with her at all times, and loved to show people. She couldn't help herself, she was just so happy to have something to show to people when she wanted to talk about her dog or her mom.

The picture, which Elicia pulled out of her back pocket, was just a little family photo, Elicia holding Rose with her mother standing behind. "Isn't it pretty!" Elicia handed Winry the picture. Elicia smiled as she remembered how Rose wouldn't stay still and kept squirming to lick Elicia and how she also kept trying to get free. It had taken forever for them to get a picture where Rose was looking forward. "Rose was being silly that day... She was happy I think... I know I was..."

Elicia took the picture back and carefully placed it back into her pocket. "Would you like anything to drink or eat? Mama taught me how to make tea, if you want some... I maded some earlier today, I can heat it up for you?" This was the best, it really was, she had her sister back, for the time being at least.

[pie4me]

Winry took the picture gingerly and held it with both hands, smiling from ear to ear with pleasure. "Its beautiful! I'm sure your mother is proud to have such an artist in the family!" The mechanic giggled at the thought of Den, her old dog, hanging around a little one like Rose. They would get along... but maybe not splendidly. Den had a bit of a temper problem on occasion. Apparently it just came with age. Winry wondered if all people got like that when they slipped into being old... but she was determined not to become a grouch. Still... a funny picture of Alphonse and Edward coming to fix her pipes while she yelled at them with her wrinkled fist in the air was enough to make her dissolve into laughter once again.

"It isn't nice at all to be mean to someone, but I'm sure you never would be. Its just a reminder. Even friends fight sometimes and its always better to be the first one to apologize when this happens, even if its both your faults."

This was kind of hypocritical, coming from Winry Rockbell. She had often been so angry at Edward that she hadn't talked to him for days until he finally relented and became the first one to admit 'wrong doing' of any kind. Winry always prided herself on forgiveness, but there wasn't exactly anything about asking for forgiveness in her vocabulary. On occasion, when it really had been her fault and she knew it, Winry would take it upon herself to stammer out an embarrassed apology before finding something to change the subject. It was just how she had always been.

"A picture?" Winry waited patiently while Elicia fished it out and then handed it over. Her lips pursed and she tried for a genuine smile. It really was a nice little picture, but... she couldn't help wishing for Maes' face to appear in it too. Maybe the sadness came from it being the third death that had rocked her. Number one had been her parents, number two had been Edward's mother... and then, the terrible news about Maes Hughes had come. Why was life so unfair? Why couldn't Elicia have kept her father just for a few more years, at least?

Life wasn't fair. How could someone believe in Equivalent Exchange, anyway? What had Maes gotten, for all his hard work? Death, that's what. So what had been the point of him even living and working for the cursed military...? She didn't know how Edward and Alphonse could say things were 'equivalent' when they really were not in the slightest, at least in her opinion. Whoever had come up with that stupid theory was definitely a mindless idiot.

Elicia soon snapped Winry out of her reverie. She nodded enthusiastically. "Absolutely. Tea sounds wonderful!"

[elicia hughes]

"Thanks Winry! I'm really proud of it. Mama said that if I keep drawing like I am and if I still like it she might get me involved in an art class. Wouldn't that be so much fun!?" Elicia smiled and spaced for a moment to just think about the possibilities. She could be In a studio and play with clay and paint and all sorts of things! She would make Winry and Riza and her mom and a billion other people something every time. That thought made her even happier. Elicia liked giving things to people, it was fun to see their face. Elicia blinked slowly and nodded to Winry.

"Apologize... Even if it wasn't my fault?" Elicia shrugged, that didn't sound right but, Winry was smarter and had more experience, so why not just go with it, "Oh okay, I'll keep that in mind!" She smiled, once more, which smiles seemed to be the only thing Elicia was capable of with her long lost big sister around.

Elicia watched Winry study the picture and sat content, was Winry thinking about Papa? Elicia did, constantly. Or was Winry thinking of Den, her dog, or perhaps Edward... Elicia wouldn't be able to guess. I wonder what she is thinking about... I wish I could read minds... That'd be so cool! Again Elicia spaced, perhaps Rose wasn't the only attention deficient being in the Hughes household. Winry consented to some tea and Elicia got up to go heat some up. She bustled about the kitchen for a few minutes and came back with a tray full with a large china tea pot and a few plates of tarts and other such goodies.

"Mama had these made out for today but she got busy and had to leave, so, I figured why waste them?" Elicia winked and laid the tray down on the ebony coffee table, right next to where Elicia had set her art. Elicia passed Winry a cup of tea and also a plate which Elicia put a tart on and a brownie. "Bon appetite!" She said and giggled. What a funny word that was Elicia thought.