~Aquamarine and Topaz~
"Alphonse, Alphonse!" Julia chirped happily, calling to the blond-haired boy from across the hall. He looked up from his locker, which he had just locked up after taking everything he needed to bring home with him out, and grinned. "Julia!"
The ginger grinned, hurrying over to him and quickly enveloping him in a hug, which he quickly returned. The two didn't have many classes together, so right after school, when they could meet up and talk to each other without having to worry about doing their schoolwork, was both their favourite times.
"How was your day?" Al asked cheerfully, positively beaming with happiness.
She replied just as happily, "It was good! How was yours?"
"Great, even better now that I get to see you...~" he replied, giving her an Eskimo kiss.
Her cheeks became a light pink as he said this, smiling warmly and shyly as she returned the nose-nuzzle. "Eheheh... You're such a gentleman, Al...~" she told him, gazing into his golden eyes affectionately.
He chuckled, staring right back into her own blue eyes. "Heh..." was all he said, before hugging her a bit tighter, still keeping eye contact. "Your eyes are really pretty, you know..." he commented softly.
She blushed again, laughing sheepishly. "Oh stop, you're making me blush...!" she giggled.
"But it's true!" he insisted, giving her another Eskimo kiss. "You're just so beautiful... I feel like if I don't remind you, you'll forget and think bad things about yourself! I can't have that!" he stated, pouting a bit.
She giggled again, cheeks still tinted pink, and glanced out a nearby window at the rain steadily pelting against the glass, becoming too shy to look him in the eyes. She just stared out there quietly, still embracing him.
Alphonse followed her gaze, looking out as well. "... The rain sure is pretty, isn't it...?" he asked softly.
"Yeah..." she replied, a gentle smile on her face. Her mind suddenly turned to The Notebook, a movie the two had watched recently. She remembered the scene where they kissed in the rain, and suddenly imagined her and Al doing the same. The mere thought made her blush, and she subconsciously hugged the boy a bit tighter, still smiling softly.
He noticed her embrace get a bit tighter, and his mind wandered off to the same place, making him blush ever so slightly as well. He glanced towards her, and when she looked back, they could both tell they were thinking the same thing, resulting in a temporary red-cheeked awkwardness, the two just staring at each other for a moment.
"E-err... D-do you want to..." she asked him shyly, trailing off at the end.
He nodded, somehow knowing what she meant. "S-sure..."
She smiled a bit, then finally released him from the hug, taking his hand and leading him towards the exit of the school.
He happily followed along, though the two stopped for a moment upon hearing two familiar voices call to them.
"Well, would you look at you two lovebirds!" Winry giggled, putting her hands on her hips. "Are you two off to go be romantic somewhere private?" she asked teasingly.
They both blushed a bit, almost simultaneously. "E-erm..." Al stuttered.
Edward, who had been chatting with Winry before the two had passed by, grinned slyly.
"Are you gonna discuss marriage plans~?" he asked, laughing almost evilly. "I want nieces and nephews you know, you need to get on that!"
This comment brought them both to a point of tomato-faced stuttering.
"W-wh... B-Brother, I-I'm only fifteen...! And Julia's only sixteen! T-that's thinking way too far into the future, w-we can't get married this young a-anyways!" Al spat out, cheeks bright red as he flailed about a bit.
"E-exactly! W-we aren't thinking about any of that yet...!" Julia added, face as red as Al's.
Winry chuckled darkly at the older Elric's comment, and began to sing teasingly, "Julia and Alphonse, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"
Ed quickly joined in. "First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby carriage!"
"WAH! WAH! WAH!" the two finished simultaneously, sly grins never leaving their faces once the whole time.
The other pair weren't even slightly amused, and they glared at the pair of blondes through embarrassed blushes. "Well, you two seem awfully close, are you sure there isn't anything else going on between YOU two?" Al retorted, donning a small smirk of his own.
Julia, upon hearing this one, smirked slightly as well. "Yeah, maybe Al wants some nieces and nephews too!" she added, snickering.
This time it was Edward and Winry's turn to blush. "E-euh..." was all Winry could manage. Ed, on the other hand, had a bit of a red-faced flail moment of his own.
"Wh-what the hell do you mean-?!" he yelled, glaring at the two a bit.
"You would be an adorable couple, you know~" Al said teasingly. "It's no secret that you love her you know!"
Ed's cheeks only got redder. "What the hell are you talking about, Al?!" Winry continued to fidget, her blush deepening as well.
"Just saying, you two would be a great pair!" he replied in a sing-song voice, before taking Julia's hand again and leading her out the doors. "Bye-bye now~"
"Argh- Al-! Get back here-!" Ed yelled angrily after him, but he had already left. He mumbled something incoherent under his breath, and huffed. "Jeez... He really irks me sometimes..."
Winry simply continued fidgeting for a while, blush still present and very visible.
Al and Julia walked out into the rain, walking a bit away from the entrance before giving each other a little high five and laughing.
"You think that'll get him to confess...?" the blonde asked, grinning.
She shrugged. "Maybe. I hope so, it'd make Winry really happy!" she giggled.
He nodded, smiling gently. "Yeah, it would...~"
She giggled a bit, then went quiet, not really knowing what to say, and looked to the side.
Al glanced at her, and shyly took her hand in his again. "So, uh... Shall we...?" he asked softly, looking at whatever parts of her face that were visible to him from his position.
"E-euh... Y-yeah..." she replied, looking back towards him, her bright orange hair looking absolutely gorgeous with raindrops hanging on the end of her bangs, one dripping onto her cheek.
Alphonse didn't notice this at that moment, as he was currently mesmerised by her beautiful cyan eyes. They glistened so prettily in the dim sunlight that shone from behind the grey clouds, and he couldn't help but notice how much they reminded him of gemstones.
"Wow..." he said quietly, his own golden eyes gazing intently at her face. He was smiling softly, even blushing a bit.
"W-what...?" the ginger asked timidly, somewhat mesmerised by his eyes as well.
"Your eyes are so gorgeous..." he told her, voice gentle and soft. "They look like the beautiful gemstone, aquamarine... I feel like I should be paying money just to look at them..."
Her eyelids widened a bit, and she blushed again, a smile immediately brought to her face by the compliment. "Th-thank you, Alphonse..." she replied quietly. She desperately wanted to avert her gaze out of shyness, but she somehow couldn't break away from his gentle gaze and smile, his own eyes looking beautiful as well. They looked like topaz orbs, crafted so that they would please and relax anyone who happened to look at them. Of course, she wouldn't dare say this aloud, especially not with him looking at her like this. She wanted to swoon and just pass out right there, but she couldn't. His gaze wouldn't let her.
After a while more of just staring into her eyes, he finally glanced away. "Well... Shall we?" he asked her gently.
She simply nodded, rendered unable to speak for a while after getting lost in each other's eyes for so long.
He grinned, giving her hand a squeeze and leading her off to the big hills behind the school. No one ever went there for some reason, despite the area's lush, beautiful grass and general comfortable feel.
The pair hiked up one of the hills, looking around a bit. "Wow..." Julia spoke, the first thing she had said in quite a bit. "It's so pretty here..."
Al nodded. "It is...~" He looked around a bit, taking in the area's beauty. There was quite a lot of space, though it was to be expected of a school way out in the middle of nowhere. He couldn't even see the end of the hills and plains, but that was one of the best parts. It was so vast, it seemed like there was no end to the fields, and it made it feel like this beauty went on forever.
He sighed contentedly, just standing atop the hill quietly. His attention was suddenly grabbed by Julia when she gave him a little poke. "...? Yes, Julia?" he asked her, smiling.
She smiled shyly, still blushing a bit, and said quickly, "You're it!" She then ran off in the opposite direction, laughing.
His mind took a second to register this, but upon realisation, he faked an angry expression and shouted jokingly, "Hey! No fair!"
"All's fair in love and tag!" Julia yelled over her shoulder, before turning her head back around and running even faster.
He couldn't help but laugh, breaking his faux f che face, and started running after her. "I'm gonna catch you!" he yelled to her.
"No way you are!" she shouted back at him, running at full speed. "You're way too slow!"
He sped up, trying to catch up with her. "Am not!"
"Are too!" She carefully hurried down the side of the hill, starting to run off into the adjacent field.
Alphonse soon reached the side she had gone down, and rushed towards her. "Oh no you don-" he started, but abruptly tripped and rolled all the way down. "Waugh-!"
Hearing his yell, she turned around to see him facedown on the ground, covered in rain, grass and a bit of mud. She held back a laugh, making her way back over and kneeling down beside him.
"Are you alright...?" she asked, smiling slightly.
He slowly picked himself up off the ground, sitting on his knees in a slight daze. He teetered a bit, miming something and nodding. "Mhmm..."
She giggled, giving him a hug despite his muddy, wet clothing. "That was pretty clumsy of you!" she commented teasingly, laughing a bit.
He hugged her back, still a bit dizzy. He chuckled anyway, replying, "Sure was, haha! You're too fast for your own good, you know!"
She grinned, pulling back just a bit from the hug to give him a bop on the nose with her pointer finger. "Or maybe you're just reckless!" she giggled again, smirking slightly.
He pretended to scowl, face looking more like an angry kitten than anything. This only made Julia laugh again, hugging him tightly again. "You're silly~" she said gently.
Al giggled too, returning the close embrace. They remained like that for a while, then let go of each other, staring into each other's eyes for a moment before laughing again.
The golden-haired boy promptly flopped onto his back, closing his eyes and letting the rain hit his face, as he let out another contented sigh.
Julia gazed affectionately at him for a moment, then let out a sigh of her own, closing her eyes as well and doing the same as him- though, she remained sitting, while he was splayed out a bit on the grass, arms spread out beside him so that he looked somewhat like a "T", but with his legs parted a bit.
The two remained like this in silence for a bit, simply enjoying the nice, calm, relaxing feeling of the rain hitting their skin, both very content. It was like therapy of some sort, just by relaxing out in the rain, all their troubles, worries and stress was magically gone. The only sound that could be heard was the rain pelting against their surroundings, making it even more stress-relieving.
After a while of this silence, Julia spoke up. "It's really warm and nice..." she said simply, as she opened her eyes and glanced towards Al.
He nodded, his eyes still shut. "Yeah, it's really relaxing... I think if this were cold rain it would just be uncomfortable..." he replied softly, his tone a gentle and relaxed one.
"Yeah..." she replied, nodding in agreement as she closed her eyes again and returned her "gaze" to the sky. She suddenly remembered what she had imagined earlier, and blushed a bit again. She really wanted to do that, but she was a bit scared... So, instead of saying anything else, she simply began to hum softly, a light smile tugging at her lips as she did. She was humming the tune to a song she really loved, Dear You. It was a beautiful one, and one she hoped she would be able to sing for Al some day... even though she was scared to death of singing in front of him. She just hoped she would be able to overcome her shyness, however, and also hoped he wouldn't think she was weird for liking anime, since this particular song was from one called Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni. It was really violent on the surface, but in actuality it was a really touching story about friendship and how it can overcome even death itself.
She just continued humming, unaware that Al was listening intently and hoping that it had lyrics she could sing to him sometime.
After a while of humming (and building up courage), Julia swallowed slightly, and looked towards the blond again shyly. "Al...?"
He opened an eye, looking towards her. "Yeah...?" he asked her softly.
"I, uh..."
He sat up, opening both eyes and looking towards her. "Go ahead..." he told her, blinking once.
She swallowed once more, then quickly closed her eyes, leaned towards him and, blushing insanely, kissed him, her heart pounding so hard she was sure he would hear it.
His eyes opened wide for a moment in surprise, but he quickly closed them, kissing her back. His cheeks were just as red as hers, and he was wondering the same thing about her when his own heart began pounding fiercely.
Her cheeks still bright crimson, she gradually relaxed into the kiss, and hugged his neck, getting nice and comfortable. He wrapped his arms around her slowly, his cheeks still matching hers as he smiles slightly, holding his lips pressed tightly against hers. She smiled as well, melting into the kiss as she hugged him a bit tighter.
Suddenly, thunder was heard, and a crack of far-away lightning startled them, both jumping a bit. Julia began to pull away, but Al held her tightly, not wanting to break this kiss just yet.
She half-opened her eyes, but closed them again, slowly returning the kiss once more. He held her there like that for a while longer, still seeming calm despite the coming storm.
After a bit, he slowly pulled away from her, and, still holding her close, says softly, "Don't worry... I'll always keep you safe, alright...?"
Her cheeks became an almost impossibly brighter red, and she smiled at him, once again gazing into his gentle topaz eyes, her aquamarine ones showing complete relaxation now, no longer even slightly frightened by the storm in his arms.
She simply gazed at him, then said softly, "You know, your eyes are beautiful too..." she told him, as she finally had the guts to say what she couldn't earlier. "They remind me of topaz, crafted just right so that anyone who looks at them feels completely at ease and relaxed..."
He chuckled softly, giving her a third Eskimo kiss and smiling. "They're only like that for you, you know..." he replied, laughing a bit again.
Her blush deepened again, and she chortled, grinning. "You flirt!"
He chuckled again, a grin appearing on his face too. "I can't help it, you're just that amazing!"
The ginger huffed, as she removed an arm from around the back of his neck and poked his nose. "I am not, you're ten times more amazing than me- no, a kajillion!" she pouted.
"No way! You're the absolute most beautiful and sweet and kind and amazing and wonderful and just the all-around best girl I've ever met, and I love you!" he retorted, then, upon realising what he had added at the end, suddenly blushed and froze up.
Julia did basically the same thing, her cheeks flaming even more. She was completely shocked at what she had just heard. He... loves me...? she thought, lips parting slightly. She just stared at him for a while, cheeks beet-red and heart pounding even faster than it had been during the kiss.
Alphonse was completely frozen, not knowing what to do. He had heard that early "I love yous" were not a good thing, especially if the other person wasn't ready for that. He swallowed, his heart beating even faster than the blue-eyed girl's. He didn't want to lose her, not ever, but he was incredibly worried he would.
He had liked her since the first time he saw her on her first day of school here, when they had met in the hall outside the chemistry lab, one of his favourite classes and, as he soon learnt, hers too. She apparently had just transferred there from her old school, since it was being demolished, and the two of them had quickly bonded over their mutual love of science and, as was revealed over time, their many other common interests. The entire time they had spent together as friends, Al had been hiding his feelings for her, which had built up quite strongly as the days passed. He thought his love was unrequited, at least, until a little while ago, when she suddenly (and shyly) asked him out on a date. He had eagerly accepted, of course, and they both had an amazing time together. They had a few dates together, and each of them was incredible. They had to deal with a lot of teasing from Winry and Ed, who had both known Al had a crush on her from the moment it started, but they were fine with it, because they were happy. Edward and Winry totally supported it anyway, so it wasn't like that mattered.
Remembering all of this, Alphonse realised he /couldn't/ lose it. He just couldn't. He had to save this somehow. The only thing that came to his mind was to apologise, and that's exactly what he did.
"I-I'm sorry...!" he blurted out, frantically looking away from her and releasing her from the hug. "I-it just kinda popped out of my mouth- I'm really sorry...!"
She just sat in shock, then, looking down, said meekly, "It's alright, Alphonse... I... I love you too..."
Upon hearing this, the blond froze again. She... loves me too...? That thought rang through his head for several moments, before he snapped out of it, suddenly overjoyed. He tackled her in happiness, grinning.
"Whoa-!" the ginger yelped, falling onto her back. "A-Al-?!"
"ThankyousomuchJuliaohmygoshI 'msorelieved!" he yelled in a giddy rush, practically squeezing the life out of her. "IthoughtIhadsaidittooearlyan dyoudidn'tfeelthesamewayandIthoughtwe weregonnaendupbreakingup-!"
She was totally squished, but managed a laugh anyways. "Of course not...!" she said, voice strained. "Do you mind letting go of me though? You're breaking my bones here...!"
He flailed and released her. "AhsorryI'mjustsohappyrightnowIcpuldn'thelpit-" he again said in a rush, silenced by Julia's finger, which she pressed against his lips to shush him.
"Sssh... Calm down already, Al!" she giggled, appearing calm, though internally she was just as ecstatic as he was. She felt like she was on Cloud 9 and would never come back down, but she would if Al had asked her. Her mind was swarming with romantic thoughts and lovey-dovey things, but she somehow managed to cover it up this time. She was sure the blond felt the same, and that made her even happier.
He took a few deep breaths to calm down, his cheeks still burning as he sat back up off of her. "S-sorry... I was just really happy..." he said, scratching the back of his head and looking at the ground.
She giggled again, sitting up as well. "I am too..." she replied, smiling softly and looking off towards the field next to them.
He chuckled, falling silent. He usually randomly complimented her at these slightly awkward moments, but this time, he had nothing to say. His mind was currently full of romance and lovey-dovey things, just as Julia had known, and he didn't have room for any others at that moment. Instead, he simply continued gazing that the ground, his clothes still covered in mud and grass from rolling down the hill. He didn't even notice this though, as he was too caught up in his daydreaming.
Julia glanced at him again, and, since she was paying more attention, noticed all the dirt on him, making her chuckle. She looked at her own clothes and, as expected, she was all messy too. She laughed again, looking back at Al.
"Look how dirty we are!" she laughed, a light blush still on her cheeks, though most of it had already disappeared.
The golden-eyed boy snapped out of his fantasies upon hearing her speak, and looked down at himself. "Ah...! We are!"
The aquamarine-eyed girl couldn't stop laughing, and Al soon joined her, laughing 'till both of their stomachs hurt.
After they calmed down a bit, Alphonse looked up at the sky again, and, in that same out-of-breath voice everyone has after laughing a lot, said, "Hey... When did the rain stop...?" He laughed twice while saying this, still in that familiar giggly mood that comes after a lot of fun.
Julia wiped a laughter-induced tear from her eye and glanced up as well. "Heheh... I'm not really sure..." she replied, speaking the same way Al had, giggling a bit as well.
He stared up, a big goofy grin on his face, then noticed something that made his smile even wider.
"Hey! A rainbow!" he said excitedly, pointing to a brilliant multi-coloured arc that stretched across the sky.
She looked over too, and her face, just like the blond's, lit up. "Oh wow...!" she said in amazement.
"Yeah!" he grinned, marvelling the gorgeous phenomenon. "It's so pretty!"
"It is!" she agreed, smile just as wide as his. She suddenly realised something; she had never seen a rainbow before. This was the first one she had ever seen, and she got to see it with Alphonse. That little fact made her infinitely happier, and she just couldn't stop smiling or take her eyes off of the colourful illusion, eyes wide in awe. All the things that had happened today just made her so happy. She felt like- no, it /was/ the happiest and best day of her life, and this year had been the best. She was well-liked at the school, she had many friends, and more importantly, she had Alphonse. Her life as a child was horrible. Her parents were murdered, her brother disappeared and she thought he was dead, she was taken in by abusive relatives who wouldn't let her even leave the house... It sucked. She had eventually managed to convince them to let her go to school, but she wasn't allowed to talk to anyone, and everyone thought she was a weird introverted misanthrope, which was quite the opposite of the truth. However, when that school had to be torn down, everything took a turn for the better. Her older brother returned, and took her away from those nasty people. He had her transfer to this school, and everything went up from there, and at this moment, she was the happiest she had ever been. She didn't think Al could quite see how positively thrilled she was right then, but she didn't mind; in fact, she doubted anything could bring her down at that moment.
She was quite unaware, however, of the fact that tears had come to her eyes, and that Al was knelt in front of her now, looking quite concerned seeing as she had spaced out for so long then suddenly began crying a little.
"J-Julia? A-are you alright?" the gold-haired boy asked, his expression a mix of high worry and fear that he had done something wrong somehow.
She blinked out of her happy-go-lucky stupor, and stared at him for a second. It took a moment for her to register the fact that she had been crying, and she laughed a bit at herself, smiling gently. "I'm beyond alright, Al..." she replied softly, rubbing her eyes.
"Th-then why are you crying...?" he asked, still looking concerned.
Her smile grew a bit as she finished wiping her face off, and she looked him in the eyes, her own smiling as brightly as she was. "I was just too overjoyed, I guess..." she replied, voice still gentle and soft. "Alphonse... Thank you so much."
He blinked, unsure of why he was being thanked. He had still been worried about her, but after noticing that the smile was reflected even in her beautiful cyan eyes, he had relaxed a bit. "For what...?"
"For everything. For... being with me, for spending this time together with me, for seeing this rainbow with me, and... for existing. Thank you," she told him, smile growing even wider.
Al blushed a bit, smiling away, and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "Thank you too," he said, a gentle smile appearing on his face as well.
She giggled, letting out another content sigh. She then stretched out, holding an arm above her head as she did.
The blond smiled again, sitting back next to her and, when she was done stretching, wrapped an arm around her shoulder and hugged her to his side.
She giggled again, happily snuggling into him as she gazed up at the rainbow again. "You know, this is the first time I've ever seen one of these..." she told him, looking towards his face.
"Ah, really?" he asked, looking back at her, smile still present on his face.
She nodded, and looked back towards it, giving him a little squeeze as she did. "Yep. I'm really happy I got to see my first rainbow with you, Al... If it had been anyone else, it wouldn't have been nearly as special..."
He laughed softly, nuzzling the top of her head a bit. "Aww... Then I guess this rainbow is our special rainbow! We have to promise to never forget it, not ever!" he exclaimed, grinning.
"Never ever!" she giggled, nodding. "We should take a picture or something... And get something else to help us remember..." she mulled, tapping her chin thoughtfully.
Alphonse smiled again, taking a camera out of his pocket that miraculously didn't break during his earlier tumble. This thing was built strong for sure.
He held it out in front of Julia. "Why don't you take the picture?" he asked sweetly. "If it's your first rainbow, then you should be the one taking the picture, right?"
She glanced towards him for a second, then took it from him, examining it. "How do I use it?"
"Oh, that's easy!" He quickly showed her what buttons to press, and soon enough, Julia had taken a picture of the brilliant arc in the sky.
"I did it!" she exclaimed excitedly when she had taken the photo.
The blond laughed again, peeking at the camera. "You sure did!"
She smiled towards him happily, and gave him a little peck on the cheek, laughing again.
"Ahaha~" Al grinned, laughing as well. "Maybe I should find some rings to help us remember as well..."
She nodded. "Sounds like a great idea!"
"Looks like that's a plan, then!"
"Yep~! Mission Never Forget Today is officially a go and will last on forever~!"
From then on, neither one of them ever forgot that date, and had yearly anniversaries of that day, continuing on to the day they got married and beyond. They had a lot of other anniversaries too, but this was the one that really seemed the most special, tied with the anniversary of their wedding day. Every time the day came, the two would wander off to the school again, and just sit there in the grassy plains and hills, relaxing together. No one had ever told them they couldn't or anything; in fact, everyone knew that it was their special place and day. It was a fairly small town, so news travelled quickly, and in this case, it was Edward and Winry who had essentially reserved that spot for them, after spying on the two from afar. By the way, right after Alphonse and Julia left, Ed ended up confessing to Winry. Cute, huh? Plus it worked out just as they had hoped it to. Those two are also happily married now, and both couples have a few kids. (Al and Julia's are adorable, two have orange hair and one is blond like Al. They are so. Freaking. Cute.) Ed still teases Al about the fact that he ended up doing exactly what he said he wanted to happen on that day ages ago, and whenever he asks him how he remembers, he just says "Winry and I promised not to forget too." Winry would just nod, and then both would go back to teasing him and Julia until they were both in a tomato-faced mess on the floor, which was always fun on the giving end, not so much on the receiving end. Of course, the two would quickly get their revenge like they had done so many times, and a victorious high five always followed. One thing, however, that Ed and Winry didn't see, was when Al stated that Julia had eyes like the aquamarine gemstone, or when Julia commented that Al's eyes were like topaz, meaning that the name they had given that day, "Aquamarine and Topaz", made absolutely no sense to them whatsoever. They didn't really care though; that part seemed TOO private, like everything else that had happened then wasn't in the slightest. Ed had asked Julia about it once, and ended up being answered with some incoherent babbling and squealing. (He never asked either of them again. Ever.) Julia eventually did sing to Al, and he thought she was absolutely amazing. Ed pretended he thought she was weird for liking anime (when in all honesty he didn't really mind) and Al smacked him, so there's another thing he isn't trying a second time. But, despite all the bickering and teasing, both families now live in relative peace, and they all are completely content with life, making this one excellent fairy tale ending.
Tl;dr, Al and Julia & Ed and Winry get married and have kids, none of them forget the day dubbed "Aquamarine and Topaz" by Al and Julia, and everyone lives happily ever after.
~The End~