Alphonse used to enjoy winter. He remembered one night when his brother shook him awake with excitement, essentially pulling the sleepy younger boy out of bed.
Grumpily, and a tad groggily, Al tossed on his soft, fuzzy slippers, followed his brother out of their warm room, down the stairs that creaked with every step, through the long hallway that lead to the front door, and finally through the door that opened with a squeak.
He allowed himself to wake up a bit as he watched the white fluff fall from the sky. The moonlight made them almost appear to shimmer.
A grin spread over Al's face as he reached out and felt a flurry land in his hand. Ed wasted no time in running outside with only his pajamas and slippers on, creating footprints in the snow.
"I just couldn't sleep! Look! Its sticking! Tomorrow's gonna be awesome!" Ed scooped up a bit of the snow and tossed it in the air, watching it disperse. "There definitely aint gonna be any school tomorrow!"
Al grinned and followed him outside, pushing aside the thought of their mother finding them in their soaked pajamas. He stuck his tongue out and tried to catch the snowflakes that gently fell down around him.
"Hey Al!" the younger turned to see his brother leaning towards the ground, using his finger to draw something in the snow. Alphonse walked over to him to investigate, he found a transmutation circle drawn in the snow. "Watch this!" Ed smirked and activated the circle.
Snow quickly moved around and formed into what seemed to be a slightly malformed snowman. It was lopsided and tilting a bit to the right. It had no eyes, mouth, or nose, only slightly creepy dents where they should have been, though Ed seemed proud of himself.
Al found himself snorting at the ridiculous snowman, prompting Ed to whirl around and ask what was wrong with his creation. Al was still giggling as he walked over to his own spot and drew his own circle.
"This is how you make a snowman with alchemy!" Al pressed his hands down and the snow began to move as it did with Ed's attempt.
Upon completion, it looked a lot better than Ed's in appearance, but Edward found himself unimpressed.
"It's so much smaller than mine and it doesn't even have any detail!" Ed pointed out.
"At least it's not tipping over! And you are supposed to add the details after building the snowman brother! You don't give it creepy dents!"
"It's better than nothing though." Ed argued, "Mine is clearly better." he leaned down and began another circle, "Just watch me make an even better one!"
"Not if I make one first!"
Many more flashes of alchemy occured, moving snow around as the fresh powder gathered on the boy's heads.
They didn't even notice their disappointed mother standing in the doorway.
However, when it got to the point of the boys playfully tackling each other in the snow, she decided to speak up.
"Isn't it a bit cold to be outside without coats, hats, or gloves on?"
Both boys froze and looked towards the brunette standing in the doorway. Trisha Elric, was not amused.
They were called inside and dried off, with some light scolding from their mother. "You two need to be more careful, you could have gotten frostbite."
"Sorry mom." Ed frowned, "We just couldn't wait until tomorrow."
"Well now you're gonna have to." she finished drying off Al's hair with a towel and kissed his forehead, before doing the same to Ed, "Now get changed into something warmer and get back to bed."
"Yes mom." the boys answered together before giving her a hug goodnight.
After changing back into warmer clothes and crawling back into their warm bed, they could hardly sleep awaiting the next day.
The waiting definitely paid off. The following morning the boys ran outside, this time equipped with proper snow gear, and were promptly met with a snowball to the face and the laughter of Winry.
She held a sled behind her and the brothers knew the perfect spot.
They went up and down the hill more times than they could count. They soon ended up coming across some other neighborhood kids and of course participated in the snow fort competition, before using their fortresses for a good old snowball fight. Al had nailed Ed in the face, Ed had stuffed snow down Al's shirt.
All good times.
When they returned home later in the day, a nice warm bowl of soup would be waiting for them both, welcoming them home.
They would warm up by the fireplace as their mother practiced her stitching. Everything was simply at peace.
Times were so much better then.
Now winter to Al meant well, seasonal depression. Ed was busier for some reason in the winters, and it wiped him out, so he'd go to bed earlier. His armor got rustier and creaky in the winter, he could never quite get it to stop until spring came back around. It was also the holiday season he used to enjoy.
Winter Solstice was greatly celebrated in Central with bright lights illuminating the city, and fireworks going off in brilliant colors with loud booms.
It was a quieter, but just as festive affair in Resembool. There wasn't any fancy lights, but people always lit fires in lanterns of colored glass outside their homes. He had a vague recollection of a time when he was much younger. His father applied different elements to the fire, and the lantern lit up in many different hues. It was an amazing sight.
He missed that lantern they'd used every year.
But that was gone. Just like everything else in their home.
Not even the happiness and excitement of children going by, or people caroling Solstice classics really made him feel all that happy.
That wasn't to say that Ed was happy either, however. He got grumpier and even more easily agitated than normal in the colder months. Cold weather was just as kind to automail as it was to his armor.
Ed was least of all pleased when he got his newest assignment from Mustang.
"Oh fuck no."
"It's your assignment."
"This isn't a fucking assignment Bastard, it's a party I'm not attending."
The Colonel sighed, "Fullmetal you refused to show up last year and I knew you would refuse this year too. So it's now mandatory. Everyone under my command will be there, so it's only proper for you to show up too."
"I'm not going to any dumbass Solstice Ball! I'm staying home, reading a book, and sleeping on my half day." Ed crossed his arms in finality.
"This is not an option Fullmetal." Mustang stood.
"You can't force me." Ed glared back at him.
"Brother, please… stop fighting him already. Just go to the ball." Edward turned to Al. The armored boy sounded exhausted. Alphonse knew fighting with the Colonel would only make Ed go to bed even earlier that night.
"Alphonse-"
"Just stop arguing already…" Al sounded tired, too tired for a boy who couldn't feel exhaustion. That was enough for Ed to give in and agree to take on Mustang's Mission.
It was silent for a moment before the Colonel calmly spoke once more, "It begins Friday at 1900 hours. Be punctual and in proper dress code, you can find what's appropriate on your invitation here." he handed Ed the slip of paper. "You are allowed to bring a plus one as long as they wear proper dress too." he was silent for a moment, "Dismissed."
And so the brothers left.
In the days before the party, Ed seemed to be beginning to stay up later, trying to start conversations with Al that didn't really need to be started, and even made some weak jokes to try to get some cheer out of Al.
He had really been trying harder ever since he realized just how, tired and sad Al sounded.
Yet Al just couldn't feel any better.
Soon enough Friday had arrived, and Ed was preparing himself for the ball. He had struggled his hair into a more complicated kind of braid, he also sported a dark red suit, with a black dress shirt underneath and a black bow tie around his neck, along with black dress shoes on his feet.
"Damn," Ed muttered, sitting on the bed, "I miss my boots already."
"It's only one night though…"
"Yea...I guess so."
Silence.
"Hey Al?"
"Yea brother?" his armor creaked.
"I was thinking, uh this thing is probably gonna go late, and well… Mustang did say I could bring a plus one." Al looked up at Ed.
"There's no possible way I can fit that dress code brother." he looked down again.
"Well then, I guess I went through all this trouble for nothing."
Al looked up to see Ed holding an extremely large suit. "B-brother?! Where did you even find one that big?!" Al was dumbfounded.
"I had to have a conversation with Major Armstrong, and you know how difficult that is." he chuckled, "But I managed… If I'm gonna suffer then I may as well suffer with you, right?" he laid the suit out on the bed. "We'd have to transmute down some of your spikes and such, but it should fit. So, what do you say?"
Al looked at the suit, it probably would fit him. It was comically large as Major Armstrong was.
"I don't know brother…"
"Come on, just give it a try, for me?" Ed offered a small smile.
"Okay brother."
The brothers arrived at the ball's destination and were given a questionable look, but were let in with a flash of Ed's watch and invitation.
Edward strutted in with Alphonse walking shyly behind him. There were a lot of people there, and they all seemed to have odd looks designated for him.
"Come on Al, let's go find Colonel Bastard so he doesn't take a gold star off of my 'good noodle' chart." Ed looked around until his eyes spotted Mustang along with Breda, Falman, Havoc, and Fuery chatting with some ladies across the room.
"Oi! Colonel Bastard! I'm present!"
Mustang visibly tensed and sighed, "I see you made it Fullmetal. Please try not to cause too much damage and-" he cut himself off as he glanced upwards, behind Ed.
"Is that?"
Alphonse was attempting to scoot through people without trouble, but of course that just wasn't an option for him. "Excuse me! Sorry ma'am, I didn't mean it. I apologize sir, if I could just get by-"
"Don't say a thing to him." Ed seethed.
"I wouldn't, calm down Fullmetal."
As soon as Al arrived however, someone else said something.
Breda spit out his drink upon seeing Alphonse in a full suit. He couldn't contain his laughter, "What did you-he's, where did you even-" he guffawed at the sight as Al looked downwards, clenching his gauntlet.
"What's so funny Breda?" Ed was spitting venom in every syllable.
Breda halted at Ed's tone and looked upwards a bit sheepishly, "S-sorry, I just didn't expect… this."
Silence.
"Y-yea, this…" Al responded.
Havoc attempted to break the thick air of awkward tension, "Your hair looks nice Chief."
"Thanks Havoc, it's a little fancy but it aint too bad. But you wouldn't believe how hard it was to find a suit with decent style!"
Havoc laughed, "Oh really?"
"Yea." Ed snorted, "The person selling me this thing told me how I would look better in black and white. The guy clearly had no sense of style."
"Oh Clearly." Havoc snickered a bit and continued the conversation. Al felt it was best to find a quiet corner that he could disappear to for a while. He slipped away easily as his brother was distracted by Havoc's conversation.
Metal clanked as he quietly excused himself as he ended up nudging people and knocking over chairs, as expected. He had nudged his way over near the buffet when he finally got a good view of the room.
There didn't seem to be any spot that was quiet or vacant at all. Al sighed, wondering what to do next when somebody else decided for him.
"Hey, some of us want to eat too you know." Al looked down in surprise to find a man frowning up at him. He recognized him as someone he'd passed in the cafeteria here and there. He was definitely working in Eastern command as well.
"I'm sorry, I was just- I uh-"
"Whatever, just let me eat alright." he exhaled sharply, grabbing whatever food he wanted and swiftly walking away, he didn't seem to want to speak much to Al.
Al watched the man as he walked over to a table and sat down next to another man, with a woman accompanying him, "Sorry I took so long, its like that armored guy was in a daze." Al wasn't sure if he should move or not, he didn't want to eavesdrop, but if he moved and they heard him so close they may think he was eavesdropping. There was really no winning there.
"The Elric kid, with that crazy outfit?" the other man asked.
"Yea, speaking of that, is he dense or something? Why does he still have that damn armor on anyways? I bet he'd look better without it."
"I dunno." The other man replied smoothly, "They say he never takes it off, probably to hide something he doesn't want others to see."
"What kinds of things could that be, huh?" the other man seemed interested in the gossip.
"Well…" the other man trailed off, "I've heard a couple things like he has some ugly scars, or he has a skin condition that's completely disgusting, and the one I heard most recently is… well."
"What?"
"I heard from someone, somewhere, that its to hide bruises. He's only ever around his brother, who knows what goes on behind closed doors?"
Al clenched his fist, how dare they assume something like that about his wonderful, caring brother?
"I don't think Fullmetal's an abuser, no way." he stirred his drink, "I know what an abuse case looks like and how they act with each other, there's no way it could even be a possibility. Besides, there are easier ways to hide bruises."
The other man shrugged, "I dunno, maybe he's just as weird as his brother, maybe he's got an armor fetish or something."
Al felt extremely uncomfortable, he was twelve…
"Speaking of his older brother," he continued, "Where's he at? I can't imagine what kind of suit he imagined was appropriate with what he usually considers to be a uniform."
His companion chuckled a bit, "I saw him over near Mustang's table, he sure looks proud of himself in that suit, but it looks like my two year old picked it out."
A chuckle came from the other man, "The kid's a fashion disaster no matter the occasion!" laughter followed his comment as Al stood frozen, unsure where to go, but then a familiar voice called out to him.
"Al! There you are! What are you doing over here?" Edward looked up at him with a slight frown.
"Oh, brother. I was. Uh, I was just… Um."
"What's the matter? Is everything okay? ...You can tell me anything Alphonse." Ed grabbed one of his brother's gauntlets.
"I, I'm just." Al went silent.
"Just what?" Ed urged him onwards.
"I can't handle this!" his voice came out louder than intended, his hollow body rang with the loud noise as many eyes focused on him.
Well Alphonse had seen everything, it was time for Alphonse to leave.
Alphonse found the quickest way out of there, which involved knocking over some tables, chairs, and people, but what even mattered anymore at that point anyways?
Alphonse rushed out the doors and into the snow, his footprints prominently sinking into the accumulating powder.
He was so finished with absolutely everything. He ripped off his bowtie, gripping it tightly in his gauntlet, "This is ridiculous!" He tossed it into the sky and allowed the wind to whisk it away.
"I look ridiculous!" he went to take another step, but, sadly, armor doesn't have very good traction, so he slipped and fell right onto his ass."Argggh! Damnit!" in his anger, the armored boy scooped up some snow and forced it harshly into the ground.
"Al, what happened?"
Edwards voice echoed in the street as he hopped down the stairs and headed towards his little brother.
"I'm just overwhelmed I guess." Al crossed his arms.
Ed frowned, "Something's been wrong, not just tonight, something's been wrong for a while now Al. I just want you to talk to me." Ed stepped towards him, the bottoms of his pants getting soaked in the snow.
"I don't need to talk about anything okay? It's just that time of year." Al looked away. "The time of year when everything is awful, when you hurt, when all I do is creak and screech, when we're so far away from what this season used to be." Al hugged his arms around himself. "I, miss it."
Silence. Then, the crunching of snow, then a clang against his armor.
Al looked to his side to see a snowball sliding off a now wet spot on his suit. "Wha-"
"If we aren't gonna talk," Ed patted down a snowball, "Then we're gonna play!" another snowball nailed Al in his chestplate.
"Ed, i-" Another snowball managed to have Al on his backside. "That's it!" Al flung one back at his brother, hitting him in the stomach, and sending him to the ground as well.
Then Ed clapped his hands together.
And then the snowball fight truly began.
Alchemical flashes sent snow flying in every direction, soaking their expensive clothes and definitely ruining the fabric, but what reason did either brother have to care?
Once all the tossing of snow had died down, both brothers laid in the snow, Ed's braid getting messy as they watched flurries fall.
"That was way more fun than that stuffy party huh?" Ed looked towards Al.
A chuckle, "Yea. Way more fun."
Silence once more, but this time a serene one.
"Hey Alphonse, you know I love you right? I just want you to be happy. That's all I ever want." Ed exhaled.
"... I know brother." Al tapped the edges of his fingers together, "Times have just been tougher lately I guess… I'm actually really lonely. I'm so lonely brother." Al paused for a moment, "I tried the ball but it was too much and I heard something I wasn't supposed to and…"
"What did you hear?"
"Well, they were making fun of me… and you."
Ed shrugged, "Kill them."
Al's voice deadpanned, "No."
Ed's smirk could be heard in his voice, "Then I'll kill them for you."
"BRotHEr nO."
"Fiiiiiiiine." Ed dragged his response out with a chuckle.
Ed exhaled, and didn't say anything for a moment. "I'm so sorry Al. I guess we've both been hurting, huh?" he flipped around to his stomach and reached out to touch Al's helmet. "Things have really fucking sucked, you're right Al. And this place is no way to spend Solstice Eve."
"But won't you get into trouble with Mustang?" Al asked.
"I don't care, my family is far more important." Ed flashed an encouraging grin. Al's eyes shined in response, and Edward knew he was smiling too.
So they walked back to their dorm and dried off. Once Ed had finished ruffling up his hair with the towel, he turned to Al, who had finally gotten the suit off.
Ed clapped and placed his hands against Al's chestplate, the spikes of the armor returned.
"There we go, it never happened, we can burn those suits."
"But doesn't this one belong to Major Armstrong?" Al asked.
"...Mehh." Ed shrugged. "It's ruined anyways."
The suits were simply tossed in the trash as Ed prepared a warm mug of hot chocolate for himself. Once it was finished, he plopped down on the bed next to Al and simply enjoyed the warmth seeping up from the cup.
"So, should we light a lantern?" Ed asked.
"I don't think we even have one…" Al trailed off.
"If you don't have something, make it." Ed shrugged and grabbed an old vase from the coffee table, it was made of painted copper and had come with the dorm. "Here we go!" Ed clapped his hands together and transmuted the former vase into a lovely looking lantern, complete with a couple tiny gargoyles on parallel sides of the lid.
"Wow, classy." Al joked, prompting Ed to playfully punch him with his automail arm.
"Now we light it, and what if we used some Cens to make it a bit more interesting?" Ed grinned towards Al.
"Cens?" Al sounded confused, "Are you gonna buy something brother? Nothing's really open…"
"It's not the currency that matters, but the material." Ed grinned, "Copper burns blue… and," he stood and reached into a cabinet, "This cleaning spray has some boron in it! That's gonna shine a really awesome green color!"
Edward transmuted the cleaner and coin as needed before lighting the candle.
The boys sat with their legs crossed on each side of it as Edward added the Copper. The flame burned a brilliant blue that made Alphonse feel warm inside.
"And now for Boron." Al added the next element, feeling giddy as it lit up the color green, burning quiet and calm.
After the green died out they just sat and watched for a moment, watching the flame flicker.
"Hey Al?"
"Yea brother?"
"You wanna open your gift a bit early?" Ed offered, the flickering light illuminating his face.
"Oh, Sure!" Al had a smile in his eyes. "But, only if you open your gift early too!"
"Okay Al, it's a deal." Ed pulled out a small box out from under his bed, and Alphonse grabbed a box as well, hidden in a decorative basket.
They both took their places once more around the lantern and handed their gifts to each other. The box was small in Al's large hands, and he opened it with caution.
Inside were many spools of colored thread, along with tiny needles. He looked up to his brother with happiness, "Oh! Thank you Brother!"
"Of course Al! I know you need some way to pass the time at night, and you ran out of thread to stitch with, so, here you go. You have way more colors than the ones you got from Gracia now too!"
"I love it, thanks so much brother." Ed softly smiled at Alphonse as he took his own, bigger box in his hands and opened it up.
His eyes sparkled at what was inside.
He ripped it out of the box and threw it around himself. He sighed as he sunk into the warm blanket. "It's so warm and cozy!" he looked into the box and gasped, "THERE'S TWO!?"
Al chuckled, "Your automail always seems to be freezing this time of year, and that can make it kinda hard to sleep, so I thought that you could use these to keep your arm and leg cozy."
"These are perfect! Thank you Al!" Ed hugged the armor as best he could before settling in Al's big, protective arms. "You mind if I sleep here tonight?" Ed asked quietly.
"Sure." Al replied, allowing Ed to get nice and cozy in his new fluffy blankets.
The silence now was content and happy.
"Hey Al, remember the story mom used to tell us each year?" Ed murmured, "The one about solstice?"
"Yea, I think so…" Al trailed off, "A long while ago there was no celebration of solstice, and nobody found any joy in the winter, it as cold, no food grew, and everyone got sick."
"Mmhm, but then," Ed began, "One day there was a man in need of help, he was cold and sick. But nobody was willing to take him into their care, cause' they had their own shit to deal with."
Al chuckled, "Yea, but there was one woman who showed him her kindness, even though her father was sick, and they were low on food."
"And then, suddenly the woman found that her father was healed, and her bland old potato soup turned into a massive feast! It turned out that the man she helped was a mystical being, right?"
"Yup! And then he told them to keep on spreading and sharing the kindness he'd given them, to ensure that winter would no longer be such a miserable time."
Ed yawned, "And we light our lanterns each year to make sure that the mystical man's kindness can reach us too." Ed's eyes drooped.
Al gently undid his brother's braid with careful fingers as Ed drifted off to sleep.
"Goodnight brother, Happy Solstice."
"Night Al, hap' Solstice."
Alphonse was sure that if he had his body, he would be smiling.
Maybe winter wasn't so bad after all.