Disclaimer: I do not own, or claim to own in any way, Fullmetal Alchemist.
It was a late August afternoon in East City, Amestris. The dying leaves from trees lining the sidewalk fluttered down from the long, brittle branches onto the street. Shades of red and gold adorned the city, giving it a rustic, countryside feel, despite the tall buildings, paved roads, and automobiles which made their way almost lazily down the road. Everything moved at a slow, leisurely pace; everything and everyone, except for the blond young man and the large suit of armor swiftly striding to the center of East City.
Edward Elric and his younger brother, Alphonse, wasted no time stopping to admire the autumn scenery on their way to the military headquarters. While Alphonse would have loved to just stop and watch the leaves, which reminded him so much of the ones back home in Risembool, they would be late to their meeting.
"Ed, can we slow down? Why are we in such a rush?" he asked.
"If we don't hurry up the Colonel will make some smart remark about me being late. 'Oh, Fullmetal, late again? What was it this time? Couldn't reach the doorknob? Steps too tall for you? Legs too short for you to get here on time? I'd be happy to have someone pick you up in a car, but I'm afraid most military cars don't come with a booster seat!' Bastard…" Ed's shoulders slumped, and his face twisted into a scowl. "Stupid jerk…who does he think he is? The only reason he's taller than me is because his head's so big! He thinks he can just tell people do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, just because he's a Colonel. 'I'm the Colonel, so do what I say!' He's a bastard, thinking that I'd just drop what I'm doing, just to walk all the way to his office for some stupid meeting!"
"Brother, he told you about this meeting a week in advance."
"Yeah, and he knew we have a train to catch in a few hours too! Who plans a late meeting in advance?" Alphonse sighed as he continued to briskly walk down the street. They had been in East city for about two weeks after another failed lead on the philosopher's stone, and they weren't anywhere closer than before they set out. The stone turned out to be another fake, and Ed blew up a building.
It wasn't until he was about to turn the last corner that the younger Elric realized that his brother wasn't following him.
"Brother?" Ed turned his lips into a rebellious grin.
"You're right, Al. Let's slow down a bit. How'd you like to go for a little stroll in the park?" Even though Alphonse couldn't feel his brother's arm tugging on his, he could hear the sound of the metal plates clanking together and on the ground as Ed pulled him along.
A few turns, and Alphonse found himself standing in front of East City Park. Colorful balloons decorated the fence, and a long banner read: "The Annual Fall Funfair is here! Bring your friends and family for extraordinary fun! Open 8AM to 8PM". From his tall vantage point, Al saw several stalls, tents, and was that a Ferris wheel?
"Come on, Al, let's go! If Colonel Bastard expects that he can just do whatever he wants, well, he has another thing coming." Ed stormed up to the booth near the entrance, and thankfully Alphonse had the foresight to pay for a couple of game tickets before the lady could say: "Small children get in for free."
"Now that we're here, what do you want to do?" Ed asked. Alphonse surveyed the rather large park. It was a Friday, and with a few hours before sunset, there was a crowd of people running excitedly from stand to stand. The fair was littered with kiosks selling food, beverages, and various toys. Decorations and signs were posted on benches, tents, and hung from lines, dancing in the breeze.
"Well, isn't this a surprise." Al turned toward the familiar voice from behind. There, dressed in a casual shirt and trousers, as opposed to the blue military uniform, was Roy Mustang. Attached to his hand was a little green eyed girl, around two years old, with light brown hair put up into pigtails. Al could sense the shock and irritation radiating off of his older brother by the boatload.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Roy shook his head with disapproval.
"Tsk, tsk; watch your language, Fullmetal. There are small children here, in case you haven't noticed." Al watched his mouth quirk up in a smirk, "Which is a bit surprising, considering you're all around the same height." Ed held back a string of insults not meant for children under the age of thirteen. He repeated the question.
"What are you doing here, colonel?" There was a bit more force than necessary, Al noted, like he was trying to fit an orange through a hole shaped like a pear. "Weren't you supposed to be at headquarters?" Roy shook his head again.
"I got out a while ago; I had to pick up my niece," Mustang patted the girl on her cranium.
"You're niece…?" Ed looked at the girl, noticing her for the first time since the Colonel had gotten there.
"Yes, my niece. This is Elicia. I'm watching her for a few days, while her parents are on a trip for a couple's only retreat. Say hello, Elicia." Elicia let out a little squeak at the mention of her name, and hid half of her face behind his leg.
"It's alright. The short one is Ed, and his brother Al. Don't worry, Ed may be a dog, but he doesn't bite." Elicia moved out a bit from her hiding place, still holding to Roy's trousers with a fierce grip. Her face lit into a small, timid smile. If he could have, Al would have smiled right back. Mustang showed his own little smile that matched Elicia's.
"I was just about to take her to find something to eat. Care to join us?" Al took in the suspicious look on Ed's face, and decided to answer for him.
"We'd be happy to, Colonel." Ed started sputtering disbelieving noises, and Al gave him a pleading look. Well, as pleading as a two hundred and twenty centimeter suit of armor can look. That elicited a small "fine" from his brother. Al kneeled down in front of Elicia and held out his hand to her.
"I saw a stand selling hotdogs next to the carousel. Want to go?" with a little encouragement from her uncle, Elicia took Alphonse's hand, and let him lead her to the stall.
The next few hours were some of the best that Al had in a while. His place would always be at his brother's side, no matter where that was, but sometimes it was nice to step back from their travels for a bit. They ate – well, they ate; Alphonse awkwardly stuffed a hotdog in his armor when Elicia told him to. It turns out that she was very outgoing when she wanted to be. In this case, she reminded him a little of Winry, just without the wrench. Maybe he and Ed could bring her next time the fair was in town.
The four of them went from a game where you try to knock over the pins with a ball – Ed won Elicia a bear, who she decided to name Mr. Bear – to a ride that went around in circles. He and Elicia watched his brother and her uncle dare each other to go for a spin. Both of them looked a bit queasy after, but were fine a few minutes later. They rode on the carousel, its blinking lights mesmerizing the little girl of their group. Elicia and Al were having a good time, and even though Ed and the Colonel pretended not to enjoy themselves, Al knew that they were having fun, too.
Soon though, like all small children do, Elicia started to tire out. They decided to go on the Ferris wheel as their last ride. She couldn't stay awake though, and fell asleep on the seat next to the Colonel a few seconds after they got in. Something seemed to bother Ed though, as they moved around the circumference of the wheel.
"Colonel, why did you want us at HQ for?" he asked. Al looked over in curiosity. He had almost forgotten about that. Mustang seemed confused.
"What are you talking about?"
"The meeting. The one you scheduled a week ago for today?" The Colonel's confusion didn't waver. He paused for a moment.
"I didn't schedule any meeting. I had to pick up Elicia before her parents left, so I didn't schedule anything for today." He continued without letting Ed interrupt.
"But there was something I wanted to talk to you two about. Word has spread of an alchemical amplifier up north; a solution that when poured over a transmutation circle, should help the energy flow through the reaction. It's not as powerful as a philosopher's stone, but it may be worth looking in to." Al looked at the scenery all around them. The sun was just starting to set over a large, brown hill in the distance. Their train would leave in an hour, and now they had a lead.
When the passenger car touched down, Roy offered to give them a ride. They drove to the train station in a comfortable silence, and mapped out their route. The night train would take them northwest, to a smaller city by the name of Clentile.
"It's not too small to dig up some information. Just make sure you do it without tipping off anyone you may need to find," the Colonel had said.
Now, Alphonse and his brother Ed were sitting in the seats of the overnight train. Al said that Ed could buy a ticket for sleeper class if he wanted to, but he refused. So they sat together, watching the lights of the city disappear in the distance through the large window.
"That was fun, Brother." Al said. Ed nodded. Al could tell he was trying to figure out who had called them to Headquarters. "Maybe we should bring Winry to a fun fair sometime. You could win her a prize. I'm sure she'd like it." He added a teasing note to the last comment. Ed's face grew a bit red around his cheeks, and he mumbled a quiet "shut up" behind the hand propping his head against the window.
"…Who would want to pose as that bastard?" he asked. Al Shrugged. Normally, he was the cautious one, not Ed. But for some reason, the idea that someone who could so easily forge the Flame Alchemist wanted to meet them didn't seem to bother him much.
"I don't know, brother. But I think whatever comes our way, we'll be ready for it. Hey, before you fall asleep, can you help me clean the mustard out of my armor?"
Envy glanced from the members of Mustang's team to the massive pile of paper on the desk. He sighed and paused to let the blood circulate through his hand before returning to the forms.
Damn Mustang and his damn paperwork. Damn the Elric brothers. Why weren't they here? Did they have that little of respect for Mustang's orders to just not show up? He sent the memo a week in advance. They should be here, letting him send another false lead for the Elric brothers to investigate. They should be here, and he shouldn't be filling out this damn paperwork!
He had taken Mustang's form – not bad for a mortal – and had made sure that no one had read Mustang's notice about leaving early, only to find that his subordinates were pushing mountains of work on to him. If this was what Mustang did all day, then he did not envy the man.
"Sir, those documents need to be finished by Monday. I suggest that you keep working."
Envy tried not to kill her right then and there. With Hawkeye on his back about the work, he couldn't even snoop though Mustang's things without her yapping at him like the damn bitch she was. When he finally had managed to skim through Mustang's planner, all Envy managed to find were dates with different women. He managed to pass himself off as reasonably irritated and continued to fill out the paperwork. Damn the wench. Nagging him to keep working every ten minutes. Envy could see who really wore the pants at East Headquarters.
The other men snickered a bit before getting back to work. At least with the rest of Mustang's dogs here, he wouldn't be alone to bear the brunt of the witch's nagging. And you know what these lesser beings liked to say: misery loves company. And so did Envy.
"Sir, get back to work."
"Yes, Lieutenant."
A/N: Hey there! This is just a small thing, not really much thought behind this. This is my first successfully finished attempt at fan fiction. Rereading through this made me think that I could have done better with some of the characterization, and my writing seems a little boring at some parts. Any tips that you may have on how to improve my prose would be nice, so please leave me some feedback :). Thanks for reading!
-The town mentioned that the Elric brothers were travelling to, Clentile, is fictional. So is the part about the alchemical reaction enhancer.
-All of the technology at the fair, the Ferris wheel, carousel, etc. should have been invented (in the modern sense) around the late 1800s or early 1900s. If not, then I have been severely misinformed ^^"
-The next time that Elicia sees the Elric brothers, she doesn't remember them, or their trip to the fair. And considering that Edward doesn't like the Colonel that much, he doesn't remember it either. He's shunned it from his mind. Alphonse remembers it every once and a while. :P