Disclaimer: I don't own stuff. I buy things, but I don't own the rights. Except my Ed doll. I love him and you can't have him :)
Note: Inspired by a doujinshi I read a long ways back, which I can't remember the name of. 'Fukai' something…
The Little Doll in the Pretty White Dress
Edward yawned lazily, rubbing sleep from his eyes as they walked.
"Tired, brother?" came the echoing young voice from beside him.
Ed looked up into the faintly glowing red eyes that shone from inside the armoured helmet. "Hm?" he shook his head before shrugging. "Yeah, a little."
Alphonse laughed, "We should stop soon, then, huh?"
Ed nodded sleepily to this, "Yeah…soon…"
Al wished he could smile. His gaze turned to look up at the sky, stopping his movement, "Oh…looks like rain, today."
Ed paused and followed the gaze of his younger brother. "Huh," he agreed. "So it seems."
"Wouldn't want you to catch cold, now." Al stated, looking back down to the elder boy, who gazed up at the sky still, like a bird longing to fly. "We should find some shelter."
This brought Ed's gaping eyes to the horizon, scanning it in all directions. "We're in the middle of nowhere, Al."
"So we keep going until we find some place where you'll be out of the weather."
Ed shrugged then turned and resumed his march, Al quickly moving to stay close behind.
It wasn't long before a forest came into view and the brothers decided it would have to do.
"At least it'll keep most of the rain off of you." Al said with a curt nod. Ed didn't seem to argue.
Not until the got into the forest, at the very least.
As they wandered in, Ed's eyes kept darting to and fro like some kind of scared animal, until Al said it was about time they stopped so Ed could get some sleep.
With a slow nod Ed found a tree to lie under, but paused as he came close to it, "Al…" he started, sliding his glove off. "Does this tree look at all odd to you?"
Al looked at the tree his brother was running human fingers along the bark of. "Well unless you count the fact that its leaves haven't changed yet and it's autumn, then no." He shook his head, the metal of the suit complaining at the friction. "Maybe this type of tree just changes its leaves later on in the year, or not at all, brother."
Edward frowned at this, hand still on the bark. "It looks sort of…shiny. And the bark doesn't feel right…"
"What does it feel like, brother?" Al knew he probably would remember neither the feel of bark, nor the feel of whatever Ed compared it to, so he wouldn't be a help. But at the same time he didn't want to say something like that to his older brother, it'd only cause him to worry and fret.
"Sort of…" Ed paused, uncertain, obviously, of how to describe it, "Almost plastic-y."
"Hm." Al made a vague noise in response before continuing, "You should get some sleep, brother. I'll be awake to keep an eye on you…" He paused before adding with a snicker, "Besides, plastic can't hurt you, really."
Ed grumbled at the implications he got from that. "Think I'm just too sleepy to tell or something?"
Al shrugged. "I wouldn't know how your mind is working right now, honestly. Just get some sleep."
Ed sighed but finally did as he was told, draping his jacket over the ground and laying down atop it, quickly falling asleep.
Al sighed and slouched against the tree, sitting near his brother, acting as guard again for the night.
The nights were always the hardest, he found. With only the stars to keep him company, not able to feel or smell the delights of evenings, so alone as the rest of the world seemed to sleep.
A small sound alerted Al, helmet shooting up to look in the direction of the noise. He saw a pretty little doll of a girl-Ed's size - perhaps even smaller - but the facial expression was definitely of young innocence. Like how Al thought he had once looked, so long ago. Her white dress flowed ever so gently in the wind, long brown tresses matted with the now falling rain.
"Are you…" Al began slowly, pulling himself up. He took a step toward the girl; she took one back. "Are you lost?"
The girl looked up at him, curiosity glinting in her eyes. For a second, Al thought she might not have understood, but to his surprise she suddenly spoke, "No." she said finally, shaking her head and giving him a sad smile. "You are."
Al was taken aback by the girl's words. "I'm…lost?"
She nodded in response, the sad smile still there. "You're lost." With that she turned around, dashing deeper into the woods.
"Wait!" Al called, a sudden delirious and confused feeling washing over his mind. "Wait, please!" Without further hesitation Alphonse followed the little girl, deeper and deeper into the woods.
She began to giggle as she ran, singing what sounded like an eerie lullaby. Al couldn't make out any of the words, if they were words at all.
She kept running until, finally stopping, she came to what appeared to be a small toy house. Like one Al had seen Elysia fussing over back in Central, wanting to play 'house' with the brothers Elric.
The little girl turned to Al as he stopped, then gave him a much warmer smile, "Now you're not lost." She said, smiling, "You can have tea with me and dolly."
Al was shocked again, looking at the strange scene of the pretty little doll-like girl - so tiny and fragile looking - the plastic house and its court yard with the pink table and small, matching chairs in the background. He noticed on one chair there was a little doll in a baby blue dress, much like the one the little girl was wearing - aside from the different colour - even the hair was the very same wavy brown, a pink plastic tea set in front of her. The girl who looked so much like a little doll reached for Al's hand…
Al shot his gloved hand away at the contact, noticing, with horror, that this girl was in fact a doll, the joints on her arm now obvious, "Who would do such a thing…?" he mumbled the words, flashbacks of Majhal filling his mind. He and his brother had put a stop to his human dolls - though not in the way they would have liked - but the thought had never crossed their minds that someone else might do the exact same thing; maybe to bring back a dead daughter, or something similar.
With shock Al remembered his brother, left behind, foolishly, and he wondered what came over him to leave his brother alone like that on such a cold, rainy evening. Turning around, Alphonse pushed himself to run as far as he could, as fast as he could, trying to get back to Edward as soon as he could.
Pushing through the woods, he thought he was getting close; when suddenly Al felt himself lose his footing, sliding into the mud and landing face first on the ground. A stinging sensation hit against his hand and he pulled it up, confused by the unfamiliar feeling, to gaze at it in awe.
There was a tear in the mud stained white glove, exposing a small trickle of blood against his palm.