A.N: Inspired by James Hurst's 'The Scarlet Ibis.' Also, not sure when Al's birthday is, so I made it in July. Ed was born in February.

July, 1900

Edward huddled outside the door, listening to gasps and screams as his mother gave birth. He didn't understand anything but he knew that Mommy was in pain, like when he fell or accidentally got to close to a candle. The only glimpse of her had revealed Daddy carrying her into the bedroom, followed by a woman and then shutting the door. Now Aunty Pinako was cooking something in the kitchen and Ed was alone.

After what seemed like hours, or just a very, very long time (like when Daddy went away), the door opened and the woman came out. She smiled down at Edward and asked "Would you like to see your new little brother, Ed?" Edward stared at her. "Okay, how about your mommy?"

Edward reached up and stated imperiously "Mommy!" The doctor laughed and scooped him up.

The room was hot and muggy, interspersed with the cool summer breeze coming in through the open window. Mommy was in the bed looking very tired, but she brightened when she saw Edward. "Come here, Ed, look at your new brother!" Edward scrambled up onto the covers and peered down into a tiny little bundle in Mommy's arms. It was wrapped so tightly in blankets it was hard to make anything out. He reached out to poke it, but Mommy stopped him.

"Edward, darling, don't touch him. Your hands aren't clean. Look, his name is Alphonse. Can you say 'Al'?" Ed stared at the little red thing a moment longer before dutifully repeating the name. Trisha smiled up at Hohenheim. "He's your little brother, Edward. You have to help Mommy and Daddy take care of him, all right?" Her older son simply kept looking at Alphonse with wide eyes before nodding faintly.

May, 1904

"Al, come on!" Edward raced up the path to the Rockbell's house and impatiently turned to regard his little brother kneeling to examine some flowers on the path. "Look, brother. How'd the flowers get here?"

I dunno, we can look it up later. Come on, I want some of Auntie's pie!" Alphonse stood up regretfully and pulled some of the flowers to make a tiny bouquet.

"What's that for?"

"Winry, duh."

"Why would you give her flowers?" Alphonse rolled his eyes.

"Nii-san, it's a nice thing t'do."

"Yeah, yeah. Hurry! The pie's getting cold!"

Winry was happy for the flowers until Edward insulted her dress and she hit him with her spoon.

"I don't know why our parents are saying we're gonna get married." Ed grumbled. "I wouldn't marry you if you were the last person in Amestris!" Winry stopped whacking him on the head. "What, got tired of hurtin' me?"

"Who said we're gonna get married?"

"Mom, and your mom and dad, and Aunt Pinako and the mailman, and the apple farmer when he comes over with the fruit."

"Why?" Ed shrugged and turned to Al, expecting help.

"I'd marry you, Winry. I like your dress." Alphonse smiled at Winry, who smiled back and gave him the crust from her piece of pie. "Thanks, Al."

"Hey! Who says I can't marry Winry?"

"You jus' said you wouldn't if she were the last person 'n 'Mestris."

"You're lying! I did not!" And Edward lunged at Alphonse. Several seconds later, the pie plate was on the floor, the flowers were up in the air, Den was joining in the tussle on the floor and Winry's spoon was delivering more whacks than was deemed necessary. The two didn't stop until Winry exasperatedly yelled, "I hate boys! I'm never getting married!" Pinako eventually came out and sent them all to town to pick up some new wrenches sent from Central. This turn of events sent Ed into a sulking fit for the rest of day as he had been planning to raid his father's bookcase that afternoon. It didn't help matters when Alphonse was forgiven by pointing out to Winry that one of the new wrenches had a new deluxe leather handgrip.

January, 1905

Al doesn't understand at first; he thinks Dad's just away on one of his trips. But Ed is aware that this time Dad was taking much longer than usual. He left in summer, when the trees were still green and the watermelons were in season. Fall whiled away, unnaturally long this year, getting chilly in mid-August and not snowing until the last week of November. After the pumpkins and apple pie, yellow squash soup, and hot chocolate before bed, their father still hadn't returned. When it had snowed, he and Winry and Al had gone out for hours to roll around and build snowmen and then collapse and fall asleep in front of the fire while Mom and Granny sipped tea. Now the roads were slushy and they weren't allowed outside for more than half-an-hour at a time.

But Dad still wasn't home.

"Mom?" Trisha looked up from the potatoes she was peeling, weariness smoothing away at the sight of her older son.

"Hm?"

"Where's Dad?"

Trisha nearly cut herself on the knife. "Well…darling, can you keep a secret from Al?" Edward looks uncomfortable and Trisha's not surprised—those two told each other everything. But he nods and she goes on. "I know you'll want to tell your brother about this, but it would be better if you didn't, not until you're both older. Your father…he isn't exactly coming back very soon."

"What?"

"Something came up, something very important, and your father had to go help. It might take a very long time for him to fix the problem."

"But he…he just left?" Trisha looked worriedly at Edward; his face was rapidly growing stormy and his eyes flashed. "He left us, forever?"

"No! Not forever, Edward. He'll be back, you'll see." And Edward calms down, although the look doesn't leave his eyes and promises no, he won't tell Al. Said Elric runs into the kitchen shortly after, smelling the pot pie baking in the oven. As the two squabble over who'll get the bigger piece Trisha looks out the window somberly and asks Hoenheim to look after the boys when she's gone.

April, 1907

"I didn't take it! You prob'ly left it somewhere and then forgot it and now you're blaming me!"

"I already finished it! You take too long to read anything!"

"That's because I'm paying attention to it!"

"Well you can go dunk your head in Granny's oil bucket!"

"I hope you get knocked on the head with Mom's rolling pin!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

Ed slammed the door and stomped out of the study to the back fields. He could already see a shock of gold clambering up one of the tree to fume in the higher branches. Al liked being high in the trees so Ed can't get him down when he wants to reconcile. See if I care this time.

He went downhill to the river and then doubled back to get his fishing rod. He should as well help with dinner tonight, since Mom was in bed all the time now. Guiltily he thought that he and Al probably woke her up and definitely gave her a headache. I'll catch five for dinner. To say sorry. He resolutely passes Al's tree—this would be his apology, not Al's.

Settling down on a low bank where the river dwindles and the fish sun themselves underneath the water, he slyly reached out, careful not to let his shadow fall over the stream. Then he waits. Ed liked fishing, contrary as it is to his normal temperament: loud and messy and not very fisherman-like at all. But the fish gave something to think about, so he didn't mind the utter boredom of fishing.

Mom was really sick, he mused. She hardly ever did any extra work around the house and asked the boys to help her more and more. She brought the large swivel chair in from their father's study and sat in it in the kitchen so she could move around without walking. Granny Pinako came over every few days to take Ed and Al over to the Rockbell's so Mom could get some peace. She took two pills every morning and evening and often took naps in the middle of the afternoon. But she stayed as cheerful as ever and still read to them before bedtime and helped them sound out the too-big words in the alchemy books.

Ed wondered if the cure to the sickness was in the library or at the Rockbell's, they had plenty of medical books. But the doctor had been over plenty of times and he said there wasn't much he could do, the stupid old man. Ed was sure Uncle and Auntie Rockbell had better books than the idiot doctor could hope to find in his whole life. And besides, it wasn't like Mom was like Ed and Al when they got sick and had to stay in bed all day after drinking their medicine and falling asleep. She would be fine, Ed assured himself.

There was a tug on the end of his pole and he stayed very still until he felt another tug. Then with an almighty wrench he pulled the fish out of the river and onto the bank beside him. Yes! It wasn't very big, but big enough to keep. He dug another worm out of the bank and speared it onto the hook, silently giving it an apology and settling down again. Picking up his train of thought, Edward was wondering if Mrs. Shezner would mind if he…borrowed some flowers from the garden for Mom.

"Ed?" Edward's head snapped up at the sound of his brother's voice. He turned his head away.

"I'm sorry about the book. Mom put it away in the bookcase." Ed shrugged.

"I guess." Alphonse settled on the bank next to him. Ed inched closer and then put an arm around Al's shoulders.

"We're brothers. We shouldn't fight." Al said sadly. Edward shrugged again.

"Doesn't matter."

"Why?"

"Cause we're brothers."

September 1909

"You got the carbon?"

"All here."

"Salt, ammonia, iron, niter and fluorine?"

"Yep."

"All right. I got the water, lime, phosphorus, sulfur and silicon. Pour them all in really carefully."

"You think we should mix the water in with it? It'll get really pasty."

"Well, we're pretty soft. Maybe we should."

"What if we put in a separate container in the circle? I think it'll still be transmuted."

"Get the book, will you?"

"...Nothing. They do mention something about a doctor who tried to reattach an arm. Ew."

"Never mind the pictures, keep going."

"He put the arm and the patient inside the circle, with the arm touching the guy...but the doctor died and the patient did too."

"Well, we'll put it all in, then. How else is Mom going to live if she doesn't have water inside her?"

"Okay. We just have to etch the runes in now."

"All right. I'll get the stand."

"Why is this picture so blurry? It's easier to just copy them from an image than have to read them all out."

"Well, this way we'll learn more."

"Is that ket or mev?"

"Ket."

"'Kay."

"Make sure those are in the right spacing order."

"Two-five-two, I know."

"We switched the atmospheric symbols, remember. So that her lungs'll hold together better."

"Tied it with the wih and linked it to the west point, I remember. Get me the plans we drew, please?"

"Here. Why do you need them?"

"I don't think that's right, do you?"

"The squiggly one with the dot is supposed to be on the left but we moved it to the top. It's supposed to recalibrate the spirit."

"And you're sure that won't react with the square one?"

"We put binding runes on the line between them! They won't do anything to each other!"

"Okay...but you're sure."

"Yes."

"...I think we're done."

"Yeah."

"Okay. Ready?"

"Ready."

"Alphonse?"

"Oh god, ALPHONSE!"

"No, no, this wasn't supposed to happen, damn it!"

"Alphonse, please, give him back, he's my only family left!"

"Please, please, please—"

"ALPHONSE!"

Roy Mustang reached the house and pushed open the door. The lightning behind him illuminated the scene, but all there was in the empty room was a transmutation circle and blood. He turned away from the door, forcing himself to close it and begin walking to the house on the next hill.