All The Ice Cream You Can Eat
Disclaimer: I don't own FMA nor any of the characters within; except the OC's I've created for this story. I just like to play around in it's world for awhile.
Warning: Set between the series and the film, this story contains mild spoilers. May not be totally accurate as I hadn't seen episodes 50/51 at the time I wrote it.
Author's note: I don't know what made me recall my own tonsillectomy, back when I was 7, but the memories wouldn't leave me be, and I thought it would make a good Alphonse-centric story (because we don't have enough of 'em)
Rating: T, for mild cursing and thermometers made to go places they shouldn't. Just to be safe.
Props to: BlackMercifulFaerie for the title
Chapter One - Prologue
Ignorance is sometimes bliss...
Rose brought him back to Risembool from that chamber of horrors which saw his brother's death, and his rebirth. Thenin turn, Al's own"rebirth", followed by Edward's disappearance through the Gate. It was a blessing in disguise he couldn't remember any of it. For a while, Alphonse Elric was a very happy ten year old - he was back in Risembool with Winry, Granny Pinako, and Den; and even Rose had decided to stay with her baby. He couldn't remember a thing, not even a fleeting glimpse of anything past the day he and Brother had decided to attempt a forbidden Human Transmutation.
Which is whyhe couldn't understand the shadows which flitted over everyone's faces whenever the subject of Brother came up - Alphonse had this unshakable faith in his soul that Brother - wherever he was - was alive and all right. He would look at the photos Winry had taken since the night she told him everything had gone wrong. The night of the violent thunderstorm when Granny Pinako had opened the door to find Al - his soul trapped in a suit of armor, holding his maimed brother, and pleading "Granny! Please help my brother! He's bleeding to death!"
Photos of a scowling Brother ("he really didn't like having his picture taken after what had happened" Winry explained) dressed in almost completely unrelieved black - like he was already in mourning - those ridiculous elevator boots - and that long red coat. Brother had left the coat behind on his last visit to Risembool, and Alphonse, who couldn't remember Brother other than the active laughing boy he used to be, began sleeping with the coat at night because it smelled like him. Then he started wearing it, over black clothing similar to Brother's, and he stopped submitting to a trim every two weeks. The day his hair became long enough to wear in a ponytail was the day Alphonse truly felt as one with his vanished sibling.
For a few months after his return to his natal village, Alphonse was largely content, and busy re-acquainting himself with the world of sensation. The cool water of the Rain River, sun warm on his face, the soft grass against his bare feet, the sight of Rose's baby starting to crawl, Granny Pinako's smile, and best (to him) of all, the taste of good food. Even when he caught a cold, he felt a perverse enjoyment in the feeling of a good strong sneeze.
But all good things come to an end, and Alphonse eventually began to feel something was missing. He began having strange dreams where he saw the faces of people, and views of places he didn't recognize, and most of all, he would hear a naggingly familiar voice.
It was on the tip of his tongue, but he just couldn't place it, the harder he tried, the more difficult it was to pin an identity to that voice. It was very frustrating to him, and he found himself getting snappish during the day towards the ones he loved and cared about. He was becoming more and more distressed about it untilone night the voice said something he recognized:
"You have a month on this island and when I come back for you, you must tell me the meaning behind this phrase - All Is One, One Is All."
Alphonse woke up with a start, sweating; not with fear, but with excitement. He knew who this person was! Teacher! Izumi-sama! He interpreted the dream as telling him he must return to her in Dublith and resume his training in alchemy. It was only through alchemy he would find Brother. He was so excited, he couldn't go back to sleep. As soon as he heard movement on the floors below, he raced downstairs and bowed to Granny Pinako,and apologizedfor his behavior. When Winry and Rose awoke, he apologized to them too. At breakfast, he told them about his dream and what he thought it meant. They were confused, but supportive; it was Winry who suggested he write to Izumi first instead of just showing up at her doorstep.
Right after breakfast he grabbed pen and paper, and composed a letter to Izumi, asking her to accept him as a student again. After putting it out for the mailman, he raced around the house for an hour, doing chores as extra penance for his rudeness. But excitement can only last so long, and the lack of sleep caused him to crash on the sofa. He dreamt an exciting dream of battling bad men on a train - Brother sending men much larger than himself flying - and he, Alphonse, getting in his licks too - before helping Brother subdue their leader. He awoke a few hours later with a smile, knowing he had done the right thing.
Author's note again: Ohhh-kaaayyy. This is turning out to be much longer than the one shot I'd envisaged; so I'm going to call this a prologue. A setting of the stage, if you will. What is hard to believe is I just sat down with Word Pad and composed this on the fly, it came together much more easily than if I'd written longhand in a notebook first. Better quit now, before this note gets longer than the story!