Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist.
Takes place after Conqueror of Shamballa.
Revised 2/25/10.
Paper Cranes
The sun was shining brightly on a lovely Tuesday afternoon in Germany when Alphonse let himself into the apartment he shared with his older brother, smiling to himself.
"Nii-san, I'm home!" he waited momentarily for Ed's response and frowned when there was none. Maybe he had gone out? He strode into the tiny kitchen, placing his schoolbooks on the table and glancing around. There was no sign of recent activity – no dirty dishes in the sink, no papers strewn haphazardly about. Nothing to suggest Ed was home. But, on the other hand, Al thought fondly, Ed rarely picked up after himself before leaving.
So, if he hadn't left, and he hadn't greeted his little brother, that left only one other explanation. He was holed up in their room. In less than ten steps, Al put himself in front of the door. He knocked quietly before slowly opening the door. About to step into the room, what he saw made him freeze.
Ed sat at their desk, folding paper. A pile lay on the floor next to him, obviously failed attempts at whatever he was making. From Al's angle, the older boy's frustrated scowl was clearly visible.
"Hey, Al," he growled, not bothering to glance up.
"Nii-san, what're you doing?" Al stared at him.
"What's it look like?" he snapped, tearing his golden gaze from the paper to glare at his little brother.
"You're folding paper?" the younger, taller boy was not intimidated.
"Cranes, Al. I'm making cranes," the boy told him darkly.
"Oh. Why?"
"It's stupid. I keep crushing them, anyway," the frustrated blond looked ready to give up. Al crossed over to him.
"Let me see?" he took it and held it up in front of his own steel grey eyes, staring at it, analyzing. It was painfully obvious what was going wrong. With his prosthetic arm, Ed just didn't have the small motor control to manipulate the paper properly. Al unfolded it carefully, knowing he could easily figure out how to make them, despite the rather crushed look of the crane. In seconds, he was confident he could do it himself. He was struck with a brilliant idea, and he stepped over to their closet, opening it and pulling a cardboard box out. He tore a side off and offered it to Ed with a wide grin.
"What the hell, Al?" he made no move to take the object, furrowing his brows at his little brother.
"The paper's too flimsy. You're putting too much pressure on it," the blond opened his mouth to retort angrily, but Al continued, "because you're too strong. But cardboard is harder to fold. Nobody can make a crane out of it, I bet, except you!"
It sounded corny and dumb, but his intention were sincere, as always, and perhaps his brother realized this, as although Ed stared at him in shock for a moment, a slow smile soon spread across his face and he grabbed it. Al watched triumphantly over his shoulder as he folded it once, twice, three times, over and over again, his metal hand easily forcing the material into position. In minutes, a crane hardly any larger than his hand (fingers extended, cardboard was only so flexible) sat on the desk.
"So why were you making these?" he asked.
"It's really stupid. I heard this crazy myth that if you make a thousand paper cranes, you can make a wish, and it'll be granted," Al gave him a dubious look, "I told you it was stupid."
Al shook his head.
"Do you believe it?" he knew the answer before Ed responded.
"Pft. Of course not!"
We've seen too much for fairytales, went unspoken, but Al heard it all the same, peering into his brother's gold eyes, brimming with knowledge beyond his years.
"If it was true, what would you wish for?" he knew the answer once again.
"A bigger apartment."
Liar. Al knew precisely what Ed would wish for, not only because he knew the temperamental blond so well, but because his own wish was the same.
Later, when Al lay in his bed, staring at his brother across the room, the cranes came to mind again.
"Nii-san? Are you awake?" he hissed.
"No."
"Do you think we'll ever get back?"
"Home?"
"Yeah."
"I don't know, Al. Go to sleep."
"But Nii-san, Granny must miss us!"
No response.
"And Roze!"
No response.
"And Winry!"
Silence, though he knows it pains his brother to hear her name. Ed pulled his covers tighter around himself, and Al couldn't tell if it was an attempt to block out him or the blonde mechanic always on his mind.
"Good night, Nii-san," he sighed.
That night, Al told himself he'd make a paper crane every day. And by the time he finished, they would be home. A thousand paper cranes.
I didn't mean for it to be angsty, really! It started out as this fluffy, brotherly love piece that I had all planned out, but then when I started typing it went from cute to kind of sad. You can see where it was going to happen, right? (The cardboard part.) But I dunno, I kind of like it this way. So I won't change it.
Where did Noah go? I'm not sure. I'm thinking she ran off with her gypsy friends, because she never crossed my mind until after I finished. Oh well!