If I were you

Chapter 1

By Sakura Sagura

Disclaimer: Really? Who could own Fullmetal Alchemist? I definitely couldn't! No matter how much I want to…

Dec.24, the day before Christmas, had finally arrived! Stefany tumbled out of her bed and slapped the alarm clock. The buzzing stopped and Stefany quickly dressed into a black shirt, which was a little too big, then into tan pants, mismatched socks, and combed her dark brown hair as quickly as she could. She opened the blue door to her room and ran down the decorated hallway. Halfway to the stairs she bumped into her little brother. The two ran into one another and fell into a lump on the floor with piles of clothes everywhere.

" You fart brain! You made me spill the laundry, thanks to you I have to refold it all again! Oh, by the way happy birthday." Zachary stood up and gathered up the clothes. " Now, because it is your birthday, I'll let you get down stairs for your presents. I think you got that new computer you wanted. That i-pod too, probably." He stated in a flat-tone as he dumped the clothes into the basket. Stefany picked the ones nearest her and plopped them into the basket.

" Thanks Zachary." Stefany said quickly and then headed down the stairs to the common room.

" HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Her mother and Father cheered along with the maids and butlers. Stefany smiled at all the presents and ran over and gave her parents both bear hugs.

" Thank you, thank you all!" Stefany beamed at her parents.

" Anything to please our angel." Her father beamed back at his now 13-year-old daughter.

" Do you wish to open presents now or later?" Her mother asked.

" Later would be most fine. Though would you mind if I opened just one now?" Stefany replied in a polite tone. Her parents said it would be all right.

She carefully gazed at all of the gifts piled on top of each other. Finally she chose a small lavender box. She carefully opened it. Inside was a silver pocket watch!

" Oh, mama, papa, how did you know?" Stefany asked with delight.

" Well, Johan here told us about this show you enjoy watching." Her father indicated to a young butler with short black hair that matched his suit perfectly. " And we had him find you things from the show!" Stefany's father said in a business like manner.

" Thank you, Johan." Stefany smiled at Johan, who smiled back and said it was no trouble. Stefany hugged her parents and said she was going to put her watch in a safe place and change clothes.

" What did you get this time, a horse, an airplane, or a car? Or did you get all three?" Zachary asked his older sister with his goofy smile as she was walking down the hallway, with the silver pocket watch in the box. Stefany pretended to act annoyed.

" You wouldn't believe it. Mama and Papa got me a truck. A truck! And it didn't even have a hot cocoa dispenser, only a coffee dispenser!" Stefany said it so seriously she and Zachary both ended up laughing.

" Spoiled fart brain I left you one of my gifts for you on the sofa." Zachary jerked his head towards her room. Stefany smiled and gave thanks in advanced.

Once Zachary left for his room Stefany locked her door and placed her watch on the bed. Now what did she get from Zachary?

" Let's see…" Stefany looked around the room. It was divided in two halves. Her actually bedroom was colored in various shades of blue, green, and purples. She had a large water bed with an Ed and Al plushies sitting up right against her pillows, the bed was next to her desk that had her hamster's mansion cage, a flat screen computer with printer, a small manga library, DVD and VHS library as well, art supplies, and more stuff placed about in drawers and shelves. Stefany walked about looking for her gifts just incase they weren't really on the sofa. When she was sure it wasn't in her bedroom she passed the stuffed animals and whatnot and jumped the small steps to the lounge. The lounge had posters of bands, famous places, and her favorite, anime and manga posters with her favorite characters! There were two virtual reality games in the far corner by the pool table. One was a basketball game that 4 people could hookup into. The other one was one you could put games into and play. The night before Stefany had played an old N64 game with Zachary. Stefany had won 92 games out of 100. Just then she heard something move behind her. Stefany turned around from the games' direction and looked over at the other end of the room. No one was by the air hockey table, no one by the wide screen TV, no person on the sofa in front of the TV. No person. It was more of a white and golden-brown furry ball with a tail.

" BARK BARK!"

" EEEEK!" Stefany nearly tripped but caught herself before landing on the floor. She ran over to the puppy. " I'm sorry I scared you I am." She sat down next to the dog and patted it and the head. Stefany was licked as the puppy's acceptance of her apology.

"HAPPY 13th BIRTHDAY, STEFANY!"

The entire staff was there along with her brothers and her parents! Zachary ran to give his sister a hug and asked her if she had liked his gift.

" Of course, I love him! How did you get mama and papa to agree?" Stefany asked as she sat between Zachary and Kody(Cody) on a high priced couch in front of a small table that seemed to be overflowing with gifts. Stefany called out thanks to her mama for the diamond necklace and then put it on quickly. It matched her light blue dress she was wearing.

" Well, I'm not all to good with words so I had Kody talk to mama and papa." Zachary beamed at the puppy that was on his back being tickled by several maids. " It didn't take much for me to convince the staff though!"

" Ha, mama and papa said if the staff didn't mind they wouldn't." Kody said in his cool 16 manners. He handed Stefany a lumpy package with red and black wrapping. " Here is one of your gifts from me. There's more to it than just this though." Kody handed Stefany his gift to her. She ripped of the paper as soon as she had thanked him.

" How do I look Alphonse?" Stefany asked as she fitted her white gloves. Her puppy, now dubbed Alphonse for his blue-gray eyes, golden-brown hair, his odd affection for the cats they already had, and his attitude for people around him looked at her with his big eyes and gave her a small bark. Stefany lifted her long red coat to show him her black pants, belt, and boots. "Al, do these pants make me look fat?" Stefany asked worriedly. " I mean they do fit fine but well…" She flattered and gave up with the confused puppy she was only making more confused. " Well can you bark if I look like Edward Elric at all?" She said slowly so Al wouldn't miss a word she said. " He looks kinda like that stuff toy of mine you ATE earlier!" Stefany didn't mean to sound angry, though she was, but Al could take a hint and buried his head under the pillows on his bed. " I know your sorry and I forgive you-AH!" Stefany had placed her hands on hips only to find she didn't have her silver pocket watch with her. She could surely not pass off as an Ed with out it! Stefany looked on her bed. Not there! She looked all over her room. It wasn't here either! Stefany took off her red coat, folded it as best she could, then did the same with her black jacket with white trim. Now she wouldn't sweat as much since she'd probably be looking all over her mansion sized house.

" Awoo!" Zachary called from the other side of Stefany's door. Al ran to it and barked back. Stefany was looking in her stuffed animal pile when the door opened.

" AwoooooO!" Al yipped as Zachary picked him up and skipped over to his flustered sister. Stefany didn't look up.

" There ready with your cake now! And you have to see how huge it is! I asked Mrs. Vinski how they made it and do you know what she said?" Zachary took a deep breath not even expecting an answer and continued, " She said they made several cakes- 13 to be exact- and that they had stuck them all together and then-"

" Can't you see I'm doing something?"

" Frosted them all-and yes I see you are doing something- and then the staff put it in the freezer to keep it from-"

" From you eating it?"

" Probably that too. But anyhoo we're all waiting for you to come see your surprise now!"

" You mean the one you already told me about?" Stefany asked in an irritated voice. There was a long silence. Zachary smiled with a blush on his face.

" Haha, yeah, it is." He placed Al on the floor and walked out the door. Stefany shut the door after him, grabbed a pillow, put it to her face, and screamed into it. She had lost the watch now!

Next time-

Stefany must endure the torturous Happy B-Day song! Then she shall more than likely be showered with more presents…

That doesn't matter though! The question is… Will she survive long enough to open each of her gifts? Especially when she finds herself in a not so comforting situation… What is she going to do when she sees the man of her dreams? And he's not on the TV screen now!