Written for the alxwrath community challenge on livejournal.
All God's Children
Youth does not understand what it means to age. When Al had been younger, he had enjoyed racing barefoot through the overgrown grass, tumbling down the hills and laughing at the sky. He had longed to grow older, looking up at the adults and wondering if he would ever be like them. It had seemed like he would never outgrow his clothing; it had seemed he would never get as tall as he had wanted to grow. He had been impatient, dying for childhood to be over, and adulthood to start.
Then he had drawn the lines, painted the symbols, and followed his brother into destruction. Childhood had been snatched from him, his soul torn from his fading body. He had been forced into this bulky iron cage, and into a life not about waiting to grow up, but being forced to grow up. But behind that imposing metal hulk, Al was still a boy, and impressionable and righteous to a fault.
"Please don't hurt it!" Al whimpered, iron knees scrapping together. "You're making it feel bad!" He couldn't understand why the boy was being so mean; he didn't get why he didn't care that the kitten was scared and that its head was hurting. Why were people always so mean? He had met so many cruel people in such a short time period, but his virtuous anger never seemed to grow old.
"Catch me; catch me," Wrath chanted, clamoring nimbly up several tree branches and waving the yowling kitten high in the air. "Bet you can never catch me!"
"It's not fair 'cause I can't climb!" Al protested, squirming and twisting his fingers together. Wincing at the sound of the kitten's anguished cries, he wished he could slam his hands over nonsexist ears and shut it out. "Stop it, please!"
"I don't want to," Wrath called down from his lofty perch, jiggling the kitten. "This is fun!"
"You're being a meanie! Please come down!"
"No." Sticking out his tongue, Wrath hoisted the kitten aloft, unperturbed by its attempts to bite and scratch him.
"I'll call Nii-san!" Al tried to sound menacing, but it came out sounding like a plea. "Nii-san will make you stop." He actually wasn't sure if Ed would be able to save the kitten from Wrath's vile clutches, but he didn't know how else to convince the strange boy to let it go.
"Nii-san can't climb a tree!" Wrath yelled back, voice nearly glowing with confidence.
"Oh yes he can," Al retorted, stomping a foot onto the ground. "Nii-san can do anything!" A pregnant pause, then a soft whisper. "Almost anything."
"I bet he can't stop me!" Wrath giggled, switching the now subdued kitten from hand to hand. "Betcha not!" The kitten gave a soft meow and Wrath poked it experimentally.
Al danced with indignation and distress. "Can too!"
"Can not!" The poking increased, and Wrath tried to stick a curious finger into the kitten's mouth.
"I bet you wouldn't like it if somebody shook you around and made you all dizzy." It was almost a grumble. Al was running out of ideas, and pretty soon he felt like he really was going to call Ed. "I bet that would make you feel yucky!" Distress built up layer by layer in his chest, and helplessness tugged at his hollow chest.
"Nobody's gonna do that. I'm too big." Wrath giggled, two fingers stuck in the side of is mouth. "You're silly!" Quite amused by this, he swung his legs high into the air.
"But wouldn't it make you feel sad if somebody was mean to you?" Al felt himself frown deeply at this, even though he knew he wasn't actually frowning. Hands churning against each other, he tried to find a way to explain. "I mean, don't you not want to make other things get hurt because you wouldn't want to get hurt either?"
"But I'm not them," Wrath countered easily, frowning at the question. "You get mad about weird stuff. You're weird." He swung down a few branches, captive clutched tight against his chest.
"I'm not weird…!" Al trailed off, looking down at his metal body. "I'm not…"
"But you look strange." Wrath settled himself on his new branch and frowned down at his reluctant companion. "And you get mad about funny stuff." He tugged at the kitten's fur, inciting a timid snarl.
Al examined his feet miserably. "Just because I look different doesn't mean I'm not like everybody else. Nii-san says it and I know he's right!"
"Why is Nii-san always right? He doesn't like me." Wrath's hands loosened their hold on the kitten and his feet swung less enthusiastically. "Does that mean I'm weird too?"
Al paused. Wrath had been mean to the kitten. But Wrath was a person too, and Al knew all people made mistakes. Examining the grass intently, he shrugged his shoulders and replied in a soft voice, "We're all a little weird I guess."
"Oh." Wrath scrambled down the last branch and held the kitten out to Al.
"You let it go!" Al exclaimed with relief, snatching the kitten and running his fingers over it as lightly as possible. "Poor kitten…" Al's voice was husky. "Why did you let it go?"
"...It wasn't fun anymore." Wrath shrugged awkwardly.
Al set the kitten on the ground, hovering over it as it stumbled lightheaded through the grass. "I hope it's okay…" Turning back to Wrath, he grasped him around the middle, giggling in giddy appreciation. "Thank you for letting it go! Thank you; thank you; thank you!"
Wrath squirmed, but then a pale smile rose on his face. He reached a hesitant hand up, and placed his arm on Al's chunky shoulder.
"I like kittens," Al explained, cautiously releasing the other boy's small form. "I like picking them up when they are lost and nobody knows where they came from. Because I think they feel lonely when they don't have a mother anymore." He shrugged and squirmed. "I wish all the kittens could be happy."