Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist/ Hagane no RenkinJutsushi does not belong to the author, nor will it ever - I'm not original enough to find a way to make it mine.
This piece is dedicated to my wonderful friend of nearly thirteen years, Miss Kenji.
Prompt: The biggest snowfall in ten years.
Edited: April 4, 2008
In his mind's eye, he could still see it.
Three children were playing happily, lost amongst the feet and acres of snow, still falling generously from dull, cloudy skies. He could still recall the excitement of waking up in the morning and looking out from his bedroom window, elated each time he found a thick, white blanket spread across the valley that was his home. It was always beautiful, untouched – and just begging to be morphed into forts and snowmen. He could hear the children giggling madly, bundled up against the blistering winds and freezing temperatures, dancing and skipping, throwing the stuff into the air and shrieking with glee as it fell all around them. He could almost touch the memory, as intense as it was…
"Hey! Al! C'mere!" Giggling and beaming in pure, childish delight, a young boy several layers bigger than he ought be have been and wrapped in a thick blue coat obeyed his grinning older sibling. He did not know what Edward's plan was, nor what he was doing under that tree, but he trusted his brother and knew that nothing bad would happen while he was there to watch him.
Suddenly a shriek erupted through the air when the his trustworthy older brother shook a tree branch violently and dashed out of the way. With a wet thud, the snow that had burdened the tree's branches fell to the ground, covering the unprepared boy beneath.
"Ed, don't do that!" A girl with the two brothers admonished the elder with a stern voice and bossy expression written on her face. She glared for a moment, then added, "Auntie Trisha'll be mad at you if he gets cold and sick now."
With a laugh, Edward waved the comment aside. "Naw, somethin' like that won't make 'im cold. Will it, Brother?" He turned to his sibling, who had busied him self with trying to clear the last of the snow from his hair.
Faithfully, Alphonse shook his head and Edward turned back to his friend. "See, Winry?"
Big blue eyes were still glaring at him intensely, though. "If Al gets sick, I'm telling Auntie Trisha that it's your fault!"
A stubborn frown beginning to tug on his lips, the boy opened his mouth to retort –
"I wanna play…" Alphonse's six year old whine cut through the argument as he met his friend's clear blue eyes, then his brother's deep golden ones. "Mummy said that we were gonna go outside to play in the snow, so let's play in the snow!" He fell back in the thick blanket of white powder with a shout of laughter, his arms and legs spread out wide.
The grin reappeared on Edward's face, and he launched himself next to his brother. With his gloved hands and booted feet, he promptly began to bury the younger boy as quickly as he could, laughing madly. Alphonse shrieked again and retaliated, throwing the snow back at his sibling just as quickly as he was being covered.
"You guys -!" Winry began, but was cut off most efficiently when a snowball hit her in the head. Swallowing the snow in her mouth, she stooped and gathered the white stuff to her, forming a messy, cold mound. Then, two snowballs flew at the laughing and giggling boys, narrowly missing Alphonse and hitting Edward.
He spun to face her, and surprised amber eyes met a challenging grin, then narrowed. This meant war.
The war, however, did not seem to have any particular sides; Edward would tackle Winry, only to have his young brother come to her aid; Alphonse would begin to battle furiously with their friend, and Edward would get close enough so that, arms filled with snowballs, he would be able to hit both blonds several times before they could fight back. At one point, Winry managed to sneak up behind her elder friend while he was occupied with his brother, and dumped a considerable amount of snow down his back. She and Alphonse spent a fair time laughing as they watched him throw his heavy brown coat to the ground and shake himself furiously, try to get rid of the snow that had crept beneath his many shirts.
Seeing the look on his face, though, the two realized that they had somewhere else to be. Still laughing, they raced off, cutting across the field they had been playing in and down one of Rezembool's dirt roads.
"Get back here, you dummies!" Edward's seven year old voice floated to their ears as he sprinted after them, his steps heavy and laboured in the think blanket covering the ground.
A ball of snow sailed past Alphonse's left ear and, still cackling joyously, he ducked around the stone wall that lined their path, slipping occasionally and sliding on the wet grass that hid beneath their feet. With Winry close behind, they raced up the gently rising hill, a shouting older brother following their footsteps.
Rosy cheeked and panting heavily, their many layers of clothing in various stages of dampness, the two blonds stamped up the snow laden, wooden stairs steps of a sunny yellow house they had found themselves standing before. The front door swung open to meet them, and Sara and Trisha ushered their respective children inside. It was a battle to help them remove their many outer layers, and Trisha was still helping her youngest son out of a snow covered-jacket when the door slammed open.
"I wanna re-match," Edward told the other two children, his lower lips drawn out in a pout, the glare in his eyes not at all intimidating.
With a gently smile, his chestnut-haired mother finished collecting Alphonse's blue coat, and moved to gather Edward's own. Her voice was filled with good humour as she spoke. "That will have to wait for another day, Edward. Auntie Sara and Uncle Urey have invited us to stay for dinner."
Though he took his mother's words to be true, that 'other day' never came. The snow that had fallen was forced to surrender to rain by the next morning, and did not turn. It did not carry the innocent fun it once had when the next fall arrived, for with it came the announcement of Winry's dead parents; the snowflakes of the year following rested not only on their headstones, but on Trisha's as well. And in the years following that…
He could not think of wanting to play in the snow when his only remaining family was trapped in a suit of armour, thoughts of the pain to his marred, metal-covered joints set aside.
He sighed and watched as the snow continued to fall, viewed Rezembool's laughing, care-free children dash across a neighbour's field, or else duck behind a precarious snow-fort to hide from the icy attack of another, and smiled to himself. The smile was wiped off of his face with amazing speed, though, when a big snowball hit him in the back of the head. Golden eyes wide with surprise, he spun around on his perch against the Rockbell's wet and slick front porch, grabbing art the railing when his feet nearly slid out form under him.
Winry and Alphonse were both peering at him, bundled up heavily against the freezing air and half hidden behind a corner of the sunny yellow house, their eyes watching him mischievously. They gazed at each other for a moment, then Alphonse covered his mouth to stifle a giggle. He pointed unnecessarily at Winry, who was dusting off her snow-covered gloves.
Slowly, amber eyes narrowed in defiance of the challenging grin he would never forget. This meant war.
For our sisters and brothers in all the fashions of the word, because some friendships last longer than forever.
For my own sister in all but blood – ma coeur et ma soeur,
xCxBxBx