A/N: This is a story of a boy and his coat. It's short, it's sad and it's my little take on why he has the iconic coat. One thing is certain though… Trinny and Susannah are going to be after his blood for wearing red with black! As usual, British spellings and grammar used throughout. We tend to use 's' instead of 'z' on many words and silent 'u's are the bane of our existence.
Disclaimer: As always, it is clear that poor, penniless me owns no rights to the characters or locations of Fullmetal Alchemist. All credit goes to the wonder of Hiromu Arakawa and her motley crew as well as Square Enix and Bones.
Coat
It was a bitter and frosty January morning in Risembool. The little village hardly ever got snow, but frost and freezing fogs were common and today was located in the middle of one of the longest cold snaps in over a decade. Icicles hung from the eaves of the houses and weighed down the branches of the naked deciduous trees while fields and lawns were coated in a crisp layer of white.
The outside may have been freezing, but inside was warm and none more so than the old farmhouse on the hill. A friendly fire crackled merrily in the fireplace as a small family and their friends celebrated a special event, clustered around the large oak kitchen table. There were five people in total, not including a large dog hampered with an automail front leg which lay curled up before the fire, enjoying the heat. It's not every day a boy turns ten, but today was the day that Edward Elric finally entered double figures.
Ed was sat between his younger brother and their best friend Winry Rockbell on one side of the table, with his mother Trisha and Winry's grandmother Pinako on the other. The two adults were deep in a meaningful conversation while all three children feasted on a buffet of mini-sausages, cheese cubes, crisps and savory snacks, laid out on large plates on the table in front of them, along with a large home-made birthday cake in the shape of a cow. The ten candles on the top had already been snuffed out, the wishes made and the first few slices cut.
"I love mini-sausages," said Winry, stuffing her face with them. "They're nicer than normal ones."
"Leave some for me!" Al squabbled. "I like them too!"
"I like them more. Besides – I'm a girl," she remarked.
"How does that make any difference?" Al said.
"We're better than boys," Winry scoffed. "We're smarter and prettier."
"No you're not!" stated Al.
"Are too!"
"Are not!"
Ed was uncharacteristically silent, eating quiche with a large grin on his face. He was quietly enjoying the fact that Winry was quarrelling with Alphonse for once instead of with him. His birthday was about the only day of the year when he could live knowing that his head and her wrench were not going to meet. While they argued, he finished off the last of the mini sausages.
"We are too!" Winry said, determined to win.
"No, you're not!" Al said. "Everyone is equal."
"We are – hey! Where did the sausages go?"
Ed somehow managed to keep a straight face as Winry blamed Al for their disappearance.
"You're so greedy Al!"
"What? I never touched them!"
"Children please – stop arguing," said Pinako, interrupting them. They stopped instantly, not wanting to see her fury.
"Sorry…" Al apologised. Winry merely gave an apologetic grin.
"That's better," Pinako said with a small smile.
"How about we open presents now," Trisha added, smiling as all three little faces lit up like Christmas trees.
"Yeah – come on Ed! I know you'll like what I got you!" said Winry, grabbing hold of his hand and dragging him up off his chair.
They left the table and migrated to the front room where the kids sat on the floor, leaving the adults to sit in the available seating.
"Here – see, I wrapped it in blue paper because I knew it's your favourite colour," Winry said happily, shoving a rather crudely wrapped shiny navy blue present under Ed's nose. He accepted it with a smile, tearing away at the paper like a kitten attacking string. Inside was a small, metal toy steam train. "I know you like to watch the real ones go by at the station with Al, so Granny and I went and brought you one at the toy shop," Winry explained, beaming.
"Thank you Winry," Ed said, grinning. "I love it!" Winry gave him a childish hug which almost strangled him. He choked a bit as she clung to his throat. After she released him, Al shyly passed his present over to his brother.
"Mom helped me choose this for you," he explained. The wrapping and the writing on the tag was very neat as well, so Ed assumed Mom had also wrapped it. He ripped open the paper and out fell a stuffed animal. It was a brown, fluffy dog.
"Aww, it's so cute!" said Winry.
"Aww – thank you Al," Ed thanked his brother. Al knew he loved dogs. He had been asking his mother for a real one for years, but to his dismay she kept saying 'no'. He gave the toy a brief stroke to smooth the ruffled fur before placing it besides the train Winry had got him.
The last present was from his Mom and, if the tag was to be read correctly, his Dad. He knew Mom had written that there so he didn't feel down that his Dad had 'forgotten' his birthday, not that Ed cared much. He hated his Dad. It was wrapped in brown paper, tied with parcel string. He undid the string and out of the paper fell a pile of red cotton fabric and silk lining. Picking it up and straightening it out, it revealed itself to be a long, plain red hooded coat.
"Your old coat was starting to get a bit small for you, so I went and brought you a new one for your birthday," explained Trisha. "I got it made especially at the tailors in Jundland and Mr Smith down the road was kind enough to go and collect it for me when he made his deliveries."
Ed stood up and tried the coat on. The hem brushed the floor and the sleeves flopped over the ends of his hands, the coat drowning him in a sea of red.
"It's too big!" he exclaimed.
"You'll grow into it," said Pinako.
"My, you look so handsome," Trisha stated. "Red really suits you, Edward. It brings out your eyes." He grinned.
"Thanks Mom," he said. He stumbled over to her, still wearing the coat, to give her a thank you kiss.
"You're welcome sweetie," she said. "Still, it is kind-of big for you. Maybe we should put it up for a couple of months until you've grown a bit."
"I'll grow real tall soon Mom," he said, nodding. "I won't be small forever."
It would be the last birthday present his mother would ever give him.
--
Nearly 2 Years Later
Ed was going through his possessions in the house one last time. Anything he didn't take with him now was going to be burnt, along with the rest of the house. A suitcase lay open on his bed, stuffed with trousers, vests and a few small sentimental items; a photo of Al and himself with their mother and a Valentine's day card he knew Winry had sent him even though she denied it. He dug out a plain T-shirt from the wardrobe and threw it on top of the stuff in the case. He felt he was about finished until another item caught his eye.
Folded neatly on the shelf in his wardrobe, nestled between spare laundered blankets and an extra pillow, was the red coat his mother had brought him for his birthday. He pulled it out and unfolded it, holding it up. He smiled, remembering what his Mom had told him when he had tried it on that day.
"My, you look so handsome. Red really suits you, Edward. It brings out your eyes."
He hadn't worn it since then. In fact, until now he had almost forgotten about it.
Shrugging, he tried it on. He was mildly annoyed to find it was still slightly too big for him, even though more than a year had passed. Sometimes he felt his hair grew faster than he did. In the last year it had gone from neat and short to long and braided, a growth spurt of nearly 4 inches. However, the coat no longer drowned him, the hem falling to his ankle and the sleeves not quite covering his hands. He liked the coat. It was warm and would keep him dry. Something was missing though.
He folded it over his arm and went in search of his mother's old sewing box. Digging it out from behind the chair in her bedroom, he opened it and delved around inside to find a square of black felt, some fabric scissors and a needle and thread. Carefully, he cut the felt out into the symbol sensei had tattooed on her collar bone, the same symbol that was on Al's armour. It was the symbol of his teaching and his craft. Positioning it onto the back of the coat, he stitched it neatly onto the red fabric using an overlocking blanket stitch Granny had taught him while he was under her care. Once finished, he admired his work for a second before putting the coat on again and returning the sewing equipment and felt oddments to the box. Then he went to reclaim his suitcase and find Al. It was time to leave.
"Al, you done?" He called into his brother's room. Al appeared at the door, an almost sad aura surrounding him.
"All I want to keep is this," he said, holding onto his favourite childhood toy; a floppy cat that he had owned since the age of 3. "I'm not taking it with me, but I'm sure Winry will look after it for me. Pointless me taking anything else - I can't use any of my clothes."
"You ready then?" Ed asked. He wanted to be sure that his brother was ready and willing to go through with this.
"Yes. Let's do this," Al replied.
They descended the stairs of the old farmhouse for the final time, the smell of petroleum hanging heavily in the air. The two of them had spread the flammable fluid around the carpet in the sitting room earlier to aid in the destruction of the house.
"You sure you're ready?" Ed asked a final time.
"Yes."
"OK then." He picked up a torch made from a piece of petroleum-soaked fabric wrapped around a length of wood and lit it using a match. He touched the torch to the carpet and the curtains, watching with sad, tired eyes as the flames took hold at a remarkable speed, spreading their destructive heat around the room.
"Come on Al. Let's get out of here," he said as they turned to leave the building. Ed looked back a final time as the fire took hold of the coffee table before closing the door on the house forever and moving away from the danger to watch from a safe distance as their past life burned. As the fire took hold of the upstairs bedrooms and smashed the glass free from the windows with the intense heat, he threw what was left of the burning torch into the inferno.
They could never go back now. All he had of his past life were memories and an iconic red coat.
--
A/N: Whoever would have guessed that Ed could sew! I figured that he's been cooped up at the Rockbells for a year recovering from surgery and he's going to be bored and restless. I thought Pinako may have provided him some constructive crafts to occupy his time, such as sewing or art. However, we know from his drawings that he's not much of an artist and takes a rather contemporary gothic view with sculpture and architecture…