This is for Mage of Dragons, who's drabble on this pairing bewitched me. I promised her an Al/Elysia pairing, and here it is! It was surprisingly hard, and I spent hours deciding exactly how I wanted to write it. But I kinda like this one, even if the format is a bit strange, and I hope you like it too!
Disclaimer: Not mine! Please don't sue!
Age 6: Elysia would spend hours sitting on Al's lap, chatting about any thought that happened to flit through her mind. The seventeen year old would listen, laughing whenever she made a joke but sobering when she said something serious. That was what made him her favorite listener, the fact that he didn't laugh or patronize her the way most adults did.
Age 8: New thoughts had begun to enter young Elysia's head, things pertaining to the world outside herself, and it was all horribly confusing. It was only with Al that she could discuss things like love, lies and death without getting some carefully crafted grown-up answer that sounded good but meant nothing. And when she mentioned her father, confessed that she could barely remember him and so couldn't even miss him properly, Al didn't try to make all her bad feelings go away like most people would. He let her feel them, let her scream or cry or just talk, without ever telling her that what she felt was wrong.
Age 9: It had been a year since Al had disappeared, and almost everday Elysia felt his absence. When she tried to get the details of what happened from one of her military 'aunts' or 'uncles', she would recieve an indulgant smile and a pat on the head before once again being ignored. At times like this the thought would flash through the blonde's mind that she should go ask Al, since he would answer her question straight, followed closely by the crushing reality that Al was gone.
Age 14: The day Al returned, accompanied by a golden-haired man who made Winry's eyes sparkle, was a joyous day indeed. But Elysia couldn't help but notice how much more attention was being given to the other boy, Ed. Didn't anyone care that her Alphonse had returned to them! The sweet-natured boy looked older, his silvery eyes a bit deeper, and he'd cut his bronze hair short, but otherwise he appeared virtually unchanged. It took Elysia days to fill him in on all that had happened since he'd been gone, and he listened intently the whole time.
Age 16: Elysia had always harbored feelings for Al, that she would freely admit to anyone who asked. It was only natural, she a little girl surrounded by stuffy adults and he, the good-looking older boy who actually paid attention. A girlhood infatuation was almost ineveitable. But this was something different. She wasn't sure when her feelings had gotten away from her, but the undeniable truth was that what she felt for him now was much more than a crush. Whatever it was, she suddenly found herself nervous and tonuge-tied whenever he entered the room. Eventually, she stopped talking to him all together. It confused him, she knew, as she had once heard him ask her mother about it when they thought she was asleep. He had even sounded a little hurt, although that might have just been wishful thinking on Elysia's part.
Age 17: Elysia looked out her bedroom window, heart still racing from what she had just done. How could she have just blurted out how she felt like that? She'd only wanted to ask Al how the weather had been in Lior, since he'd just come back from a visit. God, he must hate her now. Although he'd never shown her anything but respect, she wasn't stupid. Elysia knew that, in Al's eyes, she was nothing more than a child, a nuisance that he'd put up with for all these years.
A sound from behind her made her turn, and Elysia found herself face to face with the center of her despair. His steady silver gaze made her cringe, but then he stepped forward. What's he doing? What the...
And then their lips met.