"Winry, won't you grab that bowl of apple juice and bring it outside?" Pinako asked, turning to her.
The six year old looked up from her crayon drawing, it was Ed's sixth birthday party and they were celebrating it at her house. "Sure thing granny!" she smiled and grabbed the bowl, and headed for the door with the unfinished drawing still clutched in her hands.
With her hands full, she turned sideways and captured the door handle in her hand enough to turn the knob and allow her entry to the porch.
She spotted the table set up and began her trek towards her destination, doing her best to keep the juice in the bowl.
She was about halfway to the table when she found herself flying towards the ground, juice splashing all over her, staining her pink dress. She pulled her head out of the bowl and flipped over, to see a boy her age snickering with his foot stretched outwards.
"Having trouble with that juice?" he teased.
Tears grew in Winry's eyes, "N-no! I was doing just fine!" she turned to look at the mess, her breath hitched at the sight of her drawing, now soaked and ruined. That was her present for Ed...
She gently picked it up, it was destroyed. "What's that?" the boy grabbed it out of her hands, leaving a corner of it in her hands.
"Ewe, it's so soggy. Is this supposed to be art? It looks like the stuff I wipe my butt with." he waved it around until it ripped in half, falling to the ground.
Winry couldn't take it anymore, she began to sob.
"Hey! What was that for!?" Four year old Alphonse Elric got between them, spreading out his arms as if to guard Winry.
"She looked like she was having trouble, and I thought it would be funny if she had even more. She's just a stinky girl!"
"Don't call her stinky you meanie!" Al yelled.
"Oh really? What are you gonna do about it?" he shoved Al a bit, "Huh?"
"I, I… I'll! I'll punch you!" Al held up a fist and aimed it for the boy's stomach, but couldn't find it in him to actually punch the boy. He didn't wanna get in trouble.
"Ha! Lame!" Al found himself being the one punched and landed beside Winry, sniffling himself.
Thankfully, they had gained the birthday boys attention.
Edward's sandals stomped over there, an angry look on his face, "What the hell!? You can't do this crap on my birthday!"
"Who's gonna stop me!? You? I can't believe you're turning six! You look like you're turning four!" the boy challenged.
Ed cracked his knuckles, nobody challenged him on his birthday. "You picked the wrong fight kid!" he threw a punch, only for his fist to be caught.
He grit his teeth and pulled his fist back before running in close, jumping up, pulling the boy's shoulders down, and slamming their foreheads together.
Both boys fell to the ground holding their heads in pain. Al started wailing cause Ed got hurt on his birthday. Winry was still upset over her drawing. The other kid was crying his eyes out cause his head hurt so bad.
"You are uninvited to my birthday party!" Edward yelled once recovered, hugging Al to calm him down, "Get outta here!"
The kid promptly stood up and ran over to his bike, hopping on and heading home.
Once Al had stopped crying, they both turned to Winry and too her inside, telling Pinako and Trisha what had happened. The party was cut short and everyone was sent home. The kids were given cake, and Ed was given a small scolding about fighting but everything turned out pretty okay.
Winry was still sniffling as she ate her cake. "I'm sorry I ruined your birthday Ed."
"You didn't ruin it." Ed shook his head, taking another bite of cake.
"Yea no way." Al agreed. He frowned as he thought about how if anything, it was his fault…
"The only reason he did that was because I was a girl and I was having trouble." Winry's lip wibbled.
"Nah he was just," Ed looked in through the entry of the kitchen, seeing his mother and Pinako deep in conversation, "An asshole." he whispered kinda quietly into her ear.
"Sure it was his fault?" she asked.
"Definitely." Ed smiled at her.
Al had troubled thoughts… he really should have done something, right?
"Oh I'm so excited! It's been so long since I've hung out with just you Al!" Winry looked back at Al, beaming.
"Yea!" Al's voice reflected a smile as he walked a bit behind her, so she could see the street beside her. "I've missed you."
"Awe, I've missed you too Al! If only Ed had missed me as much as you…" she grumbled her last statement.
"Brother had no choice but to report in. He was called into duty by Colonel Mustang, he didn't want to leave I'm sure." the thirteen year old rubbed the back of his head.
"I guess, but I'm still suspicious." she crossed her arms, "So, what do you want to do first?" she turned around, walking backwards in order to face him.
"Well, there's some nice little shops around here, you can do some window shopping. There's also some nice cafes around if you want something to eat. East City is also pretty cool to explore if you wanna take up time doing that before the Circus begins." Al offered up some things to do.
Winry smiled at the reminder of her tickets she'd won in a raffle. "We can do some window shopping! Come on!" she lead Al down the crowded streets, looking around for anything she may like in the windows they passed.
They hadn't seen much of interest yet when Winry's stomach grumbled, "Oh." she stopped her pace, "I guess I didn't realize how hungry I was." she looked across the street to see a small bakery, "I could use something from there." Al nodded and followed her into the building.
"I'll wait here while you pick something out." Al went to take a seat, but found himself regretting it as the chair promptly collapsed under him.
The shop keep gave him a nasty look as he scrambled up and apologized, "I'm sorry! No need to worry! I'll fix it! I'm an alchemist."
He could hear laughter from some men in the corner, all three donning a military uniform. He could hear their conversation from where he was drawing his circle.
"Isn't that the big guy who follows that one major around?"
"Yea, guess that poor chair couldn't handle that giant metal ass of his." another laughed, "No idea how that weirdo got to hang around with a girl like that though. I dunno what's up with him, probably got an armor fetish or something. But she can do better."
Al focused on his circle, doing his best to push aside their comments.
"I think I'll let her know just how much better she can do…" one of them stood up and approached Winry who was still figuring out what to get.
"Hey there, ya have a nice ass." Winry yelped as a firm smack hit her butt. She turned around, pulling her skirt down.
"Um…"
"Why don't you share it with a guy who can sit on a chair without it breaking?" he smacked at her chest a bit as she stepped back.
"Get away from me…" she continued to back up.
"Learn to take a compliment you little bit-"
Alphonse had quickly abandoned his broken chair and placed himself between Winry and the man. "You disgust me, how old are you? She's fourteen, back off."
"What are you gonna do fat ass?" the man asked, shoving him a bit.
It was at the moment Al remembered a very similar situation from his childhood. One in which he made a decision he regretted. This time he was sure there would be no regrets.
He punched the man so hard he was knocked back to the floor, blood flowing out of his mouth from where his teeth used to be.
"What the shit?" the man growled in pain.
"Next time pick a fight with someone your own size." Al was standing menacingly over the man and sent him running, his two friends following him briskly.
Al and Winry soon found themselves kicked out of the establishment.
Al turned back to Winry, "Are you alright? Military men can be pigs."
"Yea, I'm okay, thanks Al." she smiled, "In all honesty I find it hard to stand up for myself when it's people I don't know. Even though I have no issues tossing a wrench at your brother…"
"Of course Winry! You're like my sister! I couldn't just stand there and let that happen."
"Thanks Al." she did her best to give his armor a big hug, and he hugged back as gently as he could.
Al found himself glad Winry had a brother like him.