A Fullmetal Alchemist Easter
A/N: OK, there is a spoiler warning for this story because I gave away the ending to FMA: Brotherhood. If you haven't read/seen the ending of Brother I advise you to be careful while reading this. You have been warned! Oh just so you know I tried insanely hard to write this with the best punctuation and everything as I could, please don't shoot me if I have a few mess ups.
Disclaimer: I in no way, shape, or form own Fullmetal Alchemist! (I wish I did, but that's beside the point)
-Story Start-
An unusually short boy laid on the ground his long golden hair, which was normally in a braid, was splayed out on the ground like a golden pool of water. The lush green grass and occasional flower framed his sleeping form. Clouds drifted lazily across the sky, the vivid white cotton balls swimming in a sea of blue. His black jacked lay discarded at the foot of a tree, a pair of black boots lay next to it, and a long red jacket hung on a notch in the tree. He was wearing a light grey shirt and long black pants, a shiny metal foot protruded from his left pant leg. He snored and turned over eyes flickering lightly as he dreamed. This was Edward Elric the former Fullmetal Alchemist.
"Edward! Brother, Where are you?"
Another boy stood at the top of the hill a sky blue button up fluttering in the breeze, revealing the silvery shirt he wore underneath. Short Blonde hair was whisked to the side as a gust of wind ruffled the grass which normally lay silent. He glanced down the hill and grinned, the 16 year old boy he was looking for was just rising from the grass.
"Mmm, I'm over here Al" Ed murmured rubbing sleep out of his eyes.
Brushing his golden blonde hair out of his face Edward yawned and opened his eyes. Vivid golden orbs watched as his younger brother Alphonse Elric sprinted down the hill. It wasn't till Al was basically right on top of him that Ed was awake enough to realize that Al had no control over the breaks. Just as fast as Ed had stood up he was back down again. Al rolled right over his brother and smashed right into the tree.
"Man, even when you're not in that armor your still a pain to run into…"
"Sorry brother"
Ed stood and reached out a hand to Alphonse that the younger brother gratefully took, pulling himself to his feet. Al stood and brushed the grass and dirt off of him, he brushed off his pants and shirt pulling small clumps of bark and dirt out of his shirt pocket.
"So, what did you need Al?"
"Oh yeah, Winry asked me to tell you that we can't go back to the house till sunset."
Ed looked at Al golden eyes meet golden eyes, a look of confusion was plastered on Edwards face.
"Why?"
"Well I would suppose because it's Easter and she wants us out of the house so she and granny make dinner."
Ed grunted and shrugged; looking up at the sky he opened his eyes and gazed at the cotton ball clouds. Following his gaze Al looked up to the sky and smiled, his hair stuck out from the crash, he looked at the sky and sighed.
"Remember the last Easter we had with Mom, it was the best wasn't it?"
Edward glanced at Alphonse's face, it was sad and yet so filled with happiness. These memories brought both of them such sad and yet happy feelings. Of course how could he forget? That would be an Easter to remember forever.
-Flashback-
Edward Elric- 9 years old
Alphonse Elric- 8 years old
Date- Sunday March 27th 1909
Time- 5:39 am
A small blond figure clad in a light grey shirt, and plaid silver matching pants, struggled out of a small bed, tiptoeing silently across the wooden floor. Ed reached up onto the bed that matched his and pulled the covers off of a sleeping Alphonse. The younger boy grunted and reached for the blankets only to result in him falling off the bed.
"Come on Al, wake up" Edward's small high voice whispered to his fallen brother form.
"Well I should think I was awake the moment I hit the floor Ed" Al grumbled pulling himself back up onto his bed rubbing his back. His light blue PJ's were strewn from his trip to say good morning to the floor.
"Whether or not you're awake isn't important Al, Its Easter morning!"
Al who had just lain his head back down on to the white pillow shot up; he grabbed the calendar that hung above his bed and ran his finger across to the correct date.
"March 27th Your right Ed, but what should we do? Mother said we shouldn't go out before she comes to get us." Al looked at his brother, who normally came up with the plans, golden eyes questioning.
"Well first you need to keep quiet, second were going on an Easter morning recon mission." Ed whispered pulling out a small sheet of paper. There was red and blue crayon all over it, small boxes that looked like they were supposed to be rooms and two stick figures that were standing in the middle of one labeled Ed and Al's Room. Ed looked at the picture rather proud of his drawing when Al pointed to the middle, at a large scribble that had blurred together.
"Brother, what is that?"
"Oh… I sort of had to hide this from Mother last night and I spilled my juice on it…"
Alphonse looked at Ed degradingly and shook his head. Why couldn't his brother take better care of these kinds of things? His small hand reached for the paper, which Ed handed to him, almost reluctantly. Al examined the picture reading the small scribbles for handwriting that explained the plan.
"Wait Ed, What's recon?"
"Recon is a military word for gathering information, Al. I heard the officers who came to Risenbool last week say it. I didn't know what it was so I looked it up in one of those books that Father left."
Ed paused and reached forward placing his small hands on his younger brother's shoulders. Bright golden eyes stared intently into similarly golden eyes. He looked at Al without blinking who felt one of his brothers impatiently put together plans that were doomed to fail, falling onto his shoulders with the weight of the brother's hands.
"Basically Al, were going to go scope out all the goodies that the Easter bunny left for us. You know what we would do every year, come on don't tell me you forgot!"
"No, I didn't forget. I don't think we should do it this year Ed, something doesn't feel right. We told Mother we wouldn't do it this year…"
Alphonse shook his small head, blue PJ's still hanging of his left shoulder. A dark feeling in his gut told him something terrible was going to happen if he and his brother went out there today.
"Come on Al, please?"
Ed looked at his little brother who finally caved and hung his head in defeat. Al sighed and gave a small reluctant nod of his head, his short blond hair stuck out in the spot where he had laid his head on the pillow. Shaking his head he looked up at his brother who was still watching him as if he hadn't answered.
"Yeah sure Ed, I'll go with you"
Ed grinned and grabbed his brother's hand, pulling him over to the door. Ed let go of Al after deciding that his brother really was serious about doing Easter morning recon. Al watched silently as Ed reached down and pulled a small stepstool out from under a blanket, pulled it over to the door and stepped up onto it. Ed grasped the handle in his small hand and turned it slowly. Stepping off the stool he handed the door to Al before returning the stool to its original hiding place. Al pulled the door further open, and peaked around the corner; Ed joined him looking the opposite way.
"I don't see Mother; I think we're home free" Ed said glancing down the hallway.
The two blonds tiptoed silently down the hallway careful to avoid the squeaky floor boards. Al followed his brother carefully, for Ed had a better knowledge of where the bad boards were. They reached the end of the hallway and peeked into the living room. The medium sized couched faced away from them looking out at the fireplace. Several green plants grew in the windows, making the air in the living room smell like lilies, bluebells and fresh grass. Ed glanced around the living room before his eyes fell upon a small red bean shaped item; he gasped and pointed the small bean out to Al.
"YES! The Easter bunny got here-"Ed's hand clapped over Al's mouth silencing the eight year old.
"Shhhhh, Al you're going to wake up Mother. You need to be quiet."
"Sorry Ed"
Edward nodded and removed his hand from his brother's mouth, turning and looking back into the living room. He pointed around silently motioning to his brother that they should begin their Easter morning recon mission. Al nodded walked over to the large ferns that sat in the corner of the room. Ed, careful not to move the red bean, followed his brother over to the far corner of the room. They moved the ferns and searched the pot unaware of the figure that loomed over their shoulders' that was until a dark shadow was cast over the young boys. Ed froze at the same time Al did, they turned around slowly to face the cause of the dark shadow. What they saw made their golden orbs stretch to the size of dinner plates.
At about six feet tall a large dirty grey bunny loomed over them. His ears were torn and ragged, small beady black eyes gleamed out from under a bunch of grey fur. He was standing on two long scraggy pawed legs, arms lanky and torn he reached forward and grabbed a small chocolate from in-between the two boys. As he pulled it up to his face the creature sniffed it. Then he opened his mouth, revealing two rows of yellow jagged, broken teeth and rasped.
"It's not morning yet, little boys shouldn't be awake… Boo!"
The creature hissed the last word, gnarled yellow teeth bared at the young boys.
"AHHHHH!" Al screamed as he bolted for the door.
"DEMON BUNNY FROM HELL!" Ed yowled as he dove for the table.
After he hit his head Ed cursed and crawled under the table. He dragged himself underneath the curly braces that held the table top up. He plunged his small hand into the pocket of his PJ's looking for a piece of chalk, or even some sort of marker. Grimacing at the empty pocked, he glanced up around the table edge and saw the creature glaring down at the table, its long dirty claws curled around the chocolate.
"You shouldn't be awake. It's too early for a little boy... Not allowed…" The 'Demon bunny from hell's' voice crackled, sounding like nails on a chalkboard.
"D-Don't make me transmute a sword, I-I'm not afraid of you."
At the sound of his own empty threat Ed's hopes plummeted, his golden hair brushed the top of the table as he looked around for a vain attempt at freedom. Ed clenched his fists in shame; he couldn't even protect his mother from a bunny. He was about to stand up and attempt to lead the 'Demon bunny from hell' away from his house when a soft kind voice reached his ears.
"Ed, Edward you ok I could hear you from my room?"
Terisa Elric came around the corner, her soft long hair reached the middle of her back, her soft, and slender cheeks rosy even so early. Her slender frame was just right, she wasn't too skinny or overweight her plaid pants brushed the ground. She was covered with a larger shirt that looked like it belonged to a male, small red flashes decorated the bottom of the shirt.
"NO! Mom stay away, it's a demon!"
Ed's voice cracked slightly from the fear of not being able to protect one of the people who meant the most to him. Edward couldn't stand the thought of the 'Demon' getting hold of his Mother.
Terisa just giggled slightly and walked over to the bunny, which didn't even move, and frowned slightly. The frown didn't do justice to her features, but it didn't seem like she was mad either. She looked the bunny up and down tracing its features with her eyes. She looked up at the face of the bunny and moved closer to the eyes, glancing into them. Ed held his breath the whole while, muscles tense, ready to step forward in an attempt to help his Mother if the bunny were to attack her.
"Now, now Mr. Rockbell I told you it wouldn't be necessary to do this I could have dealt with them."
Ed's eyes widened as his Mother said this; he watched in shock as the creature reached up with its grimy paws and pulled of its head. Mr. Rockbell's face was grinning out from underneath the mask. Winry's dad, he couldn't believe it was her dad, he was supposed to be in the Ishvalen war. Ed wondered if soldiers, well technically he was a doctor, got to come home for holidays… Ed turned away from the man who scared the living transmutation circles out of him.
"Ed could you go get your brother, were going to have breakfast soon. Mr. Rockbell you better head home, you want to get there before Winry wakes up so you can surprise her."
Ed nodded and began to head out of the living room to the front hallway, except on the way he turned and refused to come close to Mr. Rockbell. He kept one eye on the large grey figure, watching carefully as if Winry's dad was going to put the head back on and turn into a vicious man-eating bunny. When he reached the hallway he turned around and stepped up onto the small ledge and grasped the handle pulling the door open. As Ed stepped out onto the stone he smiled at the warmth, for so being so early in the morning it was warmed by the early expanding sun. He was sure now that spring was here.
Small stones lead away from the house lush green grass curling over the rocks. Two birds swooped over his head chirping a melody that even sounded like spring. A petite patch of yellow tulips grew in the corner surrounded by white roses that looked as if they were guarding the tulips with their tenacious thorns. A single bee flew from flower to flower collecting pollen from the sweet smelling center. A few lazy clouds drifted across the blue sky, looking like cotton fluff balls they swam lightly on the warm spring breeze.
Ed watched as the ideal spring moment unfurled around him when he remembered that he needed to find Alphonse. Small bare feet crossed the sun-warmed rocks to the edge of the hillside to look down to the valley below. Edward wondered if his brother had gone down to the river where he would go whenever he wanted to be alone. Ed snapped his fingers in comprehension and ran to the side of the house looking at a lone tree that stood by the house. There, hanging from the tree, was a swing and tied up in the swing was a young eight year old, blond haired, Elric brother. Edward snickered slightly at the sight, blond hair blowing in the small gust that swept the small hill.
Alphonse had gotten himself rather well tied up in the strings that tied the swing to the tree; his was looked a little raw where the ropes had tangled themselves. His right arm was swung backwards and tied to his back, his shirt had slid to the front of his body; the only reason it was still on his body was because it had been caught on his arm that was tied back. Al's small feet kicked as he tried to turn himself enough to grab the tree with his free arm.
Ed walked up to his younger brother and began to help untangle the boy, unfortunately he decided to walk up while Al had been facing the opposite direction because Al squealed and attempted to curl up in a ball, only making the tangled ropes worse.
"Alphonse its ok it's just me!"
Al looked over his shoulder and instantaneously relaxed uncurling his body. Ed grinned and returned to untangling his brother, small hands pulling the ropes.
"You sounded pretty scared there Al, don't tell me he scared you that much."
"NO! Of course he didn't, I was just surprised that's all! Besides I didn't exactly hear you laughing, you were terrified!"
"Was NOT!" Ed punctuated the last word by pulling on the final string that held his brother in the air and with a little help from gravity sent the younger Elric plummeting to the hard, grassy earth. Al pushed himself up off the ground and into his older brother face.
"You were too! Stop being so short tempered!"
"DON'T CALL ME SMALL ILL MAKES YOU DRINK ALL MY MILK FOR A WHOLE YEAR!"
"For one YOU, Ed, are the one who doesn't like milk, not me, and second there is no way you can pull that off"
Edward puffed out his cheek and watched his brother fix his PJs silently. After Al had pulled his shirt back down and pulled the grass out of his sleeves Ed opened his mouth to throw back a stinging reply with a quick tongue. Before he could even utter a word the front door opened and Terisa walked around the corner of the house.
"Boys breakfast is ready, its blueberry pancakes!" She smiled warmly and returned to the house to set the table.
Edward sighed and calmed down, he was scared and even brought milk into the equation, he probably shouldn't have taken it that far. Ed held out a small, warm hand offering peace between the two brothers. Alphonse looked at the hand that his brother had outstretched and grinned, taking it.
"OK, we were both scared; we just won't tell Winry OK?"
Al nodded and shook his brother's hand, still grinning sheepishly. An idea flashed into Al's mind and he dropped Ed's hand and took off for the house.
"Last one there is a failed transmutation circle!"
Ed laughed and took off after his brother sprinting as fast as he could in order to catch up.
Fast forward to after breakfast
Ed finished the last sip of his juice and slid out of his chair, motioning to Al who quickly followed, running over to Terisa they ran into her legs and hugged her simultaneously. Grinning they looked up at her with large golden eyes.
"Thanks for the yummy breakfast Mommy!" they chirped in unision.
"You're welcome"
Al being a little bit tactless got right to the point.
"Can we go look for candy now?"
Terisa seemed to ponder the question slightly. She looked up out of the window over the sink, the sponge still sat in her hand dripping soap and water onto the halfway clean dishes. Her brown hair shone beautifully as she turned back to the boys and smiled softly.
"Hmm, I guess so"
"YAY!"
It was like the golden flash, within an instant the two boys had raced into the closet and pulled out small blue baskets. They were back in the living room and began to search for candy.
"There was a chocolate bunny over here!"
"Look liquorish!"
"Oh wow jelly beans!"
Terisa watched eyes soft and kind, her pale blue dress hung around her calves as the leaned against the wall watching her two sons. As she watched Edward ran into the sunlight and she could have sworn she saw her husband flash in his eyes. "Hoenhime I wish you could see them, and I'm afraid I won't be able to watch them for much longer."
The two Elric brothers ran around the house searching every nook and cranny for candy left from the Easter bunny. They were bouncing off the walls as if they had just taken a few cups of coffee and drowned them in one. By the time they were completely sure that all the candy had been found, the living room had been nearly destroyed. Couch cushions were spread over the floor and plants looked as if a twister had blown them around the world and back. Ed and Al looked around and began to replace the items to their original placing. When all was back in place and the only thing new was a small basket of candy, the clock ticked just past noon.
"Winry is coming over for lunch, she will be here soon why don't you two boys go wait outside for her?" Terisa asked sticking her head out of the kitchen, brown hair tied back.
Ed and Al nodded pleased with the idea of being able to show Winry how much candy they had found. Placing the blue baskets on the tabletop they carefully telling each other whose was whose. After they had placed Ed's at one end of the table and Al's at the other they turned and bounded outside.
When they stepped into the front yard Ed ran down to the edge of the hill and looked down onto the hillside below. He was searching the grassy hills for Winry when Al tackled his brother sending them bother toppling down the hill. They rolled downwards tussling with one another in the warm summer sunlight.
They reached the bottom of the hill and sat up panting only to come face to face with a familiar face. Winry was walking up to them short blond hair curling around her face, a small pin kept her bangs out of her face. Her pink and blue dress had small Easter eggs patterned on the rim and flowers where it connected wither her shoulder strap. The wind tossed her blond hair as she approached them, Ed and Al stood up to meet her.
"My daddy said he scared you guys, I didn't know the brave Edward and Alphonse Elric could get scared of a little bunny" There wasn't even a hello Winry went right in for the kill.
Ed and Al both flushed bright red, Al just looked away a little flustered his golden eyes averted from her blue ones. Edward on the other hand exploded in embarrassment and anger.
"Well it's none of your business you gear head!"
Al took at step back as Winry, too, exploded to match Ed's anger and her face flushed red. She rushed forward as Ed turned and took off across the hillside to escape her rage. Yep, it was the BEST Easter ever…
-Flashback end-
"That was one hell of an Easter; Winry's dad really did get us that morning, right Al?"
Ed looked over to his brother as he said this and noticed a wet glimmer had appeared on the younger brothers golden eyes. The tears slowly slid down Alphonse's face, wet streaks shone on his cheeks, they didn't enhance his futures at all.
"You OK, Al?"
"Yeah, I guess I just miss Mother…"
"So do I Al, but we have to live, laugh, smile and be happy for her, we need to live good lives for her she knows we can so we need to live the best lives that the world can offer us."
Alphonse just nodded still crying a little. A few small tears slid down his face as he looked toward
"We got your body back, my right arm, and even saved Hoenhime from that Homucnulious in a glass thing."
"Yeah…" Al sighed, hair drooping in an almost saddening way. He looked over to Ed who had stood up and looked up the hill. Ed's golden eyes looked sad but he was forcing a calm, collected face. The sun had just begun to set and was casting an orange glow across the hillside. The tree looked like flames were licking the side, burning in the bright spring sunset.
"We should probably go and see what Winry wanted; it's going to be night soon." Ed said blond hair blowing softly in the warm breeze.
Al nodded silently and began to walk after his brother up the hill.
As the two walked away slowly making their way up the hill a nearly inaudible the windswept and almost seemed to be smiling.
A/N: Now, I don't know if those dates are correct of if that would have been the last Easter they spent with their mom. I tried my hardest to keep the characters as close as I could to their real personality, and I am sorry if any seemed to be OOC. Thank you for reading this I am personally very proud of it. Thanks again! :3