A/N: I've had a certain picture in my mind for a looong time, and I want to make a proper gif-animation of it (I've only made a sloppy one) but I haven't gotten around to do it yet. So I made a drabble about it instead! :D

I hope you enjoy it! ^_^

Skipping Battle

Edward walked out from the Headquarters, his new assignment tucked into his pocket. Usually his younger brother Alphonse would wait just outside colonel Mustang's office for him, but today he was outside the building – feeding some small birds in the sunny weather. At least, it was what the animal-lover had said he was going to when Ed went in, but there was no way any normal animal would be close to the loud noise coming from there. It was a rhythmic, heavy clanking and eager male cheers. Edward walked around the corner and saw a big crowd of excited soldiers where he had left his brother. He elbowed his way through and froze as he spotted the explanation of the clanking noise.

In the middle of the ring of soldiers Alphonse was skipping a rope; beside a certain rope-skipping giant of a State Alchemist.

Edward tapped a soldier beside him on the shoulder. "What's going on here?" he asked.

The man saluted when he realized who'd addressed him. "Fullmetal Alchemist, sir! I do not know exactly how it started, but major Armstrong had Alphonse to start jumping skipping rope with him - it was something about training like that had been passed down his family for generations. And as they kept on jumping more people gathered around and started to bet on who would last the longest."

Edward looked over to the two jumpers and scratched his cheek. "Is that so?"

The soldier cringed a bit, still in salute. "Are we in trouble, sir?"

Ed looked up at him and blinked. "Not at all", he said and returned quickly the salute, releasing the nervous man from his stiff posture. "What are the-"

"Oh I must to get a picture of this!" a familiar voice suddenly interrupted. The young alchemist turned around to see lieutenant colonel Hughes take multiple photos of Al and Armstrong. The man grinned widely when he lowered his camera.

"Yo, Ed! So, who do you think will win?"

"Al, of course", he snorted and snatched the man's camera away.

"Hey! Give that back!" cried Hughes and reached after his belonging, but Ed held it away.

"On one condition", said he sternly.

"And what is that?" grumbled the bespectacled man.

"Give me a copy of the picture with Al."

The characteristic grin returned to Hughes face. "You can bet on it. Now hand it over."

As the man returned to his work, Ed turned to the soldier he had talked to.

"So, what are the current odds and who's dealing with the bets?"

The soldier blinked. "You're going to bet too, sir?"

Edward looked almost crazy as his face was split by a wide grin.

"Of course. There's no way my little brother is going to lose at something like this!"

With those words Edward sat down on the soft grass, knowing that it probably would take a few hours before the skipping battle was over.

The End

A/N: Just admit it guys. You want to see it. Who doesn't wanna see someone in a big suit of armor jump a skipping rope? It would be awesome! Anyway, please let me know what you think about it and if I made some mistakes.

(If you want to see the sketchy animation of it it's uploaded on my deviantArt, I'm called FwooshEye there too so it shouldn't be so hard to find.)