Disclaimer - I own nothing but the computer I am typing on.
A/N - This chapter has gotten a little polished up, but not a whole lot.
Alphonse quietly left the room he shared with Edward at around six-thirty in the morning to fix a good breakfast for his brother. He was humming cheerfully as he cracked some eggs open and put some bacon on the stove. He then went into his room and got the medication for Edward and set one of the pills on the table next to a glass of orange juice. After the bacon was finished and the eggs were scrambled, Alphonse put them on a plate and set it all on the table.
"Perfect. Brother will love breakfast today." With that, he bounded out of the room.
"Brother! It's time to get up! Come on, let's go!"
"Al?" Edward managed to mumble, still more asleep than awake, when he found himself hoisted up into the air before his brother nestled him in his arms. "Wha 's goin on Al?" He slurred out, becoming more drowsy in Alphonse's metal arms.
Alphonse didn't answer, but mentally smiled as he looked down at his brother's sleepy face.
Edward was gently lowered into a chair at the table. He gave a loud yawn as the smell of bacon and eggs penetrated his foggy brain. The food disappeared at an alarming rate. Alphonse watched in amusement until his brother got to the juice.
"Al, what's this for?" Edward asked as he held up the small white pill.
"Brother, you know full well that you need to take your antibiotic at breakfast and dinner every day for the next two weeks."
"But Al, this thing is huge! There ain't no way that I am going to be able to swallow this horse pill." Came the whiney reply.
Alphonse let out an exasperated sigh and crossed his metal arms. "Brother, you need that pill. If you keep refusing to take it, I could always take you back to the doctor. They might resort to giving your antibiotics to you by injection."
Not surprisingly, the pill disappeared faster than the bacon had. The juice quickly followed.
"There, done. Happy now, you little nark?"
"Very. Thank you, Brother. What are we going to do today? Go to the library?" Alphonse asked curiously.
Edward shook his head. "No. I thought that we would visit Lt. Colonel Hughes. We haven't seen Garcia and Elysia in a long time." Edward smirked at Alphonse's poorly hidden excitement.
The brothers cleaned the breakfast dishes with much more enthusiasm then usual. Within minutes, all the dishes were washed, dried, and put away. It only took Edward a few more minutes to get dressed. He only winced a little as he pulled at his healing wound when he put his shirt and black jacket on. He grabbed his red cloak on the way out the door.
The long walk to the Hughes' house was uneventful. By the time the brothers knocked on the door, it was nearly then o'clock. (A/N - I don't know how long it would really take, but for my story, it is about an hour and a half walk.)
Garcia was in the den, watching Maes and Elysia play some sort of game that only the two could understand. She smiled lovingly as Elysia was getting her father to make the oddest noises, when she heard a soft knock on the door. She got up and left the two to their game. When she opened the front door, Garcia was pleasantly surprised to see the Elric brothers standing there.
"Edward, Alphonse." She greeted warmly. "It's wonderful to see you. Come in, Elysia has been asking where her brothers were." Garcia said with a smile.
The brothers obediently walked through the door. What they saw on the other side, had them both stunned speechless. There was Maes, lying on his back with both hands and feet waving in the air, and the most horrible gurgling screech was coming out of his mouth. He looked for all the world like he was in his last death throws.
"Um, Mrs. Hughes, is he alright?" Edward whispered, only half joking.
Apparently, Maes had excellent hearing because as soon as Edward had whispered his question, he immediately stood up with a sheepish smile and a light blush on his cheeks.
"Edward, Alphonse. It's a…ahem…nice of you to drop by." Maes greeted a bit awkwardly.
"Well, Edward, Alphonse. It's a …ahem…nice of you to drop by." Maes greeted a bit awkwardly.
Elysia broke the tension when she spotted the boys. "Little Big Brother! Bigger Brother!" Came the excited squeal before Edward found his arms full of two year old hyper-active girl.
Edward picked the little girl up and gave her a warm hug. "Hey kid. What have you been up to?"
"Me and Daddy were playing princess. He was the prince and then he had to kill the dragon. Then Daddy turned into the dragon and he died. Now I'm safe and Daddy is the prince again." Elysia managed to say all in one breath. When she finished, she gave her daddy a beaming smile.
"Isn't she just adorable when she smiles like that?" Before anyone knew what he was doing, a bright flash caught Elysia grinning in a smirking Edward's arms.
"Hey! Lt. Colonel, that's not fair! If you wand Al and I to stay for any length of time, you had better put that camera away." An irritated Edward warned as he carefully passed the little girl to his brother. Maes pouted a bit, but complied with the boy's demand.
"Well, why don't you show Ed and Alphonse how we redecorated your room yesterday Elysia?" the little girl nodded happily and directed Alphonse to carry her up the stairs. Edward rolled his eyes, but followed anyway.
"Those boys are so sweet to come all the way here just to play with Elysia." Garcia said fondly as her eyes followed the children as they made their way up the stairs.
"Not half as sweet as you are." Maes said with a mischievous grin.
"Stop that." Garcia scolded. Though the effect was ruined when she giggled at Maes' crestfallen face. "Not with the children in the house."
With that, Maes brightened and grabbed his camera. He stealthily snuck up the stairs, cautiously avoiding all of the creaky ones. He slowly tiptoed down the hall until he came to his daughter's room. He peaked around the corner and almost gave himself away with a soft snort of laughter. He slowly brought his camera up and *flash* before ducking out of sight. The next couple of hours passed just like that. Elysia dragging the boys all over the house and outside, and Maes following silently, and snapping his camera whenever he could.
Garcia finished setting the table for lunch, and was about to call everybody to come and eat when she was startled as Maes tore into the kitchen at breakneck speeds.
"Dear! You know that there is no running in the house. You are supposed to be setting an example for our daughter." Before she could say any more, Garcia was cut off as Maes held a finger to his lips.
"Shhh! If they ask, I helped you fix lunch." He whispered.
"Sure, whatever you say." Garcia fought to keep a straight face and a stern tone.
"Thank you. Have I ever told you how beautiful you are? Also how much I love you?" Garcia laughed and pushed him into one of the chairs.
The sound of excited children filled their ears as the trio made it into the kitchen. As they sat down, Maes watched the brothers with a hint of sadness on his face.
"What are you looking at? Do I have dirt on my face or a leaf in my hair?" Edward asked a little unnerved by the look Maes was giving him and his brother.
"Oh, no. Don't worry about it. Just enjoy your lunch." Maes answered with a cheery wave.
After lunch, Elysia convinced the boys to stay for dinner too. As a result, she had two playmates for the whole day. For the entire afternoon, Maes and his trusty camera followed the children everywhere, without being seen of course.
By the time dinner rolled around, Elysia was yawning with exhaustion.
"What have you boys done to my little princess?" Maes asked with a fake scowl on his face.
"Oh, you know. A little tickle torture here, a little solitary confinement there. Nothing she didn't deserve." Came Edward's cheeky reply.
Alphonse and Elysia giggled as they sat down at the table. When dinner was over, Alphonse produced a certain white pill.
"Al," Edward whined. "How did you manage to hide those all day? Do I have to take that now? Can't I take it later?"
Even with an expressionless face made of steel, Alphonse still managed to pull off a pretty impressive glare. "I don't want to hear anymore complaints from you, Brother. We have already had this conversation once. If you argue with me one more time, I really will drag you down to get those shots instead."
Edward gulped at his brother's tone. He knew full well that Alphonse meant every word he said. So, with a flourish, Edward swallowed the pill and opened his mouth to show a hovering Alphonse that the thing was gone.
When Alphonse backed away with a satisfied nod, Edward sat back in his chair grumbling something about overprotective siblings who didn't understand which of them was the older brother.
Maes and Garcia sat, watching the scene with highly amused expressions on their faces. Just then, Elysia let out a huge yawn and started rubbing her eyes.
"Well, looks like it's bedtime for someone." Maes said as he scooped his daughter up and gave her a bear hug. He passed her off to her mother and turned to face the boys just in time to catch Edward trying to smother his own yawn. "Come on boys, let me take you home."
Edward was too tired to argue. He and Alphonse followed Maes out to the car. It was hard work for Edward to stay awake for the entire ride to the dorms, but he managed it. After saying their goodnights, the brothers made their way to the bedroom. Alphonse would not let Edward just plop into bed the way he was. He forced him to change into a decent pair of pajamas. He giggled at the grumpy scowl and the unhappy noises coming out of his brother. Finally, Edward was deemed ready for bed, and was allowed to lie down. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow. Alphonse settled onto his own bed and opened his book.
When morning came, Alphonse decided that he was going to fix Edward some oatmeal and toast. After he was finished, he went into their room and gently shook Edward awake.
"Come on, Brother, time for breakfast."
"Not now Al. Still too tired to get up." Edward groaned. He attempted to burrow further into the blankets.
Alphonse was having none of that. He yanked all the covers off the bed. When this proved useless, he started poking gently at Edward's sides and his flesh foot.
"Alphonse! What do you think you're doing? Stop that now!" Edward choked out between bouts of laughter. "Alright, I'm up Al! Stop, I surrender!"
"Gonna get up now?" Alphonse asked with his hands ready to deal out more punishment if he received the wrong answer.
"Yes! See, I'm out of the bed. I am going to the kitchen." Edward carefully maneuvered around his brother, watching every move those hands made.
After breakfast was over and the dreaded pill swallowed, and he was helping his brother with the dishes, Edward asked, "So what's on the list to do today Al?"
"We are starting to run low on food supplies, and we need to get more oil. Your automail is starting to squeak. I also need to go to the library. I just finished my last book last night."
"Alright, sounds good to me. Let me take a shower, and we will go." Twenty minutes later, the boys were headed out the door.
When they reached the market, Edward turned to his brother. "So, where should we go first?"
"I think that we should go to the maintenance shop. Your squeaking is driving me nuts." This earned him a glare and a sharp punch with an automail fist. "Hey! Don't do that, you'll dent my armor!" He could not keep the smile out of his voice when he saw Edward heading toward the shop anyways.
After they bought enough oil to last a while, the boys went to the library.
"You can go and get whatever books you need. I'm going to look for more books on the Philosopher's Stone."
"Okay! I will find you when I'm done." Alphonse chirped as he went in search of some interesting books. The boys would not emerge again for another four hours.
"Wow, I think we stayed way longer than we were supposed to Al." Edward stated as they exited the building and realized how late it was. Edward's stomach chose that moment to let out a loud growl.
"Hungry Brother?" Alphonse laughed.
"Shut up Al." Edward retorted, trying to scowl. "Hey, let's stop here for lunch." Edward pointed to a little noodle café (is there such a thing?).
They went inside and Edward ordered. He started to fidget while he was waiting for his food to arrive.
"Stop that." Alphonse scolded when his brother's fidgeting nearly upset his water. Edward blushed and made an effort to sit still.
"So, Al, what books did you settle on getting?" He asked, honestly curious.
"I got the next few books in that western series that I was reading before our last mission. I also found a few mystery books that looked really good. Did you find any useful books, Brother?"
By this time, the food had arrived, and Edward answered around a mouthful of food. "Yes. I found several that talks about red water, and one that has references about the Philosopher's Stone in it."
When Edward finished eating and they had paid for his food, he and Alphonse were about to walk out the door, they literally ran into Havoc.
"Whoa there, Chief didn't see you all the way down there." Havoc smirked, waiting for the expected rant. He was not disappointed.
"Who are you calling so small that he could use a hollowed out grain of rice as a house!"
"Brother, I didn't hear him say all of that." A highly amused Alphonse helped his brother off the floor. He gently pushed him out the door.
Havoc followed them out and called after Edward. "Oh, and Chief? I think that you look very pretty with a pink ribbon in your hair."
Edward stared at the retreating form of Havoc, shaking with suppressed laughter. "What does he mean by that?"
"Beats me. Come on, we still need to get the groceries." Alphonse urged his brother.
"Alright, let's go." Edward sighed as they started back to the market.
The rest of the day went smoothly; however, they never noticed the pair of violet eyes that followed them wherever they went.
A/N - Tell me what you think about this one.