Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist, only my lovely OC's.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

"Eternal Snow"

Edward x OC

Still October, 1924

Edward hated when his boss called him in on Saturdays. He worked his butt off during the week, he thought he at least deserved the weekends off to relax a little.

It was past lunch hour when he finally got home. He threw his suitcase into an armchair and walked into the kitchen to grab a glass of water, it felt like heaven on his scratchy throat. He suspected he was hatching a cold from being stuffed in the heated research office and then stepping out into the freezing cold.

There was note on the fridge, he noticed.

"I'm at my new clinic. It needs to be painted today. Ari is helping me out. She says you can join us if you want. - Al

He re-read it a couple times not quite sure if it was another trick from his brother to get them in the same room or if Aria had actually agreed to it.

He didn't know if it was good idea to go. The last time he talked to Aria, she had made perfectly clear that shad didn't want anything to do with him. He had hurt her, he knew that, but she had hurt him too. He had finally built up the guts to tell her he had thought about her every day of his life and her only answer was to throw him out of her house.

Aria was the most confusing woman he had ever met.

After pacing back and forth for half an hour, staring at the paper, he threw his hands up with a huff and left the apartment with a curse.

The new clinic his brother had bought wasn't far, it was about ten minutes. Edward was so proud of him. Alphonse had spent years studying and mastering the art of alkahestry in Xing, he had worked hard to become a great healer and he deserved every single coin he had invested in his clinic.

He hesitated in front of the building for a second. As he heard the sound of their laughter though he decided to man up and just get it over with. The small bell rang when he opened the door.

Edward stared at the two figures painted in white, uncertain whether to laugh or not.

"What the hell happened? Were you supposed to be painting the walls or yourselves?" He questioned as he glanced around the room noticing that there was only one wall finished and splashes of paint everywhere, including Aria and his brother.

They exchanged looks before bursting laughing. "We got a little carried away," Alphonse managed to sputter among giggles.

"You don't say..."

"Alphonse started it!" Aria claimed immediately.

"No I didn't!"

"Yes you did!"

Edward shook his head with a smile. "Glad to see some things never do change."

He met Aria's sea green. He felt his heart jump when a soft tinge of pink colored her cheeks. She was a mess, with paint all over her face and her dark navy pants, her curls were completely out of place and her white sweatshirt was falling off her shoulder. God, she couldn't have looked more beautiful to him.

"So," he cleared his throat, "are we doing this or not?"

"Yes! Here, brother-" Alphonse chucked him a paint brush and apron. "You get started on that wall and we finish this one, okay?"

The three of them put their hands to work.

They talked and joked casually, slowly easing into the familiarity of them being together after so long.

Edward smiled softly as Aria crouched down beside him to help out with the footer. She had a steadier hand than him. She didn't say anything, she just stayed there, so close to him that he could breathe in her scent of flowers and cinnamon, leaving him slightly lightheaded.

He had a feeling she didn't want to fight him anymore. He didn't want to either.

As the sun began to set, Aria turned on the radio she had brought with her and the sound of country violins filled the room. They were almost finished so she grabbed Alphonse's hand and pulled him to dance with her. They twirled clumsily around the room laughing and singing to the popular song.

Edward rolled his eyes at their silliness but he found himself putting down the brush and sitting back to watch them with a grin.

The two ten year olds had been stuck in their father's office studying since morning. Winry had been with them but she had left after lunch because she was bored to death. Little Aria stayed.

She was sitting next to Edward and she was staring hard at his face, finding his focused expression deeply intriguing. Edward knew she was looking at him and he was struggling to keep his gaze on the book and to keep himself from blushing. It wasn't working though, he had read the same sentence five times already.

When he was about to give up she suddenly jumped out of her seat. He saw her prancing around the room, searching for something. Then music filled the study. The sound of violins and banjos capturing the young boy's attention.

"What are you doing, Ari?" Alphonse asked peering at her curiously.

She laughed and grabbed his hand pulling him to dance with her. They twirled around, giggling and tripping over each other's feet.

He stood up when the music switched to a slower song. Before thinking too much into it, Edward snatched her from his brother. He held her hand with his and settled the other one on her lower back, drawing her closer.

"You're doing it wrong," he whispered.

"You're doing it wrong!" Little Edward exclaimed as he tore her apart from his brother. "You have to hold her hand like this, see?" He grabbed her hand and then encircled her tiny waist.

Her chest was flushed against his and he could feel her heart quickening.

Aria peered up at him from under long thick lashes. He held his breath, leading her into a slow waltz, twirling around the room. Her heart was racing, he could feel it against his own speeding heart.

How could something so simple make him feel so alive? Edward wondered. But then again, with Aria everything simple became something much more.

Her body fitted his as perfectly as if made for him. He brought her even closer, feeling every inch of her slim silhouette, remembering every lovely curve, every lustful clenching soft muscle. There it was; he swallowed a groan. There was that fire that burned him every time he touched her...

Alphonse clapped when the song ended.

Aria jumped away from him as if electrocuted, making him frown. She ignored him and grinned at his brother, focusing only on him again.

Edward stared at his empty hands. He suddenly felt very alone, very lost.

"I haven't had dinner with you since I was a little girl," Aria commented, smiling at small old woman across from her.

The two brothers had convinced her to come with them to visit Pinako and Winry that Sunday. She felt slightly jittery as she had barely stepped foot at the Rockbell's since the day Edward and Alphonse had left to Central City.

The old woman grinned, her eyes crinkling even more in the corners. "You should've come sooner. You grew up into such a beautiful young woman, Ariana, your mother would be so proud."

Aria blushed. "T-thank you, Mrs. Rockbell!" She stammered.

She was sitting between Edward and Alphonse and she was very aware of how the older brother was closer to her than the younger one. She wanted to curse at him because that only added to her nerves. She could tell Winry wasn't looking too happy about their proximity either.

"I heard from your father that you were studying in one of most prestigious academies in the country," Pinako started, grabbing a spoon and serving their bowls with her homemade stew. "Of course that was quite a while ago. How did it go?"

"Oh hum... it was fine, I suppose. I was majoring in politic affairs and minoring in peace strategies to promote well fare," she mumbled, feeling the weight of their attention. There weren't many people in Reseembol to whom she had told about her field of studies back at the academy. "I dropped out the year before I got my diploma."

Edward snapped his head towards her. "I'm sorry you did what?"

She huffed. She should've known better than to blurt that out near Edward.

"I dropped out," she repeated. "My heart wasn't it anymore. I just wasn't happy."

He opened his mouth to say something but Winry cut him off. "It was after you broke off your engagement, wasn't it"

Aria dared to sneak a glance at the blonde man beside her. He was actually doing a good job at keeping his face neutral, she mused. "Not right after, but pretty soon, yes," she answered.

"I remember your father telling me something about that. He was a bit sad, he seemed to like that boy very much," Pinako quipped innocently.

"Yeah well..." Edward squirmed in his seat, she ignored him. "He was a great man, I won't deny that. Derek was honest and kind, he was very ambitious and he had a really bright mind, we used to spend entire evenings having long debates about our different opinions."

Alphonse looked confused. "I never knew you were engaged, Ari. Did you know, brother?"

There was moment of silence. Aria felt like slapping her forehead at his obvious lack of reaction.

"Uh yeah, I knew," he finally replied, taking a sip of water to conceal his uneasiness.

Winry frowned. Aria could practically see the gears in her brain reeling as she tried to read into her and Edward.

"Why did you break it off, if you don't mind me asking, dear."

Aria shrugged at the old woman. "I wasn't happy."

There was another moment of silence. Alphonse cleared his throat and immediately switched the conversation into something much more pleasing - his nearly finished clinic. It was a relief when the tense atmosphere finally cleared.

The rest of the evening went by in a blink of an eye and Aria found herself enjoying their company a lot. Pinako had decided to gift them with stories of their youth, reminiscing old times when she took care of the four little kids. She complained about all the trickeries Edward and Winry would pull on her and joked about how much time Alphonse had spent teaching Aria how to fight so other boys wouldn't pick on her anymore. Aria laughed at that; Alphonse was always looking after her like a knight in shining armor.

Afterwards, Winry pulled out a board game. It was a really old game, she remembered playing with it when they were younger. They had to throw the dice and move the pieces across the board, drawing cards with different tasks in each house they ended up on. Edward was the worst loser ever - he always had been. He kept trying to cheat and then he would throw a fit whenever any of the others went ahead of his piece. Aria hadn't laughed so much in a long time. She had forgotten how perfectly at ease she felt in there, with her two childhood best friends.

It was late and she was starting to get sleepy. Pinako had gone to bed a while ago and Alphonse was already passed out on the couch, meaning she was only left with Edward and Winry. They were all sitting on the floor. She was watching them talk to each other about Rush Valley and about his automail leg's repairs, noticing how Winry was subtly leaning towards him with one hand on his knee, her cheeks slightly flushed.

Aria had decided before that she wasn't going to spend any more time pining over Edward but she could feel the little sprout of jealousy budding inside of her. Why wasn't he pushing her away? Did he have to be that close to her?

When he realized she was annoyed, he locked eyes with her and she could've sworn there was the hint of a smirk on the corner of his lips. He leaned a bit closer to Winry while still pinning her under his golden gaze. She could feel her blood boiling and it showed in her eyes; it had to because Edward seemed to be having a great time watching her reactions.

She was about to get up and leave when the phone rang. Winry hurried to answer, not wanting to wake up the younger Elric.

"It's for you, Aria."

"For me?" Aria was confused but she took the phone from her, bringing it to her ear. "Hello?"

«"Ari, I'm sorry but you have to get back right now!

"Wait, calm down, Kara, what's wrong?" She felt a wave of worry. Kara wasn't one to panic easily.

«"It's your brother, he's in jail!"

"What?!"

Her brother had been in jail for two days now. Of course, Aria had gone to see him and she had the money to bail him out but she figured he needed a little time to consider what he had done.

She tapped her foot against the floor of the police station impatiently as she waited for the military policemen to bring her brother out. She glanced at the three man with her wondering how exactly had she gotten herself in this situation. At first only Alphonse wanted to come with her. Then after hearing about it, Edward had promptly offered to come as well, and to top it all they arrived at the station and she found Joseph waiting for her.

The waiting room was so tense she could've cut the tension with a knife.

Alphonse was sitting quietly next to her, he was fidgeting awkwardly with his hands and Aria looked at him with compassion. He was the only on behaving like an adult man. Edward and Joseph were having the most childish staring contest she'd ever seen. They were both standing up with their arms crossed, glaring daggers at each other. Everyone in the police station was watching them very closely. Aria rolled her eyes for the fifth time since they got there.

The sound of heavy footsteps echoed through the room. Aria bolted out of the chair as her brother trailed behind the officer escorting him.

"Here you have him. This time I'm letting him go with a warning but one more offense and I'm throwing him into juvie, Ariana."

"Thank you, Tom." She scowled at her little brother dragging him out into the street. Then she slapped him hard on his arm. "Have you completely lost your mind, Markus? Stealing a car and breaking into private property? What were you thinking?"

"Sod off, Aria, I'm hungry, I'm dirty, I'm cold and all I wanna do is fall on my bed," he snarled.

"Oh really, you are? And whose fault is that? I didn't let you stay with me after dad moved to the East City with the twins just so you could skip school and go around stealing things with gangs! I'm responsible for you, I won't allow you to throw away your future like this!"

Markus growled, towering over short figure. "Why not? You threw away yours!" Her face was drained of all color. "You were supposed to become this really big shot in the parliament and change the world. You were going to marry that stupid nerd and become really rich and we could all have a better life! And you fucking threw all that away! Dad lost his shop and was forced to move in with Corbin and his wife, Gavin has been struggling with two jobs for these past five years because Lin-Chan is pregnant for the fourth time and you!, you open a fucking stupid bookstore that makes barely enough money for you to keep your apartment!"

Aria was speechless. She didn't know how to react. She had absolutely no idea her brother had been holding all that in.

Edward dropped a firm hand on Markus shoulder. "You're not being fair to your sister, Mark," he stated evenly.

He shrugged it off. "Neither were you so stop acting all mighty, dog of the military," she spat drily.

"Don't call him that, Markus!"

"After what he did to you you're still going to defend him? Fucking hell, Ari, you really are stupid!"

Edward's hands balled into fists. Fearing the worst, Aria stepped into the middle of them, her back brushing against Edward's chest.

"Don't speak of what you don't fully understand, Markus," she threatened. Her voice had gone cold as ice, piercing the men around her.

"I understand that you were in shambles when he left twelve years ago. They both left you here!"

"We didn't have any other choice, Mark," Alphonse grumbled, his throat closing just by thinking about the day they had left Aria on that train station alone and crying.

Markus snorted humorlessly. "I wish I didn't have any other choice but to leave, then I would make sure I would never come back. That's what you should've done, Elric, you should've stayed away."

Aria called after him as he stormed off but he never turned back. She dropped her head into her hands feeling drained of all energy. She just hoped he'd go back to her place and not to any of the other thugs he hung around of.

She felt Alphonse envelop her in his arms, she gladly buried her face in his chest, the material of his dark green overcoat rough against her cheeks. He hugged her firmly, brushing her hair, trying to sooth her. She held on to his lapels, needing to be closer to his comforting warmth.

Beside them, Joseph exhaled deeply. "Markus is a real piece of work, Aria, maybe you should consider shipping him off to the East City and let your father handle it," he offered as an attempt to help.

"I'm not sending him away that would only mean I don't care," Aria replied harshly.

"It was just a thought... how about the military academy where I teach martial arts on the weekends?"

"I guess but I don't know if he would be very receptive of the idea."

There was moment of silence.

"You're the adult, he's underage. He doesn't get to make the decisions, you do," Edward said. "He doesn't know what's right or wrong."

"Well he was at least right about you, Elric - you shouldn't have come back," Joseph hissed. "She doesn't need you here."

Edward sniggered. "Oh and she needs you instead, is that it pretty boy?"

"I'm certainly better for her than you that's for sure, mutt."

"That's not up to you to decide, boy."

"Guys that's not helping Aria..."

"Shut up, Al!"

"I'm serious, brother, she's already leaving!"

The three of them turned to watch her walk away from them, grumbling to herself about 'stupid testosterone levels' and 'ridiculous macho nonsense'.

Hope you guys are liking it so far!

Love, Moon Princess.