I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist.

Edward (Eddy) and Al are the children of Winry and Edward. Elizabeth and Hope are Lorna (OC) and Alphonse's girls. (From 'Her Knight In Shining Armor')

Pool

Edward Jr. and his twin brother Al were sitting in their Aunt Lorna and Uncle Alphonse's backyard. With them sat their cousins Elizabeth, who was a few years older, and Hope, who was their same age. The four children were looking out at the hot day. It seemed like there was nothing to do.

"I want to go swimming." Eddy moaned, dropping back to lie against the ground. "We need a pool!"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes at him. "Well we don't have one. So you shouldn't have said anything." The other two children grunted in agreement. It was hot and the thought of not having a pool only seemed to make the day hotter.

"Why can't you guys use alchemy?" Hope questioned, sitting cross-legged on the grass. "You know, to make a pool."

Al looked at his cousin. She wasn't as dumb as he had supposed. "But what can we make it out of? We don't have anything to transmute it from." The kids moaned again.

Then, getting one of the ideas his father before him would have come up with, Eddy announced, "We'll dig a hole! Then we can fill it up with water. That would work, wouldn't it?"

Elizabeth frowned; she knew if they were going to do any hard work, the twins would want her to do most of it. They always said she was the grown up one. "Only if you two help this time. When we played water balloons Hope and I had to clean up the mess by ourselves."

The boys nodded in agreement, before Hope realized something. "But where can we dig it? Mommy'll get mad if we mess up the yard. Then we'll have to listen to Daddy and Uncle Ed talk to us forever!" She hated getting lectured, it was far worse than simply getting a spanking. A scolding seemed to last for hours in the child's mind. Though in reality it only took a few minutes to get the point across.

"What about the garden?" Al pointed to the freshly plowed dirt. "Aunty Lorna hasn't planted anything yet." He glanced at his twin who had been thinking the same thing.

With that they began to dig. Elizabeth used the regular shovel, because she was the only one big enough to, while Eddy had found the small spading shovel. Hope and Al had to settle for using large spoons and their hands. After much work there was a deep hole in the garden. Well, deep that is for the four children who had spent so much time on it.

"Get the water hose!" Eddy ordered Hope, who glared at him but did it anyway. She was simply too hot to fight with her cousin. "Now, turn it on!" He yelled across the yard to where Al stood by the handle.

Slowly the water rose, filling the pit with muddy water. "Alright, turn it off!" Elizabeth yelled to the boy. He did so then ran to stand beside the other three children. "Well." She started, looking down at the pool they'd made. "Are we going to change into our swimsuits?"

Eddy's eyes grew wide. "NO! Then the grownups'll know what we did. Let's just play and then fill it back up. They won't know the difference."

So they decided that what their parents didn't know couldn't hurt them, meaning the kids. They got into their pool, which was very squishy. But the four children didn't seem to mind at all. They played in the cool water.

"Elizabeth! Hope! What do you think you two are doing?" Lorna had come out of the house to plant the seeds she's just bought. "And I see the twins are here too?" She placed her hands on her hips, looking down at the muddy brood.

"We're sorry Aunty Lorna." Al tried to sound the part, he was better at sounding remorseful than his brother. "We just wanted to go swimming, so we made a pool." He let his bottom lip quiver to add to the effect.

The mother cocked and eyebrow. "Oh you did?" She tried to suppress the smile, as the memory of having done the same thing came back to her. "Well, I guess I should punish you." She shook her head solemnly. "But I suppose I can understand. Just next time, ask first."

Hope was so glad that she wasn't in trouble that she leapt out of the water. "Thank you mommy, for not being mad!" She hugged her mother's legs tightly, making a mess of her skirt.

Lorna looked down at her child, placing a hand on the muddy head. She sighed to herself. 'And to think, some mothers have to pay for a mud bath.'