More chapters! And it is looooong! W00T! Enjoy.

I don't own FMA…..and I can't get what I really wanted for Christmas at radio shack…

Chapter Two

Ice-the Devil's Christmas Present

(you know it's true)

Clank! Crash! Trash cans white with frost toppled and rolled as a skinny figure stumbled down the cramped alley.

"Oooh," Envy moaned, tripping sideways over his own feet, and falling heavily against the cold concrete wall. He felt as though he had just been run through a meat grinder, with unusually permanent effects on him. Being chewed on by Gluttony couldn't be half as bad as being chewed out by Dante.

Envy rested his face on the frozen wall, and contemplated his situation. He had been kicked out of Dante's mansion (with an escort of laughter from greed, and orders not to get into any more fights, or he could expect to be skinned alive. Which would hurt quite a lot coming from Dante.) So he had nowhere to go, nothing to do, except avoid people. If he met someone in his current mood he might very well get into something along the lines of a fight……. it would be sooo easy.

Envy sighed, and slid down the wall to sit in the thin layer of snow that had managed to drift into the alleyway. He couldn't feel the cold, but he shivered all the same, Dante's threats running fearful circles in his mind, and very much disturbing the peace (vandalizing, burning things, ect.) Like messed up teenagers. He didn't know where he could go to avoid things that would get him in more trouble.

"What should I do then?" Envy asked the alley wall. Get a job somewhere? No….it would be too much contact with obnoxious, noisy people. He could hole up somewhere in the city. Heck, he could even stay in this alley, pretending to be a homeless bum. But no, he should probably get out of Central and go somewhere new…. it would take a long time too get far enough away, even with his ability to slip around as somebody else, but Dante wouldn't want him back until the end of the winter. He had time to get out of Central. It would probably be the best course of action, but it would also take some planning, which Envy really wasn't up for at the moment. He felt like a wounded, cornered animal; desperate, and just as ferocious. Envy pulled his thoughts into some kind of order (the cops sent Dante's threats to juvie.) He would use his wits and 'be himself'. And if that failed, he would just be somebody else. It was time to take a vacation!

i'macollegestudentandi'mokayistudyallnightandisleepallday(duringclass)

Edward leaned against the couch, listlessly fiddling with his bangs. He could hear Al in the kitchen as he bumbled around, trying to whip up some cookies from stale flour, and tea sweetener packets. This was not a satisfying (Christmas, Hanukkah, Atheism day…) holiday.

The sad truth was, that Edward hated the holidays not because of disturbing relatives, or having to stomach something awful made by your great aunt, like most people. Instead, they reminded him of what he lacked. A home to call his own, parents, time to play and not worry about his brother and his job…….heck, he might even like the great aunt, but only if she came with the rest of the package deal. The worries that he carried were heavy, too heavy to allow him the time to put them down, because he was afraid that if he ever let them drop he would never be able to lift them back up again. He was afraid that his brother would forever be incased in cold metal, that by being a state alchemist he was endangering his friends, that someday he might end up taking a life……that he would have to face his mother…..and his father. Afraid that, for all his mistakes, he was condemned to hell. And afraid of the fact that he frequently agreed with the sentiments of all the people that wanted to kill him.

Rubbing his face into the couch, Edward sighed, inhaling deeply. He immediately regretted it. They were badly in need of a new couch.

Edward knew that Alphonse could tell what he felt, or at least some of it. And Al was extremely worried. This was their first holiday away from Resembool, and he was already making it horrible for Alphonse!

And the worse Al felt, the more Ed blamed himself, and the more he worried. It was a nice slippery guilt trap.

"This stinks! I need to go somewhere that doesn't remind me of every. Single. Mistake!" Central was very much not where he needed to be-it brought thousands of memories along with its cold concrete and dark alleys. Resembool was no better for Ed, and this fact made him even more guilty; Resembool, or rather Winry, and granny made Al feel better. He felt that he was once again stealing Al's happiness. The young alchemist sat up and squirmed over, trying to find a part of the sofa that didn't smell like a wet dog. And almost fell off!

Edward swore, loudly.

Alphonse poked his head out of the kitchen, accompanied by a bowl of almost-cookie-dough.

"Brother, what's wrong?"

"I almost fell off of the couch! Aww, the hell! And now my neck hurts! Is this piece of junk starting to shrink as well as smell bad?!"

Al giggled tensely, not sure what kind of mood his brother was in.

"Brother, could it be that you ...grew?"

"What?!" Edward sat up sharply, and immediately fell all the way off the couch, with a loud thump. Some one in the apartment below theirs yelled at them to 'KEEP IT DOWN!!'

"Absolutely not!" Ed screamed back; "I've finally begun to go UP!"

Alphonse giggled, Edward glared, and the room momentarily collapsed back into a comfortable, and cheerful atmosphere, previously lost to the tenseness of depression.

"But, seriously," Edward complained, "my neck hurts real frinkin' bad!"

"I wouldn't blame the couch, brother. You were somewhat enthusiastic at the mall today." The wince was clearly detectable in Alphonse's voice.

Edwards eyebrows snapped down into an angry line, clouding his face.

"Hey, that worm called me short! He got just what he deserved……"

"Yes, well, I really don't think you should have gotten that donut stand involved….now we'll have to pay the damages instead of buying a new couch." Al turned his head ruefully toward the lumpy, unappetizing piece of furniture.

Ed grimaced, and rubbed his hand through his hair, wishing that he could keep a hold on his temper. Or grow. A lot.

Alphonse headed back to the kitchen to continue making his witch brew, while Ed grabbed a book from the squat wooden bookshelf in the corner. He could feel the tension that had been released by their laughter regaining its choke hold. The lapse in the heavy mood was over, and focusing on his book was going to be hard.

i'macollegestudentandi'mokayistudyallnightandisleepallday (duringclass)

The tall man standing in the speedy flow of the train station crowd seemed rather lonely, but if you were to look at his face you would see nothing but businesslike impatience. It was simply something in his stance that caught your eye, something in the way that he was standing perfectly strait, not in the least slouched, and yet too strait. The man did not even look around when someone bumped into him. He seemed to be too emotionless, too uncaring, for anyone.

The kind passer by might glance at him and see all this, and hope that wherever he was bound there would be someone waiting with open arms. And yet, an observant, but not huge hearted person might see him and hope that nobody got in his way, for their own good.

The train stopped with a demanding screech on the tracks. Coats swished, bags were lifted off of the ground, and the teeming life of the train station slowly poured into the waiting cars. Black shoes, shiny with fresh polish slid across the cement, and climbed the metal gridding of the stairs. A long coat billowed, and the last evening train to Coldmouth crossing set off, carrying a cargo of ill fortune.

i'macollegestudentandi'mokayistudyallnightandisleepallday (duringclass)

A Different train station……

"Really? Is that so?" A middle aged woman in a long skirt, and a fox fur coat leaned into the telephone booth with a vengeance. "No, no, no, I'll be there. Yes, thanks…no, that's not true! You'll have the car waiting? Okay, okay, good." Click!

Envy stepped out of the phone booth with the almost-contented air of some one who had just completed a rather annoying task; everything was working for him. Soon he would be out of Central for the winter.

Now, just where to head, that was the problem. Envy wanted somewhere that he could enjoy. He had been around often enough lately, and he did not consider a vacation with people who were all on the lookout for a shady, shape-changing character any kind of vacation at all.

His first thought had gone out to a possible small town up north. It was true, he would not be well known, and it might be relaxing, but then it hit him, as he was standing at the station, waiting for somebody-else's-chauffer to come and pick him up. The perfect place; Coldmouth Seaport! The island trading port was quite well known for harboring many a shady figure (Envy grimaced. He preferred to think of himself as aristocratic, and mysterious, as opposed to a tree-ish freak) He could pass perfectly among its crowds of seamen, dark-skinned southerners, and all other kinds of in-between gathered at the port for some cheap fun. It would be impossibly easy cover, tropical, and probably quite comfortable.

Envy bit his lip, and pulled out his watch with an unladylike snort, sending clouds of frosty breath twirling. He wanted on the next train, and fast. With a quick glance at the scheduled departures on the board, Envy scrabbled down the dirty station stairs, and headed to the back exit for train workers. No time to book. With a small flash, and splutter, the short usher in tight blue uniform stepped out onto the train tracks, leaving an expensive, and very confused somebody-else's-chauffer hanging.

i'macollegestudentandi'mokayistudyallnightandisleepallday (duringclass)

"Aww, man," Edward moaned, "it's still snowing." Alphonse peeked around Ed and watched the torrent of white flakes dancing merrily down. "Ice," Edward grumbled, "more bruises for me. Yippee." No matter how skilled the young alchemist was in fighting, he came off as ungainly as a drunken sailor when walking on ice. And when he finished 'walking' he looked about as bruised as the same sailor who had gotten into a bar fight with a walrus.

Alphonse worriedly stared out at the black ice on the road (that he could hardly see for all the snow that was pouring down.)

"Um, I could carry you, brother."

"Hell No!"

"Well, I could-"

"You will not! Do you have any idea how embarrassing that would be? Walking into central headquarters being carried by my little brother? That colonel would laugh in my face about it for the rest of my LIFE!" And Edward went into a bad imitation of Roy's voice. "Ho, ho, I see you didn't need a lift today, Fullmetal. Did you finally grow some legs? I really can't tell the difference, but if you have legs and are this short now, think about how small you had to be to start with! Are you sure that you aren't tempting fate, growing like that? Why, I can almost see you when I lean over my desk-"

"All right, brother, I get it." Alphonse turned from the door, hurrying to get his book. The morning was going to be long, and he wanted something to read while Edward and the colonel busied themselves insulting each other. Edward was due to report at central headquarters that day, and the ice's arrival didn't help his mood in the least.

When Alphonse stomped dejectedly back into the front room, Edward was feverishly throwing everything out of the front closet that they kept their-or, rather Ed's-shoes.

"Hey, Al, do we have any of those climbing boots? You know, the ones with the spikes on the bottom?" Alphonse sighed.

God, this is hopeless!

So, do you like? Please tell me! Reviews….a hazy mirage in an endless desert. It is very sad. I am getting sunburned for reviews. Oh well, you know what I want. I'm a very lazy person, so it would be great if I got reviews. It would really speed me up. My plot is developing! YAY! We are going somewhere Caribbean and hot! Yes! It just snowed, and I am too damn cold to write about that anymore. I guess my imaginationlikes to work very apart from reality. But it is probably healthy not to want to stab yourself so that you can write perfectly how it feels.disecting worms in school is fun, especially when there are plenty of Squeamish Ones in your class, and you can shove the worms' guts in their faces! Yeah! But it is possible that I enjoyed cutting it up too much….maybe I AM somewhat sadistic. Oh well, I'll live. Especially if I don't stab myself to find out how it feels. So I'm healthy in some ways, and sick in others, like being an anime freak.

Signing off.

Much lurv,

AllE K.