(A/N: Sorry for taking a week to update. I want to personally thank all of you following this story, whether if you've been with me since the first few chapters or up till don't know how much you guys mean to me. You are all sweethearts! Anyhow, the moment you all, I think, have been waiting for. That day has arrived. Enjoy!)
Leaves of reds, oranges, and browns flew all across Central, traveling in packs and landing gracefully on the concrete ground. Night was beginning to arrive a lot quicker and colder. But on this particular day, it seemed a lot warmer than other days and it almost had a feel of spring. Or at least, that was how Al felt the day was. He woke up, the sky bursting with light and it was only seven in the morning. As soon as he had woken up, he was smiling, most likely from a dream he had enjoyed. It wasn't a dream, but more of a memory of when he was younger and he had spent the whole day with Ed, Winry, Granny, and his beautiful mother on a hill. His mother had packed a picnic basket filled with delicious snacks and drinks. Winry had brought a blanket to set underneath the tree on the hill. Ed and Al had brought their Alchemy books and spent most of the day reading. But there was those few moments Al spent watching his small family enjoying themselves. And it was what he loved to do the most..
"Al! Wake up! I have to go see Mustang today, so I won't be here until later, okay? I think Winry is awake so you guys can have breakfast without me! Bye!" Ed shouted from outside Al's hotel room. Al wasn't able to respond back because he heard Ed run down the hallway.
He was about to sigh before he caught himself. Dummy, don't be depressed he thought to himself. But truthfully, he wanted to spend the day with Ed and Winry over at the Hughes' house. When Ed had returned from their house yesterday, he was a bit sad but he seemed relieved? Or maybe it was happiness. Either way, Al also had a bit of guilt. But the only reason he didn't have as much as Ed is because Ed chose to carry it all the time and carry it by himself. Going to see the Hughes might also relieve the guilt that pained Al.
Fighting his laziness, he got up and put on a clean pair of pants and a thin black hoodie over his white tank top. He combed his hair back using his fingers. Finally, he made his way out the room to Winry's room. He knocked on Winry's door where he heard a clamoring of sounds.
"C-coming! Hang on!" Winry yelled. She was clearly trying to hide something without AL noticing but she was doing a terrible job at it. Al chuckled and waited patiently outside. Winry swung the door open, breathing heavily.
"S-sorry! I was, um, changing. Anyways, breakfast?" she asked. He looked inside her room to see her bed filled with her automail tools she brought (she told them that even though she was going to be away from home, that didn't mean that work had stop), clothes lying all over the floor, and something blue lying on the chair. She quickly closed the door, avoiding AL's eyes.
"Let's go." she said, walking down the hallway. Al looked back at the Winry's door, wondering what it is he saw. He decided to forget about it, since it wasn't any of his business anyway. Al felt his mood get just a little bit gloomier. Maybe it's a joke and they'll eventually remember he thought.
LINE BREAK YO
Al decided he was going to enjoy the Central air and told Winry he would most likely be back when Ed was returning. Winry sent him on his way and AL began his small little journey throughout the city. When he walked out of the hotel, he noticed the few military soldiers walking around as well. They didn't seem like they were on duty but they were protecting something. He could see that. Only few of them he recognized from the battle of the Promised Day. He greeted them and traded a few words with them. They all had something to say about him looking a lot better and stronger. One of them pointed out that he even had some muscles peeking through his jacket. Al had only laughed at this and just said that it must have been the hoodie. Seeing these soldiers made his day a bit better but he still was depressed at the fact that-
"Which hotel? What do you mean, I'm going the wrong way? I am not!" Al turned around to see a short black haired girl talking to someone in her hands. No, it's not her, is it? he thought.
"Mei?" he said to the girl. She stiffened and didn't even look at him. Instead, she took off, running down the streets. Without thinking twice, Al took off after her. He found that he was quickly running out of breath. Well, duh. I'm not made of armor anymore. And proud of that too.
"Wait, Mei! Is that really you?! Stop, please!" he yelled. But the girl didn't stop at all. He finally stopped to catch his breath and because of that, he lost her. It was definitely Mei. Her hair was in the same two braids but instead of wearing her pink jacket, it was a blue one. And she was most likely talking to her little panda, Xiao-Mei. It was the only possible explanation. Ah, the things I've seen and it's not even lunch time he thought happily. Even if he had imagined it, it made his mood even better. But he didn't want it to be something he had formed from his imagination. He wanted it to be real. Sighing, he made his way back to the hotel, giving up on the day.
"Alphonse Elric! What a pleasant surprise! Taking a walk on this beautiful day?" Major Armstrong asked. Startled, Al looked over to see Major Armstrong standing beside him carrying a box. Al nodded at the Major and kept walking.
"Why, Alphonse, you don't look so happy. Is there something I can help you with?" he asked. Al shook his head and kept walking. He didn't like being this way and he knew he should stop but, what does everyone expect? After all it was-
"Would you like me to walk you back to your hotel? Or at least accompany you?" Major Armstrong tried again. Giving up, he gave the major a half smile.
"Sure, Major. I wouldn't mind your company." he replied.
"Where is your brother, Alphonse? I thought you would be spending the day with Winry and Edward. But instead, I found you out here." the major asked. Al didn't want to burden the major with his gloomy mood so he shook his head.
"Nothing's wrong. I just thought I'd take a walk to see some old faces and you know, remember some memories. I guess nostalgia took over me." he said. Major Armstrong nodded but he didn't look convinced at all.
"Don't worry, Alphonse. I'm sure your day will get better and by night, it will be spectacular." The major said, winking. Al was confused and before he could ask what he meant by that, Lt. Ross appeared.
"Major Armstrong, sir! General Mustang needs to see you." she said. When she looked at Al, her face lit up.
"Al! Was Major Armstrong telling you about the plans later on? It must be pretty exciting to hear your brother did so much for you." she said happily. Major Armstrong's palm connected to his forehead. Lt. Ross' eyes widened and she covered her mouth with both hands.
"W-wait. What do you mean?" Al asked.
"Uhh, nothing! We should be going right, Lt. Ross?" Major Armstrong asked the Lieutenant. But before she had anytime to answer, he took off and she followed right beside him. Al's heart began to swell a little bit with hope. He continued his way back to the hotel with a little skip in his step.
LINE BREAK NUMERO DOS YO
Al walked up the steps of the hotel to find Winry.
"Waiting for someone, Winry?" he teased. Winry blushed a little.
"Actually, I'm waiting for Ed. He called and said he was going to be here earlier than he thought so I'm waiting for him. But he's taking a while." she said, her cheeks still pink. He chuckled and was about to walk inside before she stopped him.
"Hey, Al. Want to go out to dinner?" she asked. He looked at her, wide eyed. Wait a minute, hang on.
"Just the two of us?" he asked, cautiously.
"Huh? Oh. No, no! Ed's coming too. I'll leave him a note at the place we'll be at." she said, encouragingly. He nodded, agreeing to their small dinner plans, and they both made their way back up to their rooms.
"But, Al. You have to dress nicely, okay? No hoodie's or ripped pants or anything like that." she said before heading to her room. Dress nicely? Don't I always?
Al walked inside his hotel room, taking off his hoodie and his shirt. When he found his suitcase, he went through his clothes and grabbed his white dress shirt and dress pants. He figured that Winry would take a while, so he decided to take a quick bath.
After filling the bathtub with hot water, he slowly lowered his body and was quickly used to the hot water. He gave a content sigh and waited a while before he began to scrub himself. Even after bathing so many times, it was still a fascinating feeling to have water all over him and the feel of soap on his fingers. Just taking a bath was an enjoyment. It reminded him that he was a human. These small things meant so much to him now. He realized he was in the bath a lot longer than he had meant to be in and he got out. The cold made him shiver, sending goosebumps all over his body. He dried off and changed into his clean and "nice" clothes.
"Al, I've been waiting for you for ten minutes already! Are you done?" Winry yelled from outside his room. He ran up to the door and opened it for Winry. She was wearing a light blue dress that hugged her curves and had a sweetheart neckline. The strap on her dress were glittering with silver sparkles. When she walked into the room, Al noticed her exposed leg because of the slit that ran from her mid-thigh to below. All of her hair was tied in a ponytail (except for her bangs) and small strands were beginning to fall out.
"Wow, Winry. You look beautiful." he said. Winry smiled and looked down at her attire.
"Thanks, Al. You look handsome as well. So, shall we get going?" she asked. He nodded and they walked out of the hotel. Al couldn't help but notice the handful of men who were stealing glances towards Winry's way. Brother is not going to like this.
A car was already waiting for them out front and Al raised an eyebrow.
"This must be some real special place if we're going to be driven there." he said. She giggled and sighed.
"It's a special place alright. But it's mostly for the special occasion." she said. He smiled bashfully.
"So, you guys did remember?" he said. She tilted her head.
"Remember what?" she asked. His smile faltered. He shook his head, regretting he ever said anything.
"Never mind." he said quietly. They got in the car, watching the sun slowly fall beneath the hills behind Central. The car drove through the streets Al was walking in earlier through the day.
"Hey, Al? We're here." Winry said quietly. He looked out the window to see a bar lit up with so many lights and there were tons of people inside. He got out and helped Winry also out of the car. She thanked him and they both walked to the bar. But Al didn't want to go in anymore. He didn't want to be let down. He really just wanted to go back to the hotel and get the day over with. Winry pulled Al along and she was smiling brightly. He opened the door for her and-
"SURPRISE!" Everyone inside the bar yelled. Winry laughed at Al's stunned face. Ed walked out of the crowd, wearing the same outfit that that Al had on except his dress shirt was black.
"Happy birthday, Al!" he said, giving his brother a hug. Al, still too stunned to even think of hugging him back, looked at all the familiar faces in the bar. Major Armstrong, Lt. Ross, Sergeant Brosh, Mrs. Hughes, Elicia, Lt. Hawkeye, even General Mustang was there. So many people were here, all just for him. Ed let go of him but the smile he had on didn't leave his face.
"Brother," Al said slowly. "You did all this, for me?" Ed smacked his back and grinned proudly.
"Yup! I had to make this birthday pretty damn awesome, didn't I? I mean, it'll be your first birthday after getting your body back. We have to make sure you won't ever forget this night." he said. Al finally broke into a huge smile. He couldn't stop. The amount of happiness he was feeling at that moment was practically unexplainable.
"Oh, Alphonse!" a voice cried out. Mei cut her way through the crowd and jumped onto Al. He noticed that she had gotten a little bit taller.
"Mei! So it was you that I saw earlier!" Al said happily, embracing her in a hug.
"I'm sorry! I promised Ed I couldn't talk to you until we all got together for your birthday! But I'm so happy to see you again!" she said, hugging him. Al glared at Ed but Ed just smiled at him. Suddenly, it dawned on Al that Ed still hadn't noticed Winry. Al motioned his eyes towards Winry and Ed shook his head in confusion. When Al did it again, Ed looked over at Winry and his eyes widened.
"Hey, Alphonse. I think you might want to join us while we leave your brother gawking at Winry." Mustang said. Al laughed and set Mei down, but not letting her hand go. He walked over to the crowd of people who came to celebrate his birthday. Throughout the night, Al found his gloomy mood slowly disappearing. Stories were traded all through the bar. Laughter kept everyone up and no one wanted to leave yet. Music echoed though the bar and a few people were brave enough to share a dance with each other. Ed walked over to Al at one point of the night when he was in the corner of the bar, looking at the cheerful festive. He was holding two glasses of champagne.
"Hey, Al. What are you doing here all alone? Aren't you supposed to be enjoying your night?" Ed asked. He set one of the glasses next to Al. Al looked at it in suspicion. Ed placed his glass close to him but he didn't take drink it. Al decided to wait to drink his until Ed took a sip of his.
"I am enjoying myself, Brother. I was just...taking it all in." he said. Ed nodded and looked at the crowd as well. Actually, he was looking at a specific person in the crowd. Al followed his eyes and he smirked when he found himself looking at Winry.
"You sure looked surprised when you saw Winry." Al said. Ed nodded and looked back at Al. He grabbed his glass of champagne and motioned Al to grab his.
"It's my first time trying it, okay? And I figured now would be a good time than ever to try it with you. Consider it a special birthday present. Just don't tell Granny or she'll kill me." Ed said. Al smiled and nodded. He took a small sip. The drink tingled in his mouth and small bubbles tickled his tongue. He swallowed it and it gave a pleasurable aftertaste. He looked at Ed who was smacking his lips.
"It's not bad. I like it." Ed said afterwards. Al nodded in agreement. He looked behind Ed to see WInry looking at Ed's back. She looked away and went back to talking with Lt. Hawkeye.
"Hey brother? Why don't you ask Winry for a dance?" Al suggested. Ed began to choke on his champagne that he had decided to take another sip of. When he finally was able to breath again, he stole a glance toward Winry.
"Mmmm….Ugh, fine! I'll do it." he decided. He stood up and clumsily made his way to Winry. Al saw Ed fidgeting as he asked Winry to dance. Her face became pink but she nodded, smiling. Together, they walked to the open space and awkwardly began to slow dance. Al chuckled to himself. Maybe he didn't have the family he was originally born into but over the years, he was able to become a part of a new one. And that was all he ever really wanted. It was the best gift anyone could ever give to him.
"Happy Birthday, to my little brother we all love, Alphonse!" Ed yelled, holding another glass of champagne and raising it to Alphonse. Everyone turned to Al and yelled.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AL!"
(A/N: SO! How was that? Yes, I made the very important day Al's birthday. But if you think that was a bad idea or you were expecting something action-y or huge, then you truly don't realize how important Al is. And how much love and happiness he deserves. I think everyone does love and happiness but I wanted to dedicate a chapter about him. Honestly, I don't know when his birthday is and i'm not going to check. If any of you know, I wouldn't mind being informed. Anyhow, I really hoped you guys liked it. Reviews?)