(A/N: Yo! Chibi-Sen1124, here! I have updated for you because I gained about five followers after I last updated so I need to repay you guys. I reach thirty and each and everyone of you mean a lot. Even if you just began to follow this story or you've been following since the first chapters, you are all so awesome. I hope you guys have realized that it is winter in the story. It helps understanding what's going on. I didn't revise this so, I'm sorry for my spelling errors.
xMelodyx, Thank you for taking the time to read my whole story in one sitting. I hope all goes well for your story!
BluezebraAFHS, I'm glad I met your expectations! I was so worried! Phew. I'm happy my story put a smile on your face. It gives me so much happiness hearing that. I'm even more glad my story put you in a better mood!
As always, to all my followers, you are sweethearts! Enjoy!)
The first thing that Al noticed when he woke up is that he had no recollection of the events that took place the night before. The second thing he noticed was how cold it was in his room. He felt goosebumps spread all throughout his body and his body slightly shook. The window to his room was closed and he had three blankets over his body. But even that wasn't enough to stop the cold from seeping from underneath.
Or maybe it was the fact that he was sleeping on the floor instead of his bed. Al sat up slowly, his back stiff from sleeping on the hard surface. He stretched and a yawn crossed his face. He looked down at his legs to see Nikko snuggled on top of his legs. He smiled and rubbed the cats head. Nikko purred from underneath Al's touch.
Al could feel his memories of last night resurfacing. After Winry's and Ed's smart choice of throwing bubbles in the kitchen, Granny made all three of them clean the kitchen. It took them almost the entire night thanks to Ed's bickering and Winry's inability to help clean. They kept arguing and in the end, only Al was the one who actually cleaned up. He was so tired afterwards, he was surprised he had any energy to reach his room. And that's when he remembers falling to the ground in exhaustion and grabbing his blankets from the bed before he totally blacked out.
Sighing, he moved Nikko to his bed and placed the blankets back on the bed as well. Another yawned appeared on his face. He rubbed his eyes and made his way to the kitchen.
Until he found Ed and Winry snuggled together on the couch. He could feel his mischievous grin forming on his face. He snickered and carefully crept closer to them. Winry slept on top of Ed's arm using it as a pillow. Her face leaned close to Ed's chest and Ed had his arm draped over her waist. Al didn't want to disturb them.
"MORNING!" Al bellowed. Well, almost. Winry yelped and sat straight up. Ed's eyes popped open and the first thing he did was push Winry off the couch.
"OWW!" Winry said. Al stifled his laugh and placed his hand over his mouth.
"How'd you two sleep?" Al said, wiggling his eyebrows at them. Winry and Ed frowned at Al but they didn't meet each others eyes.
"Just fine. How'd you sleep?" Winry said through gritted teeth. Ed helped Winry up and they sat on the couch, looking up at Al.
"Perfect. Only, I didn't reach my bed at all last night because some people knew didn't even bother to help me clean their mess." Al said to them.
"Alright, alright. Let's just take a breather. It's not even noon yet and already we're starting this. How about we start with breakfast and then we can continue this later?" Ed said, stretching his arms. Winry and Al rolled their eyes and made their way to the kitchen. Upon passing the window, Al noticed that it was white outside. Why is it white outside? Wait. Freezing cold temperatures? Winter? And it's white outside? That can only mean…
Al ran to the front door and swung the door wide open. He was met with a blast of cold air and a white blanket of snow.
"It's...it's...snowing!" Al yelled with excitement. His bare feet took him across the front porch. He plopped down face first into the snow.
"It's cold!" he yelled, standing up quickly. He ran back inside the house, snow falling down the front of his long sleeved shirt. Winry and Ed hurried to the doorway where their eyes were met with snow.
"It's snowing?" Winry asked. Ed shook his head.
"As you can see, dear Winry, it is not snowing for there is not a trace of snow falling. BUT it was snowing most likely earlier this morning." he said, sarcasm practically seeping with each word. Winry rolled her eyes at him.
"Oh, shut up." she walked back inside. Al shook off the snow on his shirt and met Winry's eyes. She knew what those eyes were saying.
"After breakfast." Al sighed and dragged his feet into the kitchen. Ed closed the door and met up with Al and Winry in the kitchen.
"So, what's for breakfast?" he asked. Al sighed louder this time. Ed looked at his younger brother. He had a cowlick in the back of his head, most likely from sleeping on the floor.
"You okay, Al?" he asked. Winry shook her head slightly at Ed. Sh, don't ask!
"I wanted to go outside and you know, play in the snow." Al said, ending his sentence with another louder and longer sigh.
"You will. But we gotta eat first." Ed told his little brother.
"Go ahead, Alphonse. But first you have to change into something warmer." Granny said as she walked into the kitchen. Winry looked like she was going to object but Granny shook her head at her. Al smiled brightly and ran into his room to change.
"Granny, I don't want to be mean, but don't you think we should make him eat first?" Winry asked.
"We'll make breakfast while he plays outside." she answered. Winry still looked confused.
"Granny, you make it seem like he has never played with snow before. Besides, I remember it snowing at Fort Briggs and he was there with me." Ed interjected.
"You both are really against him playing the snow, aren't you?" Granny said.
"I changed!" Al said, coming out in a jacket, thick pants, mittens, a scarf, and a woolen hat for good measure.
"Take Den with you, Al. She hasn't used the restroom yet." Al nodded and called for Den. She trotted happily toward him and together, they ran outside. All three of them could hear Al whooping and hollering in the white blanket of snow.
"Anyways, I understand why you both feel this way. I imagine that you both are excited to see snow but you aren't the same level as Al, are you?" Granny asked. Winry and Ed shook their head. Granny took her pipe out of her apron pocket and lit it. She inhaled and blew the smoke out of her mouth.
"Let me ask you something, Ed. I've heard your tale at Fort Briggs. If I recall correctly, not once did I hear you do something fun there. It was all serious business. Not only that, Al wasn't in his original body." Ed stared at Granny, unsure of what to say.
"My point is, although Al was there mentally, his body was not. He can finally feel snow after so many years. I think we can spoil him in the richness of the human body, hmm?" Granny winked at them and made her way to grab eggs to start breakfast. Ed and Winry shared a look.
"You know, we both had to grow up quickly." Ed said quietly to Winry. Winry studied his face, trying to see where this would end up.
"We never had time for fun. But now, after everything, I forget that I'm still not an adult yet. I feel like I have to act like an adult and because of that, I place that mindset on Al too. But Al," Ed stopped to look outside the window where Al lay in the snow.
"he's still a kid." Ed looked back at Winry, his eyes softening.
"It's a good thing Granny's here. Otherwise, I'm sure I never would have thought about going outside." Ed's mouth broke into a huge grin. He raced into his room, leaving Winry there. She sighed, but she did so whilst smiling. She understood exactly how Ed felt. Independance. Since they were little, all three of them had gotten something that most teenagers don't fully understand until they're practically adults and on their own. But Granny was trying to tell them that it's okay to be spoiled. They still had time before they were adults yet. Winry went to her grandmother about to ask her to let her go outside as well before her grandmother stopped her.
"Go ahead. I'm glad you stiff children loosened up. I'll take care of breakfast." Winry smiled and went into her room to change. Winry and Ed ran out of the house wearing their winter clothing. Their laughter ringed into the house. Granny chuckled. Her eyes wandered to the picture of her son and his wife sitting on the table.
"She's so much like the both of you." she said to the picture, still chuckling.
LINE BREAK YO
After a good hearty breakfast, the three of them ran back outside to play in the snow. Granny said she had to finish some automail that she had begun the night before. So she stayed inside. Den didn't seem to mind the snow and joined the golden trio outside. Nikko, well, he also enjoyed the snow by laying near the window and watching all of them outside.
"Well, we got the rest of the morning and the afternoon to play in the snow. What should we do first?" Al asked, his eyes glistening with excitement. Ed rubbed his chin, making it look like he was thinking. Winry on the other hand, had slowly gotten closer to Ed. When Ed finally noticed, Winry threw the snowball she had hidden behind her back at him. It landed square on his face. Ed's mouth hung open and Winry had to desperately grasp her sides to not laugh. She placed her hands over her mouth just in time before Al's snowball landed on her hands. She looked over at Al, who smirked.
"My brother has avenged me! Elric brothers, unite!" Ed ran over to his brother but was met with a snowball on his face...again.
"You...you have betrayed me." Ed said, wiping the snow off his face. Al just shrugged his shoulders.
"Every man for himself?" Al asked. Winry glared at him.
"Sorry. Every man or woman for himself or herself." Al said, correcting himself. They all stood quiet for a few moments before they all yelled out the same thing at the same time.
"SNOWBALL FIGHT!" They bent down to the ground to pick up a handful of snow. Ed and WInry threw there snowballs at Al and Al only had one, which meant he could only throw it to one person.
"Hey! No teaming up!" he yelled out. Ed cackled evilly.
"Two brother's in a battle against each other. One has an ally, the other doesn't. Who will win?" Ed said, pretending to be an announcer. Al kneeled down and drew a transmutation circle. He placed his hands over it and transmutated a snow cannon.
"Now, one has a weapon. Who will win?" Al said in the same voice that Ed used. Ed just laughed. He kept throwing the snowballs Winry was making.
"You know, helping would be good too." Winry huffed at him.
"No time, ally! We must win!" Ed yelled.
"Fire!" Al placed his hand over the cannon and a huge snowball fired out. It hit Ed and he was sent flying. He lay in the snow. He pretended he was wounded.
"A-avenge me." he croaked to Winry. Winry, however, raised her hands in surrender.
"You gave up already?!" Ed yelled, slamming his fist into the snow.
"Hey, he sent you flying. You really think I want to be thrown that far?" she said. Ed rolled his eyes. Al cheered.
"And so ends the battle of the brothers." Ed said in his announcer voice. Winry and Al laughed. Ed laughed as he got up. Or, at least tried to get up. When he tried to move his automail leg, it didn't even budge. He tried to wiggle the small metal toes, but even that didn't move.
"What the…" Ed pulled his leg toward him. He undid the laces to his boot and took it off. When he raise his leg with his hands, the leg came right off. Winry cried out.
"Ed! What the hell did you do to my automail?" Ed rolled his eyes.
'Of course the first thing you thought about was the automail." he whispered underneath his breath. Winry ran up to him and pulled the leg out of his hand.
"Ed...when's the last time you oiled your leg?" Ed looked away from Winry. Winry placed both of her hands over her head.
"Dammit, Ed! Why don't you ever think?" she yelled.
"It's not my fault! You're my automail girlfriend! Why didn't you remind me?" he yelled back.
"Well, I assumed you would have been doing that in the first place!" She countered back at him.
"I'm an idiot! Of course I wouldn't be doing that! I didn't remember doing that when I was away with Al. He was the one who had to remind me!" he yelled.
"Argh!" Winry yelled in annoyance. Al walked over to Ed and helped him up.
"It doesn't matter how this argument ends. Winry's the one who's going to have to fix your automail, brother." Ed sighed and nodded in agreement. With the help of Al, Ed hopped back into the house and into Winry's workshop. He laid down on the small bed and waited for Winry. Al said he was going to change into clothes since they would most likely not go outside again. Alone in the room, Ed recalled what he called Winry. He blushed a crimson red. He's thought about the word before but he's never actually said it out loud. Ed slipped out his clothes (he left his black tank on because it would have been awkward) and waited for Winry. He placed his hands over his face. Oh, please don't let her remember what I called her.
Winry walked in, already changed into her work clothes. She slammed the chair next to Ed and Ed flinched. She sat down and sighed.
"You talk about being an adult, but you're still a kid too." she smiled when she said it. Ed knew he had been forgiven. Winry grabbed her tools from the rolling table and placed it next to her. She began to work on his leg immediately. While she did, Winry got the courage to ask.
"So are we really…" Ed looked at Winry. Her face was slightly pink.
"You know...boyfriend and girlfriend?" Ed could feel his face warm up again.
"Well, uh, I thinks so?" Ed said. Winry stared at Ed.
"You say I'm still a kid, Winry. But with you, I feel much older. I want to take you out on dates and h-hold your hand and k-k-k-k-kiss you." At this point, it was a competition to see who could turn the reddest. Ed was winning.
"You can call me your boyfriend, Winry. But to me, you're much closer than that. More than a friend or a girlfriend. You mean a lot. And I hope you feel the same way." Ed won the competition, steam practically coming out his ear. Winry nodded and smiled. She slowly leaned closer to his face. Ed closed his eyes and leaned forward to meet Winry's lips. They were cold and soft and tasted like the snow outside. His heart hammered in his chest and he placed his hand over her neck to deepen the kiss.
"So, this is the part where you guys kiss and make up, huh?" Al said from the doorway. Winry pulled away and Ed looked at his little brother, his lips still puckered.
"By the way, I've always been rooting for the both of you since day one." Al walked out of the room. Winry just sighed and chuckled.
"I'm still waiting for that date, Ed." she said, getting back to working on his leg. Ed placed head back and smiled.
"Don't worry. We'll go out real soon."
(A/N: SO! How was that? Here's the deal. If five people review, I'll update the very next day after the fifth review. Even if you review an idea that what you want me to write, what you feel needs to improve, of if you just wanted to talk about any of the other chapter's, it counts. Same goes for more followers!)