"Big Brother?" Alphonse asked, looking down at Edward from their tree.
"Yeh?" Edward answered, swinging on the swing.
"Are angels real?" Al asked, in his innocent five year old voice.
"What?!" his six year old brother asked. He looked up at Al, who was looking out towards the town.
"There's an angel at that old house" Al replied. Edward frowned and then climbed the tree. Once he reached the branch above Al, he looked into the same direction.
"That's not an angel, that's just the new neighbours" Ed told Al.
"But she so beautiful" Al said, in awe.
"Come one, that's go meet them" Edward laughed, climbing back down the tree.
"Mum, we're going to meet the new neighbours" Ed and Al shouted, running past the house.
"Ok, dears, be back by dinner" Trisha called back to them.
Al and Ed ran through the grave yard and into the small town. Al and Ed laughed as they ran through their home town. It was a hot day, making everything seem bright.
"What's the rush, boys?" asked the baker as they ran past.
"The old house has new people" Ed shouted, waving a hand. Al and Ed came to a stop at the house gates. There was a horse and carriage by the front door, which was being unloaded of furniture and boxes. A man was looking around the garden when he spotted the two boys looking in from the gate. He smiled and walked over to them.
"Hello, boys" he said, opening the gate.
"Hello, sir" Al and Ed said together.
"Are you moving in?" Edward asked. The man nodded.
"Yeh, I'm Thomas Bloom" the man told them.
"I'm Edward Elric and this is my little brother, Alphonse" Ed told Thomas politely.
"It's great to see children your age here, that means my daughter will have someone to play with" Thomas smiled.
"Daddy!" came a sweet, young voice. A small girl skipped to Thomas side, smiling and holding a blue flower. She has short, brown hair and rosy cheeks. Her eyes were crystal blue and were bright with joy. There were tiny freckles shattered across her nose.
"Look, Daddy, I found this flower" she smiled.
"What a beautiful flower" Thomas said. The girl spotted Ed and Al. Al blushed as she smiled at him.
"Hi, I'm Rebecca, let's be friends!"
Al sighed as he looked at the calendar that was hanging up on the wall. It was dark outside and the light came from the moon that was shiny through the window. It reflected on Al's armour, making small lights dance across the room.
"We'll be friends forever, right, Al?" Rebecca asked her six year old friend. They were lying on the grass, looking up at the clouds.
"Yeh, forever and ever and ever" Alphonse replied.
"Pinky promise?" Rebecca asked, holding her hand above their heads.
"Pinky promise" Al laughed, curling his little finger around hers.
Al looked over to his sleeping brother, who was snoring slightly. Ed's automail arm was tucked under his head and he had his other hand on his exposed stomach. As quiet as he could manage, Al creped out of the room and down the dark hallway. Sig's snores echoed the whole way through the house, shaking Al's metal body.
"Al?" Rebecca asked, an umbrella held in her hand. The rain was pouring from the sky. Al didn't reply, but stayed looking at his mother's grave with glazed eyes. Rebecca sat down next to him, covering them both with the umbrella.
"My mum died as well" Rebecca told him. Tears ran from Al's eyes.
"Daddy says that she has gone to a happy place called heaven, where she can't feel pain, only happiness and joy" Rebecca continued.
"It's not fair" Al whispered, "I…I want her to be happy…with big brother and me"
"Your mum is looking over you now from heaven" Rebecca told him. Al looked at the white grave stone.
"We're going to get her back…we're going to bring her back to life" Al said, faintly. Rebecca looked confused.
"But…but that's impossible" she whispered. Al shook his head.
"Nothing's impossible" he told her, "We're going to see our mum smiled again"
Al found the way to the roof and sat down, looking up at the stars. It was a clear night, with a full moon.
"Write me letters" Rebecca cried as she ran along with the train. Winry ran beside her.
"Yeh, you better send us a postcard" she laughed.
"Don't worry, we will" Ed shouted, leaning out the window.
"One every day" Al promised. Izumi laughed beside him. He waved out the window. The platform came to an end, and Rebecca stopped running, but started to wave.
"I'll miss you" she shouted.
Al watched as two cats nuzzled each other on a wall below him, and his soul smiled.
"Stand back" Al smiled, finishing his transmutation circle. Rebecca's eyes lit up as Al placed his hands on the ground. A bright light erupted from the ground. When it died down, a wooden cat appeared.
"Wow! You've got so much better" Rebecca smiled as Al handed it to her, "Alchemy sure comes in handy when you forget someone's birthday" Rebecca laughed.
"I said I was sorry" Al moaned, "I've been just so busy lately"
"I know" Rebecca said, "You worry me, Alphonse, you are always studying hard" Al shrugged.
"It will be worth it" he smiled.
Al stretched out, lying down on the cold roof. The cold which he could not feel.
"Do you have to go?" Al asked, sitting on the bench next to Rebecca. She sighed.
"Yes, my Dad said that now that I'm ten, I need to go to a boarding school so I can learn more"
"'Tis not fair" Al sulked, leaning against the back of the bench.
"I'll be back in a year" Rebecca said, taking his hand.
"But that's ages away" Al said, looking at her with sad eyes.
"You'll be here, right?" Rebecca asked, a slight pleading in her voice.
"Yeh, I promise" Al smiled. Rebecca smiled and lent over and kissed Al on the lips. Al turned red.
"Bye, Alphonse" Rebecca said, before getting up and walking off.
Al was so drafted into his thoughts, that he didn't hear the door to the roof open. Ed peered onto the rood, seeing his younger brother there.
"Al! Al!" came a familiar voice, cheery voice. Rebecca ran into the Rockbell's hone. Her cheerful eyes disappeared as she saw the sight in front of her.
Ed was leaning heavily on Winry as he re-learnt to walk. He was clinging to her, with his new automail arm.
"Ed!" Rebecca gasped. Edward smiled as sweat dripped down his face.
"Hi, Becks, nice to see you back"
"What…what happened?" Rebecca asked, her hands covering her mouth in horror as she looked at Ed's new limbs.
"Eh…I was in a bit of an accident" Ed half-laughed.
"Are you ok?" Rebecca asked, nervously. She looked into his eyes. They were hallow and empty. Ed swallowed.
"I've been better" he admitted. Tears whelmed in Rebecca's eyes as she watched Winry place Ed into a chair.
"Where's Al? Was he in the accident as well?" Rebecca asked, panic to form on her face. Ed's face immediately grew more sad.
"Yeh…he…his in the kitchen, helping Granny" Winry told her. Rebecca ran to the kitchen.
"Al!" she shouted, running through the door. But all she could see in the kitchen was Pinako and a suit of armour near the stove, who looked round at her.
"Mrs Rockbell, do you know where Alphonse is?" Rebecca asked, desperately. Pinako looked at her and then the suit of armour.
"Rebecca…I'm Alphonse" he said, nervously.
"Al?" Rebecca said, uncertainly, her eyes widening. Al nodded.
"Ed…Ed said you were in an accident…why are you wearing armour?" Rebecca asked, frowning. Al seemed speechless.
"I…er…erm…" he whispered. Rebecca stood there, shaking.
"I'm….I don't look good, so I have this armour" Al lied.
"Oh…what happened?" Rebecca asked, worry on her face. Just at that moment, a cat came running through the open back door. Den was barking and chasing it. The cat ran in-between Al's legs and into the living room. Den followed the cat through Al's legs, causing Al to trip over. The metal hamlet flew off and landing with a 'clang' on the floor.
"Al!" Rebecca yelled, rushing to his side. But then she gasped. She saw into the armour, into the empty shell.
"Wha…what!?" she asked, backing off.
"Rebecca...I…I can explain!" Al told her, standing up. Rebecca backed off even more, before tripping over the hamlet.
"You're empty!!" she yelled, in fear, as she fell over.
"Becky…" Al said, sadness in his voice.
"Get away from me!!" she yelled, tears running down her face. She stood up and ran from the room.
"Rebecca!" Al cried out, putting his head back on and running after her. The front door slammed shut.
"NO!!" Al cried, opening the door. Rebecca was running as fast as she could, tripping a couple of times.
"Rebecca!" Al shouted, falling to his knees. Ed and Winry watched him. Al bent his head forward, his shoulders shaking. Ed stood up, leaning heavily on the chair arm. Winry stood up, ready to help but Ed shook her off. He slowly made his way to Al.
"I'm sorry, Al" Ed whispered, collapsing next to him, "I'm sorry"
"Hey" Ed said, standing next to him. Al looked up.
"Hey" he replied, quietly, before looking back up at the stars. Ed sat down next to Al, shivering slightly.
"You should be in bed" Al told him. Ed shrugged.
"I sensed you need to talk" he replied. There was a silence, before Ed continued, "The sate on the calendar, what is it?"
"Rebecca's birthday" Al replied quietly.
"Oh" Ed mumbled, slightly shocked. There was another silence, this one stretching out for longer. Ed figured that if Al needed to say something, he would say it better if left to the quiet air.
"The worst part of this body…" Al nearly whispered, "…is that I can't show any emotion" Ed looked at Al, the same guilt building up in him.
"I can't show happiness, sadness, angry…I can't even show love" Al told his older brother.
"Sure you can, I know when you're happy or sad" Ed tried to reassure him.
"Yeh, but no one else can, no one else can tell when I'm scared, or upset, or filled with joy" Al said quietly, "I look just like an empty, emotionless shell, unable to feel"
"Is this about Rebecca?" Ed asked, giving a sad look.
"She was my first kiss" Al distantly said, "…and I so want a second"
"You'll get your body back, I promise" Ed told him.
"It's not that…it's that Rebecca thinks I'm a monster" Al sighed, "I just want to see her again"
"We could go back to Reisembol" Ed suggested.
"I…I can't…not until I get my body back" Al whispered, clutching his fist tight. Ed looked at his younger brother, feeling tears come to his eyes, because of the armour boy's determination. Ed shivered again and sneezed. This seemed to bring Al back to reality.
"Big Brother, you'll catch a cold" he said as Ed wiped his nose. Al stood up and offered a hand to Ed.
"Come on" Al said.
First chapter out the way. This is just a random story I came up with. Please review. Flames welcome but nothing too harsh. Nuk xx