Hello all! My name is Amelia, at your service. I wrote this story for Vic Mignogna on Christmas Eve as a present for him, and I decided that I would post it on here for everyone else to see. : In case you didn't know, Vic Mignogna is the voice actor of Edward Elric.

But I digress.

This is just a snippet of my work. A little fanfiction thing on the side of my actual writing. Ever wonder what Edward and Alphonse's first Christmas was like after being reunited in the Conqueror of Shambala? Take a look.

Oh yeah. And this is a rather old story, so if it seems slow or choppy.... let's just say that I'm MUCH better at writing now. : D

Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist.

{ Hot Cocoa }

"Brother, wake up! Christmas!"

"Edward, be patient."

"Ahh! Don't eat that! It's not cooked!"

"Did not!"

"Mom! Brother hit me!"

"I told you to wait. That's why you burned your tongue."

Edward Elric sat up in bed suddenly, eyes half-lidded with annoyance rather than sleep. For a moment, he thought it was already morning, but a quick glance at the clock on over the mantel of the fireplace told him that he had at least six more hours until dawn. Six. That was like an eternity for a newly-recruited insomniac like Edward.

"Fantastic. The one night I go to bed early, I can't even sleep for fifteen minutes," the blonde young man drawled as he crawled out of bed and made his way out of the small room in search of the kitchen. Unconsciously, Ed curled his toes at the feeling of the cold floorboards. It had been about a year since Alphonse had found him again, and they still couldn't afford to buy a large-enough rug to cover the spanse of their tiny hallway.

"Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate..." Ed murmured as he flicked on the lights in the half-of-a-kitchen that he and Alphonse owned. Rubbing his eyes, he scanned the already-open cupboards in search of the chocolate shavings leftover from the cake Gracia had helped him bake the other day. Perhaps if he could find them, he could make hot cocoa. Of course, the lack of said chocolate caused him to frown irritably.

Muttering to himself about how he and Al should have cleaned up the kitchen when they were both free from work, Edward shuffled his way towards the living room. On the way, he smelled something dangerously sweet. His mouth began watering before he even knew what the specific 'something' was.

The fireplace in the living room was already lit when he peeked in, and there was a blanketed figure stretched out in front of the coal grate. Alphonse Elric had his index finger poised over a page of Les Miserables, but his eyes were fixed on his other hand that was stretched out towards the fire, accepting its heat. A steaming cup of hot, sweet tea rested near the boy's elbow as if waiting to be tipped over. Edward was startled for a moment, thinking that his younger brother was attempting to burn himself in the fireplace, but when he saw that the brown-haired youth was merely warming himself, he relaxed.

"What're you doing up, Al?" Edward said, stepping over to the couch and making himself comfortable. It was still cold where he was situated; it was no wonder that Alphonse had chosen to lay down so close to the fire. At the sound of his elder brother's voice, Alphonse jumped and nearly lost the page in his book.

"I couldn't sleep. Bad dreams," Alphonse said, rolling onto his back so that his blanket slipped halfway off his body. He was wearing the red plaid pajamas that Ed had bought him a few weeks before after he'd found out that Alphonse had been planning to sleep in a mere undershirt and shorts through the winter season.

"Should I ask?" Ed inquired, folding his arms into his pajama sleeves to retain warmth.

"It's nothing. Just a little homesickness, that's all," Alphonse said, throwing an arm over his eyes and sighing. Edward bit his bottom lip to keep from prying any further. The feel of his tooth enamel being bared to the cold made him shiver audibly, catching Alphonse's attention.

"Come sit over here. It's got to be warmer than the sofa," Alphonse invited, sitting up and keeping his blanket wrapped around his shoulders. It looked as if the material was eating him, swallowing him whole.

"Isn't the floor cold?" Ed mumbled, not daring to check the temperature of the floorboards himself.

Alphonse shook his head. "Nope. The fire warmed it up over here."

"How'd you even manage to light the fireplace by yourself?" Edward asked incredulously as he gave into Alphonse's offer and crawled over to his younger brother's side. With a small laugh, Alphonse pointed to a forgotten box of matches over by the edge of the coal grate.

"I think I'm old enough to light a fire by myself, Brother," Alphonse said with a teasing smile. Playfully, Edward nudged his brother with his shoulder. The brown-haired youth quickly retaliated by nudging him back. The nudging escalated to shoving, and then a full-out wrestling match. A puddle of tea formed on the floor when Alphonse's fated elbow knocked over the cup while he was trying to avoid being pinned. Les Miserables slid dangerously close to the coal grate, but it was saved when Edward accidentally kicked it to the other side of the room.

"Mercy!" Alphonse laughed when Ed got his hands underneath his arms and began tickling him. "Please, Brother! Mercy!"

"Louder!" Ed demanded with a feral grin on his face, moving his squirming hands under Alphonse's neck. Alphonse just about screeched with laughter, his face reddening greatly.

"Mercy! Mercymercymercy! Brother!"

Edward decided that Alphonse had had enough tickling for the moment, and he rolled away from his brother to let him breathe. Alphonse sat up with a playful glare. "I'll get you back," he promised. Both brothers were warmed up now after having thrown each other about the room.

It was still a deep, cloudy gray outside, and the light of the withered moon shone through the window. A slow wind pushed against the glass, bringing promises of another rapid snowfall. Christmas Day would be a blizzard after all.

"Hey, Al?" Edward asked, crossing his legs and staring into the fire. The light illuminated his golden eyes, giving him the appearance of a relaxed cat .

Alphonse scooted closer to his brother, close enough that their sides touched an added extra warmth. "Yeah?"

"What do you want for Christmas?"

Alphonse looked surprised for a moment. For that entire month, he hadn't even thought of Christmas. He had everything he wanted right then: His brother, a house, real fingers. What else could he possible think of wanting? "Erm..."

"I want hot chocolate," Edward said abruptly. Alphonse's face was stuck in an expression of incredulous disbelief for a few seconds.

"Hot...chocolate?" Alphonse asked warily, unsure if he heard his brother correctly.

"Yeah. Lots of it. A whole barnful," Edward said with a chuckle, then his face went peaceful and calm. "Remember when we were little? You'd wake me up at some ungodly hour just so that we could watch Mom set out the presents? She'd make us hot cocoa, and we'd wait until the sun came up before we opened our gifts."

"I remember. You always burned yourself with your hot chocolate, because you got too greedy."

"Hey!"

"But I want hot chocolate too, Brother," Alphonse said quietly, closing his eyes. He didn't open them for a while, and Edward thought that he was daydreaming... or nightdreaming in that case. However, when Alphonse opened his eyes again, they were bleary and half-lidded. He was tired.

"Too bad we don't have any chocolate shavings," Edward said remorsefully. "I think we used them all up when Gracia helped us make that cake."

"Oh well." Alphonse shrugged and rested his head against Ed's shoulder. A yawn stretched his jaw wider than necessary. "We can worry about it in the morning."

"Don't fall asleep here," Edward said, though he was feeling just as drowsy as his brother was. "You'll get sick or something."

"Be quiet, Brother," Alphonse said dreamily, already half-asleep. "I'm waking you up at sunrise."