Orphaned

It was the next morning and golden eyes opened lazily to a smiling younger brother. Ed groaned and turned over, "How can you be this awake this early?" he questioned the other.

Al rocked back and forth on his heels, "Oh, I don't know..." he said, a mischevious smile on his face that Ed couldn't see, but could hear in his voice.

The older brother glanced at the younger over his shoulder, "Did I miss something?" he wondered. Al was way too happy for an ordinary day.

Al bit his bottom lip, grinning slightly. He didn't know how, but Ed always forgot this day, without fail, every year. Finally, he nodded, "Yep." he confirmed, "Well, you haven't missed it entirely, but you are missing it right now."

Ed raised an eyebrow at his brother's antics, "And what may 'it' be exactly?" he wondered (no dirty thoughts!).

Al snickered, "Our birthday!" he yelled, throwing confete over Ed's bed. The latter's eyebrow twitched at the bright colored paper, now lodged in his hair as well as everywhere else (I give up...have all the dirty thought you want). Al frowned, "What is it?" he asked.

Ed sighed, laying back down, "You know there's a reason I try to forget our birthday every year."

Al frowned, "I know, brother, but I thought...maybe this year would be different since we're not living in the same house, and we don't have all those reminders of him..."

Ed shook his head, "The reminders aren't what does it, it's the memories." he told Al, "And those won't disappear no matter how hard we try to forget." Ed knew, perhaps better than anyone in this world, that memories were the hardest thing to get rid of when you didn't want them, and the hardest to keep when you did.

"I don't want to forget him, though." Al objected, taking a seat at the foot of Ed's bed, "I want to remember him because if I don't...then he might really be gone."

Ed smirked, "So, we keep on remembering because it would hurt too much to forget?" he asked. Al only nodded, but they both saw the irony in that; it may hurt to forget, but it was unbearable to remember. Still, memories came and went as they pleased, not caring whom they were hurting by doing so.

"Maybe, though, we can make new memories here." the younger Elric suggested, "Maybe this day can be about our birthday and not just the day that dad..."

"Don't." Ed cut him off, gritting his teeth, "If we're going to make new memories, then we don't need to dwell on the past." In reality, he just didn't want to hear his younger brother say those words, that their father had been killed. Their mother always covered it up, saying that he died from a heart attack, but Ed knew the truth. He didn't know who, but someone had killed his father. He looked at Al, who knew nothing of this horrible truth, and didn't need to. As far as Ed was concerned his brother was better off naive of all the pains and realities of this world. He couldn't protect him from everything, but he would try his hardest to protect him from the big things.

A grin lit up Ed's face as he stood, finding energy from some unknown source, "Brother?" Al asked, startled at the change in attitude (can someone say pms?).

"Huh?" Ed turned back to his brother, "Well, come on Al!" he said, "If we're going to make new memories, we don't need to dwell on the past. So, let's go make new memories of Roy baking us a birthday cake!"

A small smile crossed Al's lips as he stood to join Ed, "I should have known it was something to do with food." he commented, "You know, Ed, I'm suprised you're not a lot fatter than you are."

"Fat?" Ed repeated, "Hey, I'm not fat!" he yelled, chasing the now-running Al into the kitchen.

"Nice to hear you're awake." Roy said, already in the kitchen and getting out cake-baking materials.

Ed grinned and walked over to the cooking man, "Good morning to you, too." he greeted, peering around the other one.

"Morning? It's almost noon." Roy commented, walking to the fridge to grab a couple of eggs.

Ed frowned slightly, "It's not my fault, I couldn't sleep last night."

Roy lost his smirk and patted Ed's head, "I know." he whispered, leaning down to kiss the younger one gently, "It's a new day, though, and you'll have cake to eat soon."

Ed nodded, attempting a smile, but falling short. His brief good mood had been effectively ruined with memories of last night, which led to memories of years ago. A moment of silence passed over the three until Al heard the phone ring, "I'll get it!" he offered.

Continuing with his cooking, Roy glanced to Ed, who had taken a seat at the kitchen table. The dark-haired man contemplated talking with the boy now, 'I can't put it off forever.' he thought. Then again, what kind of person would he be to ruin Ed's birthday with news like this? He knew, though, that it was just another excuse to put off the talk they needed to have. Roy sighed, finally deciding it would be better to get it over with. He opened his mouth to speak, but a much younger boy's voice filled the air.

"Roy?" Al asked, glancing over from the phone, "It's for you."

Of course it was important. Why wouldn't it be important right as he was about to do something that may be the most important thing he had to do? Wiping the flour off of his hands, he took the phone from Al, mouthing a 'thanks', "Hello?" he greeted whomever might be on the other end.

"Mustang." came the voice of the person he wanted to talk to the least out of anyone right now.

Roy glanced over to Ed and Al, who were currently talking about something or another, "Sir." he said, waiting for the older man to continue with whatever he needed to say.

"Well? Have you talked to him yet?" Mr. Wright asked in an annoyed voice.

"Not quite, sir, I was..." Roy began to explain this phone call was the one thing from interrupting him from doing so.

"You are going to talk to him, correct? I don't want to have a problem."

"Of course, sir, no problem at all." he assured the man on the other end.

"Make sure that it's done."

"Yes..." Before Roy could finish, the line went dead and he hung up the phone, 'There's really no avoiding it now.' he supposed. Looking back to where Ed and Al should have been, he saw that they were gone, 'Perfect.' Sighing, he went up to their room to find it empty. The only other place he could think of was outside, so that's where he headed. Of course, when he made his way out there, he only found the younger brother, "Where's Ed?"

"That's what I would like to know." Al replied, crouching down to glance between some bushes. Roy raised an eyebrow and waited for an explanation, "We're playing hide and seek." he finally said.

"Hide-and-seek?" Roy repeated, "Aren't you two a little...old for that?"

"We always used to play it on our birthdays when we were younger before..." Al trailed off, then looked away, "It was the only day of the year mom would let us run off where ever we wanted to. We could go anywhere as long as we were home by dark."

Roy frowned, unsure of how to respond to that. Instead of doing so, he simply got back on track, "I need to talk to Ed about something." he informed Al, "I don't suppose you can just forfeit so he'll come out of hiding."

"He always thinks I'm trying to trick him when I say I forfeit." Al said, 'Though, that's because I am.' he thought with a smirk.

"Guess I'll just have to help you look for him, then." Roy mumbled, mostly to himself, and joined in the Ed-hunt. After about 10 minutes of searching, Roy gave up and remembered he had a cake that still needed baking. Heading back inside, he saw Ed emerging from the bathroom, "Aren't you supposed to be outside?" he asked.

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Back outside, a black limo pulled up along side the main gate. The two men inside looked at each other, "You sure that's him?" the one asked, looking Al up and down.

The other nodded, "Yeah, he fits the description. Short, blonde, and kind of weird."

The first man chuckled, "Alright, then, if you're sure. Let's do it."

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Ed grinned, "Well, if I was outside, then Al would find me." he explained.

"I see." Roy said, slowly, "You realize that isn't a very fair way to play the game?"

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The two men approached Al, who was staring up a tree, trying to decide if that was a branch or his brother's leg, "Excuse me, young man." one of the strangers said.

"Huh?" Al turned around just in time to have a hand holding a cloth cover his mouth. That cloth just happened to be covered in chloraform, and Al quickly collapsed on the spot after a moment of struggling.

"Let's get out of here." the partner in crime suggested, picking Al's now-limp body up. The other nodded and the three disappeared back into the limo.

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Ed stuck his tounge out, "Party pooper." he said accusingly.

Roy just chuckled and shook his head, "Just go get him before he spends the next two hours looking for you." Ed sighed, but complied, turning to run outside and find his brother.
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Sorry I've been out for so long, I'll put up another chappy later to make up for it. Review!