Orphaned

Juna: Thanks; I love little Ed and Al, too; so adorable! Of course Ed would have to defend Al, and little Ed defending little Al just makes all the more cuter! Bad news...Roy might not be in this chappy...heh, don't hate me! I'll try to update soon, though, and he WILL be in the next chappy. Thanks for reviewing!
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Days passed, each new one bringing a new potential mother or father for the two boys, and each one being shot down or turned away by Ed's grumpy attitude. Anyone could see that it was taking a toll on Al as well, not having someone to care for him and only him. He was so used to the love and affection his mother gave him so frequently, and even though Winry tried, she had the other kids to care for as well. Ed cared for Al, that was plain enough to see by the way he always stood up for him and protected him, but he never showed that he loved him, even though Al knew he did.

It had been just them against the world for a long time before Winry found them one day, huddled together in a piss-stained alley, a small blanket barely covering them both in an attempt to block out the cold. It had been in that time when those terrible things had happened to Ed. Al still felt partially responsible, though he knew Ed would yell at him for thinking such things. It was his fault, though, the men had cornered HIM, they had intended to rape HIM. Ed had noticed he was missing, though, and found him before it was too late. Al still didn't know how Ed managed to basically switch their positions, with the men surrounding Ed and Al on the outside to observe it all. Ed had told him to run then, and he did. He ran as fast as he could back to their little alley to leave Ed there, all alone.

Al tried to shake the memories from his head, 'Why? Why did I run? I could have helped him. We both could have gotten out safely. Why did I run?' Al had hated himself for leaving Ed behind since that day, and never forgave himself. Ed, of course, told him it wasn't his fault at all. He said that it was his responsibility to keep Al safe since he was the oldest, and that Al would have done the same if he were in Ed's position. He also said that it couldn't have been helped, and that he would rather it have been him than Al. Even though he said all these things, Al couldn't help but feel guilty, feel like he was responsible.

He slowly walked down the hallway that led to his and Ed's room, where the older one currently was, sulking. He had gotten in yet another fight, over protecting Al once more. This time, a few kids were bullying Al, pushing him around for no good reason. Ed happened upon them and once again took the responsibility of protecting his younger brother. Of course, the kids were all at least a year older than him, and there were four of them, so Ed was beaten up pretty badly before Winry noticed it. They couldn't make the excuse that Jimmy had; that Ed had attacked them and it was only self defense. That didn't help the bruise covering Ed's left eye, though, or the pain he flet whenever he breathed in too deep, moving something that shouldn't have been moved.

Finally reaching their room, Al hesitated a moment before entering. He knew Ed would want to be alone, but Winry had sent Al to talk to him. She knew that Ed didn't start the fights, per say, but that his bad attitude wasn't what helped end them, either. So, it was now up to Al to try and convince Ed that he didn't need to start fights to protect Al, and that it was even making it harder on the younger one. He didn't have many friends because everyone was too afraid to mess with him, even jokingly or playfully, for fear that Ed would see it and misinterpret. Al couldn't blame them; he wouldn't want to be around Ed if he weren't his brother or the one that Ed was constantly trying to protect.

Brown eyes glanced over to his brother's bed, and saw only a lump of covers that shifted slightly when the door closed. Smiling slightly, Al walked over to sit on his own bed, "Brother?"

"What?" came the muffled reply from under the blankets.

"Can we talk?" Al asked, wondering how he was going to convince the hotheaded boy that he didn't need to be so...hotheaded.

Ed finally came out from the security of his blankets, stretching out from his little ball and wincing as he did, 'Bad idea.' he thought, finally coming to rest on his back with the covers now around his waist, "What about?" he asked in reply to Al's question in a tone that was as casual as any other; showing not the slightest hint of the bad mood he had been in not five minutes ago.

"You don't need to always protect me, you know." Al whispered, "It's not that I don't appreciate it, but I don't want to see you get hurt anymore."

Ed glanced over at his brother, "Al, I have to protect you; I'm obligated to as your older brother. We've been through this before."

"I know, but..." Al trailed off, looking down at his hands, "I just want you to be nice sometimes. I can understand why you'd be in a bad mood, but it was almost a year ago that it happened, and even though I still feel guilty, I don't let it control my life."

Ed shifted a little, "You shouldn't feel guilty, Al, it's not like you could have stopped it from happening. Better me than you."

"But I do!" Al cried, a desperate tone in his voice, "It's all my fault, I shouldn't have let my guard down, and you had to pay for it!"

The older one looked over to see his brother with tears in his eyes. He quickly looked away, hating the pain he saw etched on the other boy's face, "It's not your fault." he muttered, "I did what I had to do to protect you, and I don't regret it one bit."

"Then why are you so bitter about it?" Al asked.

"I'm not bitter." Ed said, defensively, "I just hate how everyone acts like they understand what happened, like they know what I've gone through."

"I might not understand what you're feeling, but I do understand that you've been hurt. I only want to help you, Ed."

"I don't need any help." said boy replied, looking in the opposite direction of Al. He thought the conversation was over until he heard a soft sniffle. He glanced back over to Al to see him wiping away unwanted tears, "What's wrong?" he asked, slighlty concerned.

"You act so strong all the time, brother, but I know that deep down you must want to cry. Since you won't, then I'll cry for you."

Ed was speechless, "Don't...don't cry on my behalf, Al." he whispered. Seeing that his words weren't getting through, Ed pushed the rest of the covers off and jumped up, ignoring the pain shooting through his body. He slowly walked over and sat down next to the crying boy, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and pulling him closer, "Please, don't cry because of me." he said, his voice breaking as he felt his own tears stinging his eyes. He blinked furiously, trying to keep them back. He had spent so much time convincing himself that he couldn't cry for Al's sake, but perhaps him not crying because of Al affected the latter as much as it did Ed when Al did cry because of him.

Al looked up to Ed, seeing the pain and guiltiness reflected in his golden eyes. He leaned into the embrace and smiled softly as Ed wrapped his other arm around the younger one's chest, pulling him into a hug, "I won't cry if you make me a promise." Al whispered.

"What's that?" Ed asked, ready to do anything that Al requested of him.

"Give these people a chance, some of them were really nice." Al was, of course, talking about the men and women who had come looking to adopt a child, and were pushed away by Ed, "I want a home." he added, almost unconsciously, looking up to the older one once more with pleading eyes.

Ed's heart broke at the last request and, without much thought, leaned down to place a soft kiss on his brother's lips. It lasted only a second, but in that breif moment, Al felt a single drop of warm liquid hit his cheek. It was simply an act of brotherly love and perhaps a way to seal the promise, and Al smiled as the older one pulled away and uttered his final words, "I promise."

With that said, Ed hugged his brother once more and stood, retreating back to his bed and falling quickly asleep. As stood as well, heading to the door to inform Winry of his success. He glanced back once more at the sleeping brother, convinced that things would start to look up.
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So, so, so sorry I didn't put Roy in here! First thing next chapter, though, I promise! And I don't break my promises; you'll see! Well, hope you liked the chappy anyway, and that was the little bit of EdAl that I was talking about in the beginning of the fic. There won't be much more than that unless I'm feeling froggy, which doesn't happen very often. Review!