Hi, y'all! Long time, no see. I'm sorry if I got your hopes up, but, no, I'm not Amanda, this is Ann. Hi. I got hit in the face with a story plot not to long ago, and I wrote it up, and I think it's pretty darn cute. First time I've actually wanted to put something up online in a very long time, too, so counts for something, I suppose. *Winks* Enjoy!

For legal purposes: No, I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist, I wish I did.

This whole thing was stupid. So incredibly stupid. Why had they even agreed to do this, anyway? It was a complete waste of his time and the entire holiday was nothing but a big pile of-

"Little big brother! Are we going now?" Oh. Right. That's why.

Elysia Hughes, Ed's honorary little sister, stood in fronts of him, her arms crossed and her foot tapping impatiently beneath her long skirt.

Luckily, while Ed's brain was still trying to process the sheer amount of pink the two year old was wearing, his little brother answered, "Yeah, we're ready to go now, Elysia. Do you have your bag?"

Elysia beamed at the walking suit of armor. "Uh huh!" Her brow furrowed as she turn to Ed again. "But you're not wearing your costume, little big brother! You need to go put it on!"

Ed spluttered. He was about to tell her that no way was he wearing a dumb costume for some useless holiday, but thankfully, Al cut him off before he could tell her that.

"Brother's not going to wear a costume tonight, Elysia. He's just weird like that. But I am! And look, we match!" Al bent down to show Elysia the crown he had transmuted and placed on his helmet. Ed snorted.

"No!" –Elysia stamped her foot and crossed her arms- "Big big brother, we're not supposed to both be princesses! I'm the princess and you're the knight in shiny armor!"

Al stiffened, taken aback. "Uh…okay." He reached up and took off the tiara, tucking it behind his loincloth. "Well, besides that, I think we're ready to get going!"

"Yay!" She bounded off, swinging her bag behind her. The ghost on it twisted into a blob (rather resembling a marshmallow) and Ed rolled his eyes at the reminder of the sheer ridiculousness of the holiday. Ghosts. As if.

Mrs. Hughes met them at the door, smiling past her obvious exhaustion. She had been dealing with a cold for the past few weeks, and the shadows under her eyes and her red, chafed nose contrasted sharply with the pallor of her face. "I can't thank you enough for doing this for her. I was afraid she might have to skip this year since I couldn't take her and Maes was working, and she loves trick-or-treating so much. She would have been so upset if she didn't get to go."

"It's no problem, Mrs. Hughes. We're happy to help." The lieutenant colonel had nearly been in tears over the very same thought, after all, and they had been all too happy to agree to help if it meant getting a sobbing, soppy Hughes off of their necks. Literally.

That didn't stop Halloween from being a stupid holiday, though. It wasn't even an Amestrian holiday, when it came down to it. It had come from Murique, though it had come to Amestris by way of Emresil. A lot of people said that that was part of the appeal; to "honor other people's culture" (said Havoc as he ogled a "sexy witch's" cleavage). Didn't make the idea of celebrating a bunch of made up, fantasy creatures like vampires or ghosts any more appealing. It was all just stupid.

"Trick or treat!"

A middle-aged woman opened the door, one of her arms clutched around a large bowl of candy. "Oh, wow! Such a cute little princess! And look at her daddy, dressed up like her knight! Nice costume, Lieutenant Colonel."

Al raised a hand to rub at the back of his head and started to stutter a denial, but Elysia just laughed and told the lady, "He's not my daddy, Mrs. Krebs, he's my big big brother!"

"Oh…" Ed hated her instantly. The strange, suspicious look she gave Al was completely unfair and undeserved. Closed-minded, unjustified, bigoted-

"Brother," Al said quietly. Ed shot a glance at his brother's metal face. He knew what his brother was saying with that one word: don't judge, please don't get angry, it's not worth it, etc. And Alphonse knew that Ed could never go against what he asked.

Didn't make it harder to resist the temptation. So he settled for sending her a nasty look as she closed her door, suspicion turning to shock as she saw it.

"Trick or treat!"

This time it was a young woman who answered the knock, a little older than Ed, and dressed head to toe in a costume. Ed stared, wondering what she was supposed to be. After a moment though, given the contraption above her head and the strings running down from it to her wrists and ankles, he guessed she was supposed to be a puppet. The girl smiled widely, stretching her painted-on grin so she looked downright ghastly, and knelt down to the small girl's level. "Whoa! Look at her royal highness!" she exclaimed, patting the girl on her head. "How are you, Elysia?"

"M'kay. Look, my big big brother dressed up and took me trick or treating!" She pointed at Al proudly. "Did you have extra candy for me like you said?"

The girl nodded, but her eyes caught on Al and her eyes (also extensively painted) widened. "Oh, wow! Wow. That is one heck of a costume, mister."

Al laughed and rolled his shoulders nervously. "Thank you."

She chuckled and put a handful of candy in Elysia's bag, then rose back to her feet and handed both brothers a piece of candy. "Just for you, Elysia. Happy Halloween!" She waved at the little girl, winked at Al, and closed her door.

"Elysia, who was that?" Al asked as they walked to the next door.

"That's my babysitter. She watches me when Mommy and Daddy want to go on a date and Uncle Roy isn't in Central."

Ed and Al shared and glance and both stifled giggles. The idea of the high-and-mighty colonel trying to appease an upset Elysia Hughes was, quite frankly, hilarious.

They went to the rest of the doors on the floor and moved downstairs to the next one. Elysia's bag was nearly two-thirds full, probably because Hughes had threatened all his neighbors to not skimp on the candy for his precious baby or they'd see the business end of a gun. Ed wouldn't exactly be surprised if he had.

"Trick or treat!"

The mother who opened the door was wearing all black and had black shoe polish smeared on her nose and cheeks to form a cat's nose and whiskers. She grinned when she saw them and propped her candy bowl against one hip. "Oh, wouldja look at that? We have a princess, a knight, and the Fullmetal Alchemist!"

Ed felt his jaw drop open. Not many people outside of the east recognized him, for the sole reason that he didn't really get out of the area much. He was known throughout the country as the youngest state alchemist and fame "Champion of the People" but Mustang didn't actually let him spread out beyond the borders of his jurisdiction. Some jerk-faced reason of not wanting someone else to get his hands on his subordinate.

The woman's grin widened. "Not many people getting your costume, honey? Hold on for just a minute, okay?" She winked. "Something I want to show you. Thomas!"

A young boy, no older than five or six ran up behind her. "Mommy, is it time to go trick-or-treating?"

"No, sweetheart, we can't go until Papa's back yet, okay?" She said, patting her son on his wigged head. "Thomas, look, this young man is wearing the same costume as you!"

The costume was…surprisingly good, if somewhat obviously homemade. The boy's wig was about the same shade as Ed's own hair, his coat was the same or similar martial, the boy even had on elevator boots and white gloves. The only thing missing was the gold eyes and the Flamel cross on the back of the jacket.

All in all, it was incredibly disturbing. Even more so when the boy locked eyes with Ed. The two gaped at each other, staring as if neither could bear to look away. Then Ed spoke to his miniature: "You're not tall enough."

The boy's face screwed up into a what would have been downright terrifying scowl if he hadn't been six years old, and he made to hit Ed in the knee before his mother caught him around the middle. "The Fullmetal Alchemist isn't small, you idiot! He's a big, strong important hero and you're stupid if you think he is!"

Ed thought the Al might have been laughing, but he was having a hard time hearing past the pleasure rushing through his brain.

The mother chuckled. "Oh, hold on a minute, I want a picture of this. Do you mind?"

Ed responded with a grin and shake of the head. He knelt next to the little boy, wrapping his arm around his shoulders while his mini just folded his arm and scowled. The mother's camera flashed and she (still laughing) dropped some candy in Elysia's bag and waved them off, nudging her son back inside.

"Wasn't that so cute, Brother? He was dressed just like you!"

And he thought that Ed was a big, strong, important hero. It wasn't a bad feeling, either. Ed had joined the military for the solely for the reason of supporting his little brother and finding a way to bring their bodies back, but meeting a little boy who thought highly enough of him to wear his outfit for a costume on one of the favorite holidays of the year…it didn't exactly hurt his resolve.

Especially since said little boy realized he wasn't short.

I love Halloween. So, when I started thinking about Ed and what his experiences would be in terms one of my favorite holidays...image of Ed and mini-Ed together = plot bunny. Hello, plot bunny!

And kudos to anyone who can figure out what Murique and Emresil are based on! Hint: look up the history of Halloween. It's actually really fascinating.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!