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Ok so… just a warning, if you want to read a story with a happy ending, then you should find a different fanfic to read right now because I'm not promising anything happy.

I don't own FMA or any of the characters!

-- -- --

It was Christmas Eve. A night many children looked forward to, but the Elric brothers just looked forward to surviving the next day.

"Brother!"

It was cold and damp. Ed could feel the cold moist air sticking to his skin.

"Brother! Wake up!" yelled Al, shaking his brother furiously.

Ed opened his eyes. The only light in the dark basement was coming from a tiny fogged up window. The moist air was coming from the leaky pipes that covered the ceiling. The floor he was resting on was a giant puddle of freezing water.

"What's wrong?" asked Ed, who was still half asleep.

"It's Mom." cried Al. Ed could now see the tears that were rolling down Al's face. Ed quickly crawled over to his mother, who was laying motionless on the floor. His worst nightmares were coming true.

As he got closer, he began noticing all the signs of death. She wasn't breathing. Her body looked lifeless. He grabbed her arm. It felt cold. He tried to find her pulse.

"Nothing…" he mumbled to himself. Ed sat frozen with shock. His mother was dead. Tears started to fill his eyes.

"What's wrong with her?" Al asked, still crying.

Ed just turned away. Tears were now quietly rolling down his face. Al understood.

"What are we going to do now?" he asked.

Ed didn't know, but he couldn't tell Al that. He was looking for guidance from Edward now. He had to rely on Ed to take care of him now. Ed couldn't take care of Al all by himself. He was only twelve, but Al looked up to him now , so Ed had to grow up fast. He quietly told his brother, "We can't stay here."

Ed knew that they would never survive if they just stayed in this basement. They had to get to a shelter or something. Ed remembered their mother taking them to a soup kitchen once. If he could remember were it was, he could save Al before it was to late.

"Come on Al." Ed whispered . He stood up and started walking towards the stairs.

"What about Mom?" asked Al, who was following his older brother up the stairs.

"We'll take care off that later," Ed said sadly, "We have other problems now."

"Bye Mom!" Al said, stepping out into the busy sidewalk.

"Yeah… Bye Mom," Ed whispered before leaving the dark basement forever.

-- -- --

Once they were outside, they were stunned by all the Christmas decorations and lights that surrounded the city of Central. Not only did that surprise them, but so did the huge crowd of people that filled the sidewalks.

"It's Christmas Eve, shouldn't these people be inside?" grumbled Ed. Al laughed at his brother's joke. He was trying his best to be cheerful. Al was always trying to stay positive, even when he was crying on the inside. When they started walking, both the brothers found it hard to stay positive.

The wind whipped the freezing cold air and snow against their faces as they walked. Their jackets were old and thin, so it didn't help the brothers stay warm at all. The most annoying part was the fact that the sidewalks were so crowded that Ed couldn't see where he and Al were going.

"Al, do you see any signs that say shelter or soup kitchen?"

"I see a cat shelter!"

"Besides that!" said Ed with an annoyed tone. He glared at his brother, which told Al to get serious.

"No," said Al, who was now shivering fiercely, "Maybe someone in that restaurant will know." Al pointed to a small cruddy-looking diner that was jam-packed with people.

"You might be right." said Ed. Hope suddenly filled his heart.

He started sprinting towards the diner with Al following behind him. They pushed themselves through the crowds of people until they finally got to the diner. When they opened the door to the restaurant they, immediately regretted going inside. The diner was full of cigarette smoke and it smelt like beer. The people inside didn't look that friendly.

"What do you want?" asked an annoyed waitress. She didn't look friendly at all.

Ed was silent. His brain told him to get out, but his legs wouldn't move. Finally, Al broke the silence by asking, "Do you know where a shelter would be?"

The waitress laughed really loudly, which caused everyone in the restaurant to be silent. Everyone's attention was now on the Elric brothers. That pissed Ed off. What the hell is so funny? He asked himself. Then the waitress walked over to them and grabbed their shoulders. She turned them around and started walking them towards the front door.

"What's going on?" asked a confused Al. The waitress just kept on laughing and continued to push them towards the door. Once they were there, she kicked the door opened and pushed the brothers into the snow, causing Ed to land face first.

"What the hell!" screamed Ed. He rolled over and threw a snowball at the door. The waitress just laughed harder and locked the door. Ed growled at her. "Are you alright?" he asked Al, who was laying on the ground shivering. Al's face was red and he was sweating, which Ed found odd because it was winter.

"Al, are you ok?" he asked again, kneeling down next to his brother.

"I'm… fine." lied Al. Ed put his hand on Al's forehead.

"You have a fever. We need to get help." Ed helped his brother stand and they started walking, even though they still didn't know were to go.

-- -- --

It was getting late. The streets started to clear and the stores were turning off their lights and locking up. The Elric brothers still hadn't found a shelter, but they had to find one soon because Al wasn't getting any better. Soon they found themselves walking alone on a street.

"Let's take a break." Ed said. He sat himself down on some stairs that lead into a building. "Hey, are you feeling any better?" he asked Al.

"No." he whispered. Suddenly Al collapsed at the bottom of the stairs, right in front of his brother.

"Al!" Ed screamed, he quickly jumped off the stairs to aid his brother.

"I'm sorry Ed… it's too cold." Al mumbled. Ed didn't want to believe it, but his brother was dying. He had to do something quick, he had to save him.

"Al, I'm going to go get help," Ed said trying to stay calm, "Promise me you won't fall asleep while I'm gone."

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry." Al mumbled. His eyes were halfway closed, so Ed knew he had to act quickly.

He started quickly ran towards a crowd of people. "Help! Someone help!" he shouted, but everyone ignored him and they carried on with their own problems. Ed couldn't believe it… no one cared.

This is useless…he told himself I'm the only one who can help Al now.

Ed quickly ran back to the building where he left Al. The wind had died down, so it was only snowing now. He hoped that Al was still alive.

-- -- --

When he finally got to the staircase, Al was laying in the same spot Ed left him. His skin was very pale and his eyes and lips were turning blue. It reminded Ed of his mother. Ed knelt down next to Al and grabbed his arm. Hoping for a pulse.

"Nothing…" Tears started to fill Ed's eyes. "I'm sorry Al; I couldn't save you or Mom." Ed was crying now. He hugged Al's lifeless body and started screaming, "I'm sorry… I'm sorry."

Suddenly, Ed heard a familiar voice coming from behind him,

"Look Mother! We found Ed!"

"Al?" Ed asked the voice. Ed slowly turned around. He saw two glowing figures and they were walking towards him. As they got closer, Ed could clearly see who they were. The small one looked just like Al and the taller one looked like his mother, only this ghost was crying.

Ed stared at the figures, shocked. He didn't know what to do. They felt warm and made Ed feel happy. Slowly, the one that looked like his mother reached out her hand and touched Ed on the face.

"I'm sorry, Ed," she said, whipping the tears off Ed's face, "You did a good job… now sleep."

Ed suddenly felt extremely tired after that and he passed out into the snow…

and he never woke up.

-- -- --

Wow!

I would like to thank my friend foreverforgotten5 for revising my story!

I'm going to write a chapter 2, so… just look forward to that. Nice reviews please.

-this has been a tobi production-