(A/N- That picture has nothing to do with the oneshot, but that's my work in progress Alphonse plush. Just thought you guys would want to see it. Anyway, the Chimera? thing will be explained in an author's note mid-story. Enjoy! And thanks for 2k reads!)
Winry and Aunt Pinako were the only ones who knew. Why you always wore a cloak, kept your head covered, and only wore long skirts with pants underneath. It wasn't like you enjoyed doing all these things, you had to. To keep your secret safe from anyone else.
How you wished you could just be yourself. Walk around doing whatever your heart pleased, without people screaming at you. Judging you before they truly got to know you.
Not even the Elric brothers knew. You wanted to tell them the truth, to show your true self. But what if they thought you were a monster? Just like so many others had.
You were a truly kind person, caring about others' welfare far before your own. But all the hurt you had felt piled up over time, making you mostly distant from anyone outside your small circle of friends, and very slow to trust.
Alphonse, however, had always treated you with so much kindness. He never asked why you always wore a cloak, or long skirts. In turn, you never asked why he always wore armor. You two had become very close friends overtime. In fact, you had developed a huge crush on him. But you knew it would never work.
How could anyone ever love a monster?
"(Y/n)? You okay?" Winry interrupted your train of thought. The two of you were waiting at the train station, waiting for the brothers to arrive. For once, Edward had called ahead to inform you guys they were coming home for a little while. You could actually meet them at the station this time!
You glanced over towards Winry, under her own umbrella. Your enhanced hearing easily picked up the sound of the raindrops hitting the umbrella's surface. You smiled a bit, and finally replied.
"Yeah, just thinking about Alphonse." Winry also knew the secret of your crush, and had promised not to tell Al either of your secrets.
Winry gave you a worried look, contemplating how best to respond. At last, she said,"(Y/n), I think you should tell him the truth at some point when he's here. He's different than most people, he'll be okay with it-"
"But what if he isn't?" You darted your (e/c) orbs towards her. "Then I'll lose a both a friend, and someone I love."
She looked at you with understanding."You'll never know how he'll respond unless you tell him."
"I know but," you stopped mid-sentence as you both saw the train pull up. It slowly screeched to a hault, causing the hood of your cloak to shift slightly as your 'ears' went back at the loud noise.
Soon your vision was drawn towards a short blonde boy and a large suit of armor leaving the train. They glanced around, then moved towards the both of you when they caught sight of you.
"Hey Winry, long time no see," Edward said casually as they walked over.
"And whose fault is that!" Winry automatically shouted. And so it begins.
Luckily, you still had your 'ears' folded down, but her shout hurt them a little anyways.
"Winry, please. Not so loud," you pleaded.
She gave you an apolegetic look.
"Sorry (Y/n). Well, let's head home." She turned and started walking back to the house. Ed quickly followed behind her. You and Alphonse, however, remained behind a bit.
"It's nice to see you again, Alphonse," you said, trying to sound as normal as possible.
"Yeah, you too (Y/n)," he replied, coming over and giving you a short hug. Then you both started walking back to the house, about 15 feet behind Edward and Winry.
As the four of you made your way home, your mind was occupied with other problems. Your tail, which was hidden under your long skirt, and was in fact the reason you wore long skirts, was being difficult. It desperately wanted to sway as you moved, but your nerves over whether or not Al would noticed prevented you from giving it freedom it so desperately wanted.
Your wings were also quite stiff, and your 'ears' wanted to move as well. You were mentally slapping yourself to keep your limbs in check. All the while, you were talking with Alphonse. Multitasking was certainly not an easy task.
(A/N- If you haven't figured it out by now, you're basically a half-dragon. Might seem weird, but this is the randomness that is my tortured noggin. :3)
You all, finally, arrived at home. The rain continued pouring down. You hadn't brought an umbrella, and had instead just worn your usual cloak, which was now completely soaked.
You all rushed inside, and Winry put the umbrella she and Ed had shared down. Edward took off his coat and set it on the floor. Everyone turned to you, dripping wet from the rain. You stood there akwardly under their gaze for a few seconds, before Edward broke the silence.
"Well?" He asked.
You glanced at him, "Well what?"
"Aren't you going to take your coat off? You'll freeze to death!" Al's worried voice answered for his brother.
You blushed a bit, mind racing to think of an excuse."W-well, I-I..."
"(Y/n)," Aunt Pinako walked into the room, saving you from a disaster. "Here's a dry coat. I told you you should bring an umbrella with you," she scolded, before turning her head away from everyone else and giving you a wink.
You smiled. "S-sorry, it won't happen again." You ran upstairs to the bathroom to change into the new coat.
Downstairs, Edward, Alphonse, and Winry were talking, whilst Winry and Aunt Pinako were finishing preparations for dinner.
"Alphonse, you need to tell her the truth. You can't keep her in the dark forever," Winry spoke with sincerity.
"B-but, how could she ever love me if I don't have a body?" Alphonse asked, looking down at the floor.
"Al, either tell her yourself, or let her find out the hard way," Edward commented.
"But brother!"
"Alphonse, listen to me." Winry spoke with a serious look on her face. "(Y/n) isn't a normal girl. She won't care if you don't have a body or not. She sees people's inner beauty, and can tell when they're rotten on the inside. She doesn't judge a book by its cover. Tell her the truth and everything should turn out alright."
Edward looked at Winry with an amazed look. "That was some deep chiz, Winry."
Winry grinned, then continued with what she was doing. Footsteps were heard from the staircase, and your head poked into the room.
"If you guys were talking about me, I heard absolutely none of it," you spoke calmly and truthfully, entering the room.
You all soon had dinner, well except for Alphonse. He just went and stood outside in the rain while you all ate.
"Isn't he hungry?" You asked Edward as you sat at the table.
Edward hastily glanced around. "He, uh, had a big lunch."
You gave him a doubtful look, thinking over some things.
'Alphonse never seems to eat anything anytime the brothers visit. And I've also never seen him out of the armor. Or seen him asleep.'
You knew there was some crucial piece of information you were missing, something that would make everything else make sense. If only you knew what it was.
You hastily finished eating, then pushed your chair away from the table as you got up. You glanced outside and spotted Alphonse, then stealthily opened the back door. From the distance you were standing, you could hear the sound of raindrops hitting metal. It was a peaceful, comforting sound, and you couldn't help but gain some confidence.
You were going to tell him the truth. He deserved to know.
You carefully stepped outside, walking over as quietly and calmly as possible. You were only a few feet away, when your tail caused trouble, moved in front of your feet, and caused you to trip. You let out a yelp, and Alphonse turned around, just as you were falling on him.
"(Y-" he stuttered out as you both fell over. Al's helmet rolled over the ground, falling a few feet away.
For a split second, your wings were visible. You looked behind you to quickly adjust them back into a nonvisible position. When that was settled, you turned back and looked at Alphonse.
"Alphonse I'm so sorry are you o-" You cut yourself off as you looked at him. The only thing you saw inside the armor was an alchemy symbol. One that appeared to be drawn in blood.
"A-Alphonse?" You stuttered out.
"(Y-Y/n)?" He stuttered back.
You quickly jumped off of him and started running away. You ran off past Winry's house and continued fleeing.
"WAIT! (Y/N)! C-COME BACK!" Alphonse shouted after you. He turned and scrambled to find his metal head. When at last he found it, he quickly put it back on and looked around for you. But you were already gone. He slammed a closed fist on the ground in anger.
"YOU STUPID TRASH CAN! WHY DIDN"T YOU TELL HER THE TRUTH YOURSELF!?" He shouted to himself. He panted for a moment, staring at the ground.
"This is all my fault,"Alphonse stated sadly, calming down a little. "She thinks I'm a monster now. A horrible, ugly, empty suit of armor." Alphonse slowly stood from his spot and started going to the place that could always comfort him. The water.
Your wings had taken over as soon you had gone out of sight. Al's voice shouted after you, but you continued running. You sprang into the air as your mind raced, unable to stop yourself.
'Why am I running away? I'm not scared of him, so why did I run? WHAT ARE YOU DOING REFLEXES!?' You heard Alphonse shouting to himself.
"YOU STUPID TRASH CAN! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL HER THE TRUTH YOURSELF!?" You knew he felt horrible about not telling you the truth, and you felt a pang of guilt at your instincts' response. Everything started making sense as you thought about the situation in more detail. You circled back around and landed on Winry's roof. Your 'ears' twitched as you heard the next words Alphonse spoke.
"This is all my fault," you had to hold yourself back from rushing in to hug him. He sounded so upset, and it was making you upset, too. But you stayed on the non-visible side of the roof so he wouldn't see you. "She thinks I'm a monster now. A horrible, ugly, empty suit of armor." Your wings moved as you had to grip the rooftop to stop yourself from flying towards him to tell him how wrong he was about how you felt.
At the same time, you realized these were very similar to the worries you had had about telling him the truth about you. He felt exactly the same way you did. Then an idea popped into your head.
'Could this mean he loves me too?' You questioned inwardly. You heard Alphonse walking away from where the scene occured, but you remained still, waiting and thinking.
'I fell for his personality, not knowing what he looked like. This shouldn't affect any of my feelings, and it doesn't. And, if he loves me back, me being in this state, being myself, shouldn't matter at all. Love knows no limits. In fact, I feel like I might even love him more now, knowing the truth. I had some doubts before, but now I know I need to do it. Tell him the truth, both about what I am, and that I love him. I have to show him he's not a monster.'
You slowly got up from your position on the roof. You looked around the outside of the house, but Alphonse was nowhere to be seen. You wondered where he could have gone, and flew down from the roof to go inside and ask where he could have run off to.
You opened the back door to return inside and question Al's childhood friends. You left your wings in plain sight, and your hood had fallen down to reveal your 'ears', which honestly looked more like horns than ears. You walked into the kitchen, seeing Winry and Edward still sitting at the table.
"Edward, Winry, if Alphonse was upset about something, where would be the most likely place for him to go?" You asked.
Edward and Winry both turned around, and instantaneously both grew wide-eyed.
"(Y/N)! WHAT ARE THOSE!?" Edward shouted.
"(Y/N)! WHY AREN'T YOU WEARING YOUR HOOD!?" Winry asked you.
Edward's gaze bolted towards Winry, giving her a questioning look, "YOU KNEW ABOUT THIS!? WHAT ARE THOSE THINGS!?"
You cut into the shouting pair's conversation to respond,"Those 'things' are my wings and ears, at least I think that's what the things on my head are." Your 'ears' twitched a bit as you questioned what their purpose was. You then lifted your skirt slightly to reveal your tail."There's also this."
Edward looked shocked. Winry quickly explained everything to him, about how you hid your 'special' features because people had treated you horribly, and how she and Aunt Pinako had agreed to keep your secret. After hearing an explanation, Edward calmed down a little, then turned to you.
"So, you're like a human-dragon chimera?" You nodded briefly.
Winry questioned you now. "Why do you need to know where Alphonse would go when he's upset?"
You shifted a bit. "Well..." You proceeded to relay the events of what had occured outside to the pair of blondes. You included your thought proccess as well, including the thoughts of how you truly felt about Alphonse.
They were silent for a moment, before Ed finally spoke,"So, you love him?"
You blushed a little, then nodded your head silently, proceeding to look at the ground.
Edward grinned at this. "Well, I'm okay with it if you two are boyfriend and girlfriend."
You jolted your head back up, and your ear-horns perked upright. "R-really?" You stuttered out.
Edward nodded.
You literally jumped with joy. Your wings even spread out and gave you about a foot more of air. You ran over and glomped him in a hug.
"Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!" You shouted happily.
"Okay, okay. Now let me go!" Ed shouted.
Winry chuckled at your happiness. "Alphonse is most likely down by the water. Good luck!" She started ushering you out the door to go find him.
"Thanks guys! I hope this goes well!" You called to them, then started running to take off.
You ascended into the air, flying in the direction of the body of water Winry had meant. You often flew around there yourself, letting your thoughts run wild as you soared over the clear blue liquid.
The lake quickly came into view, and you landed on the ground about 100 yards away from the shore. You hid your wings, tail, and 'ears' back under your clothes and began to search.
"Alphonse!" You shouted, looking around. Your eyes caught something moving a medium distance away. The rain had finally cleared up, and as your feet started moving, you looked up at the beautiful night sky.
"The sky sure is pretty tonight," you thought out loud, not entirely realizing you were speaking. "Perhaps I could stay up all night and watch the stars with him. He probably can't sleep anyways, now that I think about it."
You heard some more movement up ahead, and you knew it was him. A normal person would likely not have heard the sound, but you were certainly not a normal person. You continued walking towards the sound's origin.
"(Y/n)! Don't come any closer!" Al's voice rang out.
You cautiously took another step forward, slowly approaching him.
"Alphonse, it's okay. I'm not scared of you. I know you're not a monster," you stated calmly."You're kindness in a can! I won't judge you on your outward appearance at all, body or not. A-and if you are a monster, then," you lifted your hand to your head, slowly lowering your hood to reveal your 'ears'. Your wings slowly extended from underneath your cloak, and your tail swished a little to show it existed as well. "Then so am I."
Alphonse stared at you in silence. His mind raced for a few minutes, processing the newly acquired information.
'It doesn't affect who she is at all,' he thought to himself. 'She's still the same girl I love. And, could this mean that, maybe, she could feel the same way?'
"(Y/n)? H-have you always been like this?" Your heart sank a little, thinking this question was going to lead down a negative path.
"Y-yeah," you replied, looking down at the ground. "For as long as I can remember." A question of your own surfaced, "Have you always just been armor?"
Alphonse put a hand behind his head and laughed nervously. "W-well, not exactly."
He explained the whole situation of how he had gotten to this state, from the death of his mother, to trying to bring her back, and failing. Then finally he described the brothers' current quest to get their bodies back. As he finished, you looked at him sadly.
"Alphonse, I'm so sorry. I-I had no idea."
"It's fine (Y/n). If it makes you feel any better I had no idea about your," he paused, trying to think of the right word. "Dragon-ness?"
You laughed aloud, realizing he wasn't going to treat you any differently than before. "Probably the best way to describe it," you looked at him smiling, then remembered another thing you needed to do. "S-sorry about running away earlier. M-my reflexes kicked in, and I couldn't really stop," your face now held an apologetic look. "A-and, I heard how mad you were at yourself."
Alphonse looked down at the ground. "Oh."
"The entire time my mind was racing, and I realized the state you were in didn't affect who you are at all. You're still the same person, whether you have a body, or are just a soul. A-and you're a b-beautiful soul, too," you finished, looking at the ground blushing.
Alphonse darted his gaze towards you. He noticed the blushing state you were in, and decided it was time to tell the rest of the truth.
"(Y-Y/n)?" He spoke. You glanced back up at him. "D-do you think anyone could fall in love with someone who's just a soul in a metal shell."
Your mind started screaming inside of you. 'Is he asking what I think he's asking?'
You thought of the right words to respond with, then answered, "Y-yeah, but that person would have to be able to see inner beauty. A-and, they could be sure it was true love, because they wouldn't have a face to judge that person on," you focused your gaze on the ground again, blushing a deeper red color now.
"D-do you think that person could have beautiful (h/l) (h/c) hair? A-and pretty (e/c) eyes?"
You were near tackling him in a hug. If your suspicion of what this was turning into was correct, this could have been the most adorable love confession of all time. Alphonse was simply too cute when he was nervous! You nodded your head slightly.
"(Y-Y/n), I-I l-love you!" He stuttered out.
You stared at each other in silence for several seconds. '...My time has come.'
You suddenly glomped Alphonse in a hug, holding onto him tightly. Your emotions were clear, the feeling was mutual. Alphonse carefully returned the hug, not wanting to crush you. Silence continued as you embraced each other. You lifted your eyes to look into Al's glowing red orbs.
"I love you too, Al," you spoke happily. "I just wish we had told each other sooner, about everything."
"I guess we both regret that, then," Alphonse replied. "Are you sure you're okay with me not having a body?"
You hummed, "Mmhmm. As long as you don't care about," you moved you wings and ear-things slightly."These. Who needs a body when you're as cute as you are?" You hugged him again. Slowly, you looked up at the stars again, taking in the night sky once more. You laid down on the ground, and Alphonse followed your lead, laying down next to you.
"You were right, the sky is pretty tonight," Alphonse commented, quoting your earlier statement.
"Yeah," you responded, slowly grabbing hold of Al's hand. "The sky tends to be even more so when you're in love."
The End!
(A/N- GOOD LORD THAT TURNED OUT LONG! Anyways, sorry if this was a kinda weird one, but let's admit it, there have been weirder x Readers. I just like to be a half-dragon in my 'Mind palace' (aka the home of the inspiration for these things). Hope you liked it!)