3We walked cautiously down the aisle, not really sure of what to expect of the display before us. The train was already moving by the time we sat down in an empty seat, Al took the window seat and I took the aisle. "Brother, do you think we're really going to the North Pole?" Al asked still gazing out the window. I turned to him and sighed, "Of course not, Al, this is probably all just a dream that we're having." In truth, even I didn't believe my own words.
"A dream?" Al repeated this time looking away from the window to gaze at me. I nod at him and hide the non-belief in my eyes. "It can't be a dream. It's not possible to have the same dream at the exact same time."
"Actually it is! Only a few rare cases have been proven that people can have a dream link!" A voice in front of us bellowed. I faced forward and gazed into the face of a green spiky-haired kid, he was turned around in his own seat and looking down on us.
"And you are…" I ask suspiciously.
"Names aren't important at the moment." The kid snapped holding his hand up. "So, where'd you two come from?"
"Resembool." Al answered before I can stop him from saying anything.
The green haired kid tilted his head, "You mean that small country land?" We both nodded and the kid laughed, "HA! You two are Farm boys!" Almost immediately I'm ticked off.
"Oh? So where are you from?"
"I come from Lior. One of the best cities in Amestris!"
"Really now? A palm tree in the city? Never would've guessed it." I mock and look at his changing expression.
"Palm tree, where are you getting at?"
"You, dumbass. You're a freaking palm tree." I smirk when I see the kid's expression change from confusion to anger.
"Big words coming from a pipsqueak like you." The kid says with a terrifying smirk of his own face.
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING-" Before I get to finish my outburst, the train jerks to a stop making me lose footing. I stumble along with everyone else who was caught up by the sudden stop. Taking hold of an armchair, I balance myself and for a second look around at everyone else, I then walk over to a window and gaze at the sight below me. Outside I see that same smug conductor, but there's a kid outside with him too, he looks almost nervous and scared. "Hey Al, come here." I motion Al towards me and show him the young black-haired boy.
"Why to the North Pole of course, this is the Polar Express!" I hear the conductor shout, does he say the same thing to every kid? The boy shakes his head and motions backwards. "Suit yourself." The Conductor says walking back onto the train. The whistle blows and the train once again begins to move, I stare down at the boy with a blank expression as he looks at me and watches the train begin to pass him by. He's wearing nothing but a blue pajama pants and shirt and a pair a rubber boots, his eyes look almost pitiful as I wave a goodbye at him. I don't even know the kid…
Suddenly, the boy begins to run. Al and I both flinch as we figure out that the young kid is trying to get on the train, he's running and running but quickly lagging behind. "Hey, this kid wants to get on!" I hear Al shout as he jumps down from the seat and catches the attention of every kid on the train. I look back at the running boy and yell, "Come on!" He's still lagging behind. "Hurry up!" But the train's already going too fast and the black-haired boy tripped and fell face first in the snow. A lump of ice falls in the pit of my stomach, I jump down and say, "We have to stop the train."
"Then pull the emergency brake!" That green-haired palm tree kid replied, he points to a red lever on the wall and without hesitation I run over to it and pull down on it with all my strength, the effects are immediate. The train jerks to an even rougher stop as I and everyone else fall to the floor; I groan and clench my eyes shut as my face makes the first contact with the hard, cold floor, forcing my eyes open I pick myself up and look around, I catch sight of my fallen brother. "Al!" I shout while running to him and helping him up. "Are you okay?" He nods and stands back up to his feet, sighing I catch a glimpse of a solemn face. That young boy… he made it on.
The black-haired boy looks at Al and me with a blank expression, was it me or did he look a little… almost… sad? Al smiles and waves at him, the child frowns and lowers his head he turns his back to us and walks into the next cart. Alphonse looks at me, confusion is apparent on his face and I just shrug my shoulders.
"Who the hell pulled the emergency brake!" A shiver runs up my spine. Oh shit… my eyes meet the blazing angered face of the conductor who had just burst in here.
"He did! The pipsqueak pulled it!" The green-haired kid shouts pointing at me.
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT THAT HE CANT EVEN REACH THE FIREPLACE TO GET HIS OWN CHRISTMAS STOCKING!" I scream in seething anger, adding a headache to the many kids around me. "I didn't say that, dumbass." The kid murmurs holding his ears.
"Hey, watch your language!" the conductor hisses, "there are other kids here besides the both of you!"
"But you cursed too, old man!" I say to him in defense.
"There's a difference and I'm not old!" He shouts getting up close to my face, "But back to the matter at hand, now listen shorty-"
"I'm not short!" I wailed, steam beginning to bounce off of me.
"This train is scheduled to arrive at the North Pole at its exact specific time but that wont happen if you keep interfering." He continues to lecture me, his eyes not leaving my own, "Now, Christmas may not be important to you, but it is very important to the rest of us!"
"B-But I was…" Somehow my voice fails.
"He was just trying to stop the train so that kid could get on!" Al speaks up on my behalf, thanks little brother. He points to the black haired boy who has already sat down on the other train cart. "See?" The Conductor doesn't respond but ponders over Al's statement; I could already tell that he wasn't fully convinced.
"He really was trying to let that kid on!" A girl with brown hair and ponytails hollered. "He was!" Another girl shouted. "He was just doing the right thing!" A boy yelled. Soon all the kids on the train began to protest in my defense. I turned my attention back to the raven-haired conductor and saw that his expression remained unfazed; the man sighed then turned back to me.
"Is this true?" He simply asked me. I nod my head and keep the stern look on my face. He sighs again then furiously walks over to the emergency brakes and pushes it back into position, "Well in case you didn't know, shrimp, this cord is for emergency purposes only."
Why is everyone calling me freaking small! I angrily think as Al tries to calm me down. "And tonight is Christmas Eve!" He continues to yell as he pulls down a window and waves his arm out, maybe to signal the train forward? "And well, I've never been late before and I certainly wont be tonight! Now everyone please take your seats!" Hearing the bark in his voice, Al and I scramble back into our seats along with every other kid; they're actually surprisingly comfortable. "Thank you." The Conductor hisses in an almost friendly tone. The train jerks forward and begins moving again.
"That was a close call." I hear the girl with brown ponytails say to me. I smile at her and nod, "Ya, it really was. Thanks by the way."
She giggles and says, "You're welcome, my name's Nina, what's yours?"
"I'm Edward and this is my younger brother, Alphonse." I answer as Al says hi at her, I then add, "You can just call us Ed and Al for short."
"Younger brother?" She says with confusion revealing in her voice, "But he's so much taller than you." I feel my heart plummet farther down inside me; all emotions cease to exist as I sigh in frustration… this was really getting old. Al laughs at her emotions and tries his best to hold it down, but to no effort he just continues to snicker at the comment.
"Excuse me," Hearing the sudden altered voice, I flinch and turn around, that raven-haired conductor is speaking through the intercom, "but are there any Polar Express passengers that are in need of refreshments?" Every kid raises his or her hand and screams out, even Al, Nina, and that palm tree kid do. "I thought so." He reaches for the door and slides it open with ease.
All of a sudden dozens of men who were all wearing waiter outfits burst through the door and started tap dancing a beat. They carried trays and cups while behind them a huge coffee-like machine wheeled itself in. The waiters spun our seats around to face the kids behind while to my surprise the Conductor and "waiters" were singing.
Hot! Hot!
Ooh, we got it!
Hot! Hot!
Hey, we got it!
Hot! Hot!
Say, we got it!
Hot chocolate!
Suddenly a waiter puts a white cloth in front of us and to my amazement it stays still! I look under the cloth but find nothing supporting it… how is that possible?
Hot! Hot!
Oh, we got it!
Hot! Hot!
So, we got it!
Hot! Hot!
Yo, we got it!
Hot chocolate!
I band on the cloth but its solid as a rock, how? Al grabs my hand to stop my useless banging and smiles at me, "Just relax and enjoy, big brother." To his relief I sit back in our seat and sigh, "It just doesn't make sense, Al."
Here, we've only got one rule:
Never ever let it cool!
Keep it cookin in the pot,
You've got-
Hot choc-o-lat!
"What doesn't make sense, Ed?" Al asked me, the frown on his face apparent.
"This, everything!" I spat, "None of this is possible!" Cups on small plates then fly through the air and land in front of me and every other kid. Al snickers at this while shout, "See!"
Hot! Hot!
Ooh, we got it!
Hot! Hot!
Hey, we got it!
Hot! Hot!
Say, we got it!
Hot chocolate!
That coffee-like machine then begins to squirt steaming, brown liquid everywhere, which surprisingly lands in everyone else's cups and ours. This can't be real… I look over to Al and see that he's drinking whatever was in his cup. He puts down the cup as soon as he notices my sudden change in face then says to me, "Relax, Ed, its just hot chocolate." He then points behind us to the Conductor and snickers, "What do you think he's been singing about this whole time?"
Hot! Hot!
Oh, we got it!
Hot! Hot!
So, we got it!
Hot! Hot!
Yo, we got it!
Hot chocolate!
Here, we only got one rule:
(Here we only got one rule)
Never ever let it cool!
(Never ever let it cool!)
Keep it cookin in the pot,
Soon, ya got hot choc-o-lat!
I look down at the steaming sweet drink, pick it up, and reluctantly take a drink. It's actually not too bad… I gulp down more of it then nearly choke when a waiter jumps on our "table" and begins to tap dance to a rhythm. Again, how is that possible!
Hot! Hot!
Hey, we got it!
Hot! Hot!
Whoa, we got it!
Hot! Hot!
Yeah, we got it!
Hot! Hot!
Whoa, we got it!
Hot! Hot!
Hey, we got it!
Hot! Hot!
Whoa, we got it!
Hot! Hot!
Hey, we got it!
Hot! Hot!
Whoa, we got it!
Finishing the rest of my hot chocolate, I put the cup back down on the "table" and exhale, it really was astonishingly good. My golden eyes glance over to my side, Al's empty chocolate mug is sitting on the table but he's looking under his seat. Did he drop something?
Hot! Hot!
Yeah, we got it!
Hot! Hot!
Whoa, we got it!
Hot! Hot!
Yeah, we got it!
Hot! Hot!
Yeah, we got it!
Hot! Hot!
Yeah, we got it!
Hot! Hot!
Whoa, we got it!
Hot! Hot!
Yeah, we got it!
The dancing waiters then grab at the cloth and yank it off while doing a flip and ending with a splits-stand up on the ground. Our mugs are gone and our seats twist back to their original position, the waiters then do a bunch of somersaults and flips and begin to leave through the same door they came from. With their final tricks they all leave, including the conductor, leaving us kids alone again.
The cart is immediately filled with moans of satisfaction from the kids; everyone seems to have quieted down a bit. Al bends back down under his seat and pulls out a cup of hot chocolate, I look at him wide-eyed then ask, "Where did you get that?"
Al looks at me while carefully scooting past the seats and answers, "I hid it at the very last second, and I'm going to give it to that kid on the other cart."
Generous as always. "Alright then, just be careful when crossing." I say to Al as he nods in response. He begins walking again and slides open the door, vanishing from my sight. I exhale another break of air and close my eyes, this all can't be real, none of this can be real. I bet when I open my eyes I'm going to wake up back in my bed with Al sleeping next to me, I just bet on it… slowly I creak my eyes open and sigh. I'm welcome back to the golden, heavenly hue colors of the train… of "The Polar Express".
What's going on here? I can't help but think. We shouldn't be here. None of us should be here! We should be back at home with Mom… ! That's when it hit me. That grief that I had single-hauntingly pushed to the back of my mind came back with a vengeance. I felt my heart begin to gallop again and unknowingly I had clenched my chest and gritted my teeth, none of this really shouldn't be happening…
"Hey, what's this?" I hear the voice of the palm tree kid, he snaps me out of my daze when he picks up a golden piece of paper that was where Al was sitting. "Ooh, it looks valuable." He chuckles and smirks at me once he notices my sudden anger.
"Give it back." I simply say, my voice barely above a whisper.
"And what if I don't?" He chuckles.
"Then I'll make you." I hiss at him.
"Hmm… tempting but I think I'll go with my own option." He then pulls down his window and before I knew it I'm tackling him to the floor. He thrashes and hisses under my grasp while I keep shouting, "Give it back!" As I try to grab the golden piece of paper from his hands his smirk then widens as he pushes me off of him by using his feet. I cough and sputter as I hit the floor hard; quickly I regain my footing and try to balance myself. My eyes search for that damn kid and I find him next to his window. To my horror he's holding the golden paper on the other side of the window, allowing the cold wind to breeze in here and wave through the paper harshly. His smirk widens and before I can do anything, he lets go of the golden paper. My breath is caught in my lungs, I may not have known what that paper was but something inside of me is just screaming that it was important.
Pushing the green-haired kid to the side, I look out the window and see nothing but the blizzard of snow passing us by. That golden piece of paper is gone…
Green-haired palm tree kid- Envy
Brown-haired ponytail kid- Nina
The Conductor- Roy Mustang
The waiters- it's up to all of you to think of who you want them to be. They could be Mustang's crew if you wanted then to be or even the other homunculi.
Other kids on the Polar Express- You all can think of that too. It can be anyone from the FMA world, from different worlds; even YOU could be on the Polar Express. Although I know for sure that a kid sized Russell and Fletcher are on it.
Black-haired young boy- Selim Bradley (Yes, I'm putting him in the story)
Review Time!
MiniSkirtRanger: Thanks, I'm glad you like the idea :D by the way, thanks for being the first reviewer and don't be nervous, I'm actually really happy that you reviewed first XD if someone didn't I would've thought no one cared about this story :D so thank you!
Ed Fan: It was that obvious? That's good! Thank you for reviewing!
OKAY, I shall finish this story before Christmas! But my semester exams are coming up soon so I'll update whenever I get the chance!
So thank you all and may everyone do well on his or her exams!
D. Gray-Man chapter 210 came out today! :D Hooray!
Merry Christmas! And Hanukkah! And Quanza!
FMA AND THE POLAR EXPRESS DO NOT BELONG TO ME!