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“Alphonse.”
Al looked up from his spot on the bedroom floor where he had been playing to see his older sister standing in the doorway, a pair of kitchen scissors in her hand.
“What’s wrong, Ellie?” He could see she was upset about something; her eyebrows were tightly knit into a worried expression and he could see even from across the room that she was shaking.
“I need you to do me a favor.” Ellie said, stepping into the room. Once she had reached her brother, she outstretched her arm, handing him the scissors.
“I need you to cut my hair for me.”
Al looked at her quizzically, caught off guard by the statement. He wasn’t sure what he had expected but it wasn’t this.
“Why? You look fine, and your hair is really pretty—“
“Al please!” She snapped, now shaking even more looking to be on the brink of tears. Alphonse didn’t know what was wrong, but she was clearly upset. And he wanted to help her, he hated seeing her like this.
“Ok.”
Ellie sat with her back facing her little brother, who opened the scissors uncertainly. “How much?”
“All of it.”
Without asking anymore questions, Alphonse began.
He wasn’t even sure where to begin, he had never done this before. But he began at the bottom, slowly cutting off bit by bit, trying to figure out a good length. He was tempted to stop out of fear of what his older sibling’s reaction would be to her new haircut, he was clearly no barber, but the sense of urgency in Ellie’s voice and the look of relief on her face as the sound of scissors closing filled the air and hair fell into her lap was enough to convince him to continue.
“Elena!”
The two turned to see Trisha Elric standing in the doorway.
Ellie was the first to begin. “M-Mom, it’s not what it looks like! I-I can explain!” She quickly stammered, a quiver in her voice as though she were on the verge of tears.
“She didn’t mean anything by it!” Al quickly piped up. “She was just—“
“Ellie, you should know better.” She stepped in, taking the scissors from a trembling Alphonse. “If you wanted your hair cut, you should’ve asked me!”
The two sat frozen until their mother stood them up and led them into the kitchen, where she continued Alphonse’s work at a much more certain pace.
“Thankfully Alphonse didn’t cut it too short, otherwise you might’ve had to go bald for a while. There, that should do it!” She put down the scissors and picked up a small handheld mirror, which she gave to her child. She gazed at her reflection, admiring the new shaggy bob she now sported, relieved by the weight that was lifted off her shoulders with the knowledge that it was now gone.
“Mom?” Ellie said softly. “I need to ask one more thing. Of both of you.”
“What is it, sweetie?”
“Don’t call me Elena anymore. Call me Edward.”
“Of course, sweetie.”
Edward spun around and wrapped his arms tightly around his mom.
“I love you my little man.”
“Brother, it’s time for your shots.”
Edward let out a small grunt of unease from his spot on the bed. “Al, can’t we wait till later? I just got back, I don’t know if I’m ready yet.”
“I know you hate needles, but you always get so upset when you miss them. It’ll be easier to just get it done now.”
Edward slowly sat up, face crinkled slightly, not at all ready for what he was about to face.
“And take your binder off,” Alphonse said as his brother stood up. “you’ve been wearing it all day, you need a break.”
Edward let out a frustrated groan as he pulled off his chest binder before quickly pulling on a baggy sleep shirt. At least it was the end of the day and no one would see him like this except Alphonse.
Edward sat stiff and on edge as Al prepped his blocker and testosterone shots one by one, wincing and letting out a quiet whine as Al stuck them in one after the other. But as his brother finished and pulled out a bandaid, he felt relief and a slight feeling of euphoria wash over him
“Al?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you. For everything.”