Archive of Our Own

“You’re doing it again.” Al said without turning.

He stirred the tea in his mug, enjoying the smell and the warmth that came up.

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.” Ed grumbled.

Al finally turned to him if only to raise a brow, because he can raise a brow now!

Ed was still hovering on the edge of the kitchen, crossing his arms tightly but Al could still see the smile that Ed was trying to hide.

“You are doing it!” Al said.

“I’m not!”

“Yes you are, Brother!” Al laughed.

Wrapping his hands, real human hands, around the mug, Al found himself doing it too. It had been so long, so many years and so much suffering, that even the simple things of Al having a body again was absolutely incredible.

It had only been a few days since they had fully returned to Resembool and while Al could feel a now familiar fatigue weigh down his fragile bones, he had no intention of going down to rest any time soon.

This was the first time that Winry had even let the two of them out of her sights as she and Pinako went into town for food, which meant if he was going to test out seeing how long he could go without a nap then today was going to be the perfect day for it. Of course, Ed had slept in and so he was still at the house which meant that Al was going to have to test his body’s capabilities without his ever smothering older brother noticing.

Al’s grip wobbled.

In an instant Ed was right next to him, going to help, but Al stepped away. Al’s knee decided that was the perfect moment to give way, his crutch too far away, but Al corrected it before it fully buckled.

“And now you’re doing that too.” Al glared.

“Doing what?” Ed asked, way too innocently to not know exactly what Al was referring too.

“You’re hovering.” Al said.

“Oh fuck off,”

“You are!” Al said. “I’m fine, Brother, you don’t need to-“

But Al’s legs shifted beneath him and the only thing that kept him from falling completely was Ed’s hand on his elbow. Ed didn’t mention it, though he did hesitate to let go, but while Al’s legs felt strong enough to hold his own weight for now, he wobbled yet again.

No, that wasn’t Al’s legs.

Ed’s eyes blew wide as he came to the same conclusion as Al had.

“We need to get out.” Ed said quickly.

The Earth shifted beneath them again, ever stronger, the kitchen around them rattling.

Al reached towards the crutch resting on the side of the bench and within two strides Ed was there and back again, passing the crutch to Al while coming on Al’s other side even though Al was fully capable of walking on his own.

The world shifted hard to the right, then left, and a vase from Winry’s late parents teetered on the edge of a shelf.

“Brother!”

Ed launched towards the vase, barely catching it, knowing full well how important a parents items could be.

Impossibly the world shook harder and other less sentimental plates and vases all fell and shattered around them. Al struggled to keep his balance, even with the crutch, but a resounding crack echoed above every thought Al could have to use Alchemy to keep them protected.

“Al!” Ed shouted.

Ed was rushing back to Al’s side but the world was already falling down around them.

The breath left Al as he was slammed down onto the ground, and while his first thought was that Ed had reached him in time when the dust settled he realised that it wasn’t Ed laying on top of him.

No, Ed was laying a few meters away.

“Brother!”

Al had meant it to be said loudly, but it came out as little more than a wheeze as the wooden beams on him shifted weirdly.

The world was still shaking, but Ed wasn’t moving.

“Brother!” Al tried again, but Ed showed no sign of hearing him.

Ed’s arm was reached out towards Al, but his body was slumped, a portion of the floor above pinning him down.

“Ed,” Al coughed hard. “Ed!”

A line of red dripped down from Ed’s forehead and Al felt everything stop.

His brother was hurt. The house had collapsed, the house that Winry had had with her parents, the house that had accepted Ed and Al into it without hesitation and with nothing but love, had collapsed and now Ed wasn’t moving and he was bleeding and everything was meant to be okay again.

Father was gone and Amestris was safe and Al had his body back, everything was meant to be okay.

“Brother please,” Al croaked.

Ed’s hand twitched.

“Brother!”

The hand curled into a fist and then Ed was trying to push himself up. The weight above Ed creaked and he fell back down with a barely contained sob.

Ed was hurt.

The house had collapsed and Ed was hurt.

Everything was meant to be okay again and Ed was hurt and he could be dying and Al couldn’t lose his brother, not ever, after everything they had done to get this far.

“Stay there!” Al called to him.

Golden eyes blinked back to Al but even from this far away Al could see that they were glazed.

Ed tried to get up.

“Brother!” Al growled. “Stay. There.”

“Al?” Ed whispered. “Al… You should go take a nap.”

A concussion, Al realised, or just his dumbass brother being his dumbass brother.

Al tested the weight that was above himself only to get flaring pain slam into him. For a moment, he was ecstatic to find that pain flared slammed into him because that meant that he could feel the pain.

Then he registered that holy fuck, pain hurts.

Al spent the next solid minute trying to breathe through it, not wanting his Brother to know that he was in pain, because even if Ed was concussed Al knew that Ed would do anything it took to help Al even to his own detriment. Throughout their journey, time and again Ed has proven just that even though Ed had been the one with a fragile human body while Al had been little more than a transmutation sign on a suit of armour.

Now that Al was human, something they’d fought so hard to get back to, it also meant that he was fragile too as if they had needed the months spent in hospital to prove it.

But Al wasn’t what was important right now, Ed was.

Ed was hurt and trapped and Al needed to help his older Brother, and he needed to do just that without Ed ever knowing that Al was hurt too. Al could tolerate this pain, this both exciting and terrible pain, he could tolerate anything if it meant that Ed wouldn’t have to worry about him again.

“Al?”

Fuck, Ed was already picking up that something was wrong. Al needed to say something, anything, he needed to find a way to get Ed out of here.

“Brother,” Al said.

Ed’s glazed eyes narrowed as much as they could. He tried to rise again, but the weight on top of him was simply too much and he collapsed back down with a sharp inhale. Ed reached out with his other arm, clapping his hands together and pressing it against one of the beams.

When nothing happened, Al expected Ed to get furious. While Ed had told him time and again that he would never regret giving up his Alchemy to get Al his body back, Al had seen the countless times that Ed would clap his hands together expecting things to break down to their elements and reform into whatever it was that he wanted it to.

If not furious, then Ed usually played it off as a silly faux pass, a habit that he kept turning to even though he no longer had access to his Gate.

“I’m sorry.” Ed croaked instead.

Ed sounded so damn close to tears that it was like Al’s body was being torn apart all over again.

“It’s fine, Brother,” Al said lightly.

Al shifted his own body to try to see if he could use Alchemy, knowing full well that it was probably more dangerous than it was worth given the variety of materials around them, only to find that one of his arms was pinned down beside him.

“I’m sorry,” Ed said again, his lip trembling.

“Brother,” Al tried. “You’ve just had a small bump on your head, everything’s probably a little-“

“I’m sorry.” Ed sobbed, tears pouring down his face.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck.

While it wasn’t like Ed never cries, every single time he did, Al would feel like he was dying because that was his big Brother. That was his favourite person in the whole world and he was upset and he was crying and Al himself could feel a strange burning in his own eyes.

Al forced back his own tears, reminding himself that Ed would be able to see them now.

He had spent too many years depending on Ed, Al was not going to make Ed care for him while he had a bad concussion and was very likely injured in other ways too. But unable to use Alchemy to free himself let alone his Brother, Al didn’t know how best to help right now.

“What makes up water?”

Ed blinked, so perplexed that at least the tears had stopped.

“Tell me.” Al said.

“Who do you think I am?” Ed scoffed. “Two hydrogens and an oxygen, obviously, I’m not some pathetic know it all Colonel.”

“And what makes up table salt?”

Ed quirked a brow now.

“Amestrean or Drachman?”

“Xerxean.”

While Al knew that it wouldn’t trip Ed up, it unnerved Al when Ed’s answer was little more than a droned recite of the elements as mentioned in the ancient text books they had found in their attempts to learn more about their heritage.

Well, it had been Al’s attempt to find out more about Xerxes while Ed proclaimed loudly that he didn’t give a fuck about where Hohenheim had originally come from. Of course, Al had also woken up in his hospital room three days later to fine Ed curled up surrounded by ancient, and most likely priceless texts from Xerxes.

With there being so little remaining of the civilisation, Al had been intrigued by how Ed had so quickly found some, but he was even more intrigued to find out all he could from both Ed and from the texts themselves.

“Brother?” Al said. “Can you tell me where you’re hurt?”

“I’m not hurt.” Ed said automatically. “Are you okay Al? Don’t worry, I’m going to get you out of there.”

“I’m fine, Brother,” Al said. “But you need to tell me where you’re hurt.”

“Al, you need to take a nap.” Ed said. “The doc’s said you need plenty of rest.”

And back to this. Al tried not to get frustrated, knowing that Ed was confused, but he was also anxious that there were worse injuries than just a bad concussion that Ed himself may not have noticed.

Ed clapped his hands together, pressing them onto the ground and bracing his whole body for the ground beneath them to shift. When it didn’t, Ed blinked slowly.

“Al?” Ed said, trying to transmute again. “Father must have deactivated our Alchemy, we should try Alkahestry…”

“It isn’t Father,” Al assured him. “Everything’s going to be okay Brother, but I need you to tell me exactly what you’re feeling right now.”

Ed’s head tilted up, a new bead of blood rolling down to mix with his old tears.

“I’m fine Al.” Ed said simply.

“Brother.” Al implored. “Please, tell me everything you’re feeling.”

“Are you okay?” Ed asked.

As soon as they got out of this, Al was going to strangle his dear brother.

“Equivalent exchange.” Al said.

“Equivalent exchange.” Ed echoed.

“I tell you everything that I’m feeling, you tell me everything that you’re feeling.”

Al waited until Ed had a chance to think through the deal, then he waited longer still for Ed to actually speak.

“But you have to be honest.” Ed said.

“We both have to.” Al said pointedly.

“We both have to.” Ed agreed.

It took even longer for Ed to actually continue which only made Al all the more worried.

“My head hurts like a bitch.” Ed said.

“My arm is pinned but I don’t feel any blood.” Al lied.

“I think there’s something digging into my port.”

Al’s breath caught in his throat, knowing full well how much nerve pain can affect his Brother.

“But I don’t think it’s damaged.” Ed continued.

“That’s great.” Al said.

“Your turn.” Ed said.

For a moment Al floundered, making certain not to actually show it on his new but old face that makes expressions now.

Even when Al was in his armour, Ed had never failed to pick up on everything Al was feeling even though sometimes he went about asking him if he was okay badly, or worse still whenever Ed would keep demanding to know what was bothering Al even when nothing had been upsetting him until Ed had started harassing him about it.

Realising that he was taking too long to answer, Al came up with another lie.

“I feel something pressing up against my back, but it isn’t sharp.”

While Al’s voice did not falter, it tasted like ash.

Ed tensed and for a terrifying moment Al thought that maybe his Brother had worked out that only half of that sentence was the full truth.

“Al?”

“Yes, Brother?”

“I think I’m bleeding.”

“Where from?”

Ed made a little noise, one that was almost like he was a child again going through his first surgery.

“I’m not sure but… It’s warm?”

Abdominal most likely, Al realised. He needed to get Ed out, now. Even though Ed had gone through so much in his life, an injury like that could still very well be deadly.

“It’s kind of like that time when-“

Ed stopped himself, suddenly realising that he was meant to keep the injury he had gotten when fighting Kimberlee in the mies even though Al knew about it. Al still wasn’t happy about it, but he did know about it.

He knew that his Brother had nearly died that day, just like he knew that Ed had used part of his own life force in order to stop himself from bleeding out completely. Just thinking about it made Al feel ill, and he was even more furious at the thought that while concussed Ed once again wanted to shield Al from the truth.

Never mind that Al himself was specifically omitting the fact that he was actually injured and not just trapped, but this was a completely different situation.

Al tried to shift his arm again but pain ripped through him.

“Al!” Ed cried out.

“I’m- I’m fine…” Al managed, his voice shaking. “Just trapped.”

“I’ll get you out,” Ed said firmly. “I’ll get you out, because you need to rest. The Doc’s said you need to rest.”

The Doctors had also said that Ed himself needed to take it easy given all the things that his body had gone through on the Promised Day but Al bit his tongue to keep himself from pointing that out.

Ed’s head dipped a little.

“Brother, you need to stay awake.”

Ed hummed, his blinking slow.

Wether it was blood loss or the head injury, Al didn’t care. All he cared about right now was getting Ed out of here and getting him help.

“Hello? Hello? Is anyone in there?”

Hope swelled in Al’s chest, hearing Mr. Anders’s voice.

Al went to shout that they were in here but his breath caught. His entire body ached, screaming for oxygen, but he refused to let Ed notice. Curling his fist beneath the rubble, letting his nails dig into the palm of his hand, Al tried his best not to wheeze.

“Hello? Mrs. And Miss Rockbell? Edward? Alphonse?”

“Anders…” Ed mumbled. “Anders? What’s Anders doing here?”

Mr. Anders was from two properties over, but it wasn’t just his voice. It was others too, and Al felt a lance through his gut as he realised he had never once wondered if anywhere else had been impacted by the

“Brother,” Al at last managed.

“Al? Al! What are you doing there, you need to go res- Fuck. What the hell? What’s… I can’t move. Al, I can’t move, I can’t-“

“It’s okay.” Al said, coughing hard.

“Al?” Ed croaked. “Are you okay?”

Before Ed could remember he had already tried it multiple times before, Ed clapped his hands together to form a transmutation circle within himself. Ed’s eyes widened.

“Father must have taken our Alchemy again…” Ed said as if he hadn’t said the same thing not ten minutes ago. “Wait, no. No. We’re at home.”

While usually the idea of having a home, a genuine real home not just to return to but to live in, Al was getting ever more worried about his older brother’s condition.

“Mr. Anders! We’re in here! Please, Brother’s hurt!”

“Alphonse!” Mr. Anders called back. “Where are you?”

“Kitchen!”

“Okay, stay there, we’re trying to work out a way in.”

Al didn’t bother to say that they didn’t have much choice in the matter. He simply steeled himself, promising himself that soon enough Ed was going to be okay they just needed to wait a little bit longer.

There were more shouts outside now.

With Ed and Al the only Alchemists within Resembool, and even then Alphonse was the only one who still had access to the theory of the science actually having a practical effect, the only way that the other villagers would be able to free them would be to physically start pulling away

If the villagers shifted or pulled the wrong thing at the wrong time, the whole damn house could collapse onto them.

Al had faith in the residents of Resembool though. There was nothing better than the loyalty of country folk when one of their own were in need, and right now Ed needed all the help he could get.

For too long the two of them had thought that they only had each other in this cruel world but that was simply untrue. They had Pinako, Winry, they had the Colonel and Hawkeye and their entire team, and while Hughes may have died they will always have Gracia and Elicia.

They had May now.

Their journey had been a difficult one, but it had highlighted just how many brilliant kind loving people were willing to do whatever it took to help them in the same way that Ed and Al would do whatever it takes to help those that they love too, and even those that they would never know.

But they hadn’t needed to go on that journey to have been loved and cared for, and Mr. Anders and whoever else out there were proving just that. They were working smoothly, talking to Ed and Al the whole time even if Ed’s responses were making less and less sense and Al’s own responses were getting harder to say.

At last one of the smallest of Resembool snuck beneath a beam.

“Louisa!” Al said.

“Are you guys okay?” Louisa asked.

Louisa was barely older than Al had been when they had burned down their house and yet she showed no fear as she approached Al first.

“Go to Ed!” Al said.

Louisa glanced towards Ed, but did not move from Al’s side.

“But…”

“I’m okay, Louisa,” Al said. “Go to Brother.”

Her gaze turned to the ground beneath Al but he refused to follow it. Instead he just used his free hand to point towards Ed.

At last the girl relented.

“Dad,” Louisa called out to Mr. Anders. “They’re trapped. Ed is bleeding from his head but Al is surrounded by-“

“Rubble.” Al said firmly.

Louisa rocked on her heels, obviously uncomfortable.

“Please.” Al mouthed to her.

Louisa was a younger sibling. She would understand.

“Al is surrounded by rubble.” Louisa at last said.

Relief crashed into Al’s chest but he did his best not to lose his breath again.

With Louisa staying by them, constantly updating Mr. Anders and the other villagers if their adjustments outside risked the stability of the inner house. The very fact that it was Louisa in here with them, risking Mr. Anders own life and blood, didn’t surprise Al because he knew that when he himself was her age, there was nothing he wouldn’t do to help someone.

That wasn’t to say that there wasn’t a new edge to Mr. Anders voice as if he fully understood the risk connected to letting his daughter come into here.

The world shifted beneath Al and while he had thought that it was simply from the work they were doing outside, he suddenly realised that it was actually and after shock.

Louisa glanced up at what little remained of the roof, dust raining down on her.

“Louisa,” Al said. “You should go.”

“No.”

As much as Al needed his Brother to be freed, he knew too that neither he nor Ed would want each other to be freed at the cost of someone else’s life.

“Louisa.” Al said.

Louisa pointedly ignored Al, checking over Ed’s forehead.

Ed rose his head a little. His golden eyes were still glazed, but Al could have noticed the concern in them a thousand miles away.

“Go.” Ed said.

The house shook again. While it was no where as strong as it had been when the house first collapsed, given how the stability had been so badly compromised Al and his Brother both knew full well that even the smallest after shock could be impossible to come back from.

At last the shock seemed to pass.

Louisa let off a relieved sigh, her shoulders dipping.

The girl had been scared and yet she had stayed all the same.

“Are you guys still all good?” Mr. Anders called out.

“Yes!” Al said.

“Louisa?”

“I’m good!” She called back.

“We’re almost there.” Mr. Anders promised.

They needed to move faster, Ed’s head was already lowering again as if he was running out of energy but Al forced himself to be patient. In truth Al was getting tired too, but he ignored the exhaustion, telling himself to hold out until he knew for certain that Ed was going to be okay.

For all of Mr. Anders’ assurances, the progress was impossibly slow. Ed’s awareness came in bursts, and sometimes it was almost like he had full knowledge of what was happening. It was those times that Ed begged Louisa to get Al out, get him to safety, while other times he would simply tell Al to go take a rest or one time he even started muttering about alchemical equations that they had recited to one another as kids.

When a space big enough for an adult to get into the kitchen was finally opened up, it wasn’t Mr. Anders that came in first but Mr. Pombell-Anders. He checked over Louisa, confirming that she was indeed okay, before going to assess the weight that lay above Al.

Like Louisa’s had, Mr. Pombell-Anders’ attention was drawn to the ground beneath Al.

“Get Brother out first.” Al said.

When the man looked Al in the eye, Mr. Pombell-Anders recognised the fact that Al fully understands the risk to himself if they were to rescue Ed first. Mr. Pombell-Anders took in a deep breath, held it for a moment, then let it out. Before Mr. Pombell-Anders fully pulled away though, he put a hand onto Al’s shoulder and squeezed it.

Al did his best to give the man a reassuring smile but he felt it falter the moment the villager turned.

“Edward?” Mr. Pombell-Anders said.

“Get Al,” Ed said immediately. “You need to get Al, he’s my little brother, he’s all I have left he’s-“

“Brother.” Al snapped.

Glazed golden eyes stared up at him.

“We’re not alone.” Al said. “We never were. Let them help.”

Ed’s mouth opened to speak, because the asshole could never shut up, but his words failed him.

More villagers at last managed to get inside and now that they had access, they started talking quickly to one another about how best to proceed. One of the women pointed out that they needed to prioritise getting Al out of here first but before Al could even speak, Mr. Pombell-Anders redirected the conversation back to getting Ed.

Al felt his chest warm, knowing the man had his back, but that very same warmth quickly drained away.

Mr. Anders must have seen a look in his husband’s eye because while the others set to helping Ed, Mr. Anders approached Al.

He knelt carefully, shielding Al from Ed’s view.

“Al?” Ed immediately shrieked. “Where’s Al? I need Al, I need to help him, I need-“

“I’m okay, Brother.” Al said loudly.

Mr. Anders did not move out of the way, making sure he kept hidden from Ed how he was checking the pulse on Al’s wrist. He frowned deeply, brow creasing in concern.

“Don’t tell him.” Al mouthed.

Mr. Anders shook his head, in promise or in refusal Al wasn’t sure. But the man did not immediately betray Al’s trust. Instead, he just shifted his hand so that instead of his fingers being on his pulse point, he was simply holding Al’s hand.

Ed gave off a sharp gasp of pain but before Al could comfort him, little Louisa was already talking to him and promising him that everything was going to be okay.

They weren’t alone anymore.

These people, this town, they had always been there even if Al hadn’t always been able to recognise that.

Ed wasn’t alone anymore, and he never will be again.

With Mr. Anders by Al’s side, drawing little circles on the top of it, Mr. Pombell-Anders and the others at last managed to get the last of the rubble off of Ed. Ed had roared in pain, but he covered it quickly, and as soon as they had dressed the worst of his injuries to keep him from bleeding out immediately, Ed was transferred onto a stretcher fashioned from thick sticks and some fabric that they must have made outside.

“No! No get Al, you need to get Al! Al, everything’s okay, I promise, I’m going to get you out of there.”

“I’m fine, Brother.”

“But-“

“Brother.” Al said. “I’m okay.”

While Ed looked desperate to fight, and Al wouldn’t have been all that surprised if his older Brother outright sprung off of the stretcher even though it was very likely that the port on his Automail leg had been badly damaged.

When Ed did try to get up though, his own strength failed him. He reached out to Al, tears in his eyes, as he was carried away. Even once they got Ed outside at last, Al could still hear his familiar voice trying to give Al reassurances even though Ed himself was badly hurt.

With his Brother finally fully gone from the space, Mr. Anders turned to Al.

“That was very brave.” He said. “But are you su-“

“I’m sure.” Al said, without hesitation.

“Alphonse.”

Al bit his wobbling lip. With Ed safe at last outside of the collapsed house, Al felt the exhaustion he had been shoving away come back with a vengeance. His eyes burned but Mr. Anders wiped away the tears.

A ghost of a memory came to Al then, of how his Mother had used to wipe his tears away if Ed had been too mean to him or if he had been spooked by something.

“Once we lift this, it is very possible that we will be lifting the very thing that is keeping you alive.”

“I know.” Al said.

“Alphonse,”

“Ed’s always looked after me. It was my turn. But Mr. Anders, can you promise me something?”

“Anything.” The man said.

“Brother can’t ever know that after everything he has sacrificed to get my body back, that I can’t move my legs.”

When a lump formed in Al’s throat, he struggled to swallow it down. He knew full well that the distinct lack of pain in his legs should be the least of his worries given the situation but the knowledge sank deep into his very soul.

“Thank you.” Al said.

“What for?”

“Helping my Brother.” Al said simply. “Both now. And when we were kids. I don’t think we ever thanked you for coming to Mom’s funeral.”

“Alphonse…”

“If I die,” Al said before his courage left him fully. “Can you tell Brother that I’m sorry? But that I don’t regret it?”

Mr. Anders sighed. Then, just like his husband had, he squeezed Al’s shoulder gently.

“Of course.” Mr. Anders said. “But it won’t come to that.”

There was mess of noises from the villagers picking their way back through the house again and while Al knew what was to come, he couldn’t help but yearn for one more day, one more minute, one more moment.

He wasn’t ready.

He wasn’t ready, he wasn’t, he just, he, they were approaching and, and, and, and he wasn’t ready.

“Wait!”

“Alphonse.” Mr. Anders said softly. “You don’t have any more time.”

Al bit his lip hard, squeezing his eyes shut.

“Sweetheart,” He heard Miss Joan say, and he thought that it was her that cupped his cheek. “It’s going to be alright.”

Forcing himself to breathe, he steeled himself. Then, Al’s eyes shot open again.

“WInry and Granny,” Al said.

“They’re already on their way, Love.” Miss Joan said.

“Okay… Okay. Okay, it’s going to be okay.” Al said, his voice shaking. “But even if it’s not, Brother is safe.”

“Edward is safe.” Mr. Anders confirmed.

“And Louisa?” Al said. “She’s only little.”

She was as old as Al had been when he and Ed had burned down their house but that just meant that Al wanted to protect her even more so.

“She’s outside with Donny.” Mr. Anders said.

Al suddenly wanted to hug Elysia even though she was so far away. Hell, he wanted to hug all those he had met over their journey. But right now Louisa was safe and that was important.

Ed was safe, and that was important too.

Mr. Anders had said that Al had ran out of time but that fact didn’t seem all that important, not compared to the feeling of warmth that bloomed within him knowing that these people were going to help Ed through whatever happens next.

He breathed in, and out.

In, and out.

The blood had long since cooled beneath him, the lack of feeling in his legs barely even noticeable anymore.

Al breathed and he breathed and he breathed.

Then, he grinned, and nodded that he was ready.

“You’re doing it again,”

“I am not!”

“Ed,” Winry crossed her arms tightly. “If you keep hovering over him like that, he’s not going to wake up just to spite you.”

“Oh please,” Ed huffed.

He was standing above Al’s bed, that was hardly hovering.

Then again, Ed’s leg was struggling to keep the weight of his whole body up so maybe he was perhaps kind of sort of hovering just a little bit, but that was none of Winry’s business.

She should just be satisfied with the fact that he was leaning on a crutch, even though he very much didn’t need one, she could get off of his ass about hovering over his baby brother given everything that had happened. The very same baby brother that Ed had already sworn at a dozen times, knowing full well that in his sleep he might even be able to hear some of it, because why the fuck had he not said anything to Ed about just how bad his condition was?

“Sit down you idiot,” Winry said. “If you break your port even more than it-“

Ed waved her off.

Winry tilted her head, eyes gleaming with an unspoken dare to keep testing her.

He ignored her, because he could have sworn that Al’s finger just twitched. When nothing happened even after several more moments, Ed wondered if he had just imagined it. In truth his head still hurt like a motherfucker but he was hardly going to tell Winry that, even if things felt a little wobbly.

And besides, a sore head was nothing compared to Al’s severe bleeding and shattered hip.

“Al?” Ed said. “Hey Al, wake up already. Al.”

“Ed,” Winry’s tone had changed.

Ed twisted, his knee immediately buckling but before he could fully collapse, Winry was already setting him down onto the chair behind him. He went to stand up again, if only to spite her, but then Ed stopped. Winry’s expression was tight, her hands still on his shoulders.

“Winry?” He said.

Winry’s lip wobbled, and for an awful moment he thought that she might start crying. An old promise hit him straight in the chest, but she managed to swallow roughly and get a hold of whatever it was she was thinking about.

“Let him rest.” Winry said.

“Well obviously,” Ed scoffed. “But he’s the idiot who-”

There was that tightness in her expression again and Ed dipped his shoulders.

Glancing around, Ed made sure that they were alone. When he confirmed that it was indeed just the three of them, he sighed deeply.

“I don’t like Al being here again.” He admitted.

While Ed had been told that their initial treatment had been done by a doctor who was thankfully just a town over from Resembool, when it became the extent of Al’s injuries was fully realised they had been transferred into Central instead.

Ed didn’t remember the journey very well, his concussion messing with not just his memories of everything that had happened in the Earthquake but it had also rendered him little more than an idiot who kept vomiting into a bucket with Winry by his side holding his hair back.

This hospital was all too familiar, given it was where Al had stayed when he had first gotten his body back. Al had been weak, weaker even compared to how he was now, and Ed didn’t like to think about it too hard.

Back then Ed had been hurt too, his own newly returned arm having absorbed some of the the metal that had been a part of his Automail, but just like now he could hardly care about his own condition when his brother was laying there in front of him looking so small.

“I don’t like this either.” Winry said. “But it’s what you both need right now.”

“I’m fine, Winry.” Ed huffed.

A single quirk of Winry's brow and Ed found himself rolling his eyes. Then he tugged her down onto his lap, holding her close. The movement had felt natural, even if his face suddenly burned hot at the realisation of not only what he had done, but the fact that she had so naturally wrapped her arm around him.

They were still working out them, just another one of the changes that has happened since their journey had at last ended. Ed knew that he loved her, truely and completely, and they had agreed that they would exchange their entire selves to the other, but it hadn’t been complete smooth sailing.

At the end of the day, Ed was still Ed and Winry was still Winry. He would do something dumb, she would start shouting at him, but then Ed would have a hard day and she would make sure that he didn’t feel so alone or she would struggle juggling all the tasks that she forced onto herself and he would make sure that she was able to step back a little.

They simply sat there for a little while and Ed found himself watching Al’s slow breaths, Winry’s warm arm around him making Ed feel a little more steady.

“He lied to me.” Ed mumbled.

Winry shifted a little. She didn’t ask, but she didn’t need to ask either. She understood Ed and Al, just like how they understood her.

“He was just trying to protect you.” Winry said.

“He didn’t need to do that.” Ed said.

“Yes.” Winry said. “He did.”

“I can handle shit.” Ed said, trying to keep his voice steady. “I’m not some kid.”

“No,” Winry allowed. “But you are a Brother. Al just wanted to keep his Brother safe, the same way that you’ve kept him safe all these years.”

Ed didn’t let the old familiar guilt sink into his chest, the guilt that reminded him that if it hadn’t been for Ed’s pride and foolishness Al would have never lost his body in the first place. Al had told him time and again that Al had full awareness of what was at stake, but it didn’t make it easy to accept it.

Al’s hand curled.

In an instant Winry was up and off Ed’s lap, though she placed a hand on Ed’s elbow as his Automail leg buckled when he stood.

Without comment Winry lead him to Al’s side, though she did force him to sit on the edge of the bed.

“Al?”

Al hummed.

“Al, can you hear me?”

“Given that you’re shouting…” Al’s voice was barely a whisper. “Yes.”

“Al!”

Al’s breath caught as Ed threw himself on top of his Brother, and he sheepishly pulled back with an apology.

At last Al’s eyes cracked open, though it took a little while before he was fully capable of keeping them open. He readjusted, but before Ed could ask a thousand questions about his pain levels and wether he was okay or not, Winry set a hand on Ed’s shoulder, reminding him to take it easy on Al.

“Winry?” Al said slowly. “Winry! The vase, I’m sorry, I think I saw it break, Ed tried to save it but-“

Winry took Al’s hand into her own, and Ed vaguely remembered that he himself had mentioned the vase in between bouts of awareness on the transfer to Central Hospital.

“It’s just a vase.” Winry said.

“But it was from your Parents.”

“They would have just been happy that you guys are okay.” Winry assured him.

Al seemed unconvinced, and to be honest Ed still felt guilty for not having been able to save it. He and Al had burned everything that their Mother had owned, having needed final proof that they were moving on from that chapter of their lives, but he now sometimes missed the old nesting dolls she had. He missed the dresses she had worn too, only able to remember how some of them felt more so than how they looked when he hugged her.

“It’s okay, Al,” Winry said.

Then the full realisation must have hit Al.

“The house.” He said. “The whole house, it-it- it was your home.”

Al’s chest heaved, his eyes brimming with tears.

Ed rushed to hush him.

While it had been a choice to destroy their house, no one had ever wanted Winry’s house to be damaged let alone to collapse entirely.

“Home is more than a house.” Winry said. “Home is where we’re together, okay?”

“Winry’s right.” Ed said.

Al seemed hesitant, the ghost of tears still gleaming in his eyes, but he nodded all the same.

“What about the others in Resembool? Are they okay?”

“There was some damage,” Winry said. “But everyone’s okay, and they sent their love.”

Al took in a shuddering breath, then nodded.

His eyes widened then and Ed was worried that he was in pain but then Al stretched out his legs and he grinned brightly.

“I can move!”

“Why.” Ed said lowly. “The fuck, did you just say it like it was a surprise?”

The little bastard just waved him off even though there was no way in hell Ed was going to drop a sentence like that without knowing what would have caused Al to be so surprised that he could move his legs.

Al had only just gotten his body back, and if he was going to go and get it destroyed immediately than Ed would be more than happy to help him along.

He ruffled Al’s hair, revelling in his Brothers laugh, beyond relieved that his family was right here with him.