A/N: This is an idea that has been bugging me for a while. I loved the last episode of Brotherhood, the parts with Ed and Al most of all, and in the scene with them returning to Resembool, I kept wondering about Al's condition, his haircut, and the new clothes they were wearing. Thus, this takes place four days after Episode 63 of FMA: Brotherhood, assuming the boys stayed in Central for a few weeks or so to gather their bearings.

Also, the quotation at the beginning was actually heard while writing this, and it was so serendipitous that I just had to include it here! The ones at the end, too, are merely things thought of while writing this and felt were relevant (the first referring to the last line and the brothers' love for each other, and the second referencing what the brothers had to go through for each other and how much better and closer they are for all of it).

All that being said, let me explain something: I absolutely love the relationship between Ed and Al as best friends and brothers! It's one of the most beautiful relationships I've ever seen in anything, and I can't get enough of it! (For those who wish to view this as otherwise, however, I will not object.) Hopefully, this fic demonstrates how close they are while still keeping them in character. I did my best, so let's hope it paid off!

Hope you enjoy this fic!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Hiromu Arakawa does, as well as anyone affiliated.

"It's strange… We've been right beside each other all this time, but I can't remember what your skin feels like or how you smell…"
~Alphonse Elric to Edward Elric;
FMA, Episode 6: 'The Alchemy Exam'

After All

"Hey, Al!"

The blond snaps up, catching his brother's gaze from the other side of the coat-rack. The elder of the two is smiling impishly, holding up a dark red jacket resembling Ed's brighter one, the black Flamel symbol emblazoned proudly on its back.

Alphonse can't help the smile that comes to his face. "Looks like luck is on our side today, brother!"

If possible, Ed's beam widens. "You bet!" Coming around to the younger boy's side, he sees the empty purchase-basket hanging from his leaning brace-arm and frowns. "Hey, haven't you found anything yet? At this rate, we'll still be here when they open up shop tomorrow!"

Al steals an amused, almost soft glance at Ed before turning slowly to the shirt-rack behind them.

"This is the first time I've gotten to wear real clothes in years, brother, let alone buy them brand-new." And truly, the boy is taking his time with each garment he touches, breathing deeply as if to take them all in and handling the soft cloth with a reverence Ed can never hope to understand. "It's not something I want to rush."

As if to add to the already speech-stealing effect, the sentimental expression Al bears is one his sibling hasn't seen since they were kids, since their first night alone on the island where Teacher left them to train. It's scared, sad, and yet utterly serene-content all wrapped into one.

Granted, Al's only had his body back for four days, and these kinds of feelings are more than normal after the five years he's been without it. Ed, too, is making the necessary adjustments to having his right arm back.

But in the end, his challenges are nothing compared with Al's.

The reason they're here in the first place is a result of one of those drawbacks. He would have continued to borrow Ed's clothes until his own were really needed, but it had become apparent that they were just too big for his emaciated frame.

He'd been working hard to get his body mass back up, though, eating as much as possible whenever he felt he could. But that train was slow-going, and Ed wasn't about to let his brother force himself sick.

The thing that worries Ed the most, however, is the shape of the fifteen-year-old's muscles. Being shut up in the Gate for so long sapped Al of virtually all the strength his body once had…explaining with great and aching clarity the arm-brace and more than a few fresh bruises. Al's been having trouble getting around, barely able to go a couple of steps without stumbling or outright falling.

Just this morning, in fact, Al had gotten frustrated with himself for falling while getting out of the shower, for only managing a breakfast barely the size of his palm.

But Ed…Ed had been right there, had helped him up and supported him while still allowing the formerly-armored teen to retain his dignity.

"We'll get there one day, Al," the former Fullmetal Alchemist had said, one strong hand gripping the child's shoulder. "We'll make whatever progress we can each day, and you'll be back to your old self before you know it. So don't worry about it so much, okay?"

And though it's pained him to no end to see his little brother like this, Edward knows neither of them would have it any other way.

There are no regrets.

Besides, in the long-and-short-term scheme of things, they're happy.

And that is all Edward Elric (Alphonse Elric) has ever wanted for his beloved brother.

Actually, come to think of it, Al's been this way all day—smiling gently and watching everything with a calm, almost-lazy air, relishing in things most everyday people take for granted.

Yet, all the same, Ed can sense that there is something underneath this relief and joy, something that will come out into the open sooner or later.

In all honesty, though, it doesn't matter which it is. Doesn't matter when. Because no matter the hour, the place, the what or who or what-the-hell-ever, Edward Elric will be there for his little brother till the day he dies.

A loving hand comes to rest on the younger's head then, ruffling his hair affectionately. The recipient's surprised eyes soften as they flick to meet his elder sibling's.

"I hear you, Al. Go ahead and take your time. I'm not goin' anywhere."

The fifteen-year-old's beam practically blinds in reaching up to grasp the hand atop his head and squeeze.

"Thanks, brother."

When they finally return to their apartment in Central hours later, Al asks a particular favor of his big brother.

"A haircut?" Ed repeats questioningly with one eyebrow cocked, reaching out to toy with one of Alphonse's stray golden strands while he mulls it over. Considering everything else they've had going on, he hasn't even questioned the state of the formerly-metal boy's hair… Finally, an elfin grin and matching chuckle, a light clap to his brother's back. "I'd say you're overdue enough! Let's do it!"

Minutes later, everything is ready. Al sits on one of their kitchen chairs in front, a spare towel wrapped around him to keep any misguided hair from falling on him, Ed standing behind with scissors, comb, and spray bottle at his disposal.

Wetting the ends of the dirty-blonde hair and combing steadily through it, Ed holds a good section of the long, uneven tresses between two fingers as the scissors wait hungrily in his opposite hand.

Just as he is about to make the first cut, however, he remembers something important and stops. After a minute of not hearing or feeling anything except his brother's warm breath, Alphonse speaks up. "Brother?"

In answer, the sixteen-year-old playfully braces his free hand on the chair and leans forward to offer the younger boy a wide, toothy grin. "I forgot to ask, Al: how do you want it?"

And all at once, Alphonse goes quiet.

The little brother in Al doesn't intend to worry Ed, but when he smiles it's small and sad, and his eyes glaze over halfway like he's somehow stuck between this world and another. The grounding hold on his hair relinquishes, that same protective hand lays on the back of his neck.

"Just—just like Mom used to do it…?" he requests quietly, voice cracking a bit at the end. "Remember?" This that makes it past his suddenly-dry lips is definitely his own voice, but some version between missing-and-adoring. He doesn't want to go too far, to reopen any old wounds. Talking about Mom both renews and kills them both. "…Ed?"

His elder brother – his loving, selfless, beautiful best friend – merely breathes deeply and sighs through his nose, eyes closed and smiling half-sadly, half-happily in remembrance. Peering a little closer now, Al can swear he sees tiny teardrops clinging to Ed's eyelashes.

His attention shifts, though, when a hand burrows into his hair and a kiss is pressed between the fingers and thumb.

A quiet, reverent "How could I forget?" is all a softly-smiling Edward manages into Alphonse's hair in wake of all of this. A warm smile is returned in kind.

And with that, the process begins.

The light snip! of the scissors behind his head, the odd tickly sensation of release as the hair falls to the floor, the feel of his brother's warm hands brushing the back of his neck and head from time to time…

It's all so soothing somehow, so wonderful, and Alphonse cannot for the life of him imagine a better life than this.

Several minutes pass, and the comfortable silence that settles is broken when Ed is just finishing the last shoulder-length stretch.

"You sure you don't want to look like your big brother, huh?" Ed pokes teasingly, sighing dramatically a second later. "Such a shame. And we Elrics have a hair-reputation to uphold, too. Ah, well…"

Somewhere in that jest Hohenheim resides, Al knows, but Ed will never admit to that unless it's to make fun of their Father. Even so, the fifteen-year-old laughs along with his dear companion.

"It's not that, brother," Al assures, smiling brightly and further relaxing into his chair. "I'm just choosing this because it's what I remember, what I'm used to from back then. Maybe someday I'll have long hair like you," he winks though his brother can't see it and raises one hand to give the 'A-okay,' "but until then, this is how I'll be."

Ed nods, beaming tenderly. "Whatever makes you happy, Alphonse."

More time passes peacefully until at last there is the final snip! at the nape of the younger's neck.

"C-can I see how I look now, brother?" Al asks, nervous for the first time since being back in the flesh. He turns around.

Almost immediately, Ed's eyes widen and tears threaten.

Just a little under a week ago was the first time he'd truly seen his younger sibling in five years—but this, seeing Al look now just the way he did when he was ten…!

"Edward!"

The sixteen-year-old jumps at the call of his name, but understands upon coming back to see his brother's worried face. Wiping his cheeks to catch the small number of escaped tears, he smiles a little, reassuringly, and clears his throat.

"Sorry, Al. Guess you just caught me by surprise there."

Al, for his part, just offers a kind grin and a quiet, patient hum. He blinks, and when he opens his eyes Ed is standing in front of him with an outstretched hand. Gratefully accepting the help, Al lets his brother gingerly lift him to his feet and wrap one arm around his waist to steady him as they begin the walk to Alphonse's bedroom.

Especially after long intervals of idleness, the ill child's reduced muscles have a tendency to fail him, and this trip is a no-exception rough one. But Ed is sure to catch him every time Al's legs give out completely, waiting with him until he feels he can make it, and they arrive at long last.

The mirror before them is big enough. Long, rectangular, and covering a good portion of the wall above the dresser to the left of the bed, it shows far more than is actually necessary.

In this instance, however, the brothers couldn't care less.

They sit down on the bed together, side-by-side, hand-in-hand, and look into the mirror. For them, it's like the past is calling out to them, pulling them back into a memory.

Then, all at once:

The hand holding Ed's tightens painfully;

A strangled sob;

The first of many tears;

And it seems that Alphonse Elric can take no more.

"Alphonse!" Ed whispers forcibly quietly, on his knees now before the boy, captured hand returning the fierce grip with a gentler one while his unbound hand grasps the harshly-clenched fist on his brother's thigh.

"Alphonse, you have to tell me," his voice is firmer now, though it audibly shakes when some of the hot tears fall and splash on his hands and the fifteen-year-old begins trembling and sobbing, "are you in pain? Can I do something? Anything?"

When he gets no answer apart from a shake of the head and a few stifled sob-gasps, Ed reaches up to cup the child's cheek, wiping away what tears he can. Truly, he wants to keep a vigilant eye on his brother and look away all at the same time. Seeing him like this…he doesn't remember it hurting so much when they were kids. The only other time he can recall Al being this upset was during and after their Mom's funeral, following the news about Winry's parents' deaths being a close second.

But—but at least then Ed knew why. Now, he—he doesn't even know that much, and it scares him.

Flat on his back with two armfuls of little brother later, he thinks he's about to find out.

"I missed you, Ed!" Al sobs, desperately burying his head in his big brother's chest, the arms around his neck nearly squeezing the breath from Ed's lungs. "I missed you!"

Right hand entangling in Ed's hair and left stretching to the opposite shoulder to gather a fistful of his sibling's trademark jacket, he breathes as deeply as he is able through the lump in his throat.

"I—I couldn't feel you, couldn't smell you! F-for all that time, you were right there with me, but I couldn't tell! I—I couldn't—" he coughs here, choking on his own tears and breaking into a fresh bout of sobs against his will even as Ed kisses his temple sacredly; hugging the boy to him with all the strength he has, Ed pushes them up into a sitting position and carefully turns them around to lean back against the bed, silently pleading with whatever might be out there to help him get his brother through this, "—r-remember your warmth, brother! Th-that's what I missed the most, not taste or touch or smell! I forgot how warm you were!"

And Ed, although he will never know the extent of what Al had to go through without feeling, will never know what it was like to be more-than-less separated from the person that meant the most to him in his life, there is one thing he has always known and will continue to know for as long as he lives and ever after:

The love he has for his little brother overpowers everything-and-all.

In the midst of this, a strong smile blooms.

"If that's the case," Ed utters softly, stroking the child's now-short hair in an age-old effort to soothe, "then you'll never have to miss it again. I'm not going anywhere, Al, not ever. Not until you're ready." He tightens his hold, leaning down a bit to shakily whisper in the younger teen's ear. "I have a confession, too, brother-mine. I—" his breath catches here, but he takes a moment to steel himself before trying again, "—I forgot your warmth, too."

He closes his eyes tightly and bites his quivering bottom lip, and not an instant later a loving thumb brushes an unknowingly-escaped tear from his cheek. Edward opens his golden orbs to find his brother looking up at him, and the former Fullmetal Alchemist beams devotedly before wiping the child's face with his sleeve.

Grinning in kind, Alphonse returns the favor and ends by leaning up to kiss his brother's forehead. Snuggling into his best friend once more, Al sighs contentedly as Ed rests his forehead on top of Alphonse's head.

"I love you, Al."

On both sides:

A smile;

A squeeze;

An ever closer shift.

"I love you, too, Ed."

-Always and forever.-

"In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one and only truth."~ Alphonse Elric, FMA

"There's no such thing as a painless lesson. They just don't exist. Sacrifices are necessary. You can't gain anything without losing something first. Although, if you can endure that pain and walk away from it, you'll find that you now have a heart strong enough to overcome any obstacle. Yeah… A heart made fullmetal."~Edward Elric, FMA: Brotherhood

A/N: This is my first FMA fic (and Brotherhood is the only one I've seen so far - my friend was practically begging me to watch it - though I'm making my way through the original), so if I got anything wrong, I apologize and ask you to please correct me! That goes for grammar and spelling, too; I'm pretty sure I got everything, but I always tend to miss something...! XD

Thanks so much for reading, as always!