I walk with my hands clenched by my side, playing with the ties that hold the cloth to my hips. I watch my feet, step by step, and smile unnoticeably. I call over my shoulder, something about how he is so slow. He laughs and calls back that I'm just too tall to slow down. I turn around then, seeing him wave his metal arm with enthusiasm. I notice that his other hand is still behind his back, but say nothing of the matter as he calls out that I should try living at his height for a day. Jokingly, I crouch down to his height. I wave playfully, then gasping as he shoves something in my face.

"Meow," It purrs, pawing at my armor softly. I take it in my hands, glancing to my brother around the soft cat. He lowers his head, running a hand through his blond locks as he mumbles that he wanted to give me something for my birthday. It's then that I remember what day it is. I stare at the white and tan cat with shock, not noticing as Ed starts to walk off. The cat smiles up at me, purring even more as I rub behind her ears.

I call back to my brother that it was the best present he could ever give me. He shouts back that it's not, and that eventually he'll get me my body back. He says that he promises to get it back, and that then he would never have to give me another gift. I laugh, too flustered at his kindness to say anything for a moment. Then, I call back that he would anyway, because I know I'll still but him things.

His steps stop and I nearly run into the back of him. I can tell I caught him off guard with something, so I wait patiently. He then says that I'm probably right, that I mean too much to him for him to ever let go of me.

I fall into step with him as the shock wears off and we continue down the busy city street.

"Hey, Al, just so you know, I'd give the world to you if I could,"

I duck out of the way just as Ed shouts for me to do so. I call back that I can look out for myself, and that he should be more concerned with his perishable body. He gives me a glare, and I know I've struck a sensitive nerve. I sigh, slapping my hands together and aiming for our target. Confused by our bickering, he had stopped. As soon as I started in again, Ed did as well, catching the criminal off guard. We both capture him in a rock cage, then calling for the police to come and get him.

Standing in front of the cage, we start to argue again. He says that I shouldn't have said that, but I just retort with the fact that what I said was true. He says that although that may be true, I shouldn't accept it. I reply that I have to, otherwise I would not be accepting myself. He huffs, crossing his arms over his chest. Absently, I notice how cute he looks when his lip is pouted out that way.

Then he says that I shouldn't have to accept a body like this and that it's all his fault anyway. His eyes have gone distant again, and now I know I've done it. I know I've hurt him somehow.

I call him Nii-san, say that I'm sorry and that I should have never said that anyway. I say that I'm sorry, and then that it was my fault too. I say that mother would have blamed us both, scolding us with that rare frown that we both hated so much. He smiles idly, his arms uncrossing and falling to his side. He looks to the ground, saying that we're both idiots, aren't we? I agree, just as he suddenly jumps on my back. I laugh, but don't complain.

"When'd you get so big, Al?"

We're both back in our rarely used military apartment. Tabby, my well loved and battered cat, is sitting in the window and bathing in the sun. Ed is sitting in an armchair, a book in his hand and his hair loose around his shoulders. He looks so natural in this pose, like it was something he was made to do – read. I sit across the room on the bed, a book in my hand as well. I'm in the same position, but I note how he makes it graceful. He makes the position flow, makes it natural. I'm just a block of metal trying to do the same.

He suddenly says my name, then saying that I shouldn't think so hard about whatever is on my mind. I let a barely audible gasp escape my soul, interested in how he can still read me so easily even though I'm metal. I say back that I wasn't thinking that hard, but then he says that I always was the terrible liar. His eyes never leave the book, as if this is just a side-conversation for him. My eyes are glued on him, drinking in how the light catches his hair just perfectly, and still marveling at how he can make such a tangle pose look wonderful – make it look beautiful.

He says that I should get back to the book, says that it might be the one with a clue as to how to get our bodies back. I stutter out that I didn't think it would, that it was just something about Tabby. He lets his eyes lift from the pages, glaring over to me with a secret meaning in his eyes.

"Maybe someday you'll get what I mean, Al,"

And so my eyes fall back to the words on the page.

Ed is trapped against the rock with a nail through his flesh arm and his Automail ripped out of his other. I sit, crumbled and broken, yards away where I can do nothing. I watch as Father saunters closer to my brother, shouting out Nii-san, Nii-san, Nii-san, over and over again. I shout, but I can't do anything. Then another crack rings through my body nearing the seal by mere inches.

I tell Mei that I need her to help me with something. She looks at me with childish eyes, tears and blood mixed. I tell her what I need, then falling onto my back.

His voice rings in my head as he realizes what I'm about to do. I ignore him, only listening when he calls my name. Al, Al, Alphonse he says. I want that to be my last memory, of him calling for me. Although, I absently wish that he would say it with happiness in his voice.

Maybe when I get back from the other side then, Nii-san.

Light pierces my eyes as I open them to stare ahead at the blue sky. At first I notice how brutally painful it is to move, but then I remember what that means. I glance down at myself, realizing that all I see is skin and bone. Then, I'm being lifted as I hold onto the warm hand of my father. Ed's arm is around my back, holding me up. I notice then how it's his would-be Automail arm, but that now it's made of flesh and blood. Why does his touch feel so much warmer and safer that dad's? How come I want more of his touch than any others?

Mei comes rushing into my chest, sobbing about how she was so sorry. Then I apologize, telling her that it wasn't her fault and that I was the one who made her do that. I hear Ed mumble some side comment about how stupid I could get. As soon as Mei stops and pulls away, Ed wraps his arm around my waist and hoists me to my feet. I gasp, wondering what the weird feeling against my feet is. Ed tells me that it's just grass, and then I laugh. I laugh as everyone pulls me into a hug and then as everyone's warmth wears off onto me. I laugh as I can feel their warmth, and then I laugh because I can feel my jaw getting tired. Then, that turns into laughter about how now I'm hungry.

And all that time, Ed laughs with me and never leaves my side. His arm never once leaves my waist, or my shoulders, or my torso. We start to walk out of the ruins of the courtyard, only to be greeted by Lin. I smile and laugh, and then he and Ed make a promise. Lin bends down, promising that the last philosopher's stone wouldn't go to waste, and that Mei was welcome in on the bits he had to share. Then Ed and I go on our way to the hospital, at which point Ed mutters something about the damned hospital food.

"I'll het Winry to come and make you Gracia's apple pie, okay?"

So I nod and lean into his arms, tired already from all the movement my weak body has done. Ed sighs, swinging me up into his arms even if one of them is so much weaker. He doesn't complain the whole way to the hospital, and even logic refuses to work with the fact that we should call for a car. He says that he wants to walk through the streets and tell everyone that we did it. That we got our bodies back, and that I was his little brother, the one in his arms. He says that he wants to flaunt me to the world, even if I am a bit tired and a bit heavy. He says that this is his turn to make sure that I get every last human experience there is to offer.

He says that he loves me, and that nothing will ever change that.

I'm still in the hospital, being monitored for malnourishment. Ed has never left, and if he does, it's to smuggle some good food in for me. I smile every time, and then we sit and laugh together. Today was no different, although this time he brought in some of my favorite pastry ever. Cupcakes! I laugh and smile as I down the iced objects, looking up to him only to see that he is leaning over me, his face inches from my own.

He says that I've got icing on the side of my mouth. I nod, not saying anything more because I can't. I've lost the ability to think. Then he says that he should probably get it for me, so I nod again, my eyes locking with his. He closes in, whispering that this is so wrong. I whisper back, finally able to find my voice, that I don't care. I say that this is perfect for me, and that he's just cleaning up the mess that I made. He cracks a smirk, his lips pressing gently against my own.

For a second, I thought I had died again. I figured that anything that feels this right and good was meant to be a sign that I was in fact dead again. But then I start to kiss back and realize I still have control of my body. He reaches behind my head, knotting his fingers in my long hair. I do the same; with a bit more effort of fighting past the IV's and cords.

He pulls away, then kissing the side of my mouth where the icing was. He kisses down to my neck, the erratic beeping of the monitor making him chuckle at my reaction. He pulls away, stroking my cheek gently. He says that I shouldn't have reacted that way, but then that he had too. I smile, laughing as I peck his lips again quickly. I say that it was meant to be, and that I didn't care if the whole world called us wrong or freaks. I say that I want to be with him forever, and that maybe a secret relationship would be neat. He laughs, leaning in to kiss me again.

"You know I'd still give you the world, right?"

And I laugh, nodding as our lips mash together. He pulls away again, and I whisper that this is one human experience that I will never forget. He laughs, then cursing that Damn right I better not. So, I smile and say back that I would give him the world too. That I would give him anything there was to be offered, but would he please kiss me again.

"Seems this is the part of the world you want most, huh Al?"

I laugh and say to him that to me, he is my world.