Set after Brotherhood.

Alphonse woke (woke!) rather abruptly and unpleasantly, despite his excitement at actually being able to wake. It appeared one beam of sunlight had made it through a crack in the curtains, shining directly into his face, and while he did enjoy the sensation of the warmth (warmth!) on his face, the rude awakening was far less pleasant.

He groaned and scrunched his eyes closed, turning his head. The persistent light was not so easily ignored. The rising sun was at just the right angle that it's far reaching light seemed inescapable.

'Dammit Ed, thought I told you to close the curtains all the way last night.' He rolled over, with the invidious light to his back, determined to get back to sleep and enjoy it.

The birds twittered loudly. He remembered when he'd discovered the nest of robins outside the window of the yellow house. At the time he'd been delighted. The birds were far less exciting now. He rolled onto his back and sighed. It appeared there would be no going back to sleep for him.

With another sigh he sat up. Irritated as he was, he couldn't help but smile as he stretched his muscles, stiff from sleep. Almost two months in his own skin and he still felt like he was getting used to it.

He turned his head, surprised to find his brother's bed empty. 'Strange, Ed usually hates waking up early.' With one final stretch Alphonse got out of bed, his toes curling against the cool floor, but even that only widened his grin. Walking across the room he threw the curtains back from the window, sighing to himself.

'I should probably see what's got him up so early. I hope it wasn't another nightmare, he hasn't had one for a while.' He slowly descended the stairs, reveling in the pull of each atrophied muscle.

"Ed?" He called as he arrived at the bottom of the staircase.

"In the kitchen!" Al smiled. 'I really hope Brother isn't trying to cook.' He made a face, recalling the last time Edward had tried his hand at the culinary arts. In short, it was a good thing he was so talented with alchemy. The short haired blond hobbled in the direction his brother's voice had come from.

"Morning Brother! What are you doing up so-" He cut himself off as he stepped into the room and Ed came into view. "What are you doing?" Edward was standing at the sink with his hair down and over his shoulder, scissors poised.

"Well you see Al, these shiny things I have hear are called scissors, and you use them to cut things-"

"You know that's not what I meant." The younger crossed his arms. "Why are you cutting your hair?" With a sigh Edward set the sharp instrument on the counter and turned to lean against it.

"It's kinda embarrassing actually." Que the downwards look and awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. Alphonse couldn't help but to smile a little, he knew his brother and his habits all too well.

"So embarrassing that you can't even tell me?"

"No, no, it's nothing that bad, it's just ... embarrassing." He sighed and looked up. "When we were researching, trying to..." They each let the silence hold before the elder continued.

"Yeah, anyway. I remember reading this weird Xingese book, full of all this religious bullshit and the like."

"C'mon Brother, some people actually believe that stuff." He made a 'Pfft' noise and rolled his eyes.

"Yeah whatever, anyway. I just remember this really weird tradition... thing that kinda stuck with me." Alphonse cocked his head to the side in a silent question, so glad he was now able to communicate through body language. His brother let put a large puff of air before speaking again.

"Well you know how Xingese all usually have long hair, even the guys?"

"Well, yeah."

"This book said that they believed having longer hair would bring you good fortune, so.." Al blinked.

"Wait, so-" His brother smiled and looked towards the ceiling.

"If I was willing to spend years of my life looking for a myth, why wouldn't I give some old foreign wives tale a try?" Ed continued to stare up at the ceiling, refusing to look at him. He flinched in surprise when he felt his younger brother's arms winding around him.

"Your the best, Brother," he said, his voice thick with emotion, and how glad he was that he could even express these emotions he was feeling. Ed chuckled slightly.

"Quit saying embarrassing things," he said as he slowly returned the hug. Al couldn't help but to smile as he felt the warmth of his brother's arms around his back.

"It's not embarrassing if it's true." He pulled away. "I don't think you should cut your hair though." He ran his fingers through the soft blond strands. "It suits you." Ed laughed outright at this.

"Whatever you say little bro." He ruffled the younger's hair before pulling his own back into a pony tail.

"Are you cooking down there?" A very familiar voice called from the second story. "I swear to god Edward if you light my curtains on fire again I will beat you within an inch of your life." Alphonse laughed quietly to himself as his brother shuddered, thoroughly enjoying the light feel in his chest that came along with it.

"It was not that bad! I put them out quickly didn't I? And you need to quit beating me with that damn wrench! Brain cells don't come back once they're gone you know!" Alphonse let a grin stretch across his face (oh how he loved having a face, the ability to emote) as the blonde girl stuck her head down the stairs to continue the argument.

Al just sat to the side and watched them bicker, it was a position he was accustom to taking, though it was made all the more enjoyable when he was hearing it through ears of his own. He couldn't help the feeling of joy blossoming in his chest. Here he was, in a body of his own, surrounded by the people he loves. All seemed right with the world. He couldn't help but think it was about time the universe gave them a break anyway.

AN: I've actually been working on this since before i posted ... whatever the last thing I posted was /shot

EXCUSES FOR THE INEXCUSABLE AMOUNT OF TIME IT TOOK ME TO ACTUALLY WRITE THIS: Various video games, Primo for this(youtube /watch?v=y-UgyFdOjHU), School starting, Storm knocking out my power, accidentally ripping off one of my toenails, school starting, and then Ohio randomly deciding to be it's bipolar self, and ... I've kinda been cheating on FMA ... with Durarara ... I'M SORRY I CAN'T HELP IT /guilt. Please don't lynch me.