"Al? Do you remember me?"
Alphonse Elric looked up from the kitten he was playing with into the face of a teenage girl. This girl had long, light blond hair, big blue eyes, and looked around fifteen or sixteen. Al had never seen this girl before in his life. He blinked, then asked in a dubious voice, "No... Should I?"
The girl sighed. "I guess not," she murmured, more to herself than Al. She turned back to him, the saddest expression on her face. "Do you remember your brother? Edward?"
Al furrowed his eyebrows. This girl was strange; why was she asking a complete stranger all these questions? "Um, my name is Alphonse, not Edward. And I'm sorry, but I don't have a brother." He smiled at her politely. "What's your name, by the way?"
The girl's shoulders slumped, and if she had looked sad before, it was nothing compared to what she looked like now. Her entire demeanor screamed despair and moroseness. "You...don't remember him," she muttered under her breath. The girl held her head in her hands then, and her whole body shook, seemingly to her very core.
Al reached a hand out to help the girl, although he wasn't sure what to do. "Excuse me? Miss?" he called. "Do you need help?"
The girl was very still for moment, then she sighed and righted herself, removing her hands from her face. "No, thank you. I'm fine." She looked at him again, and she seemed to be over her brief breakdown. Or was her calm demeanor just a facade?
"That's good," Al said fervently. He didn't like seeing girls in pain-- or anyone for that matter. "Oh, by the way, what did you say your name was, miss?"
The girl smiled sadly. "I didn't tell you my name, but I will. It's Winry."
"Winry...?" Al had the sudden impression that he had met this girl before. But he couldn't remember where he had met her, and it was making his head hurt.
"That's right. Winry," Winry confirmed, nodding. Al still couldn't shake the thought that he had seen this girl somewhere before. He tried hard to remember, and only received stabbing pains in his head in return.
"Ow," he said, clutching his head. He winced as the pain got more and more unbearable. He could see vague glimpses of a life long forgotten, or snatches of a dream he had once had, a dream that he had forgotten before he was even awake. But everything was out of reach. All the voices, all the people, all those dreams. Just. Out. Of. Reach. "Ouch!"
"Al! What's wrong?" Winry asked, rushing over to him. Through his pain, Al vaguely wondered why this girl he had just met was so worried about him.
"My... head..." Al managed to whisper as the pain consumed him and he collapsed into darkness.
xXx
Al came to in a brightly lit room, lying in a remarkably comfortable bed. He looked around sleepily, rubbing his eyes as he tried to gather his surroundings. "Where...am I?" he whispered. "A hospital...?"
A door opened and a tall man with dark hair and glasses, wearing what looked like a blue military uniform, walked in. "Ah, so you're awake. We've all been very worried about you, Al."
Al was confused, but said politely, "I'm sorry for the inconvience, sir."
The man plopped down with a sigh into the hard chair next to the bed. "You still don't remember, huh, kid?" he said, running a hand through his hair. "Do you know what happened before you passed out?"
Al nodded slowly and said, "I met a girl named Winry, and she seemed like someone I had met before. I was trying to remember where, but my head just kept hurting...." The memory alone was making him wince.
The man was staring at him intently, and it made Al embarrassed. Finally, the man said, "Do you remember me? My name is Maes Hughes."
"I'm sorry, I-I don't," Al said, shaking his head slowly. But, all of a sudden the glimpses returned again. Flashes of a former life, of a forgotten dream. They were stronger this time, though, and Al's head didn't hurt as much when he tried to remember more. But there was still something out of reach.
A few moments passed in silence until Hughes suddenly called out the door, "Winry, you can come in now!"
Winry bounded into the room and looked around before sitting on the edge of Al's bed. "Hey Al, I'm glad you're awake. It's...It's Winry, remember?"
"And I'm Hughes," Hughes reminded him.
"Winry....Hughes....." Al said slowly. Then, suddenly, abruptly, something clicked. "Winry! Hughes! Where's Ed? Where is everyone? Was I sick?"
Winry and Hughes both breathed sighs of relief at his outburst. "I guess you're back, Al," Hughes said, smiling. "Well, amnesia is never a good thing."
Winry hugged him tightly, like a sister hugging a brother. Pulling away, she asked, "Do you remember me now?"
Al looked into their faces, thinking of all the memories he had forgotten, and said, "I remember you."