The Things Imagined

by markelsparks

One shot AU where Al died as a child but Ed sees him as a suit of armor. He can't accept that Al is dead and doesn't understand why everyone ignores his little brother. "They tell me Al is dead, that he died from an illness as a kid. That's a lie. I see him all the time. He's always with me wherever I go. Why don't they acknowledge him? He's always standing beside me."

AN: I've been editing this one on and off for a few weeks. I feel like it needs more work but I can't think of anything else so here it is. Sorry if it seems kinda unrefined.

They tell me Al is dead, that he died from an illness as a kid. That's a lie. I see him all the time. He's always with me wherever I go. Why don't they acknowledge him? He's always standing beside me. Al never did anything to deserve that.

Sometimes they see him, or at least they say they do. Although they look right past him, or too low, or off to the side. He doesn't say anything about it, but I can tell it bothers him.

Al, they say that armor is ridiculous. Why is that? That's what you are. I don't remember how it happened, but you don't seem to mind. You tell me you enjoy watching over me while I sleep. You keep the nightmares away.

When I meet with Roy, he makes Al wait outside for me. I didn't want to at first, but it does make it easier to talk to him. He'll ask me how I've been, how Al's been. He's probably the only one who does.

I like Roy better than the other doctors. They would always try to tell me I was sick, or try to get me to do things without Al. But I can't, I'm the only one he's got. Roy lets me talk about anything, so it's a lot more laid back. Sometimes he asks questions, sometimes he stops when he can tell something is too hard to talk about. He asks a lot about Al. It's nice that someone actually cares.

Dad does too, but it's different with him. He doesn't ignore Al, but sometimes he'll dance around the subject.

Our cousin Winry, she lives next door. She never acknowledges Al. She gets upset whenever I mention him. I don't understand why. He's her cousin, too. Sometimes she gets fed up with me, she says I'm crazy, that I'm just seeing illusions. "Wake up!" she'll tell me. "He's gone! He's been dead for so long now, why can't you just accept that?!"

Al, I don't understand. How could you have died if you're standing right in front of me? I've been told that it was trauma, that I blocked it out and continued to imagine you here, and that part of me accepted it which was why I don't see you in your original body. If you ever died, there'd be no way I could forget that.