Overall, it was a lovely spring day. The birds were chirping, the flowers had finally begun to bloom. Everything felt safe and peaceful. Alphonse decided it might be a refreshing change of pace to go out today. The fresh air would do his brother good.
"Good Morning, Brother!" Alphonse said brightly as he opened up the bedroom curtains and let the light illuminate room. The sudden change of contrast blinded Alphonse temporarily. He had to blink for a few moments to be able to see inside the dark room. To his disappointment, his brother hadn't reacted to the change at all. Edward was propped upright in bed, staring straight forward with a dull glaze over his eye. He gave no sign he sensed his brothers presence. Alphonse smiled and moved so he would be in Edwards line of vision. "It's such a nice day, why don't we go out? You'd like that wouldn't you?"
"…" It felt like Edward was looking right through him, there wasn't any focus in his eyes, none of the ambition or light they once held. It was the worst part. It was like looking a corpse in the eye. Alphonse continued to smile though, and he began to ready his brother for the preannounced outing. He continued to talk too, speaking about the weather and some letters he received from central, and some interesting leads he found in one of their fathers old books, anything to help him ignore Ed's silence.
"Do you want me to braid your hair brother?" Al asked, noticing that his brother's messy ponytail was beginning to come undone. "Here let me fix it…" Alphonse pulled out the band and rearranged Edward's hair so it fit into a neat braid. He had grown accustom to this over time, but he still wasn't as good at it as Ed was. He remembered those frantic mornings where Ed had over slept. His brother had been able to braid his long hair in a matter of moments, while still finding time to shove food into his mouth. It was funny, but Al kept expecting Edward to pop up out of that bed as he usually did, screaming that he was late and needed to get moving, and asking Al why he hadn't bothered to wake his big brother up sooner.
"When will everything be normal again?" Alphonse asked himself quietly as he began shifting his brother into the wheel chair that was resting beside the bed. For the last four years, he had wanted nothing more then to return to his old body, to be able to feel and sleep and be human again. Now here he was, as normal and healthy as any other boy his age, and he would've given anything to be back in the armor suit if that meant his brother would be there beside him.
Getting Edward down the stairs and outside took a little work, but Alphonse managed ok. After a few minutes the two were slowly making their way around the fields of Risembool. "What a nice day huh?" Alphonse smiled at his brother. Edward sat quietly with a blank expression. Alphonse wondered what he was thinking about, if he was even thinking to begin with. The inside of Edward's brain was a mystery these days.
"Brother! Look at that," Alphonse exclaimed happily pointing at a baby bluebird that was sitting in its nest. "I think it's going to try to fly."
The baby bird sat on the edge of the nest, testing the air. Something must have told it that it was ready, because on a moments notice it suddenly pushed off and began fluttering excitedly around the air. It was still very young so it beat its wings downward, landing on the armrest of Edward's wheelchair.
"Look Brother!" Alphonse said. Edward stared straight ahead. The baby bird hopped and beat it's wings against Edwards good arm, but the alchemist paid it no mind. There was something about that moment that suddenly made Alphonse frightened, this picture of birds landing on his brother without Ed's consent. He didn't like it. "Sh-Shoo!" he told the bird. "Go on!" The bird flapped its wings and tried to get away as quickly as possible. It faltered and tumbled to the ground, then began flapping it's wings again until it had managed to flutter back to its nest. Alphonse breathed a heavy sigh and looked back at Edward. He hadn't moved, he was still staring deadly at the air in front of him. Alphonse went back to the wheel chair and began pushing his brother once more.
"I'm so selfish…" Alphonse muttered to his brother. "All I do is depend on you, even now I can't do anything to help you…" Edward didn't respond.
"If you were here right now brother, and I was the one who was like you, you would've found a way to fix me by now wouldn't you?" Alphonse looked down at his brother. Nothing.
"Brother?" Alphonse asked again. His brother was staring straight ahead as always. Maybe there really was nothing inside of him.
"What am I thinking?" Alphonse chuckled, pushing. "You'll get better brother, no doubt about it." The two continued down the path.
Edward felt far off and scattered. He didn't know what had happened and he didn't know where he was. He had a vague feeling somewhere inside of him, like all the pieces were there and he just had to fit them together, but he couldn't. He was sure of one thing though; somewhere he could hear a voice. He knew that voice. Who's was it? He couldn't understand what it was saying, but it was the sound that felt real. "I'm here…" he wanted to say. "I'm right here, but where are you?"
The voice was soft, and he knew it. Who's was it? The question haunted him for the eternity he had been in this strange dark limbo. "I'm here…" Something important, something he needed to do, or had cared immensely about. Something that was precious. "I'm right here…don't go."