I'm Okay

by Prettywitchiusaka

It was a slow, uneventful day in Risembool, nothing more. But for once, Ed didn't mind. It gave him and his brother, Al a chance to figure out what to make Winry for her birthday.

"So what should we do, brother?"

Ed looked at his little brother with a curious gaze.

"About the presents?" he asked.

"Yeah," Al replied. "We don't have enough materials to make something from both of us, maybe we should just make one gift from both of us."

Ed put a hand to his chin and started to actually think over his brother's suggestion…for about ten seconds.

"Of course we can," he said in a smug tone. "All we have to do is divide up the clay evenly and we can both make separate gifts, a perfect equivalent exchange."

Al stared at him perplexed.

"We only had enough money to buy two boxes of clay, remember?"

Ed cringed.

"Well, we're just gonna have to make something small this time," he replied.

"You mean like a bracelet?" Al asked.

Ed thought about it for a moment. "Well, I was thinking more of a hairpin, but yeah," he said with a smile.

His brother's big, brown eyes widened with excitement.

"Can I make Winry a hairpin?"

"No, it was my idea!"

"Oh come on, brother!"

Ed pouted and shoved his hands in his pockets.

He looked up ahead and as an outline of a white picket fence. Beyond the fence was a big, two story house with an oak tree at the base of the hill.

They're home.

And even from a mile away, he can smell the scent of fresh apple pie baking in the oven. And his mother? She sits at the dinner table, waiting with a patience he greatly lacked.

With a big grin, Ed turned to his brother.

"I'll race you to the top for it?" he asked.

Al nodded.

"You're on!"

Ed bolted up the hill, his brother right behind him.

He looked over his shoulder, and through his blonde bangs, he could make out the outline of a distant, huffing Al lagging a few feet behind him, doing his best to catch up and failing.

He chuckled; looks like he was winning this round!

Ed reached the fence, touched it and jumped for joy. He looked into the kitchen window…and felt a sense of dread and unease.

His mother was at the table like always, reading a fantasy book with a smile on her face. She looked up, as if sensing that someone was watching her, and waved at him.

Ed waved his hand awkwardly…and gulped.

"You okay, brother?"

Ed turned to see Al standing next to him and looking concerned. Ed just smiled and said "Yeah, I'm fine."

Al smiled and Ed breathed a sigh of relief, feeling at peace once again.

"Come on, Al. We still gotta make Winry's-"

Next thing Ed knew his brother was gone, almost like he'd vanished into thin air.

"Al?"

He looked down and gasped.

His brother really was gone; there was nothing left of him but the clothes on his back and the basket of clay he'd been carrying.

"Al?… Al!?"

Ed didn't know what to do. His breathing was getting heavy, his mind was drawing a blank. If he didn't act soon, his brother might be gone forever.

But what could he do?

In his panic, his eyes fell on the familiar sight of his home. Yes, that's it, he thought! Surely, his mom would know what to do.

So he ran for the front door.

"Mom! Mom!-"

He fell to the ground with a hard thud. He looked down at his leg…and froze in fear at the dripping stump where his leg used to be.

No! No, he couldn't think about that right now! His brother was missing. So he crawled towards the door and opened it.

"Mom! Mom, help! It's Al! He's-"

Ed fell silent. There's a creature on the ground, harbouring a vague resemblance to his mother.

Only it wasn't his mother. It was a grotesque, inhumane looking creature with bursting muscle tissue and glowing, red eyes.

And it was moaning, like it was begging for someone to put it out of its misery.

He screamed.

Ed bolted up in bed, panting and sweating profusely. He rubbed the sleep from his eye and was greeted with the image of an unfamiliar wall.

"Where am I?" he thought.

"Brother?"

He turns to face a pair of concerned, glowing eyes he didn't recognize at first.

"Alphonse?"

He held up his arm; automail.

His leg? Automail.

And Al? Still in his suit of armour.

Ed breathed a sigh of relief as the last few hours came flooding back to him; he was in a hotel room in some small town in the east, catching some shut eye after the long day him and Al

had endured.

The whole thing had been a nightmare.

Well, sort of. Everything in it was something that Ed experienced a long time ago, just at different times. Pieces of memory cobbled together like some shambling chimera that never ceased to haunt him.

Never giving him a moment's peace.

"Brother, are you okay?"

He turned to look at his brother…and smiled. He couldn't do it, not tonight. He'd already cried too much in front of Al, and he knew his brother worried for him in these situations.

One time wouldn't kill him.

"You worry too much, Al," he said. "Of course I'm okay-"

"Brother!"

And just like that, his smile faded away. Al had seen right through him once again.

"No, I'm not okay," he replied "I was dreaming about mom, again and I…I don't know. I guess I'm still…"

And then he buried his face in his hands…and cried.

"It's okay, Brother," said Al. "Just take your time."

Beneath the veil of his bangs, Ed smiled and did just that. Al was right here, ready to listen to him like always.

The End