With a pencil in hand, his leather gauntlet glided across the blank page. Over time, the long curved lines and quick strokes morphed into features, with a face, bangs framing each side, red coat, determined eyes…

Al stopped drawing for a moment to examine his handiwork. A smear of lead across the paper caused by his large hands was quickly erased. The rest seemed okay, he decided, aside from the unsymmetrical hair. He debated for a moment if he should correct it, or to leave it as it was. He decided the latter and got to work.

Ed groggily awoke to the sound of furious scribbling. The constant noise had bothered him for the last half hour, and he was getting sick of it.

"Al?" Ed asked into the darkness. There was no doubt in his mind that his little brother was the source of the ruckus. Al had a knack for getting bored in the middle of the night, because of his never dormant body.

Al looked up from his sketch pad to the small bed that his sibling occupied. Even in the darkness, he could tell that Ed was ticked off.

"Yes, brother?" He asked innocently.

"What are you doing?"

Al threw the sketch pad inside of his armor. "Nothing!" He cried.

"Al…" Ed threatened.

"Nothing, I swear! Um, go back to bed."

Ed rolled his eyes and snuggled up against his pillow. Whatever Al was up to, he would get to the bottom of…Tomorrow.

Ed went into spy mode the next day. He was alert at every second, waiting for Al to confess or at least give him a hint to his suspicious behavior the previous night.

"So, Al," Ed started, "Do anything interesting last night? 'Cause you sure as hell kept me awake."

Al chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his head, a habit from when he had his body. Ed narrowed his eyes. Al only did that when he was lying or embarrassed.

"I told you, brother, I wasn't doing anything, you must've been dreaming."

Ed laughed. "Yeah, was I dreaming when I heard you throw something into your armor too?"

"Must've been."

Ed grinned like a maniac. He had sent Al to get groceries. This was the perfect time for him to search for any clues that would lead him to figure out the mystery of Al's nighttime shenanigans.

When searching through their shared hotel room, Ed noticed a thick pad of paper on his brother's bed.

Ed cocked his head and looked at the cover. It looked exactly like the one Winry got him for his birthday a few years back…

"Ah hah! Al's been drawing at night! Case closed!" Ed declared. He walked away, not wanting to further invade Al's privacy, but…

"Should I look inside?" He asked himself, "No, that's wrong!"

"…"

Curiosity got the better of him. He flipped through the pages, astounded by the detail in each sketch. The first page was a drawing of Den, right down to the little brown spot behind his ear, the next, a drawing of Winry in her sheep festival dress, one of a random tabby cat, one of Ed that looked newly drawn and…

Ed froze at the last. It was a picture of the gate, with black hands emerging from inside. Al was wrapped up in the hands, trying to break free. In the corner, sat the Truth himself, laughing.

Ed panicked. Is this really what Al saw at the gate? He was terrified just looking at his little brother's interpretation of their experience. Would they be able to get their bodies back without this tragedy happening again?

"Ahem," Al said. He walked into their room, and found Ed snooping through his sketch pad. He sat the groceries down and sat beside his brother on the bed.

"What are you doing?" Al asked in a clipped tone.

"Not looking at your drawings..?" Ed replied innocently.

Al snatched the pad from him and closed it. His bulky armor clanked when he folded his arms, waiting for an explanation or even an apology.

"Sorry Al."

Al huffed in annoyance. "It's okay, I guess."

Ed grinned. He knew Al couldn't stay mad at him for long. He couldn't stay mad at anyone for long.

"Your drawings are really good, you know."

"Really?" Al questioned. Ed frowned at the uncertainty in his tone. Al was a great artist, how could he not see that?

"Of course! The one of me was spot on," he praised. "Except, you could've made me taller."

Al laughed sheepishly. "I only draw what I see; brother, but I can hardly see you!" He said deviously.

Ed was about to go into one of his short rants, but managed to keep his composure.

"So where did you learn to draw like that Al?"

"I can't do it Winry! Every time I pick up the pencil it breaks!" Al hissed at his friend. Their "Therapy" session was going horribly. Pinako suggested that the pair could try to draw to help him control his strength.

"Just keep trying, you'll get it," she responded coolly. She picked up a red crayon from the basket and started coloring with ease. Al tried to mimic her actions. He gently put the crayon in his left hand and applied a little pressure…

Snap!

He grabbed the green crayon…

Snap!

Next, a yellow pencil…

Snap!

Al threw the remaining shards of wood across the room. He stormed past a wide-eyed Winry to look for his brother. Surely Ed would understand!

Pinako refused to let the boy in, and insisted that Ed needed his rest. Al returned gloomily to his room.

Winry barged into his room with the basket of crayons and colored pencils a short while later.

"Winry, I don't want to color anymore," he protested sharply.

"Too bad."

Al had broken every crayon except for one. He carefully picked up the last purple crayon and tried to draw. He had to remind himself to be gentle.

"I did it!" He clapped his hands eagerly, but in the process, the crayon broke into four pieces.

"Whoops."

He looked over at Winry, and they both laughed at the irony.

"After your automail surgery, I was relearning how to handle things gently. Winry and I practiced drawing until I could hold the crayon without breaking it. Even after that, we still would sneak off to color." Al looked deep in thought.

"We haven't drawn anything together in a long time. I miss it."

"When we get your body back, I promise, you can draw with Winry as much as you'd like."

"That's the problem though," Al whined, "When I get my body back, will I have to relearn everything again?"

Ed grinned. "That just means that we'll need to equip you with five boxes of crayons, and ten sketch pads. You have talent, and we're not going to let it go to waste!"

Winry gasped at Al's latest drawing. "Woah! That's so good, Al! Let's show Granny our pictures!"

The pair ran to show Pinako the picture of a tree and flower. Those very pictures remain taped above her workbench. "That's amazing! You're really talented, Al!" She ruffled them on the head. "You too, Winry!"

"Thanks, Ed."

"Thanks Granny."