Animeverse. Oneshot. Short drabble taking place between Al going to Earth and Hei's funeral.
Alphonse Elric stared at his reflection in the small apartment bathroom. His hair was undone from it's tie, a long frizzy mess running down his back, and his gray-copper eyes reflected great exhaustion. The twelve, no.. seventeen… actually mentally fifteen year old boy didn't feel like himself as he stared at himself in the mirror. A lot had happened within a very short amount of time. He had seventeen years of memories, yet the oldest he remembered being was fifteen, which still put Edward two years older than he was supposed to be.
Looking back, all he had done… dressing up as his brother, growing his hair out, even acting like Ed would occasionally. His ten year old self wanted to be just like his brother to fill the gaping hole in his heart that had resided there since Ed's disappearance. Yet, Alphonse couldn't help but feel so utterly embarrassed.
In retrospect, he probably wouldn't have been as embarrassed if he hadn't regained his missing memories. In all of his twelve year old glory he had thought about how amazing he was for following in his big brother's footsteps. However, the mental fifteen year old wanted to hide in the bathroom forever after realizing how easily he had dropped his identity for his brother's.
His thoughts were interrupted by a light knock on the door. "Y-yes?" Al stuttered.
"Alfo-phonse… are you almost ready for the funeral?"
"Of course, I'll be out in a minute er... Nora. "
"It's… Noah."
"Right! Sorry Rosa-NOAH!" Al shut his mouth quickly as he heard footsteps walking away from the door in a quickened pace. Al slid a hand down his face, what the hell was wrong with him?
He had reminded himself not to say Rose there, but he got her name wrong, and in his panic almost called her Rose again. She was obviously a bit uncomfortable with Al, and he had to admit himself that he was a bit uncomfortable with her. They both looked remarkably like people they knew, or had once known, yet they were entirely different people. Alphonse had no idea how Ed ever grew used to it.
Al stared at himself a few moments more before slowly exiting the bathroom. He had to let some things go. It was time for him to feel like himself again…
Edward was sitting down on the couch, appearing forlorn and he tied up his hair. Al was silent for half a minute before finally speaking up, "Brother?"
Ed turned towards him, "Hm? Need something Al? Want help with your hair?"
Al swallowed, "Actually yes… can you do me a favor and…"
"Yea?"
"Can you help me cut off all this extra hair?"
"What?! Why Al? It's so long!"
"That's the issue… brother, please." Al looked down at his feet, "I don't feel like myself…"
Ed blinked and stared at his brother in thought for a moment before nodding, leaving the room and returning a few moments later with a pair of scissors and an old towel. He laid it out on the couch. "Sit down, and try to keep your head still. I don't want it to be too uneven."
Al allowed his brother to snip off his hair bit by bit as all he could hear were the snips of the scissors. After fifteen minutes, Ed gathered up the towel, but not before mussing Al's hair up a bit with his left hand. Al let out a small chuckle as Ed came back with a small mirror.
"So, how do you feel about it?" Ed grinned at Al.
"I feel a bit more like... myself." and with that, Edward told Noah they were good to go.
The three of them walked down the road, and Al did his best to ignore the pained looks given to him by Noah.
Hope you enjoyed the short read! I always appreciate feedback so feel free to eave a review! Thanks for reading!