Chapter 1: A Simple Man

Alphonse Elric was a simple man. In that way, the ordinary pleasures of everyday life in Resembool healed the wounds dealt by the loss of his body better than any medicine. A hearty meal, the radiant warmth of a spring day, the feeling of grass between his toes. Al's senses reveled in such moments, finding something both old and new in the same sensation.

However, a good night's sleep remained elusive. Not that Al didn't try to greet the Sandman with eyes wide shut. Other people chased him away. After all, there was a particular brand of misery that came with being close to both Edward Elric and Winry Rockbell.

Eight hours. Eight consecutive, glorious hours of sleep was all that Al found himself wanting in recent days. It has been months since he returned to his body, but frail and withered as he still was, rest was hard to come by when Ed and Winry were on his mind… or in his room… or yelling at each other… or ignoring each other completely.

Of course, Al blamed himself. He'd been a talkative suit of armor, especially at night when the rest of the world was still and quiet. His animated body had felt restless, horribly out of sync with the circadian rhythm of his peers.

Listening to other people's problems had occupied Al's thoughts and staved off relentless self-pity and doubt. At one time, he had welcomed, perhaps encouraged, their late-night confessions. So it was only natural that they still came to him with their worries and woes. Only now, Al desperately wanted the solace of sweet dreams.

Al assumed, wrongfully, that the promised day would have eased their inhibitions, what with almost dying and all. Al hoped, erroneously, that either Edward Elric, Amestris' heroic fullmetal alchemist or Winry Rockbell, Rush Valley's premier automail engineer would, for lack of a better term, grow a pair and admit how they felt.

But, to Al's dismay, the biweekly tirades continued. Ed and Winry were no closer to actually admitting they were in love. Well, it was more accurate to say they were no closer to admitting it to each other. Yes, Alphonse ruefully mused, that last part was the fly in the ointment.

Ed paced and blabbered on in an unnaturally high pitched voice. Winry waved her wrench with reckless abandon while running her free hand through her blond locks. Al yawned as the night became the morning, attempting to insert logic into the situation whenever possible.

They never listened. Yet another thing Ed and Winry had in common.

And their attraction to each other could not have been more obvious. Even as a disembodied soul residing in a suit of armor, Al could sense something more than friendship. It was in the way Winry examined Ed's automail. Her fingers always lingered over the places where metal met skin.

Winry consumed Ed's thoughts. How often had he told Al that something reminded him of their childhood friend? How often had he called her to confess the sorry state of his automail? It was as if Ed liked being berated.

But being back in his own body washed away any doubt for Al. Granted, Winry had thrown herself at both brothers when they returned to Resembool, four arms and three flesh and blood legs between the two. She'd wept and embraced Al, stuffing him with enough apple pie to feed an army.

However, things were different between Winry and Ed. Yes, she has also cried and offered Ed endless amount of baked treats, but she'd remained in his arms just a little too long. She'd obsessed over the scarring on his right shoulder. And Ed was, perhaps, worse. He'd followed her around like a love-struck puppy for three days "accidentally" bumping into her, finding excuses to touch her, playing with the fabric of her sleeve.

The timing couldn't have been better. Even Al had to admit, Ed's physique finally filled the shoes laid out by his own reputation, and Winry's bearing, while still petite and girlish, no longer wanted for curves. To put it crudely, Ed was a hungry man, having endured the rigors of their campaign to save Amestris, and Winry had the only apple pie Ed ever wanted.

It was all going so well. Until… the bonfire.