"The night ends and a new day begins when you can see the face of your brother." - Jewish Tradition
Alphonse Elric could finally feel.
The first thing he felt was cold and hard, parts of it granular and jabbing into him. He didn't mind, though. He could also feel himself getting drained, as if he was missing something. Air, Alphonse realized. He needed to breathe now.
He located the muscles in his jaw, opening his mouth. The rest was handled by instinct as Al felt the air rush into his lungs with a satisfied whoosh. (Oh, how wonderful it felt to have lungs!) Next, Alphonse felt the frantic patting that he knew was his brother, checking to see if he had done anything wrong.
Honestly, Al wouldn't have cared if he was deformed or ugly or if there was an extra arm sticking out of his chest- He could finally breathe. He felt something warm and scratchy wrap around him, and he grasped the coarse fabric with his hands, holding it to his face and taking a deep breath.
It smelled metallic and greasy and sweaty, which Al relished deeply. He sniffed deeper, and could smell something familiar, masked by sweat and motor oil. That was- that was his brother's smell! The faint smell of clean grass (and a hint of soap) was behind all of those other smells, giving Al something to grasp and remember. Alphonse's first tears rolled down his face, leaving his eyes hot and his cheeks cool.
He could feel himself being lifted, and he knew it was by his brother. He should have been embarrassed to be a fifteen year old being cradled in his brother's arms like a baby, but he was so happy to feel that it didn't matter.
"Al... We did it." Alphonse heard his brother's voice for the first time again. His voice sounded very different in the armor, kind of washed out and distant. Al had never realized how rich his brother's voice was, how it was a tenor and not an alto like he had always thought. His voice quivered slightly, as if he was about to cry too.
Al wanted to speak, too, but when he went to form the words he was lost. How did you say the letter O? Finally, slowly and deliberately, he formed the first word that came to mind.
"Bbbrruuffferrr..." It came out slurred and deformed, and Al was embarrassed. How could his brother's words sound so wonderful and perfect, yet his came out like a drunken sailor's? Edward didn't seem to mind, though.
However, it was very dark and Alphonse couldn't see. That's when Alphonse realized that his eyes were closed. Where were the muscles that led to his eyelids?
After a moment of panic, Al wrenched his eyes open, and a clear light flooded his vision. There, looking straight down at him, was his brother.
He saw his brother clearer than he had in years. Inside the armor, the colors had been lighter, washed out like an old pair of jeans almost faded to white. His hair was a vivid shade of gold, not the bleached blond Alphonse had thought it to be.
His face had the largest difference. The shadows were placed differently, giving Al a clearer view of his strong nose and thin jawline. It was as if Alphonse had been seeing Edward in the dark, unable to truly distinguish his features from the darkness.
Finally, there was light. The night had ended, and a new day had begun.