Alphonse listened as a stranger said the words he had said thousands of times before, at each and every funeral.
As the man finished, Alphonse wiped his eyes. The people around him were all trying to hold back their tears, some only just managing to. Alphonse looked beside him, at the girl he had known all his life, then to his other side, at the person who knew him better than anyone else in the whole world. Those two would help him get through this. As he looked back at the men who were closing the coffin and stood up like all the others to lay a flower on it, he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked down to see the short blonde at his side managing a smile.
"Don't worry, Al," said the blonde, "we'll get through this together. Us and Winry."
Al nodded. "Yes," he murmured, "We will."
He placed his flower on the coffin and stood back, the tears breaking loose again.
As the grave was filled in, he managed a salute along with the military men who were there.
And when they were all gone except Winry and the blonde, he knelt down, shed a final tear, placed a flower on the grave, and stood up.
"Goodbye, brother," he said. "I'll never forget you. I promise."
He looked one last time at the grave, then at his mother's next to it.
Then he turned, took the hand of Winry and his short, blonde girlfriend, and walked away.