"I never realised how mortal my older brother was…how fragile…how breakable a human life could be. He always recovered, he always held a brave face…he was always stronger than I could ever be…so self sacrificing…but…that was before he became ill. Then I realised…my older brother was just as mortal as any other human being…a delicate life that can be taken in an instant…" Alphonse Elric.

At the time, it seemed the illness had occurred out of the blue, over night. But now when I look back, there were signs that Brother was slowly turning sicker, those signs I ignored or simply didn't see…those signs that only became clear when I'd found out just how sick he had become.

Brother started coughing, a harsh raspy cough that seemed to wrack his entire body, echoing and scratching the inside of his chest. I turned to look at him, noticing how flushed his face was becoming, how feeble he appeared. It was strange…I'd seen him injured in a hospital bed before…but for some reason this was different. He was sick, something he could not have prevented, and something that wasn't down to his rashness.

"Brother…are you coming down with a cold?" I asked softly once his coughing had eventually ceased. His breathing was strange, heaving but hollow.

Brother smiled at me, turning to look directly at me, the way he does when he tries to convince me he's fine.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Al," he answered, tapping his chest. "My throat tickled a little bit."

What a lie, Brother…a tickly throat couldn't have made you cough so badly…I wanted to argue, I wanted to let him know that I knew he was lying. But the look in his eyes…he knew I knew he was lying…but his golden eyes looked pleading as they watched me, as if he was trying to forget about his "tickly throat". I sighed.

"You should take a few days of work then, if you're sick," I pointed out, glancing quickly at the amber sky. We were out in the country, not knowing where we were going or how we were getting there. Brother had asked to come out for the day, just to relax in peace and quiet. It was strange…strange how relaxed he seemed out here away from the city. Maybe it reminded him of home…I couldn't be sure.

"Are you kidding?" Brother laughed a dark flat laugh. "Don't be silly, Al. It's just my throat, is all. No big deal. You really should stop worrying, you're gonna give yourself wrinkles."

"Isn't that frowning?" I teased half heartedly, knowing now he wanted to change the subject from him. He hated talking about himself, I don't know why. There are a lot of things I don't know about my brother…

Brother considered the frowning idea for a moment, putting his index finger to his chin in deep thought, eyes glancing upwards as if he was physically searching his brain.

"Hmm…maybe you're right…" he murmured after a moment's thought. "Then what does worrying cause?"

I sighed once more, hiding a laugh. "You really do think about stupid things, Brother. We better head back then since you're so set on working tomorrow. We have to be up early remember."

I received a lot of whining then as we headed back home, but I couldn't help but let my thoughts wander to Brother's health. Was he getting sick? I never remember Brother being sick…never. It sort of…scared me…

* * * *

EDWARD'S POINT OF VIEW

My cough started to get worse when we got home. Alphonse had excused me to go into the bedroom to catch up on some sleep whilst he caught up on some reading. I was happy to get away from those eyes, those eyes that seemed to see right through my smile. He was always able to do that, even when we were kids. When everyone else believed I was fine, he would always watch me and wait for me to spill my guts to him. But I couldn't spill this…it would crush him.

I'd known for a while now…but it'd only just started to get worse. My chest was in pure agony, tightening and loosening with every intake of oxygen I took. When I inhaled, my lungs seemed to clench and when I exhaled, my lungs seemed to loosen up like I was breaking in half. I could hear my own breathing, rasping as I stared at my reflection, touching my chest with my mechanical arm. The metal cooled my chest, almost numbing the ache that stirred there. I closed my eyes, tilting my head backwards as I allowed myself to think, to try to distract my mind as well as my body.

"It gets worse before it gets better…" I whispered after a moment, my eyes reopening slowly. I rubbed my metal fingertips along my chest, rubbing in small circular motions to loosen up my chest. "You just have to keep taking your medicine…and you'll be okay. You'll be just fine…"

I sat on my bed, the springs creaking beneath me. I lay back, a rising sensation enflaming my chest. I grimaced. It felt like my organs were inflating inside of my chest, about to burst. I rolled onto my side and the pain eased. And that's when the coughing started up again. I coughed, releasing out the tension in my lungs, my back lurching with every cough, my eyes beginning to water as the oxygen quickly got drained from my lungs.

"Fuck…" I groaned as the coughing subsided, choking out the remaining knots in my chest. I curled up, tucking my knees upwards into my chest, hugging my knees as I curled up into a ball, clenching my fists into the sheets as the pain returned, spluttering and gasping in between breaths…