AN: Hey guys! Since noone seems to be liking my stories and i still really want to write, I thought I'd throw a oneshot out there. Now if its no good, I'm sorry but I didnt read over it case I lost my will and didnt upload it. So, please read it and all reviews are accepted, even flames.
Staring out the window, Alphonse Elrich watched as the scenery passed before his eyes. On a train with his brother, Edward, he was headed towards his home town. The last time he and his brother had been there , they had burned down they childhood home. It had carried too many memories and the siblings had wanted to start their lives anew.
Trying to focus on the passing trees and mountains, Al kept his gaze towards the window. It was times like these that he hated the most. Times when he and his brother weren't joking or talking, times when he was left to his own thoughts. How long had he been in this state? How much longer would he be able to handle not being whole?
Everyday was a reminder of what he and his brother had done, of how they had failed. The looks he got from people as he walked down the street, the pity-filled looks he got from the state alchemist and others, and even the ones he sometimes received from Ed, though his brother did try to hide those. Every time he looked at his brother's automail arm or whenever he saw his own reflection, there it was. His failure, leering at him, laughing in his face. He knew how his brother felt about what had happened and what they had lost. Al knew about the pain in Ed's heart. He knew and he focused on the ideals and goals his brother had, if only just to keep himself from going crazy.
He had always been told how he had had such a bid heart. To think now, he really didn't even have a heart. All he was was a shell, a shell and a soul. When he saw he fear in the eyes of strangers on the street and how they would cast their glances away from him, he felt something constrict around a heart that was no longer physically there.
Al lightly tapped his his torso with his finger and held back a sob as he heard the hollow metal sound that came from him. He really didn't know how much longer it would hold. H knew that alchemy didn't always work as one plans, he had learned that the hard way. What if one day, his soul just detached from this shell and he left his brother alone.
That was Al heaviest burden and greatest worry; that he wouldn't be there for his brother. After all the two of them had lost, for either of them to lose the other would be more than devastating. He had almost left him before and his had literally risked life and limb to bring him back. He knew that if he were to leave Ed, whether it be his soul or his mind, his brother would break, and no one would be able to pick up the pieces.
So, he pushed away his feelings about their failure and his feelings about his metal body and even his feelings about losing his self. He knew that If he lost his self, his brother would be alone, and he couldn't let that happen to him. He couldn't let him lose more. Al knew that if he were to lose Ed, he would be even more of an empty shell than he was before.
"Brother, how much longer do think it will be before we make it to the station?"
"Not much longer now, Al. Not much longer."
He could wait. He might go mad, but he could wait until they finally met their destination.