Author's Note: I have just recently finished the FMA series, and I am in love with it! I wanted to write some oneshots based on the brothers and their bond. I think that it's just amazing how in depth their characters are and how close they are. I want a brother who's like that... Oh well, moving forward....

Summary:All you have to do is pinch yourself to wake up. (PreSeries in the beginning, Slightly AU PostSeries in the end (just pretend they never went to Germany).)


Eight-year-old Ed was shaken out of sleep softly as he heard a familliar voice say, "Brother? Are you awake?"

Ed groaned as his sleep-clouded mind wondered what time it was. He felt as if he had only been asleep for a few minutes, but looking out the window he could tell it had to have been a few hours.

"I am now." He said in response to his brother's question. He strained his eyes to make out Al's face in the darkness. He looked guilty for having woken his brother up in the middle of the night, but under the guilt, Ed could see that he was shaken up about something. "What's wrong, Al?" he asked, his concern for his little brother overriding his tiredness, "You okay?"

Al looked at the ground, as if embarrassed, before saying, "Yeah, I'm alright, I just- I had a bad dream."

Ed smiled. Bad dreams were easy to take care of. He scooted over in his bed and Al climbed in, scooting as close to his brother as possible. It was through this contact that Ed realized that Al was shaking a little bit. "You got really freaked out, huh?" Ed asked as he pulled the blankets over both of them, "What was your dream about?"

Al was quiet for a minute before he said, "I don't remember all of it... but there was a monster, and it was chasing me. And even if I ran really fast, it always caught up. I tried to find you and mom, but I couldn't..."

As Al trailed off, Ed found his brother's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze, "No monsters can get you when you're here. I won't let 'em."

Al smiled, "I know. That's why I came here."

Ed grinned. Even though he was only eight, he knew that the trust his brother was putting in him... had always put in him... was valuble, and he was happy that his brother viewed him so highly. He promised himself that he would never misplace that trust, no matter what.

"Do you wanna know a way to get out of scary dreams?" Ed asked.

Al's face lit up, and he nodded, "Alright. This is a secret mom told me a long time ago, when I had a bad dream. All you have to do to get yourself to wake up is this:"

And he pinched his brother on the arm.

"Ow!" Al exclaimed, "How is that supposed to help?" Ed shrugged and smiled, "That's the secret part. I don't know why, but it does. You should go back to sleep."

Al nodded, and smiled thankfully at his brother, "Thank you, Brother."

Ed yawned and rolled over, "You're welcome. G'night Al."

" 'Night Brother."


Ed sat next to the hospital bed and stared, unblinkingly, at the sleeping figure of his brother. Only hours ago his body (and Ed's arm and leg) had been regained, and they were told to stay in the hospital for a bit to gain back their strength. Al's body was weak from not being used in four years, as were Ed's arm and leg. It was still hard for Ed to believe that this was really happening. That Al was really there, in his human body, and sleeping. He hadn't been able to sleep in so long... Just the thought of sleep was making Ed tired. He was exhausted after the day's events, but he couldn't let himself sleep. Not yet.

He shook his head to try to push the sleep away and looked up towards the window on the other side of the room and began to talking to Al, even though he knew his brother couldn't hear him, "We did it, Al. Can you believe it?"

"It's starting to sink in," was the reply.

Ed jumped, not expecting an answer, and looked back down at Al, who still had his eyes shut. "Sorry, Al. I didn't know you were awake."

Al finally cracked his eyes open a little bit and smiled, "I wasn't a minute ago."

"Sorry," Ed told him, smiling sheepishly.

"It's alright. Shouldn't you be sleeping, Brother?" Al asked, starting to look concerned.

Ed shook his head, "No. Not yet."

Al tilted his head to the side, looking confused, "What do you mean? Why not yet?"

Ed sighed and looked back up towards the window,staying silent for a minute. He wasn't quite sure how to put what he was thinking into words that made sense. Finally he said, "Because... Because I'm afraid that this is all just a dream that I'm going to wake up from. I'm afraid that if I go to sleep, I'll wake up and realize that none of it happened. That I'm still using my automail and that you're still in that tin can. Or even worse, that I was just unconscious after trying to bring you back and wasn't able to...Ow!"

He looked back down at his arm, to see that the pain coming from it was due to Al pinching him.

"What the hell was that for?" Ed asked.

"It's not a dream." Al told him, a smile on his face.

"What?" Ed asked, confused.

"A few years ago, one of the smartest people I know told me that if you want to wake up from a dream, you're supposed to pinch yourself." Al explained, "You said you were afraid that this was a dream... well, now you know. It isn't."

It took Ed a minute to remember what Al was talking about, but as the memory came back to him, he smiled fondly at his little brother, and said, "I had almost forgotten about that. I'm glad you still have all your memories."

Al smiled back at him, "Me too. Everything is fine now, Brother. You really should get some sleep."

And, just like his brother had done for him many years before, Al scooted over to allow Ed room on the bed. Ed hesitated for a moment, still not sure if he could trust to sleep yet. It wasn't until Al said quietly, "Please, Brother?" That he climbed in next to Al, and smiled as he felt the body heat that Al was radiating. He hadn't felt warmth come from his brother in years. Maybe laying next to him, and feeling the warmpth and life coming from him, was a better way to assure he was alive then staring at him was.

"Thank, Al." Ed mumbled, as sleep began to take him over.

Al smiled as he closed his eyes and prepared to fall asleep again, "You're welcome, Brother. 'Night."

"G'night."


Author's Note: I hope you all liked my first attempt at an FMA fic. Let me know what you think, what I should improve, and so on.