Dichotomy.
They are the same, except not. They love Ed just the same, except not. They are Al, except not.
They are, but not, and it is slowly driving them insane.
They, they, they; when was the last time they thought about themselves as one and another, and not just the same? They, they, they; what is it, that made them be a cacophonic symphony of similitudes? They are asymmetric; differences that stand out, simply because they blend in within the rest.
They are one and the same; a thin line that encompasses a whole dimension to set them apart, and still nothing can draw them away. Al is Al is Al is Al is Al, and Ed just sits in the middle, not fully understanding the struggle his love has given birth to.
They are the other, and not just one. They are Al, the Al, flesh and bone, sturdy and sick. They breathe the same air and eat the same food, and the isometric movements only make it much, much worse.
Al is hurt, not dying again, but close enough. And Ed's in a panic, so Al helps and tries to bring him and himself back to sanity. They are whole, both, a whole in pieces and pieces without fissures. They fall together when they sleep, each guarding one side of the narrow bed, each latching onto Ed and slowly suffocating him between them.
It doesn't matter what side of the Gate they are now, it doesn't matter who's hurt. Al scratches a wound he doesn't have, because it was Al and not him that nearly died. And Al stares in silent awe at the display of Alchemy that's shockingly familiar, only not, because it's Al who knows all the tricks, not him.
Ed stands in the middle of it all, the catalyst that keeps their alloy intact. He's the one that maintains the queer sense of peace between them, because Al and Al are uncomfortable and tired and just want it to end. But there's Ed, Ed's smile, Ed's hands, Ed's love, and once more they are They.
They are the same, except not. They love Ed just the same, except not. They are Al, except not.
They are, but not, and even if it hurts, it and they and the dichotomy in between, all will last until they die.