Another FMA story! This one takes place the day after episode 63, but instead of the Elrics not going home for a while and letting Al get his strength back, I imagined they went directly home as soon as everything was over…and these shenanigans went down!

Morning

Ed yawned and opened his eyes, locking onto the window. He could see the sun rising over the mountain, faintly blurry from the dawn mist that hadn't burnt up yet.

No nightmares, he realized with a faint smile. He waited for a "Good morning, brother," from his right, following by metal clanging, but nothing happened. He turned, and as soon as he rolled over, a weight was thrown upon him.

"Oomph!"

"Brother! Brother!" Ed recognized Al's voice cheering at him.

"Wh-huh?" Ed mumbled groggily, still waking up.

"I slept! I fell asleep!" Al shook Ed's shoulders with his thin arms.

Ed stared at Al for a moment, his eyes and his long, blond hair that had yet to be cut. Then he gave Al a huge grin.

"Yeah, me too. Now come on, lets get breakfast."

Al leaped off Ed, making him wince. "Man, wasn't it yesterday you could barely stand?" Ed grumbled, rubbing his new arm. It ached madly, considering it was so much weaker compared to his other one.

"Yeah, but Pinako made this walking cane for me," he said, gesturing to a long stick he was leaning on. Ed shrugged and leaped out of bed.

"Try not to choke on apple pie and get sick this time," Ed joked.

Al pouted. "Hey, I haven't eaten in three years. Not my fault that my stomach's the size of a peanut."

Ed rolled his eyes and started grabbing clothes to change out of his pajamas. He caught Al staring at him in shock.

"Eh? Whats the matter?"

"Brother, you're-you grew!"

Ed stopped dead for a moment.

"I-wha?"

"You grew like, a couple inches overnight!" Al spluttered. "I mean, without the stupid elevator shoes and that silly antennae!"

Ed stumbled for the mirror and his eyes widened when he realized it was true. Ed whooped and ran to Al.

"I grew! I grew, Al, holy crap! And I didn't need any milk to do it!" Ed cheered.

"It must be because my body is out of the Gate," Al speculated. "So I'm guessing you can expect more growing spurts before long."

Ed's face spread into such a happy grin that Al couldn't help but smile back.

"Everyone's gonna notice! Everyone's gonna say, Ed, you grew, you're taller! I can't believe it! Our dreams have come true, Al! You got your body, I got-well, I wasn't short in the first place, but you get me, right?! Oh man, I finally broke the five foot mark!" Al stifled a laugh as Ed yelled at the walls, pacing around the room, happy about his height for once. "Haha! Oh god, I can't even prepare for the look on Colonel Bastard's face when he sees-!" Ed trailed off. "…Or, er, well…when I tell him, I guess…"

The excitable mood quickly burnt off as they both remembered the events that had happened just yesterday.

"Come on, I bet Pinako and Winry are expecting us," Al broke in after a while.

"Yeah. Let me just change firs-oh man, imagine if my coat doesn't fit! That'd be great! Haha!"

Al rolled his eyes good-naturedly and got his clothes to change into. After a while (with Ed rather disgruntled that his clothes still fit) they stepped out into the kitchen. Winry looked up from a book titled Automail Advanced and cracked a grin.

"Good morning, you two!" she greeted happily.

"Morning, Winry," the brothers replied in unison.

Al tried not to giggle. He could practically feel Ed's anticipation, and could almost hear him thinking, say it, say it, say it!

"…Ed, is it just me, or-"

"I AM taller, thank you for asking!" Ed shouted loudly enough to startle Den.

"Well, I guess you look a little taller, considering you're not wearing your shoes. But I was going to say that your hair isn't brushed yet."

Ed deflated slightly and Pinako walked into the room.

"We got breakfast cooked up," she greeted. Ed pursed his lips, waiting for any comment on his height, but none came. Ed gave a sigh of frustration and plopped himself at the table.

Midday

"Hey, Colonel Bastard!"

Ed kicked the door open loudly, and the two brothers burst (or more like waddled, since Al didn't have the strength to burst anywhere quite yet) into Mustang's hospital room. The man fixed his misty gaze somewhere near Ed's head.

"It's not kind of you to call a blind man a bastard, Fullmetal," he said drily.

"I'll call your blind ass whatever I want," Ed said, walking over and plopping himself onto the side of the bed. Al followed a bit more slowly and sat next to Ed. Finally, Mustang's gaze found Ed's. Since the colonel couldn't see him, his gaze was unusually intense, as if squinting enough would give him back what Truth had taken.

"So, you wet match, I'll have you know I grew at least three inches overnight, so I'm not a pipsqueak anymore. Not like I ever was or anything."

"Oh, really? How convenient the day after I can't see anymore you just happen to have a huge growth spurt. Nice try."

"Nope, it's true," Al put in softly.

Mustang's head jerked up in surprise. "Alphonse?"

"Yep."

"Well, I guess you wouldn't lie, unless Fullmetal here has an exceptional impression of you, or he paid you. I don't doubt he'd be that desperate."

Ed made a face at him, realized he couldn't see it, then decided to let out a loud, angry sigh instead.

"Truth should've taken your damn tongue, that would've been better," he muttered.

"Then who would be able to call you short? Five-foot-one is still shorter than a normal teenager."

Ed seethed. "Who're you calling so small that-!" a sharp pain raced up Ed's new arm. He winced and grabbed the shoulder.

"Brother, are you alright?" Al asked in concern.

"Yeah, it's just my arm. Still hurts from when Winry picked out the pieces of automail stuck in it." he flexed it gingerly. "Does it look stupid? Having such a teeny arm compared to everything else?"

"I'm sure the arm Truth gave you is actually bigger than the rest of your body," Mustang observed.

"Dammit! You're the one in the hospital, you're in no place to make fun of me," Ed snapped.

"Oh, another thing. You kicked the door open, right? I could hear it."

"Yeah, so what?"

"You've kicked my door open approximately eight hundred and sixty four times. You left a dent in my office door."

"Okay?"

"And I wanted you to fix it."

"That'd be nice and all, but I think you forgot that I can't do alchemy." As if to show him, Ed clapped his hands together and shuddered when he didn't feel any alchemical energy rushing through him.

"I realized," Mustang replied smoothly. "I want you to fix it on your own terms."

"Oh, come on," Ed grumbled. "I'll just get Al to do it."

"If you do, I'm kicking you out."

"Out of what?!"

"Hell if I know," and he laughed. Ed smiled, but only because the bastard couldn't see him.

Night

Al stumbled around with his cane, roaming the hallways.

"Brother? Brother, where'd you go?"

Al continued moving around the halls until he heard a soft cough. He turned and spotted the closet door.

"Brother?" Al asked cautiously, opening the door. He tensed at the sight of Ed sitting on a dusty chair, clutching a photo and staring at it. Ed's teeth were clenched on his lips, and Al saw tears falling down his face.

"Dammit Al, can't some guy get a little privacy around here?" he snapped. His voice cracked right at the end and he whirled his head away from his younger brother, muttering in embarrassment.

"Brother, whats wrong?"

"Nothing," Ed replied automatically.

"Clearly not. You only cry when shit's gotten real."

"And you only swear when shit's gotten real."

Al sighed and backed up, closing the door. Ed wasn't the kind of guy to open up; Al might as well just stop trying to get him to. Ed looked down at the photo again; it was a picture of his mother that he had found in his pillowcase. The sight of it had sent such a shocking tidal wave of memories that his mental fortress was instantly shattered, and he knew he needed somewhere to hide. How embarrassing that Al had seen him cry.

"Mom," he whispered softly to the picture. "I'm sorry I couldn't transmute you correctly." he knew, he knew it was impossible, there was nothing he could've done; but it still ached so bad. Hell, he hadn't even transmuted a female, let alone anything resembling his mother. His stomach contracted painfully at the memory of digging it up, the memory of transmuting her, the memory of Al carrying him through the rain while Ed bled out his life-

"Enough, enough," Ed rasped to himself, shaking his head. "Enough. Thats enough." he forcefully wiped away the tears, blocked out the memories; but his alchemy was gone, and it would take longer than normal to rebuild the mental wall he could always just transmute so quickly.

He opened his pocketwatch, and stared at the date, tears still fresh in his eyes.

"Happy October 3rd," he whispered, then clutched the photo to his chest and finally allowed himself to break.