Kyodai

This was it. The moment they'd worked so hard for. He grasped the small red stone in his hands and walked over to where his brother knelt over the professor's body. He gently lay a hand on his cold metal shoulder.

"Are you ready, Al?" he asked, smiling with hope in his eyes and voice.

The tall expressionless suit stood and faced his brother, nodding his large metal head.

"Yes brother." There was hope in the young voice from inside the suit as well.

He nodded and awkwardly moved the stone towards Alphonse, not sure how it would work. Then, as if the crystal heard his doubts, it began to shine brilliantly, and the large office lit up with its light. The light moved from the stone to Al, and he heard his brother gasp as he was engulfed by it.

The the light filled the entire room, so bright that Ed had to shield his eyes, careful not to drop the stone. In a matter of minutes, the light dissipated, and before him stood Al, smiling at him, he eyes looking at him weakly. Ed smiled back, tears building in his eyes. But his relief was short lived as Al's eyes fell shut and he began to collapse. In a panic, Ed dropped the stone and caught his brother before he hit the floor.

"Al!" he screamed at his brother, shaking his shoulder with gentle urgency. "Al! Oh man, Al, c'mon! Answer me!"

But Al didn't answer, and Ed frantically checked his neck for a pulse, sighing heavily when he found that his brother's heart was beating strong. But his face was pale, as though he were ill.

Reluctantly, Ed rested Al upon the floor and walked across the room to the professor's desk, clapping his hands together and holding them before it. In a small flash of light, he transmuted it into a bed. He looked it over once and nodded. It'd hold the both of them just fine. He turned and walked to his unconscious brother, slowly picked him up and carried him to the bed. He then lay in it, and gently placed the covers over him.

Then he remember the stone. He'd dropped it while catching Al. He returned to the spot he recalled letting it fall, only to find a small pile of red dust where the stone should have been.

"Amazing power for a fake."

Ed spun ninety degrees to the right to find Lust sitting atop a bookcase.

"So interesting, that a fake stone would work so well, bring your brother's body back," she said, raising a hand to her cheek, brushing away stray strands of her hair.

"Dammit" he whispered.

Lust smiled and then looked to Al, laying in the bed.

"From the looks of it, the transmutation put quite the strain on his body," she said, smiling coyly. "I wonder if he'll make it through the night"

And then the rage surging within him was released, for her always being there and screwing things up for them, and in one swift movement, he transmuted the top plate of his automail arm into a blade and held it in front of Lust's throat, crouching on the bookcase next to her.

"Why don't you go to Hell," he spat bitterly.

"After you," she sneered.

Knowing what would come next, Ed swerved left, just as she extended a finger into his shoulder, close to his neck, a few inches away from where flesh met automail. As he felt pain surge through him, he sliced sideways, hearing the blade connect with the homunculi's flesh. They both withdrew, thick dark blood streaming from their wounds. As they prepared to attack again, Colonel Roy Mustang's voice penetrated the room from the foyer outside.

"Search every corner of this house! I don't want anything over looked!"

"Well, looks like we'll have to finish this later," Lust said, rather annoyed. "Goodbye, Fullmetal runt."

And with that, she jumped backwards and out of a window behind her. Ed just watched her, too dazed to make a fuss about everyone cracking jokes about his height. He just stared numbly at the window, his wound still oozing a deep red puddle onto his cloak. He vaguely heard the door open behind him and Lieutenant Hawkeye's voice.

"He's in here, Colonel. I found him!"

Taking a good look around the room, Hawkeye was horrified by what she saw. In a corner of the room the professor dead, with a gun in his hand and a bullet wound in his head. Edward, standing in the middle of the room, a dark stain creeping across his cloak. A bed near the wall on the right with a young boy in it. And Alphonse, was nowhere to be found. She heard the Colonel's footsteps rush in beside her and his gasp as he took in all that stood before him.

Ed turned and looked at them, a mix of emotions emanating from his dull golden eyes. He then gave a weak smile as he turned and trudged to the bed, sitting next to the sleeping boy and rested his automail hand on his head. He winced, and withdrew the hand. What was he thinking? He couldn't feel anything with that hand. Frustrated, he rose from the bed and went to the other side, situating himself so that the boy's head was resting against his thigh. With his real hand, he stroked the boy's hair gently, smiling down at him.

Hesitantly, Hawkeye walked behind the bed, placing a hand on Ed's good shoulder. Her eyes widened ever so slightly as she discovered that he was trembling. She looked sympathetically to Roy, who nodded, and back to Ed.

"Edward," she spoke softly, careful not to let her voice waver with sympathy. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Ed whispered, smiling warmer.

"Where's Alphonse?"

"Right here," he replied, indicating the boy next to him with his automail hand.

The words seemed to echo throughout the room, ringing like a gong in the officers' ears. Riza's eyes widened more in surprise and she heard Roy, who now stood about five feet in front of the bed, gasp again. A long awkward silence followed. In the end, it was Riza who gathered herself first. She stood and cleared her throat, looking at Roy, telling him to get a hold of himself with her eyes. Roy eyed her and straightened his back, squaring his shoulders even more.

"Well then, Edward, I shall retrieve a doctor for your wound," she said, surprised at how calm her voice was.

He just nodded, still smiling at Al, the blood stain on his cloak sneaking its way to his lower chest. While Riza was gone in search of medical attention, Roy just stood there, a look of empathy making its way on his face. He watched how serene Ed was, as though he had just found enlightenment. He was sure that if he told Fullmetal how short he was right now, he would just sit there, as though unaware of Roy's existence.

Moments later, Riza rushed in, with a military doctor at her heels. She stopped next to the Colonel, while the doctor scurried ahead, stopping to set his medical kit next to the chair that would've gone to the desk if it hadn't been transmuted into a bed. He gently took Ed's cloak, tossing it to the floor, and removed his shirt. Blood stained a river on his flesh, down to his chest and to the middle of his back on the other side. The medic then went through the procedure of cleaning his skin and the wound, and then bandaging it. Ed didn't respond the entire time, except once when the medicine was applied. Feeling the medication against the tear in his skin, he tensed a bit and shut his eyes, drawing in a sharp breath, but he kept his smile the whole time. To the two officers which stood bewildered in the room, it seemed as though nothing could bother Ed unless it concerned his resting brother. The doctor re-packed his kit, stood, saluted, and walked out without saying a single word. Then, the room was silent except for the steady, heavy breathing of Al as he slept peacefully, his back against Edward's leg.

"Nnnng... b-brother," Al murmured, rolling onto his back, his cheek pressing against Ed's leg.

Ed's eyes narrowed with brotherly love as tears began to build in them once more. He adjusted his hand so that he stroked the top of Al's head.

"Yeah, Al?" he whispered, his voice turbulent with emotion.

Hearing his brother's voice, Al's eyes fluttered open, and he winced a little, blinking as they adjusted to the light of the room. Wow! He could blink again! When he could see well enough, he smiled warmly at Ed. Then he reached a hand from under the covers and took his brother's hand from his head, bringing his other hand to close on top of it. Ed's eyes widened as he felt how soft his brother's skin was.

"Brother, your skin is so warm and soft. I'd forgotten what it felt like," he said quietly.

Ed's eyes closed as he took his hand from his brother, bent over and wrapped both arms around Al's head, and gently pulled it so that the top of his brother's head met with the top of his thigh. As he did so, tears began to escape from his eyes. They rapidly fell down his cheeks, landing onto his hands and into Al's hair. He began to tremble violently.

"Al, oh man, Al," he said between sobs.

Alphonse wrestled himself from Ed's grip and sat up slowly. He grasped Ed lightly by the shoulders and looked him in the eyes. Ed winced in weak realization of the pain where Lust had pierced his skin.

"Brother, is something wrong?" Al asked with a concerned look in his eyes.

"No Al, nothing's wrong," he whispered, tears free falling to the bed sheets.

"But...then why are you crying?" he asked. He couldn't understand. He'd gotten his body back, you'd think they'd be hugging all over each other and laughing. So why was Ed crying now?

"Because I'm happy Al. I'm just so damn happy," Ed replied with a smile, wrapping his arms around his brother in a tight embrace.

A little surprised, Al returned his brother's embrace, smiling as he shut his eyes. Nothing else matter to him right now he just wanted to sit there with his brother forever.

It was then that Al first realized that something wasn't quite right. For one, he was naked. He mentally shrugged this problem off, understanding that the stone gave him his body, not clothes. Oh how specific must we be? He was relieved that there were blankets upon him, especially when he realized Roy and Riza stood not seven feet from the bed. But he also realized that one arm embracing him was automail. That must mean that Ed's left leg was still automail, too. But why? They had the Philosopher's Stone. Why hadn't Ed used it to return his limbs to normal yet? And then he realized that upon Ed, there was a cloth bandage close to his shoulder, wrapped down diagonally across his chest. And behind that bandage, he could feel warmth oozing onto the cloth. With realization, he began to let small tears trickle down his cheeks.

"B-brother, you're hurt," he said, his voice trembling.

"Not badly. I'll be okay," Ed whispered.

As he spoke, Ed watched as Colonel Mustang walked quietly over to Ed's cloak, where it lay on the floor. He picked it up and began to wring the blood out of it. By the time he was finished, a pool of crimson about one and a half feet in diameter sat on the floor. Roy looked at him sympathetically, letting him know he'd lost more blood than that. For the first time since sustaining the wound, Edward began to fully feel the pain and effects of the blood loss.

As the Colonel drained the blood from his brother's cloak, Al winced. He couldn't see it; he was facing the other way. But no amount of noise could have drowned out the sound of his brother's blood cascading onto the wood floor. To him, it seemed as though someone had turned on a faucet. The sound and the smell made him sick, but instead of commenting on it, he decided to bring up the other issue dwelling in his mind.

"Brother, why do you still have an automail arm and leg?" he asked, afraid of the answer.

Edward gripped him tighter, pulling him closer, and Al grimaced as he felt more warmth seep into the cloth bandage.

"After your body was brought back," Ed let out in a high-pitched whisper. "The stone shattered. It was a fake, but enough to bring back your body."

"You knew it was a fake. You knew this would happen, didn't you?" Al accused sorrowfully.

For a while, it was quiet, nothing moved or made a noise. Except Ed. While everyone held their breath, Ed breathed slowly, ragged. Maybe it was from the blood loss, the fear of revealing the truth, or both. But during that long hesitation, It was made clear to Al what his brother would say. But he didn't want to believe it, and as long as Ed didn't say anything, the truth wasn't real.

But Ed couldn't let the truth stay a theory. He had to tell Al, he had to. He couldn't keep the truth from his brother, the only really important person he had left in his life. Slowly, with his head pressed to his brother's, he nodded.

Al's eyes widened in shock. He had known this was the truth but he had desperately not wanted to believe it. He pulled from his brother's embrace, looking Ed in the eyes who, despite the tears still creeping down his cheeks, was smiling weakly. Suddenly, all the rage boiling inside Al for all Ed's self-sacrifice for him overwhelmed him, and he struck his brother once across the face, leaving a large red spot, and a look of bewilderment on Ed's face. Tears were now coming in a waterfall down Al's cheeks.

"If you knew it would have happened like this, you should have restored your limbs, not me!"

"Don't be stupid Al," Ed murmured. "You know that you're the most important thing to me. You know you come first. What else could I have done? If I'd used it for myself, you'd still be in that armor, and it's my fault you were like that in the first place."

"Please don't say that, Brother. It was my fault as much as yours."

"No, I pushed you into it. You're the one who had the feeling, remember? But I didn't listen, and you payed for it. It was my fault, and I owed it to you to bring your body back first."

Watching the conversation between the boys, Lieutenant Hawkeye put a quiet hand to her mouth, so that she couldn't be seen biting her lip to keep her own eyes from letting go of a stream of salty tears. She saw for herself just how strong the bond between the two boys was, despite all the hell they'd been through. It was enough to warm even the coldest of hearts.

Roy's reaction was somewhat similar. He stood noticeably rigid, a rather distressed look on his face. Looking at those boys, arguing over who was more important, there was just something about it. He couldn't quite place it, but shivers up his spine told him it had something to do with Ishbal. Instead of probing the matter further in his mind, he let it go. He glanced at Hawkeye and quietly moved his arms around her, to keep her from breaking down. He then just stood there, not knowing what to do. He didn't want to say anything to destroy the moment between the brothers, but he didn't know how long he'd be able to stand there without letting a whimper of compassionate sorrow escape him.

"No Brother, please. You can't carry it all on your shoulders alone!"

"I can and I have! It was my fault, so shouldn't I?" Ed screamed. There was only a hint of anger surrounded by the guilt in his eyes and voice.

He was feeling woozy now, Ed was. Naturally he was tired. He hadn't slept in a few days, searching for the stone. He wanted to sleep, but the pain from his shoulder, getting chewed out by Alphonse, and being overtired prevented him from drifting into dreamland.

"I'm your brother! You should let my help you. Please! If you can't entrust me with some of those burdens, then how close are we as brothers? I mean really? I trust you with everything. Why can't you trust me?" Al's voice was pleading, desperate. He took Ed's hand in his own as he spoke, clutching it, squeezing it for emphasis. He wanted his brother to understand, he needed him to.

Edward smiled, the tears slowly receding as his vision blurred and dimmed. He could see how desperate Al was, could feel it in Al's trembling hands which gripped his own so tightly.

"I trust you, Al. You know that. I just didn't want you to be crushed under the weight of all that I carried, y'know?"

His voice shook as he spoke, and his last words drifted quietly into the room as he slumped against Al and let himself give into unconsciousness.

Al put his arms around his brother and supported him the best he could.

"Brother? Brother! Please, answer me!" Al screamed frantically, trembling as he gently shook Ed.

Colonel Mustang let go of Riza and walked over to the bed, pressing two fingers to Ed's neck, below the jaw, and found a weak pulse. He sat on the bed next to Al and lightly lay a hand on his shoulder. He struggled to refrain from wincing as Alphonse turned a frightened, tear streaked face to him.

"He's alive, but unconscious. The loss of blood must have finally gotten to him. We should take him to the infirmary in Eastern HQ where he can rest," the Colonel said in a soft, reassuring voice.

Al didn't speak, just nodded. When Roy tried to take Ed into his arms to bring him to the transportation waiting outside, Alphonse tightened his grip and glared at him.

"I'll carry him," he said simply.

Roy withdrew his hand calmly, hiding his surprise. It became harder and harder to maintain the emotionless demeanor that made him such a value to the military. Despite everything, the boys had only grown closer, more inseparable, if it was possible. So instead of replying with the threat of his emotions betraying him, he simply nodded, standing next to the bed as Al, ignoring his nudity, slowly maneuvered Ed so that one arm supported his back, the hand curled around the body and onto the chest and the other under his knees and his brother's head rested on his chest.

"Got him ok, Alphonse?" Hawkeye asked cautiously, moving a step towards him, outstretching a hand.

"Yes. I've got him," he said as he followed Roy out the door.

So there you have it. I've actually been writing this story for months, and finished is somewhere around the 5 of this month, but it was written in a notebook, and I finally decided to type it and let the world see it. It's rather short tho. Maybe about 5 or 6 chapters. I plan to post it all quickly, so I can get back to writing The Sins that Bind Us, but I wanted feedback on this one. So, hope you had fun with it.