"Edward, do you want to come and meet your little brother?"
-"He's here? YAY!" Little Edward Elric was trembling with excitement. He'd been waiting for his Mommy and Daddy to give him a little brother for as long as he could remember. But he was finally here!
"I wanna see him, Mommy!" He yelled, running towards the bed. Trisha laughed quietly and tilted her arms so he could see. Cradled inside them was a little baby boy with traces of brown hair.
"Wow…." Ed gasped. Trisha smiled at Hohenheim, who put his hand on his older son's shoulder. "Edward, meet Alphonse. This is your little brother. You're gonna help take care of him, right?"
-"Al-phonse…" Ed repeated slowly. "Ok Daddy, I'm gonna be the bestest big brother eva!"
"Hey! Brother, you never carry the wood!"
-"Yeah well, I hurt my arm!"
-"You said that last time!"
Al, now around the age of five, glared at his elder obstinately. Ed stuck his tongue out at Al and ran off, laughing. Al soon joined him, dropping the wood with a thud. "Oh no you don't! Brother! Get back here!"
They tumbled over each other playfully, rolling across the ground. Just as Ed was sitting up and shaking himself off, he saw Al lose his grip on the river bank and fall into the water.
"AL!"
there was no sign of him. Ed was about to jump in after him… when he saw Al start clambering onto the bank, shivering.
"You ok?" Ed asked, taking off his over-shirt and throwing it around Al's shoulders.
Al nodded, coughing up water. "Yeah, I'm fine."
A couple of years later, Ed came into the bedroom to see Al waiting at the window. "Al? What'cha doing?"
-"I'm waiting for Dad."
Ed's fist clenched. "Al, he's not coming back. He ditched us." He stared at his arm absently as he spoke.
"He doesn't care about us. Mom's sick, she's dying, and he doesn't even bat an eyelash."
-"No! Don't say that!" Al cried out. "He's coming back, I know he is! One of our letters had to have reached him…" he paused, tears welling in his eyes. "He has to…."
-"Does he?" Ed asked, raising an eyebrow, and with a sick feeling in his heart Al knew Ed was right. However, he remained obstinate.
"He's coming back," he said firmly.
The next year found the brothers standing at their mother's tombstone. Their father had still not returned. That bastard didn't even come to see his wife one last time, Ed thought bitterly.
As of yet, he hadn't shed a single tear. Al, on the other hand, had been sobbing his little heart out ever since Trisha had given Ed her last request – that he transmute her some flowers 'as your father always used to do'- and passed away.
"Brother…" Came a small voice. Ed looked down to where he knew Al was crouching.
He looked absolutely miserable. A trail of tears travelled down his chubby cheek and his bottom lip trembled. How can such a little kid even have so many tears to shed? Ed wondered briefly.
"What are we going to do?" Al asked and the very sound of it tugged at Ed's heartstrings.
What were they going to do? What could they do?
"How are we going to live without her?" Al clarified, breaking down again.
Ed steeled himself, determined. He had promised to be a good big brother. And he would.
"We're not, Al. We're going to bring her back."
"Brother, you're going to get sick if we don't find somewhere to stay soon!"
The mechanical voice echoed, reaching Ed's ears even through the blinding white haze of snow.
That voice, filled with concern, was exactly what kept Ed going.
"Brother, are you even listening to a word I'm saying?"
-"Yeah Al, sure I am."
He's so much like Mom, Ed thought with a smile. He would have looked like their mother too, if he had a human body. Damnit, he should have a human body! He should be back in Resembool, living a normal life and starting to get crushes on girls, not… like this….
"Hey Al."
Al turned, and started in shock when Ed stripped his red jacket off. "Brother! What the heck are you doing! You'll die of pneumonia!"
Ed smiled and, without a word, put the jacket over Al's metal shoulders. "You should stay warm," he said gently.
Al sighed. He knew what the point of that futile gesture was, what his brother was trying to say to him.
I'm going to make this right, Al. No matter what. Even if it ends up killing me in the end, I'll do it. Because you're worth it.
My Brother…
I promise you, there is nothing I won't give
To see this through
Return the soul to where it lives
I promise you, I'd go everywhere I've been
To find a way to make atonement for my sin and see
See your smiling face again