Al lay still and savored the cacophony of sensation that flooded through him; muscles moving, skin stretching as he breathed; pulse points pounding as lifeblood moved freely through them once more; and nerve endings wakening from their long sleep to tell him that he was naked and lying outdoors on cobblestones. He shivered, chilled by the cool air moving over his bare skin.
"Al!"
His ears processed the sound, and Al's heart began to race again as he recognized his name, as well the voice that had uttered it with both joy and fear.
Ed. Brother.
More sounds - booted footsteps clacking on stone, closer and closer. A rustle of fabric, then sudden warmth to his right.
"Al! Al! Are you okay?" His brother's voice was cracking, tinged with panic, and Al felt a hand gently shake his shoulder.
Al focused his energy on his eyelids. Open, he told them. I want to see him. They were so heavy at first, but then suddenly they fluttered open and his gaze was filled with gold - gold hair and fear-filled golden eyes.
The fear evaporated when Ed saw his eyes open, and then Al saw nothing but the brilliance of Ed's smile. Al lifted a shaky hand and touched a tear-streaked cheek. "B-brother," he whispered, his voice rusty from disuse.
More wetness pooled under his fingertips, but Ed's smile was wider than ever as he lifted Al up. Al felt soft scratchiness as he was wrapped in Ed's red wool cloak, and then there was the warmth of his brother's arms around him. Ed pressed damp kisses against Al's forehead, his eyelids, his nose - anywhere his lips could reach.
Al buried his face into Ed's sweaty neck and breathed in his scent, his own lips lingering over Ed's throbbing pulse. "Brother," he repeated, and he reveled in the way Ed's arms reflexively tightened around him.
"I'm never letting go of you again." Ed whispered fiercely. "Never."
"Me neither," Al replied, and he burrowed closer in his brother's embrace.