Author's Note: I realized, as I was writing the previous chapter, that this was an excellent chance to write a scene I've tossed around in my head for over a year now, but never was able to find enough interesting about it to warrant its own fic. To completely understand this, you'd have to read my fic "Nothing But Everything," which includes my animeverse postseries AU ideas about what becomes of Ed and Al. The cover art is a fanart of this chapter that can be found here: levi-khane dot deviantart dot com / art / Seal-My-Soul-276950601

Under my skin, under these scars
Take me again, and tear me apart
'Cause I wanna see everything you are
Till all that's left is not myself

- "Under My Skin" by Trading Yesterday

A tense silence settled over the room once Edward had drawn the curtains over the window and switched on the light. They'd been planning this day for weeks, but now that the time had come Edward felt just the same as he had the first time Alphonse had suggested it.

He checked and re-checked his supplies, trying to stave off the moment when they would have to begin. He made sure the soapy water was warm, lit the candle, and sterilized the needles again. There was no way he was going to let his little brother get infected. Then he pulled on his gloves, took a deep breath, and looked up to find Alphonse watching him.

Alphonse looked maddeningly calm. The trust in his eyes as he met his brother's gaze was too much to bear; Edward looked away and nodded. He busied himself with the needles again, loading them up with black ink while Alphonse pulled off his shirt and lay on his stomach on his bed, resting his head on his arms.

The first part was easy, so Edward managed to relax as he washed off Alphonse's upper back. It reminded him of the many times he had offered this service to his little brother when he'd been a suit of armor. Those metal arms were nowhere near as flexible as real, flesh-and-blood ones, so there was a spot on his back he could never quite reach. Edward had liked scrubbing Alphonse's back; it was one of the few things he could do for him. As if a sponge bath could somehow make up for the mistake that had landed him in that position in the first place.

Alphonse's eyes were closed, and the muscles in his back were relaxed. Edward was tempted to leave it like this, to just let Alphonse sleep, but then Alphonse cracked an eye open to see what was keeping him. Reluctantly, Edward picked up a needle and bent over the space they'd picked out. The space between the shoulder blades was smooth and mostly flat, and over the years Alphonse had filled out enough that his vertebrae didn't stick out like they had in the beginning. It was the perfect spot for a small circle.

The first prick of the skin was the worst. As much as Alphonse was trying to keep still, he still jerked slightly at the touch of the needle, and that made Edward's gut clench. But once he'd started, he had to continue, had to pay attention to the curve of the line he was drawing. He tried to focus on what he was doing, but he couldn't keep from thinking about how it must hurt. Alphonse would be able to feel each individual pinprick, till the pain molded together into a never-ending throb.

For some reason, he kept on remembering that first month after getting Alphonse's body back, and how overjoyed he'd been at every new sensation. Alphonse would reach out and take Edward's hand, slowly clasp and unclasp it, then pull it up to his face and run his knuckles along his cheek. He remembered the leg massage the doctor had taught him to help restore his circulation, and he remembered brushing Alphonse's long, ratty hair. Every time he would feel something soft or warm or gentle, Alphonse would smile – a blissful smile where he would tip back his head and close his eyes.

His eyes were closed now, and he wasn't complaining, but Edward knew what the tightness around his mouth meant. It reminded him of the time Alphonse had sprained his ankle, just four months after getting his body back. He'd limped through the door, clutching his paper bag of bruised apples, not even wincing when he put his weight on his injured ankle. But his jaw was clenched and his lips were pressed tightly together. He looked like that now.

Edward's fingers slipped on the needle, and it jabbed farther into the skin than he'd intended. Alphonse let out an involuntary gasp, but as soon as Edward started apologizing, he just clenched his teeth again and said, "Keep going." Biting his lip, Edward did as he was told.

Thankfully, this was just a simple circle, a shorthand for the master circle Alphonse had composed for the State Alchemy Exam. In fact, it looked similar to the blood seal that was still faintly visible on the old suit of armor in Winry's basement. That made sense, since that seal had tied Alphonse's soul to the armor and this circle would keep his soul grounded in his body when he siphoned it off into different containers. There was the same basic star shape, but instead of the squiggle in the center there was a sun, the alchemic symbol for the soul. The lines were also more rounded, opening a wider variety of possibilities for how it could be used due to the way they intersected with the other lines.

Edward filled his head with all the minutiae of the circle, letting the alchemist in him take over. It was so much easier to admire the subtle genius of this circle – so much more efficient and reliable than the one he'd made himself, gleaned from the Truth – than to dwell on how the skin was beginning to swell up. It would soon heal, but it would be tender in the meantime.

But finally, it was done. The circle jumped starkly out at him against Alphonse's pale skin. It was no bigger than the blood seal. It was even in roughly the same place. Tentatively, Edward reached out a finger and pressed it against the outer circle. He didn't activate it, but he still felt a tingle when he touched the skin. It was probably just his imagination, but he felt as though he was touching Alphonse's soul.

Alphonse was looking at him over his shoulder, and Edward started to pull his hand away, realizing that it probably hurt. But Alphonse grabbed his sleeve and held him down, so Edward stayed where he was. They looked at each other for a moment or two – Edward touching a finger to Alphonse's back, Alphonse lightly clasping Edward's arm.

With a smile, Alphonse closed his eyes and relaxed again. "Thank you."