The early morning silence was nearly sinister when Al let the front door of the Rockbell house close softly behind him. The virgin sky was streaked with fuchsia, while the far-off horizon had yet to be reached by the rising sun. Resembool sunrises were one of the few pleasures awaiting him after a long night alone when he was nothing but a soul clinging to an artificial body. Al smiled to himself and began the long, slow trek to the town train station.

The emptiness of the platform didn't surprise him, even after arriving well into normal waking hours. Had there been someone there, he would've struck up a conversation, but being alone was something he was used to by now. After Al boarded the train and settled into a vacant seat for what would prove to be a painfully uneventful journey into Central. The highlight was a breakfast of hearty wheat bread slathered in jam and salted butter. It was a much lighter meal than the doctors in the city recommended for his recovery, but since Winry promised him an apple pie upon his return, he decided to save his appetite for later.

'After what happened yesterday,' he thought to himself as he polished off the last bite of his breakfast, 'I probably shouldn't get my hopes up.'

While they were only required weekly, rehabilitation appointments weren't an obligation Al particularly enjoyed. Each was filled with every manner of poking, prodding, measuring, weighing, and blood tests to assess his strength and progress, not to mention being battered with questions by researchers of how his body managed to survive for so long beyond the gate. While he appreciated and encouraged their research, his account of the experience was painfully inconsistent. For every block of missing time, there was another so crammed with detail he couldn't possibly begin to explain himself.

Al readied himself for the onslaught as he excited the train, and followed the strangely ghostly streets of Central until the stark gray walls of the military hospital loomed, almost prison-like, into sight. Lost in thought, his journey down the main corridor was abruptly halted as he nearly knocked down a very flustered Sheska.

"Oh! Hello, Alphonse! How are you?" she asked brightly.

"I'm alright," he replied as he steadied himself against the nearest wall, "Are you okay? Did I hurt you?"

"Not all all!" she said while adjusting the glasses that had gone askew on her face, "I'm just coming from the library…"

'Big surprise there,' thought Alphonse.

"… and I was informed that Doctor Marcoh is off in East City treating a rather nasty outbreak of the summer flu, and –"

"Wait, he's not here?"

When Sheska finally stopped to take a breath, she nodded briskly, almost sending her glasses flying off the end of her nose.

"The head nurse told me to tell you to come back next week," she explained, "Just keep doing what you're doing. You're far enough along in your recovery that one missed appointment isn't the end of the world."

Al nodded and breathed an internal sigh of relief.

"I guess I'll be going then," he said, and turned on his heel to go.

Suddenly, Sheska clamped down on his arm with such intensity, he could practically feel the curiosity radiating out of her.

"Do you have a question, Sheska?" he asked, and turned to face her again.

"Yes!" the bespectacled young woman nearly squealed, and finally released her iron grasp on his arm.

"Ask away."

"So, I was reading through…"

'Another big surprise,' thought Al.

"… the research that's recently been compiled on your recovery, and I noticed a gaping hole in the questioning. Everyone's all caught up on how your body felt and functioned on the other

side of the gate, but I honestly couldn't believe no one asked you what it felt like to exist on this side! What was it like?!"

Al stopped short. It was true. No one had asked him. He even felt a tiny spark of bitterness flare up inside him. No one really seemed to care. As the silence between them grew stale, Al watched the excited smile slowly whither from Sheska's face.

"Alphonse?"

"It's like being in a dream," he began.

"How so?"

"You're never hungry. Never thirsty. Never tired," he explained, "All basic human necessities disappear. One time, I even let myself believe that my own brother created me artificially just to have a weapon in his control."

"Wait, really?" asked Sheska, her eyes wide with curiosity.

"Yeah," replied Al with a halfhearted laugh, "It was really silly of me to ever think something like that was possible, looking back on it. Being alone with your thoughts too long can cause anyone to overthink."

Sheska didn't reply as she furiously scribbled down notes on the palm of her hand. For someone who read so many books, she never seemed to have any blank paper on hand when she needed it. When she finally raised her head, she reached out, clamped down on Al's hand, and shook it vigorously.

"Thanks, Alphonse!" she said brightly, "We'll see you next week! Keep up the great work!"

Al nodded and turned on his heel to begin the long trek back to Central's train station, trying to silence the phrase that screamed inside him since that fateful night so many years ago. He paused, and without turning, finally released the truth.

"Sheska?" he asked.

"Yes, Alphonse?"

"It was hell."

The breath he took outside the heavy hospital doors felt like first one he'd taken in a long time. The summer sun was radiating mercilessly off Central's cobblestone streets by the time Al neared the train station.

"Hello, Alphonse,"

Al turned at the sound of this name, and suddenly, the space below his knees was surrounded in a black and white blur of fur, teeth, and tails. It took him a moment to recognize the woman in the yellow sundress before him without her trademark blue uniform.

"Lieutenant!"

Riza Hawkeye smiled as she fought for control of the excited dog entwining himself around Al's legs.

"Hayate! Down!"

Suddenly, as quickly as the canine frenzy started, it was over as Hayate calmly seated himself near her left foot with military-like precision. He smiled and shook his head, only The Hawk's Eye would train a dog like that.

"How are you, Lieutenant?" he asked as he reached down to give Hayate a scratch on the ear.

"Very well," she replied, "And actually, it's 'Captain' now, but no matter. Please, call me Riza."

"Congratulations on your promotion!" said Al as he straightened up and stuck out his hand.

Quickly, he realized Riza's hands were full between Hayate's leash and a small, white puppy cradled in the crook of her left arm.

"Oh! Who's this?" asked Al as he gave the small dog its own scratch between the ears.

"I didn't tell you?" replied Riza, "As of a few months ago, Hayate became the proud father to a litter of four."

"That's wonderful!" said Al, still scratching the white puppy between the ears. It's eyes drooped lazily at the sensation.

"I've managed to get three of them adopted but this little one," she explained, "Her brothers and sister all had some black markings like Hayate. I guess that's what people prefer."

Suddenly, the image of Winry sitting at the kitchen table clutching a photo of her and Den flashed before his eyes.

"I can take her!" said Al a little louder than he meant to.

'What are you doing?!' he thought to himself.

Riza raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure?"

"Of course!" he replied, "Ed and I grew up with dogs, it will be no problem at all! She'll love it out in the countryside!"

"If you're sure," said Riza, "then she's all yours."

The blond soldier leaned forward and gently deposited the white puppy into Al's arms. She yipped softly and looked up at him with a rather lopsided canine grin. Al felt a small tug at his heart as he instantly fell head over heels.

Riza smiled and brushed some stray fur from her dress, "There is no doubt in my mind she's going to a good home. Thank you."

Hayate whined as he noticed the absence of the puppy in Riza's arms.

"Don't worry," said Riza in a soothing voice as she leaned over to give him a pet, "She'll be just fine."

"Listen… um… Riza," mumbled Al, "I hate to leave so quickly, but my train from Resembool departs pretty soon."

Riza straightened up, "No problem at all! Say hello to Edward and your friend Winry for me."

'Oh, that's right… my friend…Winry…' Al thought as the puppy squirmed in his arms.

Will do!" he replied, "And from us to the Colonel."

Riza nodded and quickly disappeared into the growing crowd of travelers swarming in and out of the station entrance. Al pushed his way through the chaos towards his train, twisting his way between jutting elbows and swinging luggage to protect his precious cargo. As he boarded the train, he suddenly felt a heavy hand on his shoulder.

"Excuse me, sir, but animals are not permitted in the passenger carriages," said a gruff voice.

Al spun around to find the source of the voice to be an impossibly tall rail worker. The sunlight shining in through the train station windows glinted menacingly off the brass buttons of his uniform.

"I—I have to make this train," Al explained, "Could I ride with her in the luggage carriage?"

The man's expression slowly softened as he regarded the snowy puppy growing sleepy in Al's arms.

"Normally, we don't allow it," he said, "But I'll make an exception."

"Thanks!" said Al with a smile, and slipped through the sliding door into the adjacent car.

He felt the puppy's soft belly expand against his arm as a yawn engulfed her tiny body. He quickly settled onto a large traveling as the train lurched out of the station. It wasn't long before sleep claimed the small dog.

Al smiled as he ran a finger gently through the velvety fur on the puppy's back, "I can already tell you're going to be a wonderful handful."