The first thing Al saw when he woke up was his brother sleeping in a chair, lines of exhaustion and stress on his face that were only lighten by sleep but did not fully disappear. Al was only able to relish in the happy sight for a second before the intense smell of antiseptic cleaner, blood, and the sweat of sick humans being crowded in too small of a place overwhelmed him.
Al felt his insides twist and thought that he was going to throw up; it was then that he realized he got his body back.
A new sensation soon followed, his eyes began to burn and hot tears were rolling down his cheeks. Ed woke up with a jerk at the sound, his gold eyes instantly narrowing on his younger brother as they quickly filled with concern, "Al are you okay? Does it hurt anywhere?"
Al still choked up with the emotion of finally having his body returned to him was unable to speak, after all it had been four years of searching, sacrifice, pain, and constantly feeling cut off from a world he walked amongst. He shook his head in the negative, but Ed did not seem satisfied and ran off to find a doctor. Once he was gone, it suddenly came to Al that it was the first time he heard his brother's voice clearly, without the metallic echo that came with him being a suit of armor.
When Doctor Knox and Ed returned Al had managed to collect himself enough to hear what the doctor had to say. Even without having Knox explaining it to him, Al knew that he was nowhere close to being healthy. He had looked down and caught a glimpse of his almost non-existence body, that resembled a skeleton covered in pale skin then that of a fifteen year old boy.
"You'll probably won't be able to walk for awhile," Knox regarded Al with a steely but concerned gaze, "You're suffering from malnutrition, dehydration, and probably a volume worth of medical issues. Your muscles are almost useless, your bones are brittle, and if we had the technology to look precisely at your insides I think we all would be disturbed."
"But he's going to be okay, right?" Ed gave Knox a hard look that said he would get violent if Knox said anything to the contrary.
Without flinching, Knox responded with a look that said he could take Ed on, "Well he's in no immediate danger like bleeding to death, but without proper care Al could possibly die." Knox then gave his full attention back to Al his eyes narrowed and face scrunched up that indicated he had something unpleasant to say, "But it will be a long journey to recovery. This is not something a hot meal and good nights rest is going to fix. It could take years before you're fully recovered, and even then you might always have problems."
"Thanks for being honest with me doctor," Al spoke hoarsely his vocal cords were rusty from the disuse, "But when my brother replaced his limbs with automail it only took him half the time to recover, and I plan to do the same thing." Al's golden brown eyes burning with determination met his brother's as the two of them silently made a vow to see each other through this next stage of their life.
"These damn kids," Knox grumbled but an affectionate smirk was on his face, "Well then I suggest you find a place where you can work on a long term recovery."
Both brothers nodded in agreement, without putting it into words they knew where they would be going, it was time to go back home.
Two days later and one treacherous train ride that Al thought would never end, he had no idea how that his backside would hurt from all the rocking, or the intensity of the motion sickness he had to endure. Al could not fathom how Ed managed to put up with nearly four years of practically living on the train. With open arms, the Rockbell women welcomed them home, Winry gave him a crushing hug and even though it hurt his weak body, Al made no move to break away from it. Instantly Al was placed in one of the patient rooms, with the expert and maternal care of Winry and Granny Pinako along with Ed persistent need to stay with him, Al began his journey to recovery.
Through the next month, Al received guests from Mustang to Mrs. Hughes and little Elysia, all of them lending Al their support and friendship. After a while, Al began to notice that none of them were the small Xingese girl and her vicious panda, and even though Ed explained the parts of Al's memory that were hazy about the final battle, he had no idea where she was.
"Whatever happened to Mei?" Al questioned one sunny afternoon; he was sitting on the floor flipping through an old alchemy book while Winry was collecting his bed sheets to wash. Al wondered if his forced casual voice actually did not sound very casual, because Winry hesitated before giving him a worried look in her blue eyes.
"She visited you briefly when you were still unconscious but then she had to leave for Xing."
"I see," Al, returned trying not to sound disappointed," Well I'm sure she's doing fine."
He then shifted his eyes back to his book and made no move that he wished to talk more about the matter. Winry seemed to take extra time in doing her chore, as if she was waiting for him to say something else or perhaps she was trying to collect what she wanted to say. In the end, she departed from the room and left Al alone to his thoughts.
Al decided that it was probably better that she did not see him after all. He was grateful about getting his body back, but in its current condition Al felt that he could be knocked down if someone sneezed on him hard enough. He was in a pretty pathetic state, nothing close to the princely image that she had of him in her mind. In the end he rather her continue on thinking of him that way, at least until he truly got his body back. Besides, she would eventually forget about him anyways, after all out of sight out of mind.
Later that night Al was outside playing with Den, though it was more like Al was leaning heavily on a cane in his attempt to keep his balance, while Den humored him in a game of fetch even when he could only throw the ball a few feet. It is fairly evident that you are in a sorry state if a dog took pity on you. The sky was a deep orange as the sun began to set; the crickets and frogs were already beginning their nightly serenade, soon the fireflies that looked like dancing lights would join. A typical summers night in Risembool, the air suddenly cooled down but it still contained remnants of the intense heat during the day.
"Hey Al," Ed greeted as he and Winry walked across the lawn towards him.
"Hello," Al returned with a grunt due to the stress of throwing the red ball for Den, "Where are you two off to?"
"Um…nowhere particular…Wh-why do you ask?" Both Al and Winry gave Ed an exasperated look, which Ed ignored, as he seemed to be suddenly interested in playing with Den.
"We're going to town," Winry replied with a little more credibility then Ed's hurried excuse, "I need a part for Ed's automail but I need him to be there when I get it. Because Ed seems incapable of taking care of it."
"Why am' I always to blame," Ed called back while he wrestled the ball from Den's tight hold before throwing it far across the lawn, "It not like I do it on purpose."
"Sometimes I wonder," Winry replied dryly but her blue eyes seemed to dance with amusement at Ed's annoyed expression. Al watched the exchange with a warm smile on his face; it was nice to see everyone acting normal and comfortable, before there had been few times when they were able to relax.
"So tell Granny we'll be back later," She reached over and gave Al an unnecessary hug that he happily returned before she turned to pet Den who had now returned "Don't tucker Al out too much Den."
"Later," Ed now with slouched shoulders grumbled as he walked past Al to follow Winry, acting like the idea of going to town would be torture. Both Al and Den watched the couple walk down the dirt road until their forms were no bigger then pin heads against the orange horizon.
Shaking his head in amusement Al tilted it towards to the panting Den, "They're pretty horrible at acting aren't they?" Den merely cocked her head to the side, which made Al feel as though she was humoring him again, with laughter Al gently took the ball from her mouth and gave it another pathetic toss.
Al wondered if they realized that the direction they were going was towards one of the abandoned fields and not to town. Al contemplated if they thought he was too young or perhaps would be jealous if they told him that they wanted privacy in order to do the things couples do. Al obviously was old enough to know what they were up to, and a part of him was jealous but only because deep down he wanted the same thing. Not with Winry though, she was thoroughly his brother's.
"You look tired Den," Al said lightly when the black and white dog dutifully returned with a red ball in her mouth, "Why don't we call it a night?" Den instantly dropped the ball and trotted back towards the house to where Pinako just emerged from the front door carrying a tray of lemonade.
"I never thought I would say this," Pinako called from the front steps of the house, "But you're just as stubborn as your brother."
Al attempted to straighten up then gave her a good-natured grin, "I suppose it's in our blood." He began to hobble slowly towards the house making sure that he took his time and did not strain himself, there was no point in being prideful or caring what he looked like. When he finally joined Pinako on the porch, a light sheen of sweet was covering his face, the sky had now turned light lavender and Den was curled up asleep around Pinako's feet.
"You look like you ran a marathon," Pinako jabbed lightly but there was no sting in her words. She leaned over and poured Al a cup of fresh strawberry lemonade from the glass pitcher beside her, which Al greedily took.
"I certainly feel like I did," Al turned in order for the two of them to share a humorous look, before he drank the entire glass without coming up for air.
"I have something for you," Pinako tapped her pipe on her chair before taking a deep drag that came out in curls of grey smoke, "Would have given it to you earlier but you slept most of the day."
"I tend to do that," Al admitted sheepishly as he poured himself another glass, "So what is it?"
Pinako rummaged in her apron for a moment pulling out spare bolts and a scrap of newspaper, before she handed Al a envelope that seemed decades old from its yellowed and damaged appearance. Al took the letter with a thank you before turning on the lantern that stood in the middle of the table, a soft orange light soon encircled them casting off their shadows. Now able to read it Al was stunned to find it was from Xing.
With more enthusiasm then he should have felt Al tore open the envelope and retrieved the letter within, he felt both overjoyed and amused at its contents. Mei had obviously a long way to go before she could write fluently in the Amestris language.
Dear Mr. Alphonse, I hope you are well
being. I am well being, so is Xiao-Mei if you questioning. I got home
in not multiple pieces and my mother was not unhappy about it. There
are great changes in Xing now, at times too much, but it will not
crush me. I am extra very sorry about not waiting for your
rebirth, but time is a fast mover. Your friend Win-ray sent a written
note about it, and I could not Mei
"What's with that satisfied smirk," Pinako asked slyly, knowing eyes leered at Al's face that was now beet red with embarrassment.
"Nothing," He quickly responded though it sounded too much like a squeak to him, "I feel really tired Granny so good night."
With a lighter and more energized air then Pinako had seen on Al since he got back, the young boy shuffled off into the house. Shaking her head in amusement Pinako felt almost young again with all the love activity that was going around lately, but she fine with that especially if it made Al smile like he use to.