I Promise
A/N: I, too, have jumped on the FMA bandwagon. I decided it was high time I wrote something for it. Short, I know, but I wanted it to be. Please read and review, and if you do choose to review, please don't curse in it. It will be greatly appreciated. Many thanks to my sister Alu for her help with the storyline.
Alphonse Elric sat in the dark beside his brother's bed. The only light in the room came from a few slats of moonlight that fell through the blinds on the window. Edward was sound asleep. The heat had driven him to wear a sleeveless t-shirt that laid bare his arms, despite the effort he always made to hide his automail from unkind eyes. The deep darkness engulfed the floor around Al, making him unable to see his arms, his legs. He was suddenly overcome by a wave of fear as horrifying memories resurfaced, and again he saw Gluttony devouring his limbs as easily as if they'd been made of butter. Terrified, he cried, "Brother!"
Ed woke with a start, nearly falling out of the bed. He glanced around wildly. Catching sight of Al, he gave a sigh of relief. "Hey, Al," he said quietly, his voice thick with sleep. "Everything okay?"
Al was quiet for a long while. "I'm sorry, brother," he said finally. "I didn't mean to wake you. You can go back to sleep."
Ed leaned on his left elbow, propping his head up with his hand. He wanted to know what had bothered his younger brother so much, but knew better than to ask. He didn't, however, want to go back to sleep and leave Al with those thoughts, whatever they were.
"Al?" he began some time later. "You remember Mom, right?"
A little confused, Al nodded.
Ed climbed out of bed and sat down next to him. "Do you remember the time when she spent the whole morning washing and hanging up sheets? Then we played hide-and-seek between them and she got mad because we got them dirty again. And then Winry had to yank one down and use it as a cape. Pretty soon, we were all running around the yard with those sheets, even Mom." He was laughing so hard that he had to lean against Al for support.
Al was laughing, too. "I do remember that."
Ed closed his eyes. "We'll have to convince Winry to do that with us again sometime, huh?"
Al nodded. "That would be fun."
Ed laughed inwardly at the thought of the three of them running around with bedsheets.
They were both silent for a long time. Suddenly, Ed wrapped his arms around Al in a fierce hug. "I promise we're going to get you back to normal, Al. I promise," he said, his voice tight.
Al hugged him back. "I know you will, brother."
Ed fell asleep soon after, cradled in Al's arms.
