Title: Living, Dreaming
Author: Kitana
Warnings: G; slight angst and slight Elricest. Alphonse wishes he could soothe Edward more. 382 words.

Alphonse couldn't understand why Edward did to himself the things he did. He would research for hours on end sometimes, denying himself sustenance or slumber until either Al forced him, or something clicked and Ed found what he had been looking for.

Though he tried not to comment on it, Alphonse couldn't help but notice the signs of weary on his brother's young face. No one his age should show so many signs of tiredness, Alphonse would think, and he would feel guilty. He would feel that he was the cause of the older Elric's suffering.

He wanted to rid himself of that guilt; he wanted to find someway to fix Ed, to fix himself, to be of more use than he was. With that in mind, Alphonse would watch Edward in his peaceful slumber and soothe him in his fitful dreams. If it were only that he were able to place his gauntlet, cool and slightly rough, against Ed's head and stop the choked sobs and tremors that wracked Ed's body, then Al would do that.

It may have been selfish for part of his reasoning to be because it made him feel better, but Alphonse knew he that if he had no comfort himself, he would not be able to comfort the blonde who took such painstaking strides to restore his body.

There were times where Al noted that Edward could not have been more beautiful if he tried. Alphonse cherished those times; those times where Ed's smile was genuine, when the boy didn't feel that he needed to hide from the world in the name of 'protection'.

Then there was now. Now where Edward's mouth was set firm, his whole expression one of grim determination, his body tense with the stresses of their everyday. Alphonse wished that he could take Edward into his arms and hug him, cradle him, until all of the strain left the boy's body.

It was the one thing Alphonse regretted not being able to feel, was his brother's warmth. The memory, although vague, gave him something to look forward to when his body was given back to him. It was what kept him going, kept Ed going. The strongest of all the glues that bound Alphonse to Edward.

The promise of 'some day'.

Owari