Chapter 4
He had had enough.
He was through with the itchiness, the extra weight, the shagginess, and the way it was impossible to maintain.
Honestly, he had no idea how his brother dealt with it every day.
It was long and just got in the way of everything. No matter how many times he tried to tie it back, no matter how many styles he twisted it into, it would fall back onto his face.
He wanted this hair gone.
All of it.
The reasoning for it, though, was not only for practicality's sake. True, he had never really cared about his looks before (for a while, he didn't really have a reason to - there's only so much you can do aesthetically with armor, after all). But now?
Every time he looked in the mirror, he couldn't recognize himself. At first he had just been relieved to see flesh and bone again, but after a while it was difficult to remember what he used to look like, and even more difficult to look at his reflection.
He was a husk of who he used to be - the shadowed, withered remains of what once was.
Alphonse Elric was not the image of the boy he remembered, and he was desperate for something to grasp at - some sort of sign that the old him was still in there, that they hadn't accidentally brought back the wrong body.
When the boy voiced his concerns to his brother, he laughed good-naturedly. There was no way he could have mixed up the bodies, he had said.
"I would recognize you anywhere, little brother."
But Al was not convinced. Deep down he knew that Ed was right: that he was back. And yet, his eyes continued to betray him.
Feeling selfish and petulant, he began to draw into himself, and he only grew worse with time. Alphonse knew he should be grateful. That he had gotten his body back at all was a miracle in and of itself. Edward had sacrificed so much to get him back. It was a gift, and it shouldn't be taken for granted.
Yet somehow, he couldn't help but feel like a disbodied soul once more - trapped inside a foreign shell with no way out.
This was what he had been fighting to escape from for so long, and now he was back almost exactly where he started as though all the progress made had been for nothing.
Alphone knew that it would take time, that he wouldn't become strong again without a lot of work and determination. He knew that when he got his body back, things would be different.
What he hadn't known was how much of a toll it would take.
Edward noticed his brother starting to retreat on himself. He refused a couple meals, he threw up some of the ones he ate, he avoided his reflection like the plague and turned down a couple of physical therapy sessions.
He was downtrodden and lost. He wasn't trying to get better anymore.
He looked defeated. He had just about given up.
Edward had never seen his brother like this before: no will to keep going, no hint of hope in his voice or his eyes. It was as if he was just waiting for the gate to take him back, so why try at all.
The older boy tried his best to cheer him up. He offered reassurances, said that he was looking more and more like his old self every day. It was well meant, however they seemed to go in one ear and out the other.
Finally, with one last attempt to fix things, Edward came into his brother's room on a dreary afternoon armed with nothing but a tentative stance and a pair of scissors.
Alphonse spared a glazed glance in his brother's direction, but it was if his brain couldn't put two and two together. So he said nothing, his lifeless gaze returning to the drizzling rain pattering softly against the window.
Edward swallowed hard. If this didn't work, he didn't have a backup plan. If this didn't work, he wasn't sure anything else would.
When at last Edward lifted Al from his bed and set him on the hospital room's bathroom floor, when the first snip was made and a long strand of golden hair fell to the ground at their feet, something in the younger boy began to stir.
They sat in silence, tension and anticipation hanging heavily in the air as Edward hacked away at Alphonse's long mane.
After what seemed like an eternity, Edward put the scissors down. Gently, he reached down and plucked his brother from his seat, setting him down purposefully on his feet in front of the mirror.
At first, the young alchemist turned away with almost a knee jerk reaction. But, as curiosity got the better of him, he slowly turned back to face his reflection.
He saw…
Himself.
He was still too thin, his cheeks too hollow and his clothes too baggy on his tiny frame. But the boy that he saw in the mirror no longer looked like a stranger. An unhealthy version, yes, but he finally looked like himself.
His hair (though not nearly as neatly done as when Granny used to cut it) was short once again, styled in almost the same way it had been before all of this began. No longer was his face covered and cast in shadows, no longer were his angled features lengthened by the hair framing his face.
He could see a little piece of himself again.
And that was more than enough.
Tears of relief started to trickle down from his clear, golden eyes. He could see the light freckles on his cheeks, the tiny scar on his forehead from when he tripped on the gravel when he was three, the way his eyelashes curled on their own (something Winry had always been jealous of), and the wrinkling of his almost always chapped lips.
This was him, every piece that made him himself was exactly where it should be. He wasn't a soul in a shell anymore; he was whole and here and complete.
Blubbering sheepishly he turned and enveloped his chuckling brother into the biggest hug he could give. The older boy placed a hand on Al's newly trimmed head, running his fingers through what was left of the hair on the other boy's scalp.
"See? I told you: I'd recognize you anywhere. I hope this will help you see it too. At least until we can get a couple more pounds on you, yeah?"
Alphonse gave a huff of a laugh and nodded, rubbing the tears from his face haphazardly as he looked in the mirror once more to find his own, bright eyes staring back at him.
He smiled, and his reflection smiled too.
Man, it felt good to be back.
AN: Yes, I posted twice in one day...inspiration struck and I couldnt help myself haha. Please enjoy!
Prompts are still open, and I'd love to hear what you all think so far~
Have a splendid remainder of your day and I'll post again soon :)