It's Not Alchemy, It's Chemistry* (Elricest)

gayyyyyyyy

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Al woke early, heart racing in both fear and excitement. He tried telling himself he didn't have anything to lose, but that wasn't true. He liked being able to see his brother and Winry while he was alive, and there were thousands of things he still hadn't done yet, regardless of if he were wearing the armor. I haven't felt a nice breeze in a while, nor have a gone skydiving... Heck, I haven't even had my first girlfriend! Al could feel the redness in his cheeks. I wonder what it's even like... To be touched by another person? I can't exactly remember what it was like when Ed used to hold me when I was little...

He sighed. Maybe if this operation worked, he could find someone who didn't care about his... more than interesting past.

"Al? Today's the day!" A familiar female voice called from the hallway.

He laughed a little. He hadn't been able to sleep very well last night because of this operation. Like he needed a reminder!

"Be out in a minute!" He responded.

Al took a minute to gather his thoughts. This would be the last time he could think to himself before the operation. Actually, come to think of it, this would be the last time he could collect his thoughts in general if he didn't make it.

"Well, then... What should I think about?" The brunette stepped out of his armor and stumbled over to the open window. It was hard to walk without the symmetry of the armor to balance the kinks in his bones above the automail.

He rested his elbows on the window sill. It had been ages since he felt this kind of winter air brush his hair off of his shoulders. "I don't know if I want to do this." He whispered, gazing at the few rooftops scattered along the plain. "I don't know if brother wants me to do this, either, but... I think he wants do to whatever will make me happy." Al sighed, glancing at his fragile arms, bowed legs, splotchy skin. "And I think... I'd be happy in my old body."

Inhaling the fresh air felt lovely. "And if I don't live..." His head lowered, leaning out over the ledge a bit to view what was below. "Well, can I really consider myself 'living' now?"

A soft smile fell across Al's lips as he shed another tear. "Brother never cries... I wonder if it annoys him at all that I cry enough for the both of us..."

"... But I can't say no now! What am I thinking?" Alphonse placed his fists on window sill with conviction. "Winry and Ed and Pinako! They all gave so much time for me! Who would I be to turn their sacrifices into nothing?"

"... And, Edward... How could he just donate his arm for someone like me? I'm the one who tripped and fell over my own damn clumsiness... Why would he just give his arm away for me?"

Alphonse smiled, closed his eyes and shook his head. "Nii-san is strange. I'll never understand some of the things he does."

"Al?"

A polite knock sounded at the door, and the younger brother hurriedly shoved himself back into the armor. Alphonse pulled the doorknob only to be tackled to the ground by his older brother. A long string of words fired rapidly out of the blonde's mouth and muffled into Al's armor.

"Al-I-just-want-you-to-know-that-I-love-you-more-than-the-world-and-I'm-so-sorry-for-everything-I've-done-and-I-know-you'll-say-that-it's-fine-and-everything-but-y'know-Al-it's-really-not-and-I-just-want-things-to-be-back-the-way-things-were-before-all-this!"

Al was thrown off by his brother's sudden affection. Once the initial shock rubbed off, he held his brother back tightly to reassure him.

"But, brother... It is going to be all right, okay?" He rubbed the blonde's hair a bit. "If I make it, I'll be able to live like I did in my preexisting body. And if I don't, it's not like I have much to lose..."

"Don't say that, Alphonse!" Edward slammed on the metal chest plate, which sent deafening echos throughout the hollows of the inside. "Don't say that you have nothing to lose! Our whole life, it was me and you, Al." Hysterical tears flowed from Ed's eyes as he lifted Al's helmet off for the first time in seven years. He placed the piece of metal delicately on the floor and gingerly held the side's of Al's splotched face. "M-Me and you, Al..."

Al removed his metal hands from the arm holes in the armor and covered his face. "D-Don't look at me!"

Ed was taken back in shock for a few seconds. "--Do you see what I mean? I want to see you! And I want to see you happy!"

"... And if you go down, Al... I'm going down with you."

The blonde reached them around his neck. "L-Like mom used to...?" Ed chuckled, staring at the floor next to him. Why am I treating my brother like this? I'm not sure that I'm still only trying to comfort him...

Alphonse shook his head. "No, Ed." he smiled. "Like you used to."

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