SPOILERS: The end of the series(slight) and the movie(slight)
Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist at all, so please do not sue me! -cowers-
My Reflection?
"Brother?"
It was so empty. Alphonse felt a shiver run down his spine as his own hollow voice echoed in the empty room. The shadows seemed to rise up to greet his presence. The boy was on edge, silver eyes flashing nervously. A soft sound suddenly answered his call, yet startling him all the same. He flinched, stumbling backwards and toppling to the floor. Cowering in a ball on the hard ground, Alphonse squeezed his eyes shut and whimpered pitifully. He had no idea what was happening. He was so confused. He heard the sound again; biting back a scream that threatened to overtake him.
Sure, he had been through worse than hearing some strange sound in some dark room… but every time he had, his big brother had been there with him. Now he was alone. Edward wasn't there to help him like he had been when they were kids or when their mom died or when they were on that island or… or.. Alphonse clutched at his head. He couldn't remember! He couldn't remember anything. He had no idea why he suddenly went from ten to fourteen overnight. Why it was difficult for him to breath sometimes and why his body felt stiff and unused. He didn't know why his house was gone. He didn't know half the people who claimed to know him and his brother and wanted to help him. He didn't know who this Fullmetal was either.
"B-brother? Brother, where are you?"
And the thing that bothered him the most… why couldn't he find Edward? He wasn't anywhere and every time he asked Auntie Pinako or Winry or one of those strangers who knew him, they acted all nervous and looked like they were hiding something. They wouldn't answer his questions about his memory gaps either.
"What's wrong with me?" Alphonse whispered to himself shakily, "Brother… what's wrong with me? Where are you? Where's mom? What happened?"
Another creak and pitiful sound came from a darkened shape in the corner of the room. Alphonse scrambled to his feet, knocking over a chair in the process. Rubbing his aching head, he froze as he felt something soft and furry rubbing against his hand.
"Brother… was I that soft?"
A sad grin on a misplaced face, "Of course you were, Al."
He blinked down at the furry intruder, relaxing visibly when he realized it was only a cat. Smiling sadly, Al scooped up the bundle of fur into his arms, "So you're the one making all the noise. You scared me, kitty."
"Al! What are you doing?"
"N-nothing, oh dearest brother of mine."
Edward looked unconvinced, "Uh-huh… then why is your chest meowing?"
"Um, meowing brother? I don't know what you're- HEY! Give me back my head!"
"Aha!" Ed held several cats up from inside the hollow armor, "Gotcha!"
"Broootheer! Give them back! They have no home."
"Forget it Al! I said no cats and that's final!" The shorter boy replied defiantly.
"B-but… we can't just leave them out in the cold…" if armor could cry, then it would be doing so at the moment, he decided as he placed his head back on. "Please...?"
Ed sighed reluctantly, "Fine, we'll take them with us until we can find some place to drop them off. Okay Al?"
"Yay! Thank you brother!"
"Yeah, yeah."
Shaking his head in order to clear it, Alphonse crossed the room to where the lamp was and turned it on. Turning away from the source of light, his eyes fell on the large shape in the corner. The cat hit the floor with a loud thump as his arms went slack. The light emitted from the lamp reached all corners of the room. Alphonse could only stare at what had been a foreboding shadow mere seconds before. His body trembled involuntarily, fingers clenching themselves into fists. His mouth opened as if to call out again, but no sound came forth. Taking hesitant steps forward, Alphonse was soon right in front of something terrifying. Himself.
The old armor that had once inhabited the basement of their house; just seeing it sitting there scared Alphonse to the core of his being. I don't want to go back in there! No! He could recognize it as something from his house from a while back when Edward and he practiced their alchemy, but there was something else. In the very back of his memory. Was I soft? Quivering fingers lightly brushed against the cool metal of the suit of armor. There was something so familiar about this… but as Alphonse felt like he was getting closer to the answer, it slipped further from his grasp. Am I scary? This armor was definitely frightening him. The lifelessness of it scared him to no end. It was as if… it was supposed to be alive…
The disgruntled meow from the cat Alphonse had previously dropped dragged him back to reality. "Oh… sorry kitty. I didn't mean to hurt you."
Tearing his gaze away from the empty eye sockets of the armor, he picked up the cat and began to walk back over to the doorway. He spared the armor one last glance, his heartstrings tugging at the sight of it. "It's like… looking at my reflection…" he whispered softly, earning a paw swipe from the fur ball.
Alphonse shook his head, "What am I talking about? How could a suit of armor be my reflection? Heh, brother would laugh at me if he saw me now." the cat meowed pitifully again, as if asking for food. "Okay, okay. Let's go get you some milk, kitty. But don't tell brother. He doesn't like milk."
Flicking the light off again, Alphonse shut the door and locked it. Nothing remained in that room save for a card table, two chairs, a lamp, and a lonely suit of armor that had no other purpose save for collecting dust in the corner and being the product of another boy's thoughts in another world far from here.
"Brother."
Fin.