Okay. I couldn't help it. This is kind of... off the plot, I guess. I just was not satisfied with the last one.

The REAL encore. AlxRin... Just seems cute to me. And two years isn't that big of an age difference, yeah? I'll leave the court day to your imaginations. They were all very professional. Well... Benchley was slightly colorful, vocabulary-wise, but other than that...

So, yeah. Two months later. The Elric brother's life is back on track. Back to business for them. Only now... it gets just a little more personal for Al. Like you hoped it would. You know? He never finds a girl. There's only that con nurse chick. Never finds any one. Ed's got Winry, Roy's got Riza... Al's all alone.

Poor Al. I like Ed and Roy and all, but Al's just such a sweetie. He so deserves somebody. :)

So, I hope this is a better last chappie than the... other last chappie. I don't know.

Two months later…

Alphonse Elric stood outside Military HQ, waiting for Edward. Tree leaves fluttered down gently in warm colors of red, orange, and yellow. People were filing out after a long days work. General Roy Mustang walked out, whispering something to Riza. She blushed furiously while Roy grinned. Roy noticed Alphonse and called, "He's coming out, Al!" Al waved cheerfully.

And out came Rin. She, like Edward, didn't wear the Military Uniform often. Mostly, she wears summer dresses. Green mostly.

Alphonse always got a bit flustered around her. He was 19 now, and often found himself keenly aware of how a girl looked. And Rin was very pretty.

"Hey, Alphonse," she said breezily. "How goes it?"

"F-fine. Um… How are you?" He stuttered.

"Oh, just wonderful, Al. Ed's coming out soon." Al nodded, fidgeting. Rin smiled. "You know," she said. "Ed and I were thinking… you two should come over to my house at some point. I've got cats."

Alphonse looked up sharply. "Cats? You have cats?"

"Yup. Nine."

"Whoa!" Alphonse gasped with delight.

"Oy, Al! Here I am. Oh, hey Rin. Are you harassing my little brother?"

"I'm not so little anymore, Brother. And Rin was just telling me about her cats!"

"Oh. Yeah. She's got, like, fifty. Real cat maniac. Just like you, Al." Rin grinned.

"Yeah, you guys should come over. My house is just down the street. Come on." She motioned for them to follow. Ed shrugged and walked after her, Alphonse close behind.

After a little, they came up to a small, clean looking house. Rin opened the door and waved them in.

"Sorry it's a bit dirty. Not very many people come over." Alphonse looked around. The house was very much the same as Edward's room. Very little furniture, but what was there was for comfort, not looks.

And, swarming around Al's feet, were cats. Gold and black tortoiseshell, white, gray, xingese, all kinds of cats. And one, a cream colored one, laying on her side, in a box with the words "Clover's Pad".

"Whoa," Alphonse said, staring at Clover. "Is she…?"

"Oh, Clover? Yeah, some boy-cat knocked her up. Ed, you've been here before; go get us both some drinks." Ed walked away, muttering about how she was an awful hostess. A few seconds after Ed walked away, Al cried out. Rin looked over in time to see Clover give birth to her first kitten.

"She's giving birth!" Alphonse squeaked.

"That sounds about right; she's 'bout ready to burst." Alphonse watched, mesmerized. "Um, you know, we should probably give Clover her privacy."

"Ah, don't worry! I'll be quiet." They both crouched next to the box, where Clover licked clean her first kitten, then give birth to another. "Wow! Look! Another one!"

"And words just keep coming out…" Rin said, bemused.

"Wow… it's just… really amazing, you know?" Al said softly. Rin nodded. "Really amazing…" Rin, unbeknownst to Alphonse, was watching him closely, a soft look on her face.

"You're a sweet guy, Alphonse. There aren't many guys like you." Alphonse, snapped out of his reverie, was suddenly intensely aware of how close they were. If he had a body of flesh, he'd probably be Alphonse the Human Tomato.

"Um… Y-yeah. I g-guess so. But… there aren't many women like you either. I mean…" He cursed himself inwardly. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"Thank you, Al. You're sweet. Really." Alphonse stopped breathing. Rin was incredibly close.

"Oy, here's your jank drink. I mean… milk." Ed walked into the room and stopped. Rin was very close to his little brother, and his little brother… looked uncomfortable, but… almost pleasantly so. Ed grinned. His little brother was growing up. Which was kind of hard, seeing as how Al's been the same height since he was 10. Though his voice had been getting deeper. "So…you two getting along?" He asked with a grin.

Both Rin and Alphonse jumped, then scrambled away from each other, Rin blushing furiously. Ed's grin became even wider. He walked closer and saw cat birthing.

"Okay, that's… just a little bit mentally scaring." Rin and Al laughed.

Ed and Rin opened their drinks and sat down in the room next to the living room, where the cat was giving birth. Al sat next to Ed, glancing nervously at Rin. Rin's face took on a slightly rosy complexion, which stayed throughout the three-way conversation. The conversation mentioned Valto, who was currently getting old in prison, to Mustang, who was obviously going to ask out Hawkeye (they'd been flirting enough), to the large number of cats, who had obviously taken a liking to Al; they'd all curled up around him, or settled on his shoulder, purring like little motorboats.

Finally, after a few hours, it was time to go. Ed stood up and stretched.

"Come on, Al. Let's go. Time to go home." Al got up grudgingly, gently moving the cats, who got up reluctantly, meowing with displeasure. Ed thanked Rin for the coffee, then strolled out of the house. Al took a little longer, trying to move the cats without hurting them. Rin helped, laughing.

Finally Al got up.

"T-thank you. And, uh, good luck with the kittens, yeah?" Rin stared at him thoughtfully, and nodded.

"Yeah. Right." Al started to walk away.

Rin took a few steps forward, then got on her tip toes and kissed him on the cheek.

Al halted, then turned staring at her in shock.

"Y-you get your body back soon, okay?" She stammered. "Then, maybe…" She held her chin up. "Maybe we could… hang out some time… or something." Al stared, then, on impulse, reached out and held her hand.

"Yeah. I-I'll work hard!" Rin smiled warmly.

Al walked out of the house, feeling kind of warm.

"Jeez, Al. Took you long enough." Ed said, though he was grinned.

"Shut up, Ed… Let's go home and study, okay?"