Chapter 6

Nearly a year had passed since the Promised Day. No stranger to hard work and dedication, Alphonse and Edward continued to commit themselves deeply and fully to physical therapy. Ed managed to heal from the majority of his wounds in about a month, and was only in physical therapy for his arm for a few months after that. He was given many daily exercises by Lisle to continue, but his in-person sessions were no longer required.

Al, however, was another story entirely.

No one had seen a case like his - no one had ever gone through such malnutrition, such atrophy of their muscles, without terrible consequences.

But Al? He had managed to work his way through physical therapy in only a year, only slight gauntness of his features and a cane remaining of what had once been a nightmare.

To think, after all this time, they were finally going home.

"You alright?"

Al turned, eyes catching his older brother's concerned look - a look he sported too often, these days.

Though tired, he was feeling better than he had in a long time.

Alphonse smiled full-heartedly. "I'm great."

The older boy smirked in return, ruffling Al's hair fondly. "Good to hear - we've got a long ride ahead of us." He paused, looking at his pocket watch impatiently (the military let him keep it for 'sentimental value,' but everyone knew it was so that should the need ever arise, Ed could pull rank once again). Both of the brothers had been looking forward to going home, but Al had physical therapy to focus on until recently, whereas Ed had been more or less free from said obligation for months. To say he was impatient was an understatement. "Stay here, okay? I'm gonna go double-check when the next train's coming in."

And just like that he was gone, lost in the sea of the crowd.

The younger boy shook his head, laughing quietly to himself. Though Al was excited too, Ed had more than just going home to be excited about - after all, a certain automail mechanic would be waiting for them when they—

Something collided hard with Al's back, the momentum knocking him off balance and sending both him and his collider - as well as a mixed variety of fruits - sprawling across the floor.

"Oh, I'm sorry—"

"No, no, the fault is mine—"

"No really, I shouldn't have been standing in the way—"

"It was entirely my doing, I wasn't watching where I was going—"

"Here, let me help you with that—"

"Thank you, sir, I'm so sorry—"

"It's no trouble, really."

"Are you alright?" Their eyes met and the woman's went wide, the apple in her hand falling to the floor once again. "O-oh my...I know you!"

This caught Al by surprise for the very apparent reason that no one in central should really know what he looked like without his suit of armor.

"I-I'm sorry?"

The woman laughed suddenly, a sweet sound. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I'm sure you're quite confused. Elric, right? My name is Cassandra, I work as a secretary for the military base here in Central."

He did remember her, now that she said it - she was usually stationed at the front desk. She was a pretty woman: average height and a little on the stout side, probably in her early twenties, dark hair, always smiling and friendly.

And, if he recalled correctly, he had seen her in passing once or twice in the hospital. She, too, must have been caught in the events of the Promised Day.

He beamed. "Yeah, I remember you! It's nice to see you again."

"You too! You look nice with your new haircut."

Al blushed, embarrassed and flattered all at once, his hand brushing through his hair subconsciously. Had she really seen him with his long hair? He'd only had it for a little while before he'd gotten annoyed and had his brother help him chop it all off - how Ed managed with his own long hair, he would never understand. "T-thanks."

"Thank you for helping," Cassandra motioned to her bag of semi-bruised fruit. Her eyes caught on Al's crutch and immediately she took action. "Here, let's get you back up shall we?"

Together, they managed to put Al back on his feet. He wobbled slightly, but otherwise remained fairly stable. He smiled sweetly.

"Thank you, Miss Cassandra."

"Of course! It's the least I could do." She paused, shifting her bag to her other hand and brushing a piece of dark hair behind her ear. "I uh, I heard about everything you and your brother did for us...for all of Central, maybe even the whole world. Both you and your brother sacrificed a lot," she glanced at his cane. "I don't think any of us can ever make it up to you fully."

Al laughed, stuttering, nearly at a loss for words. "N-no no! It was worth it, all of it! I'm just so glad that we could help—"

"Al!" Alphonse turned, catching sight of a familiar hand waving through the crowd. "Alphonse! The next train's gonna be here any second, get your ass over here!"

"Coming!" Al called back, turning back to Cassandra. "Sorry, I've got to be—"

"Wait, what? Alpho—?" She froze, her hand coming up to her mouth in what appeared to be mild horror. "Oh my goodness, I-I'm so sorry, I must have—y-you look so different without your armor, so similar to—"

"Al?" Ed was there, a hand reaching around his back and gripping onto his shoulder. When did he get there? "You okay?"

"Uh," Al blinked, suddenly very hot, very overwhelmed by the amount of people and noise, and very, very tired, "I think—?"

A train whistle blew, causing Al to flinch. Ed's grip tightened in sympathy, starting to usher him towards the train.

"I'm sorry, Miss, but we have to be going now," the older boy offered, obviously completely unaware of the woman's identity as he pulled his brother away gently, the sound of a train grinding to a screeching halt on its tracks nearly drowning out the woman's farewell.

"It was a pleasure seeing you, Alphonse!"

"You too," he managed before he was led away, Ed's hand gripped protectively around his back as he ushered him along.

It wasn't until later, when the two of them were seated and the train had started off, that Alphonse realized that he had been mistaken for his brother once again. This time though, it caused a surge of warmth to flutter through him: it wasn't because he was Full Metal: it was because they looked alike.

AN: Thanks for your patience! Sorry this chapter was a bit on the shorter side, but I felt like it was a good ending point! I just wanted to say that I make mention to other chapters of mine in this series, but I hope that I've written them all vaguely enough so that they can be read as one-shots as well. I've been trying to put them in chronological order, but as I create more I might go back and add some chapters between some of the old ones. If I do, I'll let you know where in my timeline they are!

Thank you again for reading, and I hope to have the next installment up soon. Please let me know what you might like to see in the coming chapters!

To Kaoruca: I read your request for some Winry content! I'm hoping to incorporate her into the next few chapters - these will be more family-oriented, so the brothers will mostly be at home with Winry and Granny. Thanks for reviewing!