My Brother, My Friend

A/N: OKAY SO I FOUND THIS ON MY OLD FANFICTION.NET ACCOUNT AND I'M REALLY MAD BECAUSE IT'S ACTUALLY PRETTY GOOD IN MY OPINION AND I WROTE IT WHEN I WAS LIKE 14. ANYWAY I'M POSTING IT AFTER DOING A BIT OF REVISING AND REWORDING ENJOY

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Nightmares were common for the Elric brothers nowadays.

Once upon a time, it had only been Edward, the older of the two, who suffered through them. Now, they came to both of them. It wasn't something that Alphonse- the younger brother- was used to. In fact, having been a soul bound to suit of armor since he was nine, only just becoming human again a few weeks ago, Alphonse Elric was only just getting used to being human again.

Sleep didn't come easy to Alphonse. He'd usually lay wide awake for hours at a time, in the complete silence of his and Ed's shared room. The only sounds were Ed's breathing, the occasional telltale popping noise from his mechanical limbs, and a few words mumbled in his sleep. All sounds that Alphonse had become accustomed to over the years, he found them somewhat comforting and could usually be lulled into a restless sleep by them.

Most of the time, one or both of the brothers would only sleep a few hours before the nightmares took their toll. Ed had them worse- much worse. Sometimes he'd just start awake with a soft gasp, sit up, and look around wildly before realizing that everything was fine and it had only been a dream. Most of the time, he'd bolt up with a cry- usually a name- before cursing under his breath and sitting awake the rest of the night- sometimes close to tears. More often than not, Alphonse would try to calm Ed down, only to be pushed away vehemently by his older brother.

It became a cycle; a ritual, even.

And so, lying faceup in the darkness, Alphonse Elric did nothing upon hearing the telltale signs of a nightmare poisoning Edward's sleep. First, the mumbling. Soft words, possibly names, running together as he spoke them. Second, the tossing and turning; the bolts holding his right arm and left leg in place popped as Edward moved restlessly. Third, his breathing patterns. What had once been steady and slow was now rapid and shallow, almost as if he were in pain.

He'd be waking up anytime now. Sure enough, after a few more minutes, Edward gasped and bolted upright, looking around in a panic. He blinked, trying to hold back tears. "Oh, God..." He said softly, his voice trembling. "No, no, no, no!" He gasped, his voice rising.
Hesitantly, Alphonse sat up. "Brother?" He said softly. "Are you alright?"

Ed started and looked at Alphonse as if he'd only just materialized there. "Al... I keep forgetting you're not armor anymore." He murmured, almost to himself. "I'm still getting used to it."

"Okay, but you're avoiding the question."

"I-" his voice broke. "I don't know, Alphonse. I don't know." Hearing Edward like this almost reduced Alphonse to tears himself; the last time he'd seen Ed cry was when they had tried to resurrect their mother.

The last time Alphonse had seen his brother shed tears had been the night he'd nearly lost everything; the night he'd lost his arm and leg. That had been nearly six years ago.

Edward released a soft, shuddering sob barely disguised as a sigh. Even in the nearly complete darkness, Al could just make out the outline of Edward, small and defeated looking. After a moment of hesitation, he kicked the blankets from his legs and jumped the space from his bed to Ed's.

Edward wrapped his arms around his knees, making himself smaller. "I'm fine." He barely spoke the words. "Just..."

"Just what?"

"Just not right now. I'll be fine; but not now." He turned away. "I hate this..."

Alphonse laid a hand on his brother's shoulder. "I know," he murmured, trying for a comforting tone. "I do to." He felt a shiver pass through his older brother, bringing another broken sigh with it.

"I had another nightmare." Edward said. "Worse than usual. You were in it. So was Winry." He paused,
hesitating. "You were still armor."

"Go on." Alphonse removed his hand from Ed's arm, brushing against his brother's hand briefly. To Al's surprise, Edward moved his own hand to cover Alphonse's; cold steel against human flesh.
Ed sighed again.

"We-" he took a deep breath and rushed the next words out. "We tried to bring her parents back." He started shaking slightly. "You guys didn't make it." He broke off, trying futilely to calm down.

"Brother..." Alphonse said softly, his tone gentle. "We paid the price once. We won't try again."

"I know," Ed choked out between shuddering breaths. "But still-" He shut his eyes tightly, clearly fighting to bring himself back under control- to bottle up all the emotions and hide them away, shove them aside into a corner and try to forget about them. "I can't get her expression out of my head." Alphonse hesitated to speak, unsure if Ed had finished. He hadn't. "She looked scared- but not just that. Betrayed. She looked at me like I was a traitor." He lowered his head onto his knees, looking utterly broken and defeated.

"It was just a dream, Ed..."

"I know. But it felt real." His voice had gone completely flat, devoid of any emotion whatsoever. "It felt real, Al, and that's what scared me. I thought, for a sec, that it was real."

Alphonse sighed faintly, unsure of how to respond. He remained silent, listening to his brother slowly calming down, his breathing slowing, the tremors running through his body slowly subsiding.

"Edward?" Al said quietly, hesitantly.

"Hm?" Ed opened one pale gold eye and stared at him intently.

"Are you alright?"

Edward let his eye fall shut again, silent for a while. "Better." He said at last, sighing softly. "Tired, but better than I was before."

Alphonse smiled very slightly. "Try and rest."

"Only if you do. Don't think I don't notice how you lay awake all night, Alphonse."

Al sighed again but didn't argue, standing and stretching sleepily. "Okay."

Ed yawned and curled up on his side. "Night, Al..." He mumbled, dozing off. Alphonse smiled.

"Goodnight, brother."

And so the cycle was broken; neither of them had a single dream for the rest of the night.