Owl!

[palewhiteand]

Ruby had sent out an owl to Alphonse, after several attempts that had wound up with her fingers getting repeatedly pecked.


Dear Alphonse,

Can we meet and talk somewhere? There's something I think I need to clear up for you.

-Ruby

Comments

[fullsize-al.livejournal.com]

"O-oh, I know you- well, we're from different worlds- well, versions of our world, anyway," Al said, looking at her sheepishly, "I know that we couldn't have been... Yeah."

[palewhiteand]

Couldn't have been what, she wondered. "Well, the thing is, that was kind of just a joke I pulled back home to annoy your brother. Didn't work so well here, unfortunately."

[fullsize-al.livejournal.com]

Al laughed at that. "Well, if we'd actually met before, it might have worked. He's pretty protective of me."

[palewhiteand]

Ruby laughed, as well. That hadn't gone as awkwardly as she'd thought it would. "I noticed. Even when you were taller than him, he still acted like I was some horrible predator who was going to molest you. So I played it up."

[fullsize-al.livejournal.com]

Al blushed softly. "Well, I'll be taller than him before long," he said meekly.

[palewhiteand]

"Yeah. He's still pretty short for his age."

[fullsize-al.livejournal.com]

"Well, he's twenty-one now," Al said, grinning mischeviously, "He's not going to get any taller."

[palewhiteand]

"Exactly. He'll stay a midget forever~." The tilde was nearly audible.

[fullsize-al.livejournal.com]

Al looked around, half expecting his brother to come barrelling out of his room to yell at them. "Yep," he said nervously.

[palewhiteand]

"Don't worry about Ed getting mad. I can handle him if he does." Well, she figured maybe she could. Assuming he hadn't gotten any better at fighting since he was fifteen.

[fullsize-al.livejournal.com]

"Oh, don't worry," Al said, "he's all bark and no bite these days. Winry's got him on a pretty tight leash."

[palewhiteand]

"That's too funny." It was also hard to imagine.

[fullsize-al.livejournal.com]

Al nodded awkwardly and motioned for her to sit down with him on one of the nearby couches. "So- so, uh, you knew the other me when I was still in armor?"

[palewhiteand]

She sat next to him, and nodded. "I'm glad to see you fixed whatever was wrong. I mean, I figured you would. You were both so determined."

[fullsize-al.livejournal.com]

Al blushed softly when she sat down next to him. "T-thanks," he stuttered.

[palewhiteand]

Aw, did the widdle Al have a crush? Ruby chuckled to herself. "I know it's not any of my business, but... you really don't look like you're tall enough to fit into that armor."

[fullsize-al.livejournal.com]

"O-oh, well, I guess it's okay to tell you now- I was the suit of armor. There was nothing in there, it was just my soul bound to the armor," he said quietly.

[palewhiteand]

Ruby blinked. She opened her mouth to speak, but found that she didn't know what to say, so she closed it again.

[fullsize-al.livejournal.com]

"I- well, brother hasn't told me much about what went on then. I lost my memory when I got my body back."

[palewhiteand]

"So that's what he meant when he said you forgot a lot..." Ruby frowned. She didn't really know how to react to this.

[fullsize-al.livejournal.com]

"Uh, um, yeah," Al said quietly, his hands fidgeting in his lap.

[palewhiteand]

"I'm sorry. If you didn't want to talk about it..."

[fullsize-al.livejournal.com]

"N-no, it's okay, it's just that I don't have a lot to say about it since I don't remember any of it..."

[palewhiteand]

"That's too bad. Is there, uhm, any chance you could remember someday?"

[fullsize-al.livejournal.com]

"Oh, I guess so," Al said quietly, "I just wish brother would tell me what happened instead. He keeps telling me I'm better off not knowing."