Okay... so I'm back with a FMA fic! . Forgive me with my lack of updates... I have a writer's block. T.T It's still here... hopefully this will help cure it...

Fullmetal Alchemist belongs to Hiromu Arakawa.

Alphonse stood in front of the mirror, grey eyes fixed upon his reflection. He slowly lifted his hand and placed it on the smooth, cold glass.

It was strange, having this body back... after spending five years without it, he wasn't used to suddenly being able to touch things and actually feel them. He supposed he should be happy, yet he could find no reason to be such.

Because Edward was ignoring him.

Al wondered why his older brother was doing such a thing. He wanted Al's body back, and now that they finally achieved their goal...

He thought Ed would be happy. He thought that Ed would be overjoyed, that he would try and help Al become acustomed to this body... instead, Edward was ignoring him. Acting like he wasn't there. There were times Al tried to reach out to him. He tried talking to him, scolding him, even crying out to him... yet he couldn't get a single response out of him.

And the way Ed acted... he seemed so gloomy. He barely had a life anymore. He kept himself locked up indoors, spending countless hours by the window and watching the world go by outside. Sometimes he would whisper Al's name, but when the brown-haired boy responded, Ed wouldn't even say anything more. There was a time when Alphonse thought Ed was crying...

Wasn't Edward happy with him? Didn't Ed love him anymore?

Maybe Ed didn't really care at all. Maybe he only went on that journey to get their bodies back just so that he seem like a good guy to everyone else. Maybe to Ed, Al was nothing more than an accessory. Something to make him look good.

It made some sense when he thought about it.

Al heard the sound of the door opening. He flinched, then turned to see who it was.

Standing at the doorway was Roy Mustang, a solemn expression on his face. For a moment, Al felt some sort of relief... maybe Mustang could convince Ed to stop this foolish behavior!

But... why was Roy's face so sad?

"Colonel!" He cried. "Brother... he's ignoring me! Can you please..."

But the man gave no response. He just stood there, onyx eyes staring transfixed at the blonde boy who sat by the window.

"Colonel?" He asked, but he still got no response. What was wrong with everyone? Why did they act like he wasn't there?

"Edward..." Roy whispered, walking over to the blonde. Ed lifted his head up and looked at Roy for a few seconds before returning his gaze to the window.

"Edward... talk to me. Please."

"Go away..." Ed mumbled. "Leave me alone... I don't want your sympathy."

Al huffed. Why did Ed respond to Roy when he wouldn't respond to him? More so, why did they both continue to ignore him?

"Ed... I know it's hard for you, but I know how you-"

"You don't know how I feel!" Ed seethed, turning to face Mustang. His golden eyes were glaring dangerously at the older man who did not flinch. "You don't know, and you can never know!"

The brown-haired boy suddenly felt worried. Why did Ed react like that? Was something wrong? And why wasn't he telling him?

He watched as the two stayed in that position for a moment. It was silent, the only sound coming from outside. It was raining heavily at the moment.

"Al wouldn't want to see you like this." Roy continued, his voice soft. "What do you think he's going to feel if he saw you now?"

'Yes, how would I feel?' Al thought. 'Stop acting like I'm not here!'

"How would I know?!" Ed cried. "You don't know how hard I worked in order to get his body back! How many sacrifices I made! And you know what? It doesn't even matter anymore..." His voiced then began to crack. He dropped his gaze, eyes brimming with tears.

Ed... was crying?

Al couldn't take it anymore.

"How could you say that, Brother?!" He cried. "How could say 'It doesn't matter anymore' ? Of course it matters! It wasn't all for nothing! I'm here, can't you see?"

But neither of them responded. They continued to pretend like he wasn't there.

"Edward..." Roy began, sighing.

"He's gone Roy... he's gone." He choked, grabbing the older man's shirt and pulling him closer. His body was shaking as he said those words.

Alphonse watched, wide-eyed. His body felt suddenly cold as his mind tried to proccess this.

'What do you mean, Brother? I'm here, not anywhere else!'

"He's dead..." Ed said, his voice so soft it was barely audible. But Al heard it.

"I'm... I'm not dead..." He whispered. "I'm not dead! I'm still here, Brother! I'm still alive!"

The two still didn't respond. Edward still continued to cry, and Roy just stood there, not knowing what to do.

It would explain alot of things... like why they were ignoring him. Because they couldn't see him or hear him...

But then, if he wasn't alive... then what was he?

"I believe you know the answer to that, Alphonse Elric." A voice, cold and unfamiliar, said in his head. The boy flinced, eyes widening.

"Who... who are you?" He mumbled.

The voice laughed. "My, Alphonse... you've forgotten already? We've met many times before... our most recent encounter was two weeks ago."

Two weeks ago? That was the time Edward tried to bring Al's body back... and in order to do that, he had to open The Gate.

The Gate...

"Yes, I see you've remembered."

"What... what's wrong with me?" He asked, his voice shaking. He wanted to know what happened... why was he like this? Why couldn't they see him?

"You don't know? This is your payment for having your body back..." The Gate explained, chuckling darkly. "You are alive in some way, but are invisible to the rest of the world... to your brother, to that man, and to everyone else. You can consider yourself a ghost."

"No..." Al whispered, shaking his head in disbelief. "No! I..."

He didn't want to believe it. He didn't want to believe that he was a ghost. But there was no denying it...

He was there, yet not at the same time.

He was invisible.

There! Hope you enjoyed it... I basically just forced this out of my brain, so don't blame me if it's slightly crappy. I don't really like the last three lines, but... what can I do?

Well... please review! I'll give you a cookie if you do!

- Sally Elric