Title: Strength
Author: Kristen Sharpe
Date: January 19, 2015
Rating: G
Warnings: None.
Disclaimer: "Fullmetal Alchemist" belongs to Hiromu Arakawa, Square ENIX, Studio BONES and various other parties.
Author's Note: Mangaverse, during and after chapter 108. This wasn't written for one of the gift exchanges, but it grew out of an early idea for the Sheska entry.

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           When he set out across the country to find everyone who had helped him and his brother in their journey, Al fully expected one question – sometimes an exclamation – to be repeated again and again. 

           “You aren’t wearing your armor anymore?”

           “Oh, no,” he said with a smile every time, “I finished my alchemy training.”

           The response that became the most common was unexpected but possibly even more rewarding than the reminder of his restored body. 

           “Wearing all that armor must have made you strong.”

           Because, each time, he could only smile at the truth in that and say, “It did.”