"Happy Birthday" hadn't meant much without Ed. Alphonse Elric wasn't even sure if he was 11 or 15. His body said 11 and his brain agreed but everyone around him was older than they should have been.

"If I'm really 15 then Brother's 16," Al thought as he stabbed at his cake. Granny Pinako and Winry had tried to explain why Ed wasn't there, but neither one of them could provide a satisfactory answer. All they ever said was "he's gone." It didn't seem like one of those euphemisms for "he's DEAD" but instead as if the Rockbell women were at a complete loss--but something told them he was alive.

"Bring Ed and me together," Al had wished as he blew out the 11 candles on his birthday cake, "even if it's only for a moment!"