A Conversation

Ed was at Central HQ, on the phone with the guy he'd been working under for three years, standing beside the guy whose daughter he'd witnessed being born, and neither of them remembered who he was. Ed almost wondered if Al would remember him if he was in the room.

Ed glanced toward Hughes, getting an idea. "Hey, Mustang. I may know a way to prove to you I am who I say I am. What would you say if I could tell you the date Hughes' daughter was born? The weather on that winter day?"

"Wha?" Hughes said in surprise.

"I was there," Ed told Mustang. "Gracia went into labor during a blizzard and he went on foot to try to find a doctor for her. He may not have mentioned that he panicked when Gracia told him the baby was coming. Gracia knew exactly what to do, though."

Hughes took the phone from Ed, almost dropping it twice before putting it to his ear. "Roy, I-"

"Just tell me if it's true, Hughes," Mustang said calmly.

"Yes... But, Roy, this isn't making sense!" Hughes then whispered, "Who is this kid?"

"That's what I'm trying to find out. Now give him back the phone."

Hughes reluctantly handed the phone back to Ed.

"Elicia'll turn 4 in a few weeks, but of course you already know that. Hughes must have been talking about it for months - even though it's against military policy to tie up the phone lines. Although that's never stopped you from making dates - Havoc hates that, but he'd follow you anywhere, even though you are a-"

"That's enough, Ed. You know too much about us to be making this up."

"So what's going on? If I remember you two, then why can't you remember me?"

"Hmm... Tell me how you were able to take the State Alchemy Exam. You're underage, so you shouldn't have been allowed."

"And you didn't even mention that when we came to Central three years ago! You put us on a train with some terrorist!"

"Bald?" Mustang asked, slight interest sparking.

"It was like you had it all planned out! Put them on the train, check. Have them catch the bad guys, check. Make you look good, check."

"So there was no exchange?"

"What?" Ed asked.

"This may be a stretch, but, years ago, there was some research done on a way to travel through dimensions with alchemy. Until now, it seemed like a myth. Like the philosopher's stone."

"What?! My brother and I are searching for that stone! We're going to find it, you here me?!"

"Anyhow, I was briefly in charge of that dead-end department, until it was officially shut down about three years ago."

"So you're saying I'm in a different world?" It just didn't sound real to Ed. Was it all a joke?

"That, I don't know, but it's the only thing that makes sense." Mustang didn't say anything for a few seconds, then noticed one of the pages he'd read on the boy earlier. "Did you say you're mother was dead? Because it says here that she's perfectly healthy."

The phone slid out of Ed's fingers.

-End-

I was thinking about my fic What Could Have Been, and at the end of the second chapter, I had a flashback to a conversation that was never told. So, I thought I'd try to figure out how the conversation would've gone. (and I was wanting to try updating/finishing the story, after so long, so I thought perhaps it could be like practice. Although... I'm not sure if it's written in quite the same style... That's why I couldn't seem to finish the story before - because I couldn't get the last part of the story to fit.)

So, I wanted this to be a oneshot that made sense, but at the same time one that went with my first FMA fic.