A/N: The only way I can see this working in the FMA world is if Hughes was brought back as a Homunculus. If this is one of those things that just bugs you (changing the story in the middle or something), then don't complain about that in your review, please. It bugs me too, but I couldn't think of another way to write this. Too many legal issues there.
Disclaimer: I don't own FMA or Tsunami Bomb (this was inspired by their song "Dawn On A Funeral Day").
"Wh-what?"
The Colonel didn't say a word; he only gave a curt, stiff nod. Ed's right leg began to feel weak, and he sat down in fear that his upper body weight would cause it to give out. His heart was racing faster than it had in a long time. His flesh leg was still shaking brittlely, and the nerves in his left arm were numb to its own shivering.
His mind was set on repeat. How could this have happened?
His eyes were stuck wide open, no matter how many times he tried to squint them to a more normal size. He wanted to cry, he didn't care if the Colonel saw, but the shock was still sinking in. His emotions were out of his control; he wanted this one but was getting that one. Or did he want that one and was getting this one?
God...Why?
Colonel Roy Mustang watched as Ed tried to pull himself together, metal fingers rubbing his temples harshly, his lips opening and closing over and over again. Honestly, he didn't think that the news would affect Full Metal, but as he continued to observe the smaller State Alchemist, he realized how wrong he was.
He didn't think--oh, how stupid he was--it would affect this child.
He had to bend down to rest his hand on Ed's shoulder, and he stood waiting in understanding silence for Ed to look up at him. Ed's shoulder started shaking under Mustang's touch, the comforting contact crashing down a part of his emotional blockade. Tears were threatening to escape, and for some reason Ed began to care if they were seen.
"...Ed?"
Ed didn't reply. He sniffled.
"Ed, would you like to visit his grave?"
Ed nodded. He dropped his arm to his lap and looked up at Mustang. The Colonel knew what he was asking.
"He was shot. It's currently being investigated."
Golden eyes narrowed slightly as Ed found his voice.
"Who's investigating?"
"I've taken on the liberty of doing so."
They stared at each other for a minute.
"Come on, Edward. It's a warm day."
"...For you."
--------------------------
There was dirt beneath his fingernails as he clawed at the ground, digging deeper and deeper. His fingertips hit something hard and wooden, and the beating of his heart increased. Twisting his hands into a better position, his palms met together and then onto the coffin casing. His eyes widened in fear at the blue light emitting from the hole in which his hands were sunk in. His breath disappeared when he felt coarse hair brushing against his palm. They buried him deep.
But not deep enough.
He felt around the area, carefully tracing the features of the hardened, cold flesh. When he came to an area of many tiny hairs pricking his fingers, he knew he had the right grave. He clapped again and put his left hand over his right, and maneuvered his hands back to the tufts of hair. He grasped some in his hand, and with the blade he now had he chopped it off.
He pulled his hand from the ground, admiring what he had acquired. Tears rolled freely down his cheeks, and a smile graced his face. When he pulled the other arm from the dirt, he was surprised to have hooked something else.
A pair of rectangular glasses.
He held back his sobs as he restored the gravesite to how he found it before.
--------------------
Ed tossed the chalk over his shoulder, and he scanned the floor with peeling eyes. Another person behind him was staring intently into his back, violet eyes gleaming.
"That's it?"
Ed looked over, his face stone-cold. The other looked away, unable to meet the golden-eyed gaze of a lost soul. As Ed knelt down on the ground, the Homunculus bit his lip. Just as the blonde clapped his hands, perfectly-sculpted lips opened in protest.
"Haven't you learned your lesson from before?!"
Ed, surprised by the outburst, turned his body to stare up at his company.
"This is different." he reasoned.
Green hair waved about as its owner shook his head. "No it isn't! You're being an idiot, Edward! You can't bring him back!"
Ed blinked and turned back. "Since when did you care?"
Envy sighed, his face hidden in his palm. "I don't." he told himself more than Ed.
"Yes you do. If you didn't you wouldn't--"
"Ed! Cut it out! If you die...think of Alphonse! Think of that girl! Think of everyone you know! If you die, not only will my ass get hauled for letting you die, but that Colonel's will too!"
Ed paused. Alphonse...
"Envy."
Envy stared at Ed's back, hopeful and distressed.
"What?"
"...Don't tell Al."
"Wait, Ed!!"
There was a blinding flash, and Envy lost sight of the alchemist.
---------------------
"So...that kid--"
"Is responsible for you."
"Hmm..."
"What?"
"He's cute."
"...He was in love with you."
"Really?"
"Yeah. But I wonder what the Gate took from him..."
Greed looked down at the blonde teenager known as Edward Elric as he walked alongside a large suit of armor across the town square. He adjusted his glasses for a moment, blinking a few times to get a better image of the boy.
"Kinda short, ain't he?" he muttered. Envy smirked.
"He's a shrimp, all right."
Greed scratched his head. It felt as if someone just sliced off a chunk of his hair.
"...He doesn't act as if he dug up a grave and created a Homunculus." he noted, glaring up at the piece of hair that always stuck out like a really long cowlick.
Envy shrugged. "Maybe the Gate stole away his memory. That's important to a guy like him."
Greed sat there for a moment, thinking.
---------------
"Oh, we forgot the bread!" Al exclaimed. Ed blinked at him and grinned.
"No problem, Al! I'll go back and get some."
"Are you sure, brother?"
Ed nodded. "See you!"
He ran off, waving at Al behind him. For a moment a flash of Al's worried flesh face overrode the armor's helmet, and Ed sighed. He really wanted to know what was going on lately. First the Colonel treats him weird, then Al, and then all the other military folk.
And who was this Hu--
Ed bumped into someone, and he stumbled backward for a moment. The person had one hard body...
"Ah crap...sorry about-" Ed was cut off when he looked up at the man. That face...
"You okay, kiddo?"
An adult face with little remnants of a beard...
"Hey, kid."
Rectangle-framed glasses over golden eyes...
"Helloo?"
And black hair gelled back with one strand popping out from his forehead...
"Hey!"
Ed blushed as he snapped back to reality.
"S-sorry! You just...reminded me of someone."
The man blinked and then grinned.
That goofy grin...
"No problem! Say, what's your name?"
Ed had trouble finding his voice. Why was his throat constricted like this? Why was it so hard to be normal around this man?
"Uh...E-Edward Elric, sir!" he blurted, flustered. The man chuckled. He held out his right hand, but his left had twitched before. Not like Ed noticed, though...
"Maes Hughes, Edward."
Ed grasped the man's--Hughes--hand, still staring. That name sounded very familiar...
"Maes...Hughes?"
Hughes nodded, grinning.
They released hands, and Ed put his palm to his forehead.
A train...
"So...why are you in such a hurry?"
Purple shirt...wind blowing his hair back...
"Uh...my brother and I forgot the bread when we went shopping, so I was going back to get it."
He picked him up from a mansion...his birthday...
"Ah, I see."
A baby...millions of pictures...
"Y-yeah..."
Military uniform...
Hughes ruffled Ed's hair, smiling. Ed blushed under his touch, but he wasn't quite sure why.
"Well, I gotta go. It was nice to see you, Ed."
Ed smiled back.
"Nice seeing you too, Hughes."
Hughes grinned again, and bent down to brush his age-hardened lips against Ed's ear.
"Call me Maes. And don't forget me again."
Ed's face was heating up quickly. Hughes' prickly cheek was rubbing against his, and he was surprised it actually felt nice.
"A-again?"
A tongue slid across Ed's red ear, and he could feel teeth nibbling along the rim.
"Bye."
Before Ed could completely process the actions done to his ear, Maes Hughes was gone, and Ed felt strangely empty and alone.
"The chill of dawn on a funeral day..."