Warning: There will be minor OOC-ness, such is the nature of fanfiction. That said, I will strive to do my best to keep them in character as much as I am able. Please enjoy! Or don't lol.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Sorry about the formatting from before...Thanks those of you who let me nw!
88888888
Edward Elric stood in front of LtCol Mustang's desk, mouth falling agape as he read the paper in his hands. When he finished he was silent for a full minute as the edges of the paper began crinkling under steadily increasing pressure from his automail limb. Now fuming, he slammed the paper on the desk. "What the hell is this?!"
"Did you read it, Edward?" Mustang asked calmly.
Ed's eyes narrowed. "Of course I read it! And no! I'm not signing this!" He crossed his arms over his chest defiantly.
Mustang leaned back and held his hand out in a slight shrug. "It's your choice, Edward. You don't have to sign it," the man said with a smug smirk. "You passed the State Alchemists Exam, congratulations. But I guess this is where we stop because you're not joining the military unless you have a guardian's consent. It's the law."
Ed pointed an accusing finger at the man across the desk. "You never said anything about that when you came to Resembool!"
"You didn't ask. You may not remember because you were probably high off your scrawny little ass at the time, but you weren't especially talkative." He shrugged and continued. "I honestly wasn't sure you'd actually heard me, and I definitely didn't think you would take my advice," he lied.
Ed flushed and turned his head away.
Mustang was getting annoyed. "Edward, if you don't sign the paper, I can't let you join. It's not that big a deal. Just sign it so we can go home and I can sign off on your enlistment papers."
"Not a big deal!? Not a big deal?! Of course this is a big deal! You're telling me I have to sign a paper that gives you guardianship privileges over me and my brother!" Ed started pacing. "What does Al even have to do with this anyway? He's not enlisting! I am! Just me!" He placed one hand on the center of his own chest in emphasis.
"It's the principle of the matter, Ed. I can't claim guardianship over one and not the other," Roy explained simply. "Again, this isn't a big deal, Edward."
"Then I'll say again. Yes it is. I didn't come here to give you the right to tell me how to live, and when to go to bed, and to make all my decisions for me," Ed spat out violently.
Roy let out a hollow laugh. "You do realize you wanted to join the military, don't you? That means you become our dog. You do what we tell you, when we tell you. No questions asked. No room for discussion. I thought I'd seen a fire in your eyes when I visited a year ago, but I must have been hallucinating since you aren't even willing to sign over privileges which, you don't even have yet because you're underage." Roy stood up then, and walked around the desk so he was a foot away from the blond boy. He gripped Ed's chin and tilted the small face upwards. Then bending down so his face was right above Ed's, he asked a very simple question. "Tell me Ed, just how old do you think you are?"
Ed's eyes were like saucers, and Roy was able to see the boy's tiny Adam's apple bob when he swallowed nervously from being talked to so closely. Maybe this was the wrong way to go about this...
Releasing Ed's chin, Roy took a step back and picked up the slightly crumpled piece of paper sitting on his desk. He looked at it for a moment trying to decide how to move things along. He closed his eyes and took a calming breath as he centered himself again. This kid got him worked up in the strangest of ways.
"Edward, come here," Roy beckoned the now tense boy over. "Look at this paper again. Do you notice anything strange about it?"
Ed let his eyes travel over the sheet for a moment. "It's, uh, wrinkled?"
Roy smiled at that. "Cute, but no. What did I say about this before I handed it to you earlier?"
"You said you couldn't sign my enlistment until I signed this."
"I said, I wouldn't, but that's not it either." Roy was done playing the guessing game and he reached over to grab another paper from the corner of his desk. "Look at this paper. What's different about it compared to the one I want you to sign?"
Ed's brows crinkled together as he took both papers and studied their details. After a bit he hesitantly opened his mouth. "The paper of the second one is a little better quality." Roy gave a slight nod for him to continue. "And...the second one has darker ink. And a little squiggly marking down here where it says…" He trailed off and looked back at the first paper. He looked at Roy in mild surprise. "You don't actually need me to sign this, do you?"
Roy took both pages out of Edward's hands and walked back around his desk. "No, Edward. I don't actually need you to sign this to claim responsibility for you." He sat down and Ed sidled up to the front of the desk, expecting a lecture. "As a minor, you have very little say in the decision making process for legal, medical, and financial matters." Ed's face fell as he stared once again at the deep colored carpet, and Roy shot him an apologetic look that the boy would never see. "Most kids can't even be expected to know what they want to eat for dinner, Ed. So how can they be expected to decide that it would be in their best interest to get a surgery now as opposed to later-"
"Hey I had-"
"Yes, I know. You had automail surgery which was performed by…?" Ed didn't respond so Roy finished the statement for him. "That's right. A mechanic. But you didn't like that example so how can we expect children to decide that they want to make payments on a house for seven years as opposed to eight so they save on interest? Kids don't think that far ahead." Ed deflated so Roy continued, "But...you aren't most kids, are you?" Ed glance up and let his eyes meet the Lieutenant Colonel's. "Most kids can't even fathom deciding to join the military, and yet here you stand. Previously furious that you were unable to join simply because the government doesn't take your word seriously. I am not becoming your legal guardian to demean you, to baby you, or to call all the shots. I'm doing it so that you are able to make your own decisions."
Ed gave him a confused look and shook his head slowly. "I don't...understand…"
"In order to legally allow you into the military, you need a guardian's signature. Do I need you to sign this little piece of paper to become your guardian and then simply sign off on your enlistment package? No. I could have done that, never told you, and you would've been mine in all aspects of your life." Ed slouched defensively. "But I didn't want to do that to you because you are capable of making your own decisions, which I think you've proved," he said, gesturing to Ed's automail limbs. "I wanted you to be part of this process and so I decided I wouldn't become your legal guardian unless you agreed to it by signing this." He handed the sheet to Edward for the third, and hopefully final, time. "And as a follow on, unless I thought a decision was too big for you to make the decision, I told myself I would always require you to give me explicit permission before I moved forward if the decision concerned you or your brother."
"So, I'm signing this paper," Ed waved the sheet around. "And then you're signing…?"
"First, I will need to fill out some documents so I can assume legal guardianship, and after those have processed, I will sign your enlistment papers as both, your guardian and your soon to be superior officer." Ed nodded in understanding. "I will not abuse my authority as your guardian, Ed. I will not claim you as a dependent. I am sure you are perfectly capable of taking care of yourself, as you said yourself earlier." Ed's face brightened and Roy continued to talk with an air of superiority. "That said, I will be responsible for your health regardless of whether I am your guardian or not, just as I am responsible for the overall welfare of all my subordinates. As your commanding officer, my door will always be open."
Edward scribbled his name at the bottom of the completely useless piece of paper he'd been handed, beaming at the man sitting across the table.
Roy took the paper and put it back in his desk. "And as your guardian, I am here should you need me, but let's keep those instances to as few as possible, shall we?"
88888888
A/N:
So...yeah...this happened. I kinda have this headcanon that secretly, Roy was always the legal guardian, so in order to make my internal fantasy reality (for me), I wrote this.
And for those of you who are not big of the whole Parental!RoyEd. I apologize, though I don't know why since it was clearly labeled in the summary….
Need explanations? If you have questions, PM me or leave a comment.
Like it? Hate it? I wanna know. Do I care if you hated it? No. I don't because I have fun writing it regardless. But still, a comment is a comment. And comments feed...my ego?
I dunno anymore. I am so tired of nightshift...one more week and I'm on days! Hell yeah!
Thanks for reading!
O
