Sin
By Yellow Mask
Disclaimer: I do not own FMA.
Spoilers: For the names, appearances, histories and orgins of the homunculi, and Hughes's death.
Chapter 1
The General
AN: This is set five years into the future of the anime, before Al becomes the Philosopher's Stone and sometime after Hughes's death. It should be considered AU, and fairly strongly so. And be warned people – this is not a cheery fic!
And thanks goes to LaughingAstarael for beta-reading this.
oooooooo
"Sir, we need your signature on these papers."
General Roy Mustang sighed, half-tempted to snap his fingers and burn the papers to ash. After all, it wasn't like he needed to be on his best behaviour anymore in the hopes of a promotion. He was General, one rank below Fuhrer, and it was as high as he would ever rise in his current condition.
After all, the Fuhrer needed to be fit for active duty, and Roy certainly wasn't capable in the field. Not now, at least, and probably not ever.
A quick glance in the mirror always reminded him why.
A black eye patch covered his now-absent left eye, and his left hand was made of automail. By themselves, these would have been no great handicap, but when combined with some of the other problems he'd developed...being given a clean bill of health for active duty wasn't happening in a hurry.
The 'incident' three years ago had left his heart badly damaged. During exercise and exertion, a normal person's heart rate sped up to supply the body with the necessary blood and therefore, oxygen, enabling the muscles to work harder, the body to move faster...normally. In Roy, his heart simply refused to do so. Its beat rarely altered, and when it failed to do so it left him weak and faint.
Not to mention the phantom pains. The strange, inexplicable agonies that would grip his body from time to time, sometimes mild, sometimes strong enough to bring him to his knees.
Yes, active duty was a long way off.
Roy shook his head as though to forcefully pull his mind away from his dismal thoughts. He always got broody around this time of year. On the anniversary of...'the incident'.
Which reminded him...
He grabbed the papers and signed them hastily, trying to clear enough space on his desk to justify his little 'excursion'.
"I'll be back soon, Lieutenant Colonel," Roy nodded at Havoc. "I have something to do."
"Huh?" Havoc started, then checked both the clock and the calendar. "Oh...your 'errand', right?"
"Right."
"By the way, Colonel Elric reported in. He says the mission's finished, but he's going to stop in at Rush Valley first and see his fiancé."
Roy nodded. Come to think of it, he should probably visit Ed's future wife/mechanic soon as well. He could always ask someone in Central for a quick tune-up, but the condition of his automail hand was beginning to degenerate to the point where it needed the expert hand of Winry Rockbell – its original creator.
"And Lieutenant Colonel Elric is coming before the promotion board soon, and he's asked you for a reference."
Al had officially joined the military as a State Alchemist after his body was restored. Roy still found it mildly amusing how different the two brothers could be at times – Ed would have chewed broken glass before he asked Roy for help in getting a promotion.
"I'll be back soon, I'll deal with everything then."
But as Roy was going to leave, Havoc spoke up again, making him pause with his hand on the knob. "Sir...this is the anniversary of the day you took down the homunculus that was sitting at the top of the military...so it shouldn't be all about loss."
Roy's eye closed briefly as a phantom pain rocked through him to match the ache in his heart. "Yes, on this day, three years ago, I finally killed Fuhrer Bradley...but Havoc," his eye rose to the man sitting at the desk, anguish in its depths. "What did that cost me?"
He left before any reply could be made.
oooooooo
He stopped at the flower shop on his way, picking out two bouquets. Roy couldn't help thinking it was very convenient to have the flower shop on the way to the graveyard.
They probably hadn't planned it that way, but a trip from his office to Central's collection of gravestones took his straight past the flower shop. And once a year, without fail, he purchased two bouquets of flowers.
The first one he laid at Hughes's grave, a silent memoir to the friend who had stood by him for so long. And the second...
He stood in front of the white marble headstone, laying his flowers down beside the rotted remains of the ones he had laid last year. He never set foot in this place except on this day – it was too painful. He gently brushed away the leaves that had collected on the surface of the stone and dug out the dirt and moss that had accumulated in the letters carved there.
Beloved Daughter and Devoted Soldier.
She Fell In The Line Of Duty.
Riza Hawkeye.