Um. Yeah... THis is the first shounen-ai story I've posted. (Yay for yaoi!) Um... Honestly, I have no idea if this will get finished, whether it's any good, or where it's even going, so bare with me, onegai. Each chapter is named after a song, just because I felt like it. Oh, and this is so completely AU that you'll probably be really confused at first. Maybe the confusion won't leave.
Disclaimer: Yeah... I disclaim it. There.
Chapter One: Photograph (Nickleback)
The young man set the stack of papers aside. It had been yet another long day, and he was beat!
"Hey, Hughes?" he called. "I'm done with these reports. Can we go home yet?"
The dark-haired man poked his head around the doorframe. "Sure, Ed. Learn anything worth knowing?"
The blond looked wry. "Only that human nature is even worse than I thought."
Hughes laughed dryly. "Yes, I've heard that opinion before. Come on. Gracia probably has dinner cooking already. If we want to eat while it's hot, we'll have to hurry."
Ed pulled his blue uniform jacket on, having discarded it earlier, and followed the man out the door.
Later that night, Ed was reading a heavy book when suddenly Hughes threw something at his head. Flinching slightly, Ed caught it just in time and looked at it. A photo album. "Aw, Hughes…!"
Hughes grinned, and refused to listen to Edward's complaints. "Just thought you might enjoy looking at some of the older photos. Of course, my darling Alycia isn't in there, but there are other people you know."
And then Hughes refused to leave until Ed had started flipping through the pages.
Glancing covertly towards the other room, Ed went to set the album to the side, and paused.
An old picture of Hughes was smiling up at him, but that wasn't what had caught his attention. Rather, it was the man in the photo with Hughes.
Dark eyes looked past the camera, and the expression on his face was almost sad. Ed looked down at it, captivated by the odd emotions hidden beneath the man's surface. Ed knew those same emotions all too well. Whoever it was, the man with dark eyes had not been happy to join the military, but had needed to for some unknown reason, some deep purpose.
Flipping to the next page, he found the man again, this time in civilian dress. He was smiling slightly, and looking mildly bored as he watched an overjoyed Hughes, and a clearly pregnant Gracia dance at some small party of friends.
Edward flipped to an earlier date in the album, looking for more. He found them. The man never quite looked at the camera in any of them, and sometimes it was just a picture of the back of his head, but he was on nearly every page.
Who was he…? Ed had never met him before, and he thought he'd met all of Hughes's friends. They had clearly been friends, if the number of photo's was any indication, but Ed had never seen him.
And that bothered him.
The sixteen-year-old came to a decision then and there: he would find out who this man was. He would find out if it killed him.
