Sequel to 'On with Wind and Faith'
Info you need to know:
Ella Elric and Roy Mustang shared a summer romance when Ella was 17 and Roy was 18. Roy left for college, Ella finding out shortly after that she was pregnant with Roy's baby. Ella gave birth 19 days after she turned eighteen. After her daughter, Mandy Elric, was born, Ella opened a letter she had received from Roy months before, announcing that he was joining the military academy and participating in the Ishvalan war. Mandy now wants to find her father, with the help of her friend, and Winry's 18 year old son, Ian Rockbell.
Roy Mustang sighed as he went through the paperwork of new recruits. If there was one thing he hated about the military, it was having to deal with fresh meat. These kids just came in from the hicks and expected to be thrown into war. Granted, that's what they normally would be done with, but since the Ishvalan war was being kept peaceful right now, there wasn't anything to do with them except for being MP's and office work.
The Ishvalan war..Roy thought to himself, his eyes dimming slightly. It brought up terrible memories for him. Memories of when he was young and stupid.
"Sir, have you finished going through the new recruits? They need to be finished before this afternoon when they arrive." Roy's assistant of many years, Riza Hawkeye spoke.
"I'm going through them now; I'll have them done in time." Roy committed. He picked up the folders, noticing there were only two.
People must be getting smarter, he smirked to himself. He read the names, lingering on one of them for longer than he would care to admit.
Mandy Rosalie Elric...
He pushed that folder away from the other, deciding to push that one off for last. There was something about it tugging at the back of Mustang's mind, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know why. He picked up the other folder, opening the name.
Ian Phillip Rockbell.
It made Roy think of a memory of when he was younger, an old farm town that he stayed at for a summer when he was a kid, a girl he went crazy for until she completely shut him out.
He blinked away the thought, opening the Rockbell folder.
Ian Phillip Rockbell:
Mother: Winry Rockbell Father: Greg Mcdunkin
Age: 18 Date Of Birth: June 15th Education: High school diploma
Roy approved the folder before moving onto the other.
Mandy Rosalie Elric
Mother: Ella Elric Father: Unknown
Age: 17 Date Of Birth: February 22nd Education: High school drop–out
He sighed, recognizing the name on the folder. Roy grabbed a pen, determined to disapprove of the application. He wouldn't want to do this to Ella. Without another thought, Mustang wrote down is decision.
Denied.
"What exactly did you put as your age on the application?" Ian asked as they departed from the train and began to walk toward the military headquarters that they were required to appear at before going anywhere else.
"The truth, I put exactly what my age is." Mandy shrugged.
"You know you'll get denied for that, right?" Ian mentioned. He didn't know the consequences for applying underage, but they had to be a hell of a lot better than lying, so he was thankful that his friend had actually told the truth.
"Maybe, maybe not," Mandy said, folding her arms behind her head. She suddenly snapped a finger in the direction of a large white building. "Look, there it is!" she shouted out.
After walking several blocks to reach the headquarters, they walked in, explaining why they were there, and being pointed in a certain direction. They walked into a black room that was completely empty, told to wait.
"Looks like this is where they take you to kill if you commit treason, right?" Mandy joked.
"That's not funny, Mands; I'm really trying to do well in the military." Ian defended.
"Fine, I'll be good." she sighed, looking around the room. Just before the brunette announced her boredom, the door opened, revealing Roy Mustang.
Roy immediately noticed the young girl standing before him. He began to study her, lost in the memory of his first love. He could see Ella in her face; they had similar noses and facial structures. Though, her hair was a curly dark brown, and her eyes were black. They shared the same sun kissed skin, though.
The colonel looked to the boy standing beside her. He looked like he had been planning on being a soldier for years, he was pretty well built for his age. The only thing that made him look fresh out of high school was the fact that his cheeks were held baby fat, and his gingery hair paired with blue eyes and freckles made him seem smaller than he actually was. Other than that he would fit right in.
"Rockbell, congrats on joining hell. I'll lead you to your dorm assignment and a uniform will be ready there," Mustang barked. "Both of you follow me." The teenagers didn't dare argue, following along behind the man.
"Why didn't he mention me?" Mandy whispered to her friend.
"Probably because of your application." Ian responded.
"Then why did he tell me to follow him?" she asked. The redhead shrugged in response. They reached the dorm which Ian would be staying in after a brief walk.
"Rockbell, this is where you will live until your four years is up, or until you are transferred somewhere else. Your uniform is underneath your mattress. There will be an inspection every morning on the maintenance of your dorm. Keep it in order, major," Mustang said. Ian saluted him before entering. "You're coming with me." the dark haired man said to Mandy, walking with her to the direction of his office.
Mandy assumed the worst, she thought what she had seen on television; that he would torture her until she spilled some top secret reason as to why she had applied to the military. While it wasn't a big secret, she just wanted to find her father, she still didn't want to tell the likes of a man that wouldn't tell her the reason he was taking her wherever they were going.
They walked into Mustang's office, Mandy's folder already on his desk. He pointed to the couch situated in front of his desk, saying nothing other than, "Sit." and moving to his desk.
Mandy looked all around the room, trying to get a read on the man. There were no picture frames in sight, which indicated no family or spouse waiting for him at home. Not even a girlfriend. She noticed her folder, which was really the only object in the room besides the typical letter opener, pen cup, and a stack of paperwork. The brunette sat on the couch, waiting for the colonel to speak.
"You wanna give me a reason why I shouldn't call your mother this minute?" Mustang asked suddenly. Mandy almost jumped at the mentioning of her mother. She didn't think it would come to that.
"Why would you call my mother?" Mandy asked, furrowing her eyebrows. Mustang's shoulders tensed–Mandy noticing, though not knowing the reason why – as Mandy committed the action. She looked just like Ella when she did that.
"Ella wouldn't be too happy about her daughter going off to join the military." Mustang stated. Mandy's confusion only grew.
"How would you know? Maybe she set me up for this? There are some crazy mothers that like their kids doing things like thi–" Mandy froze. "How do you know my mom's name?"
Mustang, unprepared for the question, fished one up out of the back of his mind. "I knew her when we were kids," It wasn't a lie. "I was a little older than you."
"Does that mean you met my father?" Mandy asked, a new sense of hope filling her voice. Mustang recognized the tone; him and Ella had sounded the same way when they were teenagers, just before he left for college.
"Sorry kid, I left before your dad came into the picture," Roy admitted. "but I do know your mother, and I think I should call her."
"No, please," Mandy begged. "Don't call her, I just need enough time.." she trailed off.
"Enough time for what? I don't think she would appreciate me lying to her." Roy sighed, crossing his arms over his chest, unsure of what to do.
"What she doesn't know won't hurt her," Mandy stated. "I'm trying to find my dad."
"You think you could find the kid's dad?" Mustang asked through the phone, watching the teenager in front of him. She looked excited, while Roy could feel himself becoming overwhelmed. It would not make going home after work fun, that was for sure.
"Maybe, I would have to take a blood sample and talk to the mother, find out who she was with the year the kid was born, then take blood samples from them." Maes Hughes, Roy's best friend from college who had traveled to the military academy with him, answered. He now worked in the investigations department, and had married his girlfriend, having a daughter with him.
"How long will that take?" Roy asked.
"A day for the kid's blood work to go in, a few days to wrangle the guys,–depending on where they are–then a few days for theirs to go in? A week, maybe two?" Hughes estimated. Mustang sighed in irritation.
"Until then she'll stay at my place," Mustang said. Ella wrinkled her nose, not wanting to stay with a man she had barely met and who she would be alone with. "Can't let Ella's kid go out on the streets."
"Can't I stay in the military dorms?" Mandy asked, interrupting the phone call.
"I'll bring her by the infirmary later. See you there?" Roy got his confirmation and hung up the phone.
"Why can't I stay in the military dorms?" Mandy pressed on. She saw black eyes that matched her own roll in annoyance at the teenage questions.
"Because they are only regulated to military personnel," Mustang answered. "and before you ask, you can't stay with you friend, because there are no females allowed in the mens dorms." For some reason, the raven haired man couldn't bring himself to call the kid a woman or a girl.
"I can get a hotel or something, I have money." Mandy lied. Well, not exactly a lie, Ian had given her some of the money he brought, much to her displeasure, but it was nowhere near enough to afford a hotel room, even for a night.
"Look, you're Ella's kid, and I'm not letting her kick my ass over something like this." Roy barked out, quickly realizing that he needed to calm himself.
"What are you talking about? My mom is as tranquil as a priest." Mandy mentioned.
"I guess some people get calmer in old age. I always figured she would," Roy said, more to himself than to anyone else, and chuckled. "Come with me, I'm taking you to the infirmary, then I'm taking you to my place for the rest of the day."
Mandy followed the older man down the narrow corridors of the building, looking so much larger on the outside than it did on the inside, down to the infirmary where she was going to have blood taken. Well, where she had overheard she was getting blood taken.
"Sit down, and don't cause a fight about this." Mustang said, maybe a bit too harshly, remembering how Ella had acted about something as little as this. He hadn't seen it himself, but heard from her brother and mother that it wasn't an experience that you wanted to witness.
Mandy sat in the chair that looked like it had leather straps attached, ready to confine a person. It made her think of the movies where they would fill you with lethal drugs if you were working with the enemy team.
A man walked into the room; a man with raven hair and a long cowlick and emerald green eyes. They were pretty eyes. Mandy had always wished she had pretty eyes, hating her dark black ones. Her mother had beautiful eyes, the color of the sun, and she always wished she had inherited them. Mandy had reasoned, though, that she looked like her father, with her brown curls and black eyes being compared to her mother's blonde hair and gold eyes.
"Hey there, Mandy, how are you?" the man asked as a nurse came into the room with instruments. "My name's Maes Hughes, you can call me whatever you'd like. I'm a friend of Roy's," Mandy hadn't heard anyone call him Roy yet, knowing this man must be a good friend. "The nurse is going to take some blood from you so that we can find your dad. You okay with that?" he asked.
"Yes, please, just do it," Mandy said with a smile. "I've done nothing but dream of finding this man since I was four–years old." she admitted. Hughes laughed.
"Trust me, I know the feeling. It'll just be a quick prick. You scared of needles?" the man asked.
"No." the brunette answered.
"Must have gotten that from your father too.." Mustang said softly to himself.
"Good, let's just get this over with, then," Hughes said. The nurse did her job quickly, finishing it off with a bandage and placing the vile of blood in a testing container to send off. Maes handed Mandy a protein bar and juice box. "You need some sugar in your body, otherwise you're gonna faint. Be lucky you didn't get in the military; they wouldn't give ya anything when they take your blood." Hughes laughed a little. Mandy was a little shocked that Mustang had told Hughes about the whole situation, but not surprised. She began to eat the candy bar.
"Are you taking her to your house now?" Hughes asked his friend, which interrupted the colonel's thoughts.
"Yeah, I am. I'll tell Hawkeye about everything before I go." Mustang said. Just before Mandy and Roy had walked out the door, Hughes said, "Tell Emma I said hi."
This had Mandy confused. She was pretty sure that Mustang hadn't had a girlfriend. Now she couldn't be sure. Maybe it was a cousin that was temporarily staying with him, or maybe it was a new girlfriend that hadn't taken pictures to put yet.
"Stay here." Mustang said, leaving her just outside of a different office. It wasn't his own, but the one right next to his that had separate doors, but she specifically remembered a door from the inside of the colonel's office leading into the one she was standing just in front of.
Mandy clicked her heels for a few minutes before beginning to whistle, trying to do anything to pass the time. When phone receptionists became agitated at this, she stopped, leaning against the wall and waiting. A few minutes later, the colonel came back out.
"Let's go."