Soldier's Don't Cry
Navy blue uniforms, decorated with gold strips and stars and colorful rank bars, stood gloomily in a grassy field staring at a single gray stone with the name Maes Hughes etched into it's face. Among these Soldiers stood a woman names Gracia dressed in black with her young five year old daughter names Elicia, who was also dressed in black. Blonde pig tails blew in the breeze as Elicia watched her daddy get buried into the ground. She didn't know why he was getting buried all she knew was for some reason, he wasn't coming back for a long time.
"May to now rest in peace, Brigadier General Maes Hughes."
A man with a large eye patch spoke aloud to the crowd as two of his close ranked subordinates, both Generals, folded up a green and white flag into a perfect triangle. A twenty- one gun salute was sounded off. In the crowd, behind the mother and child, stood Colonel Roy Mustang and his right hand man, First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye. To Hawkeye, twenty gun shots never sounded so foreign to her before in her life. As the guns were fired off, one by one, in her mind she counted.
"Eleven for honor, six for pride, three for your loyalty and one more in your memory."
Something her grandfather taught her back when her parents died in war. The guns scared her back then, and to make her not cry, her grandfather taught her something she would never forget. But even with that cute little saying, each gun that went off, she jumped, along with every one else.
"This flag is folded in memory of Brigadier General Hughes and shall now be presented to his family so his legacy and memory may live on forever in their hearts and home."
Gracia stood, hands folded in front. When she saw the flag be brought to the stone, she gentle placed a hand on her daughter's back and edged her forward.
"Go on."
Tears streaming down her face, she managed a smile for her daughter who then, walked up to the two Generals and took the flag in open arms. The two generals then saluted the little girl and she smiled, tears rolling down her blushed cheeks. The little girl didn't know why she had a flag, but she knew it was important to her mother so she took it. She turned around to leave with her mother, when she spotted her father's best friend standing in the crowd. Little Elicia smiled a small smile and plucked a rose from her father's grave. Walking away from her mother, she walked up to Roy and tugged on his pant leg. Now Roy and all other soldiers were in orderly formation, and at special events such as funerals, this formation is never to be broken. But when Roy felt her pull, he bent down to eye level with her. Then in a soft, little girl voice...
"Uncle Roy, you were my daddy's best friend. I want you to take this and when you see him again, can you give it to him for me."
She handed the small short stemmed rose to Roy who took it in an open upturned gloved hand. She then smiled, and saluted the solider. Everyone watched from the corner of their eyes as this little girl saluted a Military Colonel. Roy smiled and saluted the little girl back before she ran off to join her mother. As he two walked between the soldiers, the soldiers all saluted the mother and child.
"You okay, sir?"
Hawkeye asked quietly as she looked at Roy from the corner of her eye, tears threatening to fall. He could only smile and nod his head.
Now thirty years later, inside a small tan house on a small round table under glass was a faded and wilted rose. Every day, the owner of this rose would look at it and smile, knowing one day he would be able to give it to the person the flower was meant for.
"Sorry it's faded, but hey, nothing lasts forever."
An old man with short gray hair whispered to his ceiling as a tear rolled down his face.
"It's going to rain today."
A/N - Well? Cute no? I'm tired of explaining what actually happened in episode 25. So I made my own episode 25.
Please review. No FLAMES (Thats Roy's job only). Please look in my profile oo0AnimeChild0oo for all my other stories. And again, thanks for reading.
"Write a wise saying and your name will live forever"
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