Sable
Disclaimer: I don't own FMA or any of the characters portrayed in this fanfiction. If I was, Episode 25 would have gone a little differently.
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Staring at the empty chair beside him, Roy Mustang wonders why he even cares anymore. It's been two weeks and he still can't break the habit. Every week since he had first been inducted into the military, he had been badgered into going to the nearest bar every Friday so that two old friends could have a drink or two (Maes always said that it was on him, but it nearly always ended up Roy paying the bill), talk, and so that Hughes could fawn over his wife and eventually, his daughter.
As annoyed as he had acted about it, after he had been promoted to a Lieutenant Colonel, the Flame Alchemist gradually realized that he did, indeed, begin to enjoy getting away from work and being able to talk freely, and on a particularly bad day, drown his sorrows in alcohol.
Turning to his brandy, he watched the amber liquid ripple until it hit the glass and disappeared. He lifted the tumbler to his lips, but didn't drink. Instead, Roy glanced at the bartender, a young woman this time, and suddenly recalled one of Hughes's favorite ways to annoy him.
"You should get yourself a wife," He would whisper and then duck just as Roy swung his gloved hand at his head. "Or atleast a girlfriend." The one time Roy actually made contact, he was lucky; getting away with only a bloody nose. Next time, he swore that he would burn that busy-body into a crisp.
The atmosphere in the bar was sluggish. The air was thick and warm with the smoke from the cigarettes of the solitaire players in the corner who congregated there. Maes had always been good at solitaire; good enough to beat him whenever they played. Then again, it wasn't hard to beat Roy at card games; his short temper often got the best of him.
Roy supposed that there were confusing things about every man, but in truth, Maes was just one big mystery to him. For a long time, he didn't know why the man was always so optimistic, and why he made an effort to remain so. It was both tiring, and annoying, and it got him into trouble on more than one occasion.
Now, reflecting on past events, he finally knows why. Maes Hughes lived for others much more than he did himself. He entered the military so that he might make Roy's life worth living again. He kept the truth about what the Elric Brothers did a secret from him so that he might make it to the top with minimal worries. He died trying to find out the truth so that others might live happier because of it.
Telling the bartender to place the cost of his brandy on the military's tab, Roy Mustang walks out into the cold, night air and wonders what other things his friend had hidden beneath smiling, sable eyes.
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Fin
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About time for another FMA fic from Crys, isn't it?
Don't you wish he hadn't died? Gah! I wanted to throw something at the screen. ...So anyway...Hughes is fun. Here's my tribute to him.
Love it? Hate it? I'll never know unless you review!