Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist belongs to Hiromu Arakawa, Square Enix, FUNmation and anything else I've forgotten.

Warnings: Time shifting from past to present, Hughes-Elysia fic in the father-daughter way, Elysia POV

Butterfly Kisses

Daddy always called me his little angel. A little angel that descended from heaven and entered his life.

I will admit that I don't remember very much of Daddy now. Mother said that he left too early in my life for me to remember, but I do recall some things before he died.

Mother was strong. She never wavered in front of me, but I knew she loved Daddy, and still...Sometimes, when I was younger, I would wake up to the sounds of her crying. Somehow, I knew not to go comfort her. It was her own time of weakness, when she didn't have to be strong for me.

She told me Daddy was stronger than her, and that he somehow held us together. So after he left, Mother said she had to be strong for Daddy and me. It was hard for me to understand back then. But I think I do now.

---

"Daddy," I say softly. A gentle breeze knocks a few petals off the flowers I hold in my hand to gently land on the gray tombstone in front of me.

At first, I feel numbness...then a prickly sensation behind my eyes.

---

Uncle Roy was Daddy's best friend. He never really talked about Daddy, unless prompted. Another thing he never talked about, were memories, and I wondered, was Uncle Roy hiding something?

He was, I knew it. Uncle Roy always flinched every time Daddy's name was brought up, he winced whenever he looked at Daddy's picture. I wanted to ask him why, but didn't because of some unknown fear.

On my 17th birthday, the adults decided to bring out the alcohol. I kept my distance, carefully watching Uncle Roy down one drink after another. As the party died down and most of the other guests left, I noticed him draped over a chair, obviously drunk. Suddenly, there was a knock, with a concerned looking Riza at the door.

"Is Roy still here?" she asked, lines of worry creased across her forehead.

As she helped him step out of the house, I leaned out and called, "Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations."

Uncle Roy looked over Riza's shoulder. "Thanksh, Elyshia." He drawled with a dreamy expression on his face.

But I kept talking. "Daddy told me that the more times you say congratulations to someone, the more good things happen to them." Somewhere in there, I heard my voice catch.

It was almost like the mentioning of Daddy sobered him. "Uncle Roy," I started. "Is there something about Daddy that you aren't telling me?"

He looked the most sober he had all evening. "You're too young to understand it, Elysia. Maybe some other day." With that, he took Riza by the hand and walked off into the dark night.

---

The prickling sensation got stronger, until I couldn't see the words on the tombstone anymore. But I read it aloud anyway, as if those words are engraved onto my mind too.

"Maes Hughes..."

---

Most of the memories from my early years are blurred. But if there was anything I remembered the clearest, it was the nightly ritual of Daddy tucking me into bed.

I would always first brush my teeth; sometimes we would brush together. Then Mother would come in and shoo Daddy out so she could help me take a bath and change into my nightie.

Daddy would then help me into bed and tell me a story. I can't remember much of what he used to tell me, but the thing I missed the most were the butterfly kisses. We would blink our eyes close to each other, and our eyelashes would rub against each other's cheeks...

It scares me sometimes...At times, I can almost see Daddy's face in my mind's eye as clear as day, and other times, he'd be so blurry that I'd think someone literally took an eraser and tried to erase him from my mind.

I miss him so much.

---

I feel the tear slide down my face. The feeling of longing for Daddy in my chest aches so much that I have to kneel down onto the grass. I am still appalled by the fact that I can't remember Daddy's voice. Because of that, I hang onto every strand of my memories to remember his face.

"Daddy," I call softly. "It's time to get up for work." I slowly set down the bouquet of wildflowers down onto the stone head. Then I sit back onto my heels, to think.

After a while, I don't know how long, I stand up to leave. I look at Daddy's grave again, the bright flowers I brought clashes horribly with the looming gray behind them. I can almost see his face blooming before my eyes. As I turn around to walk away, my last whispered question to my father silently drifts away with the gentle breeze to wherever he may be.

Daddy, am I still your little angel?

-fin

A/N: Well, this didn't turn out as good as I wanted it to. I just got back really late the night before and so I deeply apologize for any mistakes that I missed when proofreading. I understand that this piece is a little confusing, so ask away if anyone has questions. It is slightly based off of the song 'Butterfly Kisses' by Bob Carlisle, but rest assured everyone, it's not a songfic.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this piece. It's different from what I usually write, so please leave some feedback for me!