All right, just a few disclaimers before we get down to it. This is it. The big one. The one we've all been waiting for with bated breath at the edges of our seats—err, computer chairs.
This is also it in another context. There will be no further continuation. It's done. Done done done done DONE. Ember never intended to write the first one, much less the second, and the third? Just wow. She's done with this, moving on to bigger and better things. Like a chaptered fic or two. See the authoress' note at the end for details.
Once again, *deep breath* this is Ed and Roy, Roy and Ed, together forever, happily on the other side of the rainbow, don't like, don't read, just click the back button on the browser, it's there for a reason, loves. *gasp* There, did that cover it?
Oh, yes. This one gets a bit more suggestive than the other two, so if you can't take hints at what we all know they do at night you can join the violent anti-yaois that clicked the back button already. Please. Unless you WANT to be mentally scarred.
Then again, we've seen some things under the T rating that really shouldn't be, so you've probably read worse before. Just don't ask us to do the same. There are some things we just won't write. Maybe someday in the VERY distant future (we're talking years), but not now. We like to pretend we're innocent and have never read anything over "grapefruit" on the so-called "citrus" scale. Lemons taste good (the fruit, that is), but we're honest-to-goodness afraid of the stories after having been scarred by one too many (which was, incidentally, the first one we accidentally read). Especially the ones that are everywhere, the plotless wonders that do nothing but get two (or more) characters in bed together. So please, just don't ask. We have principles.
And now that the rant of the day is over…
Wearing White
Edward Elric looked at his destination and saw the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He smiled, brighter than he ever had before, and made his way as quickly as tradition would allow to his loved one waiting for him.
As he gazed lovingly into a dark eye he remembered all that had led them to this point.
A month after his return, Ed celebrated his nineteenth birthday. And this birthday was special, for a very specific reason that was right beside him as he woke up.
Smiling to himself he decided he could sleep in a little, cuddling as close to his lover of a month as was physically possible. However, said lover evidently had other ideas of how to spend their morning, as he was flipped onto his back just before he went back to sleep.
Opening his eyes in shock, Ed gasped, "What the hell, Roy?!"
The older man smiled. "Happy birthday, Ed," he whispered before their lips met.
Ed gladly participated for a while before pulling back, gasping for breath. "And to think I'd wanted to sleep in."
"Sleep in? When there are so many better things in store?"
Ed was undeniably interested. "Better things? Like what?"
The voice above him was absolutely wicked. "Well, I could say, but that'd spoil half the fun, wouldn't it?"
Ed agreed, but by that point the elusive art of forming coherent sentences had rather escaped him.
Later in the day, when they had finally decided to get out of bed, they were cuddling by a fire, much preferring that to actually being outside in the cold.
All of a sudden his lover stood up. Ed whined a bit at the loss of body warmth.
"Oh, stop that," the man chuckled. "I'll be right back." And he left the room before Ed could ask what the hell was going on.
However, he returned before Ed could get up to follow him. Ed noticed that he was carrying some sort of open basket under one arm as he sat back down on the couch. It was shortly placed in his lap and he gasped as he saw the contents.
A beautiful grey tabby kitten was staring back up at him with the greenest eyes he could recall seeing. The kitten, deciding that Ed was not moving fast enough, thrust its head into his hand and purred.
A quick examination showed that the kitten was female and in good health, and that she loved playing with Ed's loose hair. As Ed gently held her, he looked up at his lover with misty eyes. "She's beautiful."
"Well, like I said this morning, happy birthday," he chuckled.
Overcome with emotion, Ed gently set the kitten back in the basket she had been delivered in before pouncing on the older man delightedly.
Ed smiled as he remembered that birthday. That kitten, which had been named Trisha in memory of his mother (everyone just called her Trish, though), was patiently awaiting their return home. She would have to wait a little longer, however. There was important business to be taken care of here.
It had been a year since Ed's return, and he couldn't be happier. He was home and happily in a stable relationship with the love of his life. Things just couldn't get any better.
Everyone from the office, including the two of them, had gone to a bar to celebrate the fact that Ed had been back for a year. Of course, this had led to the unsurprising intoxication of half the members of the group.
Ed, a little tipsy himself, laughed loudly and adjusted his position on his lover's lap as Havoc and Breda attempted to dance and failed miserably.
A deep voice whispered in his ear, "What, do you think you could do better?"
Ed shivered. "What, them? Anyone could; they're totally drunk!"
"Then let's see it." And Ed was suddenly moved off of his comfortable seated position and dragged into an open area.
They didn't dance so much as lean from side to side while holding each other, but Ed really didn't mind. They were close, and that was what really mattered.
"You seem a bit tense," he whispered after a while. "Is something wrong?"
"No," was the reply he got before they stopped. As Ed wondered what the hell was going on he saw his lover fall to one knee, fumbling for something in his pocket.
Ed's breath hitched as he suddenly realized what was going on and everyone not too smashed to realize what was going on fell silent, staring in their direction.
He barely registered what the love of his life was saying as he struggled to regulate his breathing and stop his heart pounding quite so fast. The words didn't matter, anyway. The meaning did. And the meaning made Ed quite certain he hadn't loved this man quite so much in his life.
The older man looked up at him nervously, waiting for a response. Why on earth was he so nervous? Surely he knew exactly how Ed would react.
Ed tried to say yes a few times, but no sound came out. Tired of looking like a fish out of water, he did about the only thing he could do.
Falling to his own knees, he grabbed his lover's head firmly and kissed him as passionately as he could as the crowd of newfound spectators cheered and whistled.
Ed's smile widened as he walked the final steps toward his fiancée, soon to be husband. That night had easily been the best night of his life. After that they had left the bar together as Breda and Havoc made highly suggestive remarks in slurred voices, Fuery blushed at the insinuations of his coworkers, and Hawkeye looked upset at being left alone to take care of the others, managing to look happy for the pair at the same time (quite an amazing feat until Ed remembered it was Hawkeye. That woman could do anything if she wanted to, he would swear by it).
Ed had said something or other about actually putting some of those suggestions to good use, and that had led to a very long but satisfying night. Needless to say, they had gone to work very late the next day.
The actual ceremony began to occur, but Ed barely noticed. He was staring into a pair of dark eyes that held so much love in them it nearly made his heart swell to bursting when he realized that all that was for him.
"Nervous?" a voice asked immediately by his ear as arms slipped easily around his waist.
"Not really," Ed replied as he relaxed into his fiancée's grip. "I'm more concerned that for once in my life I'm actually doing something to do with religion. But since it's with you, I'm fine with that. I love you, and that's what this whole thing is all about." He turned around in the older man's arms and placed his own around the other's neck.
"I'm glad to hear it. I'd hate to think that all we're doing is giving you a foot as cold as the automail one."
Ed laughed. "Well, that's a new take on that saying."
"It's true, though. Admit it."
"I never said it wasn't. You think that just because I comment on something, I automatically dismiss it as false?"
"I certainly hope not. If that's the case, then you really didn't like last night much. Or the night before that, or the night before that…" his lover continued, a wide grin on his face.
"See? I make plenty of comments about things without expressing dislike!"
"That you do. And those comments are really good, though a bit… hard to interpret at times." That grin quickly became a smirk.
"Hard to interpret? I thought they were easy to understand. Must be the fault of the interpreter," Ed asserted with a smirk of his own.
"Hmm, maybe it is." Ed shivered at the suggestive tone of the older man's voice. "If that's the case, we'd better make sure everything's running smoothly in the interpretation department, then."
"Yes, we'd better," he said, growling in anticipation as their lips met and all thought processes halted instantaneously.
Some time later, Ed rolled over in bed and looked at his fiancée. "Well?"
That smirk was instantly back, even though they had both only just caught their breath. "Well, I don't know. There were a couple things that were pretty iffy. I think we'd better test that again."
Ed groaned. "Again? Now?"
"Yes. Again. Now."
"Are you even capable of forming a sentence properly?" Ed asked teasingly.
"If I was, you must not be doing your job right." And the smirk instantly doubled in size, knowing what that insinuation would do to Ed.
"Oh?" Ed asked dangerously and predictably. "I always do my job right. And if you think I don't, I'll just have to show you, won't I?"
His lover could only nod and moan in anticipation as Ed rolled on top of him.
Ed had to struggle to keep from smirking in the middle of the ceremony. Luckily, he got his facial expression under control quickly as he actually had to say something.
Getting through the vows and the rest of the ceremony quickly, it soon proceeded to Ed's favorite part. He could finally be a little unorthodox about this whole thing, he reflected as he dragged his new husband's face down to his and kissed him a little more passionately than he was sure had been intended when they'd told him he could. Actually, it was probably a lot more passionately. Ed didn't care.
They only parted sometime after the priest had fled and the whistling had started to get mildly annoying in its volume.
Grinning wickedly, Ed took the older man's hand in his own and ran back down the aisle. He really couldn't wait until the reception was over; the man looked absolutely edible in his suit. And clearly he thought the same thing about Ed, which only heightened Ed's own anticipation of their soon-to-be alone time.
It really was a pity that the whole reception thing had to take place.
Luckily enough, though, that seemed to go by as quickly as the ceremony itself had. Soon enough, they were gone, eager to start the best part of the whole thing—the honeymoon.
"It's about time," his love whispered in his ear. "You've been in that lovely white suit for far too long. I think it needs to come off."
"Really?" Ed asked, leaning into him. "I think it does too. And I think it needs to come off now. Same with yours."
END
Phew. It's over, the trilogy that threatened to strangle poor Ember. The trilogy that was never meant to be, but came anyway.
Not like that. Perverts. Yeesh.
In any case, as Ember so-conveniently mentioned above, there are chaptered fics in the works, folks! God (or whoever you choose to believe in) help us all.
As our loyal subjects… err, readers… you get a say in all this! Except for what comes out first. That's pretty much set in stone, as she's almost done writing it now. That will be a lovely Ed/OC adventure/romance with just a taste of Al/Winry. But don't worry, Roy's there too. And he's just as snarky as ever. So even though you are her Ed/Roy fanbase and this is not Ed/Roy, please don't let that stop you from reading it once it begins the long and painful posting process after leaving the equally long and painful editing process.
Your say, however, comes in now. She's not entirely sure which idea to implement next. So give an authoress a hint at where to go, and vote on your favorite idea! If you have one of your own, you'll probably be able to bully her into that too, since she's such a sucker.
So without further ado…
1) Ed, Roy, and Al are battling Envy after Al gets his body back (not the premise of this story) when Ed is almost killed. To save his life Roy and Al bind his soul to a coin, costing Roy his eyesight. Al disappears shortly after, and life goes on. Until one day when Roy's grandson is walking through the woods with a "lucky" coin in his pocket… Ed/OC, in all likelihood some sort of adventure with plenty of romance.
2) Ed is walking down the street when a young woman bumps into him. What he doesn't know is that the young woman in question has dealt with the Gate and received visions of the future… at a price that Ed finds he doesn't mind at all, even as she wraps her mind around the fact that she's suddenly and powerfully attracted to someone she barely knows. Ed/OC, romance before all else.
3) Ed is walking down a different street when he hears a melody that he hasn't heard since his mother died. Wondering where it's coming from, he tracks it down to find that it really is a small world after all (sans the ridiculously annoying yet catchy song) when he meets the daughter of his mother's best friend. Again, Ed/OC, romance. (Ember really doesn't get many chapter fic ideas for Ed/Roy, no idea why.)
4) The only Ed/Roy chaptered idea that she has, it's pretty much a high-school fic. But this one has a twist that she hasn't seen before. The twist is… marching band. Yep. Because that's what she knows best, Ed and Roy will both be music geeks. It's turning out in idea format a lot better than it sounds at first, so don't let this crappy description steer you away. Ed/Roy, romance/ other school drama.
And of course, last but not least:
5) If you have an idea, just let her know! Ember is as of yet incapable of reading minds (the hardware hasn't come in quite yet), and so if you have any ideas for an authoress, do let her know before she and Rags to Riches go crazy and kill the world with an army of sporks. Please?
NOTE ABOUT OCS: So many OCs aren't very well-developed at all, and Ember strives to be the exception and not the rule. So no OC will be put on by Ember until she does a painful character sketch (minus the sketch part, she can't draw to save her life) chock full of detail so Ember really feels she knows her character and can really give the character the writing it deserves. So don't let the whole OC thing throw you off.
If you could simply let Ember know which of these you would like the most at the bottom of your review (after saying what a crappy ending to a crappy trilogy this fic was), that would be marvelous. The only catch: It took Ember almost a year to write her current chaptered fic to where it is. So if it's a while before you see the idea Ember picks to move on the profile listing of fics from "in the planning process" (meaning she's writing like mad and making Rags to Riches edit as she goes) to "in progress" (meaning final editing by both Ember and Rags to Riches and posting) please don't kill anyone. They like to make sure their fics are as good as they can be so they don't subject you to the crap that seems occasionally to litter the pages of . You know the ones, the plotless wonders mentioned in the author's note before the story? So patience. If you guys vote in an idea, the idea will begin the long and painful writing process effective immediately after the vote (which will stop when reviews begin to cap off so as to exclude the least amount of people) and WILL be posted here as soon as it starts going easier and shaping up.
A side note from Rags to Riches: If any of you nice lovely reviewers suggests that there be another part to this, she will send her assassin peep after you. Trust Ember. He gets the job done. He's seen what happens to the peeps who fail. The gory messes of marshmallow remains in her microwave speak for themselves. Please. Rags to Riches beat Ember over the head when the SECOND part was in the conception phase. Same with the THIRD. With a fourth, she just might kill something, and that something might be one of you. So as fair warning and protection, just don't do it. Ember's exhausted this little world quite thoroughly.
Wow, the authoress' notes are almost as long as the story itself! Before that REALLY happens, Ember's going to shut up now. After a final reminder to pretty please review. It's that huge button that will appear shortly after the end of this. You can find it. Ember trusts you.
Ember and Rags to Riches- the mutant penguins