Hello, all! This was just something quick I whipped together. I hope my faithful readers enjoy it. Um... my first attempt at a one-shot so not entirely certain I did this correctly. If something needs changed or edited just tell me! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

WHEN YOU FORGET THE DATE

That damn rain. Why oh why did it have to rain? Rain is the very symbol of sadness. Rain is wet, cold, and depressing. Rain shows no compassion, no sympathy, no mercy to its unsuspecting victims. Rain is a bitch to be caught in. And of course, it just had to rain on this particular day.

Roy Mustang was having one hell of a shitty day. He hadn't slept one wink the night before, but fell asleep twenty minutes before his alarm was to go off, and ended up sleeping through the tone set to awaken him. He awoke around eight, two hours after he should've been up, and hurriedly got ready for work. Of course he had to miss breakfast, but he would have a big lunch to make up for it.

He was running late. No problem, just take the car, right? It'll get you there in a fraction of the time as walking. Bad idea. Not only, did Roy run over a shard of metal in the road causing a flat tire, his POS of a car broke down just moments after he changed it. Now he was walking to work, in the rain.

Once he arrived at work, dripping wet from the rain, and again, two hours late, he was greeted by a bullet coming within millimeters of his head. His office had a zero tolerance policy against tardiness. And he received very cold stares from all of his subordinates. His subordinates were judging him. Oh well, right? It can't get any worse, right?

Wrong. The rain just would not let up. On the contrary, it actually began to rain harder after a few hours of nonstop paperwork. Twice he was interrupted by his favorite pen running out of ink and a paper cut making its way onto his finger. His hand was cramping hard core by the time lunch came around. Not a problem, one would think. He'll just get a break at lunch.

Wrong. Again. No lunch for Roy Mustang on this fantastic day. He forgot his wallet at his house, leaving him without any money for lunch. And by this time, he was in such a terrible mood that anyone who dared to even meet his gaze would be court-martialed.

After returning to his office to do even more work as his subordinates ate their lunch, Roy was met with a horrific surprise.

"Sir," Riza stated with her hand held in salute position to her head.

"Yes, lieutenant?" Roy groaned while rubbing his temples. Great, now he was getting a headache.

"You have a two o' clock appointment with Mr. Elric."

Roy let out a growl and laid his head on his desk. "Why me?" He asked no one in particular.

"Sir, I'd suggest you pull yourself together. Mr. Elric will be here in ten minutes."

"Yes, lieutenant…" Roy moaned. He straightened up and picked up his pen, ready to sign more documents.

The ten minutes came and went much more quickly that Roy expected, and wanted. Every visit with Edward was a whole fiasco and left the colonel with a headache. The more Roy thought about how much he hated having these appointments with Edward, the angrier he became. He was getting incredibly pissed off, just from thinking. And stewing in his own angering thoughts for ten minutes really left him steamed. By the time Ed's clunky boots could be heard coming down the hall, Roy was in the worst possible mood he could have been in.

Riza took the opportunity to step into the hall and greet Ed before he went in. Just as the young alchemist was about to kick the doors open, Riza pulled him to the side and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Lieutenant? What's the matter?" Ed asked, sounding incredibly confused.

"Please, Edward, the colonel has been having a bad day. A really bad day. Just try to not upset him, alright?"

Edward thought for a moment, and then an evil smile started to play at the corner of his lips. "I will do that, lieutenant. Not a problem," He said uncharacteristically cheerfully.

Riza sighed and let Ed go, regretting the decision to come into work today. She knew that there was no way for this meeting to go well.

Ed kicked the doors open with even more force than usual and marched right up to Mustang's desk. "Why hello, colonel! You look rather dapper today!" Ed teased as he chucked his report onto the colonel's desk.

Roy growled under his breath and gave his pen a death grip. "It's nice to see you, Fullmetal," He managed to choke out.

Ed laughed loudly and propped his elbows up on the desk. "Something bugging ya, colonel? You don't have that typical bubbly glow about you today!"

Roy growled again and shoved the report to the side. "Thank you for turning in your report. Now please leave. I have too much work to do." Roy was talking through gritted teeth so he wouldn't scream out in pure frustration.

"C'mon, colonel! Lighten up a little! Why don't you get your gloves and go to the firing range!? You look like you could use a little stress relief."

"I don't have my gloves, Fullmetal. They were soaked by the rain." His voice was laced with sarcasm and frustration; only further determining Edward to lighten the colonel's mood.

"Yeah, it is raining pretty hard out. But c'mon! There has to be something you could do to quit being such a stick in the mud!" Ed spread his arms out as if to emphasize the vast possibilities of activities one could do on a rainy day.

Unfortunately, Roy seemed to take Ed's cheery demeanor in another manor.

"You know what, Fullmetal? I'm not dealing with your shit today! My day has been nothing but shit and I don't need your mockery right now! Can't you see that I'm not in a good mood and I don't want to deal with any pesky, little, irritating, no-good, loud-mouthed brats!?"

Ed backed down a tad and opened his mouth to say something. But Roy beat him to the punch.

Roy finally looked up from his desk and stared into Ed's golden eyes with his own onyx ones. When he saw the boy was about to make a move to say something, he immediately jumped to the conclusion that it would be a smart-ass comment and decided he didn't want to hear it.

"NOW GET OUT OF MY SIGHT, FULLMETAL!"

Ed stumbled backwards with wide, terrified eyes. The colonel had never snapped at him like that before. And it didn't help when all eyes in the room landed on him. Not that they hadn't been staring before hand, it's just now they weren't trying to stare in secret. Ed bowed his head and hid his eyes with his bangs. "Y-yes, sir."

And with that, he calmly walked out of the room with his tail between his legs and his eyes locked on the ground.

Roy sighed and returned to his paperwork, not even seeming to care just how defeated Ed had looked.

After the initial shock in the room wore off, Havoc finally decided to speak his mind.

"You know, colonel; that was awful cold of you. Poor kid didn't deserve to be yelled at like that. Especially after turning his report in on time for once."

Roy pinched the bridge of his nose and growled yet again. "That brat was making a fool of me. He was insulting me."

By this time, Riza had stepped up to his desk and was preparing to give him another stack of paper. "To me, sir, it sounded as if Edward was trying to cheer you up. I informed him you were in a less than pleasant mood and I got the feeling that he just wanted to see you act like normal. Nothing of what he said came off as 'mocking' or 'insulting' in my opinion."

Roy blinked a few times and sat back. "I…"

Riza stepped over to the window and stared out at the rain. "He looked awful dejected after you shouted at him."

Roy stood up from his swivel chair and took position next to Riza. He stared out at the rain, which was now coming down in buckets, and rubbed the back of his neck. "Was I really that harsh to him?"

Havoc came over next to Roy and Riza and pointed out the window. "Would someone who just had a pleasant visit with his commanding officer and surrounding company be walking out into this weather?"

Roy looked out the window to see Edward walking along the sidewalk slowly and with his head to the ground. His hands were tucked deep into his pants pockets and his golden hair was matted to his head from being wet. And the kid looked to be in no hurry to get out of the rain.

"Dammit," Roy cursed under his breath. He grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair and hurriedly threw it on. "Lieutenant, cancel all of my afternoon meetings. I'm taking the rest of the day off."

"Yes, sir."

Roy grabbed his blue and white striped umbrella and rushed out of his office. He trekked down the hall at a quick pace, all the while receiving stares from any MPs in the halls. He figured Ed must've received even more stares than he had.

Once Roy was safely out of the building and hopefully out of the sight of most other military officers, he started into a sprint. He was lucky enough to just catch a glance of red turning the corner far ahead of him.

"Fullmetal!" Roy called out as he rounded the same corner. He thought he saw the boy falter just a tad, but Ed kept going. Roy picked up his pace and started to gain on Ed. When he was closed enough, Roy reached out and grabbed his shoulder. "Wait up, Fullmetal!"

Ed stopped but wouldn't turn to look at Roy. He just seemed to emanate sadness and defeat.

Roy bent over at his knees and panted. "Just – give me – a – second –" He gasped.

"Yes, sir…" Ed replied quietly. His fiery disposition had been subdued. Not even Al would be able to cheer him up.

Roy's heart seemed to break a little when Ed called him sir. He never used such formality with him. It just wasn't his character.

"C'mon, Fullmetal, don't be like that."

Ed still refused to turn around and meet his eyes.

Roy sighed and turned Ed around by the shoulders. "I'm sorry, Fullmetal. Just look at me, please. I didn't mean to snap at you like that. I was just having a bad day."

Ed nodded with his eyes glued to the ground. He was not about to look up.

Roy groaned and opened up his umbrella. He pulled Ed under it and started to push him forward. "C'mon, let's get out of this rain before one of us gets sick."

Ed shrugged him off and started out in the rain again. "You already told me to leave you alone, colonel. Just go back to your stupid paperwork."

"Just wait a minute! I said I was sorry! Why can't you just accept my apology!?"

Ed stopped and turned around abruptly. There was a new, blazing fire in his eyes. "You expect me to just smile and wave it off after you say something like that!? Especially after I tried to help you! Do you even think about other people, colonel?"

Roy grabbed Ed's collar as the boy attempted to make his leave. "Oh no, Fullmetal. You're not going anywhere. I'm going to make it up to you and that's final."

Ed struggled in the colonel's hold and tried to squirm away. "Just let me go! Leave me alone!"

Roy tightened his grip on Ed's jacket and fought against the squirming. "Quit moving around, Fullmetal! Just calm down and listen to me!"

Ed finally got so worked up that his pulling caused his jacket to tear. He crashed to the ground with a clamor and caused a splash of water to drench Roy. He shakily got to his hands and knees and grabbed at his head. "Please, just go. I tried to be nice and cheerful like Al said, but this is where it led me."

Roy tilted his head to the side in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing. It's nothing," Ed answered frantically. He staggered to his feet and took off, leaving Roy to stand in the rain alone, a tattered red jacket in his hand.

"I tried to be nice and cheerful…" Roy repeated quietly. Then he realized it. He ran over to the nearest store and bought a newspaper, thankful he had just enough change in his pocket. On the front was printed East Central Elementary School Hosts Labor Day Event. He really didn't feel like updating himself on the happenings of the day, but he needed something very important. And printed up at the top, right-hand corner was what he was looking for.

"Aw dammit, Roy. Way to go," He scolded himself. He quickly folded up the paper and tucked it underneath his arm. "You should've known what today was. You need to pay more attention to your subordinates." Roy paused as he walked out of the small shop and into the cool, moist air. In the brief moments he was in the store, the rain had let up a little and was no longer pouring buckets.

Roy sighed and shook his head. "No. You need to pay more attention to Fullmetal. It doesn't matter that he's your subordinate. He's someone important to you, and that's what matters. Dammit, I really don't think about others."

Roy started down the sidewalk, hoping he would find Edward somewhere along the way. The rain was still coming, leaving huge puddles to navigate around. Roy searched alleys and shops all along the streets. He'd searched for hours and he still couldn't find Ed. He was actually beginning to worry.

"Where the hell is that kid?" Roy asked himself. He accidentally stepped into a puddle and cursed as water leaked into his shoe and down his sock.

And then he heard it. To anyone who wasn't looking for a lost kid, it would have gone unnoticed. But Roy heard it. It was quiet and small, hardly audible over the sound of the rain. But it was there.

Roy smiled as he peeked around the corner to another alley and saw the golden-haired boy he was looking for. The kid was curled up into a ball and leaning against the old brick building. He was absolutely soaked to the bone and was shaking like a leaf in a windstorm.

Roy didn't say anything. He just walked up to the boy and loomed over him, making sure the umbrella covered them both. Roy felt guilty about how bad Ed was shivering. He was the one who tore the kid's jacket.

Ed noticed the lack of rain hitting him and looked up to see the colonel standing over him.

Roy took off his jacket and draped it over Ed's shoulders, hoping the kid would stop shaking so much. "I'm sorry," He said firmly. "I'm an ass, a jerk, a bastard, anything you can think of. I should have been paying more attention to you. I should've known what today is."

Ed grunted and pulled the jacket tighter around his shaken form. "Yeah, you are a bastard. Now go away."

Roy smiled and looked down at Ed. "No can do, Fullmetal."

Ed looked like he was going to protest when that small, quiet noise stopped him. He wrapped his arms around his stomach and turned a light shade of red.

Roy laughed and knelt down next to him. "C'mon, you're hungry. Let's get something to eat. We'll have to stop by my house first, though."

Again, Ed looked like he was going to protest, but his stomach growled again. "Fine."

Roy straightened up and watched as Ed stumbled to his feet. And for some reason, Roy got the strong urge to wrap his arms around Ed and never let him go, and make sure no one would ever hurt him again. And for some reason, Roy gave in.

At first, Ed was too shocked to even move. Then he overcame that and even though he wanted to squirm away, he was too tired and wet and Roy was so warm. He felt like home. He was a material reassurance.

Ed sighed and threw his arms around Roy. Why the hell not? They were both having a shitty day and a little comforting wouldn't hurt, right?

"I'm sorry…" Roy whispered.

Ed laughed and pushed him away. "Yeah yeah. Now where are you taking me for lunch? I'm starving."

Roy also laughed and began to lead the way. "Wherever you want, Fullmetal. Wherever you want…"

Alrighty, please, if you feel up to it, leave a review and tell me what you think! And thank you to all my readers!

(I fixed the wallet mistake :D thanks for letting me know!)