Author's notes: Hi, Nisa-chan666 here. A little one shot for Valentine's Day. I've never written Roy/Ed before, as I'm more of an Ed/Winry and Roy/Riza fan, but I'm pleased at how this came out. And just so you know, I don't own any of the characters mentioned in this fan-fiction. They all belong to Hiromu Arakawa. I'm sorry if it sounds too mushy and lovey-dovey.
Roy stood in the middle of the pavement, trying to tell himself that what he was seeing was real. Edward Elric. 19 years old now, but still as short as ever. Regaining his composure, he began to walk towards the tiny alchemist, a smile tugging at the sides of his mouth.
"Fullmetal. Long time no see," he grinned.
"Colonel Mustang. It's good to see a familiar face again. Even if it is you," Ed replied.
"Keep it up, shrimp. Keep it up," Roy drawled.
Ed glared at him, antennae standing on end like he'd been electrocuted. Roy could hardly stop himself from laughing. Ed decided he would cause a scene somewhere else and settled to just glaring at the Flame Alchemist.
"But moving on, I thought you'd decided to stay on the other side of the Gate?" Roy asked.
"I felt I'd done all I could. Besides, I was getting homesick. I missed my friends," Ed answered, smiling sadly.
"I'm sure Al will be ecstatic when he hears that you're back," Roy said, breaking the impending awkward silence.
"Yeah. I'm looking forward to seeing him the most," Ed murmured.
The inevitable silence. Ed squirmed. There seemed to be a sort of inflexible barrier that prevented them from getting further than small-talk in a conversation. His thoughts were interrupted by a rain-drop landing squarely on his nose. He looked up to see Roy scowling up at the sky.
"I hate rain," Roy muttered.
"Well, let's not stand out in it then," Ed uttered sarcastically.
They eventually found their way into a church, which was at the awkward stage where it was too uncomfortable to hold services in, but not in enough disrepair that would qualify it for demolition. Roy shook his head vigorously, spraying water in all directions.
"Hey! Watch how you dry yourself," Ed snapped, sweeping his fringe from where it has plastered itself to his forehead.
"Sorry shrimp," Roy muttered automatically.
" . . . Shrimp? . . . THAT'S THE SECOND TIME YOU'VE CALLED ME THAT!!!!!!!!" Ed yelled before launching himself at Mustang.
After a momentary tussle, they broke apart, glaring darkly at each other. After several minutes' silence, in which time the rain got faster and heavier, Ed moved onto one of the pews, next to Mustang.
"It looks like we're going to be here a while, so I may as well catch up. So, how many playboy pin-ups have you dated since I left?" Ed smirked.
"You insult me. If you really have to know, I got married 3 months ago," Roy replied, arms crossed.
"Married? Who to?" Ed asked, surprised.
"Riza-chan."
" . . . I'm . . . happy for you," Ed stuttered, looking away.
Roy sighed. He had known this would happen. For a relationship that had supposedly been buried for 5 years, it had a habit of coming back to haunt them both. He turned to look at Ed, remembering how cute Ed had been asleep. How his big golden eyes had stared up at him after waking, dream-brushed cobwebs leaving the world rose-tinted for an instant.
"It's best to leave the past dead and buried sometimes you know," Roy sighed, raking his hand through his messy black hair.
"I know, I know. But I can't forget. I don't want to forget," Ed murmured, his head dropping into his hands.
"You don't have to forget it. But . . . it was a long time ago."
"5 years isn't that long."
"I know. But time can sometimes warp. I only lost my eye 4 years ago, but after seeing so much pain behind it, it seems about 10 times as long."
Ed lifted his head to see Roy gently touch the eye patch covering his left eye.
"May I see?" Ed asked softly.
" . . . Are you sure about this?" Roy said sadly.
Ed gulped, nodding his head slowly. Roy sat for a moment before ripping the eye patch in one sharp movement of his hand.
Minutes ticked by before Mustang asked, "Well?"
Ed hardly noticed the words as he stared at what the eye patch had concealed. The skin around the eye was pitted from the bullets fired after the defeat of Pride. Roy's eyelid was closed, scar tissue spreading from the top of the eye socket, widening over the eyelid then narrowing again until it stopped just above the left cheek-bone. Ed felt a sharp pang of guilt and failure, sharper than he'd ever felt it before. He reached up and lightly touched what used to be Roy's eye.
He felt the eyelid start to open and whispered, "Don't. I don't think I want to know what's beneath it."
Roy nodded, smiling grimly. With that, he pulled Ed's hand away from his face and put his patch back on.
"Are you satisfied now?"
"I don't know," Ed answered quietly. "I just don't know."
10 minutes later, the rain stopped. Roy stood up, glancing down at Ed. Ed himself was staring at a stained glass window, the picture of gloom.
"The rain's stopped," Roy said, tapping his companion lightly on the shoulder.
"Huh? Oh, yeah," Ed replied, startled out of the thoughts.
"Come on. I need to get home soon, Riza will worry," Roy encouraged, holding out his hand for Ed to pull himself up with.
Ed stared at it for a moment, before taking it gently. He lifted himself from the pew, placing a soft kiss of Roy's lips. In that moment, he was 14 again and in love. He pulled away, walking toward the church doors. Roy stared after him, a faint blush spreading across his cheeks. Ed paused at the church door, hand on the dark wood being eaten away by damp.
"What do you think went wrong?" he asked, without turning round.
"I don't know," Roy answered truthfully.
"I see," Ed murmured, before a laugh burst from his lips.
"What's so funny?" Roy asked, the echo of Ed's laughter ringing in his ears.
"We've been talking about a torrid gay love affair we had 5 years ago in a church. I thought it was kinda funny," Ed replied, grinning.
"Oh."
"I suppose we'll be saying our goodbyes then?" Ed asked, his expression sobering.
"Yeah, we will."
"I hope you're happy then. It's all I can really hope for. There will always be a part of me that will treasure those days, but you won't find me crying over it at night," Ed smiled, affectionate eyes turned towards the older man.
"Same here," Roy replied, smiling in return.
"Goodbye, Roy. Maybe we'll meet again someday. Right now I have to find my little brother."
With that, the Fullmetal Alchemist opened the church doors, waving before he stepped into the watery gold sunshine.
The End.