Synopsis: The Flame Alchemist has many talents. However, giving a thoughtful gift is not his forte.
Merry Christmas, everyone. This fic is prompted by Poodie and dedicated to Fanofthisfiction who started the Fanfic Review Movement (FRM). I made this pledge before I left FRM community. Although, I'm no longer a member, I intend to honour my pledge. So here's the fic, Poodie and Fanofthisfiction. I hope you enjoy it.
The Gift
It was that time of year again, when snow blanketed the Central in white and everyone was hurrying home to celebrate Christmas eve. While Roy Mustang was a not religious man, he still appreciated the simple pleasure that the festive season brought. His best friend and comrade, Maes Hughes had insisted to invite him over for Christmas eve dinner. Knowing that saying 'no' to that persistent man was more hassle than it's worth, Roy grudgingly accepted the invitation.
Roy dropped by a liquor shop he frequented to pick up a bottle of wine on the way to Maes's house. He cursed as soon as he stepped down from his car. The howling wind was relentless. The few steps he had to take towards the shop felt much longer than it actually was in reality. He hoped Maes would appreciate his effort to make the extra trip.
When Roy finally reached his destination, his mood was considerably dampened by the harsh weather. He rang the doorbell sulkily and a while later, Maes answered the door with a big smile on his face.
"What a surprise! You're here early."
He could smell the delicious aromas of Gracia's cooking once the door was wide open. It lifted his spirit a little and for a moment, Roy was glad that he made the right choice to come.
"Yup, and here's your wine."
The Colonel pretty much just shoved the bottle of wine into his friend's hands unceremoniously, because he could see that behind Maes, a young girl with twin pigtails was running towards the door, all excited.
"Uncle Mustang! Did you bring me a present?"
Oops… He totally forgot about that.
"Sorry, Elicia."
He patted her head apologetically.
"But if you want to, I can perform a magic trick for you."
"Yay!" Elicia squealed in glee.
Roy pulled out a single glove from his pocket (the one with the alchemy transmutation circle stitched on it) and put it on. Watching from the side, Maes knew instantly just what kind of magic trick Roy had in mind. He clicked his tongue disapprovingly and snickered, "Tsk, tsk… that's call cheating, my friend."
But Roy wasn't deterred at all. He was sure that Elicia who had never seen him perform alchemy before would be impressed by his remarkable skill. Who wouldn't? So he ignored his friend's sarcastic remark completely and pushed on.
"Are you ready for a magic trick?"
"Yes, please…" Elicia looked up with eyes wide in anticipation.
"1, 2, 3!"
At the count of three, Roy snapped his gloved fingers together dramatically. A small flame ignited between them before it quickly dissipated into a waft of smoke. For a full minute, he waited for the cheer or applaud that never came.
Unfortunately for Roy, the so-called 'magic trick' didn't turn out as dramatic as Elicia had hoped.
"Oh…" the disappointment in the little girl's voice was honest and unmistakable.
To say that Roy was embarrassed was an understatement of the decade. He had just let a barely-two-year-old girl down with his pathetic excuse of a magic trick. If Hawkeye had been there, she would have shot him right there, right then.
Elicia's dotting father quickly scooped her up from the floor and tickled her relentlessly as a distraction. Elicia laughed in response, of course. Maes knew just where to tickle and it worked every time.
Just then, Maes's wife, Gracia called from the kitchen, "Dinner is ready!"
The dinner that followed was nice because Gracia's cooking was excellent. But it was not enough to save Roy from feeling that pang of guilt throughout the dinner, although Elicia seemed to forget about the whole thing already. By the time they finished dinner, his mind was all set to make it up to Elicia. However, it wasn't easy for him to come up with something in such short notice.
"Hey, Hughes. Can I borrow some paper?"
Maes eyed his friend suspiciously. "Paper? What do you need it for?"
Roy merely answered, "You'll know when I get to it."
There's something up in his sleeve, for sure. Maes suspected it had something to do with the earlier episode but he didn't want to spoil the broth too early.
"Okay, let me get some from my study desk."
To Maes's mild surprise, Roy followed him to the study room.
"I will need to borrow your room for some time as well."
It was getting more suspicious with each passing second.
"You are not planning to do something weird inside, are you?"
To which Roy rolled his eyes. "It's nothing weird, I promise."
"Okay." Maes was still not convinced but he relented to the request.
"Thanks, pal."
Roy proceeded to lock himself in the study room before Maes could change his mind.
Half an hour later, there was still no sign of Roy showing up.
"Papa, where's uncle Mustang?"
"Erm, he's busy with something." Maes rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. Gracia gave him a questioning look but she didn't probe further.
"I hear somebody mentioning my name…"
A familiar voice came from behind Maes's back. Sure enough, when he turned to look, he found Roy, standing and smirking as if he was incredibly pleased with himself. Maes didn't fail to notice that Roy's right hand was wearing that alchemy glove while his left hand was folded behind his back, as if he had something to hide. He sighed. He had a feeling he was about to find out what his friend had been up to for the past half an hour.
"So?"
Roy coughed and cleared his throat as if he had some important announcement to make.
"So… I've been thinking I still owe you a Christmas present, Elicia."
Elicia's eyes lit up like the Christmas tree at the mention of her present.
"Really?" She looked so adorably hopeful that it would be downright cruel if she would be let down again. For that, Maes shot Roy a glare for good measure, warning him not to try something funny this time.
"Really." Roy affirmed her hope and smiled. Then Roy revealed what he was holding behind his back and carefully placed it on the coffee table. It looked like a one-foot tall paper Christmas tree, all white and plain.
A vein popped on Maes's forehead. He was unimpressed, not at all.
Roy held up his palm as a gesture asking him to wait and be patient.
"Count to three for me, Elicia."
"1, 2, 3!"
At the count of three, Roy snapped his gloved fingers together again. To everyone's surprise, a small ball of flame burst and lit the paper Christmas tree on fire.
"What the…" Maes was about to mutter a curse. But before he could finish or blink, something unexpected happened right before his eyes. The white part of the paper Christmas tree rapidly burned away to reveal a colourful version underneath it. It almost worked like magic. The gasp of surprise turned into gasp of awe.
Although the artwork of the paper tree obviously had rooms for improvement, the pin-point precision of the execution was certainly commendable and required considerable skill because the flame was just large enough to burn off the surface before it could burn down the whole tree. Maes had to admit that Roy was worthy of his title of Flame Alchemist, after all.
"Wow!" Elicia was the first to break the silence. "Thank you, uncle Mustang!" She proceeded to hug Roy without reserved. And it sent Maes to fetch for his camera. He didn't want to miss capturing this precious moment.
"Do you like your present?"
"Like? Elicia loves it!"
Roy beamed at her sincere remark. He never felt prouder.
Meanwhile, Maes was busy clicking his camera away until Gracia gently reminded him he had taken enough pictures.
"Just one last picture."
They all sat on the couch in front of the fireplace with the little paper Christmas tree on the coffee table to pose for the camera.
"Now say 'cheese'…"
Despite the cliché, Roy couldn't help but found himself smiling genuinely for the camera for once. It was one of his best Christmas memories.
After Maes had developed the film, he sent Roy a copy of it with a Thank you note. The said photograph was framed and displayed together with the paper Christmas tree at a prominent corner in his home.
After all, despite the value of a gift, it is the thought that should count most.
END
A/N: I thought I should write something heart-warming for Christmas. And I really miss FMA series and its characters. Thank you for reading. Leave a review if you can but don't feel obligated to do so.