I wrote this after I was stuck on my other projects, and I got thinking… How did Hughes find out that Mustang was an Alchemist? I mean, they were friends in the military academy, but in the OVA about them there, mustang never mentioned the fact that he was an alchemist. So once I had that thought, one thing lead to another, and I ended up with this… : )
It was a fine day at the training academy, a day that sparkled beyond all recognition, and to the unfortunate cadets, it was a very welcome day indeed.
"No more mud!" Cadet Maes Hughes exclaimed gleefully, pumping his fists into the air.
Heathcliffe and Mustang glanced at each other, simultaneously rolling their eyes. They were used to Hughes and his follies by now. They had been friends for most of their cadet life.
Hughes was gleefully heading towards the lawn when a hand caught the back of his uniform, stopping him in his tracks.
Mustang grinned at his friend as he reigned him in. "Aren't you forgetting something Maes?"
Hughes scratched his head. "What?"
"Today is still a work day." Mustang reminded him, "So don't wander off, we still have to run the obstacle course yet."
Huges looked longingly at the quiet, peaceful lawn. It was a perfect place to sit and soak in the sunlight, to drink in the perfect day.
Huges envisioned what he would have done today had he been free from the strict routine and orders of the military academy. He would have organised a picnic, and all three of them would have gone and sat down on that glorious lawn for a long leisurely lunch. The lunch would have to have strawberries, definitely some Apple pie, maybe even a tart of some kind. His mouth was watering just thinking about it.
After the picnic he would have gone to see Gracia. Or she would have come to see him, he wouldn't have minded which. He could see it now, the two of them running towards each other in slow motion, tears streaming down their faces as they ran, arms outstretched. For good measure, a flock of doves would be released, and they would dart around the two of them in a feathery tornado as they finally meet in the middle of a giant field of flowers…
"HUGHES!" came the yell that ruined his fantasy.
"What?" he demanded crossly, folding his arms to glare at Mustang. "That was a good daydream!"
Mustang sighed and gently cuffed his friend. "We don't have time for daydreaming right now." He argued. "In case you haven't noticed, most of our classmates are already halfway through the obstacle course by now."
Hughes whirled around, panic written all over his face. "No!" he said dramatically, lurching towards the obstacle course.
Mustang and Heathcliffe shook their heads, but started to follow their silly friend regardless.
Towards the end of that same day.
"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED HERE!" the commander bellowed, "I WANT AN EXPLAINATION, AND I WANT ONE NOW!"
Mustang, Hughes and Heathcliffe all snapped into salutes like springs.
"We are the ones responsible, sir!" they said in unison.
The commander glared at the three of them, narrowing his eyes at the Ishvalan. "I'm still waiting on the explanation, soldiers," he said dangerously.
"There was a fight, sir!" Hughes replied.
"We started it, sir!" Mustang followed up.
"And now my new building is in ruins!" the commander roared, "That's NOT a petty fight, cadets!"
"We were not aware that there was gunpowder stocked in the building sir," Mustang said evenly, even though inside he was trembling.
The commander looked at them all with icy cold eyes. "Give me a good reason why I shouldn't expel all three of you right now," he ordered.
Hughes and Heathcliffe looked down. They had no reason.
Mustang, however, did.
"We can fix this sir!" he said determinedly.
The commander's eyes were still cold as he stared at the young man before him. "Oh, you can… can you? Well, that's ok then. Fix my storehouse, exactly the way it was before this mishap, and I'll forgive your offences."
Mustang smiled in relief. "Thank you sir, we won't let you down."
The commander wasn't done yet however. He fixed the three cadets with a stare that could have curdled milk as he said. "You have until sunrise tomorrow to fix what you have done here, or you will be expelled. That is all." He turned sharply away from the three men and began to walk back to the main building.
The crowd around the wreckage dispersed, muttering and laughing at the impossible task that the three cadets had been given.
Finally it was just Hughes, Mustang, and Heathcliffe left, standing and numbly looking at the task ahead of them.
Hughes turned angrily to Mustang. "Oh, don't worry, we can fix it!" he mocked. "Yeah, great move genius! We're expelled for sure. No way can we fix this in one night!"
Heathcliffe looked glumly at his shoes. "They finally got rid of the Ishvalan dog. The whole academy is probably celebrating."
Mustang said nothing. He just picked up a stick that had been blown away from the wreckage.
"What the hell are we supposed to do now, Roy? Why don't you enlighten us, O great, 'I can fix anything' man?" Hughes ranted, "Storehouses don't just fall from the sky, readymade! Where are we going to get the wood? The nails? And hello… the TIME?" Hughes yelled, "It's impossible! You just had to open your big mouth."
Mustang began to trail the stick in the dirt. "The commander never set a restriction on how the warehouse was supposed to be rebuilt," he said quietly.
Hughes buried his face in his hands. "What's that supposed to mean, Roy?"
Mustang didn't say anything. He began to move away from Hughes and Heathcliffe, still trailing his stick in the dirt.
"Are you even listening to me, Roy?" Hughes flung his hands out wide, "Hello? Earth to Roy? We have a big problem! How is Mr Fantastic going to get out of trouble this time? I'll tell you how! He WON'T! He CAN'T! This is just too much of a task even for…" Huges stopped mid-rant to stare at his friend. "What are you doing?" he asked quietly.
Mustang, having completed a full circle of walking around what used to be the storehouse while Hughes was talking, chucked the stick back into the wreckage.
"You guys better stand back," he advised as he knelt on the ground in front of the building.
Hughes rolled his eyes, "Why not? I'll just wait over here, shall I? Don't bother to tell me what's happening, I'll be okay, heck, just make yourself the supreme ruler of everything, why don't you Mr bossy britches? I'm perfectly fine with that…" he mumbled sarcastically.
Mustang took a deep breath, steadying his nerves. He hadn't done anything this big since he entered the academy. He was out of practice, sure, but he still studied every book that he got his hands on, and worked late into the night after everyone else was asleep. But this was different, he had to get this done perfectly, or they would all be expelled.
Slowly, he brought both his hands down onto the transmutation circle that he had drawn into the dirt with careful precision.
Hughes stopped his mumblings to stare at the sparks flying, awe blossoming in his eyes. He stared at the shape that was forming before the three of them, eyes wide. He had never seen anything quite like it.
Lights flicked around Roy Mustang, and even from where Hughes was standing, he could see the wicked grin that his friend had splashed all over his face.
Then, a quickly as it had started, it was over. And Roy Mustang was now kneeling in front of a storeroom that looked exactly the same as the old one. Hughes squinted. No, it was better. Newer looking. It was the most incredible sight he had ever seen.
Mustang stood up and dusted the dirt of his military uniform, pulling a face when he saw that some of the muck wouldn't brush off. Then he turned to his friends.
"Roy…." Hughes began. "How come you never… once… mentioned that you were an alchemist?"
Heathcliffe's face was set like stone. Mustang remembered the Ishvalan view on alchemy; that it was wrong, and they shouldn't go against God. He hoped that by revealing this to his friend, he wasn't going to lose him.
"Roy?" Hughes waved a hand in front of his face. "This was kind of an important thing here. Roy?"
Mustang shrugged. "I didn't think that it was that important. It's not related to our work here."
Hughes rolled his eyes. "But… but… Roy… all those punishment ditches! And… oh man!" Hughes wailed dramatically.
Mustang looked at him scathingly. "You are completely incoherent, Hughes."
Hughes fell to his knees. "Our lives would have been so much easier had you helped us out with alchemy! Why? WHY?"
Mustang rolled his eyes and began to walk back towards the dormitories. "We're here to learn discipline, why would I render the lessons pointless?"
Hughes just wailed in despair, remaining on his knees and moping.
"Are you going to sulk all night, or are you going to come with me to the mess hall so we can eat before everyone takes all the good stuff?" Mustang asked, eyebrows raised.
Hughes got up like lightning. "I'm over sulking now! I'm starving! Let's go eat!"
He began to walk over to his friend.
But Heathcliffe still hadn't moved.
Mustang looked down at his shoes. "Look, Heathcliffe, I'm…"
"I'm an Amestrian, but I'm still an Ishvalan." Heathcliffe cut him off, not looking him in the eye. "You no doubt have heard what we believe. That Alchemy is a sin, that it goes against God."
"Heathcliffe…" Hughes began.
"But I enlisted in the military to help my people, to help them into a brighter future where we will not be discriminated against. Over the years, I realised that it doesn't matter what anyone thinks of alchemy. I personally don't like it, and I will never ever go against God's will by using it." He looked up to meet Mustang's startled eyes. "But you are not Ishvalan," he said calmly. "You have no such restrictions, you use Alchemy, and you see it as a way to help people, and your country." He smiled. "I don't care what your religion is. All I need to know in a man is that he had ideals worth fighting for and he sticks to them. I don't care about the rest, leave that to the priests and the religious fanatics."
Mustang grinned back at his friend. "I'm glad." He told him.
The Ishvalan walked steadily until he was standing alongside his two friends. "Besides, I can't really turn my back on you after you saved my butt from getting booted out of here, can I?"
The three friends laughed, then began the long walk to the Mess Hall, hoping to fill their growling stomachs.
"Sir?" One of the commander's quiet aides was waiting for him in his office after dinner.
"What is it, Lieutenant?" The commander sighed, taking a seat at his desk. It had been a very long day.
"Just a reminder sir, those recruits that you set to the task of rebuilding the storehouse…" the Lieutenant began.
The commander chuckled, still reliving the joke that he had made out of the fool of a boy who had the nerve to say he could fix things.
"Well, sir, I was wondering if you remembered reading the files of these recruits," his man said quietly. "I've just been going over them."
"No," the commander said tartly, "Why would I? I've looked over thousands of files, Lieutenant."
"Well, the Ishvalan is named Heathcliffe sir, and there have been many reports of bullying of this man. It's possible that is what started the fight."
"So he was just standing up for himself." The commander stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Always a good thing to see in a recruit. We don't want push-overs in the military. What of the other two?"
"Well, his friend with the glasses, sir, is Maes Hughes. He's one of our top students, sir."
The commander sat up in surprise. "Really?" he asked in disbelief. "What of the other?"
"Also a top student, his name is Roy Mustang."
The Commander sighed, and then waved his hand at his Lieutenant. "Tell them that they're off the hook. Rough them up a bit, but don't kick them out when they fail rebuilding the storeroom. We can't get rid of two of our top people plus the only Ishvalan in the academy, the higher-ups won't like it."
"Sir, not meaning to sound rude, but I don't think that will be a problem." The Lieutenant waved one of the files at his commanding officer.
"Why? Do you honestly think that those punks can rebuild that overnight?" The commander laughed, "Don't be ridiculous."
"It's all here in Roy Mustang's file, sir," the Lieutenant said soberly. "It says that Mustang is a very accomplished alchemist already. He trained with a…" the man consulted the file. "… a fellow named Hawkeye; before coming to the Academy. Fixing a building should prove no problem to him. I wouldn't be surprised if they have finished with your task already."
The commander stared at his subordinate for a few moments. "An… Alchemist?" he asked.
The Lieutenant nodded.
The Commander just placed his head in his hands, and laughed and laughed and laughed. "Great one kid!" he chortled. "You got me!"
You win this round!