To Stand, To Walk, To Keep Moving Forward

Hey all! Guess who's back from the virtual FMA grave! XD Sorry, I just... well, got out of the FMA mood, I guess. no excuses. The updates to Six-Year-Olds Are Handfuls and Mock Crash should be coming soon. Expect Six-Year-Olds Are Handfuls first, though, because I'm just... in that mood. Also, an FMA multichapter fic starring Roy, Riza, and Maes should be coming sometime! It's in the works!

Read on, my dear readers, and you know how much I love it when you review.

"He's this way," Pinako held the door open for him, stepping to the side, her head low. She looked nervous, afraid, and very, very worried.

Coal eyes gave her a silent thank you. The man nodded at her and stepped in, followed closely by his blond lieutenant.

They were just inside, sitting on a couch. Two blonds sat there, the girl cradling the boy like he was a helpless child, and a suit of armor stood above them behind it, its head lowered.

Mustang could never explain to anyone how glad he was that someone had offered he and Hawkeye a place to stay, in Resembool, so that they wouldn't have such a long train ride from this dirty, country town to bustling East City. If that hadn't happened, if Pinako hadn't been so kind as to offer them dinner (because, she claimed, she always made too much, enough for twice the number of those eating anyway), if she hadn't insisted that Edward and Alphonse eat with them as well, even though one couldn't eat and the other pretty much refused to, something very bad could have happened.

If he hadn't stooped to inform Pinako to keep an eye on Edward, because either he was normally the moodiest kid on earth, or he was having an emotional breakdown, and if Pinako hadn't then heeded his warning, Edward may have died.

Edward Elric, the only person who knew how to bond Alphonse's soul to the armor that he was in, one of only a few people who had ever figured out how to perform human transmutation, may have succeeded in killing himself.

The girl looked up at them as they approached. Tears were trickling down her cheeks, obviously feeling for her lost friend. She squeezed the boy tighter, watching them both. Mustang knew that feeling that he saw in her eyes. Despair. She probably thought that they were going to come for the boy, that they would take him away. But no, of course they wouldn't. Edward's mind was too fragile at the moment, to take him from the only people who properly cared for him would be like asking him to die.

Hawkeye smiled at the young girl. She lifted a hand and twitched her fingers just slightly, but the girl seemed to get the message. She hesitantly withdrew her arms from the boy's body and stood, hugging herself. She signaled to the suit of armor, which then nodded and followed her silently.

Mustang would have been surprised if he hadn't been there yesterday. Instead, the surprise was squashed by guilt. He hadn't given the armor a second glance, had completely forgotten that the soul of a ten-year-old child was bonded to that armor. He told himself to offer the armor a greeting, perhaps when they were done with the shaking boy, or at the very least the next time he saw him. If not for that armor, Edward would probably have died.

As the armor, Alphonse, walked past him, he gently patted his back, enough that the boy inside could probably hear it if he couldn't feel it.

Pinako led the girl, Alphonse, Hawkeye, and the dog outside, and for that, Mustang was very grateful.

"…Edward Elric?" he paused, waiting for his words to sink in.

Slowly, very slowly, Edward lifted his gaze to watch him, waiting to be yelled at. Mustang offered a gentle-but sadly mostly careless-smile to the boy, but the boy continued to stare. Mustang sighed. "How are you feeling, Edward?"

Edward shook his head minutely.

Mustang sighed. He set his briefcase on the ground, glad that he had thought to bring some of the medical supplies that he owned. Out of the two of them, he was better at this all than Hawkeye, though he knew that she would soon surpass him.

"Why are you doing this?" Edward asked him, his voice muffled by the blanket wrapped tight around his shoulders. He'd buried his face in the corner by his only hand, by then.

"Because you're injured, hurting, and I know how to sew up cuts like these," Mustang sighed. He removed the packet of anesthesia from the case, and swiped it all around the three cuts that Edward had made in his thigh.

The boy shivered, attempting to tug away from the fair-skinned man, but Mustang refused such a thing.

"And… and because I know how you feel." The half-Xingese man admitted. "I know what it feels like, to think that everything that you did was wrong, that everything is your fault."

Edward bit his lip, watching this strange man in fascination. Only the day before, he'd been cold and calculating, had nearly attacked him, and had offered Ed a way to get himself killed. And now… he was helping to keep him alive? "So why can't Pinako—"

"Does Ms. Pinako know how that feels? I'm not only going to help your physical injuries, boy." Mustang clarified.

Edward puffed out a cheek, looking away from the man. He winced when something poked into his thigh, but thank the Gate he could barely feel it through the anesthesia. He refused to look at Mustang as the man stitched up his cuts, and even after.

They sat still for a few minutes, and then Mustang heaved himself up to sit beside Edward. Feeling awkward, and like he was already doing something he shouldn't, he gently put one arm around the boy.

The boy winced and looked away, even when Mustang held him tighter. Edward sniffled, looking around.

"You know, Edward, when I was feeling like that… like I'd screwed over everyone in the whole world, there wasn't a lot of ways that I could feel any better. Much like you, I went to a secluded room. I had my pistol at this time, and was already aiming it at my head, even about to pull the trigger, when someone burst into the room like his life depended on it. Though, it wasn't his that did… mine did." Mustang paused for effect, and then continued, "It turned out to be my best friend, with my subordinate right behind him. They talked me out of it, and helped me through the rest of it. Slowly, everything got easier to handle, I came more in control of my emotions, and this want to die slipped away."

Edward didn't reply.

"Do… Edward, do you know how long that took me? I don't even know how long it took me. It felt like forever. But it would have been a lot longer, if Maes and Riza hadn't been there for me, if they hadn't let me talk it out."

"…I thought they were the ones talking…" Edward murmured uselessly.

"Well… They were. As was I."

Edward looked to him, only for a second, and then shook his head. "Why are you telling me this?" he asked sadly, nuzzling into the blanket again.

Mustang squeezed Edward's shoulder gently and tugged him even closer. "Because, just as I needed someone, you need someone. You've done a lot, seen a lot, and you're only eleven years old. You need someone just as much as I did. And let me say this, I really needed someone."

"…Bastard." Edward sniffled and tugged the blanket up to his eyes as water filled them and immediately started down his cheeks.

Mustang smiled and held Edward a little tighter, still. He felt the boy crumble beneath him, and so turned the young man against him. He'd never been terribly good at the whole "comfort" thing, especially when it was of a small child, but he'd do what he could.

"It's all my fault!" Edward gasped, finding himself disappearing within the folds of Mustang's jacket. He rested his forehead against the man's chest, feeling his heartbeat rather than hearing it.

"Both you and Alphonse participated in the transmutation," Mustang replied, nearly emotionless.

"B-but I've trapped him in that thing! And besides, I wanted to do the transmutation! He wasn't as sure, he kept trying to tell me otherwise… dammit, Al, why didn't you try harder?" Edward gasped, shuddering heavily.

Mustang shook his head. "You both participated in it. You were only trying to protect him." He sighed.

Edward shook his head as well, looking up at the man with too-bright gold eyes. "I hurt him… I've been able to fix things that I've done wrong in the past, how am I supposed to fix this?" he asked pathetically.

Mustang looked down at him, and said some of the most helpful words that he'd ever heard, though with a bit of a twist. "Well, here's a start. I can't tell you that, Edward, but I can tell you this much. You've got to stand up and walk. Keep moving forward. You've got a good heart," he touched the boy's chest gently, poking him, "and a good soul," he poked each of his temples at the same time, crunching the boy a bit closer to him to do so, "and one hell of a brain."

Edward couldn't stop himself from releasing a laugh when Mustang planted his fingertips against his head. He watched him, waiting for him to continue.

"You've got to use them to the best of your ability." Mustang finished. He rubbed Edward's head, gently tugged the young boy from him, and stood. "Feeling better? Should I go fetch anyone that you want to talk to? Like a walking suit of armor, perhaps?"

Edward paused, sniffled, and nodded. "Y-yeah. Thanks…"

Mustang nodded at him in reply, knowing that the thanks was for more than just retrieving his brother. "I'll be seeing you soon, I hope, Edward," he said in farewell.

"…" Edward merely waved respectfully, paused, and saluted with his left hand. With an amused chuckle and a gentle smile, Mustang saluted in reply. Then he turned and left to retrieve what was left of Edward's brother, and head home.

Well? How was it? I'd love it if you could review, please and thank you! Next chapter... Nina!

Until next time,

~~YAJJ