A/N: I really have to stop writing like fifty gajillion new stories all at once and just write one at a time like A NORMAL PERSON! Anyway...This is just a random one-shot I whipped together, and I hope you like it! :)

Edward sighed as he looked upon the obnoxiously large steps before him. Flanked by his younger brother, he began to lazily climb them, though, not without a scowling face.

"Tell me why we're here again," he asked his younger brother, annoyed.

Alphonse sighed. "I've told you like fifty times already! The colonel wanted you here-"

"Why are we listening to the colonel? We're are own people. We can make our own decisions. Who does that lazy bastard think he is, ordering us around all the time..." Ed fumed.

Al interjected, "I'm pretty sure he orders us around because that's his job. Anyway, you didn't let me finish. He wanted you here because Lieutenant Hawkeye wanted you."

Edward nodded gloomily. Yeah, that's why he showed up in the first place. If it were just Mustang, Ed wouldn't have even bothered coming. Whatever the Colonel needed could wait until the morning...or tomorrow evening.

But, you can't just say no to Hawkeye and expect to live. Things like that just don't happen. Even if it is eleven o'clock at night and if you were in the middle of a great book.

Ed was about to respond to Al when they reached Mustang's office. He groaned as he faced the familiar wooden door. In fact, it was recognizable to almost anybody since it was the only door in the entire building with Ed's food imprinted onto it. It was one of a kind, to say the least.

"I'm going to give Mustang the greatest yelling he's ever received," Ed muttered as he glared at the door, as if he could burn a hole through it.

Speaking of said door, Ed stretched out his left leg and kicked it open. Lucky for him, he found himself immediately facing Mustang, so he didn't have to go find him to yell at him.

"You just interrupted me right on a cliff-hanger, so you'd better have a good reason for doing so, Mustang!" It really was a good book...

"Nice to see you too, Fullmetal." Mustang said grimly. Ed could tell by the darkness evident in his dark eyes that he wasn't having a good day. Well...sucks for him.

"Edward, Alphonse," The blonde woman at Mustang's right greeted him. Her lips were drawn into a tight, straight line. That was strange.

Alphonse spouted out a greeting while Edward simply nodded in her direction and cut to the point. "What do you want me to do?"

"You know how the military is investigating the death of Major Baxter?"

Edward nodded, once again. He had met Major Baxter once before. She was a tall woman with dirty blonde hair that reached down to her waist. She seemed like a nice woman. Edward wished he could have gotten to know her a bit more. The one time he had met her, she slapped Mustang for asking her out on a date. Yeah, she made a great impression on Ed...

"Yeah, but didn't you guys already catch the killer?" Ed asked a little confused.

"Yes"

"Then-"

"I want you to talk to the Major's daughter."

"Huh?" Ed asked, this time, a little more confused.

"Canary- Major Baxter's daughter- has been kind of," Riza made a face that showed her struggle to come with the right words, "For a lack of a better word, depressed after her mother's death. She shut everyone out and hasn't talked to her father since she heard about her mother. Her father, concerned, brought her to us. I know it's not really our problem, but I thought...I thought you could talk to her."

Edward let her words wash over him. "I-I..."

He paused. He wanted to say no. He didn't understand why he had to deal with a crying, sniveling kid. But...he remembered. He remembered how lost he felt after his own mother died.

They had a system. Ed would look after Al and Trisha would look after Ed. But all of a sudden, Trisha was gone.

Back then, Ed didn't know what to do or who to believe. He already had problems trusting people - a lasting gift from his father - and he couldn't exactly talk to the one person he trusted most of all. He knew that all he wanted back then was someone who understood. Someone he could talk to. He had Al, and Al was great, but...Al needed Ed to be strong. Ed couldn't let Al see that he was falling apart. So Ed kept going. He fought back the pain for his younger brother.

And to this day, he still fights it back. Although, now guilt also plays a huge factor. He can't possibly let Al grieve, not when Al is suffering because of Ed. He promised himself that he would never let Al see him cry or fall apart until Ed got his body back. And he was going to keep that promise.

But, even then, even now, he still wished he had somebody. Somebody who could possibly understand...

"I'll do it," Ed replied, after a moment of hesitation.

Hawkeye's eyes widened a fractional amount, before she smiled. "I didn't think you were going to say yes. You were thinking for quite a bit of time."

Ed's eyes drifted, and he was a little annoyed to see Mustang's eyes meet his. He knew that look. The bastard was trying to read his face. Ed quickly forced his face to go blank, but allowed his eyes to defiantly stare back at Mustang's as if to say, What are you going to do about it?

Mustang shook his head and looked back down at what was presumably unfinished, long-overdue, paperwork.

"Al...you can stay here."

Al turned to stare at his brother, and even though he had no human expressions, Ed could practically see the betrayal and horror in his "eyes".

"But..Why, brother?"

Ed gave his brother a look. Al was always able to read his thoughts. Maybe he could read his eyes now. Maybe he could understand that this was something Ed needed to do alone.

"Don't worry, you can come in and see her too. Just give me a second, please." Ed continued, trying to cheer him up, "In the meanwhile, you can tell Havoc and Breda about that new cat you snuck in to the dorms."

"You mean the one you kicked out?"

"It tried to kill me with it's claws."

"Don't be so dramatic, it was only trying to cuddle with you."

"I have scars."

"You just have sensitive skin."

"We are not having this argument now."

"It was just a stray!"

"You just want a cat army!"

"And what's wrong with that?!" eyes were smiling.

Mustang was - though he'd never admit it aloud- worried.

He knew Hawkeye wanted Ed to talk to Canary since he would be the most relatable to her. And Mustang agreed with her. Well, that part was obvious. Hawkeye was always right. Always.

That said, it won't be just a piece of cake for Ed to relive all his memories. Even in this room, before he masked his face, there was turmoil in his eyes. Despair. Guilt. Self-loathing. All at once.

Mustang could only imagine what he was thinking of.

So, a few seconds after Ed left the room, Mustang stood up. When Al questioned him, Mustang simply responded, "This is Fullmetal we're talking about. Someone's got to make sure he doesn't end up yelling at her."

Al seemed satisfied with that response and resumed recounting his tale of how his "horrible, soulless, mean, older brother refused to let him adopt a cat". Havoc seemed on the edge of tears.

But Riza's eyes were on him. She knew the real reason he was going. She always did.

Mustang followed Ed as he went to the room where Canary was staying at for a while. It was a small room, with purple walls and a white ceiling. There were crystal butterflies adorning said walls - until Canary destroyed them, that is.

The room was also adorned with a window, which Mustang took advantage of. He could see and hear the two talk from inside the room, without them knowing he was there.

As Mustang crouched underneath the window, he briefly wondered what Ed would say if he knew Mustang was there. Probably something like: You creepy, stalking, pedophile.

But Mustang was just worried. Worried about his subordinate. Worried about a little girl who had just lost her mother.

Ed's hand wavered over the doorknob before it fell to his side. Maybe he should knock first.

When he did, a high-pitched voice came from inside, "Go away."

The voice was laced with hatred, hurt, anger and sadness. It was like a ball of emotions.

So much for permission. "I'm afraid I can't do that, Canary. I'm going to come in, 'kay," Ed told her, and reverted back to his original idea of breaking in and entering.

When he entered the room, he found a small, little girl, with her head resting upon her knees, on top of her bed. Edward realized that she had Major Baxter's long blonde hair and bronze skin.

Now, how to begin...Let the world know that polite conversations, and comforting people were not one of Edward's strengths. But, he had to start somewhere.

"I heard about your mom."

Her eyes flashed and she lifted her head up and glared at Ed with animosity in her eyes. Edward winced. Maybe that was a bad conversation starter.

"Don't you dare say you're sorry because-"

"Sorry doesn't cut and I don't need your pity anyway," Ed finished automatically, "Been there, said that."

Her eyes widened and though her eyes still carried her hatred, her voice softened. "You-You're not like them, are you?"

"Like who?"

"Like those military officers that were here earlier. They came in here to give me their 'condolences'. Gave me a piece of chocolate," she scoffed, "Yeah, right. Like that's going to make it any better."

"It's not really their fault. They don't understand."

"And you do?" she asked, skeptically.

"I've already told you. I've been there."

Her eyes now softened along with her voice. Ed could tell that she was starting to trust him. "Did your...did your mother die too?"

Ed nodded solemnly as his hands automatically curled into fists. "Five years ago. It's not a memory I like to relive."

"Then," her voice turned bitter, "Then, do you know how much it hurts?"

"It feels like something's eating at you from the inside. Like you're sinking in a pile of lava and turning into ash. Only, you can't. You're forced to endure."

She nodded. "Does it ever get better?" she asked desperately.

Ed slowly shook his head. "It doesn't. It's not something that just goes away."

Her eyes darkened, and Ed could literally see her shatter. He felt a pang of guilt hit him. Maybe he should have been softer. He is here to cheer her up, but if he didn't tell her, that would be lying. But is knowledge really helpful in this situation?

"Your father's worried about you."

"He wants me to be his sunshine-rainbow-unicorny little girl again. It's not going to happen."

"No one's asking you to act happy."

"Well what do you want me to do?" Her voice holding a trace of worry. Ed suddenly saw something in her features. Something that reminded him of himself.

"You're afraid," Ed noted. "You're afraid to let your dad down. You don't want him to see you upset, am I right?"

"It's not that..."

"Do you think your mom wants you to sit here with your sadness and torture yourself? Do you think your mom wants you to shut out your father, who loves you? You need to move on."

Ed's words seemed to ignite some of the previous hostility. "And how do you expect me to move on? How do you expect me to ignore the fact that my mother just died!"

Edward clenched his fists as her words dug into his chest. "I'm telling you this because I didn't move on! I didn't and I paid the price for it!"

"Yeah and I wonder what price that is." Canary muttered.

Edward lifted up the sleeve of his arm and his pant leg. "This. This is the price I paid. And my brother paid a whole lot more. All because I couldn't move on," Ed's voice was dangerous. It wasn't loud, but it was sharp. The pain leaked out of his voice, and resonated through the room, and even to his superior officer who was still listening outside with his hands clenched tight. He was contemplating going in, when Canary's voice rang out, soft and vulnerable.

"I'm sorry, I don't really understand."

Ed shook his head, "It's better you don't, really. All you need to know is that you have to keep going forward. Never turn back."

"What's the point," she asked, no skepticism was evident in her voice or face. She really didn't know. "Why do you go forward?"

Ed hesitated before speaking, "I have to take care of him. He needs me."

"Of whom?"

"My baby brother." Ed paused and chuckled. "It's more like I need him since he's the only reason...You understand, don't you? Don't you have somebody you love? Somebody who you need?"

Canary nodded.

"Then live for them. Trust me, it's better than being by yourself," Ed gave her a pointed look and after a few moments, she smiled. Maybe he had gotten through.

"Yeah, Yeah, I get it. I'll go find Dad and tell him I'm sorry." She jumped off the bed and made her way to the door before calling out, over her shoulder, "You can go talk to your friend now."

"My friend?" Ed repeated, confused. Then it hit him. His eyes widened and he rushed over to the window, and sure enough, his favorite Colonel was standing outside. Ed threw open the window and started yelling.

"How long have you been stalking me!?"

Mustang sighed. "You make everything so dramatic. I just happened to be in the neighborhood and-"

"Oh, shut up!" Ed said, the tips of his ears turning red.

"You know, Fullmetal, I never pegged you for the sentimental type," Mustang teased.

"Why you pe-"

Mustang leaned in closer to Ed and smiled. "You did good. How'd you know what to say?"

"I...I just said what I wished someone would have said to me." Ed's hands started to shake.

"I'm sorry."

Ed looked up, confusion in his eyes.

"For what?"

"We weren't there before. But we are now."

And Edward knew it was true.

A/N: I'm sorry. I didn't really know how to end it, but this is what it ended up as!