Sometimes
Sometimes, late at night, Colonel Roy Mustang would sneak out of his dorm room. Carefully navigating the hallways, he would come to a stop in front of one particular door. There was nothing special about this door, it was what lay beyond which the Colonel was after. Ever so lightly, he would press his ear up to the thin wood of the door, listening closely for the sounds of sleep.
And sometimes, when he was sure the inhabitants of the room were indeed no longer awake, he would open the door, slowly and quietly, with deliberation. Centimeter by centimeter, so if his ears had deceived him, he could always turn back. (This had happened on several cases, because one of the people – if you could even still call the other a person - quartering in the dorm wasn't exactly known for his wonderful sleeping habits.)
But sometimes, they were asleep, slight creaks of armor, the sound of restless human limbs shifting and clinks of auto-mail punctuating the wary silence that held the room. At these times, sometimes Roy Mustang would creep into the room, cautious of those floorboards that would groan at the most unholiest of volumes if he dared venture his feet upon them. For a moment, he would simply stand in the shadows, looking upon Edward's sleeping face, features lax; not in a scowl as they usually were around him. After the first few nights of this, Mustang had stopped checking on Alphonse's face. It unsettled him, to see that unchanging mask of armor where a child's face should've been. He wondered if the younger Elric actually ever slept. He wasn't sure he wanted to find out.
However, this was rarely thought about on the nights such as these, when he made it past the door, the floorboards . . . when the only element left to endure was his own mind. 'Ed . . .' The tirade of thoughts began. 'I can't believe the hardships you've gone through, and yet you manage to sleep so peacefully. Don't these things haunt you? These horrible events that no child should have to go through so early in life, forcing them to grow up and leave their childhood forever . . .' He was somewhat lucky if he hadn't become choked up at this point. He wanted nothing more than to give everything that the boy and his brother had lost back to him, and erase the pain that he shouldn't know.
Sometimes, Colonel Mustang would navigate the floor, settle himself softly on Edward's bed, and gather the teen in his arms.
And sometimes, Ed would unconsciously snuggle into his chest.
This made the military officer beam with happiness. If only Ed could always be this content and satisfied. This joy did not last long though, for he was soon overcome with a feeling of guilt. Why did he always have to be so cold towards the boy? It must add to his pain in some way, so why did he do it? His only wish was for Ed to be happy, and not have to deal with all these things. He wanted to be able to see the Major as a child, not an adult. Not that Roy wished to belittle him, but this was no life for a child.
Sometimes the Flame Alchemist, Roy Mustang, would begin to cry.
The silent sobs that heaved his chest would begin to awaken the precious boy in his arms, and he would be forced to fight against them; he didn't want to take Ed away from his dreamland. No, he wanted to see him like this, if only for a little longer.
All too soon though, the Colonel was forced to relinquish his grip on the teen and walk forlornly back to his own dorm room, regretting his exit.
Sometimes wasn't always enough.
ende
Heh. I was feeling weird when I wrote this. I've wanted to write a FMA fanfic for quite a while, but I really don't like writing about something before I've finished watching/reading/whatever-ing it. This one I just couldn't help though : ) . Even though I just got the idea A little while ago, I just HAD to write it. : )
(btw, the inspiration for this came from an episode… I think it was either in the first season or the very beginning of the second, where Roy had made a comment about wanting to be a father figure or something to Ed… or whatever XD. I kind of got off my original topic when writing this, but that's where it came from : ) )
(Oh yes, to anyone who may've read my ff9 story, I'm very sorry for not updating. I'm having a lot of issues (one of which being that I think I have mono and am tired beyond belief) and find it a miracle that I was even able to write this XD)