Edward walked along the cold, dark streets of London as he headed home from his job at the university. It wasn't until now that he realized how fast winter had hit this year, leaving snow in its wake. Uncleared snow crunched under his boots and with every step he found the cold getting more and more unbearable. He was freezing and it felt like he was soaked to the bone from the falling flakes.

He felt really sore, too. His back and neck got like this after work, but the temperature had a hand in it, too. Especially in his shoulder and thigh areas where his metal ports attached to his skin. As the metal froze to his skin, all he could do it regret even having it in the first place. It was obviously not suited to be in the cold of London's winter and neither were his clothes.

It had been a whole five years since he left his life on the other side of the gate for good. Since then, he'd been taking care of Al like a father would a son. His little brother was a young age of thirteen when they got back to Munich and Ed had to really get his butt in gear to take care of him.

And so, they moved to England. When the war ended, Ed knew clearing out of Germany was a good idea. The segregation was ridiculous and it was only pushing towards worse rather than better. Things weren't much better in London, but he was able to get a place in a group home and land a spot as an assistant in the science division of a college.

So, at age twenty-three, Edward Elric finally found a place to fit in, here on the wrong side of the gate. Having Al here with him made it plenty easier, but as the years kept moving, Ed couldn't help but feel a sort of hopelessness in the midst of his perfect life in England. He knew why, but there wasn't a way to fix it.

Winry came to mind sometimes and so did everyone else he left behind. Granny, Hawkeye, Armstrong, the whole Mustang crew, and well, especially Mustang. The man had been the last person he saw before he took off into the gate and when he found Al as a stowaway, Ed almost felt like he owed the general his life. There's no way he would've lasted without his little brother, especially after he lost Alfons.

Carried away in his thoughts about home, Ed found he almost missed his turn that took him back to the house quicker. He let out a sigh, his breath showing as silvery mist under the light of the lamps, and decided to pay more attention to where he was going than on things he wasn't apart of anymore.

On this street, he found himself getting out of the snow, but the wind was no longer blocked by buildings so he was greeted by a cold gust of wind on his already frozen face. He frowned as best he could with stiff lips. He wasn't sure he'd have a face by the time he made it home.

Somebody passed him. A man in a dark coat who he didn't really give a passing glance, he thought he could hear the guy make some sort of noise. He didn't think anything of it until another minute later when he heard a familiar voice behind him. "Hey, kid," it said in a tone he'd heard a dozen times before. "You're gonna catch a cold walking around in the snow like this."

Ed felt a chill fall right down his spine. He hesitated, fearing the worst, but he did turn on his heel and was greeted by a face he never thought he'd see again. Black hair, dark eyes, and a concerned expression on the normally smug face. There wasn't a single doubt in his mind and the name fell from his lips before he even thought about it, "General?"

Mustang. Roy fucking Mustang was right there in front of him. It had been forever since he'd seen those eyes and it was crazy to think of how many ways the man might've made it here. Though, something was obviously different. Ed was enlightened on what only a second later.

"General?" Roy repeated at him, a confused expression highlighting his face. "Sorry, but I've never been in the military. You must have me confused with someone else."

And just like that, before Ed's happiness could settle, it was ripped away replaced with him feeling like he'd lost something all over again. It was just like when he'd met Alfons or Hughes. For a split second, he'd been home again. This time, he'd been back in Mustang's office, dressed up in his tragically flamboyant red coat and listening to the asshole list off all the things Ed had done wrong in his travels. As soon as he knew this wasn't that same man, Ed was shoved back into his new reality. "Oh. Yeah," he couldn't keep himself from visibly deflating. "You're right. I confused you with an old friend of mine."

He got an odd look from the Roy, but the guy didn't comment further. He must've assumed that Ed had been in the war. It wasn't uncommon, of course. There were dozens of young men in the military. "Well, stranger or not," Roy started. "It's still too cold to be walking around this late at night."

"I'm fine," Ed said, trying to crush any friendly ideas. "I've only got a few more blocks to go before I get home."

Roy seemed to almost accept this, but apparently, this Roy was a little nicer. "My house is just right here." He pointed his thumb at the door next to them on the street. "At least stay to warm up a little. You look like you're freezing out here."

God, Ed wanted to say no. He wanted to decline and go on his merry way so he could complain to Al that he had a bad day. Despite what he wanted, the thought of a warm fire to ease the frozen ache of automail ports sounded too good to give up. "Guess I can't say no," was his answer. He had no reason not to trust the guy.

That was an answer Roy liked. It kinda felt like he was just trying to get in his good deed of the day, but at least there was warmth in Ed's near future. Without another word, Roy turned and unlocked the door and invited him in. Of course, it was still cold inside the house since the fire hadn't yet been lit, but he was thankful for getting out of the wind.

The place was a decent size. That's what Ed noticed as he was led to the room where they'd be staying. Other than the couch in front of the fireplace, there was nothing decorating the room. It was ridiculously barren. Compared to the home he lived in, which housed six people, it was lacking in the warm feeling that normally came from a place called home.

He sat down while Roy started the fireplace. It was awkward to see a man so much like the Flame get down and start a fire in the normal way. Once it was lit and the flames burning, Roy fell back onto the cushion opposite of Ed's. The awkward silence between them became utterly more noticeable.

It was minutes before the room started to warm up. When it did, Ed was suddenly very glad to have been invited in. His automail ports were still sore, but at least now his face wasn't stinging and he could feel his flesh fingers again.

The silence persisted for a while after that, the only noise and entertainment in the room being the flickering of the fire. Ed didn't mind this half as much as he thought he would. He actually found himself looking over at Roy to study his features. To see if he could find any differences between his Roy and this one.

He did notice a soft line of silver along the man's chin. A scar, though he couldn't imagine what from. Maybe the war? He said he wasn't military, but there wasn't a person in London who didn't have a story to tell about the bombings. It was just as he was wondering this, Roy's eyes flicked from the fire to Ed. Their eyes locked and Ed was the one to look away, face flustered.

This made Roy smile. It was then that the man realized that he hadn't yet introduced himself. "Oh," he said, shocked with himself. He could've been making conversation this whole time. "I'm Roy Mustang, by the way."

Yeah, I know that much, was Ed's thought, but what he said was, "Uh, I'm Ed. Edward Elric." It was awkward introducing himself to a man who looked like an old friend. It made him very uncomfortable.

Then, as if he didn't want to go back to silence, Mustang decided to ask, "So, what's a kid like you doing out so late during winter?"

Ed looked over to see if the man was being serious. What did he mean? Ed was an adult and had been for a long time now. It wasn't like he was- Then he realized what was meant by kid. "I'm twenty-three," he said plainly, his eyes pointed straight forward.

Roy's face formed into a look of utter shock. "Seriously?"

"Yeah."

Roy wasn't convinced. "Well you're so small, I thought you were like fifteen. There's no way you're over twenty."

Ed's eyes immediately shot over to Roy. "I'm. Not. Small." An annoyed twitch came to his eyebrow as he said this, as well as a harsh frown to his lips. Of course, how could he expect any different? It was still Roy Mustang. Short jokes galore and plenty of asshole to go around.

Where he expected to see a smug smirk and to hear some comment that would further piss him off, he instead got an honest laugh. Wow, that was actually kind of... cute? Well, he supposed he couldn't judge the man too soon. Just because he looked like the general didn't mean he was, right?

"Sorry," Roy laughed. "Didn't realize I struck a nerve."

Well, maybe he could. Ed let out a frustrated huff. "Whatever."

He had intended on stopping the conversation there and being quiet after that. He didn't like that he was becoming acquainted with the other Mustang like this. He wasn't sure he could fill that gap with a fake Roy like he had with the others. Especially after he realized how these people were real, not just some twisted nightmare.

Roy, on the other hand, was a conversationalist and he continued to prove it. "Alright, so you're twenty-three. What's an adult your age doing out this late during winter?"

Ed opened his mouth for a snarky response but mentally corrected himself. He was rude to the general, not this stranger. Instead, he said, "I work at the university downtown. I stayed late on accident."

"You're gonna freeze doing shit like that," Roy said back with a sigh. "Excuse my language."

Of course, Ed didn't mind cursing, he did it himself, but he didn't comment on that. "I was practically frozen today because of-" He cut himself off. He'd about mentioned his automail. He was too used to talking to Al these days. "Because I forget my good coat at home." Honestly he didn't have a good coat at home, but it's not like that mattered.

"Didn't know it was going to snow?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

The two of them continued to talk about small things for almost an hour before Ed realized he needed to go. His temperature was normal again and his clothes and hair were mostly dry so obviously it was time to go get wet and freezing again. Roy stood to head him goodbye and was planning on just letting him go until he had some sort of realization. He left for a moment and came back with an old looking coat. Yeah, this guy was much nicer than the general.

"I can't take that." Ed refused to accept the coat into his hands. "I'll be fine. It's not that far from here."

"Just take it," Roy had insisted. Another favor for a stranger. "It's not like I use it and at least I'll know you're not gonna get sick."

Ed contemplated turning on his heel and just leaving. Then he realized that that would just be mean so he let out an annoyed sigh. "Whatever. Fine." He didn't like feeling indebted to people. Especially not people he planned to never see again. Regardless, he took the coat and slipped it onto his arms simply over his thinner one. It was old leather, but still much warmer than the old one. "Thanks," he grumbled before he left into the night.

This time it was only about twenty minutes before he got home. This was enough time to get a frozen nose and cheeks, but his automail hadn't caused as much trouble, thank God. Once he stepped through the door, he didn't even get the time to say he was home before Al was at the bottom step of the stair sending him a very unhappy look. His arms were even crossed for dramatic flare.

Yup, home sweet home.