There was an awkward silence that filled up between the two lines. Roy didn't like the sound of the silence because usually his mother would be saying something by now. He wasn't sure if he said something wrong

"Roy… where are you going with this?" his mother asked, sounding concerned for her son. "You want to go back in time?"

"Yes, mother, that's what I planned on doing," he replied.

"You are stupid," she said.

Roy's eye twitched in annoyance. "Do not tell me you are going to try to stop me," he snapped, "because I am not going to listen."

"Don't you get it, Roy? Changing what happened in the past is not going to help you at all," she told him. "In fact it could make things a lot worse."

"By saving one of my best friends from death? Don't you know about the pain his wife and daughter went through? It was hard enough to go to their door and tell them Hughes died," Roy said. "I couldn't save him then but I can save him now."

"You're making a big mistake. By changing one thing in the past, it creates a whole new havoc. Let's say you save Hughes, but his family dies instead? You can't change what fate has already done… that is even worse than resurrecting someone from the dead," his mother told him.

"Just help me please," Roy begged. Saving Hughes was the biggest priority right now, not about the consequences. "What can I do to go back? Is there a way?"

His mother let out a deep sigh, meaning she was disappointed in him for not listening to her. "You have to call a specialist with time…" she said. "They can determine whether or not it can be done." Roy didn't like the way she said that. Sounded like she was saying to go back in time would only add more to his list. He wanted to do it the easy way, not go to a specialist to hear what they have to say. Most likely would tell him not to do it, as his mother had just told him, and say it was impossible to do. "There's also another way," she added.

"What would that be?"

"GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER AND START THINKING PROPERLY!" she shouted. She ended the conversation after that.

Roy hung the phone up. That certainly went well… not what he expected at all. Going to a specialist did not seem to be all that bad, as it would give him an idea about what it would be about. He was a little scared, because his mother had told him not to do it. How was it that if you changed one little thing in the past, the future would be much different? That concept didn't quite get through his head… If this 'so-called' theory was proven to his very eyes, then maybe he would call everything off.

He prayed this would work. He missed having Hughes around and wished he had been there when they won the whole war against the Homunculi. Edward and Alphonse got their bodies back, and were now living at home. Edward was engaged to Winry and Alphonse went to school. Hughes would have loved to see them grow up because he loved those two boys as if they were his own. There would be so much Hughes had to see. He didn't deserve to die… not like that.

The phone rang again. His mother was on again. "Okay, look, you want to do this? Go right ahead…" she said. "The woman who's specializes in Time, lives in the far corner of Central in the North-East area. She lives in an apartment on a street called 'Resembool Drive'. It's a very old part of town. You can't miss it…"

Roy smiled to himself. "Thank you."

"Just be careful," she told him. "Please…"

"I will. I promise." But Roy couldn't promise her anything. He had no idea what was going to happen.

Roy entered the small apartment. For an old area it sure looked really nice compared to what other areas in Central appeared to be. There were roses on the side of the building, with the windows nicely done and the appearances of the bricks were pretty decent as well while still maintaining that old look.

The woman he was looking for was called Renee Ford. Probably some hot young chick Roy could flirt with along with saving his best friend. She wouldn't be able to resist him one bit since he was such a ladies man. She hadn't studied Time since she was in school, which apparently she had an encounter with the past. All he wanted to do was ask her how she did it.

He went on the third floor where she lived, as he had asked his mother before he hung up. She lived at the very back of the hallway, mysteriously and also very much creepy. Roy shrugged. Her beautiful face would make up for it.

Roy knocked on the door once. He waited for twenty seconds and heard no answer. He knocked again but this time he heard a very cranky voice on the other end. Wrong room, he guessed.

"Who are you? And what do you want?" the woman snapped. She didn't open the door even a crack.

"My name is Colonel Roy Mustang and I need to ask---"

"So you're a State Military Dog?"

"No, Ma'am, more like upper rank type of military dog," he answered.

The woman breathed heavily. She obviously didn't want visitors here. "Why are you here?"

"I'm looking for a woman named Renee Ford," Roy said to her. "I guess I am at the wrong room."

The woman laughed out loud as if he had said something hilarious. "You were expecting some young woman in her early twenties with rich long blonde hair?" Roy didn't answer her. "Well, I am sorry, but you are going to be greatly disappointed… I am Renee Ford."

Roy almost dropped his jaw. He almost wanted to walk out of the apartment. No way was he going to ask this crippled old cranky lady. She knew something about time? How could she? She looked so ancient, she was older than his mother.

"What brings you here, Roy Mustang?" Renee asked him.

He might as well talk since he was already here. Once Renee set him down on the couch, he thought of carefully what his next words should be. "I want to… go back in time," he said quickly. He might have said it a bit too quickly because Renee stared at him strangely. "What's wrong? You don't study time anymore?"

"What the hell made you think I would know a thing about time?" she snapped.

"I was told you knew all about it," Roy replied. "Please, just help me… tell me you can go back in time."

Renee merely shook her head like Roy was some kind of fool or something. "Go back once, things will be nice for a short while, go back again, and you will end up messing the flow of life," she said.

"I don't understand. If you're going back to fix something then why would it make things worse?"

"Did someone die?" Renee asked. Roy nodded. "That's even worse. Save your friend, relative, or whoever this person is to you, and someone else you know and love will die in their place. Messing with fate, Roy, is not something anyone should do. It's as bad as resurrecting a human."

Roy was getting a bit agitated at this woman. If she had the power to go back in time, then she could save so many people. Why would anyone stop using it all of a sudden? She seemed to indicate she never used the power to change time. "Why did you stop?"

Renee just sighed and changed the subject. She turned on the light beside her to see more clearly. Roy stared at her face for only a moment and saw the deep scars across her nose and another deep one down her cheek to her chin. He was not sure what happened to her, but if anything it had scarred her for life. He did not see those scars when he first saw her.

"Anyways," Renee said, "I will do it."

"You will?"

"You have been warned, Roy Mustang," she said irritably. "There is absolutely no arguing with you… since you are stubborn as a damn mule."

"How does it work?"

Renee handed him an old notebook. "Write down what happened to your friend and what you wish you could do," she explained.

"On this notebook?"

She nodded. "Stupid as it may seem, it is actually magical and can go back in time if used properly," she said. "But be warned, the result of what happens will be slap you back in the face… it has happened before."

"Will you still be here?" Roy wanted to know.

"I have no guarantee I will live depending on what you do," Renee told him, gently.

Roy glanced at the notebook in front of him. He wrote down exactly what he had in mind. He read it to himself quietly: "If… I had any wish I would like to be granted, it would be to save my best friend from being slain by Envy, around a year and a half ago."

The whole room he was in ripped itself apart into little bits and pieces. Roy took a last look at Renee before she disappeared into thin air. The walls were being thrown out and into the darkness as if there was an earthquake happening. Roy closed his eyes, praying for it to be over soon.

He awakened looking at Mae Hughes from what appeared to be his desk. He freaked out at the sight of him practically falling off his chair. "What… why am I here?"

"It's your office, sir. Are you okay?" Hughes asked.

"Yeah I'm fine… I had this weird dream I went to this lady to go back in time to save Hughes from dying and---" Mustang ran out of words to speak. He could see his best friend again, in flesh and blood. Now to only keep it that way.

"MUSTANG I GOT NEW PICTURES OF MY WIFE AND DAUGHTER!" Hughes shouted.

"He never changes," Mustang muttered. And that was very true. So it worked…? I don't understand. How can a notebook make you go back in time? What sort of magic is this…?

He blinked at Hughes who looked subtle at Roy's straight face. "You okay? Looks like someone just died on you."

Mustang shook his head. "No… but interesting choice of words," he replied. "I can't believe you're alive…"

"What?" Hughes asked, confused. "What do you mean by that? I was never dead."

"Not yet," Mustang said.

"Sir, you're confusing me."

Mustang stood up from his seat. "Don't do anything stupid Hughes to get yourself killed, got it?"

"Um, I won't… but what is with this attitude all of a sudden?" Hughes asked, baffled by the question. Roy didn't blame him… of course he would be confused, this was set back in the past. Which reminded him, he probably didn't have enough time to prevent Hughes' death. Those words Roy shared with him, would not help one bit. "Hughes, I need to tell you something."

"Yes?"

"I'm from the future."

Hughes stared at him.

Roy felt suddenly stupid for saying that. He should know better than to think Hughes would understand what he was saying.

Hughes burst into thundering laughter. "Honestly, Roy? That has to be one of the funniest things I have ever heard of."

He face palmed his forehead. I'm such an idiot. I need to keep it simple. "Listen, Hughes, this is serious!" Roy snapped, "If you do not listen to what I'm saying, then you will die. You are going to end up finding about the true meaning of the philosopher's stone… and then one of the homunculi are going to kill you."

Hughes' face just dropped. "Wait… you're kidding me? I was going to do that tonight after I visit Edward Elric from the hospital," he said. "I don't understand why you are saying this…"

"To prevent your death, Hughes," Roy said. "Do you want to leave behind your family? Your friends?"

He shook his head, tortured at the thought of dying. "No… but I have to do this. I need to find out about the philosophers stone…"

"We can do it together," Roy told him.

"No way! You'll get yourself killed. I just don't want you to be bothered by---"

"Damnit, Hughes! Stop thinking about others for once and start thinking about your own damn life!" Roy shouted. "I don't care about where my position stands now, I want you to live!"

Hughes sat down, baffled. "Well, I mean, if you want me to. If that is what you want. You are my best friend after all… If what you say is true, Mustang, I don't want to die."

Smiling, Mustang put a hand on his best friend's shoulder. "That's all I needed to hear from you," he said.

-TO BE CONTINUED-