Woah, chapter four, and so many reviews already. xD To answer the question of a couple of users, no, Roy has no idea that Ed is actually Ed and not Allie. And by the way, We don't need the Jumi list anymore, if anyone actually knew it. xD

Jane Austen Girl: xD; Yeah, okay, We thought We might have been using it wrong. Thanks for correcting Us!

Bar-Ohki: xDD Allie has a place to come back. Don't worry, it'll be good.

LoveChild Rosie: xD RubensRoooose! Iss so cute, We had to add some in. xD The Xingian ambassador's daughter... IT'S RENT!

Momma Mustang: No, don't worry, that made no sense at all. We still love you, though. xD Of course he wouldn't! S'why he assured Ed he wouldn't. xD o-o Plots? More plots? Tells! xD We did keep you posted about the good things! Edo cried!

GreedxEd: xD That does sound good. We'll have to check it out. Yay for yaoi!

Vanessa Elric: Yesh! He'd like to get to know him, no matter how infuriating the guy is. xD

silver candle: Don't you love how poor Edo falls right into the puddle of love? xD He's growing on Roy. Don't make Us give away everything yet! xP

haganenohono: xD We did too. o-o We don't know yet, actually. We'll see how it goes.

Disclaimer: Dividers are Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost.

THE PRINCESS DIARIES

ruby

/Nature's first green is gold/

The night wore on, and finally the ball ended after what seemed like days, but happy ones. At the end of the night, Roy escorted the eldest Royal Sibling (though to him, 'she' was the youngest) to the staircase, where they parted, a kiss lingering on the gloved hand of the 'princess' and a 'thanks for your time' hanging in the air. Cinderella's flight, however, would be delayed for a little while, and it would be the Queen to push Cinderella over the edge.

Several days passed in which Edward received passing smiles from Roy, whom he passed in the hallway almost every day (the prince was beginning to believe Roy was stalking him). Not to mention the always-looming presence of corsets, along with the scent of some cologne he couldn't name mixed with cotton and the slight scent of matches that had just gone out. It was clinging to what seemed like everything he (or rather, his sister) owned. Or maybe it was just that one dress, and after putting it back in the closet after wearing it (to the disgust of one of the ladies-in-waiting), the scent had permeated just about everything in there. Hell, even the corsets smelled like it. And he totally had not gone anywhere near Roy in one of those.

What a week.

Currently, Edward was sprawled on his sister's bed in a camisole and his boxers, and of course, his fake cleavage, reading. He'd always been an avid reader. He looked up as the door opened, and in came Rose, looking rather breathless. "Hey," she said urgently, yanking the book out of Edward's hands without a look to make a note of what page he was on and throwing it over her shoulder. Edward watched it land miserably on the floor, cover wide open and flopped on the ground, and looked up at her with a look that clearly asked why the hell she'd made him lose his page. She ignored him. "Ed, the queen -- she's still in bed. Sick."

He sat bolt upright. "What about Mama?!" he barked, jumping up off the side of the bed and wriggling into the simple white cotton shift he'd left to gather dust and form wrinkles on the floor. "What's going on?!" So that was why...

Earlier in the week, Edward had gone to the Throne Room to visit his parents. The room was nearly empty, save for a long red carpet that lead to the low platform where the thrones resided. At the end of this room was a door, and the day he'd gone to visit, a large, heavily muscled man was standing in front of the door, arms folded. Edward had promptly picked up the hem of his skirts and ran over.

"Armstrong," said the 'princess', a bit out of breath. The Captain of the Guard was never on guard in front of his parents' chambers. Usually, the beefy man was in the barracks, overseeing. There was usually only a grunt standing guard, so to have Captain Alex Louis Armstrong himself on duty was a big thing, no pun intended. The man looked down at him, the small blonde curl on his forehead and his large mustache quivering. His blue eyes twinkled, but Edward wasn't sure if Armstrong was supposed to look happy or menacing. The prince's mouth ran dry, and he stepped back, knowing exactly what was coming.

"Oh, Allie Elric!" the big man said passionately, scooping the prince up into a gigantic bear hug. "I was so worried! Did you treat your escort well?"

Edward squirmed, spine cracking loudly, but it seemed to do his stiff back a little bit of good. "Yes! I did! Put me down!" The bald man placed Edward back down with a nod. The skirted prince promptly fell over, rubbing his back. "Anyway, Armstrong... Why're you here? Aren't you usually at the barracks?"

Armstrong looked grave. "The queen herself sent the order. I'm to stay here until further orders. Witness my patience, taught in the Armstrong clan for generations!"

Edward was already down the hall.

Now, he looked at Rose expectantly. "So what happened?" he asked urgently. He wanted answers, dammit.

"You're sent for. She's..." Rose trailed off. Edward had gotten up, hauled on a simple shift of white silk and some slippers, and stormed out the door.

/Her hardest hue to hold/

Reaching the throne room, he lifted the hem of his skirts just like he'd done those few days ago and ran across the vast room, not caring that he'd lost his slipper and automail toes covered in a thin, stretchy material were slapping the marble floor loudly. Regardless of this, he stopped in front of the door, where Armstrong was still standing. "Armstrong! Mama -- is she --"

"She's asking for you and your brother. Where is he?" Armstrong stepped aside obediently, looking at the disguised prince with an inquiring gaze.

"Nii-san's gone," he replied. Actually, it was the other way around, but Armstrong didn't need to know that. "It's just me here." He stepped forward, opening the door. Armstrong followed quietly. Edward paused, regarding the scene in front of him in confused horror. "M... Mama?"

Queen of Risembool Castle, Trisha Elric, was lying bedridden, eyes half-lidded and glazed over. She had a folded, damp cloth lying limply on her forehead, and each breath she took was ragged and wheezing. She would cough every so often, and a splatter of blood trickled down her lip, coughs wracking her now-frail form violently. Two maids fluttered about her bedside, fretting. The Queen's long brown hair was lying limp, unbound from its usual position and simply gathered and tied, sitting on her shoulder so as to not insulate the fevered back of her neck any more than it had to. Edward promptly tackled one of the maids, who he deemed 'too close to his mother', and as the pair of maids -- who were frightened off by the 'princess' -- scrambled away out the door, he took a place beside the bed, taking his mother's hand gently.

The Queen's gaze lifted, and a little consciousness returned to her eyes. "Allie?" she asked weakly, trying to prop herself up, but Edward wouldn't allow it and pushed her gently back down. "What are you... doing here? Weren't you supposed to be with that man we sent for...?"

Edward shook his head. "No, not right now, Mama. Um... It's Ed," he added quietly. He wasn't sure she could hear him, but she seemed to acknowledge that he was not Allie. "Mama, are you... going to be okay?" He watched her, without blinking in case he missed some signal.

She gave a sad smile, then turned her head, shaking it.

He kept his tears back. "O... okay." But it wasn't, and he knew it.

There was no burst of flames, no flash of light, when Risembool's beloved queen died. She didn't go down valiantly, she didn't ride gallantly into sure death. Hers wasn't a hero's death. It didn't seem possible. No one but Captain Armstrong witnessed Edward Elric's face crumple as his mother's eyes dimmed, and her hand went limp, and he buried his face in his arms upon the bedsheets, still gripping his mother's limp hand, and cried.

/Her early leaf's a flower, but only so an hour/

Roy Mustang was making his way to the Great Hall when suddenly someone dashed past him, and he blinked and turned back around to see who it was. It was a small person, wearing a simple white dress and missing a slipper. This girl had long blonde hair that had probably been curled elaborately once, but now it was tousled and the ringlets were bouncing free.

"Lady Alli --" Roy was cut off as Allison stormed out the grand doors, through the open gates, and out into the wet spring, toward the river.

What the hell?

Promptly, the blackhaired man began running after her, forsaking his dinner in the process. He was going to find out what was going on.

/Then leaf subsides to leaf/

Edward had noticed Roy as he ran past, but he didn't care. Roy wouldn't find him where he was going, and besides, he didn't want to talk to anyone. Roy owuld just ahve to come to him if he wanted a chat.

The sky was dark, all sunlight blocked out by dense clouds that threatened to begin raining upon them without mercy. He kicked off his other slipper as he went, toes squelching in the mud. No point in wearing only one slipper if he was going to be flopping through the mud, which the entire road was made of at the moment, stopping as they reached the rocks that bordered the rain river. Right now, in early spring, the rain river was crashing with water, from the snow that had melted over the winter. It would have almost completely evaporated by autumn, leaving only a trickle to freeze and pretty much eliminating any skating rinks that may have been possible in the summer. Coarse gravel lined the water's edge, and it was here that Edward now stood, looking sullenly at the water. Without any more hesitation, he plunged forward into the rain river, and then promptly fell on his face. Knowing he couldn't just lie there, the prince sat up, fists gripping the stones under the water. His entire front was soaked, but he didn't much care.

"...Lady Allison?"

That voice... Roy. Edward bent his head, trying not to be seen, but he could hear footsteps sloshing through the millions of gallons of water that were rushing by relentlessly. When he'd thought Roy wouldn't find him, he hadn't counted on the man following him immediately... The boy heaved a sigh as he felt a hand upon his shoulder and looked up to find the blackhaired lord looking down at him with a not-very-well-concealed concern in his black eyes. "Lady Alli --"

"It's Allie," came Edward's voice, barely audible over the rushing water. "No 'lady'." He went back to staring forlornly at the water, and Roy knelt beside him.

"Are you all right?"

"..."

"...I see." Roy's arm curled gently around the boy's shoulder. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Edward shook his head, leaning into the small hug and clutching at Roy's chest as if he thought that if he stopped clinging, he would fall into a state of misery so deep there would be no recovering. "Do you think..." he began, and Roy looked down at him inquisitively. "Do you think he'll come back?" 'He', of course, was the real Allie, but Roy thought it was him, so he would talk about himself. Really he wasn't lying, not exactly. Allie was undercover as a boy, so he could refer to her as 'he' without lying.

"Your brother?" asked Roy, and Edward nodded. "You miss him, hmn?"

"...Yeah."

The arm around Edward's shoulder tightened a little, drawing the younger noble closer. "I'm not sure, but keep your hopes up. He'll come back eventually."

"...I guess." Edward squeezed his eyes shut as another spell of tears threatened to run down his kohl-streaked cheeks. He leaned on Roy's shoulder, and in turn the man held him, and he didn't mind letting the kohl-blackened tears slide down his face and mingle with the water, sweeping them away. He felt his eyelids drooping, and slowly shut them as with probably grief and stress and exhaustion mixed together, he fainted.

"...Thanks..."

Roy gave the boy one of his rare smiles then, lifting the prince up in a rather soggy bridal position to carry him easier. "Anytime," he replied softly, walking slowly back to the castle.

/So Eden sank to grief/

The young lord returned to the castle with the princess cradled in his arms only fifteen minutes after he left the river. He placed the blonde down on the stone steps outside the castle door as he opened it, then picked her back up, closing the door with his foot. She didn't budge, and he snorted and began to bring her up the stairs to her room.

"Oh! Lord Mustang!"

Roy looked up to find a blue eyed, redhaired girl looking at him, a pile of linens folded in her arms. She looked rather stressed, and he wondered why. Maybe it tied in to what Lady -- er, Allie, was crying about. "Do you need directions to Her Highness' room, sir? I'd be happy to guide you there."

"That would be a help. Thank you, er..." What was her name?

She smiled. "It's Rose. C'mon, we don't want her getting sick." She jerked her chin toward the top of the stairs, then set off, her carrying the laundry and Roy the princess. They made it up the marble staircase without much difficulty, pausing only once as Roy shifted Allie in his arms. Rose opened the door to the princess' room, placing the pile of laundry beside it to be picked up later. She stpped across the wine-colored carpet, motioning to behind the screen. "Okay," she said, "put her here, and I'll get her into some pajamas. Then you can put her into the bed." Roy nodded, placing the unconscious princess against the screen and stepping back.

Rose watched him disappear to the other side, then turned to Edward. "Oh, Ed," she whispered, exasperated. "You're such a bother sometimes." She stripped him down to sodden camisole and boxers, decided those could stay on him and pulled him into a nightgown. Ed just flopped.

Rose came back out from behind the screen with a gesture to behind it, where Roy assumed that Allie lay. "You can take her now," she announced, smiling and stepping to the door. "I'll see you later, milord," she added, clasping her hands before her and bowing before pulling the duvet on the bed back and travelling to the door.

"All right," he replied, nodding and striding to where Allie lay behind the screen, picking her up again. Rose left the room then. Roy didn't mind. He placed the unconscious princess on the bed, pulled the blankets over here, and, careful that Allie didn't wake up, placed a small kiss on the girl's cheek. He left the room after that, a trace of pink on his pale cheeks as the only evidence to show he'd just kissed Risembool's only princess.

Edward's eyes fluttered open, and his hand ventured up to touch his own cheek. He blinked. It tingled. What had...?

He fell asleep before he finished his thought.

/So dawn goes down to day/

Edward woke up to a great confusion on the lower levels of the castle. His mind registered it only dimly, but as he woke up and propped himself up on his elbows, he realized what all the hullabaloo was about and gritted his teeth. I won't cry, he told himself firmly, but somehow did anyway. A little bit, at least. Sighing, Edward got up out of the bed and wondered whether he was supposed to get dressed by himself today or not. He couldn't to the corset by himself, though... Fortunately, just as he picked up the little bell Allie used to call Rose when she was sick, the redhaired lady-in-waiting came in, pushed him behind the screen, and began to dress him without a word. "Rose," he said quietly, "is everyone rushing around because of --"

She cut him off. "Shush," was all she said, then went back to trying up his corset before pushing him into the closet to pick out a dress, which he did promptly (violet silk with pink accents) and came back out, looking at Rose expectantly. "Fine," she said, scowling. "Look, sorry, everyone's just really stressed out. They're..." She paused, attempting to gauge his ability to hear that his mother had died again. "They're digging the Queen's grave. She's to be cremated in a months time, and then her ashes will be buried. There's funerals to plan, though, and gravestones to carve and everyone's just totally overworked and..." She trailed off, blinking. Edward had keeled over into a dead faint. She had gauged his abilities wrongly, she saw. Sighing, she looked sheepish and dragged him to the bed, propping him up and fanning him with a handkerchief. Sometimes, things were just way too difficult with this boy...

/Nothing gold can stay/