I wrote this entire chapter at school. I'm fairly sure I should be doing something a bit more academic with my study lessons… :P
Paper Scars
Chapter 6
7th July 1923
It happened again. I fell asleep only to find myself in my office and Ed sitting on my couch. I still didn't understand what was going on but I knew that it was happening and I had to deal with it. We sat in silence for a while before I decided that enough was enough. I could tell that something was bothering him and it's not like we had anything better to do than just sit here anyway.
"What's the problem, Fullmetal?" I attempted nonchalance but suspect that I failed quite miserably as I still heard a hint of concern in my voice. I knew it was only a dream but I couldn't help worrying for the kid in front of me. He insisted that he was not a child but that's the problem. He never really was or not for long enough at least. His childhood was cut short when their mother died and he has been doing dangerous things since then preventing him from having a proper childhood. He was living an adult's life, maybe even worse, when he was still only a child.
He seemed confused before he responded and I had to elaborate what I meant by my question. He seemed surprised by my interest in his well being making me feel guilty for neglecting to do so before. He took a while to respond, seemingly having an internal battle about what to do or say.
I didn't expect what he said when he finally decided to speak. I should have, considering what he's like but I didn't. The first words out his mouth were "I'm worried about Al." He had mumbled but I could still hear him clearly in the silent building. Typical Ed; always thinking about Al before himself. After he had expressed his concerns, I surprised both him and myself by joining him on the couch and offering reassurances. I do not know what possessed me to do so but I did and, somehow, it seemed to work a little.
As he spoke I realised that he was calling me 'Mustang' and 'Colonel' still and it occurred to me how inappropriate it was for the atmosphere in the room at that moment. This wasn't work, merely a dream so why should they be so formal? I voiced my opinion but added a bit of characteristic arrogance on the end to keep the tone a little lighter. However, I didn't expect my arrogance to make a small smile appear on his face and relief show clearly in his expression. The long awaited retort never came.
Ed spoke a lot to me about 'Munich' where he was apparently stuck. He told me that there was no alchemy there and, though I struggled to believe it, he insisted it was true. Instead they studied 'physics' and 'mechanics', whatever they were. Hohenheim had been there but had left Ed alone in a strange place with some rubbish equivalent of automail. My hatred for the man only increased upon hearing this but anger was the last thing on my mind when I saw tears collecting in his golden eyes. Firstly I was, of course, surprised. Edward Elric was crying?! I never thought I'd see it happen but then it occurred to me that I should have been more surprised that it hadn't happened before. With all that Edward had been through and was still going through now, it was a wonder he didn't cry a lot more. His father left, his mother died, his younger brother almost died and was trapped in a suit of armour, he lost his arm and leg, many of his friends died or were involved in possibly more horrible things, Nina for example. And to make things worse, some of the people he had seen die, such as Hughes, he now had to see again but they had no memory of any of the things Ed knew about happening. The kid's strength, both mentally and physically, really was admirable.
I'm not very experienced at comforting people and usually I tried to avoid any situation in which I would have to but I was already in this situation and so I had to do something. I couldn't leave Edward like this and do nothing about it, even if this Edward was merely a figment of my imagination. I moved a little closer to him before putting an arm around him and pulling him into an awkward kind of hug. Shock was evident on his face, even through the tears that had built up in his eyes, and I gave him a small smile of reassurance. This had clearly rid him of any reservations he had previously had as he then moved a little to make himself comfortable and proceeded to cling to and cry on my military jacket. Had I been asked only a few minutes ago what my reaction to someone weeping on my clothing would have been I probably would have said something of a violent nature, and yet here was Edward doing exactly that and all I did was pull him closer. Maybe it was to do with the fact that he was curled up next to me and looked so much younger than his 18 years at that moment, or maybe it was because I knew that he deserved to be allowed this time of weakness after all he had already been through and all that was yet to come or maybe it was just because I had always had a bit of a soft spot for this young man. Whatever the reason, instead of it disgusting me, I was happy that he felt comfortable enough with me for this to happen and glad that I was here when it happened so he wasn't alone.
-Roy Mustang (because really? Who was I kidding? This is not an alchemic journal.)
Paper Scars
