Yay! I had the draft for this chapter in my coat pocket, and some grubby kid from church attacked me like some crazed piranha, and made me lose it. LUCKILY! I found it a few hours ago, and am now able to meet the deadline! This is why I say "Yay!". I also say "yay!" because I got a SOUL EATER bookbag this weekend! YAY!

Little side note, Riza picks on Roy a little bit in this chapter, because I said so, so HA!

As the title states, there are some pretty gloomy moments in this chapter, but fear not! There will be much more rising action and plot in the next chapter!

NOTE! All of the little stanzas before some of the chapters are lines from Tommy Heavenly 6 (or Tomoko Kawase)'s song, PAPERMOON, which is the second opening of the Soul Eater Anime.

SO, without further, ado... Dusk!

Anytime that you're lost or afraid

Or you can't see your dreams

I want you to look up

~Tommy Heavenly6: PAPERMOON

Running

Running

Raining

Running

The Black of Night

It was the two of us, not counting the unconscious bundle in my arms Riza and I had to hurry, or Else Edward would be dead, if not already. The blackened jam was pouring from him, just as a dripping faucet would run over, swiftly falling to the floor and making a path for the rest. The blood pouring from him did make a path for running water, the tears of us, the ones who care. Care about Edward. The hospital was five miles away from my house, meaning 76 minutes of strained legs and broken feet. Looks like Ed isn't the only one who will need to be looked at once we get there. Hawkeye was carrying him a few minutes ago, but fell into a heartless puddle of water, evoking her to fall to the cold, wet ground, breaking her arm in the process. She was bleeding, and still is. I told her to stop, to go home and rest. But just like her, she said no, and insisted upon staying to run with me, with Edward. Of course there was no stopping her, so I reluctantly agreed to her demands. That was fifteen minutes ago,m and she's running faster than I am.

At just a random occurrence, like many things these days, a question popped into my head. Why was Hawkeye at my house in the first place? I mean, yeah, of course that's a good thing, but still… why? Maybe I should ask her. No! Not yet; I'll save the trivia for later. Right now, Edward is the most important. Without a second thought, I picked up the pace and, before we knew it, there it was: The Hospital.

Dusk

Chapter 10

Tears

The beeping Heart monitors, his pale face, and the tourniquet in his left arm, stopping crimson sweetness from flowing away. These are the things that I was witnessing yet again in the hospital. Of course, this was nothing like the last "visit". Last time I was just standing by, watching him breathe and sleep; but this time, I lay next to him, in a bed of my own. In fact, the rooms are so scarce now, that the three of us decided to share a room to save space (A. Edward didn't really "decide" B. A little old lady deserves to be in a room by herself). Hawk… Riza is lying next to me, on my right. As a result of her running (and coincidentally, her falling), Riza was given a minor concussion from the generous puddle of ever so unrelenting water. Lucky for us, the doctor said that she should be fine by morning (today), because honestly, I don't need another person to take care of.

The bad news is…well… the doctors have been asking questions about what happened; they said that we can tell them in the morning since we're still resting up. However, among Amestrian military doctors, this translates to "You have some explaining to do!" It's only a matter of time before they figure out what happened, and decide to take Edward away. I tried to sit up in my bed, only to fall back down with a thud and a yelp. Damn, that kid sure packs a punch when his shadow comes out, or whatever that thing was. I just hope that Ed is still sane after that mess last night. To my right, I heard a sigh. I swiftly turned, only to find Riza looking at me, her hair matted to her face.

"Riza! You're awake! I thought that you-"

"Roy… I broke my arm, not my spine!" She said, annoyed.

"Oh yeah, right. Well… did you have a nice sleep?"

"Wonderful, Roy. Now, could I ask that you don't flirt with me right now? It's too early for this" She said, rubbing her head and smiling. Of course, I turned as red as a ripe mango.

"W-w-what? Why would you- but I-uh- I would never-"

"Whatever you say, Roy. Whatever you say" she continued, Roy not noticing her smirk as she turned her head.

" Why you-" steamed, only to be interrupted by a small moan in the corner. Edward.

Point of View: Colonel Roy Mustang, Flame Alchemist.

I gasped, turning my head to find Edward sitting up, staring at me.

"Edward!" I yelled, trying to get out of my bed and failing miserably. Instead of laughing at me, he only stared down to the floor, looking upset.

"Hey, Ed… what's wrong? Are you okay?"

"You shouldn't care, Roy." I was shocked at what he said, Not anything bitter or hateful… just…

Sad.

Sad and lonely.

"Wh… what do you mean "I shouldn't care"? Of course I care, Ed. Why would you think otherwise?" I said getting up off of the floor

"Please, Roy. Just… just listen to what you just said: you have every right in the world not to care about a… a bastard like me. You took me in, tried to help… And I-" He said, pausing as a single tear cascaded down his cheek. He looked at me with horrible sad eyes, pouring even more tears now.

"I nearly killed you, Roy!" He screamed. My eyes widened.

"But, Ed… you weren't yours-"

"Don't you dare feed me that… that Sh*t! If it wasn't for Riza, You would be dead! Don't you understand the gravity of this?" he screamed, silence soon filling the room. He began to cry once again, his head in his hands, sobbing uncontrollably. Tears continued to permeate from his eyes as we sat there, taking it all in.

"Look at you! You're covered in blood!" he said, pointing to the bandages. " All of those wounds are because of me, and you still talk to me? Talk like nothing happened?

Silence

"… Why don't you hate me? I've been nothing but a thorn at your side for years, yet you still support me! …Why?" he said, putting his head down.

I quietly got up from my position on the floor (apparently, floors are good for injured backs, since I was able to get up), and scowled at Edward, towering over his crumpled form. He looked up at me, feelings of pure sorrow in his eyes: he was broken. Of course, he was expecting me to hit him or yell, but no; that isn't anything like what I did.

Continuing to scowl, I stared down at him, our eyes continuing to meet. He was scared. I began to move, causing him to flinch and look away . I swiftly moved down upon him, and hugged him tightly.

Edward's golden eyes drastically widened as I held him close. He gasped, trembling under my touch. His breathing momentarily stopped.

"W…why?" he said softly, completely shocked by my actions.

"Because, Edward: I care. I care about you" I whispered to him, holding him closer. " Look, Ed" I continued, looking at him. "I don't care about what happened last night, alright? It wasn't your fault, none of it! All of these wounds are because of that lowly bastard who kidnapped you, not because of your own actions. And as long as you're here, I will care. So get that idea that I hate you, and wish that you were dead, out of your head, alright?" I said, shaking his shoulders.

As if on cue, he began to cry again, wrapping his arms around me, soliciting me to hug him back.

"Roy… you…you idiot." He said, smiling for the first time in days.