The next thing he knew, Edward was slowly opening his eyes as he woke up on something that, despite being tough, was admittedly more comfortable than the muddy graveyard ground or a car; Roy's couch.
He wanted to complain about being in the Colonel's debt again but Edward found himself incapable to even think of a single insult as his head felt like it would explode at any time, and his throat was really sore. Thankfully, amidst the number of uncomfortable things going on in his body Edward felt a slightly damp but refreshing object laying flat on his forehead, cooling down his high temperature.
"Brother, are you awake?" The armour sitting next to the couch spoke in a quiet voice, which Edward was thankful for as his eyesight gradually became less blurry to a point where he could actually look around.
"...Feel like shit." Edward finally groaned pathetically as he slowly lifted a hand to his throbbing head. Looking at a clock hanging on the couch's wall; Edward realised it was currently two and a half in the morning and he further realised in annoyance that he hadn't done much but sleep and brood these days.
"That's why you shouldn't just stand in the rain for hours without an umbrella..." Alphonse muttered in an annoyed manner, how could this reckless boy possibly be his /older/ brother? But then again, considering how useful umbrellas were to Alphonse it could be said that Alphonse had been ready to do the same thing to find said brother, so perhaps recklessness was an Elric trait.
"Oh come on, I wasn't under the rain for /that/ long!" Edward retorted while still feeling an uncomfortable feeling in his throat: It was itchy as hell!
"Brother, the Colonel said you two separated in the morning..."
"Welllllllll... I could have been doing something else!" Edward averted his eyes as he scrambled to change the subject, but suddenly he frowned and turned back towards Alphonse. "Wait, where's the Colonel?"
Alphonse's helmet moved towards Roy's closed study for a nod. "He said he needed to do something so he went in there a few minutes ago after spending most of the night regularly making sure you were okay. I told him I'd take over." If Alphonse had an expression, it would be quite stern as he returned towards Edward.
"Make sure you properly thank him."
"No way I'm apologising to that prick." Edward slightly blushed; though he wouldn't admit it, if what Alphonse said was true and Roy had been regularly checking in on him until so late then he felt rather bad for being such a bother to Roy. And it was most likely true that the two had been taking care of him from the damp towel on his head.
"Brother..." Alphonse said dangerously, but Edward's attention had shifted elsewhere as frowned while he was looking at Roy's actual bedroom and furiously sniffing something. "What's the matt... Hey, you can't get up yet!"
"...The Colonel's in there?"
"I think so, why?"
Edward forced himself up despite his headache, dropping the towel to the ground as he staggered towards the door to confirm the fear his sense of smell had given him. "Al, something smells like it's burning!" Alphonse audibly gasped as he quickly followed along, understanding without words that it came from Roy's room which Edward forced himself in.
However, Edward found himself at a lack of words followed by Alphonse as they saw the source of the possible "incident":
Roy Mustang himself, had been repeatedly snapping to burn some documents that he had stuffed in the rubbish with the windows opened to avoid smoke. The precise control of the flame was a result of the intense focus that was appearant on his face so as to not burn down the entire room, and that had Edward curious as to what he was doing so he took a quick glance despite his headache but frowned at the sight of what Roy was burning.
It was still raining even though the weather had let down a lot more than for the past few days, yet Roy didn't seem bothered by having his window frames drenched by sparse drops of water.
"Colonel?" Alphonse timidly asked.
"The hell are you doing?" Edward called out to Roy who finally stopped in surprise, having not realised the boys were there. Roy quickly cut off his transmutation's fire before removing his gloves.
"Getting rid of something I've found to be useless."
"As useless as you are?" Edward snarled at the superior officer. "You get on my case for being reckless, and then you burn rubbish in your own apartment?"
"The difference, Fullmetal." Roy raised an irritated finger at the younger boy that was implying of his uselessness. "Is that, unlike you, I don't have half a village pursuing me with pitchforks and flaming torches right now." Slowly, a smirk formed on his face as his words reminded the blushing Edward of the many times where he and Alphonse pissed off nearly an entire village.
Needless to say, Roy /did/ have a point as Edward glared at him. "Yeah, well committing arson isn't any better! You could've burnt the apartment down!"
"I dare say I have a good control over the situation enough to prevent that than what you could ever wish for. Or at least, "had" until a certain midget starting butting in..." Roy said thoughtfully as he brought a hand to his chin.
"Midget?! Butting in?! Who the hell 'ya calling so small that a microscope wouldn't even see him?! Why, I'm gonna kick the living sh–" Edward jumped to hit the Colonel, but all he did thanks to Alphonse's efforts were kicking the air, and Roy just slightly laughed at the display.
"At ease, kid. I'm joking." Roy finally said as he sat down on his desk chair, contemplating the fact that perhaps burning the rubbish wasn't exactly a good idea; it'd be hell to clean, so it was most likely the man would just buy a new one instead. "So, what are you two doing here? I do believe it's not common to just barge in a superior's room."
"We're sorry, Colonel. We just thought something bad happened." Alphonse said as he bowed his head, trying to force Edward to do the same.
"No, we're not! ... Cough, cough, cough!" Edward angrily argued, though the strain he had put on his voice caused him to start coughing violently as he doubled over. "Brother, you're still sick, stop trying to argue!" Alphonse tried to drag him back to the bed as a result, but Edward only shoved him off.
"Wait a minute, Al." He whispered to stop his brother's attempts, which caused Roy to look at them curiously. "I need to ask him something, so can we have a minute?" Alphonse hesitated for a moment, but then again it was Roy so even if Edward tried anything reckless, it was likely he'd be forced back to rest.
"...Okay."
Alphonse suddenly leaving the room and Edward closing it brought dreaded worry upon Roy who felt like grabbing his gloves; perhaps the boy still wanted to kill him? "Colonel." Edward leaned his exhausted body against the door and its frame as he called out to the perplexed older man. "There's something I've been meaning to ask."
Roy sighed as he relaxed ever so slightly and went to close the windows, somehow he had a good idea of what Edward wanted to ask him. "Go ahead." He simply replied.
"Have you ever tried to do human transmutation?" Edward scowled in suspicion.
"So you saw those after all..." Roy muttered to himself. "Why do you ask?"
"Colonel, answer me."
"Alchemists are ugly creatures." Roy firstly said, earning himself a glare from Edward but raising his hand to allow him to continue.
It took a few minutes as Roy composed himself while staring deeply at Edward, who made it clear he would not leave until he got an answer. "The Ishbal War." He muttered with his face downcast after a while, so Edward had almost missed those three words.
"When the war was still going strong, they involved State Alchemists to gain an advantage. At that time, despite bearing the same rank as you currently do, I was one of the leading factors of that massive destruction in that march of alchemists. Probably why I made it so high at such a young age." Roy explained sullenly as he recalled the bitter memories of that time while analysing his glove's peculiar transmutation circle, and Edward could only look at him with an uncomfortable frown.
"The military did gain the upper hand, in the end. We destroyed – burnt down many homes and rebels." Roy could very well remember the scent of smoke that permeated the air, the blood that had dried within the sand as well as the sight of the houses that were slowly crumbling under the sheer power Roy could muster.
"'Alchemists, be thou for thy people'." That phrase caught Edward off-guard, though it had been one of the principles that made him the Hero of the People, he had never heard Roy properly say it himself other than from quoting Edward. "That was what I, amongst many others, used to think and that was why we joined the military. However, all I could see there was mindless massacre of people who were just trying to survive. Just, survive. To regain a peaceful life."
"Colonel..."
Roy took a breath for a pause, setting down the glove aside as he straightened and returned his glance to the uneasy boy. "You remember what I told you earlier, right? That the path you've taken will destroy you." A slight, hesitant nod followed by a frown. "This is what I mean, and the documents you've seen are a result of it from that time."
"And did you...?" Another myriad of cough followed the question as much as Edward tried to silence them with his flesh arm.
"No, as you can clearly see." Roy cut the boy short as he tapped his own right arm, well-aware that he was quite touchy with the subject of people committing the ultimate alchemical taboo. "Though I had intended to, a certain idiot stopped me before I ever really went through with it."
"Hughes?" Roy nodded with a slight smile, causing the boy to return a sad smile as well but with his face downcast; he really had broken an important piece of the lives of Roy's team. "What about now, did you intend on doing it?" The core of the matter, why had Roy set those documents on his desk if they were so old? Edward couldn't help but feel suspicious and Roy probably had no choice other than truthfully answering.
"Pummelled the hell out of me in a way you would have when he found out about all this." Roy dropped the smile as he learned forwards in his hands and stared intensely as Edward to reaffirm one thing. "At first, possibly." Edward's eyes widened and he stumbled a step towards Roy, but Roy only interrupted him again with his hand. "At first, I said. I've thought about it and call me twisted, but I'm somewhat glad his death happened the way it did. Dying from anything other than actively trying to help others wouldn't have been like him. I have the feeling he'd knock me out if I were to bring him back for pathetic reasons."
Though Edward sadly smiled at this, it reassured Roy to see that he seemingly wasn't still blaming himself entirely for Hughes's death. But that would still be a sour note to leave the night on, so Roy had an idea to liven up the boy a bit before they both went to sleep.
"Speaking of... Since you at least asked before pounding my face in, I'll tell you an interesting bed time story, kid."
"I ain't a kid!" Edward snarled right back as he snapped out of his previous guilt-ridden expression. However his interest was captured nonetheless, causing the boy to lift his head to see Roy raising himself from his desk chair and presenting it to Edward.
"But first, sit down. You look like you're gonna faint any minute now." Edward scowled at those words while he sat down in Roy's place and moved away slightly since Roy was going through his admittedly messy desk to find a certain picture frame.
And when he finished, he gave it to Edward: It was the picture frame containing a picture of Hughes and himself. "Hughes and I met when we were in military school." Roy started again as Edward closely observed the picture, though he seemed to have gained the boy's interest as he looked back up to Roy and set the picture frame on the desk as soon as he was done analysing the picture once more.
"And it all started with a silent rivalry due to a... for the lack of a better term, slight disagreement."
"Disagreement?" Edward looked at Roy confusedly, he was aware Roy and Hughes had their arguments due to the doting father's bad habit to harass people with his child's pictures, but Elysia wouldn't have been born by then, right? Roy's next words had thrown him into a world of puzzlement.
"Over spinach quiche. The bastard stole the last piece from my hand at the last second and then spouted nonsense about it being his favourite to justify it."
"...Hah?"
To Edward's hilariously bemused face, Roy proceeded to recount in casual nostalgia about how the two men used to be at each other's throat in meaningless competitions just because Hughes had started it by stealing quiche from Roy; who could run the fastest whilst armed, who could shoot their cardboard targets the best...
Edward was absolutely speechless at the story for a while as he frowned, as if frozen. And then... "...Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah?! You call me immature even though the two military students you were got in a rivalry over a quiche slice?!" He shouted in utter disbelief; Edward had never seen Roy in his life actively do something to try and gain the upper hand in anything since he usually always had it by the time Edward paid attention! Heck, where the hell was the adult maturity in all that?!
There were other factors in those meetings that Edward wasn't aware of, but since that was the basic gist of it Roy only nodded with a smirk as he justified himself. "Hey, military academies aren't that generous with good food. We had to take what tasted best before anyone else grabbed it."
"That definitely sounds like an excuse!" Edward cried out again as he pointed an accusing finger towards Roy who only shrugged, the additional strain on his voice causing him to throw another coughing fit.
"I suggest you stop shouting, Fullmetal, before you completely lose your voice."
"Shaddup." He whispered as he finally calmed his coughing fit down. Edward slightly massaged his throat with his right hand as his eyes wandered around the room until they landed on another picture frame that was laying down flat on his desk near some books. He had tried picking it up with his left hand to see what it was, but was hurriedly stopped and nearly given a heart-attack by the older man who slammed his hand on the picture frame, forcing it back down.
"No peeking at your superior's belongings, Fullmetal." He said sternly.
"You scared the crap out of me, you ass! Surely you didn't need to nearly take out my remaining flesh hand just to tell me that, did you?!" Edward said as he defensively held his left hand against his chest, was the man trying to give him additional automail?! Roy shook the boy off with his other hand by forcibly moving the chair away from the desk and spoke up to the apprehensive teenager after looking at the time. They had spent at least half an hour talking together. That was quite a rare feat considering only a minority of it had been spent arguing. "Now, was there anything else you wanted to ask? I reckon it's about time you go back and rest." Roy finally asked as he started to feel sleepy enough to go to bed, but the lack of answer from Edward had him worried as he observed the young boy who only raised from the chair while shaking his head.
Something was definitely still bothering him.
"Reminds me, the Lieutenant..." Roy called out tentatively after considering what could still be on Edward's mind; it seemingly worked as Edward froze with his hand on the doorknob so Roy continued. "You needn't worry about her, she wasn't okay with my lying to you and rest assured; I got a good talking to afterwards.
"Huh?" Edward said with a frown at Roy's unusual sharpness, he had been certain that Riza would have cut off and rectified Roy if that were really the case, but he couldn't argue against the man who knew her better than Edward ever did.
"Then why did you..." Ultimately, he cut himself off as he thought about it and decided to just turn around again. "...Nah, forget it. Take care to keep your pyromaniac needs for when we're not around, Colonel." Roy replied a small sound of acknowledgement as he saw Edward leave his office room and close the door behind him.
Once he forgot about the idea of them definitely hating him as a justification, Edward could get pretty good ideas as to why Roy wouldn't openly confess that Hughes was dead. But whether his assumptions were correct or not, Edward ultimately didn't feel like making Roy confirm anything. After all, so long as he wouldn't lose anyone else from this unfortunate event, Edward slowly grew satisfied with things as they were even in face of it. That's what he finally managed to conclude from that long, mentally-exhausting week as he laid back down on the couch. The boy looked to Alphonse as if a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders, prompting the armour's curiosity.
"Brother, what did you want to ask the Colonel?" Alphonse asked in a somewhat worried manner; the two hadn't been obviously arguing so for a minute he'd thought one of them was unconscious, if not dead.
"Nothing much." Edward casually replied as he set his metal hand on his throat to relieve it. Alphonse replied to this by dipping another towel and setting it down on Edward's forehead after thoroughly wringing it.
"Also, I heard you shouting about quiche? Get some rest and make sure to tell me what was that about when you feel better, Brother." Alphonse loved the idea of eating quiche, after all, so anything concerning quiche would not be something the armour would miss out on.
"Yeah, yeah." Edward said as he slowly shut his eyes with the ghost of a very content smile creeping its way through. Alphonse resumed looking over his reckless older brother until Roy came out of the study after a few minutes with something in his hand, taking a quick glance at Edward and Alphonse before heading into his room.
"Good night, Colonel!" But before Roy could close the door, Alphonse had whispered loudly while slightly waving his hand, prompting Roy to turn around again and nod.
"Good night, you two. I'll drop you off at your hotel on my way to work tomorrow." Roy was most certainly not used to saying good night to anyone, but he couldn't just ignore Alphonse's earnest attempts at being polite. It made such a change from his rude brother after all, he thought as he closed the door. What he hadn't noticed though was Edward slightly lifting and waving his hand since he preferred not to talk any further; his throat was still killing him from how much it itched.
Alphonse didn't react at this friendly gesture towards Roy but he was thankful for a brief second he couldn't show the huge grin that represented how he felt about it; Edward being actively friendly towards Roy was such a rare event he was glad he didn't miss out on.
If he were to be quite honest, despite his immense regret of what he and Edward had done to Hughes and his fear that this would happen to others as well, Alphonse remained filled with glee as he remembered that even though their lives had treated them this harshly, they had still found adults such as Gracia and Roy; adults they could rely on and trust to always set them straight on the path of their long and rough journey by reminding them of what's truly important, so that they would never lose their way.
And besides, if he thought about it on a more personal note then he thoroughly enjoyed being a witness of the rare times where Roy and Edward would put aside their quarrels and differences in order to achieve mutual better understanding.
Author's Note:
I've broken the title pattern!
Hello to all the people who've bothered reading my story up until this point despite the lack of friendly author notes that usually accompany the end of chapters (forgive me, I just didn't find much to say about individual chapters so I figured a note at the beginning and end of the story would fit better)!
After a little while of thinking, I've decided to make this the final chapter of "Better Understanding". Worry not though, an epilogue will arrive shortly to put a true end to the story and put it back on track with the "canon" I've twisted. I hope that you've found my story on this theme to be enjoyable enough despite that.
Since this is my first shot at a fanfiction with multiple chapters I wasn't really sure where to let the story go, but I felt this would be a good enough to end the story as its plot was focused around Edward and Roy understanding each other better, hopefully without making them too OOC? It was quite hard to get back in touch after spending nearly a year away from the franchise.
Massive thanks to those who followed, reviewed and set this story as favourites! You guys really kept me going there since I had no idea of how the fanfic was doing due to FFN's recent issues. And for those who haven't yet and just read randomly, feel free to leave a review if you've enjoyed the story, or if otherwise and you think I could have improved on some points, I'm always opened to constructive criticism to get better!