A/N: Hey guys! Just a quick shout out to all you wonderful people out there! I just wanted to say thank you for making this story one helluva ride ;) It's been an absolute blast to write this and get your feedback knowing how much you all loved it! Honestly, it was pretty much the thing that kept me going… not that I didn't enjoy writing it. But I thought it HYSTERICAL when I realized that it wouldn't be possible to make this story ONLY five chapter (as I had intended it to be XD)
Thank you to little-star14 for requesting this fic :3 We all wouldn't be here without you girl!
I LOVE YOU ALL! IT'S BEEN FUN!
All my love,
xxTAxx
-"':;;:'"-
"Alphonse, why don't you put that bag in the back? It'll give you and Edward a little more room." The three of them walked towards the military car, excited to be leaving the command center so early in the afternoon. Upon reaching the vehicle, Edward quickly climbed in, leaving his brother to deal with his luggage.
"Oh, that's alright, Lieutenant. We'll be fine." Hawkeye simply shrugged, before sliding into the driver's seat.
"If you say so." The car rocked as Alphonse clambered into the back beside his brother, and Riza turned the key in the ignition. "Okay, boys. Next stop: Mustang Manor." Edward scoffed.
"'Manor'... right. Like that bastard can afford anything more than a straw hut." The Lieutenant rolled her eyes as they stopped at the first intersection and was about to reply when the younger brother spoke up.
"Actually... Would it be too much trouble to ask you to make a stop at the train station?" Edward's head snapped up to look incredulously at his brother. Hawkeye cocked an eyebrow and looked at the suit of armor in the rear-view mirror.
"The station? What for?" Alphonse appeared to squirm a bit under the searching gazes and began to fiddle with the clasps on the suitcase.
"I was thinking I would go back home for a little bit... I really want to be with Winry and Grannie right now. It's been so long since I've seen them." Hawkeye glanced quickly at the Fullmetal Alchemist in the mirror, knowing exactly how that must have sounded to him. The boy looked as though he had been sorely punched in the gut. His face was that of unmasked agony and confusion, like his best friend had stabbed him in the back without an explanation. It was a look of betrayal.
"Sure, Alphonse, we'll head there now." The Lieutenant had to force herself to stay silent regarding the issue between the brothers. Only they could fix this rift rising between them... If anyone else interfered, it would only spell disaster for the entire situation.
"Al..." Ed whispered. The armor jerked around in its seat, trying to ploy a reasonable explanation for his sudden desire to be away from his sibling.
"It's not that I don't want to be with you, Brother... I'd ask you to come along if I didn't think you'd want to have some alone time with the Colonel.." Edward turned beet red in the face, sputtering like an aged motor.
"Al! You-!" Laughter echoed through the metal suit, though forced.
"You're getting all pink, Ed. What's wrong?" The blonde muttered some excuse under his breath, glaring daggers at his brother, before abruptly changing the subject.
"Al... w- won't Winry and Granny ask about me? Why I'm not with you?" Al appeared to mull this thought over in his mind for a few minutes. He heaved a nearly inaudible sigh and turned to look out the window.
"I'm sure they will. If you don't mind, I wanted to bring them up to speed on everything that's happening... They have a right to know, after all. The two of them are practically family." The 'punched' expression reappeared on Edward's face, and the driver wondered momentarily if the boy would vomit in the backseat. He looked ill.
Then again, it wasn't everyday that the people who you care about most in the world discover you aren't actually human..
Actually, Hawkeye decided, it was probably an extremely rare occurrence.
"Yeah... they are.." Edward responded sullenly. The remainder of the five-minute car ride to the station was silent, and Riza was certain that the hostility between the boys could not have been more evident had it been written on their foreheads. As they pulled up to their destination, Hawkeye parked the car along the curb and turned around to look at the Elrics. It didn't even seem as though they were able to look at one another..
"Here you go, Alphonse. Did you want us to wait for the train with you?" The metal helmet shook from side to side as he slowly exited the car.
"No, I'll be fine on my own. Thank you for the ride!" Carefully, he placed the suitcase in Edward's lap and shut the door behind him. The Fullmetal Alchemist immediately leaned over to roll the window down on the far side of the car and called out to his brother.
"Al... listen. About talking to Winry and Granny.. I... I forgot to mention something..." Edward paused, appearing conflicted. After a moment or so, Alphonse turned around and began walking back towards the vehicle in confusion.
"What is it, Brother?" Edward glanced up in surprise, having not heard the metal suit approaching the car. His mouth floundered open and shut repeatedly, searching for the lost words that he wanted to say. Finally, his mouth snapped shut and he flopped back against the seat, turning away from Alphonse completely.
"Nothing. Forget I said anything." Al stood up straight in shock, then clenched his fists at his sides in anger.
"But, Brot-" Edward whipped around, throwing an arm out the window and pointing angrily at the train station.
"Go! You're going to miss the train!" Alphonse went still for a moment and, had he been in his human form, the Lieutenant knew the boy would be on the verge of tears. Wordlessly, the suit of armor turned on its heel and ran off without so much as a 'goodbye'. Edward followed his retreating form with his eyes, growing moist with tears.
"... You know you'll need to tell him eventually..." Edward's head snapped up to look at her. His tear-filled eyes laced with confusion and fear. Hawkeye hurried to clarify: "Whatever it is you're wanting to tell him... He'll find out whether you're the one to tell him or not." The golden eyes fluttered shut and the young alchemist moved to rest his forehead on the cool window after rolling it up.
He'll find out whether you're the one to tell him or not..
For Edward's sake, he truly hoped he would be the one to tell his brother. If not, he wasn't entirely sure he'd be able to pick up the pieces of their broken relationship. And he doubted Al would ever forgive him.
%%%%%%%
The door of the white townhouse swung open to reveal- a very casually dressed- Roy Mustang. The Colonel blinked in surprise, eyebrows scrunching together in slight confusion.
"Hawkeye? I didn't expect to see you here so soon." The Lieutenant placed a hand on the flesh shoulder of the alchemist at her side, causing him to look up in slight surprise.
"I just thought I'd bring Edward over before he got too bored and began to rip apart your office looking for something to do." Edward was in his human disguise: tail tucked in, ears fitted neatly beneath the coverings... and, yet, he still managed to make Roy's heart hammer in his chest. He looked like a little orphan child, arriving at his first foster home. The wide golden eyes were fixed on Roy in a mixture of irritation and wonder, and the brimming suitcase lay, forgotten, at his feet.
He almost reminded Roy of himself at that age..
"Is the timing alright? I can always take him out for ice cream and come back later." The Colonel chuckled as Edward's head snapped up at the mention of the frozen treat, and waved his hand in dismissal.
"No, no, now's perfectly fine." He peered down at the boy on his front-step, looking mildly put-off at not receiving any ice cream. "I'm sure we can find something to do.." Mustang didn't miss the light blush which colored Edward's cheeks at his words.
"I'll leave him in your care then, Sir." Hawkeye saluted him briefly before reaching down and handing the Colonel his subordinate's heavy suitcase. She then turned on her heel and began descending the porch steps.
"Oh, and sir?" Roy glanced up at the summoning and quirked an eyebrow at his Lieutenant.
"Hmm?" The blonde woman shot him a fierce glare, and Mustang gulped in trepidation, only having seen that look a handful of times in his life. He didn't miss her hand or the way that it hovered over the holster on her hip.
"Don't misbehave too much, or I'll put a bullet between your eyes." He gulped again, watching as she faithfully pat the gun resting at her side.
"U- understood, Lieutenant..." With a wink, she finally departed.
"Goodnight, Sir. Edward," she called back to them, walking back towards the military car. The teenager waved a hand at the Lieutenant as she drove off, before racing inside the Colonel's home, grinning excitedly.
Roy laughed at Edward's enthusiasm and turned to follow the teen as he shut the door, only to find that the boy had stopped in the foyer and was swiveling his head in every direction. Mustang sidled up behind him and placed a hand on his subordinate's shoulders.
"What's wrong?" The man asked. Edward was startled out of his daze and nearly jumped when the Colonel's hand made contact with his shoulder. A dark blush stained his cheeks and his eyes lowered to the floor. There was no way he could bring up the fact that the Colonel's house looked... startlingly... like a replica of his own back in Resembool (before the brothers had reduced it to ash, that is...)
"No, nothing... I've just never seen your house before. It's really nice." He heard a soft chuckle behind him, and shivered when he felt the Colonel's hot breath on his ear.
"Why, Fullmetal, was that a compliment?" The red, staining his cheeks, deepened considerably and he pushed away from the man, glowering at him.
"Shut it, Bastard." Edward invited himself on a small tour and made it to the kitchen before Roy caught up to him, beaming like an idiot. It made the blonde's chest hurt to realize how enamored the man actually was with him. You're such an idiot, Ed... why the hell did you attack him the other night? Stupid, stupid, stupid! A pair of strong arms circled around Edward's waist and he tensed slightly before relaxing in the Colonel's grasp.
"I really hadn't had anything planned for tonight, activity-wise. I guess I figured you'd arrive and we would eat and go straight to sleep... But..."
"Hawkeye just couldn't wait to get rid of me." They both laughed at that, knowing it was anything but true. Mustang peered at the teen through his lashes, tightening his arms around the boy and inhaling his sweet scent. Citrus and peonies, he mused, smiling.
"Which reminds me: the Lieutenant said she would be bringing your brother over as well. Will he be joining us later?" Edward reached up and idly ran his fingers over the sleeve of Roy's shirt, smoothing the creases in the cloth.
"Nope," he replied, popping the 'p'. "We dropped him off at the station on the way over. He's going back home to visit Winry and Granny." Mustang cocked an eyebrow at the apparent sadness in Edward's voice.
"I'm sure they'll be sad that you won't be returning with him.." Edward sighed audibly and detached himself from his superior, walking over to the kitchen table and fingering the petals of one of the yellow roses in the center arrangement.
"Nah. They'll get over it..." he replied sullenly. Roy hesitantly walked back over to Edward, moving his long fingers delicately over the blonde plait.
"Well, if you'd like, I have some board games and a deck of cards in the closet. Otherwise, I'm sure you can find something in my library to rea-" Without warning, the younger alchemist swiveled around in front of Roy and crashed their lips together, shoving the Colonel back against the kitchen counter in a frenzy. He pressed himself flush against the older man, conveying exactly what it was he wanted. Roy groaned into the kiss as he felt Edward's need digging into his thigh, feeling his own arousal beginning to harden in response, and gasped when the blonde suddenly broke away.
"How about you finish what you started earlier, Bastard?"
The board games could wait..
%%%%%%%
A shrill tone snatched the lovers out of their blissful sleep and Mustang groaned audibly at the disturbance. The blonde cracked open an eyelid to glance at the clock on the night stand, which indicated that it was well into the next afternoon, as he felt the man begin to clamber out of bed.
"Damn it! Do people not know how to read a fucking clock?" Edward smiled into his pillow as he felt the mattress dip and shift beside him, laughing at the notion that the Colonel, himself, obviously hadn't bothered to check the time. Cursing as the receiver was knocked to the ground by his searching hand, Roy bent over to fetch it and all but ripped the phone out of its cradle.
"Hello." The voice on the other end stammered slightly at Mustang's harsh tone, before whimpering softly at the tired soldier. Roy's eyes grew wide and a faint shade of pink colored his cheeks as he listened to the familiar voice mutter an apology in his ear.
"Uh... Oh! Yeah, sure... Let me get him." A hand was suddenly placed on Edward's shoulder, shaking him slightly, as though the boy could possibly sleep through all the commotion. A sleepy golden iris focused on the sheepish looking man and Edward raised a brow at Mustang's flustered expression. Sluggishly, the blonde took the receiver being offered to him and glanced up at his superior in confusion.
"It's your brother." Edward was instantly awake, sitting up abruptly and twirling the cord around himself as he tried to get comfortable on the bed.
"Al?" He sat, cross-legged, next to Roy, swatting away persistent hands as they grabbed at his naked form, and hastily covering himself with the bed sheet. "Yeah, I'm alright. You made it home safe then?" Another short pause, in which the raven-haired man could just make out the indiscernible mumbling from the younger brother.
"That was quick..." Ed grumbled, flicking indifferently at a dust bunny on the fabric around him. He corrected himself at Al's disgruntled bark. "No, it's not like it matters when, I jus-" More ranting, louder this time. Roy wrapped an arm around the alchemist's waist, running his long fingers across Edward's torso as the teenager gave a pleasant shiver.
"Okay, shoot." The blonde obliged. The line seemed silent for awhile after that; however, judging by the growing look of terror on his lover's face, Roy surmised that Alphonse's question had indeed been voiced, but very softly. Causing a single ebony brow to be raised in concern, Edward's mouth began to flutter open and shut- no sound coming from his lips- as he struggled to find words to answer.
"A- Al... that's not-" A heart-wrenching sob exploded from the ear piece, and Edward's eyes began to water. "No! Shit! Al, please don't cry! Don-!" Edward grasped the phone with both hands, clutching the object to him for dear life as the tears began to fall. Alphonse continued to break down on the other end, and Roy sat up straight in bed, wondering what he could possibly do to help the breaking child in front of him. "Please don't, Al... You know I can't stand it." The apparent sorrow of the muffled voice was quickly replaced by anger as the younger brother began to scream across the phone line at the alchemist.
"YOU PROMIS-...-THER-.. ELL ME?...-LIAR-...-CKING LIED-.. DWARD!" The blonde's eyes clenched together in sheer pain and he whimpered brokenly into the receiver.
"Al... just hold on, okay? Hang on..." Without another word, Edward stood from the mattress, nakedness forgotten, and strode into the adjoining bathroom, nearly tripping over the cord as it wound around his ankles.. Soft mutterings could be heard from the brothers' conversation but, as their voices were mostly hushed as they talked to one another, the Colonel found that he was well out of earshot.
The silence settled over the household, and Mustang brought his knees to his chest, at a loss for what to do. He'd seen the brothers fight with each other plenty over the few years he'd known them... It wasn't a concern of his, since he knew it was the way siblings were. Some things couldn't be helped. But he was fairly certain that Alphonse had actually swore at his older brother sometime during his rant..
And that frightened him.
Alphonse never swore. Not in the entire time that he had been around the suit of armor had he heard the boy curse. Whatever they were fighting over... it wasn't something that was just going to resolve itself overnight. If things were to go back to normal, they would nee-
"FUCK!" A loud crash in the next room brought the Colonel back to his senses, and he leapt up from the bed, running into the bathroom as though the world was ending.
There was glass... everywhere.
That was the first thing Mustang noticed as he entered the white space. Reflective glass covered the floor, sink, and countertop, and the abandoned phone lay near the doorway, dial tone resounding loudly in the silence. Roy determined that the mirror had been smashed to pieces, with the source of its devastation striking it in the very center. When the Colonel took in the sight of bright red liquid dripping from the wall behind the mirror, his brain immediately sent his body into overdrive, and he hurried to find Edward.
Curled up behind the porcelain toilet, the blonde gave a small sniffle to indicate his whereabouts to the distressed man, and Mustang immediately went to him.
"Ed?" As the boy turned to face him, Roy sucked in a mouthful of air in shock. His golden eyes were red-rimmed and bloodshot, and his lower lip trembled with the hitch of his labored breathing. Roy could scarcely remember a time when he had seen Edward appear so forlorn. Even when his secret had been revealed to the office, the boy had never looked like this: like the entirety of his world had crumbled and he was lost with nowhere to go.
"Ed, what happened? Is everything alright?" Edward laughed humorlessly at the question, as he reached up to wipe his nose with the left forearm.
"Yeah. Everything's fucking peachy," he replied bitterly. Roy took in the condition of his subordinate's bleeding hand and gently wrapped a clean towel around the wound, being sure to keep pressure on the cut. Gently, the older man cupped Edward's face in his hands and ran his thumbs over the skin, forcing the teen to look him in the eyes.
"What happened?" The golden eyes immediately broke away to stare at the shower curtain and, for a moment, Roy was doubtful the blonde would answer.
"... Granny's too insightful for her own good, that's what happened. And now Al probably won't ever talk to me again... It's the first time he's ever hung up the phone on me.. I bet he hates me. S'pose he has a right to, though.." Wordlessly, Roy swept the boy up into his arms and carried him, bridal style, back into the bedroom so he could lay down and rest. The Colonel's soft pink lips ghosted over Edward's temple and the blonde's body gave a shiver at the contact.
"Talk to me, Ed... You're scaring me." Edward tried, unsuccessfully, to turn away from the man's searching gaze and finally relented when he determined the action to be futile. Edward sat on the bed, cross-legged, and patted the space beside him.
"... Sit down, okay?" The raven haired man blinked twice as he processed the instruction, and stayed where he was.
"What?" Edward huffed in annoyance, looking at Mustang with tired eyes.
"Just... sit." Roy did as he was told, and sat on the bed- very near to the blonde- only to have Edward move away slightly. It was as though the boy was trying to put as much space between them as possible without it being awkward.
It was still awkward.
The Fullmetal Alchemist inhaled deeply and tried to stop his mind from running all over the place. He knew he had to explain. He knew that Roy deserved to know. And he knew that it was going to hurt like hell.
Tenderly, he took Roy's hand in both of his and sighed.
"When I was transmuted into a chimera... It was as though I was starting my life over completely. I was a newly born cat-human cross." At his pause, the older man looked at him expectantly, prompting him to continue.
"The life expectancy of an average human male is right around fifty years. But I'm not an average human male.. Under normal circumstances, my own life expectancy, as a chimera, would fall at about twenty-five years... the same as Sam... since dogs and cats are pretty much neck-and-neck in their life spans." Edward closed his eyes, shutting them tight against reality as he felt a tear trickle down the side of his face.
"But... the automail... and the stress of the transmutations.. They've both taken off a couple of years of my life..." He choked on his words, his breath coming to him with more difficulty now as he began to sob outright. Roy's grip tightened on his hands and Edward realized, for the first time, that the man was trembling.
"Edward... please..." he gasped, face contorted in pain. ".. Please, no more. I can't listen any longer. Please.." The blonde took his lower lip between his teeth, silently cursing himself for causing so much pain and sadness in the ones he loved. It was his fault... All his fault..
"I'm so sorry, Roy..." he sobbed, curling in on himself slightly as he struggled to maintain his sanity. "God... I'm so sorry..." The Flame Alchemist made no reply, and a part of him registered that he had most likely gone into shock.
Edward was dying.
The revelation stunned Roy more than he had ever thought possible. Here, the Fullmetal Alchemist sat, looking as beautiful and healthy as ever with tears streaming down his face, his moist golden eyes promising the Colonel a future that they would no longer share together. And it fucking hurt.. His heart felt as though it had shattered. Like it been made of glass, and the news of Edward's failing health had caused it to burst into a million tiny shards.
"Ho.. How long?" His broken voice echoed in the small room as his exhausted frame slumped back against the headboard. The Colonel allowed his eyes to drift shut, reaching up and covering them with his forearm, and heard Edward shuffle his weight on the bed.
"I still have a year or two left, I'd imagine... I'm not in any imminent danger of keeling over on you, Mustang."
"How can you act so casually?!" The man ripped his hands away from his face, slapping them down angrily on the mattress, and glared daggers at the chimera. Edward jumped at his tone, and his ears pressed back tight against his skull as his eyes widened in apparent fear.
"R-Roy..." Still seated in bed, the Flame Alchemist buried his head in his hands and rubbed his tired eyes, refusing to succumb to the ever-threatening tears. After a short pause, Roy returned his attention to the boy before him and sighed in exasperation.
"Dammit, Ed! You talk about it like you're taking a small vacation! You're fucking dying!" Roy breathed heavily and stared at the teen before him. Edward's eyes were lowered to the bed... his fists clenched in the sheets... and the only movement he made was the steady rise and fall of his chest as he breathed.
"I know that I'm dying, Roy... But I've known about it for a long time, and there's nothing that can be done to change that fact. I'm not going to just sit here and cry over it. It's the way of the world. As an alchemist, you should know that. One is all, and all is one. All things are connected to each other. My life is no more important than any other person in the world.."
"It is to me." Edward glanced up at this profession, allowing for shock to momentarily color his features before chuckling half-heartedly.
"Don't get all mushy on me, Colonel." The beautiful golden eyes, which Roy had irrevocably fallen in love with, bore into his with a sorrow so intense, it plucked the strings of his own grief like a well-tuned harp. Edward smiled at the man. "I've had a good life... and I'm proud that I can at least say that.. Sure, I've made a bunch of mistakes... but if it hadn't been for those lapses in judgement, I never would have gotten the chance to meet you or anyone else I care about." The Flame Alchemist knew that it must have taken a lot for his lover to admit such feelings so openly, and it touched him in a way he could have never imagined.
"Ed.." Roy generously open his arms wide, wordlessly offering the alchemist the small bit of comfort. And, as the Colonel knew he would, Fullmetal silently fit himself neatly against the man's chest, snuggling deep into the embrace and laying his head on a bare shoulder. He realized with a start that both were still completely nude from the night's activities, and the close proximity of the lovers, with Edward huddled up against his chest- fingers drawing soft patterns on the Colonel's ivory skin- was oddly comforting. It was a moment of such emotional intimacy that, on any normal occasion, it would have nagged at the back of Mustang's subconscious. But there was nothing there. Only blissful silence. And Edward.
His Edward.
"I wanted to ask you something, Roy..." The blonde angel sighed into his shoulder.
"Don't you dare say something heartless or I'll deck you.." He could practically feel Edward's smile flutter across his right shoulder, and Roy's skin tingled in the spot where the pink lips had graced the surface.
"No, no, nothing like that..." A pause. Mustang waited patiently for the teen to continue. When he finally did, the Colonel's heart gave a painful lurch. "It's a high possibility that I'm only going to be around for two more years." How was that anything but heartless? Edward certainly had a knack for touching sore spots..
"Do you think it'd be alright if I spent the first of those last years doing whatever I need to in order to restore Al's body? I'd like to do what I can before I'm no longer able t-"
"Stop." Edward glance up at his commander and made a noise of confusion. The onyx eyes were screwed tightly together, and the man's lips were pressed into a thin, hard line.
"Please stop talking like that, Edward. I can't take it." Abruptly, the blonde sat up straight in his lover's arms, back going rigid at the notion that he had made yet another person cry over him. Mismatched hands lifted up to lovingly stroke the sides of the man's jawline, pleading with him not to break down.
"Don't tell me you're going to cry. Fuck, Roy, please don't. I'll lose my shit if both you and Al start crying on me." A single eye cracked open, and the grief which shone in the dark iris caused Edward to inhale sharply.
"I'm not going to cry." Roy tightened his grip around the kneeling boy in his lap and buried his face into the toned chest. He felt Edward's arms wrap, hesitantly, around the back of the Colonel's head as the man tried to win control over his raging emotions. "Crying over this would mean that I accept it, even just a little bit. And I refuse to acknowledge the fact that you're just going to sit back and allow yourself to die." Edward rolled his eyes, running his fingers through the ebony strands of hair.
"I already told you, I-" Mustang sat up quickly, startling Edward into falling onto his back on the bed.
"And I told you, Edward, that I'm not willing to sit back and watch you give up! If you want to go off into the world to find a way of bringing your brother back, then go. I won't stop you. But just know that I'll be right here, hard at work looking for a way of returning you back to normal, when you do come home. And when that day comes, I hope you won't have forgotten me." The fury in his eyes was evident, and the blonde felt shame grip his heart like a vice. This was his fault. This was the pain and anguish his mistake had caused. He sat up shakily, placing his weight on his forearms as he lifted himself onto his elbows.
"... Roy..." The man looked away, biting his lower lip. Edward forced himself to crawl towards his lover, begging the older man to look at him as he took his face in his hands. "How can you even think that?" Softly... gently... Mustang leaned in and touched his lips to the blonde's. This action caused an instantaneous response as all the hidden anger and grief suddenly burst from Edward's body in a strangled sob. The boy allowed himself to fall limply against his commander's chest, only barely hearing the man's words over his own agonized howling.
"I love you, Edward... for everything you are. And I pray that, someday, you and I will be able to be happy together... without all this insanity." Edward hiccuped loudly into the soft skin on Roy's chest, unable to contain the sobs which wracked his body. The Colonel tenderly stroked through his lover's blonde hair, soothing away all his pain and wishing, more than anything, that he could do something more for the boy. A low mumbling stirred the man from his thoughts, and he glanced down at the teenager snuggled over his heart.
"What was that?" Ed sniffled and lifted his head up slightly, so that he was able to talk without his voice being muffled.
"I said: 'I... I love you, too'." He stammered, throwing in, under his breath, a quick, "damned Colonel," before he was cut off with a searing kiss.
Wordlessly, Roy lowered the blonde back onto the mattress, covering every inch of the boy in soft kisses. Wherever the man's lips brushed on Edward's skin, the surface tingled and burned as though on fire... and Edward loved every minute of it. He writhed under the Colonel, making soft mewling noises as his tail flitted around to curl over Roy's lower back, urging his closer.
Every touch was a caress. Each kiss was their last. They savored every moment as Roy slowly prepared the teenager's body for that moment when they would become one. Edward's body was on fire, and his fingers- metal and flesh- dug into every inch of the Colonel's skin: begging him for release. Finally, Roy relented, and lowered his body on top of the younger alchemist's- causing them both to moan at the wonderful sensation- as he entered the boy.
All the spoken words... all the murmured apologies... could never have lived up to this moment. The passion, and raw emotion, in every finite movement of one man spoke volumes to the other and, by the time Edward was nearing his peak, he was in tears. He clutched onto Roy, as though the man would suddenly disappear... or, perhaps more realistically, that Edward would disappear. It wasn't an over-exaggeration to say that Edward was terrified.
After everything that had happened in his life... losing his humanity, watching his mother die, the transmutation, losing Al, becoming the military's dog... was this really how it would all end? Was this really it for him? Was this what it was like... to die?
Edward climaxed with a sob, back arching high off of the mattress as he felt Roy fill him with his own release. Surprisingly, it was the Colonel who held his lover long after their bodies managed to cool down. What Edward had failed to realize was that he wasn't alone in his fear. Mustang was afraid as well... not for the first time in his life.. He couldn't bear the thought of losing his beloved now that they were finally together. He wouldn't allow it to happen.
He would find a way to return him to normal. He would figure out some way to fix this atrocity... so that Edward could have a second chance at life. Mustang glanced over, lovingly, at the sleeping child curled up against him. His golden hair was fanned out over the sheets behind him and appeared fiery beneath the brilliant rays of sunlight peering through the window. Gently, so as not to wake him, Roy brushed a stray lock from his lover's peaceful face and over a feline ear and sighed contently.
He would find a way to save him. He had to.
-"':;FIN;:'"-
**NOTE: Sam is nine years old. Edward is fifteen. Sam will live to be twenty-six years old (because he deserves an extra year, dammit!), while Ed's life-expectancy has been shortened drastically to fall at seventeen to eighteen years.
STAY TUNED FOR THE SEQUEL! COMING (relatively) SOON!