Disclaimer: I don't own Sabrina or Fullmetal Alchemist

Disclaimer: I don't own Sabrina or Fullmetal Alchemist.

One of the last chapters to be beta'd by ZaKai. I'll soon be without a beta… So, I'm back to school and working full time. I hope that it won't affect my updating too much.

(1) A made up name/company.

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Chapter 20

"Does Winry know yet?" asked Roy when the silence became long and thick. He didn't look up from his lap as his mother shifted in her chair.

"She doesn't know."

"Good," said Roy, getting up out of his chair. "If you'll excuse me then, I have a conference call soon." Roy held out his hand, indicating that he would walk his mother to his office door. "I would appreciate it if you don't say anything to her," added Roy as Pinako rose from the chair.

"Roy, darling, you can't—"

"For now," amended Roy. That seemed to stall his mother's protests, but he knew that it wasn't over. He idly wondered what sort of reaction his sister would have to his news, but figured that being as fickle as he knew her to be, she wouldn't care other then maybe that he might take some of her flings away. Now, that struck him as funny.

He watched Pinako walk past Alex's desk and towards her own then looked over at the man seated at his desk.

"This came for you," said Alex, his massive hand holding out a couriered box. Raising an eyebrow curiously, Roy took the surprisingly heavy package with both hands and retreated back into his office. Placing the box on top of his desk, he rooted through his desk drawer looking for scissors, his letter opener—something that would cut through the tape.

"The Environmental call is on line three," came Alex's voice through the intercom, startling Roy slightly.

"Alright," said Roy, depressing the button so that Alex would hear him. He abandoned the box and lifted the phone.

"Oh dear," said Patricia, making Edward's stomach feel like it had just fell onto the floor where she stomped on it. Hohenheim stared at him blankly causing Edward's vision to go blurry. This wasn't how it was supposed to go… They were supposed to not care. They were supposed to be okay with this. That was why he hadn't considered that he would get a negative reaction, because he knew that they would be fine…

He could feel the blood leave his face, leaving him feeling lightheaded and slightly sick to his stomach. He swallowed stiffly—numbly—as he blankly looked over at the two adults still seated on the couch. Patricia had one hand pressed against her lips, looking at him like he was some sort of freak. He was a freak…

And his da…he seemed like he was still waiting for him to say something. Like maybe, 'ha, ha, da, it was all a joke, wasn't that funny?', but…his tongue was wooden in his mouth. They were looking at him with accusatory eyes that pinned Edward to the floor and made him silent.

And now they didn't like him anymore. They were going to get rid of him, make him leave the house. He had heard tons of horror stories about people coming out and getting all sorts of shit because of it. They were going to yell at him—

"Oh—no, dear," said Patricia, quickly getting out of her seat and rushing to his side where he was enveloped in a tight hug. "You misunderstand, please don't look like that, honey," crooned Patricia, pushing his head down over her shoulder and patting his head.

Too stunned to react to her, Edward just stood there numbly while he was held and rocked slightly. He stared at his father over Patricia's shoulder. He had yet to move or seemingly react to his confession. His father had always been so gentle and understanding; this silence was very unusual. Usually, his da would be the one holding him, letting him know that he was there for him while murmuring encouraging words. Without his da's support, he would have never made it through school in one piece. He needed that now.

And what would he think of him when he said that he might be in love with Roy Mustang?

"Da?" asked Edward, his voice small and unsure sounding. Hohenheim blinked, seeming to come out of his trance. He just wanted his father to tell him it was okay; that it didn't matter.

"Hohenheim, please; your son needs you," said Patricia, breaking the hug to look at his father, but keeping him close with the arm around his shoulders.

"Russell was…er…my first boyfriend," said Edward in that same tiny voice. Patricia turned and looked at him while he spoke, rubbing her hand across his shoulder blade. His father continued to watch him quietly. Why he was telling him this when it was obvious that it was already too much, he wasn't sure. But he knew that he had to explain this somehow.

"We…never…not all the way…but, I like Winry—she's a girl—so maybe I'm not all gay. Bi…or…I don't know." His father sat there unmoving. Edward stepped out of Patricia's protective hold and moved towards Hohenheim, stopping a few feet away to look down at him.

"I'm still me. I haven't changed, really. I'm still me." His hand fisted at his side in his nervousness.

Finally his da rose from his chair and stood before him, looking down from his height into Edward's slightly upturned face, his gaze roaming across his face. "I'm very disappointed in you," said his father, so low that he almost didn't hear it. Edward's eyes went wide, tearing up upon hearing that. "I need to wash the Benz."

His father walked past him without another word and headed outside.

How could this be happening? His father was supposed to be understanding and loving. They were all they had, and he was just going to walk out the front door without any sort of response other then he was disappointing?

"Don't worry," murmured Patricia. Edward was numb to her touch as the tears slipped down his pale cheeks and dropped to the floor. "He's just shocked, I'm sure he didn't mean it like it sounded. I'll talk to him, honey, don't cry now."

This really was a horrible week. He came home; it was all good and then Roy ruined it by revealing his identity to Winry. But Winry liked him anyway and then he punched Roy in the face after being treated so horribly. Roy had ambushed him and took him to L.A., but he then got to spend time with Roy. But now he had to be realistic and face the fact that despite what he was feeling for Roy, Roy might not feel anything for him. Scar assaulted him and called him derogatory names. He got silver, not the gold he had planned on, but then he was given all sorts of happy, proud comments when he showed off his trophy. He had come to terms with the fact that he was gay, and as soon as he came out to his father, he was rejected.

Cold.

It was too much, too fast. He really didn't like all this change all at once. There was only so much he could deal with at one time. And having all this thrust upon him—god, he wanted Roy to be with him right now, but he knew that would never happen. Roy was so good at making his worries disappear. He needed him to make this go away; he wanted Roy to hold him. Patricia was kind and soothing, but she wasn't touching him in the way that Roy could. Fuck, he wanted a kiss.

The stillness of the room wasn't unheard of. Many a time, even occupied, the room enjoyed a serene quiet that remained undisturbed for hours. But today, Edward wished that he wasn't being left to his own devices. He wished his father would come talk to him instead of avoiding him whenever he wandered through the kitchen or when he'd happened to be downstairs shortly after his confession to get a breath of fresh air. Both times he had run into his da, his father had dropped his gaze to the floor and left.

It hurt.

So, he had retreated to his room to sulk and feel horrible for telling. He wished he could take it back and make it so it had never happened. He had always been so sure that his da wouldn't bat an eye at his orientation. He hadn't even worried about his snap decision to tell his da and Patricia about his preference. If only he had known that it would go down like this, he would have kept his mouth shut and let his da think whatever he wanted to.

Listlessly, Edward stared up at the ceiling from his position on the floor. He lay between the dresser and the small space from it to the far wall. As a child, he had often spent his time in this corner reading with a pillow and his favorite stuffed bear. As a teenager, it had turned into his homework and daydream about Winry nook until he had left for Paris.

"Fuck…" muttered Edward peevishly. He knew that he should go down there and force da to face him. But, in this, he didn't want a confrontation.

The phone broke through his swirl of unsettled thoughts, forcing him to get to his feet; groaning over how stiff his body had become from laying on the floor for so long. He picked up the receiver on his bed side table and mumbled an unintelligible hello.

"Edward; good afternoon," said Roy. Edward's spirits lifted immediately upon hearing his voice.

"Roy." A grin of happiness spread across his face. His crappy day made a one-eighty. But, even knowing how his father had reacted to his news; it didn't stop from feeling glad to hear Roy's voice again. "I wondered if I would get to hear from you today. How are you?" he asked, and felt a twinge of guilt that dialed back his happiness a bit. His father would be very upset if—when—he knew who he liked.

"Very fine, considering. You?"

"Meh," grunted Edward. He didn't want to unload on Roy. It was enough that Roy had called. He wasn't feeling too happy around here at the moment. "Are you busy?"

"A little bit. But, I'll make time for you," said Roy. The way Roy put extra, subtle, emphasis on 'you' made Edward grin wider and his guilt was whisked away. "I just wanted to know if you're free this evening."

"Yeah, sure. What've you got in mind?" He could certainly use any excuse to get out of the house and away from the tense atmosphere. And maybe now, having Roy to himself he could make Roy understand that he didn't want casual, he wanted more…much more from Roy.

"Oh, I don't know. How about dinner for starters? I know this nice little place—"

"What about people seeing us? Your career—"

"Don't be foolish, Edward. There is nothing for you to worry about—can't understand where you got that idea in the first place," said Roy with a chuckle.

"You sure?" asked Edward, not quite believing it. Then why hadn't he seen Roy with anyone before? If Roy didn't care then he should have seen him with more people. It didn't make any sense to him. But, maybe he could ask about it later.

"Can you get your father to drive you in? I was hoping to meet for three."

"Ah—sure," said Edward, fidgeting the fabric of his t-shirt through his unoccupied hand. He'd take the train or the bus—a cab even—but he wasn't going to be asking his da for anything right now.

"Good—oh! There's a package that came for you today, but it was addressed to me. You'll want to see this."

"A package? From who?"

"Just wait until you get here. So…three alright?" asked Roy, suddenly sounding uncharacteristically unsure. Edward blinked at his bedside table lamp, slightly dumbfounded.

"Yeah, okay." Roy was nervous too?

"Great."

Hohenheim watched from the corner of his eye as his son headed down the external stairs to the pavement. A pang of remorse stung his heart.

His boy—his little, shy, clumsy, book-loving son…was gay.

As he watched surreptitiously from beside the car, he raked his eyes down his son's body, trying to pin-point what was gay about his son. Dressed as he was, in his new clothes—so different from those baggy things he used to wear; a well tailored, pinstriped shirt with comfortable, but clean lined pants that accentuated his lower body--Hohenheim couldn't help but wonder, was being well dressed a gay trait?

His gaze settled on his son's long, deep golden hair; much like his own, it was long and pulled back into a high ponytail. He had always preferred wearing his long hair pulled back at the nape of his neck. If long hair wasn't gay—because Hohenheim certainly wasn't gay—could the location of the ponytail be an indicator of gay-ness?

Edward paused, looking back at him with a pained expression on his face just before he went around the corner of the garage. Hohenheim thought about his son's involvement in martial arts. It was something that he had encouraged his son to take up, thinking that it would be the proper vehicle for his son to grow. Would a gay man take up a sport that was the very epitome male dominance and testosterone? Wouldn't doing such a thing make him more straight than gay?

With a slumping of his muscular shoulders, Edward turned away and went around the corner of the building leaving Hohenheim to his thoughts.

From what Hohenheim knew of gay—and admittedly it wasn't much—they liked to dress in outrageous clothes and wax their bodies so that they could look more feminine and pretty. His son wasn't like that…or was he? Maybe he dressed up in private. That boy Russell might have shown Edward all sorts of things. Why on earth did he think sending Edward away to Paris would be good for him? Look at what has happened because of it. His son was gay.

This made him incredibly uneasy.

Patricia was giving him the cold shoulder ever since he had walked out on them hours earlier. He felt especially upset for causing her grief, but he couldn't yet bring himself to change the situation. He just couldn't wrap his head around this new and startling development.

In time perhaps…but now, he needed to think about this.

"Sir, the Hugheses are here for their meeting," said Alex, after he'd closed the door behind him. Usually, the large man would use the intercom, but seeing as Roy wasn't scheduled to meet with them, Alex was trying to be diplomatic.

"All of them?" asked Roy warily, letting his quarterly report land on his desktop with a flop. Alex nodded. Looking past the bulk of his aid, he could just see Maes, his arm around his wife's shoulders and pointing to the floor to ceiling piece of art work that lined the hall directly across from his office. "Find my mother. Escort them into Winry's office in the mean time; God knows it's not used for anything else."

Alex nodded his massive head and closed the door behind him. Roy hurriedly tidied up his desktop, feeling annoyed that he was having yet another distraction to interrupt his day. At least he had gotten Edward to agree to meet him this evening. He glanced at the large box resting on the low console table behind his desk. He wasn't too sure what he felt about its contents. But it was a very touching gesture on their part.

Pulling his suit coat off the back of his chair, Roy slipped his arms into the sleeves as he made for the door. He met his mother in the hallway.

"What does he want now," wondered Pinako, her tone showing how trying this was to her. Roy felt the same.

"I'm sure I don't know. You've seen some of the things he's been faxing me?" mumbled Roy as they neared Winry's office.

"Goodness, yes. You've been very good to deal with him all this while," said Pinako. Roy grunted and reached out to pull the door to Winry's office open, allowing his mother to precede him.

"Ah, there they are," said Maes, a huge grin spreading across his face when he turned from the window. Gracia was seated in one of the large, over stuffed chairs that dotted the floor. The whole office was decorated with modern furniture and geometric patterned fabrics. Tall bamboo, reaching up to the ceiling sat next to the window next to Maes, and a large desk sat unused at the back of the room.

Another floor to ceiling painting took up the wall to Roy's right, before it was a long, low bench on which his mother took a seat. Pinako leaned to the side to greet Gracia, placing a hand over the other woman's forearm. As his mother entertained Gracia, Roy approached Maes, nodding a greeting.

"Maes, good of you to come in," said Roy amiably.

"Roy, my boy; how are you?" asked Maes, slapping a jovial hand into his shoulder. Roy grit his teeth.

"Can I offer you a seat; coffee—a sedative?" grunted Roy allowing a bit of his annoyance to show through.

Maes chuckled. Roy looked over at his mother but she was being dragged into a conversation about wedding invitation paper and what the best style would be. No help there.

"No, Roy. I'm just here to ask you about Winry."

"My sister?" This time, Pinako did meet his eyes with a worried tilt to her head. "Was there something the matter?"

"Oh, don't mind him," Gracia said, waving a hand in dismissal at her husband.

"It's just that we—"

"Just you, dear," Gracia interrupted.

"I feel that our future daughter-in-law isn't paying our son the proper amount of attention for someone about to be married. I've been checking around about that boy with the long hair, it seems that she told the whole emergency staff about her intentions towards him." Maes's green eyes became sharp and intense as they watch Roy's face.

And Roy felt himself become angry at the way Maes subtly inflected the word 'boy' with just enough scorn to insinuate something more then what was said. No one talked about Edward that way.

"I would hate for our business merger to be affected by your sister's flighty ways…"

"Are you threatening me?" asked Roy, his voice turning hard against his wishes. He knew that Maes was, of course, but he wanted to drive the point home, and all Maes did was shrug.

"The Todiko (1) Corporation has approached me about a buyout. Seems like a very good offer," said Maes, looking smug and smiling at Roy.

"He's threatening me," Roy said, looking over at his mother. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Roy, dear…?"

Roy turned away from her and turned back to Maes. "Now look here," growled Roy, his patience all but used up. "The merger between our companies will go through and you needn't worry about my sister. She'll marry Alphonse; I'm making sure of that."

"Oh?" Maes looked at him with new interest. "Is that so? I wonder if that's true. Just where did you run off to this week? What was so important that you had to leave? You've been very vague about the whole thing. Your aide mentioned something about a tournament. If you have time to waste on that, you should be working on the merger instead and not off playing with the chauffeur's son."

"Now; Maes, Gracia; how about I take you out for an early lunch?" his mother rose from the low bench and placed a warm hand over Roy's bicep and squeezed.

"Oh, Pinako, that sounds lovely; doesn't it, Maes?" said Gracia, a hard note to her voice when she turned to glare at him. Faced with his wife's ire, Maes's quickly turned his attitude around.

"Well, it was a nice visit. I think we'll take you up on that offer, Pinako. Roy," said Maes, nodding at Roy, the calculating gaze gone from his eyes, but it still saw everything Roy couldn't seem to hide. Roy nodded back.

He watched them leave, his mother guiding them out with impromptu plans for a lunch venue in the works. Roy was shaking with anger. As soon as the door to Winry's office closed, cutting off the jovial conversation, Roy slumped down into one of Winry's polka doted chairs and noticing that his hands were tightly fisted. He forced his hands to open and grip the arms of the chair.

He couldn't even say for sure where this anger came from, but as soon as Maes had insinuated that he was inappropriately spending his time with Edward he had the intense urge to punch Maes's lights out. Even now, with him gone, Roy was still quite angry. He watched as his hands re-curled into tight fists making the knuckles white.

And his mother had seen right through him, too.

Edward took a cab into town; and, from there, he took the train into the city. It had been some time since he'd last taken this method to get to the city. It was sort of nice. He could look out at the passing scenery and the homes and just let his mind wander.

Over and over, Roy and his shared passion played itself out in his mind's eye interspaced with this father reaction to his sexuality. The two events playing off one another to the point that when the train stopped in the heart of Manhattan, Edward was very unsure of whether he should go see Roy or not.

He knew, almost viscerally, that something was going to happen and whatever this thing coming turned out to be it was going to happen soon…and he might not like the outcome. It made him hesitate to make his way towards Mustang Inc. and he drifted around the shops in an effort to give himself more time to decide. As he shuffled his way through numerous over priced store fronts, he found that he was at an impasse. Should he meet with Roy tonight? Or should he just go home?

Going home meant having to face that tense atmosphere and maybe confronting his father again. While he knew that he had to sit down with his father, it wasn't like he wanted to do it right now. The time apart might actually be good for da to sort out his reactions and be calmer about the whole thing. He hoped. Just thinking about those words coming from his father's mouth… "I'm very disappointed in you." He could hear it reverberating in his skull.

But…

Staying in the city meant facing Roy and whatever Roy would say to him when he asked about where 'they' stood—if anywhere at all. And after seeing how his da reacted to him, did he even want to let Roy know that he wanted more than just a fling. If telling da that he was gay did this then why make things even worse?

Edward found that choosing between these two crappy options made him procrastinate. It was well past the three o'clock time he was supposed to meet up with Roy and now going on six. He knew he needed to make a decision. He couldn't stay in the city forever. The train home would stop at some point, and he didn't have enough money to tide him over with a hotel room, dinner, and so on. He really should just head to the office and meet with Roy. Even if nothing came of the meeting at least he could go home with Roy.

And as Edward finally decided that he would see Roy, he found that his feet had already taken him to the Mustang Tower. He had stopped one street away from the large sixty-seven floor building and had to crane his neck back to be able to see the whole thing. Edward's stomach fluttered with apprehension, but he dropped his gaze to street level and forced his feet to cross the to the other side.

In the foyer, Edward stared at the company logo which consisted of a large stylized 'M' surrounded by a circle in brass. There was a promotional commercial playing on a large, flat screen TV, advertising the industries that Mustang Inc. was part of. And they were many.

Oh, what was he thinking? He shouldn't be here! He was a lowly chauffeur's son. He was a fucking man! What was going on here? What did Roy want from him? What could he even offer to someone like Roy, who had everything?

Edward turned and looked through the glass doors at the street beyond—and hesitated. But…he did want something from Roy.

Ed turned back to face the interior of the building and took one step towards the elevators. People dressed much better then he was, in suits and carrying briefcases or holding phones to their ears and looking important, brushed past him. Some stared at him curiously, others paid him no mind. He was used to the latter.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Edward waded through the exiting workers towards the elevator. He didn't need to check what floor Roy's office was on. He knew from his da that his office was on the top floor. So, when the doors slid shut behind him silently, he pressed the sixty-seventh button with a shaking finger.

The ride, though most likely fast, was eons to Edward. And god, when the doors opened to a deserted floor, he almost turned back. But, his body had other intentions and it pulled him from the car. He wandered hesitatingly through the vast, high ceiling office until he found a large, bald man seated behind a desk, working diligently.

Edward had moved so silently though the office, that the man wasn't aware of his presence. He knew that no matter what he did, he would most likely startle the large man.

"Um…" murmured Edward, inching forward slightly. As he knew it would, the muscular man's head snapped upwards in fright.

"Edward Elric?" the man asked. Edward blinked that his name was known, but then, of course this man would, Roy would have told him that he was coming. "He's been expecting you." The burly man rose with surprising grace from his chair and rounded the desk towards him. "This way, please."

Feeling strange to have these formalities directed at him, Edward moved towards a heavy wooden door at the man's bidding.

"Edward Elric is here to see you, sir," said the man upon opening the door. He then stepped to the side, allowing Edward to enter.

Edward's eyes landed on Roy's face just as he was pulling his gaze back from the many miles he had travelled. He couldn't help it. Roy's face was so open and free of anything— "Hi," he said, rather then letting his thoughts wonder more then they should.

"Edward," said Roy, his voice turning stern. "I didn't hear from you. I was getting worried."

"Sorry 'bout that," said Edward, moving towards the center of the room before he lost his nerve. Roy stood from his chair and came around the desk towards him. Without hesitation, Roy took hold of his shoulders and gently pulled him forward to place a tender kiss on to his forehead.

"Please let me know next time. You don't know what that did to me," murmured Roy as he was enveloped by slightly faltering arms.

"Sorry," said Edward again, wrapping his own arms around Roy's waist and sighing. This…actually felt more right then from before. It was stupid to think that he didn't belong here, in Roy's arms, when it felt like this.

"Do I dare ask what kept you?" Roy's voice rumbled.

"Nothing—much," Edward said, just catching himself before he spilled everything. "I was just thinking," he explained, because he needed to say something to cover his slip and it wasn't wrong.

"Deep thoughts," said Roy, pulling Edward back so that he could stare into his eyes. It sounded like a question, so Edward just smiled vaguely. "Are you hungry? We could still go out."

"Yeah, I'm pretty hungry. Is this a date?" blurted Edward, half fearful that it was and that would mean—a lot actually. He knew that for 'this' to have the label of date would mean very much to him right now.

"Of course it is. Now, don't be getting those foolish ideas again that people will see us, because I don't care if they do," teased Roy, tapping his nose and smiling that wonderfully sexy smile of his.

"Right," said Edward, laughing to cover his mix of happy and nervous emotions. Yes! he shouted in his mind. He had to hold his body still because he wanted to drop to his knees and pump the air in giddy triumph.

"Well, let me just get my jacket, and we'll head out," said Roy. When Roy turned, Edward quickly punched the air, grinning like a fool. "Oh, yes. Take a look at this," said Roy.

Edward snapped his body back to his original standing position when Roy looked over his shoulder at him. His eyes were drawn to the large white box resting behind Roy's chair. Curious, Edward moved towards Roy, seeing him in the corner of his eye as he slipped his arms into his jacket.

The box flaps were folded over, hiding the contents and Edward studied the label with interest. It was addressed to him care of Roy's office. Which…seemed really strange. Who would even think to send him something via Roy? Why would they even bother? The return address was from somewhere in the mid-west and fuck knows he didn't know anyone who lived out there. Blinking in confusion, Edward reached out and opened the flaps. He was presented with a box full of packing peanuts.

Shooting a curious glance at Roy, Edward reached up and dug his hands into the foam forms, feeling about for the contents. After a moment of fumbling, his left hand caught on a hard and unusual object. He lifted the item up, peanuts dropping haphazardly all over Roy's cabinet and floor.

"Oops," muttered Edward, smiling lopsidedly at Roy. The answering grin he got begged to be kissed off, but Edward caught sight of the box's contents. "What the—what is this?" asked Edward, shocked. He looked at the base and read, 'First place winner, World Open Mixed Martial Arts Tournament.'

"Its first place," said Roy. He reached into the box and dug around for a moment, spilling more peanuts onto the floor. Edward blinked at the trophy in his hands in wonder. Why…why did he have this?

"Here it is," said Roy, pulling another package wrapped very poorly, as if by a child and a thick letter. "I didn't open anything further once I found these," he said and handed him the present.

Edward carefully placed the trophy on the counter and took the items from Roy's hand. Printed across the envelope in a shaky child's hand was his name in bright pink crayon. Wanting an explanation more then anything, Edward flipped the envelope over and pulled out the yellow lined paper.

Roy shuffled behind him, looking over his shoulder. Edward didn't mind, but since Roy was sneaking a not-so-secret peek, Edward thought it fair that he get to lean on him. A warm hand settled on his hip and a chin on the side of his head, and he began to read.

Dear EDward,

Thank yu for leting my daddy win the contess. Becose of that I was aloud to get my opuration that will help me brethe. Nana is also vury happy that i will be able to go outside again

here is a drawng of my dog.

Edward traced his hand over the childish drawing of a black dog sitting under the green tree. Standing beside the dog was a girl, supposedly the writer of the letter and she was smiling. He flipped the page. There was another letter addressed to him, written in a flowing hand that Edward supposed was a woman's.

Kind Sir,

I thank you with my deepest love for allowing my son to help my granddaughter. For most of her short life, Nina has been afflicted with a deadly heart condition that would have been terminal if not for her recent operation.

When she was born we knew that this little ray of light was in dire trouble. Her mother, bless her soul, was a drug addict and gave her up to Islam right away. But she was underdeveloped and we didn't have health care insurance. Many of her firsts happened at the hospital. Her first word, her first steps, her first medical emergency. Let me tell you, it was a very tense time for all of us. We did what we could.

Islam worked four jobs to make sure she was taken care of and still he pursued his dream of fighting. Little Nina and Islam were inseparable when she was well enough to leave the hospital. She went with him during his deliveries and watched as he trained himself hard in the gym. If not for Islam's over seas travels, she would have followed him there as well.

I know my son has been behaving badly, and don't you worry none, he's been put in his place. Though there is no excuse for his behavior, he did it to make sure our little angel would make it.

I hope you can forgive him his transgressions and I pray for you and your family.

With much love and gratitude,

Nana.

And still there was one more letter. Edward flipped the page and read.

Edward,

I write to you in acknowledgment. You are a very good fighter.

Scar.

Edward snorted and checked the back of the page for more. But that was it. He supposed that was all he was about to get, too. Still…

"Interesting," said Roy, his jaw moving against Edward's head as he spoke.

"I'm not sure what to feel about this," mumbled Edward, flipping back through the papers to look at the little girl's picture.

"Open this," directed Roy, pulling the package from Edward's hands and placing it atop the letters.

With a shrug, Edward pulled apart the wrapping paper, which was really only colored construction paper to find a nicely framed picture of Edward, Rick and Leo at the tournament during their weapons fight. Edward was mid-air, Leo was lunging forward and Rick was just about to move as he looked up at Edward. It was a fantastic shot and done with a high-speed camera.

"Wow," said Edward appreciatively.

"I think that almost makes up for how Scar treated us," said Roy, finally moving away from his back.

Edward placed the frame and the letter beside the trophy and let his eyes travel across the award. And felt nothing. "Let's get that food, I'm hungry," said Edward, turning to give Roy a grin. He might not have earned first place at the tournament, but he was certainly going to win Roy's heart.

--To Be Continued--

Thanks to everyone who reviewed last time. I'm very thankful for every single comment that you leave me :D