Oh, my god - I haven't updated in over a year. Well...hi! A lot of things have happened, but I'm back and have conquered writer's block!

I've had the idea for this one for quite a while, so I hope you like it! Another story about Ed just trying to do this father-thing right.


"And then you just add that to the atomic number, which is?"

Edward's student looked at the note he'd just written on her paper, consulted the element table on the wall above them, and answered hesitantly, "The number...at the top of the square...right?"

He smiled proudly. He knew she could get it with a little push. "Yep. And for oxygen that is…?"

A quick glance at the table again. "Eight?"

The former alchemist nodded encouragingly. "Right, and since that's the number of protons, you're just gonna add that to this number here, which we know is the number of neutrons, and boom! We have the mass number."

"Ooookay," the young girl released, her eyes now shining with a bit of understanding. She scribbled the answer down on her paper before looking up at Edward with a smile. "I think I can try the homework by myself now. Thanks, Mr. Elric."

"Anytime, Claire. Just let me know if you have trouble with anything else."

"Okay!" She quickly rounded up her things and rushed towards the door. As she reached the threshold, one of Ed's fellow teachers appeared, bumping into her in the process.

"Sorry about that, Claire!" Lance apologized, chuckling a bit in surprise.

The excited student wasn't too bothered though, as she breezed past with a swift, "Sorry, Mr. Gibson!"

Edward chuckled as well, thinking aloud, "She's a whirlwind, no doubt about that." Looking at his friend, he asked, "What's up?"

His amiable smile disappeared, however, when he saw the serious look on Lance's face, completely different than a few seconds before. The other man looked at Ed for a second, but then gazed down for a moment, as if he wasn't sure exactly how to say whatever was wrong. Finally, he let out a huge exhale, rubbing his neck in clear exhaustion. "Aaron got in a fight."

Said boy's father stared for a second, but just as quickly relaxed. "No big surprise there. The kid's very vocal about what he thinks. If he thinks - knows he's right, he won't back down from a debate - it's definitely something that's pissed people off in the past."

The image of his two children screaming over each other suddenly popped to his mind. Yep, nothing spurred Aaron on like an argument with his sister, and Trisha wasn't exactly innocent when it came to instigating such incidents.

Wonder where they get it from, he joked to himself.

"No, Ed - he actually slugged it out with another kid."

The blonde man's genial smile instantly disappeared, replaced with a look of genuine shock. "Wait...what?"

Lance looked at him sympathetically, seeming a bit surprised by the information himself. Vocal or not, Aaron wasn't the kind of kid to make trouble, and everyone is Risembool and the surrounding areas knew it. So, it was safe to say that this news was hitting said boy's father completely out of left field. "Listen, I don't really know any details other than he and another boy went at it. They're in the headmistress's office in the secondary building right now. I was told to get you - Michelle will substitute for you for as long as you need."

"Thanks." Ed quickly stood, grabbing his jacket. As he jogged out the door, he added, "Tell Michelle I'll make it up to her!"

It wasn't like it took him long to get to the office. Risembool and all the surrounding villages within 10 miles shared the same school buildings, all right next to each other on the same dirt road. Ed taught science to the upper primary school kids, preparing them for the more advanced leap into secondary school. The buildings were certainly bigger and more advanced than when he, Al, and Winry were kids, but it still took him only three minutes to travel between the buildings. As he walked through the halls, he silently marveled again at how many kids there were compared to back then too. All of the villages had been steadily growing in recent years, with eithers farmers relocating or city folk wanting a quieter life, and, additionally, planting had just ended, so all of the farmers' children were back in classes after a few weeks in the fields. A few of the older students threw him a glance - he knew all of them, but of course he didn't regularly come to this building. Most didn't pay him any mind, but as he walked by, he couldn't help but pick up a small whisper from somewhere behind him: "Man, they even called his dad." Reaching the end of the first floor hallway, he took a deep breath before grabbing the door handle and walking into the lobby for the administrative offices.

And there he was - sitting in one of the waiting chairs, leaning on his legs and eyes pointing to the ground. When the seventeen-year-old glanced up upon the door opening, Ed caught a deep purple bruise forming under his son's left eye, as well as a slightly puffy lip and the remnants of a bloody nose. He was only able to catch a quick look though, because the second Aaron recognized his father, his eyes widened somewhat and immediately shifted back to the floor. The former alchemist pursed his lips a bit, his attention shifting to the other young man sitting across the room from his son. While he couldn't place a name, he was sure he was the kid of a family who'd moved to the country back in the summer. The boy easily had a few inches on Aaron, but it looked like he'd gotten pretty banged up himself. His left eye was already sporting a bruise as well, and in addition to having general scrapes, he was holding an ice pack to his collarbone.

"Edward." Isabella, the schools' headmistress, appeared in the doorway of her office, silently inviting him in. Once he entered, she quietly closed the door, giving him an exasperated, yet concerned look.

Not feeling very comforted, the man couldn't help but ask. "What happened?"

The older woman shook her head, dumbfounded. "We're still not entirely sure. The older students were on their lunch period, and many of them were out in the yard like they always are. All of the children who were there say they weren't sure what started everything…but they said Aaron definitely hit first."

Ed actually let out a small gasp at this, still not sure if he was actually hearing this correctly. "Wait, he threw the first punch?"

She sighed, almost looking sad. "That's what it looks like. I brought each of them in separately, but they wouldn't say anything. I'm not quite sure what to do, but as of now...it appears that Aaron is at fault here."

The boy's father looked at the ground, trying to process everything he'd heard in the past fifteen minutes. Yes, Aaron wasn't afraid of a heated debate or two, but they were typically over trivial matters. Not only that, but whenever he had to vent about something, he would usually try to talk about at it rather than let his true anger get the better of him. That was one of the things Ed had actually prided himself in as a parent - that he'd at least managed to teach his son to not be afraid of his emotions and that violence was rarely ever the answer to anything. So, at the very least, he'd hoped Aaron had been acting in self-defense, but now…

"Okay." He furrowed his eyebrows as he looked back at the headmistress. "Let me take him home. Trust me, he'll definitely get an earful from his mother and I, and we'll make sure everyone receives a proper apology."

Isabella gave a serious nod in agreement, opening the door and dismissing him. He walked across the lobby to Aaron, who still refused to look up at him. Ed put a firm hand on the boy's shoulder. "Come on. Let's go."

There were a few seconds of silence before his son nodded somewhat, standing and grabbing his bag while still keeping his eyes fixed to the ground, a bit of shame radiating from his entire body. Ed's heart couldn't help but constrict a bit - being scolded like this and escorted out definitely wasn't a normal thing for him. Once Aaron was done, the two of them made their way to the hall door. However, just as Ed went to turn the doorknob, he heard a small mutter from the opposite side of the room - the other boy.

"Wow, looks like Daddy's come to save you. Lucky thing."

He may have been older now, but Ed was grateful that he'd somehow managed to hold onto his quick reflexes from his military days. By the time he managed to grab Aaron, his son had already whipped halfway across the room, fist raised in preparation for another attack. He had a lot more strength than his father expected, but Ed wrapped his arms around his waist, struggling to pull him back. "Aaron! That's enough! Stop it!"

The former alchemist gripped tighter and threw his son toward the door, getting between the two of them. The other boy was leaned back in his chair - eyes wide, body tense, and immediately regretting his decision to speak. As for Aaron...Ed barely recognized him for a split second. The way his son's eyes bore through the air right to that other kid - it wasn't just anger pent up in there, but hatred. The younger Elric took a step forward, ready to advance once more, but his father was ready this time, stepping forward to challenge him. "Aaron!"

That's when his son actually looked at him for the first time. A standoff occured for a moment or two - one pair of golden eyes meeting another - but just like that, the fierceness disappeared and his face dropped. In that second, Ed suddenly saw his son as a seven-year-old again. Aaron looked at him in somewhat shock, as if he was in disbelief himself at what he'd just done. Dropping his eyes once more, the boy pursed his lips, still not saying a word.

Ed roughly grabbed his shoulder and pushed him out the door before anything else could happen. At this point he didn't care if he was being harsh. He just wanted to get the hell out of that room and that building.


In different circumstances, the walk back to the house would have been nice. The mid-Spring air offered a nice breeze and a mild temperature that was just perfect. The surrounding hills were coated with nothing but bright green and smatterings of pink and yellow flowers, and the sky was the bright shade of blue that only appeared at this time of the year. The one downside was that, besides the occasional bird, the silence between the two of them was unbearable. Ed glanced back at Aaron, who was slugging along a few feet behind him, his eyes still glued to the ground. Normally, the alchemist was good at reading what his children were thinking, but now he wasn't quite sure what was going through his son's head. The fiery anger was gone, at least for now, but his expression was otherwise unreadable.

Sighing a bit, Edward turned forward again. "I don't think I've seen you so quiet in your life...except when you're reading, I guess."

No response, but then again, he wasn't sure what he wanted the reply to be.

"Listen...you're gonna have to face your mother later. There's no avoiding that, but...I'd like to be on your side a bit. So," he stopped and turned to face his son, shooting him a stern look, "you wanna tell me why you punched that kid?"

Aaron, who'd stopped a few feet behind his father, pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes at the dirt, though his father still found him a bit unreadable. When a response didn't come, the older Elric pressed farther. "Aaron, I don't know everything that's going on or what happened, but I do know that angry kid I just saw in there wasn't you. Whoever it was, I sure as hell didn't recognize him."

His son scrunched his shoulders and clenched his fists in apparent frustration, still refusing to look up. A bit relieved to see some kind of reaction, Ed continued, a bit gentler this time, "It isn't like you to cause trouble like this. I'm sure that something happened, but you of all people know better than to let your anger control you. So, why…"

"BECAUSE HE'S A SCUMMY SON OF A BITCH! THAT'S WHY!"

The young man looked up at his father for the second time that day, the fury having returned to his eyes. Ed was so shocked by that chilling look and the words that had just left his mouth that he couldn't find anything to say. He probably wouldn't have been able to get anything in anyway, as Aaron began to go off.

"That bastard has sat on his high horse ever since he moved here, giving everyone these condescending looks and acting like he's the king of the castle just because he came from the city, and it pissed me off! Walking around like he owns the place, treating everyone that was born here like shit, and then he gets the other city guys who were actually cool to start hanging around and acting like him! And I tried to just ignore him and shoot his words back at him, but it was different than before - every slimy thing he says just creeps under my skin and I hate it! He ridicules the people in this town, he talked shit about you and Mom and Uncle and Auntie and it made me angry, but I knew all of you could kick his ass if you wanted to so I tried not to let it get to me! I tried, Dad! But…"

"Aaron…"

"He started saying stuff about Trish! He said...disgusting things about her and I...I just saw red." Suddenly the young man was no longer an explosive force of anger, but a quiet, simmering pot of fury. Speaking in a chilling soft voice and shaking with emotion, he continued, "So I hit him. I couldn't take it anymore. I hit him, and it felt….so good when I did. I won't apologize to that scumbag. I won't, Dad. Someone had to do it. After everything, that bastard doesn't even deserve to live, so…"

"Aaron." The sharpness of the name cut through the air. Ed's heart chilled hearing those words come out of his son's mouth, but that didn't soften the hard glare he gave the boy. "He might've had your punch coming to him, but we never wish death on a person. Not even our worst enemies, you got that?"

His response was an equally harsh glare straight back into his eyes, though Ed had a feeling it was more of Aaron's leftover rage at the situation rather than rage directed at him. Eventually, the young Elric's face relaxed a bit, his scowl turning into a deep frown. Turning his gaze back down to the ground, he muttered, "Yeah…"

Shuffling over to the side of the road, Aaron plopped down on one of the bigger rocks, resuming his position of hanging his head in between his knees. Ed stared at his son for a second, formulating exactly what he wanted to say and calming down himself. As he planted himself on the ground beside Aaron, he couldn't help but think about how much of a mini clone his son was of himself. Winry mentioned it all the time, but Ed only really noticed it in times like this - when stubbornness and pent-up emotions mixed into a stressful combination.

After letting the air clear for a couple minutes, the boy's father asked calmly, "What did he say that threw you off so much? What did he say about your sister?"

Aaron lifted his head, no longer looking at the ground but instead straight ahead. With a tight jaw, he said, "I don't want to repeat it...It was disgusting."

"What do you mean by 'disgusting'?"

His son was silent for a second, glancing over at him and contemplating whether or not he actually wanted to elaborate. "He said...vulgar stuff."

Ed narrowed his eyes, his own jaw clenched. "You mean like…?"

Aaron gripped his crossed arms, the fire returning to eyes a bit. "Like perverted stuff. Like...I don't know - wanting to invite her to his bedroom and even worse stuff like that."

The "protective-father" switch suddenly switched into overdrive in the former alchemist, and he suddenly felt the urge to race back to the school and beat the kid himself. Trisha was only fifteen, two years younger than Aaron, but she often looked a lot older than she actually was and was growing to be a beautiful young woman. Many new neighbors actually mistook her and her brother for twins. She definitely got her looks from Winry, and Ed was so proud to see her grow into such a capable young adult, but that came with its own problems. Part of him couldn't help but still see her as the little girl she was all those years ago, and she hadn't exactly been exposed to a lot of...adult stuff like that, so that aspect of her growth still scared the hell out of him. Especially since a lot of the young men around her age had started to take notice as well….

"That's not what he said that made me punch him," Aaron clarified, "but I'm not gonna say what he actually said."

Ed nodded in understanding. "Has Trisha ever actually talked to him?"

"A few times. He tried to hit on her, but I told him that if he so much as looked at her, I would kick his ass."

Despite himself, the blonde alchemist actually let out a laugh, a little levity entering his chest. "Well, you certainly kept your word. It did look like you did a number on him." He quickly collected himself, though, and gave his son a serious glance. "Listen, something tells me he'll keep his mouth shut from now on, but...whether he meant anything he said or not, he was probably egging you on so this would happen. He wanted to know that he got to you."

Aaron clenched his teeth and gripped his arms tighter. It looked as if his eyes were growing a bit wet as well. "I know that."

Seeing this frustration, Ed threw him a small fatherly smile. "Yep, you're too much like me for your own good. When I was a state alchemist, half of the fights I was in started or went poorly because I let my anger and frustration get the best of me. It usually had nothing to do with me either - nine times out of ten it was in defense of Al." Glancing down at the ground, he smiled a bit at the thought of his younger self. "For good or for bad, we care about those we love more than we care about ourselves. We'll suffer, fight, bleed, and even die for them if we have to."

He looked back up to see his son looking at him with the same innocent, curious eyes he had when he was little. Meeting his gaze, he said, "I'm proud of you for defending your sister, Aaron. I'm so proud of you...but you're different from me. You don't have to fight for survival. You can live where your words are your greatest weapons, not your fists. Show them the smart and thoughtful person you are - the kind of man who can solve any problem with his mind and soul rather than resorting to his body. Sound good?"

After staring for a few seconds, Aaron managed a small smile, something Ed felt he hadn't seen in awhile. "Definitely."

"There you go." The alchemist could help but smile back, his blood pressure somewhat returning to normal. Jokingly, he added, "Besides, with that form you had, there's no way you were gonna do that much damage."

Sigh. "Thanks, Dad."

Chuckling, Ed stood up and stretched. Offering his hand to Aaron, he said, "Come on. Let's go home and get some ice on that eye."

His son took it reluctantly, nervousness creeping into his smile. "God, Mom's gonna kill me."

"Don't worry. I'll at least try to save you from having to dodge a wrench."


We LOVE father-son moments. How'd you guys like this one? Again, sorry for being gone so long.

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Have a wonderful day and please stay healthy! We'll all get through this together! Just wash your hands! SOCIAL DISTANCING - WOOOOO!