Here we go, chapter eight!
And I still can't thank you guys enough for your response to this story! I hope it continues to live up to your expectations.
Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist
Chapter Eight
Ed was uncomfortable. This little girl in front of him had declared him to be her "Big Brother" after two minutes and she wanted him to play shop with her.
But Ed didn't want to play shop.
He just wasn't sure if he dared to tell her that.
Then she wanted him to wear an apron with the fake-shop logo on it.
Which was when Ed crossed his arms.
"No."
"But Big Brother!"
"No. I don't wanna play shop."
"I'll play shop with you!" Al said, chuckling.
"Yay!"
Ed left Elicia's bedroom and went back downstairs and to the kitchen where Roy was talking to Maes and Gracia.
"Oh! Ed! Is something wrong?" Maes asked.
"Don't wanna play shop."
"Then what do you want to do then?" Maes asked with a smile.
"Don't know."
Ed felt weird being around other kids his age. They were the same, but also different. Alphonse had been alright because he too knew how to transmute and could read and write. But normally kids can't do that, and they play shop and princesses and families and stuff, but that wasn't really what Ed liked.
And he still didn't like not to be in the same room as Roy. Al was big and strong and practically invincible and he was his brother, but the problem was that Ed felt like he still needed to protect him. Besides, Ed still wasn't used to Al's new body and every time he looked at him, Ed felt a little guilty and sometimes it made him want to cry about Mom and then it was easier when Roy was there.
And this was one of those times. It sort of came in waves and Ed couldn't control when they came over him.
And so Ed went over to Roy and Roy obviously saw what was going on and he lifted him onto his lap and held his arms around him. Ed buried his face into his shirt and just let himself be sad just like Roy had told him that you sometimes needed to be so that you could be happy later.
"What's wrong, Ed?" Maes asked, but Ed didn't want to answer.
"Maes, just remember what he's lost these last few days," Roy said.
It was okay that Roy said it. If Roy could say it then it meant that Maes and Gracia would understand it.
Ed liked how much Roy understood him. Al had told him that he thought that Ed and Roy were pretty similar sometimes. Ed didn't really know how they were the same, but he'd figure it out if it was important.
Right now, however, it was more than enough just to keep himself from sobbing. Ed missed Mom and he missed Al although he was still here. He missed having a small little brother. He missed how simple his life had been and he missed Resembool. The big cities were interesting but they became too big sometimes and Ed didn't like it. And his life had been ripped so violently from him. And fact was that Ed was still afraid that Lillian would suddenly come after him and take him back to the hospital and tie him to the chair and stick more needles into him. Ed never wanted to go back there.
"Hey, Ed, do you want to go back to the hotel?" Roy asked calmly.
"No. I just miss Mom."
"It's okay. You're allowed to hurt."
Ed just nodded, his tears staining Roy's shirt.
They left Hughes' house at eight o'clock, Ed needed to get back to bed after all. Roy was carrying him on his shoulders as the boy was tired. Tomorrow they'd be leaving for Dublith as Alphonse had figured that their teacher may have heard something useful about the Stone. Also, despite his fear of her, Al still felt that she deserved to know about Ed. They just needed to wait for Hawkeye to arrive in the morning.
Roy was slightly anxious about meeting Izumi Curtis. Al was absolutely terrified of her, yet he also seemed to care about her, so Roy didn't really know what to think about it. He knew that the woman had left the boys on an uninhabited island for a month to try and survive by day while being attacked by a man with a club by night. He also knew that she had a tendency to throw knives and probably needed some anger management classes. What worried him most, though, was her view of "the dogs of the military".
But surely she wouldn't attack a Colonel, would she?
Only time will tell…
They got back to the hotel and Roy helped the half-conscious Ed brush his teeth and change into his pyjamas. When Roy was done himself, he found Ed awake, sitting on his bed, looking up at him.
"What's wrong, Edward?"
"Can I sleep with you?"
Ed hadn't been able to sleep in his own bed ever since they found him. Roy could understand why, it was nearly impossible not to have nightmares after what he had been through, and to be five and having to deal with them alone wasn't exactly fun. Roy gave him a reassuring smile. "Of course."
The boy immediately got up from his bed and walked over to Roy's and sat down. Roy sat down beside him, putting his left arm around his shoulders.
"I'm sorry," Ed said with a small voice, looking down.
"Hey, it's okay." Roy hugged him too his side. "One step at a time, right? I'm not going to force you to sleep in your own bed."
Ed gave a small nod. "It's just that when I close my eyes, sometimes I'm back there and Lillian is just smiling at me, holding a needle."
"Don't worry, Ed. It's going to get better little by little." Roy lay down on his side and Ed snuggled up to his chest. Roy put his right arm around him. The cut in his arm ached quite a bit now that he didn't have any adrenaline blocking out the pain, but Roy had had worse injuries before so he didn't really care.
"Night, Roy."
"Good night, Ed."
Alphonse was out for a walk. Roy could understand why, the last days' events must be confusing for him too and he could see how it must be nice to just go through it alone too.
Judging by the steady breathing coming from Ed, the boy was asleep. Roy felt weird. Most of his life had been turned upside down within a week. He now found himself being the legal guardian to the Elric brothers while he had put his own life on hold. But then he considered not going the way he had, and he had to say that he would never be able to live with himself if he had just left the Elrics either a) in another officer's charge where they wouldn't be able to get Al's body back, or b) sent them back to Resembool with the same result. No, the boys were his responsibility, so they were going to make the best out of this, and then Roy would resume his goal of being the Führer after Al got his body back.
And so Roy kissed the top of Ed's head before he let himself fall asleep too.
Edward woke up as Roy shook his left shoulder gently. It wasn't the first time tonight. He'd been having a lot of nightmares. This time, however, it was because it was morning and they needed to get ready to leave. Ed rubbed his eyes. He was using Roy's left arm as a pillow.
"Good morning, Ed, let's get ready to go, okay? We're meeting Riza at the train station."
"Morning." Ed didn't really want to get out of bed. It was nice and warm and safe. And so Ed lifted his arm so that it rested on Roy's side and hugged him instead. "Don't wanna go. Warm." And Ed closed his eyes again, burying his face in Roy's undershirt, grunting happily.
He could hear Roy scoff, but he knew that he was smiling. "I know, Ed, but I think Riza will be mad with us if we're not there, you know." Roy was still hugging him back though. Ed liked this. He wasn't really familiar with this, but it felt right. Roy was right. He was safe and he understood and he was respectful and he obviously cared. It felt really, really good. He'd never had mornings like this with Hohenheim. Ed had always shared his bedroom with Al, so if any of them had a nightmare, they would just share the same bed. But Al didn't really stay in the room by night anymore. He would go for a walk or read in the lobby. Which meant that Ed didn't have to worry about Al.
Which meant he could just hug Roy and feel warm and safe.
"Okay, Ed. Compromise: how about you have a nice, hot bath while we get ready to go?"
"Hmf."
Roy sighed and pulled the covers off them. Ed grunted again. "Come on." Then he lifted Ed up and carried him to the bathroom. Roy helped him get out of his pyjamas and then lifted him into the bathtub. Ed could really do a lot of this himself, but it felt nice not to have to. Ed sat there as Roy fixed the water and then let the foam and the hot water fill up past his navel. "How's that?"
"Good ... But you know, you would look really funny like – this!" Ed placed a handful of foam on top of Roy's head. Ed laughed at the silliness of Roy's look. "You know what? You look a bit like Falman now."
Roy rolled his eyes. Then he scooped up a handful of foam himself and put it on Ed's head. "Right, now we're even."
"Nah-huh. You took much more than I did! Now I need to fix you again!"
And so Ed and Roy kept putting foam on each other's face and heads, laughing at how stupid they looked. Then suddenly Riza was standing by the open door. "Hello, sir. The train was early and I met Alphonse in the lobby."
Roy froze. Ed had made him a large beard and a hat by now. "Hello, Riza! Look how funny I made Roy!"
Roy looked terrified but turned around slowly. Riza watched him, her eyebrows rising. Then she laughed. Ed had a feeling that she didn't usually laugh, but right now she did. She was giggling behind her left hand.
"Not a word, Lieutenant," Roy said.
"Of course, sir. Edward, you may not want to do that."
Ed froze. He was standing in the tub, his arms full of foam, ready to dump it on Roy's head as he had his back turned. Roy turned around and Ed decided that he would do the next best thing, and threw himself at Roy, jumping out of the bath. He slung his arms around Roy's neck, hugging him as the foam flew about them. Roy caught him so that he didn't hurt himself. Ed just laughed. That had been fun. "I win!"
"Ed, that was dangerous, you shouldn't do that," Roy said.
"Oh. Sorry, I didn't mean to do anything dangerous." Ed felt a small lump in his stomach.
Roy immediately hugged him, though. "That's okay, Ed, you didn't know." Roy wasn't angry with him, Ed could hear that. He smiled and hugged him tighter. Roy lifted him back into the tub.
"Well, sir, I'll let you continue," Riza said, closing the bathroom door.
Roy found the washcloth and began scrubbing Ed. It was sort of itchy, but Ed was used to Mom doing this too, so he sat still. Then Roy grabbed the shower head and began washing Ed's hair while also removing the masses of foam. When they were done, Ed stood up in the tub as Roy got the towel and began drying him off. When they were done with that, he helped Ed get dressed which concluded the bathing. Ed hugged him again and then he left the bathroom so that Roy could shower himself.
Riza was talking with Al and Ed went over to them.
"Hello, Riza, was your trip good?"
"Yes, it was Ed." She smiled at him. "I guess that you're ready to head out for Dublith then?"
"Yes."
Okay, so I am still pre-manga/Brotherhood, which has made me realise something ... I can save Nina.
Only problem is that I need somewhere to put her afterwards. I would sort of like to have Hughes adopt her, but then I will of course not kill him too, and I'm afraid that that will mess up the timeline too much.
So then there's of course Izumi, which would also be lovely, but I'm afraid of how long she's expected to live considering her condition, and I am not killing another one of her parents.
Or Armstrong would of course "consider it an honour to adopt such a poor child and present to her the raising methods that have been passed down the Armstrong line for GENERATIONS!"
So please leave your thoughts on the matter in a review as I would greatly appreciate some suggestions on how to solve this conundrum.
