Ha-ha! I got over my writer's block for this story, so I'm back!

And this disclaimer will count for every future chapter that I shall ever write: I only own my manga box set + my The Sacred Star Of Milos DVD that will be arriving in the mail next week (yay!)


Chapter thirty-two

Roy was just done giving Ed a bath when the phone rang in the hallway outside. He could hear Hawkeye answer it and so he returned his focus back to Ed who was sitting in the draining water, expectantly waiting for Roy to dry him off with the towel in his hand.

Roy began drying the boy's hair gently, yet with enough force to actually get the job done. Ed began laughing as Roy dried his face and decided to squeeze his nose twice while saying "honk-honk."

There were a couple of knocks on the door and Roy paused the drying process once again.

"Sir?"

"Yes?"

"That was the office of the Führer, sir. The Führer wanted to make sure that you remember the annual military ball in three days."

Roy had completely forgotten about that with all that was going on. It was an annual event reserved for everyone from the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and above and their families. It had something to do with "strengthening the unity countrywide."

"Are you allowed to join me this year?" Roy had always had to go alone the previous years and ninety per cent of the crowd were usually divided into two main groups: the ones who wanted to use Roy and were nice to him, and the ones who thought he was far too young and that he had cheated himself up the ranks because of his alchemy.

And he always had to go alone because none of his subordinates were of high enough rank to attend.

"Unfortunately not, sir."

Roy sighed. "Thank you for telling me, Lieutenant."

"Of course, sir."

Roy could hear her walk away and found his own nose being squeezed by Ed's small hand. "Honk!" he said, smiling brightly before he began giggling.

Roy smiled back and began drying the rest of him off.

"Daddy? What's that ball you were talking about?"

"It's a ball for military officers and their families, but they need to be of a rank of Lieutenant Colonel or higher to be allowed to come."

"So you're taking me and Al then?"

"Yes, but Hawkeye will have to stay back."

"I've never been to a ball, will there be many people?"

"A few hundred. There will be live music and a buffet. And then the Führer himself will give a speech. People will basically just be talking and some dancing, although you don't have to dance." Ed had looked horrified for a second.

"So am I going to need fancy clothes?"

Roy hadn't thought of that, but yes. "You will. Maybe we could go shopping for it today?"

"Okay."

There seemed to be some reluctance from the boy.

"Is there something wrong, Ed?" Roy asked, looking at him where he sat with the yellow towel around him.

"People keep looking at me funny when they hear my name. They pity me all the time. Either that or they seem ashamed to look at me. Because they know who I was they don't see me. It's like they don't believe I'm real and so they don't know how to act around me. Like I'm different. Like I'm a freak." The golden orbs looked a bit unsure and hurt. "I don't like it, Daddy."

Roy sighed sadly and picked Ed out of the tub and placed him on his lap, hugging him tightly. "I understand, Ed."

"I'm just me. It wasn't my fault that this happened and I just want people to see me. They always talk differently to me than to everyone else who's my age. Why can't I just be five? I feel five."

Roy kissed the top of his head. He knew how difficult it is for people to see that Ed was just a five-year-old boy. What Roy had done was basically just to listen to Ed. To act like he was the five-year-old boy that he had been made into. But he had done what most people didn't. He had separated "Fullmetal" and "Ed". He saw them as two entirely different people. But most people were fooled by his appearance. They were expecting something different because Ed was really supposed to be a scientific impossibility.

But how could Roy explain that without making Ed feel like a freak? Roy wanted his boy to live as normally as he could.

"Ed, when they hear what happened to you, they expect you to be something different. They just can't see that you're a five-year-old boy because they're blinded by their own expectations of you."

"But I don't like it. I just wanna be me! I don't wanna be different!"

"Ed, just remember that if people look at you funny, it's because they are limited, not because there's anything wrong with you."

Ed began crying silently into Roy's chest and Roy just let him. He couldn't really imagine how this must be for anyone, especially someone so young, but so smart. Ed noticed things about people that gave them away, which meant that he wasn't fooled by a fake smile.

And even though Roy hated it, he knew that Ed would probably be hurt plenty of times as he grew up because of what happened to him.

I just want you to be happy, Ed.


Ed was walking into the clothes shop, holding Daddy's hand in his so that he didn't lose him. There were children's clothes all over the place and it was a bit scary really. Ed had been to shops like this before, but they were still so much larger than the ones in Resembool. This shop even had two floors: one for boys and one for girls. They walked upstairs to the boy section and Ed just followed Daddy. It was a lot simpler that way.

Al and Auntie Riza were outside because Al's size really didn't fit these places and he would accidentally rip clothes as he walked past them.

And so they came to a halt in front of the fancier section of the store. Here Ed dared to stray away from Daddy so that he could look at clothes himself. Ed didn't really know what kind of suit he wanted, so he was just going to look until he found something that took his fancy.

Ed kept walking past rows upon rows of clothes until his eyes fell upon a deep red, shiny suit. "Daddy! Look! I like this one!" Ed said, smiling. He just hoped it was the right size. It looked like it and there were four of them, so it made it a lot more likely that he'd find one that fit.

Daddy came over soon enough and picked one of the suits and held it out to have a look. Ed liked it a lot. It was black on the inside and it was soft to touch too. "Is it my size?"

Daddy had a look at them and then picked one out with a smile. "This one is. What colour of shirt would you like underneath?"

"Black would be cool."

"Then we'll see if we can find one."

"Yay!"

And so Ed went with him and had to check between the different textures of shirt. Ed didn't like it when they weren't soft. When Ed had found the one he liked best, he went into the changing rooms to try it on. He managed to get into it all by himself and he really liked it. It had a bit of extra length so that Ed could use it more than once seeing as how he would grow. And so he drew back the curtain with a big grin.


Roy had to say that the suit fit Ed. And he seemed very happy with it. And so Roy smiled back at Ed, even though he knew that the suit was ridiculously expensive. He could afford it after all.

Roy had to say, though, that it was pretty sweet how Ed had buttoned the shirt wrong.

"What do you think, Daddy?" Ed asked hopefully.

"It's great, Ed. Now we just need shoes and a bow tie."

"Al should get a bow tie too!" Ed said eagerly.

Roy couldn't help but chuckle at the thought. In a way, it sounded very much like Al to wear a bow tie despite being a large suit of armour. "I'll go look for them while you wait here, okay? That way we can check if the bow tie matches your suit."

"Sure!" And so Ed sat down on the little bench inside the cubicle.

Roy went off, looking at bow ties. With a red suit, Roy could really only go with a red bow tie as well, because a black one wouldn't be visible against the shirt.

Roy hadn't told Ed that they were actually shopping at the largest and most expensive children's clothes shop in Central. At the ball, the other soldiers tended to show off their families in their fanciest clothes, and now it was Roy's turn. He was actually a father now and Ed and Al deserved everything they wanted.

Oh god, I am spoiling them.

Roy had a look at the bow ties, finding them all to be a bit off in colour, although he found a perfect one for Alphonse. Roy had a feeling that it was kind of like a joke bow tie because of the size, but it would fit Alphonse perfectly. The bright redness of it would also make a nice contrast to the steel. But for Ed, Roy began looking at ties instead. He found one that had a kind of checkered red pattern that would be perfect colour-wise, so he brought it over to Ed, hoping that he would like it.

Judging by his big grin, he did.

When they walked out the doors ten minutes later, shopping bag in hand, Roy was smiling at the thought that he was actually not going to be without a family once again at the military ball.


I just have one question for you readers: do I use enough description when I write? When I compare my writing to a lot of other stories, mine seem to be more focused on dialogue. Is that okay with you people?