Chapter thirty-six
Roy lay down in the bed and Ed followed, snuggling up to Roy as he pulled the duvet over them both. It was an odd thing, this. When Roy had taken the boys in, he had in a way been quite selfish, not considering that they had family from before and that they wouldn't necessarily be too happy about him.
Not that it would matter compared to what the boys thought of him. As long as they wanted him in their lives, then Roy was going to be there. He just wanted the boys to be happy. Happy and safe and healthy. That was Roy's first priority these days.
Things had certainly changed. He was actually a father. It was still odd to think about. He had adopted the Elric brothers. They were his sons.
And it scared him senseless in a way.
He hugged Ed tighter to him, earning a few satisfied grunts from the sleepy boy. It may be scary, but it also felt good. Because they were his.
There were suddenly a couple of knocks on the door.
"Yes?" Roy asked.
"Hey, Dad? Can I come in for a second?" It was Alphonse.
"Of course," Roy said softly.
The door was opened and Alphonse came inside, gently closing the door behind him. Roy sat himself up, Ed immediately crawling up on his lap. Roy put his arms around him as he looked up expectantly at Al. "Is something wrong, Al?"
"No, I just wanted to discuss something with you…" Al walked over to the desk and dragged a chair over to the edge of the bed and sat down. "I've been thinking about it a lot, and I'd like to change my name too."
"With a hyphen?" Ed asked excitedly. He seemed to be very particular about that.
Roy, however, was a bit stunned. It hadn't been that long since the last time they talked about it, and now Al was just coming here, telling him that he wanted to take his name, just like that.
"Yes, Brother," Al chuckled, "with a hyphen."
"Are you sure, Al?" Roy said. "You know that there's a lot associated with that name and lots of that isn't good… carrying that name could turn out to be a burden."
Alphonse reached out his hand and placed it on Roy's shoulder. "I know that, Dad, but it's like Brother says: it shows that we belong to you too. And I'm proud of that. Despite whatever bad things you have done, you are also the man who decided to turn his life on its head for the two of us. You took us in and you're postponing your career and your plans for the future just so I can get my body back. You were the one who decided that we were more important than your own dreams. I'm proud to have a Dad like that and I want to show it."
"Alphonse, it was the least I could do. If I had been a better CO, then you wouldn't be in this situation in the first place. Yet you boys trust me to be your father and I spend my days feeling happier than I have in years. Taking you boys in has been a blessing, not a burden."
"Hohenheim doesn't think so. That's why we love you, Daddy. You care more about us than yourself," Ed said sweetly, hugging Roy's right arm.
"Which is exactly why I punched him," Roy muttered angrily.
"You're kind of proving our point," Al said, squeezing his shoulder gently.
"You're ganging up on me! Taking you two in doesn't make me a good person. I am the one who should be thanking you! You two are giving me a hell of a lot that I don't deserve, and you thank me? You're not a burden, boys." Roy said the last part sternly. "This may have started as a promise, but it's become a privilege." Roy placed his left hand on top of Al's while hugging Ed with his right. "I want you two to know that."
"Then I want you to call the Führer tomorrow and tell him to change my name," Al said. "I mean it, Dad, it's not a burden to carry your name either."
"I'm proof!" Ed said happily.
Al chuckled and tousled Ed's hair with his free hand.
"Thank you, boys. You don't know what that means to me," Roy said, smiling.
Ed then turned abruptly around and slid his hands under Roy's undershirt and began tickling him, giggling loudly. "C'mon, Al! Help me!" Ed said while Roy was breathless with laughter, focusing all his remaining power upon not hitting Ed as he fell on his back, twisting and giggling and wheezing as Ed exposed his stomach.
Then Al joined in, chuckling too and Roy began making a very odd set of noises, not many of them particularly masculine. Some of them made him sound like different types of seabird, all the while testifying to his helplessness.
Riza sat in the guest bed that had been moved into Winry's room as the laughter began.
At least she thought it was laughter.
Winry was looking at her questioningly from her own bed. "Is that Colonel Mustang?" she whispered.
"Yes." Riza didn't see any point in lying to her. They were only separated from the guest room by a wall that clearly didn't block out his cries of laughter. "I think Ed is tickling him again."
Winry looked a bit awkward at that, especially when Ed began chanting loudly "Ticklemonster Jr.! Ticklemonster Jr.!"
"Does that happen often?" Winry asked.
"A few times. It seems that Edward is fashioning himself as "Ticklemonster Jr." as the Colonel is the "Ticklemonster."
"Uh-huh…"
The Colonel uttered a few more high-pitched guffaws and Winry just stared at Riza before they both burst into silent giggles. Riza may be very professional about her job, but those sounds were frankly ridiculous.
"I don't think I can face him tomorrow after that," Winry said between giggles.
And so they just sat there, snickering until the laughter died down from the room next door ten minutes later. Winry looked at her a bit awkwardly. "Uh, Riza, is it okay if I ask you something?"
Riza smiled at her. "Of course, Winry."
"What's he like? The Colonel, I mean? He has always seemed so stern and calculating. But now… it's like he's an entirely different person when he's with Ed and Al."
"That's because he doesn't have to think about careers or how people think of him when he's with them. He has made it his first priority to take care of those boys and make them happy. And it seems that he also has gained something valuable from that."
"Oh. So he's just Roy Mustang when he's with them, if you get what I mean?"
"In a way, yes."
Winry was silent for a little while, her head bent forwards. "They sent us Ed's old limbs last week… I still don't know what to do with them. I-I worked so hard on them to make him the best automail he could get, but now…" A tear fell into her lap. "It was my way of helping them reach their goal, but now they don't need it anymore. They don't need me anymore… I've seen the way Ed looks at me and it's clear that I only cause him pain because I remind him of what happened to him…" tears were falling steadily now and her speech was choked. "And I miss him… It's so weird, because he was here a few months ago so he'd probably be coming in for maintenance about now… But everything has changed… They've got a father and they're still happier than they've been in years despite what happened to Ed… And it makes me both happy and sad at the same time…"
"I know how you feel. I think that's how it is for everyone who knew him."
Winry just cried as silently as she could and Riza came over and hugged her, holding her until she fell asleep and then tucked her in before returning to her own bed.
She woke up as the shouts began.
"NO! GET AWAY! PLEASE!" Ed yelled from the guest room. "PLEASE DON'T HURT ME ANYMORE! I JUST WANNA GO HOME! NO! IT HURTS! STOP IT! PLEASE!"
Winry had already turned on the lamp on the nightstand, looking absolutely horrified. "That's Ed!" She got out of bed, moving towards the door, but Riza stood up and placed a hand on her shoulder, holding her back.
"The Colonel is waking him up as we speak. He is having a nightmare about the Pentons and bursting into the room won't do him any good. His father is the best source of comfort he has when he dreams like this."
Winry looked at her with tears in her eyes as the shouts came through the wall. "What did they do to him?"
"They tied him up and tortured him by injecting him with different substances, sometimes seeking to punish bad behaviour. They did so at least thirty times during those four days that he was conscious, all the while feeding him through an IV."
"He never told us that it was that bad. He made it sound like maybe five…" Winry said tearfully. "How could they do that to him?"
The shouts were going away and were being replaced by sobs, meaning that Ed was awake. "I don't know, Winry, I really don't."
Riza knew, however, that the Colonel had broken four of Grant Penton's ribs.
Although the fifth had been by Riza's boot.
