Chapter thirty-eight

Ed felt sad. Daddy was holding his right hand in his left as they walked inside the graveyard. In his left, he was holding a large bouquet of flowers. Ed stopped and so did Daddy. "You need to wait here. I have to introduce you first, otherwise she may be scared."

Daddy nodded and so Ed followed Al over to the gravestone marked "Trisha Elric". Ed felt a deep pain in his chest at seeing it and he walked over and put down the flowers before he sat down and pulled his knees up to his chest. It was a sunny day and it was dry and warm, so Ed was wearing shorts and a T-shirt. "Hi, Mom. As you can see, something happened to me. I got kidnapped and two bad people turned me back into this. B-but I don't remember you getting sick or dying. I'm sorry I didn't come sooner, but I just needed to get ready first. I lost ten years, you see. But don't worry, I'm still Al's big brother and I take care of him. But we have some news, because we have found someone to take care of us both now too."

Ed smiled even though he had tears running down his cheeks. "He's a really nice man and I used to work for him. He's in the military and a Colonel, but he's a great man! He pushed everything aside to help us get Al's body back and he took us in and now he's adopted us too! He's the best Daddy in the world! I know you loved Hohenheim, but we met him and he didn't want us now either. But you know what, Mom? Daddy punched him! He punched him because he was so angry with him for abandoning us! Because our Daddy cares about us a lot! He's kind and smart and he loves us so much! Oh, I forgot to tell you his name! It's Roy Mustang! And I've taken his name too, and Al is getting the name as well now, so it's Elric-Mustang now! With a hyphen!" Ed spoke excitedly. He wanted to show Mom just how good Daddy was so that she didn't have to worry about them anymore.

"I'll introduce you! Daddy! Come over here!" Ed waved him over and he walked up to them. Daddy wasn't wearing his uniform today because he was afraid of Granny and she didn't like it, so he was wearing jeans and a T-shirt. Auntie Riza was wearing a pretty light blue dress and a white jacket and Ed would introduce her too soon, but she would have to wait right now so that Mom didn't get scared.

Daddy came over and stood next to Ed. "Okay, Mom! This is Daddy! He's a State Alchemist like I used to be and he's teaching me! He's the Flame Alchemist and he can control the air and create flames with a snap! He's really good at it! And he's learnt to make your stew now too! So Daddy: say hello!"

Daddy nodded towards the grave and smiled at it. "Hello, Miss Elric. I'm Roy Mustang and I am deeply honoured to be raising your boys. They are wonderful people and I will do my very best to raise them right."

"Come on, Daddy, sit down here next to me!" Ed patted the grass next to him. Ed knew that Mom liked Daddy after he said all that. Daddy did as he was told and sat down next to him, putting an arm around Ed's shoulders. Ed still had some tears running down his face, but that was because he was saying goodbye to Mom after all. He was telling her that she didn't have to worry about them anymore. It was important that she knew that.

"So, Mom, I'm gonna tell you what's happened these last weeks! You see, I first met Daddy when he came and saved me from Lillian and Grant, those bad people I told you about. He was really angry because he thought they had killed me. But they hadn't. Everyone was really sad in the beginning because they were reminded of the old me, but like Daddy says: sometimes you have to be sad so you can be happy later. I'm still sad about you and not remembering the last ten years of my life and losing so many memories of Al. But I can be happy even so. I still have Al and I have Daddy too! So we went to Central and talked to the Führer himself and he assigned Daddy to be our guardian! And there we also met Uncle Maes who is Daddy's best friend and a really scary guy who hugs a lot who's called Major Armstrong. After that, we went to Dublith in the South to meet our old alchemy teacher and her husband, although I don't remember them because that happened when I was eight. Auntie Riza, who is Daddy's assistant, joined us then too. We then went to this crazy town in the East to look for a Philosopher's Stone, but it was fake so we went to East City and lived at Daddy's house for a little while. He's got a large library in his basement, so that's really fun! That's when Daddy adopted us! Then we went to Central again and visited Daddy's auntie who's also his adoptive mother, so she's our Grandma! She looks and sounds really mean, but she's actually nice. And we went to the beach and I got a gigantic inflatable turtle! His name is Robert. And I also have six rubber duckies! And we have a puppy now! His name is Rolf. He's really cute and nice and cuddly. And I also went to my first ball and I got a really fancy suit. It was the military ball. I ate lots and lots of ice cream! Oh, and Mom! Did you know that there's power in ice cream? Auntie Riza told me that! You should meet her! Hey! Auntie Riza!" Ed waved her over to them. She walked over with Rolf who immediately sat down at her command. "Mom, meet Riza Hawkeye! She's a First Lieutenant and she's really good at shooting. But she's also a really nice woman."

Auntie Riza nodded. "Hello, Miss Elric."

Ed patted the ground with his hand and Rolf walked over and sat down after looking at Auntie Riza to check if it was okay. Ed began scratching his back. "And this is Rolf!"

Ed was quiet for a minute so that Mom could get some time to take in all that he had told her. Rolf lay down and clearly enjoyed the scratching.

"So Mom, as you can see: we'll be all right and when we get Al back in his body, then we're gonna settle down and then Daddy is gonna save the country! So now that you know all that, I can say goodbye to you and you can know that we'll be fine. Al told me that that is what you wished for the most. So goodbye, Mom, and I love you. And I miss you. I hope you're happy now."

Ed then felt a lot of tears forming and then he couldn't stop the sobbing because Mom really wasn't there anymore and she'd been dead for so long and it just hurt.

And so Daddy just put his arms around him and hugged him tightly.


Roy carried Ed back with him once the boy said that it was okay. Ed cried against his shoulder all the way back to the house. Pinako just nodded at them as they came inside and Roy went over to the living room and sat down in one of the comfy chairs with Ed on his lap. He slowly stroked his back while keeping his left hand on the back of Ed's head.

"It hurts. Mom's gone and it hurts so much! It's all just gone, Daddy! Everything is just gone! Ten years! It doesn't feel real! Everything is different!" Ed clutched the front of Roy's shirt in his small hands as he sobbed. "It hurts, Daddy…"

Roy pressed his lips against the top of his head. "I know, Ed. But we'll get through it somehow and we'll get Al his body back. We'll make the best of it."

"I didn't tell her the scary and bad things because she would worry. I miss her, Daddy. She was just there. I made her a horse and she was so happy and then Lillian was there instead. And it was ten years ago! How?!"

Roy really didn't know what to say. Ed knew the answer as well as he did, so that wouldn't help. And so he just let Ed sob because he clearly needed to right now.

What Roy could offer his son, was a long, warm embrace.

And so he did.