So... Three months since the last time... Writer's blocks suck... And I'm sorry, but I had like eight ideas for this chapter and somehow I didn't like them and then I got writer's blocks on them too, but then suddenly it was like it all just disappeared and I got to writing 1500 words in a few hours and made the chapter I wanted! So here you go, people! And I seriously hope I won't get another writer's strike, because I absolutely adore writing this story!

And, please, please, please review because it is very disappointing when I write chapters and they get 0 reviews. But please no flames, because they are so discouraging and are usually enough to cause writer's blocks in themselves.


Chapter fifty-four

"Hey, Ed, you need to wake up…" Ed could feel Daddy shaking his shoulder, but he really didn't feel like waking up.

"Hmmf." Daddy stopped shaking his shoulder and Ed pulled the covers over his face to block out the light because the curtains had been pulled back as well as the the fact that the lamp that was hanging above his head was obviously lit.

And light was evil when Ed wanted to sleep.

Daddy pulled the covers off him with a sigh. "Ed, come on, we're going to HQ."

Ed just flipped over on his stomach, burying his face in the pillow instead. "Hmmf."

Daddy sighed and next second, Ed felt himself get lifted up into the air and was slung over Daddy's shoulder, Daddy holding his hand on Ed's back to secure him. "No fair!" Ed said, beating his fists on his back. He stopped soon, knowing he was beaten, so he pulled out his final weapon.

…Absolute limpness.

Daddy sighed again. "Ed, Sheska is done reproducing the notes."

Ed lifted his head up sharply, forgetting his sleepiness. "She has?!"

"Yes."

And so Ed found himself walking through the front doors of Central HQ about an hour later, all dressed up in his bright red raincoat and with his dark blue sweater and jeans underneath his open jacket. His new red rubber boots squeaked loudly as he walked and water was dripping from his coat.

Ed made a particularly loud squeak with his boots and he got an idea. He grinned and then ran forwards before turning ninety degrees sideways and giggled as the squeal of his boots was loud around him as he slid a metre on the floor. The HQ entrance hall floor was really brilliant for this. And so Ed did the same three more times before Daddy suddenly shouted and Ed saw him fail to grab his shoulder and then there was a large puddle on the floor and then Ed slid a lot longer than before and he lost his balance and fell sideways and onto his stomach and slammed his chin on the floor and felt tears in his eyes as he bit his tongue and then everything wasn't fun anymore and his chin and his tongue hurt and he was wet and cold and he began crying as Daddy lifted him up and held him tightly against his chest.

"It's okay, Ed. Are you hurting somewhere?" Daddy said, stroking his back.

"I bit my tongue!" Ed wailed. He was having fun just seconds before and now everything was wrong and he hurt and his right hand was stinging because Ed had slammed it flat on the floor when he fell and his knees were hurting too because the floor was hard.


Roy sighed inwardly, holding his sobbing son against his chest. As soon as he had seen the larger wet area that Ed had obliviously been heading for, he had tried to grab him, but Ed had been just out of his reach and now his son was hurt and crying. Roy had thought Ed would have stopped once he saw it, but he had realised a second too late that Ed had failed to see the small puddle in front of the lockers.

"Let's go look you over, Ed. Alphonse, could you see if you can dry up the floor so that nobody else falls? Hawkeye, please go inquire with maintenance why the mat in front of the lockers are gone," Roy said as he walked off towards the bathrooms, Ed still crying into his shoulder. He passed a few concerned soldiers, but quickly explained it with "wet floor," and they let him pass without any other questions. Ed seemed reluctant to speak, and Roy understood why, biting your tongue was never nice, and if Ed had bitten it hard enough to bleed, then that was going to make the boy's worries triple. Ed was always scared by his own blood, always fearing that it would warrant stitches, even when it was just paper cuts. Roy was worried that he could have broken the skin on his knees too for that part.

Basically, Roy hated seeing Ed hurt.

And he hoped that Ed was mostly sobbing over the fact that his fun had been abruptly cut off.

"Here we are, Ed, now let's get you looked over," Roy said, hooking his right foot under the nearest open stall door, opening it completely with a twist of his foot, before he made his way inside and sat Ed down on his lap as he sat down himself on the toilet lid. "Can you show me your tongue?" Roy asked.

Ed stuck his tongue out dutifully, revealing it to only be a bit swollen and slightly red on the tip. Roy smiled at him, stroking a thumb over his cheek before tilting his head back slightly to look at his chin. No broken skin, only redness and the slightly blueish spot of a beginning bruise. "It's all right, Ed, even if it hurts. There's no blood. Are your knees hurting?" Roy continued as he went through his checklist for potential injuries.

"Mhm," Ed said, sniffing, the worst of it seeming to have passed now that he knew his tongue and chin were okay. He was still shaking, though, and Roy could see that most of the front of his clothes was soaked through. HQ was never too hot temperature-wise as it was basically stuffed with soldiers dressed in uniforms made of wool.

Roy pulled off Ed's trousers and found his knees to be red and with a little purple dot in the middle, but no broken skin. Roy did the usual parenting trick and gently puffed on the knees and looked at Ed. "Better?"

In answer, Ed just looked up at him, his face still red from crying, a single tear going down his cheek as he lifted up his right hand, which was redder than usual and with cold water running down it. "Stings, Daddy."

Roy gently took his hand and grabbed a piece of toilet paper from the wall to his left and gently patted Ed's hand dry before puffing on it too. "How's that?"

"Better... I'm cold, Daddy."

Roy sighed, knowing he was, and also knowing that Ed would not like having jeans rubbing against the sore skin on his knees.

And so he went with plan B. "Then let's get you warm," he said, smiling at him as he pulled off Ed's raincoat and soaked sweater before he stood up and sat Ed down on the lid of the toilet, Ed looking up at him with joy, knowing that Roy was about to lend him his uniform jacket again. Ed always loved wearing it. Not as any sort of dress up, but because it reminded him of being safe and warm because that was the first piece of clothes he had been dressed in after being found and he loved it. And it was wool and would keep him warm, so Roy was just going to break dress code slightly and blame maintenance if anybody asked. Ed grabbed another piece of toilet paper and blew his nose and threw the snotty paper into the small bin next to him as Roy removed his coat and hung it on the peg on the stall and then unfastened his uniform jacket. Ed reached out his arms to Roy so that Roy could pull it around him and then button it up again, smiling at Ed as he took his discarded clothes and folded them over his arm before pulling his own coat over his shoulders without putting his arms inside. "You ready to go, Ed?"

Ed nodded and jumped off the toilet lid, obviously done crying. He was looking quite adorable with the way the uniform jacket was reaching down to his boots and the sleeves were reaching his knees. It was definitely too big for him. But at least it meant that he could build up a warm, woolly bubble inside it. And Roy would just walk through military HQ in his shirt, and if anybody protested it, then he would point to Ed and tell them that he was cold and he doubted that anyone would be able to resist Ed's sweet face when peeking so contentedly out of that overly large garment.

And the red boots were really just the perfect way to complete the picture of the walking and talking adorable innocence that was his youngest son.

Roy reached out and ruffled his hair. "Let's go back to the others and remember to be careful on the wet floor."

"Okay, Daddy."

Roy smiled again and then they headed out of the toilets and into the hallway, getting quite a few curious looks, but then everyone seemed to melt at Ed's happy face and the way his arms were making the long sleeves flap as he walked. They found Al and Lieutenant Hawkeye waiting in the entrance hall.

"Are you okay now, Brother?" Al asked, sounding a bit worried.

Ed nodded. "Got to borrow Daddy's jacket," he said as if it explained everything. "And I didn't need a single bandaid!" He smiled at that last comment and flapped his arms a bit more.

Al chuckled and Hawkeye smiled gently. "That's good, Brother."

"We'll dry his clothes with alchemy once we reach the office, the floor was too wet to draw up a transmutation circle," Roy explained.

At the reminder of where they were heading, Ed lit up and began running for the stairs eagerly, obviously thrilled to have a lead on getting his brother's body back. "Ed! No running!" Roy said, handing Hawkeye the wet garments before jogging to catch up with his sons, as Alphonse had already begun to follow his brother and had put a hand on his shoulder to slow him down.

And so they made their way to Maes's office, walking just a bit quicker than usual. The second Roy opened the door, his eyes fell upon a half-asleep brunette who was sitting in front of a desk stacked with mounds of documents, and Roy was beginning to understand just why it had taken the girl so many days to write it all down.

Upon hearing the door open, the girl looked around and then lit up. "Colonel Mustang! I did it!" she exclaimed brightly, pointing to the stacks of papers. "Written by Tim Marcoh: One Thousand Easy Recipes!"