-.-.-.-.-. notes -.-.-.-.-.-.-

I do not own FMA, nor do I wish to. Seems like it'd be a lot of trouble. I'm just writing for fun, no money is being made.

This chapter is a General rating, except language.

italics are inside thoughts.

-.-.-.-.-. story -.-.-.-.-.-.-

"No Ed. You can't quit the military."

"I'm quitting. No more. Al and I are done. We've finished what we needed to do and I'm leaving."

"Ed, you still have more time on your contract. Just under two years. Can't you just wait it out?"

"I don't care what I've signed. I don't care if you court martial me. I'm done working here."

Mustang sighed, "Again, Ed. I don't have control over this. You signed the contract." He rifled through his drawer a bit, "Here. I've brought a copy in today. You're welcome to go through it and find a loophole, many have tried, but if you look carefully on the last page you'll see you've signed it. Edward Elric. Right there." He pointed for emphasis.

The response from Ed wasn't what Mustang had expected. Ed started laughing. "You're right Mustang. That's a very good point." He laughed a bit more and Mustang frowned at him. There was definitely something he was missing. He grabbed the paper back and started scrutinizing the document.

"Well, guess I'll see you around then. I'm heading back to Resembool for a bit, then I might come back to visit. Thanks for everything you've done for me. I really do appreciate it."

Mustang was still frowning and quickly becoming more confused. What the fuck was this kid talking about? Ed left the office, becoming more and more excited. He saluted the team on the way out, "l'm free!" he announced, then dashed out the door. Suddenly Mustang's team was in his office and surrounding him with a million questions, all of which essentially boiled down to "How did Ed get out of his contract?"

Mustang had no idea what to think and looked up to see Hawkeye watching him. "Sir, you can try to catch him at the station tomorrow or we can just wait and ask during Al and Winry's wedding next week. You should be able to misdirect the higher ups until then."

He thought about it and nodded. That was a good idea, he'd do that. They were all taking the next weekend off to head over to the small town anyway. Then he could catch Ed and make him point out the loophole. And, if he couldn't and was actually still locked in, then Mustang would drag him back with the rest of them. For now, he could give Fullmetal a few extra days off to help set up for the wedding anyway.

As it was, the brass didn't even ask for Fullmetal in the next week and mid Friday they all caught the train to the small town of Resembool.

When they arrived, Al was there to greet them and show them to the hotel they'd be staying at. It wasn't long before they reached the hotel lobby and Mustang couldn't hold it in anymore. He wanted to see Ed and ask about the contract. Al just laughed it off, "Oh, haha, yeah. Ed's helping Winry with some last minute set up. Anyway," he changed the subject, "We're having an outside dinner tonight for everyone. Come on up to the house as soon as you're ready and grab a drink. There's not a lot of people coming since Ed and I are a pretty small family. Winry's got a few relatives and work friends and then there's some people from town and a few you might know from our travels. There's some tables and chairs set up and we'll be cooking on a fire pit Ed put in for us a few days ago." Al's eyes were shining with excitement. "I hope to see you there."

The train ride hadn't been long, but it hadn't been fun and the whole crew was looking forward to some food and drinks. Al's party sounded excellent. "We'll be there Al. It shouldn't take us too long to get ready."

Al gave them directions to the house, there were also directions on the invites to the wedding itself, but Al was just too excited to pay attention. He waved good bye while they were still in the hotel lobby and took off.

Mustang's crew found their rooms easily enough and soon they were ready and gathered in the lobby to head to Al's new house.

Dinner was fantastic. There was a band and everyone was able to stand and dance or sit and talk. Tables were set up for sharing and there was plenty of finger food before the main course was even served. A couple hours after dinner Al and Winry stood up in front of the band. "Thank you everyone for travelling here. Unfortunately Al and I are here to shut everything down." Groans were heard from all over. "Now now, you can all go party in town but we have some final preparations to do before we kick things off tomorrow at 2. Then we can all party on the lawn until the sun rises if you want." There were cheers from the crowd. "Have a good night you guys! See you tomorrow!"

Mustang frowned as the party started to disperse. Ed had not come over to visit nor had he seen the boy the entire time. Hawkeye picked up on his irritation pretty quickly, "Oh relax, you'll see Ed tomorrow in the wedding party. Then you'll know what to look for at the reception."

That confused the General, "What do you mean, 'know what to look for' ?" But Hawkeye just smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

Grumbling to himself Mustang followed her back to town.

The next morning Mustang woke up late. It shocked him because he hadn't been able to do that for years. Though, when he thought about it, they'd stayed up drinking at the hotel bar until 3 in the morning and the town was so quiet and peaceful that it wasn't really surprising that he let his guard down a bit. There had been a few people at the dinner that were staying at the hotel as well and they'd come and partied with them. Al had also been there as Winry had kicked him out of the house for the night. Again, Ed was missing and Al just ignored all Mustang's questions about him. He shook his head, Hawkeye was right, this was about Al's wedding, and he'd see Fullmetal today at the wedding.

As he rolled out of bed he saw a note under his door, looks like Hawkeye had gone up to the house this morning to help with Winry's dress and the men were to help Al with his suit.

When the team was ready Mustang learned that helping Al with his suit really just meant that they lazed about making jokes, drinking, and trying to calm Al down before the wedding. They had all thought Ed would have been there to help as he'd be the best man, so when Al turned to Mustang and asked if he'd be his best man instead it shocked them all into silence.

Al finally relented and gave a bit of an explanation. "Ok. I know you're all expecting Ed to be the best man, and we're not fighting, just that Ed already promised to do another job for this wedding."

Again though, Al avoided the silent question 'Why' hanging in the air.. "Roy, I'm really sorry to spring this on you last minute. Would you mind? You only have to walk down the aisle with the Maid of Honour and stand around a bit. She'll tell you what to do and where to go. Then you two sign as witnesses on the marriage certificate and you're done."

Mustang took a moment to answer, he didn't want the younger Elric to think he was dismissing him. "Al, are you sure? I mean, I'm honoured. But I feel out of place taking this from your brother."

Al laughed a bit, "I assure you, my brother is fine with it. In fact, it was Ed's idea. Now, can we get back to you guys calming me down instead of me calming you down?"

It was a clear misdirection but the team shook off their confusion and went with it. If that's what Al wanted on his wedding day, they'd do their best. Besides, there was still an hour left to go and there was still beer to drink.

Al and his entourage arrived at the house with fifteen minutes to spare. Al had to go to the altar and try not to panic as the time counted down. He left Mustang with a few last instructions. "Roy, the maid of honour will be here in a minute, she'll tell you what to do." he was repeating himself from earlier that morning without noticing. "I know you've been asking about her all weekend but try to save your questions until after the ceremony though. Please? They'll take too long to answer. Then you walk down the aisle and stand beside me at the end." Al pointed and walked away already distracted.

What the hell? Mustang had no idea what Alphonse was talking about. The boy was clearly not all there today.

Suddenly Ed's voice was behind him, "Hey hot-head. Sorry I couldn't come chat last night at dinner. I'm trying to keep Winry from an emotional overload. She's pretty excited."

Mustang spun around to give Ed a piece of his mind but ended up frozen in shock with his mouth hanging open.

Ed waited patiently, smiling. She was wearing a beautiful blue bridesmaid's dress. Her hair was set with flowers and slightly curled, it was styled and waved down her shoulders. She was holding her bouquet and watching him as he struggled to process who was before him.

Eventually the music started up and Ed looped her arm through Mustang's and he snapped out of it. They lead the way down the aisle, Mustang took his place beside Alphonse and looked out over the crowd. Hawkeye and his team were seated mid section on Al's side and she was smiling at him while the rest of the team gaped beside her. He was annoyed to realise that she'd known for a while. His eyes went back to Ed and found her looking at him, though now she seemed irritated. Why were her eyes flicking around? Oh shit. The bride! Finally his military parade training kicked in and he was able to focus forward just as Winry came out of the house and down the porch stairs. Al sucked in a breath and Mustang remembered his job was to calm the groom. "She's beautiful Al, you're a lucky man." Al smiled brightly without taking his eyes off Winry. "Thank you."

The wedding was beautiful and went smoothly apart from a small hiccup. Al asked Mustang for the ring and there was a moment of confusion before the older man realised that Ed had slipped the ring into his jacket pocket on the way down the aisle. Alphonse heard his sister's snickering and just rolled his eyes.

As the ceremony ended and they headed toward the back lawn for the reception, Mustang found Ed on his arm once again.

"Good job flame brain, I wasn't sure you were going to make it there for a bit but you pulled through."

"Ed, I have so many questions for you I don't even know where to start."

She sighed, "I know. And to start, I'm sorry. You understand why though?"

He thought about it for a bit, "I do. It's a bit upsetting, but I understand. Any slip up and Al's body would have been forfeit. You would have been more of a target than you already were. It would have been harder to find research." Mustang knew the army was still a boys club. "Everything would have had more roadblocks." In fact, he doubted that Ed would have been let in at all. No matter what she could do with her alchemy.

Ed just nodded.

Mustang switched gears, "How did you get out of the contract though? The military wouldn't kick you out just because you were a woman."

She looked at him like he was stupid, "Idiot, what do you think my name actually is?" She rolled her eyes. "You actually gave me the answer when you pointed to my signature."

Mustang smacked himself. Fuck, he was oblivious. "What is your name?"

She smiled at him, "It's Edaline."

That smile again, something switched in his brain. He'd already been protective and possessive when Ed was his prodigal subordinate, was it really that difficult to switch gears? He flashed through all the conversations he'd had with Ed over their years together and realised there were hints here and there to her true identity. As they watched the new bride and groom float across the floor he analysed all his interactions with her, each argument and challenge issued. Each insult and quietly supportive moment. It didn't take long, but it felt like almost a decade passed in a few moments. He realised he was in love with her.

It was the wedding party's turn to dance and he led Edaline onto the floor for a waltz. As they danced he realised that she'd changed. She was completely relaxed and more comfortable. She'd left his office a few days ago with a weight off her shoulders and it was clear the few days without the military had removed almost all the stress he was used to seeing in her. She could be who she wanted to be. The light in her eyes sparkled and the music was over too soon for Mustang.

Ed grinned at him, "I'm going to go grab Havoc, it looks like he's going to explode over there. You get Hawkeye, I think you'll probably have questions for her." Ed turned to go but Mustang hadn't let go. She looked up at him confused. Bending down he took her hand in his and kissed her palm. Ed blushed head to toe and Mustang leaned in again, "If he touches you anywhere but your waist I'm breaking his hand."

Her eyes went wide. "You sound like a psychopath! He's your friend!"

He shook his head, "Sorry. This time he's not getting the girl before me."

Not expecting or waiting for a response, Mustang led her over to Havoc before heading over to Hawkeye. Was it her imagination or did he just growl at Havoc? Judging by the way Havoc was acting like a terrified child she guessed Mustang was glaring at him even now.

"Jean!" That got his attention. "Ignore him. I'm stronger and faster than he is and if he does anything to you I'll kick his ass." She grinned at him until he relaxed and smiled back. "Good. I want to dance. I haven't had a chance to be a woman in a while."

"Well then my lady, let's dance." Havoc bowed low and off they went. She had to admit he was pretty strong. It took a fair amount of muscle to spin her around with her two automail limbs. And she didn't blame him for giving up after once dance, plus it looked like he still had some issues with the flame alchemist glaring from across the dance floor. Falman danced with her next, and then Fuery. Sort of, poor Fuery didn't last long. He wasn't the muscle on the team and her face lit up to see Havoc swing in again. It wasn't until her dance with Breda that she noticed that Mustang was only glaring when Havoc was dancing with her. Interesting, of his entire team, Havoc was the only one that threatened him. She filed that away, it was a problem for another day.

When the dance was over she led Jean over to Hawkeye and Mustang. They'd stopped dancing a few songs ago and were just talking. No doubt Riza was getting the third degree for not telling Roy that Fullmetal was a woman. Mustang took a step forward as if to intercept Ed and Ed dodged. Going into a full bow she looked at Hawkeye. "May I have this dance?" Riza laughed and agreed. Ed led her onto the floor, she needed just a few more minutes to process what she could see was happening.

"He's in love with you."

Ed's head snapped up to meet the older woman's eyes and Riza continued, "He figured it out about an hour ago. You could see it all the way across the floor."

"I'm sorry Riza."

"Don't be. We dated for a while but I couldn't shake the thoughts of the bad times we had to go through together. It seeped into all the good parts and turned them sour." she sighed, "Besides, I can see you feel the same way he does."

Ed didn't deny it. She'd spent too much time trying to deny it and now that her brother's life wasn't hanging in the balance she didn't care anymore. About a lot of things.

The music slowed and ended and she brought Riza over to rescue a stressed out Havoc. Mustang held out his hand to Ed, "Please dance with me?"

She couldn't say no and he whirled her onto the dance floor. His arm wrapping tighter around her waist as they went. His gaze focussed entirely on her. "Please come back to Central with us, with me." She looked into his eyes to see if he was being sincere. He was and she shared her plans.

"I already have my train ticket. I'm going to open up shop as a freelance alchemist repair tech."

Mustang relaxed at her answer. She needed to be with him and he sure as hell wasn't letting go.

-.-.-.-.-. notes -.-.-.-.-.-.-

D'awww.

What utter crap.

I wrote this a while ago. Made some corrections and repairs to it today but lost interest in actually reading it all the way through. It's still super out of character and i don't even think you have to actually sign your name to a contract as long as it's you doing the signing in person. But in this case, let's just pretend that it had to actually be Edaline's real name.

And also because she would have been under age when signing it then the obligation would fall on whomever backed her. What age is consent in the FMA world?

Ah well, even if we disagree with the signatures, she can probably get out by saying she falsified data and was therefore unfit for duty... Something something… look a squirrel!