Apology by Melinda-chan

Roy walked to the tombstone.

"Hello Hughes. I know it's been a long time since I last talked to you. I've been thinking a lot about you since a few months ago. I know that I hated when you called me on the phone- using the military line may I add- just so you can talk about your daughter. And I REALLY hated it when you told me that I should get married and have kids. You did this every day and when you came to the base, as if I would have completely forgotten about it. I was this-" he put his thumb and index finger almost together- "close to turning you into a pile of ash. Of course, I realized that it would not be a very good idea but you have no clue how annoyed I was when you did that. Sometimes I wish that you would finally listen to me and stop talking about it. You finally did, but not in the way I wished."

Roy went a little closer to the tombstone.

"It has been almost ten years since you were laid here. I did what I wanted to do. I wasn't completely victorious in my goals, but at least we have a new government. And your daughter Elicia is almost grown up. At least she has pictures to remember you by." He looked up. "I have grown up too, I suppose. I did marry Riza- I'm sure that you'll have known that would have happened eventually. While I probably would have been annoyed by your constant talking about your daughter even now, I understand why you felt you needed to do that and I so apologize."

He let a few seconds pass by before he continued.

"And there is something else I like to say as well," Roy said. He then went down and smiled.

"Isn't she cute? Look at her! She just looks like me! She even got my eyes!" Roy brought the dark-haired girl to the tombstone. "Her name is Royalle Mae, and she's absolutely cute! She's almost seven months old and she can already crawl! And look! She even has my frown!" He put her closer to the tombstone. She let out a loud cry.

"Roy, I don't think she likes to be held that way" Riza's voice was heard. Roy stood up, carrying their infant daughter in his arms. Riza started to laugh.

"What?" Roy said.

"I can't believe you said all of that!" Riza said. "Hughes will be laughing right now, telling you 'I told you so!'"

"Yeah, but my girl is way cuter than his!" Roy said. "I mean, if they were the same age!"

"Huh huh" Riza said. She was not going to argue with him on that. After all, what parent would not think their children were not cuter than the rest?

The girl herself started to cry, then shriek as if reminding them that she was still there. Riza walked to her husband, who gave her their daughter. The girl immediately grabbed for her left breast, which indicated her reason for wanting her mother.

"Let's go now," Riza said. The girl let out a loud cry in frustration. The blonde-haired woman bounced her dark-haired daughter against her chest, hopping to calm her down.

"You know, I want to have another kid," Roy said.

"Huh-uh" Riza said. "Maybe my body can take another baby but not in a few years. I spent almost 25 hours with Royalle, remember?"

"But in a few years you'll be too old to have another baby" Roy protested. Before Riza could reply to that, their girl tried to suck Riza's shirt. The woman had to put her hand to separate herself from her own daughter.

'Yeah, I now understand' Roy thought. 'Thank you, Hughes, for showing me why you felt you had to call me to talk about your daughter. I just wish you were still here so I could do the same to you.' He and his wife then walked to the car.

A little while later, a leaf fell atop of Hughes' gravestone.

In case you're wondering, I do NOT have kids of my own. This is meant to be a one-shot by the way. Fullmetal Alchemist (2001) was created by Hiromu Arakawa and distributed by Square Enix and Viz. Do not forget to review!