Aw! -hugs- Thanks to Sparky the Invisible Pyro (heehee, I like your username), darkXdemon15 (no one writes nearly enough Havoc fics, lol!) and Crystal (Wow, I get cookies? Heh, I happen to be an incurable angst addict, which would be why some of the writting is sad and what-not, lol.I'll stop writing angst when Havoc stops smoking!). I love you guys! Your reviews made me go "squee!" XD

Tell me if there are any drabbles you particularly enjoy so I can improve on the others, k? Also, if you have favorite pairings I'd love to hear them, lol.

Hmm...eventually I'll have to stop being lazy and write something that's not introspective, for a change. You know, something with dialogue and an actual plot, lol ; P

Promise

Shounen ai (heehee, more RoyEd, and this time - hopefully - it's a little more serious, lol). End of Anime spoilers. MASSIVE SPOILERS. If you haven't seen all of the anime and don't want to spoil the ending, do not read.

Thank you : D

Ponytails. Were. Annoying. Period. Point and match. End of discussion.

They were bane of Edward Elric's existence. Second only to being called short and actually wearing his hair loose.

It was bad enough that he was stuck in this alchemy-forsaken hell, his arm was missing again and he had no idea what had happened to his brother but there was no way he would be able to braid his hair with this damned prosthetic limb.

And he had thought auto-mail was bad. He would give up the semi-normalcy of this pseudo-flesh contraption in a second for the convenient, practical uses of that steel hand, the almost-real feel of the joints and the mechanisms that made it just as good, if not better, than his original arm. Hell, he would even put up with Winry throwing wrenches at his head and yelling at him, without complaint, for the return of the ease with which the auto-mail moved and functioned.

It made him only feel slightly better to realise that he could install several tricks 'up his sleeve' to compensate for the lack of durability and flexibility.

Stupid arm. Stupid ponytail…

And it made him look like Hohenheim, too.

Stupid bastard.

Of course…even if he had been able to put his hair up in a braid…he probably would've found more excuses. Here, in this other world, it just didn't feel right. In a world without alchemy, he just wasn't the same…in a world without…

The memories were still crystal clear in his mind, sharp as those black eyes…the black eyes that had looked into his own then…

He could remember the hands in his hair, caressing his skull and forehead, skillfully braiding his hair with flawless dexterity. He should have expected that though. After all, who else had that same impenetrable control, the iron will and determination?

He could remember the feeling of those hands soothing the tension out of his shoulders, the tingling on his flesh arm and the light pressure on his steel one…

An embrace. Charcoal eyes and ebony hair. And a promise. A promise of a better tomorrow…together.

In the morning he hadn't wanted to rebraid his hair. His own hands had felt wrong…unfamiliar…because they did not belong to that memory, of hands built and used for destruction, but gentle and almost uncertain in his tangled mane.

And for some odd reason…Winry was the one who understood. Her hands were strong and calloused, so unlike the pale, graceful ones from the night before, but she was there…and he wasn't alone.

Ed hadn't been able to move when he saw that face from behind the windshield of the car he had attempted to steal. Hadn't been able to breathe. But there were things that demanded action, anarchy to be committed, homunculi to be taken care of…and after a single "sayonara" they parted…for the last time…

With these memories came the ones of the Gate…and the warmth of the tears cascading freely down his face. There had been a tear for every one of them. Al. His mother. Winry. Granny Pinako. Rose. Hughes. His mentor and teacher, Izumi. Even the bastard.

…Roy…

And now he couldn't return. Return to a place he had never desired to leave. Return to promise he had never dreamed of breaking…

But he would get back.

Edward Elric was a person who kept his promises.

He didn't intend to start failing now.

…and he would keep this accursed ponytail until he could feel those hands in his hair again.

End of discussion.

Tomorrow was waiting. And there was promise on the horizon.

--Owari--

--Fin--