Alright, well, I don't remember what I said last time for my a/n, and I'm too lazy to go check, so meh. Anywayz, this story got more hits than I expected, but not enough reviews. So I'm posting the next chapter in thanks to NubianQueen413, who was the only reviewer so farand wanted me to update soon. So thankies to yas, and I hopethis story doesn't demolish anyone's brain too badly...>.> Next chapter will be longer I believe.

Chapter 3: Array

The next half hour was mostly fruitless.

It seemed Hughes couldn't remember much from before he had arrived at Roy's house. The last thing he seemed to remember was running through the rain, terrified. All he could remember from before that was his life up to the point he was killed. Killed...Hughes had died that night. And yet here he was, only his skin was pale and his hair seemed even darker than before.

They talked around in circles for a while, trying to figure something out or get Hughes to remember what happened, when a thought struck Mustang like a blow to the head.

"Maes...do you have a tattoo of Ouroboros?"

Hughes gasped slightly. The tattoo! He removed the blanket and looked down at his chest, pulling back the strange fabric.

There, right in the middle of his chest, was the dark red tattoo, moving up and down ever so slightly as he breathed. It felt so wrong, everything about his body felt wrong, out of place.

Roy breathed in sharply as he saw the tattoo. It looked very different from the others he had seen... He lifted a somewhat steady hand to point at his chest.

"The array..."

Hughes looked at Roy questioningly and looked down before swallowing.

There was the normal array, but it was overlapped by another one, very similar to the one on Al's armor, only blacker...

"God, Hughes, your soul really was bound to a Homunculus..."

He spoke breathlessly, in almost a whisper, the words making him truly realize that this was really happening, that this wasn't just some hallucination or dream.

Maes replaced the shirt and wrapped himself tightly in the blanket, shaking once again. All this made him sick to his stomach. Very sick. He swallowed, tasting bile at the back of his throat. Or was he really sick? He brushed away the thought.

He hadn't thought much of it until now, but seeing that patch on Roy's face...How much had changed since he had died? How long had it been? He suddenly realized that he should have asked Roy about his eye. He was his best friend and he hadn't even thought about his welfare, only himself. There was so much he had hidden, all the valuable information that could have taken him straight to Fuhrer, until it was too late.

"Roy, I'm sorry."

The Colonel's eye widened slightly in surprise before his features melded into a softer expression.

"There's nothing to be sorry about. Look, we can talk tomorrow. You should get some sleep."

Hughes returned his gaze to the window. But there was plenty to be sorry about, so many things, both from back then and right now.

An afterthought occurred to Roy as he stood up.

"Oh, and Gracia and Alicia are fine. I can take you there if you'd rather stay with them..."

Roy frowned, a wave of emptiness washing over him. He didn't want Maes to leave. He felt something else as well...jealousy? Probably because his best friend just came back to life and he wanted to spend more time with him.

Roy expected a joyous reaction from Hughes at the mention of his wife and much-loved daughter, but instead a frown crossed his face and his eyebrows drew close together in concentration.

"Gracia... Alicia..."

There was a moment of silence before Hughes broke away from whatever his thoughts were and shook his head.

"That's alright...it's good to know they're safe, but...I don't want to hurt them by just popping up on their doorstep. Besides..."

He sat up a bit straighter and smiled, and a small part of the old Hughes shone through.

"I'm going to work tomorrow. Everyone must miss me, right?"

End Chapter 3

Yes I know, I can't make up titles. Okay well, I know there's something I'm forgetting to mention again...hmm...oh well. If I remember, I will add next chapter (if I remember then.) So anywayz, to reply to reviews cough I mean review-

NubianQueen413: Aw, yes, they are good together, luvvles them , thanks for tha hugs huggles back Yah, his eye makes me sad too sob But it looks sorta cool and mysterious...humm...but it probably hurt for a while O.o anywayz thanks for reviewing!

Plz review, even if it is just to say Grape. Because grapes are teh yummers. Mmm. Flamers won't get any grapes.