AN: Chapter 2! I'd like to thank all of my reviewers :3!


Chapter 2: Mustang

"Colonel Mustang," he said. He was fumbling nervously with the cloth of the red cloak he always were, eyes cast down to the floor. Mustang was smirking at him, he could tell even though he couldn't see it. Roy always smirked at him.

"What is it, Fullmetal?" Edward flinched—he didn't like the fact the Colonel kept insisting on using that horrible nickname. Sure, it had sound cool enough when he first received the title and people who he just met calling him that, obviously impressed by the name, were fun to watch, but Edward and Roy had known each other for years now. Edward understood he needed to call Mustang 'Colonel' but he just couldn't understand why Mustang couldn't at least call him 'Elric'. He shrugged and focused back on the man sitting behind his desk, watching him intently… those onyx eyes staring at him, as if they could see through anything… Edward loved those eyes.

"I-I want to tell you something, Mustang," Edward said nervously, a blush spreading across his cheeks as Roy's face grew a bit more serious.

"Does it have something to do with those Homunculus you were chasing?" Ed shook his head.

"No… it's something personal." Roy smirked again. Damn him.

"Ah, having girl-problems? I'm not surprised, considering your height—it must be trouble finding a girl—"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A MIDGET THAT CAN'T GET A GIRL BECAUSE HE'S TOO SHORT TO EVEN SEE HER FACE!" Edward took a deep breath, letting his anger slip away and again trying to focus on what he wanted to tell him… it was just so damn hard. "Anyway, you could say I'm having girl-troubles."

"Is it that girl from Risembool—Winry?" Edward scrunched his nose.


"Ew, no! I don't go for people who want to dissemble my arm whenever they have a change to." Roy let out a deep chuckle. "I-I love someone."

"But…?"

"But, I don't think that person will love me back, because that person can probably get anyone they want and probably wouldn't like… someone like me." Roy folded his hands on his desk.

"Well, whoever it is, you should just tell her. You never know unless you try."

"Why, Colonel, I didn't know you could give such good advice." Sarcasm was dripping on each and every word and Roy snorted slightly. "But, I'll take that advice. I don't have much to lose anyway," The Colonel raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. "The person I love is you, Mustang." He then let out a laugh. "Oh my God, I can't believe I told you that, I mean, Al already told me I shouldn't tell you, but I didn't listen!" he laughed some more, slapping his forehead with his flesh-hand. "I now know how stupid that sounded! Damn, just forget about this, Colonel—" he was about to walk out the door when a hand on his shoulder stopped him.


Apparently, while Edward was laughing at his own idiocy, Mustang had gotten up, though he was slightly in shock at the confession. Sure, girls confessed to him all the time—sometimes even men confessed to him! But he had never expected Edward Elric, the loudest and stubborn person he had ever met to tell him that he loved him. Edward turned around, laughter gone and an unfocused glaze in his eyes, as if he didn't want to be there anymore.

"Full—Edward," Roy started, for this one occasion using Edward's true name. "I care for you and your brother—" he was stopped by his subordinate, who had slapped his arm away from his shoulder.

"Don't Roy, I know what you're going to say. 'Just not in that way', right?" Roy said nothing and just watched him. "I know it was stupid," he snorted bitterly.

"You can't help it if you love someone, Edward," Roy told him, almost whispered the words. Edward just glared at him.

"Just—I have to go," he shook his head, his braided hair swaying softly as he turned away from him sharply, opening the door and slamming it shut again. Roy stared at the closed door, his hand still reaching out for something—someone.

"Edo…"


He walked through the white, almost hospital-like halls with a heavy heart. The Colo—No, the General wanted to see him. He was going to face him again, after two years of running away, after two years of only dreaming of him. Edward shook his head. He didn't feel anything for him anymore, he was just nervous because…

Well, he couldn't find any other reason why to be nervous.

No, that wasn't entirely true. Perhaps he was nervous, because he was ashamed for leaving so abruptly. After he had confessed to Roy and had been rejected, he immediately packed his bags, said goodbye to his brother and boarded the next train on a whim. He later regret that decision, of course. He knew the Colonel had cared for him and for Alphonse as well, but still… he couldn't bare to see that stupid smirk of him a second longer.

He knocked on the door that had a little plate saying 'General Mustang' on it. He heard a muffled 'come in' and opened it, his heart pounding in his throat as he did so. He wanted to run away from him—hell, he'd rather be in the goddamn war than to face Roy.

Even though he had passed it, even though he had accepted the fact that Roy did not love him back, he still couldn't stop himself from thinking about the man. And now that he faced him—Roy, sitting behind his desk in a brand new office—he could hardly believe it was real.

Roy looked exactly the same as when he had left—his black hair tussled, short, his eyes the same shade of black as his hair, giving him a slightly foreign look. He wore the regular uniform everyone in the army wore and a black eye patch still covered his left eye. He wasn't able to see with that eye anymore, not after the battle with Pride years ago.

Edward swallowed once, eyes focusing on the floor and fists clenched by his side, as he had done two years ago.

"Fullmetal," Roy acknowledged, his deep, silky voice cutting through the air. Edward had missed that voice though it somehow was different. No emotions, no malice, no smirk, not a hint of sarcasm. It hurt Edward somehow, to hear his voice like that—was it his fault? He shrugged; no, he hadn't done anything wrong. Roy didn't love him, Roy had rejected him, Roy was not his problem. "Sit." He gestured to the gray leather couch standing in the middle of the office and Edward complied, walking stiffly over to the couch, his heart still pounding loudly. "Because you're not in Drachma, the Fürhrer has assigned you to do my paperwork starting tomorrow. I expect you in my office everyday at nine in the morning," he gestured towards the small desk standing on the opposite side of the room and continued, "Any questions?" Edward looked away from the Roy's eyes.

So cold…

"No, General Mustang," Edward replied, his voice equally cold. For a moment, he thought he could see Roy flinch at the coldness of his voice, but it soon vanished with the blank stare he was receiving.

"Dismissed then." Edward nodded and stood up and even saluted the damn General, something he hardly ever did. He received another small wince and turned around, leaving him once more. He never noticed the sad look the other man gave him as he walked out that door.


"That damn bastard," he grumbled as he stomped into the apartment of his brother. "Can't believe he actually summoned me for that! He's mocking me, I know it." He took a glass of water and sat down on the fluffy, bright yellow couch (Alphonse liked yellow, he couldn't help it), slowly drinking it, as his wounds still hurt.

Roy… the bastard had never acted with such coldness towards Edward, as if they had never met before, as if Roy hated him… Maybe he does hate me. The alchemist shook his head—he had no reason to be mad at him. It wasn't like Edward had been mad at him either! He knew he couldn't change anyone's feelings and that Roy just didn't love him the way Edward wanted him to, wasn't his fault. And yet the bastard just treated Edward as a lowly subordinate, a bit of dirt on the sleeve of his jacket.

He heard the door open and saw Alphonse standing in the doorway, looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "Niisan, you're back early," he stated, walking over to his brother and sitting down next to him. Edward just nodded in response, not feeling like talking about… The Bastard. He vaguely noted that he hadn't thought about Drachma for the past few hours, but dismissed it quickly. "Well, what did he want?" Edward waved his metallic hand.

"Nothing important. I think he said ten words to me and dismissed me," Alphonse looked at him slightly worried, but Edward just laughed. "Don't worry! I'm over him. Hell, who needs that bastard?" Edward laughed his fakest laugh, but he didn't seem to convince his younger brother.

"Niisan… you know you can tell me," he said softly. Edward sighed and ran a hand through his blonde hair.

"I know Alu," he replied softly. "I just… he didn't even ask how I was doing, he was just so cold to me."

"Well, you both are very stubborn people," Alphonse replied.

"You're not helping Alu," Edward muttered dryly. His younger brother chuckled lightly.

"What I mean is, have you tried being friendly with him? I mean, it must be hard, but think about his feelings too. He was worried about you for two years—" Edward snorted at this. "—He was! In the first year, he'd call every week to ask if we had heard from you. The second year, he called us every single day. He always thought about you Niisan."

"He did?" Edward asked. Alphonse nodded. "I don't know what to think anymore Alu—I mean, what normal Colonel would call someone's younger brother everyday to make sure his subordinate his safe? I mean, if he cares so much about me, why can't he…"

"I think he does," Alphonse said wisely. "He just… doesn't know it. Or maybe he didn't know it at the time and does now. Whatever it is, he does care about you."

"Well, I don't see anything wrong with what I did. He has no right to be upset with me," Edward replied. Alphonse sighed.

"I think you'd react the same way Niisan." Edward blinked once and a small smile appeared on his face. Alphonse was right about that. "I have to prepare dinner. Want to help?" The older Elric nodded in response and followed his younger brother to the kitchen.

He dismissed every thought of the General for the rest of the evening.


There was blood everywhere, there were bodies everywhere. He looked around and tried to find his own men, tried to gather them and get the hell out of there. "Major Elric!" a voice sounded from not five feet away from him. He ran towards the sound and saw two soldiers standing around a pile of rubble. It wasn't until he stood directly in front of the pile, that he saw one of his men lying underneath the rocks, his body crushed.

"Anthony!"


"Sir, the rebels are closing in on us, we don't have time!" Edward was stopped from transmuting the huge amount of rocks when his arm was halted by one of his men.

"If you let go of me now, I can transmute this in seconds!" Edward hissed back at him.

"Sir, with all due respect, if we take him with us, the chances of us retreating successfully are below one percent. He'll slow us down, his bones are crushed, he can't—"

"We can't just leave him here! He's still alive!"

"But sir—"

"Ne, Chibi," Anthony suddenly spoke up, his voice weak though loud enough for all of them to hear it. "Just leave me here, pipsqueak, I can't walk anyway. A shorty like you couldn't even outrun an ant." Edward fumed, but, considering the position Anthony was in, he didn't want to lash out at him. The sound of a gun firing was nearby and all of them looked up. "You really gonna risk all of the others' lives for me?"

"Ant—"

"Just go, now!" Edward gave him one last look, before he heard a tank heading their way.

"Let's move people!" Edward yelled, leading his men away and leaving the friend he had made. His best friend. He shot one last look at him—the last image of Anthony was another rock falling right on top of his head, crushing it.

He was dead.