Fic: Sowing the Seeds of Love (2?)
Series: Fullmetal Alchemist
Rating: PG13ish, for swearing and innuendos
Summary: It's time for the Fuhrer's birthday! Also our favorite band of characters gets plagued by a love poem. But who wrote it?
You will be completely, totally, and irrevocably lost unless you read part one first. Poem still not mine, characters not mine, et cetera. I'm also still retarded. (Sidenote...why isn't Archer a selectable character? I mean I realize that I'm probably the only person who likes him but still...where's the love, FFNET?)
Let's recap, shall we?
-Poem is written and is lost
-Winry ends up with poem without realizing and leaves it behind at desk
-Ed finds poem, assumes Winry wrote it for him
-Ed files report with Mustang, leaving poem inside. Roy cracks up because he thinks Ed is in love with him
-Archer goes to harass Hughes, sees Winry, assumes Hughes is having affair with underage girl (LOL Mark Foley)
----
At a far table in the Mess Hall, Edward pushed his food around his plate. What was he going to do? Somehow Winry decided she was in love with him, but they had been practically raised as siblings.
"Brother?"
Yeah, okay, Winry was pretty and all, and she was a good listener. But still…she was practically his sister! He just couldn't bring himself to feel that way about her. Yeah he loved her but in a platonic friend way, not a let's go play seven minutes in heaven way.
"Brother?"
She was a genius with auto-mail…but…sister. He'd have to let her down gently, calmly explain that he didn't think about her that way. She would take it okay as long as he was rational and nice about it.
"Ed?"
He was so screwed.
Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist and Man of the People, his obituary would read, died on a beautiful Thursday from head trauma inflicted by being beaten with his own auto-mail limbs. His younger brother, Alphonse, as well as those in service to the State feel his loss. A memorial service is to be held in the national cemetery followed by bingo and a chili cook-off.
'Edward loved chili,' they'd say while sobbing. 'He loved it so much…'
"Edward Rafael Elric!" Al was annoyed. Whoops.
"Eh? Huh?" He looked up from his plate. "What?" He went from confused to pissed off. "And I told you…never use the middle name in public."
"You've been pushing your food around instead of eating it for ten minutes now…it's probably cold. And you've been distracted ever since we ran into Winry." At the mention of her name, Ed blushed again. "What's going on?"
"Al…" He sighed. Maybe Al could help him figure out what to do. Hell, maybe Al could even tell Winry for him. Oh wow, that was a great idea! "What would you do if you found out that someone…felt some way about you?"
Well that was vague. He didn't understand the question. "I don't understand the question."
"I mean…" His face screwed up in thought, Ed went on after a moment. "Say for the sake of argument…that someone you've known your whole life…one day feelings just…changed. And they…they told you. What would you do?"
Okay so Ed was in love with someone he'd known for his whole life. And if he didn't know any better, he'd almost think that Ed was confessing his love to him. Which…wow that was a horrifying thought. Fortunately it was also completely insane. But who else could he…hold on. "Is this about Winry?"
Ed jerked, causing himself to fall backwards off his part of the bench. As he fell, his left leg caught the edge of his metal tray, sending it hurtling through the mess.
Only his pudding survived.
"OW!" A random corporal rubbed his nose from where it was hit by the tray.
Alphonse helped his brother off the floor. Yup, it was about Winry. Winry…Ed…Ed was in love with Winry.
This was great!
They were going to get married with him as the best man. Al would live next door to them, of course, and he'd help them run Winry's auto-mail shop. This was the best news he'd heard in a really long time!
"Does that mean…does that mean you'll help me talk to her?" Ed looked immensely relieved. "I'm kinda worried I'll say the wrong thing…" Which was reasonable, as this was Edward after all.
"Of course!" Al beamed. "I'll be there with you, every step of the way!"
He neglected to mention that he was already naming their children.
----
Frank Archer arrived at the offices designated for Colonel Roy Mustang and his staff after somehow taking the scenic route past the infirmary, through the obstacle course, and underneath the laundry facilities. He also had decided along the way that whoever designed this HQ should be fired. He had gone so far as to add them to his list above "smooth jazz" but below "dirty cheaters."
Which, to his mind, included Mustang. But that should go without saying.
He knocked on the door, and without waiting for a reply pushed it open.
Thwak!
This time, the dart lodged itself in the wood next to Archer's head. He sighed.
"Oh, crap." Breda quickly hid the darts behind his back. "Crap! Uh…hey there sir, I didn't hear you knock."
"Obviously," Archer rolled his eyes. "Is the Colonel in?"
The female Lieutenant…Hawkeye, that's what her name was…nodded. "He's reviewing paperwork at the moment. I'll let him know that you're here."
Archer nodded as he put his hands in his pockets and looked around the office. One person's desk was in complete disarray, but other than that Mustang, he grudgingly had to admit, was keeping his office in good shape. He made notes of that fact for the future.
"Sir?" Hawkeye was addressing him again. "The Colonel will speak with you."
"Thank you, Lieutenant." Hawkeye, clearly, was an excellent aide…it was a shame that she was so loyal to Mustang. He'd have to do something about that. Archer closed the door behind him, nodding his head in greeting. "Colonel."
"…No that doesn't make any sense…what could…oh." Mustang was staring at his desk, tapping a pen very loudly. "My apologies, Archer. What brings you here?"
Archer smiled. "Oh, I was just sent here by Hughes for some reports by the Fullmetal Alchemist. The General is requesting them for…"
Roy pointed without looking at a large folder. "There. Everything you could ever need is in that folder." He looked up at Archer then with a strange expression on his face, almost as if he was concentrating very hard. "Was there…anything else?"
Picking up the folder at the edge of the desk, Archer could only shake his head. "No, I believe this will suffice for now. Thank you, sir."
Mustang nodded. He got a startled look on his face, as if he suddenly thought of something important to say. "Say Archer…you wouldn't happen to…"
Archer couldn't help but eye his superior warily. "Yes?"
"…Never mind." The Flame Alchemist shook his head at himself. "It's not important." He smiled at the Lieutenant Colonel, which set off one or two alarms in Archer's head. Wisely, he put one hand on the door in case Mustang had his gloves on. "Go ahead about your business, and let me know if the General needs anything else regarding Fullmetal."
"Sir." Archer saluted, nearly dropping the enormous file in his hand. He left the room quickly, leaving Roy behind to tap the pen again.
What was that? First Hughes with his underage lover and now Mustang was being far too cooperative and even somewhat friendly towards him. The last time Mustang had been nice to him was right before a horrible prank involving Hughes, a can of worms, his boxers, and about eight pounds of bacon fat back in the Academy.
He really hated Hughes.
He barely remembered to smile at Mustang's crew before he left, closing the door behind him and leaning against it. It was only a little past lunchtime and he was already wishing he could go home. He warily opened the folder, half expecting it to explode when he did so. Instead he was greeted by a handwritten and somewhat bent up piece of paper.
I've waited all my life to cross this line to the only thing that's true.
So I will not hide, it's time to try anything to be with you.
All my life I've waited, this is true.
"…" Archer stared blankly at the paper in his hands. Oh this was just too much. Colonel Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist, was in love with him. Apparently had been suffering from it for quite some time as well if these words were accurate, and now the poor soul was resorting to admitting his feelings by planting a letter in a report by Fullmetal. Perfect! This fit into his plans quite nicely.
Dear Diary, he said to himself as he headed back towards his office. Today I got prime blackmail material on Maes Hughes and found out exactly how easy it will be for me to control the Flame Alchemist. It was the best day ever...
----
Roy, meanwhile, was tearing up his desk. Where on Earth did I put my crossword puzzle? He still hadn't figured out that word, but he just knew he would at any given moment. He had started to search through his desk drawers when it suddenly struck him.
Archer! Archer has my puzzle!
Shit. That meant he had to put up with him in order to get it back.
…Or did he…?
There were perks, after all, to having a staff at your disposal. He stuck his head out of his door, his eyes landing on exactly who it was he needed to speak with.
"Oh, Lieutenant Hawkeye…could you take care of something for me…?"
----
Maes Hughes was ecstatic. Everything was going well for him. Elysia was adorable as always, Winry had arrived safely, the surprise was still a surprise, and best of all Gracia was picking up her new dress from the tailors.
He loved partying…it was something he had never grown out of since the Academy. He even loved partying when he had to be in full dress blues…the Fuhrer's birthday was always an awesome excuse to get plastered in uniform.
And he took advantage of it every year, like any sane person would. He was also thrilled because he and the misses hadn't had much time to themselves lately, between his job and their daughter. Not that he didn't absolutely adore his perfect, beautiful, wonderful bundle of joy in the form of an angel brought to Earth, but he loved having some quality alone time with his wife just as much.
Yes sir, he was looking forward to bringing sexy back at the ball Saturday night.
Taking a late lunch, he made his way to the mess hall, hoping that Ed and Al may still be there. And there they were sitting at a table in the back like always. Deftly stepping over a nurse and a soldier with a broken nose (Wonder how that happened…), he made his way to the boys.
"Of course!" Hughes heard Alphonse exclaim. "I'll be there with you, every step of the way!"
"Be there for what?" The boys looked at him startled.
"Lieutenant-Colonel!" He had the vague sense that the armor was grinning at him. One day he was going to look into how exactly it had picked up facial expressions…it couldn't be as simple as the kid's soul shining through.
"Hey Al. Ed." He sat down next to Ed with a curious look on his face. "What's up?"
"Nothing!" Ed shouted at the same time that Al replied with "We were just talking about Winry…"
A-ha. He knew it. He had always known it; it was part of why he had been so set on getting her here for the festival. It was all of that stuff about her smile during Elysia's party. Edward was in love with Winry and he had finally realized it. Fabulous!
"I see," he said innocently as he stole Ed's pudding. Since Ed had finally figured it out on his own, he decided it was okay to blow the surprise. "Well, she's here all weekend for the festival you know. Including the ball." He ate a heaping spoonful of the pudding. Yuck, tapioca…it had looked like vanilla in the container.
"The ball? Really?" Al seemed to look at him conspiratorially. "Brother, that's your chance."
"Chance for what?" Instead of an elaborate mousetrap, this time Ed had a simple hamster on a wheel running in circles. "Oh wait…no…no I can't…not there…"
"Of COURSE you can!" Al and Hughes said at the same time.
Ed was pale. And clammy. "No that's…it's not right…there'll be too many people…" Randomly he calmed down. "Wait but then again there'll be too many witnesses for her to do anything drastic…"
Al froze and Hughes was really confused. He always sort-of figured Winry probably returned Ed's sentiments, so that didn't make sense. He's probably just not into PDA or something. He could wonder about it, or eat more pudding.
He ate more pudding with a shrug. "It's your call. But I don't think you'll have a better chance because she's going to be busy up until then, and she leaves the day after."
Ed put his head down on his arms and sighed. "You're right. And I'm doomed by the way."
"That's the spirit!" Hughes grinned as he finished off the pudding. Al flashed a thumbs-up.
----
Riza Hawkeye understood certain things about her job, and following Roy Mustang's orders was pretty much her entire job description.
That didn't mean there weren't certain times when she didn't absolutely hate it.
Track down Archer, fine. That was easy. Convincing him to give her back the reports…now, that was something else entirely. Everyone in the military knew that Archer wouldn't do anything that didn't work out in his favor. General Hakuro asked for him to retrieve them, there was no way he'd give them up.
She had to figure out something quickly, because she was at his office. Sighing, she knocked on the door.
"Enter," came the muffled voice of the man in question. Bravely soldiering forward, Hawkeye walked into the room.
"Sir, the Colonel sent me here to retrieve the file that he gave you with Fullmetal's reports."
The file that was, naturally, right in front of him. "You mean, this file?"
"Yes, sir. Colonel Mustang said that there was something important he needed to go over and that once he has taken care of that, you are more than welcome to have it back."
Oh, apparently he wasn't supposed to have seen that letter yet. That was interesting considering the aborted question Mustang had been about to ask him. Wait…the ball was in two days. Oh dear…it was all Archer could do to keep from laughing outright. He folded his hands in front of his face to hide his smile. This was getting easier and easier for him to manipulate things his way. "Really now." He leaned back in his chair. "Well if he needs it, then by all means take it back to him."
What? Riza was confused. "Sir?"
"I said, let him have it back. It's clearly very important to him, for you to have come all this way. Take it to him with my compliments." He should have known this would happen but it was too little, too late. Mustang couldn't undo the past, after all.
Pleased with herself for having gotten it back so easily, she reached toward the file. His hand covering hers startled her, and her wide eyes met his.
"Oh and, of course, that I'll be by tomorrow to retrieve it." The smile on his face was calm and somewhat unnerving. It looked like he knew something she didn't and that bothered her. Letting go of her hand, he picked up a different folder on his desk. "If that will be all, Lieutenant, I'll just see you tomorrow then?"
"Yes, sir." Hawkeye saluted, and she grabbed the folder. Without hesitation she turned and walked out the door. She didn't even glance behind her. Heading quickly back towards her office, she accidentally stumbled on a piece of loose tile.
As she recovered her balance, a piece of paper drifted out of the folder. Considering she didn't know what exactly Mustang needed the file for, she stopped to pick it up. Looking a little worse for the wear, she tried to smooth out the wrinkles as best she could when the words caught her eye.
You don't know what you do every time you walk into the room---
I'm afraid to move.
Well, that was strange. That didn't sound like anything the Colonel could have written…he was a ladies man, true, but he ran the gamut more along the smooth and subtle track. He wasn't one for poetry.
True, it was mixed in with Fullmetal's reports, but really. Ed was still a kid after all. He was too young for such sentiments, and if they were aimed at anyone it would probably be his friend, Winry.
That only left…no…it couldn't be. Although, it explained just why he let her have the papers so easily. And just what was that caress of her hand about anyways? And he had seemed somewhat…eager when he mentioned coming by the office the following day. The more she thought about things, the more she was adding two and two and getting four.
Lieutenant-Colonel Archer had just, more or less, declared his undying love for her.
She needed a shower.
And her gun.
----
Maria Ross and Denny Brosh walked side by side down the hallway towards the offices of the Military Court. Having just completed going through range training together, the two were heading back to work.
"I can't believe it's the Fuhrer's birthday again." Ross sighed. "It seems like it was just a couple of months ago."
"I know," Denny agreed. His cheeks reddening, he realized that this was probably his best chance. "So um…there's that ball on Saturday right?"
"Of course. There's a ball every year." She glanced sidelong at him. "What about it?"
"Well I…that is to say…I mean…youwangoballwime?" He cringed. And also, contemplated shooting himself.
"…Come again?" She turned so that she was facing him while walking backwards.
"I er…" He then noticed a very distracted looking Lieutenant Hawkeye heading towards them. "Incoming!"
"What?" Too late.
WHAM!
Hawkeye and Ross ended up in a huge heap on the floor, the paperwork that Hawkeye was carrying scattering everywhere around them. Ross was laying on her back underneath the blonde and it made Denny cringe. They'd need jumbo band-aids for those wounds.
"Oh God, Lieutenant I am so sorry." Ross looked up at the blonde from where she lay. "I wasn't watching where I was going…it's my fault…here…" She began to frantically shove papers into the folder that Hawkeye had been carrying.
Hawkeye smiled. "Don't worry about it. I wasn't paying attention myself. Here I have those." The two women put everything back in the folder. "Sorry about this…I need to get back to the Colonel. See you soon," she waved at Ross as she walked away.
"Wow…" Denny shrugged. "You always hear about what a hardass she is, but she was really nice about that."
Ross nodded, something white on the ground catching her eye. "Wait, Lieutenant! You forgot your…" She glanced at the paper. "…Love letter?"
"Whoa, is it really?" He looked over her shoulder. "Wow it is. I wonder who it's for…she doesn't seem like the type. I mean…like I said, hardass." He thought for a moment. "Although there are those rumors…"
"Rumors?" Her eyes met his. "What rumors?"
"You know…how First Lieutenant Hawkeye is of the er…'don't ask, don't tell' variety. I mean, she's really pretty but she never dates any guys or anything. And it's not for lack of admirers." He shrugged. "A lot of people seem to think that she's…you know." He leaned in and whispered. "Kinda gay."
Oh. Oh. Looking down at the paper in her hands again, a sudden feeling of dread came over Ross. Riza was far too competent to just forget a piece of paper like that. Unless she had done it on purpose…
Oh no…no she can't possibly think…I mean I'm not…
Damn short hair.
