AN: Okay, here we go now with chapter two, which is significantly longer than chapter one and will clear any questions you had regarding the first chapter. You ever have those scenes that are just difficult to write? You see them in your head but can't quite get them down effectively into words? One of last scenes in this chapter was like that for me. :(
Takahashi 'Neko Kitsune Kyona' Ryopon: Okay, first of all I want to say thank you so much for all your reviews on all my stories. :3 It always makes me so happy to see someone who likes all my stuff. X3 Thank you! Anyways, I really think the Hughes and Roy pairing is cute too, but I mostly like it for the angst factor, tee hee. Thank you again for your review (I hope you like this chapter too) and a happy new year to you too:3
Londoneye: Thank you as well! I'm excited about my first series as well. :D /dances/ I'm glad to hear that my stories give someone 'chills'. :) Makes me feel like I'm doing something right as a writer, haha. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story!
Okay, now just to set the mood of this chapter before you start reading: an excerpt from the same song this chapter's title comes from.
dare yori mo tooku e/yume nara samenai de/kono sora no mukou e/"you can see the another world"
-Farther than anyone else/If it's a dream then don't wake up/If you turn towards the sky/"You can see another world"-
-Another World by Gackt, from his album MOON. As translated by Mina-P of the Senshi Gakuen.
Enjoy the read guys. :3
-
For the second time that day, Roy Mustang found his onyx eyes slowly being pried open and his consciousness being pulled into awakening, both without his consent. Except, this time it was not the shaking of his body that awoke him. It was the strong yet sweet smell of food that wafted into his room that did it.
He sat up in his bed. Someone had removed his coat and the over jacket of his military uniform. Suddenly the memories of the moment before he passed out came back in a rush. WAS this even his bed?!
He checked thoroughly. It was. He sighed. It had all been a dream. A strange, very real, but definite dream.
Sadness tinged his sigh. Yes, a dream. That was not really Maes who answered the door, it had only been one his mind created. All a dream.
Looking around the room, he paled. Or maybe it wasn't a dream. While things of his own were in the room, they weren't arranged the way they were when he last saw them. Stuff that wasn't his littered the area, and as he stared at a desk in the corner, he noticed a small pile of throwing knives.
His eyes widened. Swiftly he got out of bed and ran out of the room. There was only one way to know for sure.
"Oh good, you're up."
Roy froze in the hallway as he laid eyes on Maes Hughes in the kitchen.
"Don't scare me like that again, okay Roy?" Hughes said, worry plaguing his gold eyes.
Roy leant against the wall, breathing deeply as he stared.
"Maes?"
"Yes?" the other responded.
Roy couldn't believe it, there was no way. Maes Hughes was dead, he had seen the body with the bullet hole in the chest, he had seen the body again in a coffin, then saw the coffin being buried, until he could only see a white stone slab pronouncing the death. He had seen it all. What he saw now was not possible. There was no way this was real. No way.
But Roy had to be sure. Real or not he had to be sure.
"Is that really you?" he found himself weakly asking.
The other turned to him with an odd stare and an arched eyebrow. "What the heck is that supposed to mean? Of course it's me."
Your word is not enough. I must make sure.
Cautiously, Roy slowly made his way over to the new Maes. Maes had already returned to the stove, and was caught off guard when Roy was suddenly next to him, feeling his torso with elegant fingers.
"Hey!"
The more Roy felt, the more emotional he became. This was real, this was here. It did not disappear when he touched it. It stayed and felt good. This was really here.
"Roy! You're acting weird, quit it."
The smaller body shook, then caught the other in an unexpectant tight hug.
"It is you! It really is!" Roy said into Maes' chest. Although truth was he didn't believe it 100 yet. Still, he was being consumed by ecstasy. He could feel this Maes! He really could!
Hughes on the other hand was not only being freaked out and confused but was beginning to worry. It wasn't often Roy showed this much emotion, even to him. And they had quite the relationship in this world…
"What the heck is wrong with you?" he began, placing his hands on Roy's cheeks (since his arms had not been caught in the embrace) and lifting his face with them so he could see it. "Of course it's me, who the hell else would I be?"
Initially, Roy looked up at him with wide eyes, his mouth taking a small 'o' shape. Then he closed his eyes and broke into a huge, child like smile.
"Nyaa! And you can touch me too!" he exclaimed.
That freaked Hughes out so badly, he pushed the other away from him. Roy only made THAT face when he saw a puppy and for god sakes, the man had just said nyaa!
"Don't look at me the way you do with Elicia-chan, all right? It freaks the crap out of me!" he warned him. "I'm not a damn mutt, got it?!"
Roy froze. Elicia-chan? So that means…He calmed down, and his usual seriousness returned.
"Roy, did something happen?" Maes finally asked, concern in his voice. "You're not yourself and it's creeping me out."
"No…nothing happened…" he replied, feeling himself back in control of his feelings. "….just a bad dream I suppose…"
The other sighed. This was giving him un needed stress. And he could swear dinner was burning. "Well then, supper will be done soon. Tell you what, go wait for it and I'll even forget that it was supposed to be your turn, okay? Just go relax."
"We take turns? Doing what?"
Maes stared at him strangely again. "Cooking, of course. And cleaning."
"Why?"
Now Hughes was more confused. Worry could be seen behind his spectacles once more. "Because we live together, Roy."
Oh, why hadn't Roy figured that out sooner? What else would've explained so much of Maes' stuff, and unknown items among his own?
"Oh. Right." Roy said, pretending he had only forgotten.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah."
"Well, could you rest where I can see you? Like in the living room?"
Black head nodded slowly, and Roy made his way into the living area. The kitchen and the living room were really only separated by a dining table, so Mustang and Hughes were in plain sight of each other. A familiar item came into view; his couch.
Grinning, he came to the loved white satin couch. This was his favorite piece of furniture, for it had seen more ladies than could be bothered to count. (Okay, so he really only loved Maes and went out with women to snuff out that love. Didn't mean he did not enjoy sex with said women.) Examining the couch he ran the situation in his head. Maes was alive and well and they were living together. Okay. Hawkeye's hair was short like it had been five years previous. By Major, she must've meant Maes. So Maes was still a Major, not yet Lieutenant Colonel. Had he gone back in time? That still didn't explain him and Maes living together though. Especially since he mentioned Elicia, his daughter. She must be a newborn now, what would he be doing here rather than with the little bundle of joy he adored so much? Just what had happened?
Or did he want to know?
Something on the side table caught his eye; a small bottle. He turned it around so he could read the label.
Lubricant.
Eyebrow raised. Uh…what?
He noticed some red stains on his couch. What the hell had he done to the poor baby!?
Maybe he would figure it out if he had a woman over, or maybe if he brought up having a woman over to Maes?
"Maes, maybe you should only make for one." He began.
Hughes looked up and was confused.
"I'm thinking about going out tonight."
The one in the kitchen cocked his head to the side. Disdain and exasperation painted his expression. "Go out again? What for? You've been out all day." He asked.
"Oh you know, the usual." Roy continued, assuming Hughes was used to him bringing home women all the time. "Find a girl, bring her back here, introduce her to the couch…"
Maes froze completely. He didn't even breathe.
"You won't mind, will you?"
Roy looked at the couch, his eyes closing as he spoke. He missed the rage seize of control of Maes' face.
"Don't worry, I'll give you plenty of time to eat and leave." He went on. He could hear footsteps coming his way. "You can come back in the morning. After all, I'm sure there's someone you would rather spend the night with…" he spoke obliviously, finally turning back to Maes and opening his eyes.
They didn't stay open long. Next thing Roy knew an angry fist made contact with his face.
In spite of himself he yelped. Hunched to the side, he gingerly touched, then held, the attacked cheek with both hands, nursing the bruise. Breathing deeply and in shock over what had just happened, he looked up at his attacker, whose eyes were ablaze with anger. Simply put, he was pissed. Roy's own eyes, which had previously been hurt and confused, turned to fire themselves, as he straightened back up to face the other man.
"What the hell is your-"
"What were you THINKING, you jackass!?" the other interrupted him. Roy froze; Maes was shaking, and there was hurt fueling that blaze, although the lens of his glasses amplified the rage so much it was hard to tell.
Next thing he knew Maes grabbed his left hand with his right and held it up, along with shoving his own left hand in Roy's face. "Do these mean anything to you!? Don't they symbolize the same thing to you as they do to me – the bond we share!? Or do they just mean nothing at all!?"
Roy examined their hands carefully. What was he looking for? He noticed on Maes' left a bond of gold circling his ring finger – a white diamond dead in the center. Then, for the first time, he saw a silver duplicate on his own left ring finger, only a little thinner. How long had that been there?
Suddenly it all sunk in. Rings on both their left hands…on their ring fingers…that could only mean…..His eyes bulged.
"We're MARRIED!?"
Still mad, Maes released his hand with a rough throw. "Oh, so you finally remember?"
Roy was in shock, his mouth trembling accordingly. He…and Maes were….
"But then who is Elicia-chan!?" Roy exclaimed.
That only seemed to make him angrier. "Oh so you've forgotten her too? After you were the one who picked her out and got all excited about finally having a puppy!?"
"Puppy!? Elicia is a DOG!?"
As if on cue, a small light brown and white shiba inu came run around the corner, as if it suddenly realized its 'fathers' were talking about her. Instinctively she went straight to the one who said her name and raised her front paws onto his legs.
Roy stared down at little pup, with its panting mouth and curled tail. It looked a bit like Hawkeye's dog, Black Hayate.
Him and Maes had a dog now, named after his daughter!? What next!?
"When!? How?! How long have we been married!? And since when did we get a dog!?"
Unimpressed, Hughes said nothing. He only turned away from Roy and back to kitchen.
"Maes, wait! Answer me! I…I didn't know…" he pleaded after him.
"How can you not know!?" Maes yelled, turning around with a deadly glare on his face. The small dog whimpered and hid behind her master. "I wasn't born yesterday Roy!"
He stopped, however, when he finally took notice of the lost look on Roy's face. It was a genuine expression of fear, hurt, confusion, and shame, and it pained him to see it. His own shame caught hold of his heart.
"Wait…Roy…are you serious? There's something wrong, tell me what it is already!" he demanded, making his way back to him.
Hanging his head and rubbing his swore cheek, Roy sought his head for what to say. What could he say? This is a dream I've just woken up in, explain everything to me? No. His logical mind knew he had to think of something else; something that wouldn't label him as crazy.
"I…All I remember is this dream I had…"
"What dream?" Hughes urged him on, coming closer still and examining the damage his strike had done.
"A bad dream. A dream so real I've forgotten what my life was before I had it." He explained as well as he could.
"Amnesia? No, that can't be right. You remember me. It must be selective. But…what caused it…" Hughes muttered, trying it figure out what was wrong with his love.
"I'm so glad I'm awake." Roy went on, continuing the story he was going with that this was reality. "In my dream…you…you were…"
"I was what?"
"………….dead."
Gold eyes widened as they looked down on Mustang, who suddenly looked uncharacteristically small and weak. Hughes had seen him like this a couple times before, and it was never a good thing.
"Maes…? Will you hold me?" he asked, feeling ashamed to do so, but wanting to so badly.
Hughes obliged, and held him close.
"It's okay baby, I'm here…"
As Roy assured himself once again that this was Maes and he was really here, Hughes was busy thinking. What was wrong with his Roy and what could he do to make him better?
That and he knew supper was completely shot by now.
-.-.-.-
"So…you really don't remember?"
"No…I don't…"
Hughes sighed as he cooked. Supper had indeed been shot, the bottom burnt so badly he knew right away it was unsuitable for eating (when you have to scrape burnt food off with your work out arm and still with difficulty, you knew it was inedible). So he had to start all over again, scrapping everything from before sans frying pan, and even THAT was gonna have to go through some major soakage before it could be usable again. Roy on the other hand was sitting at the dinning table, staring at his ring in astonishment, Elicia the puppy snoozing on his lap as he gently scratched her head.
"So…how long has it been?" Roy asked.
"Eh?"
"How long have we been married?"
"Well…We're not really married…they don't do those kind of marriages here. It doesn't matter though; it doesn't have to be official to be real. In our minds we're married, and our rings are a physical symbol of that." Hughes explained as he worked on a chicken and rice skillet of sorts.
Roy felt himself sway in a swoon and his face get hot. He'd never heard Maes speak in such a romantic way before. He liked it. A lot.
"But uh….let's see…it's been a few years now. How long has it been since Ishbal ended? It was a couple months after that." Hughes went on. "You seriously don't remember?" he asked once more. "You don't remember how you told me before the war?"
His face was calm with fond memory. Roy blushed. A memory of him did that to Maes?
"Told you what?" he replied meekly, his shoulders raising to cover his neck. He felt embarrassed with Maes looking at him like that while he was unable to give a decent reply.
Hughes sighed, exasperated, his fondness gone back into his brain.
"That you loved me."
"Oh." Roy muttered.
"What DO you remember?"
"That I'm the Flame Alchemist, and a Lieutenant Colonel, who participated in the Ishbal War and I've loved you since we first met. Oh, and my child hood. Memories of that are in tact."
He stopped and looked up at Maes, who had paused to look at him as well. There was an awkward moment of silence.
"I…am a Lieutenant Colonel right?" he said, absently wondering if he already had the rank of Colonel in this world, or had never been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel at all.
Maes continued to look at him. "You never told me you've loved me since we first met. And that was ages ago. When we were still kids."
Roy looked away, embarrassed for spilling a secret his self in this world had tried to keep. Man, did his face feel hot. He was getting a headache now too.
Hughes on the other hand was grinning, and returned to supper.
"Okay, it's done!" he proclaimed, a couple minutes later, taking out two plates.
Mustang however was rocking slowly back and forth, holding his forehead. His headache wouldn't cease, and boy, did he feel hot. It was like he had just used his flame alchemy or something. Elicia was awake and looking up at him oblivious to her master's pain.
"Elicia-chan, get down." Hughes shooed her gently as he placed Roy's plate in front of him. His face became concerned again when he noticed his love's current state. "Roy, are you feeling okay?"
He nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just tired." He lied, not wanting to worry Maes anymore. Hughes went to the other side of the table to sit, but kept his citrine eyes on Roy.
They ate in silence; Roy wasn't feeling too great and Hughes was busy trying to figure this whole situation out. He must've ran it a thousand times in his head and could not figure out a single thing. What may've caused the memory loss, what he could do, nothing. Maybe it was best if he asked Roy to give him a full account of what had happened when he woke up, or maybe even what went on in his dream.
When he looked up though he realized he was the only one who had ate. Roy was busy staring at his food, his black eyes half lidded and glazed over, and his face blotched red in his cheeks. He didn't look well at all.
"Roy?" Maes called out.
Then, right before his eyes, Roy Mustang fell face first into his dinner.
"Roy!"
Knocking over his chair, he quickly got up and rushed to his husband.
Roy was already out of the food though, and the embarrassment had kicked in.
"Maes…I…" Roy began but kept his mouth shut. What the hell is he supposed to say after that!?
Maes was just relieved to see he was all right however, and smiled warmly as he grabbed a face cloth.
"It's okay." Hughes told him calmly, after wetting the cloth and crouching down to wipe the rice off Roy's face. "You're just tired, that's-"
But he stopped. He finally got a feel of the other's face.
"Roy…you're burning up. You have a fever."
"I do?" Roy said, the statement catching him off guard. "Well, that explains the headache…"
"Geez, why didn't you say anything earlier? I'm getting you to bed,"
Before he could protest, Hughes had him in his arms, and took him back to the room he had awoken in. Normally, Roy would have liked to think that if anyone had scooped him up and put him into their arms, he would have done something about it, but he was far too tired and sick to do anything now. Before long, Hughes had him back in bed, the covers pulled up to his chin, and another cold, wet face cloth folded up and placed on his forehead to bring down the fever.
"Do you want your supper?" Maes asked him. But when he took a peak out the door he took back those words. "Uh…never mind…Elicia-chan has already gotten into it…"
"Maes…"
Hughes looked back to the bed. Roy was looking at him sadly.
"You won't….leave me will you?"
Once again, Maes smiled, and went to grab the chair from the desk. "Of course not…" he replied, bringing it to Roy's side and sitting in it. "I'll stay here all night with you."
That wasn't quite what Roy meant when he asked that question, but it was enough for now to let him finally rest and get well.
-.-.-.-
Hughes made sure Roy had been asleep for an hour before getting up and heading to the phone.
"Elicia-chan, stay with Roy all right?" he ordered the puppy who now laid on at the foot of the bed.
Once at the phone, there was only one number he needed to call.
"Hello? Yeah it's me. Look, I need you to do a favor for me. Yes, again. Don't say it like that, it makes me look like I'm always asking for stuff.
"Anyways, Roy's sick. Yeah, it's really bad, he had a high fever and everything. There are some other complications as well, but they're a…long story.
"I need you to call in a day off for him. And me too. At this point I can't leave him alone. It's…difficult…. So, think you can manage that?"
He was silent as the one on the other end responded. He smiled thankfully.
"Thanks Gracia. You're a good friend. See you later then."
With a single click he hung up, and went back to keep an eye on Roy.