Thanks again for the reviews, everyone:)

silver candle: Well, depends on what you mean by look a likes. Of course, everyone he knew in Amestris are there, but people he didn't know are as well. He didn't know Ruthie back home but he saw her once before. So, I wouldn't exactly call them look a likes. He just has relationships with people he didn't before. (I hope I've answered your question right)

jkks: Kekekekekeke…..(and that's all I'm saying. ;D)

Mayamay: I just want to say…your review made me cry tears of joy. T-T You got what I was hoping to get across so well, it makes me sooo happy… (And such a nice, long review too…/hearts/)

Anyways…this chapter is intended to be short and sweet – because our boys need something short and sweet. After last chapter especially. X3

"kekkyoku mada okinai anata/atsuatsu koohii mo aru no ni/neteru furi? atashi ga chikazuita toki odokasu tsumori?/ chikazuite sono me ga aite yappari to wakatte nagara mo odoroita."

"Later, you still won't get up/Even though I've made piping hot coffee/Are you just pretending to sleep? Is this a ploy to get me to come closer?/When I came closer, our eyes met... even though it was just as I'd thought, I was surprised."

-Strawberry Jam by Ai Otsuka, from her album, Love Jam, translated by BluePenguin (was found on vllasko . com.)

Enjoy. :3

-

For once, Roy was the first to wake up. His black eyes fluttered open slowly, but snapped wide open when he saw the arm limply slung across his frame. After the initial surprise, he calmed down. Man, even after all this time, he still thought he woke up next to someone he wasn't supposed to in the mornings.

He turned his head to the side and saw a slumbering Maes. He was glad Maes wasn't awake to see what just happened (again) – he always felt horrible when Maes had to see that.

He observed his husband in silence for a while, expecting him to wake up any moment. But Maes was well into a deep sleep. He had been ridiculously tired these past couple of weeks, what with Anna's funeral, and the investigation into her murder. Roy had been right; Anna wasn't the last victim. A week later a teenage girl trying to find a ride home had been found hacked to bits on a street corner the same way Anna had been. And then just a few days ago, a female sergeant had been killed the same way, just a block away from her house. The investigation had picked up speed since a soldier had been killed (as Roy knew it would) and became very hectic, so the week had been particularly hard on Maes. After all, he was the one in the investigations department. Roy helped with the investigation too, but often he'd be called to do something by his superiors or given paperwork. Maes was the one working on the case the most. And never mind how paranoid he and Roy now were. Neither of them went out without the other and their own means of defense. Obviously, women in uniform weren't safe either, so they walked Gracia home or found someone else to do so and would've done the same with Hawkeye had they not strongly believed the murderer would be dead meat if he made the mistake of crossing her. They advised every woman they knew – officer or not - not to go out without the company of someone else, particularly a male, and protection. Because of that, Hawkeye and Gracia had taken to going to places together, and Hawkeye was trying to show Gracia how to use a gun (she knew some basics, but Hawkeye wanted to make sure she could actually hit something when she fired). Havoc had even stepped up and offered himself as protection for them numerous times, usually acting as an escort when Roy and Maes couldn't. Although Maes was extremely wary of this; Havoc was known for having notorious bad luck with women and women like Gracia were most vulnerable and easy to get in bed with at times like this. So Hughes gave him plenty of warning to keep his hands and bad pick up lines away from a classy lady like Gracia or else he'd have to answer to him. (To which Havoc would respond 'Oh right, right, because she's your secret lover, right?' and that would result in Maes whacking Havoc extremely hard on the head because Roy was right there and listening. Roy tried to not think about it, afraid he'd revert back to the 'he belongs with Gracia' thoughts.) All of this had left Maes mentally and physically drained, and if he needed a few more hours to sleep and revitalize himself, then so be it.

"I hope you're having sweet dreams, darling." Roy whispered softly, kissing the other on the head. He had started to use pet names recently, although only now and then (simply because he wasn't the type to use them excessively like Maes). Hughes moved slightly and quietly moaned, his arm over Roy twitching, before settling more into his pillow.

That's when Roy got an idea. Carefully getting out of bed and silently grabbing some clothes, he left Maes to sleep. A now awake Elicia followed him out.

He put Elicia on her backyard leash before letting her out the backdoor to pee, then sat down on the armchair to dress himself. As he dressed, he realized; I haven't had a single dream since I came here.

His realization made him pause. It wasn't that he was ever the type to care about dreaming or even remember what it was he dreamed. But the fact that he hadn't had one dream in what was almost two months made him wonder. Would it make sense to dream while you were dreaming? Of course not. Roy tried to ignore the realization. He didn't want to start questioning whether or not this was real or a dream again this early in the morning.

Once he finished dressing, he let a relieved Elicia back in and headed into the kitchen. Time to make a breakfast fit for his love.

-:-

Okay, staying asleep until ten o'clock, Roy could perfectly understand. (Unlikely for a man who always seemed to awake some time around nine but still reasonable.) But until twelve? That was a different matter. Or it had been an hour ago. Now it was just ridiculous.

Roy understood Maes' need to sleep after such a tiring week, but noon had passed for crying out loud. The breakfast he made was cold and it wouldn't be long before the coffee joined it. He had tried to wait for Maes to wake up before eating, but at 11:30 he couldn't help himself and nibbled on a piece of toast with raspberry jam, just to hold him over. His stomach was growling in protest, however, demanding that all this delicious smelling food be delivered to it already, Maes or no Maes. His eye twitched irritably; he was seriously considering going in there and throwing something at Maes to get him the hell up.

Thinking of going through with the plan, he went to check on the Sleeping Idiot (as he was now dubbing him). He stood at the door wondering if just his angry presence would wake the other. He glared at Maes, just slumbering away like some sort of baby…

But Roy cut off that thought. Something was odd here. After observing Maes this morning, and countless nights when he couldn't sleep, he knew how the other looked when he was sleeping. How he looked now, it wasn't right.

Sure, his eyes were closed, and he was very still, but some details just weren't right. For starters, his position looked far too planned. Maes usually slept on his side; right now he was on his back. Maes liked to grab onto things in his sleep; whether it was Roy or a pillow or even a teddy bear (Roy recalled he slept with one for the longest time as a child). Right now he wasn't grabbing anything. Lastly, there was his face. When Maes slept he had an expression of genuine serenity. His face right now just looked blank.

Roy cocked an eyebrow and put his hands on his hips. He smelt a rat. That little bastard couldn't have been faking sleep for the past few hours, could he?

If he was, Roy was going to royally kick his ass.

He stood for a minute, wondering what he should do. He was positive that the moment he got close to inspect, Maes' eyes would snap open, surprising him. That was probably his intent all along. Still, Roy was hungry, and there was nothing good to throw at Maes. He proceeded towards the bed cautiously.

Roy's eyebrow rose again when he got to Maes' side. No reaction yet. Maybe he really was sleeping? No, this was far too fishy. He must be awake.

But…he was really tired last night. He was out the moment the lights were.

After some mental arguing, Roy leaned down for a closer look at the 'sleeper'.

And instantly met a pair of wide-open yellow eyes.

"Holy shit!" Roy gasped, jumping back. Despite knowing this was what Maes was up to, he was shocked regardless.

Maes was giving Roy a Cheshire Cat grin. He was definitely awake.

"Mornin' Muffin."

"Morning!?" Roy yelled, leaning over again. "Do you have any idea what time it is!? It ceased to be morning over an hour ago!"

Maes' smirk widened, and he swiftly grabbed one of Roy's shaking wrists. Before he was able to do anything, Maes pulled him down over top of him.

"Argh! Maes!" he shouted angrily as Maes wrapped his arms around his lower torso. "Let go!"

"Such a nice morning too…" Maes whispered, letting his head down and closing his eyes.

"You asshole!" Roy pounded a fist on Maes' chest. "How long have you been up!? If you say 'all morning' I'll beat you!"

Maes reopened his eyes and tilted his head back up. "Of course not, Muffin." He said with a smile. "I've only been up an hour."

Roy was growling through clenched teeth. "That's not much better."

"Mmm, I wanted to see how long it would take before you came in to check up on me. I was starting to think you didn't care actually. Why didn't you check sooner? I got bored waiting."

"I was being considerate, god damnit!" Roy exclaimed, pounding more fists on the other's body. Hughes just laughed.

They stayed like this for a little while. Roy calmed down and rested his head on Maes' chest, listening carefully to that sweet heart beat…

"Did you sleep well?" he asked.

"Yeah. Like a babe. Best sleep I've had in weeks." Maes replied.

Roy reached over to the nightstand and grabbed Maes' glasses. "That's good. You looked pretty tuckered out last night." He said, examining the specs.

"Mmm…these weeks have been hell. Especially since Bismark was found dead."

Sara Bismark was the Sergeant killed.

"It's not even just because of work. It's all the worrying. Gracia's a perfect target; she falls right in the age group of the previous victims, and she's generally defenseless. Hawkeye is a potential target as well…"

"Although you'd have to be a moron to attack her." Roy muttered dryly into Maes' pajama top. "Heck, it might be good luck if he goes after her, then we'd catch him for sure."

"There also haven't been enough victims to determine a pattern of any kind. Right now he just seems to kill whenever he feels like it. And even though he's only killed women so far…who knows when he'll change and go after men…and then you have poor Ruthie…"

So far, Ruthie had come over once. She was causing trouble for her grandfather at the deli and did nothing but silently play with Elicia the whole time. She had definitely changed; her eyes no longer contained light.

"Argh…it's more stress than I care to have!"

"I must not be helping any…" Roy whispered, having now put on the glasses. Maes looked very fuzzy to him.

"Hey, that's a good look for you." Maes commented, being able to just barely make out Roy with the glasses. "And don't say that Muffin. You're not causing any more stress for me, all right? After all, you're doing much better. Your memory loss isn't a problem anymore." He added, taking his glasses back.

That was probably a lie and Roy knew it. However, he did believe he wasn't causing as much stress as he did before.

"I'm glad you slept well, Maes."

Out of nowhere came the grumbling of a hungry stomach. Maes, now with his glasses on, stared at Roy perplexed.

"…Didn't you eat?"

"I was waiting for you." Roy replied through clenched teeth, his irritation back.

Maes sweat dropped. Roy certainly didn't look pleased.

"Eh heh, guess I should get up then."

-:-

"…Wow. It looks really good. But cold too…"

"That would be because you were still asleep while it was warm."

Hughes sweat dropped again, laughing nervously. Roy wasn't looking at him; he had his back to him.

"So…do I have to eat it cold?"

"Yes."

Maes moaned, then tried to cheer up.

"Ah well. I'm sure it'll be delicious cold or not!"

A smile tugged at Roy's mouth. He didn't say anything else.

"Did you get the mail yet?" Maes asked, now sitting down.

Roy looked back to him. "No, actually. I guess I forgot about that."

"Go get the mail Elicia-chan! Quick girl!" Maes suddenly exclaimed to the pup, pointing enthusiastically in the direction of the door. The dog's ears perked up and Roy became horrified.

"No! The last time she did she nearly ripped apart everything!"

But the dog was off like a bullet, causing Roy to run too in order to beat her to the mail. Maes poured himself some coffee, trying to maintain his snickers.

Roy came back, his eye twitching again, bundle of letters in his hand. A yapping Elicia was jumping up behind him, trying to get the letters.

"Bad girl!" he shouted at her, making her stop. He then whacked Maes across the back of his head with the mail. "Bad Maes!"

Maes just grinned as Roy threw the letters on the table before sitting down to his own breakfast...er…lunch.

"It's good Muffin." Maes told him as he ate.

Roy merely nodded as he began to spread generous amounts of raspberry jam on a piece of toast he decided he wanted to eat first. Maes looked up and watched him with interest.

"Do you have enough jam, Roy Mustang?" he began, playfully. Roy didn't answer. Instead, to Maes' surprise, he bit into the toast and took out half of it in one bite.

"Whooooooa tiger, take it easy. It's not going to run away on you."

Roy just growled. He was hungry, that's all. He ate in normal bites afterwards.

"You know…one wouldn't expect Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang to have such a sweet tooth." Maes said, possibly thinking out loud. "I think you're the last person people at HQ would expect to see loving chocolate, vanilla, fruits and anything sweet."

"I think a love of raspberries is the last thing anyone would expect of me too." Roy added, putting jam on another piece.

"Yeah. Add raspberries to ANYTHING and you love it."

Maes then began to sort through the pile of mail. He moaned coming upon one rather thick envelope. Roy looked up.

"What was it?" he asked.

"From work." Maes replied, picking up the envelope and attempting to open it. "Something redirected to me. Damnit, can't they give me just one day off? I'm not even the one in charge, shouldn't it go to him?"

"You're second in charge though. The others probably think higher of you."

"They know I'll actually do something about it, that's why. The Lieutenant Colonel actually in charge does hardly a thing. Hurry up and get promoted Roy so I can take that guy's rank already." Maes mumbled.

Roy smiled softly, then drank some coffee.

"Eh?" he could hear Maes a moment later.

"What's wrong?"

"Well this is just plain weird. Someone sent a letter to a dead state alchemist and it automatically redirected to the state. They want me to have a look at it though and figure out what to do. At least it's not more about 'Chopper'."

"Can I see the letter? It was originally addressed to a state alchemist, right?" Roy asked, reaching his hand out.

"Sure, go ahead. They seemed to have opened it already." Maes replied, handing over the envelope that had been inside the military one.

Roy examined the front before opening it and scanning the letter. As he read, his eyes grew increasingly and increasingly wide with interest.

"Maes…they sent it to you because you live with an alchemist." He told the other.

"Eh? What do you mean?"

Roy beckoned him closer with his finger and Maes leaned over. Roy was pointing to a name.

"…Hohenheim…Uh, why does that name sound familiar…?"

"Because I have no doubt talked about him before. They mean Hohenheim of Light."

"Wait, isn't that that famous alchemist?"

Roy nodded. "Yes. The famous and missing alchemist the military's been trying to find for years."

"What's this letter say about him?"

"It's from his sons. Looks like they're looking for him too."

Maes began to read the rest of the letter. "'Sorry to bother you but we are the sons of Hohenheim of Light. Our father had a letter from you in his study and we are desperately trying to find him. Our mother is dying….' Oh my…those poor boys."

Roy continued. "'Dad left when we were very young, and mom's been having a hard time ever since. Now we fear she will leave us. We need him to come home. If she sees him, she may get better. All she needs is him to come home.' Poor boys indeed. Especially considering when this letter was dated."

Maes looked at the top to see the date. "That was more than half a year ago!" he exclaimed. "Their mother's bound to be…!"

"Dead by now." Roy finished. "They probably sent out letters to everyone their father received ones from. They must have been desperate."

"I don't really understand the point of redirecting the letter to us though." Maes began, scratching his head. "It's not like we can go help the woman or anything. And I highly doubt their father ever came back."

"Mmhmm, I doubt it too after hearing what kind of man he was. The military has tried similar tricks to find him in the past and none of them have worked. He's very elusive. However, they want to try this lead out too, even if there's only a slim chance of finding him. These kids were that desperate to find their father, and this is how desperate the military is too."

"So, what do you want to do? Send someone to find him? Or…go ourselves?" Maes asked, picking back up the envelope. Seeing the return address, his eyes widened.

"I don't really know. I'd rather not go on a wild goose chase myself…"

"I think you should go."

"Huh?" Roy said. "Why?"

Maes showed him the envelope. "Because. Look at where they live."

Roy peered at the return address curiously. "Risembool?" he muttered. He then froze.

"That's where…they live…right? The Rockbells."

Roy nodded slowly.

"You still remember what you did, right?"

Roy nodded again.

"I think you should go. Kill two birds with one stone."

Roy looked down at his plate. "…Yes. I think I should go too."

Hughes smiled softly, and gently placed his hand on top of Roy's.

"Don't worry. I'll be there with you."

"But what about the investigation?!" Roy exclaimed.

"I can't let you go alone, Roy. When you go there…that'll be a time you need my support more than ever."

Roy didn't know what to say at first. Then he smiled too, and laced his fingers with Maes'.

"Thank you, Maes. I know I can do it with you there."

A week later they were on a train to the town of Risembool, on their way to that fateful night that changed everything, all over again.