-1Give Guidance or Counsel

Cats

Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist

Chapter 12 - Nobody's Perfect

Wednesday the 27th of January

"We're going to Xing."

Ed snorted, flipping the page of his book and not even bothering to look up at the Colonel. He was sat in the man's office, after school hours, flipping through one of man's many books. Roy had been working steadily for the last few hours, and the school was now thoroughly deserted. Roy couldn't leave, however, because he'd been putting off all his paperwork, and had to get it done before the next day. Ed had offered to keep him company, but they had been sat in silence until that rather interesting comment from the elder man. Ed finished off his paragraph, then finally looked over at Roy, instantly catching eye contact. The dark-haired man was determined.

"We're not going to Xing." Edward replied, and watching in faint amusement as Roy's face fell. He was like a child who was told he wasn't allowed an ice-cream.

"Why not? A holiday there would be nice! We wouldn't have to worry about bumping into anyone."

Ed rolled his eyes.

"First off - when would we have the time? We have other commitments you know." He started, "Secondly, I'm not crossing that desert and you are not getting me on a boat - sea air does crazy things to my Automail."

Roy couldn't even bring himself to snort in amusement at Ed's last comment. He was just ever so slightly disappointed that Ed didn't like the idea of going to Xing. Ed noticed this, and felt a bit guilty at saying it so bluntly. He did want to spend time with Roy, but Xing seemed to farfetched. He heard Roy sigh and bit his lip.

"Why don't we go to Risembool?" he suggested hesitantly. At Roy's confused look he carried on. "It's not as far away as Xing, so we can go there at the long weekend coming up in February. And…" he trailed off, blushed, then carried on, "And it would be nice to show you where I grew up, considering I go on about my childhood so much."

Roy smiled encouragingly at him, and the blonde rushed to carry on.

"And we could visit East City… once you get past the slums it's pretty nice there and…" Edward was taken off guard when Roy suddenly kissed him. He hadn't even seen the man move across the room. He tilted his head up to let Roy have easier access, and after a moment the kiss was broken.

"I'd love to visit Risembool, and see it through your eyes." Roy smiled, running the back of his hand gently down Ed's cheek. Ed, a little flustered by the actions, gave a small little throaty sound.

"Great." He forced out. "I'll be your tour guide."

Roy grinned, suddenly looking forward to that long weekend in February a hell of lot more.

- X -

Friday the 12th of February

Friday the 12th, after school, had a slightly hyper (but mainly just worried) Edward Elric pacing his living room and wondering whether he'd packed everything he needed to the long weekend. This time he knew it was coming and wasn't going to get wearing Hughes' ideas of fashion, or using a toothbrush that looked like it was originally intended for Elysia.

The blonde was clad in his usual leather trousers, a dark tank top and his trademark coat - trying not to make it look as if he was making too much of an effort. Roy would just turn up in a white shirt and slacks anyway. Not that Ed was complaining, since Roy looked good it white shirt and slacks.

This was their second trip away in the months they'd been 'dating', and since Ed rarely was in a position to spend time with the man while in Central, he was definitely looking forward to it. All the time the two spent together felt like it was either a session, or a dangerous encounter. But who would they know in Risembool? It was the perfect opportunity to act like a couple.

Ed smiled at his hands, stopping in his pacing; a couple? A couple… Then, the doorbell chose it an opportune time to ring, and Al stood from where he was watching his brother worry, and answered it.

"Hello Mr. Mustang." He said politely, and Ed heard an awkward greeting from Roy, who hadn't really gotten used to the idea of Al and Winry knowing about his forbidden relationship with a student. Ed grabbed his case (which was really an oversized rucksack), and came up behind his brother, smiling slightly at the elder man. Roy held out his hand for the rucksack, and after a small amount of debating with himself, Ed gave it to him. He waved over his shoulder at Al, and heard the boy say 'bye brother' before settling himself comfortably in the passenger seat of Roy's car. Mustang placed Ed's bag in the boot, waved awkwardly to Al, then climbed in next to the young blonde.

He adjusted his mirror, strapped in, checked the road (checked Ed was strapped in), then pulled away. He spoke softly.

"We'll probably drive through East City, then down to Risembool - You sorted out where we're staying when we get there?" He asked, and Ed let a small smile grace his lips. Roy was beginning to get more relaxed while driving - even though they were heading to Risembool, which was very close to the accident scene which had caused Roy to rip up his licence in the first place. Of course, his posture and stance were as stiff and correct as ever, but Roy would never had started a conversation while driving three months ago.

"Yeah." he replied, looking out the window. "We're staying at Pinako's old house. It's an Automail shop, and she still keeps her supplies there."

Roy didn't take his eyes off the road to glance at him, but Ed could tell by the shirting in his seat, that he wanted to.

"We're not staying at your childhood home?" The elder asked, and Ed had to wonder if he'd imagined the slight disappointment colouring his counsellors words. He licked his lips slightly, nervously, before replying.

"That house isn't there anymore."

Roy gave a very slight start of surprise, raising both of his eyebrows.

"What happened to it?" he asked, and Ed tore his gaze away from the passing scenery to look at him. He gave a very small shrug, although Roy wasn't looking. Or perhaps, it was because Roy wasn't looking. He shifted his gaze again, to out the front windscreen.

"We burnt it down."

Roy, for his part, didn't react as violently or as animatedly as Ed would have expected. When they'd done it, Pinako had gone crazy on them, and ever since Ed had expected everyone to react in a similar manner. Roy was his counsellor though, and was used to hearing weird stories. The elder man's grip tightened on the steering wheel only because it was Ed, and everything Ed did had a back story. It effected Roy more then ever because Ed was someone Roy cared about.

"Why would you do that?" he asked evenly. Ed stiffened.

"Because that place did nothing but remind me of what a failure I was. And to Al it was a place he thought he knew, but couldn't remember, which scared him." He stopped and swallowed. "So when we went to central, to Hohenheim's place, we decided to start fresh. New place, new faces, no more lost memories - just new ones. No more failures - just successes. So we burnt it down… so we couldn't go back."

Roy nodded, having no comment to make. Ed was just a child, and he handled things in dramatic ways. But he was mature, and knew what he was doing. Ed gave a hollow laugh, which caused Roy to take his eyes off the road for just a split second to glance at him.

"You know, we never expected Winry and Pinako to follow us. And even though we found Teach and got into school and started fresh… there's still so many times I've failed."

Roy noticed, in his peripheral vision, that Ed was clenching his fists against his legs: a sure sign that he was upset. He gave a barely audible sigh. Could the two of them ever go out and have fun without the weight of things they'd done baring down on them? Really, he scolded himself, he'd really put his foot in it by asking about Ed's childhood home. Had he not realised yet that anything relating to Ed's childhood was usually painful? The last thing he wanted to do was cause Ed pain.

They drew up to traffic lights and Roy took his hand off the wheel and placed it on Ed's knee. The boy jerked, but relaxed into the touch easily.

"Everyone has failures Edward." The man spoke calmly. "No one can learn how to succeed without them. In that way, failure is a blessing… as cheesy as that sounds." He sighed and brought his hand back up to the wheel in the stiff, correct posture it adopted while driving. "Nobody's perfect Fullmetal." he added, eyes on the road as he pulled away.

Finally done with chapter. I can't wait for the next chapter. It's one of my favourites in this whole story! ^^ Please review!

~Od23