The Fallen

Chapter 5

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"Hey, Colonel..."

"What is it, Full Metal?"

"You remember that I won't die before you, right?"

"Of course, Full Metal... How could I forget? You tell me everytime I see you..."

"Yeah, well, if I don't...you know...out live you... can you do me a favor?"

Mustang sighed and stopped working on his paper work. "What kind of favor, Full Metal?"

"Well, two favors..."

"What are they?"

"I want you to take care of Al... Don't let him join the military, okay?"

"Okay, I think I can do that."

"Oh, and get him a cat... I never let him have one..."

"All right. What is the other favor?"

"Can you..."

"Can I what, Full Metal?"

"Can you burn my body...? I want to be cremated... I can be like the Phoenix..."

"Full Metal..."

"Did you know that the Phoenix dies and burns into a pile of ashes... And out of those ashes rises the wonderous Phoenix again..."

"You don't plan on dying on me any time soon, do you, Full Metal?"

"Of course not... I just want to make sure everything is taken care of."

"Fine."

Mustang frowned at the memory. He stared down at the casket in front of him. It had been handcarved by one of the best coffin makers in all of Amestris. It cost Mustang, Hawkeye, and whoever else chipped in a large amont of money, but they didn't care. It was for one of their dearest and youngest friends... Edward Elric...

Edward had died two days ago and his funeral was on a Saturday. The sun was shining down on them, cheerfully. On Mustang's way to the funeral, he saw children playing in their yard, smiling and giggling. They were playing with a bright red ball that looked like the rose Hawkeye had just placed on the casket.

Alphonse sniffled and buried his face in Hawkeye's shoulder. The boy had been crushed when his brother had died, after all, he was in the room when his brother passed away. A young boy shouldn't have to witness the death of his brother...no matter who they were.

"Are you ready, Full Metal," Mustang whispered. "Are you ready to become a Phoenix...?"

A bird flew across the sky right above Mustang and Mustang shivered. "I'll take that as a yes."

Mustang pulled on his white ignition gloves and smiled. "Good-bye, Phoenix..." Mustang snapped his fingers and lit the casket on fire. It burned for a few minutes and then nothing was left but ashes and somehow, magically, the red rose on top of the casket was just barely covered by the ashes.

Mustang smiled and picked up the rose. He stared at it for a few moments and knelt down in front of Alphonse, who had collapsed to his knees and was still holding onto Hawkeye.

"Here, Alphonse, I think you should keep this... You can think of it as a part of your brother..."

Alphonse smiled weakly and nodded his head as he took the rose in his hand. "Thank you, Mr. Mustang..."

"You're welcome, Alphonse..." Mustang took Alphonse's hand in his and stood the boy up. "Come, it's getting late, and you need to go home before you get sick. You need to get a good night's rest tonight. Tomorrow, we're going out to the country..."

Alphonse nodded as he walked beside Mustang, small hands wrapping around large gloved hands.

And they walked in the direction of the setting sun. Where the blood red sky met the baby blue sky...clashing and fighting for the right to stay in the sky...

"Mr. Mustang..."

"Yes, Alphonse?"

"When I hold the rose up in front of the sun...I see a golden bird..."

And the wonderous Phoenix rises again...