To Go Home
By Bashfulglowfly
Chapter Six
Central Command 1923
Liesl moaned. Her head turned back and forth as if she was trying to escape a memory. Her fingers twitched.
"Lise!" Ed lunged for her bedside but he forgot that he was missing a couple of crucial items and almost fell to the floor.
"Idiot!" Roy had to do his own lunging to keep the Fullmetal Moron from breaking his head open on the floor. He sat on Liesl's bed, his left leg curled underneath him and Ed sitting in his lap.
"Lise. Lise. Wake up. It's okay. We're safe. You can wake up now." Ed stroked her cheek with his hand. "It's over. You don't have to worry any more."
Her eyelids fluttered for a moment then they opened. Her dark eyes were unfocused but after blinking a few times, she was able to see Ed clearly. She reached out for him. "Ed? Alfons…"
A tear rolled down Ed's cheek. Liesl's eyes widened and tears filled her eyes. She hissed with pain as she sat up but she wrapped her arms around Ed and the pair cried for their friend. She didn't notice the man who was helping keep Ed steady.
The others looked at each other. They were not uncomfortable with the tears but they were surprised that Ed had changed so much that he was able to cry in public without getting angry.
Liesl pulled back and sniffled. "Look at us. Aren't we a pair." She wiped the tears from her face then from Ed's. She gasped in shock. "ED! Your arm! Your leg! What…what happened! OH! How are we…"
Ed placed a finger across her lips silencing her. "It's okay, Lise. I'm going to be fine." He picked up one of her hands in his. "Look at me. There's something I need to tell you. We aren't in Germany anymore. We're in Amestris."
Liesl just stared at him. Then she noticed the other man sitting on her bed. Her face lost all color to the point where she looked almost gray. Her eyes dilated with fear and she began to shake.
Roy knew what she was thinking. He smiled at her and held out his hand. "Hello. My name is Roy Mustang. I'm a Major General in the Amestrian military." He looked over his shoulder at Hawkeye. "Could you upright the pillows so Ms. Liesl…" I'm sure as hell not going to call her Mrs. Elric. "…can sit up comfortably."
Hawkeye moved around to the side of the bed and fixed the pillows. She helped Liesl lean back even while Liesl stared at Roy like a rabbit would stare at a hungry fox.
"Lise." Edward lightly shook her hand to get her attention. "We're in Amestris. Alfons is dead on the Other Side. But…but my brother, Alphonse, is here."
"You told me that Alfons looked just like your brother, Al." Her voice was small. Roy felt a pang of sympathy for her. He could barely guess at what she was going through. Her world had been tossed upside down and sideways.
"Yes. That's right." Ed looked to the side and motioned with his head. Al stood up and came around Ed's bed to stand next to him.
Liesl stared at him for a moment then gave a tremulous smile while a tear rolled down.
Al smiled gently and held out his hand. "Hello, Liesl. I'm Alphonse Elric. Please, call me Al." He motioned to Winry. "This is my wife, Winry."
"Hello, Liesl. It's nice to meet you. Ed was telling us about you. Thank you so very much for taking care of him. Even if he's an idiot."
Liesl gave a small laugh. "Ed's easy to take care of. Most of the time." She looked back to Roy. "Are you alright?" Her voice filled with loathing and anger. "That man was about to shoot you in the back."
Roy smiled grimly at her. "I'm not hurt. I heard you and turned just in time. I'm sorry I didn't get him before he shot you…but he's dead."
Liesl's eyes widened. "He's dead. He's really dead?" Roy nodded. "When you killed him…did he…suffer?"
Roy smiled again. "He suffered unimaginable pain." It wasn't quite the truth. The shock of losing his hand would have numbed the pain. But he understood that Liesl needed to hear that the man who killed her brother suffered.
"Good! God forgive me but I'm glad! I'm glad! I'm glad!" She began to sob. Roy used his left hand since his right was keeping Ed from falling, and pulled her forward. Both he and Ed wrapped their arms around her until she finished crying. "Oh, you must think I do nothing but cry!"
"You've needed to cry like that for over fifteen years. You have every right!" Ed smoothed her hair back from her face. "Just so you know, Winry is going to work on making me new ports and automail. It's just going to take a little while for her to design and build everything."
Winry spoke. "That shouldn't take too long. I already know what I want to do and supplies are easy to get here in Central. Building everything should take just a few days; especially since Roy has promised me help. But then there's your surgery to take off the old and put on the new. THAT's what's going to take several hours."
"But they'll fit him properly? So he won't be in pain anymore?"
"Yes. I promise you they will be the best fitting automail he's ever had." Winry and Liesl gave each other blinding smiles. Ed knew that the two would be best friends and he was going to be in deep, deep trouble!
"Ms. Liesl…"
"Please, General Mustang, call me Liesl."
Roy inclined his head to her and smiled charmingly. "Then you must call me Roy. Liesl, allow me to introduce you to everyone else. This is Col. Riza Hawkeye, she keeps me on track. This is Captain Kain Fuery. Captain Vato Falman. Major Heymans Breda. And Major Jean Havoc."
Each man nodded and wave a hand while Liesl murmured a polite hello but when Havoc was introduced and he moved into her line of sight, she blushed and stammered. Ed and Roy looked at each other then looked at Havoc who swallowed painfully and tugged at his collar.
"What's going to happen now?" asked Liesl
"What do you mean?" Roy was puzzled by the question.
"I think I know what she means. Put me back on the bed, Roy." Roy reluctantly moved Ed back to his hospital bed then sat back down in the chair. "She wondering what's going to happen. 'Liesl Reinhardt' doesn't exist here. Yet, here she is."
"That can be easily taken care of." Said Hawkeye. She looked at Liesl. "Don't worry about it."
Ed looked over at the table and the pile of gold coins. "We're going to have to do something about the gold too. It's going to be obvious that they didn't come from any known country. I guess we could melt them down."
Al laughed. "You've been too long without alchemy, Brother." Al clapped his hands together and held them over the coins. When the light of transmutation faded, the coins had become small gold bars.
Ed laughed himself. "You're right, Al. It's has been a long time."
Within a few days, Liesl was well enough to get out of bed and walk up and down the hall. Mustang made sure that one of his people was with her at all times to deflect any questions that she wouldn't be able to answer. It was Havoc's idea to get various books so that she could learn as much as she could about her new home.
Roy was surprised that Ed didn't object to Havoc spending so much time with Liesl. They had called themselves man and wife for several years and there had to be some level of love and intimacy there. When he said something to Ed about it, Ed just smiled and said that he was happy if Liesl was happy.
Two weeks after the attack on Central, Winry was ready to operate on Ed. She apologized that it took longer than she promised but she wanted to make sure of her measurements and that Ed wouldn't have any problems accepting the new ports and automail.
The entire operation took over eight hours to finish. Roy paced for five of them until Hawkeye threatened to shoot him if he didn't sit down. Liesl still got tired easily and fell asleep on Havoc's shoulder. Finally, Winry came in smiling. "It went great. The biggest problem was removing the old ports. Parts had rusted or fused together and it took a bit to get it all off. The new ports attached smoothly. We just have to wait until he wakes up to see if it all works okay."
Ed stood up. He held still for a moment to catch his balance then took a cautious step forward. Then another. He swung his automail arm back and forth as he continued walking. A large grin grew bigger across his face. "This is the best I've felt in years! It's nice to be able to walk barefoot again!"
Liesl stood watching. Her hands were across her mouth but it was obvious that she was smiling as largely as Ed was.
Ed walked towards her and grabbed her in a hug and spun her around making her laugh. Ed laughed with her. "Look at this, Lise! I'm whole again!"
Liesl placed her hands on either side of his face. "Yes. Yes, you are and I'm happy for you." She wrapped her arms around him and the pair stood in the middle of the floor simply enjoying the moment.
Roy shoved his hands into the pockets of his uniform coat and clenched his fists. He was happy for Ed but it just killed him inside seeing him with Liesl. He knew damned good and well that Liesl was a wonderful and loveable woman. But she had a greater claim to Ed than he did…and he was jealous. And he felt like a fool for feeling that way.
Roy stood at the window of his study and stared down into the garden. He watched as Ed and Liesl talked. It looked serious.
It had been two months since the pair had moved into Roy's home at his invitation. At first, the pair shared a room and, presumably, the bed. But after a few weeks, Liesl quietly moved into a separate room. They never said why and Roy hadn't asked.
He moved away from the window and sat at the desk, head in his hands. He felt sick. He wanted Ed. Hew wanted Ed in his life but most of all he wanted Ed in his arms and bed. He wanted to feel that long golden hair move down his body while Ed kissed his way down his torso. He wanted to feels those hands, both flesh and metal, grasp his back as he made love to Ed.
But Ed was married. To Liesl. To a woman, who as his sister in a way. To a woman he had come to love as if she really was his sister.
He heard a car arrived and walked across the large room to look out the window that overlooked the driveway. It was Havoc's car. He continued to look out the window as he waited for the knock on the study door that never came.
He watched as Havoc exited the house with Liesl. Havoc opened the passenger side door and helped her inside. He jogged around to the driver's side, got in and they drove off.
"Roy?"
He turned and looked. It was Ed. An Ed with calm, clear golden eyes. So unlike what he was as a child and as a teenager.
"Roy, what's wrong?"
"You're letting Havoc be with her?"
"Yes. She likes him. A lot. And he seems to care for her."
"She's your wife."
"She's my friend."
Roy shouted, "She's your WIFE, Ed!"
"She was never my wife, Roy." Ed spoke calmly. "Perhaps on paper…on the other side. But certainly not on paper here. And we were never husband and wife in the physical sense. Unless Havoc's done something already, Liesl is as virgin as the day she was born."
"You love her."
"Of course I love her. She's a dear friend. Has been for several years. And she's free to be with whomever she chooses…which is Jean Havoc."
"You wear a ring."
Ed held up his left hand. There was nothing on the ring finger. "We've set each other free…to be with the ones we really love." He walked forward until he was within arms length of Roy.
Roy could only stare at the man he had missed for so many years. And now he was back. "I want you, Ed." He blurted.
"You want me, Roy?" The voice was gentle. "Its that all you desire? 'Wanting' me? Or do you want more?"
Roy closed his eyes and shuddered. He could feel the flames gripping his body…forcing him to tell the truth. "I love you, Ed. When you disappeared, it almost killed me. It hurt so bad I didn't know how I was going to survive. But I did. Then you came back. But you were married…untouchable."
Ed walked forward until he was touching Roy. "I'm not untouchable."
Roy grabbed him, wrapping one arm around Ed's waist and digging the other into his hair. He stared into Ed's eyes for a long moment before placing his lips on Ed's. Ed obligingly tilted his head, parted his lips and the kiss became deeper and more heated.
After forever, the two men came up for air. Ed chuckled softly against Roy's lips. "Roy…I'm home."
Roy smiled. "Welcome home, Ed."
