Author's notes: Oh gosh – I can't remember the last time I've spent so much effort battling a story! Sorry for the delay folks! I had a really hard time keeping Gracia in character for this…if you think it's bad now – then you should have seen it before! Anyway…I hope this isn't too predictable…I was having issues…-sigh- So I decided to just post what I have and leave it at that. Sorry if it's below what you're used to! I've had a busy week! (I went to an awesome concert yesterday! It was fun, but ate up all my writing time…still – it was exciting!!!!!! I love live music! ) And a big thanks for all the reviews and favorites and everything people! You guys are all so great!

Hughes held his wife tighter. "It's okay Gracia – we talked about what would happen if it turned out like this, about what would happen if I…" He stroked her hair softly. "…if I wasn't around to take care of you because of something…"

Gracia buried her face in his shoulder and tried to say something, but the words that came out were too muffled to be understandable.

From across the room Mustang listened intently, straining to hear over the sounds of his thundering heart. 'The hospital? -around to take care of-?' The words raced through his mind as he struggled to get a grasp as to what was going on.

Hughes spoke again. "They said I'd still have some time left, it's not like – like I'm…going tomorrow or anything…"

And the truth hit him. How it possibly be anything else? Anything else but…Mustang leaned back, swallowing hard. Something inside him felt free and light, but he didn't want to acknowledge it. To feel so free because of the illness of his best friend was a terrible thing. But he did. A little of the guilt he'd been shouldering for years lifted away and he felt suddenly as if he'd been holding his breath sine Hughes had died. He took in a great mouth full of air, trying to suppress the relief that was spreading through him. 'It didn't matter. It didn't matter.' A voice in his head chorused over and over. Sure he'd as good as killed his best friend and wrecked the lives of his family members to boot, but Maes had been living on borrowed time – what difference did a couple of months make in the long run?

Gracia pulled away from Maes, wiping the tears off her face with her sleeve and smiling.

"There you go honey." Hughes laughed in a pained voice. "Just keep on smiling like that and everything will be all right."

Gracia let out a choked laugh.

The sound pulled Mustang from his wandering thoughts. He felt like he was lost in a thick fog, his brain refusing to accept the fact that the woman had laughed. He felt his jaw drop but pulled it up quickly, replacing a surprised look with his trade mark frown. He'd always frowned when he was confused. Confusion was a weakness – one that couldn't afford to be shown the enemy. It was something years of military training had beaten into him.

Gracia laughed again, louder and shriller. Hughes took her by the shoulders worriedly. "You're in shock." He stuttered, trying to sound gentle but coming off as slightly frantic and confused. He guided her to the empty chair by Mustang's bed and set her down carefully, giving Roy a pleading look for help.

Mustang was careful not to let his own panic show through. He'd never dealt with a hysterical woman before; he'd only had to comfort the occasional girlfriend who was having a hard day – and he was pretty sure Hughes wouldn't approve of his methods in those cases.

Gracia's laughter grew louder and she buried her face in her hands and shook up and down animatedly in her chair.

Hughes dropped all attempts at staying calm. "Don't just sit there - do something!!!!" He yelled at Roy, who flinched slightly and pulled himself out of bed, careful to give Gracia a wide berth.

"What are we supposed to do?" Roy asked, jerking his head at the woman sitting before them and still not breaking his frown. Gracia's breakdown was unsettling, he wouldn't had minded so much if she'd only cried, but it was the laughing that made him feel so uncomfortable.

"How should I know?!" Hughes' exclaimed. "She's obviously having a breakdown or something! Laughing isn't normal behavior for someone who's about to become a widow!"

There was an awkward pause at the words. Mustang looked at his feet, Hughes coughed.

"Are you afraid?" Mustang asked after a second. He wasn't sure why he asked it, he only found the words coming from his mouth before he knew better.

Hughes looked up, his face very serious. "A little." He smiled sadly. "But more so for what'll happen to – " He cast a glance at Gracia. "Them." He finished.

Roy nodded wordlessly.

"Will keep an eye on them?" Maes asked after a second. "Check in every now and then to make sure they're doing okay?"

"Of course." Mustang agreed quickly. He owed it Maes, after all the trouble he'd caused…

Hughes looked up in surprise. "Really?"

Mustang nodded again. "I will."

"You'll take pictures at Elicia's ballet recital?"

"Sure."

"And you'll make sure Gracia remarries?"

"She's not going to want– "

"You see that she does! I'm not about to let that woman throw the best years of her life away just because I -"

"Alright, I'll try and get her to."

"Good. And you have to make sure Elicia graduates high school, and help her with her homework. And you'll have to be there when – "

Roy rolled his eyes. "Yes. Yes. I'll do all that. Anything else?" He asked, trying to keep the frustration from his voice. Hughes could be incredibly annoying at the strangest of times.

"There's just one other thing…" Maes said, lowering his voice dramatically so that Mustang had to lean in to hear him.

"What?" He asked, bound by his guilt to obey what ever whim he came up with.

"You seem lonely and in need of a friend – you should find yourself a wife!" Hughes said seriously.

"That's none of your business!" Roy reacted instinctively, as if it were old times. He could almost hear Hawkeye's voice; cool and calm. 'Please colonel, don't take it out on the phone.' He'd always wondered if she'd had any idea what he was so upset about then…She always seemed to know everything.

"Will you at least try and find a steady girlfriend?" Maes suggested.

Roy shook his head. He could search to the farthest corners of the world and never find another woman like Riza Hawkeye, and he wouldn't have anybody else.

Hughes sighed and Roy wondered if he was remembering the blond he'd found him with.

"Alright, just make sure you do the rest." Hughes patted him on the back. "I feel better knowing that my two girls will be taken care of."

They both turned back to Gracia, who was hiccupping slightly in her seat. In all the distraction Roy had almost forgotten about her. Her laughing must have stopped sometime ago, and she seemed to have settled down. She surveyed them, slightly puzzled, as if waiting for her turn to speak. Hughes and Mustang waited for her to say something.

Biting her lip, Gracia closed her eyes and took one a deep breath. "The hospital said you'd be…alright." She finished meekly.