"I belong"
The boy's eyes shut open in surprise when he glanced at the city in front of them. He had never seen one before, so he couldn't hide how amazed he was for the high activity the place had with hundreds of people around, houses, stores, cars, the lights and who knows what else. Roy glanced at him and smiled at the innocent face of the blonde, so excited for something as simple as a city. It was one of the greatest cities of the country, but still.
The kid stared at the buildings passing by the window with his mouth open, but the large park surrounded by trees caught his attention, it was certainly beautiful even though he had lived in the middle of a forest for his entire life.
When the car stopped at the red light in a crossroads, the boy noticed a few kids walking in the sidewalk at a woman's side, their mother surely. The blonde's face saddened, but he slightly shook his head trying to get rid of any thought right now since he was sure the adults in the car were watching him.
Soon the car reached their destination and the boy saw even more surprised the large building in front of them. He saw how Roy's officers entered first with the scientists handcuffed as they glared at the dark-haired man with anger and he did the same with a smirk on his face.
Roy grabbed the blonde's hand and they walked behind then along with his crew in silence, hearing just the steps of everyone as they were keeping a rhythm on purpose. They walked upstairs until they reached one particular office and the Colonel knocked at the door.
The opened and Brigadier General Hakuro smiled greeting the man back as Roy smiled him back, "Come in".
All the man got into the office as the Brigadier General walked towards his desk, grabbed the phone and said something they couldn't hear. Every one saluted him, but the man nodded so they lowered their hands.
"Colonel Mustang, I see you accomplished your job in the period of time you estimated. I'm impressed", the man said crossing his arms contemplating the doctors, "Congratulations"
Roy bowed his head, "Thanks Sir"
"You will be prosecuted and charged for using humans, I hope you knew the consequences before you began messing with something that serious", Hakuro told the doctors while they stared at him frowned, "Take them away"
The officers saluted the Brigadier General and pulled the doctors out of the place, but before the door closed, two men got into the room. The kid glanced at them, but looked up at Roy when the man saluted them as well as his crew and Hakuro.
"I'm sorry for calling so late, Sir, I know you were in your way out", Hakuro apologized as he lowered his hand, "But you requested me to let you know when Colonel Mustang was back"
"Indeed I did", the man said with a smile on his face and turned at Roy, "I see you finished the mission satisfactorily, Colonel Mustang, congratulations"
"Thank you, Sir"
The man nodded and began to talk with Hakuro in low voice so they couldn't hear anything, but glanced at each other curious. The blonde yanked the man's shirt to catch his attention.
"Who is he", the kid asked him.
"He is the Fuhrer, King Bradley, the Commander in Chief of the Military", he muttered, but the boy just stared at him confused, "I'll explain it to you later"
The kid just made a cranky face, but remained silently as the adults talked things he couldn't understand. However, the boy stared contemplative at the Fuhrer...his voice…he had heard his voice before…or maybe he was confusing him with somebody else? He flinched when the Fuhrer glanced at him for a second, but maybe he had imagined that since nobody else noticed it.
Finally, Roy grabbed his hand again and left the office walking towards the cars. Roy and his crew didn't say a word for a while, so he did the same. When they were in the car, Havoc was driving with Riza at his side while he and Roy were in the back seat, the kid looking at the city through the window.
"I don't know, that was just odd", the dark-haired man said suddenly. The blonde glanced at him, but he noticed the serious gaze he had, "Why would the Fuhrer care about something like that?"
"Maybe he takes human transmutation very seriously", Havoc said as he took a peek around to turn in a corner.
"Still", the man said frowned, "It was pretty odd"
The kid stared at the man but didn't say anything. He actually was wondering what was going to happen now…where was he going to live? With whom? Where they were going now anyway? But still, he didn't say a word. Soon, they stopped in front of a house…a nice house actually. Roy thanked Riza and Havoc and got out of the car with the kids luggage, so he did the same and followed the man.
Roy sighed, trying to forget about that stuff for the time being since he had a confused and probably scared boy at his side, "Do you like my house?", he said as took his keys.
"…I expected it to be bigger", the boy joked with a grin.
"Well, I don't know why since you always knew I wasn't a doctor"
The man opened the door and a house keeper received them, Roy smiled at her while the boy glanced at the house and moved his hands quite nervous.
"Come with me", Mustang told him as he walked thought the hall until he reached a door and opened it. The boy noticed how cosy it seemed even, but followed the man as he took a seat on the bed, "Well, you like it?"
The blonde stared at him for a moment, but then looked away, "…Am I going to stay with you?...at your house?"
"You don't want to?", the man asked him concerned.
However, the boy shook his head, "No, it's not that…it's just…I don't want to be a bother"
Roy drew a sincere smile, "You won't be. I'll honest with you, I'm not that fond of kids", he said and the kid smirked, yeah, he was sure that was true, "But you're not an ordinary kid anyway"
"I just I don't get why you insist on taking care of me"
The man lowered his head. The boy wanted a real reason, otherwise, this wasn't going to work. However…what was the real reason? He really got attached to blonde after two months of interacting with him and really wanted to help him, but was that the real reason?, "Because I want to isn't a valid reason?"
The kid stared at him. Maybe it was a valid reason, but he was sure the man wasn't telling him the entire story…but in the other hand, he had been the only person that showed to be truly concerned about him. "I'll let it be valid…for a while"
Roy smiled, "Well, then sit here", he said tapping the bed, "We need to talk about some things"
The boy did it even more nervous, but remained silently as the man contemplated him.
"Can you tell me your name?"
The kid's eyes widened and lowered his gaze as he clenched his fists. Roy regretted he had asked, but when he was about to opened his mouth to tell the boy it was ok, the blonde looked up with a sad face, "…I…I don't know my name"
Well, Roy wasn't expecting that, but he tried hard not to pity the boy. It seemed it was the last thing the blonde wanted, "Don't you remember anything before you started living in the lab?". The blonde absently nodded and lowered his head again, "It's OK, we'll figure out how to find about your past"
The kid looked up at him and nodded with a tiny smile, "You're not the bastard I thought you were"
"…Sometimes maybe I am"
"…Yeah, I agree with you in that one"
Roy smiled and nodded. "I'll try to find some clothes for you for the night, I don't want you to use that anymore"
The kid raised a brow and glanced at his white long-sleeved shirt, gloves, pants and shoes…well, white wasn't exactly his color, but he could live with that, "That's not necessary"
"Of course it is, tomorrow it's my free day so we are going out to buy you some clothes", he said as he stood and ruffled the boy's hair.
"Hey!"
"Let's have some dinner, I assume you're hungry". In that moment, the kid's stomach growled and his face blushed fiercely, "See?"
The boy rolled his eyes and followed the man, he always had to be right. However, before they got out of the room, the phone rang and Roy picked it up.
"Mustang"
"At least you could have called me to let me know you were back"
"Hi Maes, I'm sorry, everything happened so fast, I just got home"
"Yeah yeah, as always", the man said laughing, "Anyway, I assume everything went as you planned"
"Quite…but not quite at the same time", he said watching how the boy approached the mirror and stared at his reflection trying to fix his hair.
"Meaning?"
"….Actually, would you like to come? I have some stuff to discuss with you"
"Well, it's not that late. Gracia will understand"
"Great, see you soon then"
Roy hung up and glanced at the boy who had unbraided his hair to braid it again since he couldn't fix it.
"I'm a powerful alchemist, remember? Mess up with my hair and you will lose yours"
The man raised a brow, "I'm so scared. Come on"
The boy growled, but followed him quietly. He looked around and noticed how warm and cozy the house was….even thought there were the only there besides the housekeeper. He really though Roy's house would be a mess or something.
They reached the dining room and both took a seat in the table as a woman approached to get the table ready, "A friend is coming by, I hope you don't mind"
The blonde stared at him for a moment, "…This is your house, of course I don't mind". Roy smiled but then the maid approached to confirm some stuff about the dinner and left again, "So, I guess you are not married"
"You guess right", the man told him taking a sip of his drink.
"No woman has been able to stand your egocentrism?"
Roy narrowed his eyes, "It's not that, I dated a lot of woman and…hey, this isn't any of your business"
The kid smirked, but in that moment the maid brought a lot of food and his stomach growled again at he stared at it with wide eyes.
"What's wrong?", the man asked him concerned.
"…This smells…great", the kid said staring at the stew, "I've never had this kind of food before. They always made me eat something that tasted awful but had 'all my body needs'", he added with a hint of sarcasm on his voice.
Roy smiled, "Well, now you're going to eat real food. Try the stew"
The man stared at the kid watching how he gobbled the food, so he made a sign to the maid so she would bring more. Soon, someone knocked at the door and Roy stood up to opened it, "Nice to see you again, Maes"
Hughes stepped in and Roy closed the door, "Nice to see you again, too…you really need a haircut"
The dark-haired man rolled his eyes, "Come on, I want you to meet someone"
"…Please, tell me you brought a beautiful woman with you", Hughes said with a wide smile.
Roy sweat dropped, but didn't say anything and walked towards the dining room. Hughes' eyes widened when he saw the kid eating like there was no a tomorrow.
"I told you to bring a woman, not to have kids!"
The man almost fell in the floor at his friends comment, but instead he glared at him, "He is the kid"
Hughes stared at him for a moment, but then opened his mouth, "Oh…I'm sorry"
He sighed and both approached the table were the boy stopped eating when he saw them, "He is Maes Hughes, my best friend"
"Nice to meet you, Hughes-San", the boy said swallowing the food he had on his mouth first and bowing his head.
Hughes smiled, "Nice to meet you too", he said as he saw how the blonde sat down again and began to eat, "…What is he doing here?",
"He is going to live with me for a while…and I need your help…I don't know anything about taking care of kids and I need to know if you can get information about him"
"Well…Elysia is just one year old, it's not the same, but I think I can help you with that", Maes told him staring at the boy, "About the other thing…I think I got what you need"
"…Really?"
Hughes nodded, "When Riza told me there was a kid on the lab, I researched about him. I had to break some rules, but I got something interesting"
"Maes, I've told you several times that you shouldn't do stuff like that anymore, you're married and a father now"
"Yeah yeah, here", the man told him as he opened the suitcase he had brought, "I thought on showing the information to you, but I wasn't expecting that you would have the kid here"
"I can't let them take him into a orphanage", he said as he read the papers, "If you found this information inside the Headquarter…". Maes frowned and nodded. So, that partially confirmed Roy's suspicions that there was someone interested in the boy besides the doctors, "This is pretty good, thank you Hughes"
"Any time"
Both men walked towards the table and took a seat while the boy placed his head on it and sighed, "…I think I ate more than I should"
"Hey, I have good news", Roy told him catching the boy's attention as he raised his head, "Hughes was able to find some information about you"
The kid opened his eyes in surprise, "Really?"
The man nodded, "Are you ready to know your name?". The boy stared at him expectantly, so Roy smiled, "Edward Elric"
"…Edward?", the kid said with low voice. Something is his head told him that this wasn't the first time he had heard that name, "…Ed…I remember someone calling me Ed"
"You got in the lab when you were 3 years old", Roy continued, "That's why you don't remember anything before being there, you were almost a baby"
Well, that wasn't entirely true, but the kid didn't say anything about that. "Edward Elric…"
"That was all the information I could find", Hughes said suddenly, but the boy smiled.
"Thank you, that's enough for me"
Hughes nodded. The boy grabbed the paper and stared at it reading his name several times. He wasn't L001 anymore, he was Edward Elric, he had an identity...he belonged. Yeah, he liked his name.
…………..
The next morning, Roy's alarm woke him at 5:00 a.m. The man opened an eye and stared at the crimson numbers deciding whether to sleep one more hour or get up to do some exercise…Reluctantly, he stood up and yawned, but changed his clothes and left the house. He ran around the block, the sky still lightening and some stores opening as they owners waved their hands greeting the man.
When he was on his way back to the house, he saw an old woman in a rocking chair and a dog at her side with an automail leg. The man stopped in front of the house panting and waved his hand, "Good morning, Pinako-San"
"Well, well, look who is back", the woman said as she stood up and approached the man in the fence, "How have you been?"
"Very well, I see that you're well too", the man said trying to catch his breath, "How have Winry and Al been doing?"
"She doesn't want to go to school anymore, she only wants to learn about automail. Al is as sweet and responsible as always", Pinako said patting Den's head.
"I think she will become a great mechanic, you should listen to her"
"Yeah, maybe I should. Anyway, did you get marry?"
Roy's eyes widened, "….W-what?"
"Hughes told me you went to another city to find the right woman", she said smirking amused at the man's face, "I guess he lied"
"Damn Hughes, he will pay for this", the man hissed clenching his fists, "I have to go"
"It was nice to see you, Roy", the woman said sincerely.
Mustang nodded, "The same for you, say hi to Winry and Al for me"
"I will, take care"
The man began to run again until he reached his house and opened the door. The maid asked him if he wanted coffee and he nodded, but he would take a shower first…or maybe check on the boy. Roy slightly opened the door of the kid's bedroom and noticed he was still deeply slept with his golden hair everywhere.
He sighed and approached the kid contemplating him. The man noticed the boy was screwing his eyes shut and clinging at the sheet. He was probably having a nightmare…so, should he wake up him? Or let him sleep? He usually woke up by himself when he was having a bad dream, but he didn't know what to do when he wasn't the one having the nightmare…
That was when a thought almost slapped at his face…what was he doing? How did he decide to take care of a child? He didn't know anything about kids! Roy scratched his head…Riza had been right…she was always right.
Well, as he said, he had made a promise and he would keep his word not matter what. The man turned around and walked towards the door, but he jumped when he heard the voice of the boy.
"Mustang-San?"
Roy glanced at him with sweat dropping…he had been caught…however, he smiled when he saw the sleeping face of the boy yawing and his hair messed up, "Hey, go back to sleep"
Ed blinked a few times trying to see what time it was until he could see it was 6:15, "…But it's already late"
"…Late?", the man asked him approaching the boy, "What do you mean?"
"They woke me up at 5:00 everyday", the boy said closing his eyes and his head moving up and down, "It's already late"
The man smiled and patted Ed's head, "No, you're not at the laboratory anymore, you can sleep a few more hours"
Edward looked at Roy with his eyes half opened, "…Really?"
"Yeah, and sleep as more as you can because we're going to walk a lot in the afternoon"
"…Can we look for books?"
"Books and clothes, OK?"
The kid nodded and laid down in the bed falling sleep immediately. Well, maybe he didn't know anything about kids, but Ed certainly was an interesting one and he knew how to get along with him. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.
………….