So, what can I say? XD I don't think sorry is enough, but sadly, things are going to be this way from now on, school is being pretty hard / However, the story will continue, I can guarantee that! Thank you for all your reviews! You make me so happy :D!
"I can and I will"
Edward was in the middle of a dark place panting, his eyes wide scared. He began to run trying to find a way out, but he felt he had searched for hours and the place didn't seem to have an end. The blonde stopped again and looked everywhere in hope he would find how to get out of there, but there wasn't anything but darkness. He really hated the darkness.
Suddenly, he heard footsteps coming closer and tried to see who was approaching, but he couldn't see anyone there and became even more nervous. His instincts told him to transmute his automail, so he did and waited trying to control how his hands were shaking in fear.
Several seconds went by and he was about to scream to the person to hurry up, but finally his eyes caught a human figure walking patiently towards him. The boy narrowed his eyes trying to see who it was and noticed it was woman…a woman with brown long hair…a woman with a soft and warm smile.
"…Mom?"
She nodded and raised her arms to embrace to boy who was smiling happily with tears on his eyes. He transmuted his automail back and ran towards her feeling like he was to burst in tears of joy any second. However, he stopped shocked. His mother had disappeared and in her place there was the monster he had transmuted…the monster the Gate had given him in exchange for his arm.
"…No…NO!"
The kid fell backwards with wide eyes and shaking uncontrollably in fear as the monsters spit blood and tried to move.
"Go away! GO AWAY!!"
"Edward!"
"PLEASE! GO AWAY!"
"EDWARD!"
Ed shut his eyes open and sat up almost hitting Roy with his head. The man stared at him worried since the kid was really agitated and sweating, but he had to wave his hand in front of his golden eyes to catch the blonde attention.
"Edward, are you ok?"
The boy gasped when he realized that Roy was in front of him, which could only mean…"I'm sorry, I woke you up, didn't I?"
"Don't worry about that", the man said softly as he sat down in the bed, "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, of course", the kid said with a hollow smile, "I'm used to have nightmares"
"…what are they about?", Roy risked, but regretted a second later when the kid's face darkened and lowered his head. However, when he was about to apologize for the intrusion, Edward looked up with a tiny smile.
"I always dream about the…transmutation"
The man couldn't help but pity the boy. He was sure it must be horrible, and the fact that he kept having nightmares about that…it wasn't fair, it wasn't fair at all.
"It's ok, really", the boy said suddenly with a ashamed smile, "Go back to sleep"
"I can't sleep if I have a scared girl next to my room", he said smirking.
Edward smirked too and threw himself against the pillow, "Go away, I want to sleep"
"Me too. Good night"
Roy smiled at the boy and got out of the bedroom turning off the lights. The boy glanced at the door and laid down again with a sad face…scared would be more accurate actually. He was scared. He had that nightmare every now and then woke up with a start unable to fall sleep again, so tomorrow he would have a big bag under his eyes. Edward stood up and turned on the lights trying to calm down, but he just felt shivers along his spine. He grabbed one of the books Roy had given him, but he closed it immediately…he wasn't in the mood to alchemy right now. Actually, he wanted to forget about alchemy for now. Quietly, he left his bedroom and went downstairs to turn on the TV as low as he could.
He sat down in the floor and hugged his legs trying to focus on the boring TV show and forget about everything, but he was finding hard to do it. Edward sighed and glanced around, but the darkness in the house made him even more nervous. Maybe he should go to bed and try to sleep…
However, the kid heard footsteps coming from the upper floor and he straightened up and turned off the TV. He saw Mustang appearing slightly confused and turned on the lights when he noticed the blonde on his feet in the middle of the living room completely blushed in embarrassment.
"I'm sorry…I thought the sound was low enough"
"I'm a light sleeper", the man said approaching him, "But what're you doing down here? We have to get up early tomorrow, you know that"
Edward averted his gaze and merely nodded, but Roy wouldn't give up that easily.
"You can't sleep?"
The kid gasped and tried to hide his even more blushed face. He felt totally out of character, where was the confident, stubborn and brave Edward Elric?
"There's nothing to be ashamed of", Roy said suddenly at the boy's lack of words, "Come on"
"…Where?", Ed said finally looking up confused.
Roy drew a soft smile, "Just come with me"
And the blonde did. Both went upstairs and the man leading him towards what the kid guessed was his room and opened the door. Roy entered the bedroom, but Edward remained at the door frame for a moment before he noticed there were two beds in the room.
"Why do you have two beds?"
"I didn't", Roy said throwing a pillow over the other bed, "I transmuted yours here"
Ed stared at him for a second repeating what the man had just said on his head. "I'm not sleeping in your room, I'm not a baby", the kid said stubbornly.
"Well, there's no bed over you room, so if you prefer to sleep in the floor, be my guest", Roy said quietly as he walked towards the blonde who had growled and crossed his arms. "I know you're not a baby, but you're a kid"
"So?"
The dark-haired man kneeled in front of him and placed a hand in the boy's shoulder, "Kids needs adult company to feel safe sometimes, it doesn't matter how brave they are"
The kid rolled his eyes, so Roy smirked and laid down on his own bed as Edward got in his. Both didn't say a word, they just stared at the ceiling roof in silence for a few minutes. The blonde glanced at Roy out of the corner of his eyes to check if he was already slept, but he wasn't. Roy noticed the boy's movement and smirked.
"Are you waiting until I fall sleep to run to your room?"
Edward narrowed his eyes, "No, besides, you said you were a light sleeper"
"Yeah…try to sleep or tomorrow you won't be able to read all the books I'm going to give you"
The blonde growled, but he pulled the sheet and moved giving his back to Roy, so the man smiled and tried to sleep…which wasn't that hard since his eyes were fighting to close.
…………..
Edward yawned and fixed his red coat since the cold air of the morning made him shiver. Roy glanced at him and smirked.
"I told you to wear the wood hat"
"I don't like hats", the kid said moving his head so his bangs would cover his ears, "It's not that cold"
"Whatever you say"
Ed just frowned but kept walking in silence, his arms crossed. The kid rolled his eyes when the man stopped to buy some coffee, but he was surprised when the man gave him a cup of hot chocolate.
"I hope you like it", the man said before he took a sip of his coffee.
The boy stared at the Chocolate for a moment before he tested it. I wasn't bad, at all. When both began to walk again towards the Headquarter, Roy noticed two blond kids walking at the sidewalk in front of them, so he raised his hand.
"Winry-Chan! Al-Kun!"
Both blondes turned to see who was calling at them and smiled when they saw the dark-haired man. They hurried to approach him while Edward stared at them slightly behind Roy as he wanted to hide with the cup on his hands.
"Mustang-San, when did you come back?", the girl said with happy smile.
"Sunday I think, I already saw your grandmother the other day", Roy said with a sickly sweet voice that made Edward raise a brow, "How have you been?"
"Great!", the boy said with a victory sign on his hand, "I've read all the books you gave me!"
Roy nodded, "Then I'll give new ones", he said as he grabbed Edward's arm and pulled him, "I want you to meet Edward, my…nephew. They are Winry and Al, they're cousins"
Ed sweat dropped, but immediately felt how his face blushed when both blondes stared at him for a moment before they smiled happily, "Nice to meet you!", both said at once.
"…Nice to meet you too"
"You better go or you will be late for school", Roy said suddenly.
"You're going to be late too, Mustang-San", Winry said teasingly, but both kids laughed and ran towards the school which wasn't far from there.
Roy began to walk again and Edward followed him somewhat confused, but he wasn't sure why.
"Why do you know those kids?"
"They live with the girl's grandmother who happens to be close to my house", the man said moving the cup of coffee, "I know them since they had 5 years"
The kid just did a 'Mm' sound and blew his chocolate since the Headquarter was close and he wouldn't have time to drink it. He had a lot to read today.
……………..
"Sir, are you sure Mustang will be able to protect the kid from the Alchemists Union?"
The Fuhrer stared at Basque Grand and Raven tapping his hands thoughtfully as he was analyzing the situation. Well, he didn't expect the stupid members of the Union to attack the kid.
"Yeah, I'm positive", he said flatly so any of the two men wouldn't ask again, "But I don't understand why do they still want to kill the boy"
"The rumors were just that then, just rumors", Raven said with a smirk, "They never intended to use the boy"
Bradley just nodded in agreement, "We will have to be extra careful then. I know Mustang will take good care of him but we must keep our eyes open"
Basque Grand stood up and saluted the man, "Sir, I have to go, a squad if going to arrive any minute from the riot of the North"
"You're dismissed, Brigadier General
The man nodded and turned around to left the office. Raven stared at the Fuhrer, who had a wide smile on his face.
"You seem pretty confident about all this, but I'm worried that Mustang would find about everything before the kid is ready"
"He won't, I'll made sure of that personally"
Raven smirked again and stood up, "I hope you're right, this could be our ruin"
The Fuhrer smirked him back and dismissed the man. Bradley just smiled satisfied even thought his subordinates were feeling so unsecure, but it didn't matter. He had everything under control, so he opened a folder since he had work to do.
…………..
Edward hit his head against a book and fell over the table feeling numb. He had been in the same position for hours reading book after book while Roy signed papers and the crew were doing…something. The kid wasn't sure what they were supposed to do getting in and out of the office and talking to Roy.
The man noticed how the kid had his head over the table, so he stood up and approached him patting his back, "You should take a rest", Roy said glancing at the books, "I wasn't joking about the 15 books for today, you know? How many have you read already?"
Edward snorted exhausted, "Like…8 I think"
"...What?"
The blonde sat up and glanced at Roy with confused eyes, "What…what?"
"…8 books? You must be kidding", the man said checking out the books, "It's impossible, you've been here only 5 hours"
"I'm not kidding", Edward answered almost growling at the man's accusation, "I've read all these", he added pointing a pile of books.
Roy merely stared at the books with wide eyes. He found hard to believe, but the offended face of the boy told him he better believed him or he would get utterly mad, "Well…then you must take a break"
"…But what am I going to do here?"
"Go to the cafeteria, to the gardens, I don't know", Roy said closing the book the kid was reading, "Just go outside"
Riza then approached them with some folders on her arms making clear that she had brought more paperwork for Roy, "You could go and make some company to Black Hayate, my dog", she said with a soft smile, "He loves being in the gardens, but he is alone most of the time"
Edward moved his brow as he was analyzing the idea, but a few seconds later he drew a smile and nodded. "I'll go then"
The kid left the office in a hurry as Roy glanced at the books again amazing by the boy capability on retaining information. However, he remembered Riza was there and he turned to see her…and sweat dropped when he noticed how much paperwork she had brought.
"I'm sorry, sir", she said not really meaning it.
"…Yeah, I know", he said resigned as he grabbed the folders and walked towards his desk.
Edward found the dog sleeping under a tree shadow and sat at his side not quite sure if he should awake him. What was his name again?...Black something… Well, the dog wasn't an adult yet, but neither a puppy, so he moved him gently and backed up immediately. Black Hayate woke up and yawned, so Ed got closer and patted his head.
"Hi, I'm Edward"
Black Hayate moved his tail happily and stood up, so the blonde clapped his hand and touched the ground to transmute a ball and play with the dog. The air was fresh and the smell of the trees and grass always made him felt revitalized when he was sick of the lab…and here wasn't that different. He loved being outside.
The kid flinched and clenched his fists suddenly at the thought of what happened yesterday. He had been afraid of course, but he had been more scared of his thoughts…He really had wanted to kill the man. A shiver went along his spine and squeezed his eyes shut…no, he wasn't a murderer like that man…his mom would hate him if he became one…
The dog then brought the ball back and Ed threw it again as far as he could enjoying how funny the dog looked with his long tongue outside, maybe it was better to forget about that for now and focus in his training. He would make that man pay one day without killing him, he swore that for his life. However, the next time he threw the ball, it fell in the lap of the man who was sitting in the grass and leaned against a tree. The blonde approached the man and bowed repeatedly.
"I'm sorry, I didn't see you there, Sir"
The man looked up with a bored expression on his face and threw the ball which Edward grabbed it almost letting it fell in the grass.
"Be careful, kid", the man growled closing his eyes and leaning against the tree again.
"I'm sorry", Ed said again pulling Black Hayate since the dog didn't seem to like the man.
"What's a kid doing here anyway?", he asked suddenly before Edward turned around.
"…I…", Edward wasn't expecting that question and tried to come up with a convincing lie…and failing miserably, "I'm Musta -… Colonel Mustang's nephew"
The man smirked, but didn't say another word. Ed raised a brow confused, but then noticed the silver chain the man had on his belt.
"Are you a State Alchemist?"
He glanced at the blonde proudly and took out his silver watch, "Yes, I'm the Crimson Alchemist"
"Crimson?", the kid repeated
The man nodded and looked around as he was looking for something. The man smirked when he saw a bee coming his way, so he caught the insect between his hands and a second later let it go. However, the bee blew off like a small bomb in front of Edward's eyes.
"I can create bombs with living things", the man said quite disturbingly.
"That's…amazing", Edward said unable to say anything else. An alchemist that transmuted bombs? No doubt why he was in the army….
"Edward-Kun!"
The kid turned around and saw Hughes moving his hand indicating him to approach the man, so he bowed his head and walked towards the L. Colonel who grabbed his hands with Black Hayate following them.
"Edward, don't get close to that man, ok?", Hughes told him lifting his glasses.
"Why?", he asked curious, patting the Hayate's head as the dog tried to lick his hand, "He can't be dangerous if he is here, can he?"
"…It's not that he is dangerous…it's just that…", Hughes glanced at the boy and noticed that he had raised a brow, "…Just don't get near him, alright?"
Ed sighed in resignation and glanced at the dog, "Do you want to eat something?"
The dog barked happily and moved his tail as he understood what the boy had said.
………….
Roy tasted the dinner and decided it was done already. He glanced at the boy who was deeply slept in the couch with books around him. They had been discussing about alchemy all the afternoon and he noticed amused how fascinated the blonde was with his new knowledge. He remembered when he was learning alchemy…Edward was so much like him in that aspect.
He felt bad to wake up the kid, but he had to eat something after how hard he had worked, so the man walked towards the snoring boy. However, Roy suddenly stopped and clenched his fists.
"Who are you?"
He heard a low laugh at his back and footsteps approaching him. "You're good, Roy Mustang, I thought it would take you longer to notice me"
Roy turned around and frowned, "I asked who are you?"
"Little Edward hadn't told you about me?", the man said lifting his glasses, "I'm hurt"
The Colonel put his hand on his pocket, "If you don't answer, I'll attack you"
"Alright, alright", he said drawing a malicious smile, "The name's Shou Tucker"
Roy took out the hand of the pocket with his white glove on, "Member of the Alchemists Union, am I right?"
Tucker smirked amused, "Smart man"
"What do you want?"
The man glanced at the blonde, so Roy moved to hide Edward with his body, "I think you can guess what I want"
The dark-haired man smirked too, "I think you can guess that I won't let you"
"You know the Military has plans for that boy I assume", the man said erasing his smile and frowning, but clenched his fists when Roy nodded, " And I know you care about him, so why are you keeping him so close to the Military?"
"I'm not keeping him close to the Military, I'm keeping him close to me", the man said flatly and Tucker smiled amused.
"You really believe you can protect him?"
"I can", the man said confident, "And I will"
"So", Tucker began grabbing his jaw thoughtfully, "Do you give your word that the Military will never put a hand over the kid?"
Roy stared at him for a few seconds. Of course he was sure he could protect the kid, but that man was asking him to take care of Edward?, "Why does the Alchemists Union want this boy?"
"We just want to keep the boy away from the Military hands", the man said trying to glance at Edward, but Roy moved again to hide him.
"You just want to kill him, don't you?"
"If that keeps him from being used by the Military, yes", Tucker confirmed with a wide smile, "But since you've proved that want to give him a chance, I'll take that into account"
Roy frowned as the man laughed quietly but maliciously. However, the Colonel turned around when he heard Edward's voice calling him.
"Mustang-San? What's wrong?", the blonde asked sitting up with his eyes half closed and running a hand through his hair trying to fix it.
Mustang blinked a few times before he glanced at Tucker…but the man wasn't there anymore. He clenched his teeth, but tried to draw a smile before he turned to the blonde who was already on his feet rubbing eyes.
"Dinner is ready", he said ruffling the boy's hair.
The kid growled lazily but nodded and walked towards the dining room while Roy stood there watching him. Of course he knew the Military had plans for him, that was the main reason he had decided to take care of him…of course he had forgotten about a one small important detail. What would happen next? Will Edward live with him from now on? He will have to raise him?
Roy shook his head trying to forget about that subject. He had to find out why the Military was interested in the blonde first…then he will have time to think about that.
"Are you going to stay there?", the boy pointed out as he laid down a dish with food in the table, "The dinner isn't going to fly all the way to you, you know?"
The man smiled and walked towards the kitchen, "You're annoying, you know?"
Edward just grinned and held his hair in a ponytail before he began to eat. Roy took a seat in front of the blonde and watched him eat for a moment. Maybe it was better that Ed didn't know anything about what he knew…he was a kid, he deserved to live happily without being worried. And he would work hard to give him that chance.
…………….