Ch. 9

Roy yawned loudly as he stretched out his legs. Even though Edward had gone to bed and Alphonse was helping the soldiers with the graveyard shift, Mustang felt he still had work to be done. It was now one o'clock and the only sounds were Ed's quiet breathing and the lantern flickering. Roy looked over at the sleeping alchemist and blinked tiredly with a smile. It was rare that he saw the kid not trying to appear bigger and tougher than he really was. He was a strong kid, to be sure, but still only a child. And at that moment that child was sleeping in bliss, unawares to the chimera guarding him from the terrors of the night. Roy turned back to his reading and stared blankly at the pages.

Roy wished he could warn the soldiers, warn Edward and Alphonse, but he couldn't. To warn them that there were nocturnal monstrosities that cared to the whim of their sinful creator, who flew and crawled and slithered under the moonlight and watched all around them. They growled at every corner and hissed at every alleyway. They…

They're what I was supposed to be…

Roy closed the book and used his teeth to lessen the flame of the oil lamp. He curled up and watched the fire dance its light upon the glass. He wasn't a pyromaniac but he was always hypnotized by the flames. Even a flickering candle, with its fire so fleeting that it may snub itself out so suddenly with no warning, was so beautiful and spiritual to Roy. He closed his eyes and saw the flames dance against the red of his lids.

He would not put out the lamp.

He would not return to the horror of the darkness.

He would not return to the beatings that accompanied it.

He would not…

He…

He found himself lying on a cold stone floor, sticky with his sweat and blood. His breathing was struggled as the air was choking him with its fear and evil intent. He opened his eyes and cried out as he saw his chamber. "No… No! NO NO NO NO NO NO! I can't be back here!? No! Fullmetal found me—he saved me—I got away from here! Let me go! LET ME GOOOOO!" Roy screamed, his chains ringing out as he fought to escape them. He screamed to be free. He screamed and screamed and screamed.

"Would you be so kind as to stop? It's rather distracting."

Roy gasped and stared wide-eyed at the man in front of the door, the light from behind him silhouetting his form. The man tilted his head. "What's wrong, friend? Were you not expecting me this early in the night?" Roy howled in fear and kicked all around, trying to push himself away from the male. "Y-You stay away from me! STAY AWAY!" The man closed his eyes and laughed quietly. "You really must stop with the screeching and barking, my dear soldier, it is so annoying." The man stepped towards Roy slowly, his shadow fading away and revealing his green eyes.

"I-I SAID STAY AWAY FROM ME! You can't…" Roy choked. "YOU CAN'T HURT ME ANYMORE! This is only a nightmare… Heh… I'll wake up and everything will be fine!" his struggling voice changed to a sorrowful laugh. His chuckling began to crescendo into a demented shriek as he felt his mind slipping from reality. "YOU SEE!? I'M NOT REALLY HERE—I'M SAFE—I'M FREE! YOU DIDN'T KEEP GUARD OF ME WELL ENOUGH AND NOW YOU CAN'T HURT ME ANYMORE! YOU CAN'T HURT ME! YOU CAN'T HURT ME! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA!"

Roy rolled around on the floor laughing crazily, his tears soaking his face. "It's a dream it's a dream it's a dream it's a dream it's a dream it-" he chanted under his breath, the rhythm distracting him from the man watching over the whole act. "I'm quite displeased, Mr. Mustang."

Roy stopped and looked up behind his bangs and sneered. "You shut up! You aren't real!" The man gave a sad tut and he shook his head. "I thought it was going to be hard to break a soldier of your maturity, but I suppose I was mistaken." He drew his leg back and knocked the breath out of Roy. Mustang coughed and gasped. "You haven't broken anything of me! Not my spirit, not my mind, nothing!" Roy whimpered as he felt one of his ribs crack. "…Nothing!"

The man kicked Roy in the neck, getting a gargled scream in return. "You will be easy to break, we simply need to find your weak point." Roy coughed furiously. "I… I don't understand… This has to be a dream!... Was… Was that all a dream?... Did Edward… Did Edward never…?" he mumbled, crestfallen. "I can't still be here… I CAN'T!" he screamed as the man's blow struck him across the head.

"As I've said, dear friend, you must stop with the screeching. It's upsetting."

"But… But I'm… taaaaaaaaaaurgh…" Roy struggled, his voice mutating. No… NOOOO!

The man smiled and grabbed one of the chains around Roy's feet, pulling the claws high in the air. "Perhaps we should prepare you for flying, then?" Roy squawked and flailed to get back to his proper orientation. The man hooked the chains on a hook that hung from the ceiling and stepped back to see the chimera hanging upside down, fighting to get back upright. "Now, try and use your new wings to fly. I'll be back in three minutes' time. We'll see if you complied, but if not…" the man said, reaching for something in his pocket. "Well… We'll have to find a way to make you."

Roy felt his blood beginning to flow to his head, even more painful than normal due to the longer neck he now had. He felt his heart skip a beat as the man left the room, a letter knife sparkling in his pocket. The door slammed, hurting Roy's head even more than it already was. He waited until the footsteps trailed off before he made his move. He jerked around, trying to pull himself up with his legs and flailing to grab the hook with his talons.

No such luck.

Roy let himself fall back, swinging from the inertia.

The blood in his ears was deafening and his face was a dark red. Eyes watering and vision warping, he gave in and tried to flap his wings. He ended up moving backwards instead of forwards, right into a cold brick wall. Whimpering, but taking advantage of the uneven surface, the chimera dug its claws into the cracks and began to slowly climb up. Backwards at first, before reaching a point where he could twist around and let the blood circulate normally. Roy heard footsteps approaching and he panicked.

Leaping for the hook, he swung on the chain, even using his teeth to help hold himself up on the awkward suspension. He heard the door creak as the devil opened it as a leisurely pace. "Well, not quite what I was meaning, but still impressive for a first go, Roy." The man smiled and he vanished as Roy felt himself falling to the ground, no longer hung up. His skull met the stone floor with an agonizing CRACK and he screamed out like bloody—"MUSTANG!"

"MUSTANG, WAKE UP!" Edward pleaded, shaking the flailing chimera.

Roy's eyes shot open with a loud, pitiful cry as he heard Ed's voice. He looked over at the boy and he felt sweat dripping from his brow. His throat was aching and his head throbbed with an awful headache. "Colonel, you're okay, it was just a nightmare! It's okay…" Ed cooed, wiping away the sweat and tears from the chimera's face. "It was a dream…" Roy pulled away and pushed himself up to his feet, heading for the toilet. Edward shut his eyes as the man retched into the container, his back heaving from the painful acid.

"Aaugh… Aaugh drooughn…?" Roy muttered between gasps.

"Yeah. From the way you were shaking, I figure it was hell?" Ed confirmed. The chimera flushed the toilet and leaned on the sink. He looked into the mirror and panted, a line of saliva still on his jaw. He hissed as he struck the sink handles, water gushing from the faucet. He shoved his face into the stream, coughing from pain. He stayed there under the water for a few beats hoping to wash out the bile from his mouth and the sweat from his face. After confident in being clean, Roy backed away and shook his head free of the water and spit into the sink before hitting the handle again.

The chimera staggered back into the room and flopped face-first on his bedding. He still breathed heavily, leaving the young Fullmetal no more assured than before. "Colonel…" Roy flicked his tail in response, slowly turning his face to the boy. Ed pushed back Roy's bangs from his eyes and looked sadly into the white opaque irises that had once been a shiny midnight blue. Ed sighed and leaned forward, his forehead almost touching Roy's. He closed his eyes to avoid tearing up.

"I wish so that you could tell us your troubles…" he mumbled under his breath.

Roy felt a lump in his throat and he chirped quietly. He shifted his body and wrapped his right wing around the boy's shoulders. Edward opened his eyes and smile faintly. "We… We'll go into the town later to help some of the residence and then go back to the library again. Maybe some of the townspeople can communicate with you." Roy pulled back slightly and cocked his head in confusion. Edward stood up and explained. "Well, from what we can gather, some of the chimeras can talk to EACH OTHER, but not one of us. So maybe it has something to do with the animals they were fused with being in common… At least," Ed concluded. "At least that's what we've got to go on."

Roy nodded understandingly, remembering the strange occurrence of the previous day's bird flock. But I don't think I was transmuted with a flock of finches… Right? The animals inside him nodded, although slowly as all of them felt the nausea as well as Roy. Edward headed for the door and opened it. "I'll let you rest, and I'll be right downstairs." He smiled and started to close the door, causing a tiny fear inside Roy, but he left it open a crack. Roy exhaled in relief and fell back on the pillow.

Closing his eyes, Roy let the softness of his pillow carry him off to his sub consciousness.

"Hey, guys," Roy said sarcastically to his animals.

"Greetings," replied the black one.

"Hello," replied the tan one.

"Hello hello hello hello hello!" replied the largest one.

"… Sick…" the smallest whimpered.

Roy smiled sadly and he pet the creature on its back, his hand slowly stroking the scales. "Yeah, sorry about that, everyone…" The black one shook its head. "Was master's fault, not other's." Roy turned quickly with a sneer, "He is not our master! No one is!" The largest animal whimpered and its ears fell back against its head.

"Isn't… Isn't Ed-Word…?"

Roy sighed and shook his head. "No. No one is our master and no one ever will be. Honestly! Just because someone does something cruel to you does not mean you have to obey them!"

"But it stops the hurt."

Roy rubbed his hands down his face and groaned. "Yes, but it's worse in the long run!" The black one laughed. "Self does not run! Self flies! Naked one, furred one, and prey run!" The other feathered animal cheered in approval.

Roy snarled and they quieted down.

"Why see not-master-master when sleeping? Got away from not-master-master because Ed-Word is a good not-master-master, right?" the largest one asked in confusion, one ear raised higher than the other. "Yes… Well, no… It's hard to explain." Roy rubbed his neck. "Have none of you ever had nightmares until now?" All the animals, even the simple-minded one, cocked their heads in confusion. "Night… Mare…? What is a nightmare?" the tan one asked.

Roy groaned. This was not the kind of human experience he wanted to elaborate upon. "Well, they're like dreams but not neutral or happy. They're usually a bad memory, a fear you have, or a random vision that supposedly prepares you to act should the event actually occur." The animals stared at each other and looked back to Roy with blank expressions. Roy felt his eyelid twitch. "Bad dreams about bad things." The animals opened their mouths and then nodded.

"I swear to God, you animals are gonna drive me insane…" Roy mumbled to himself.

Roy breathed slowly as his inner mind was in another realm. Edward watched from the doorway and squinted at the scene. "He isn't sleeping… So what the hell is he doing…?" he wondered aloud to himself. He quietly shuffled in front of the beast and squatted down to watch its curious rest. Every once in a while Roy's brows would lift or the corner of his mouth twitch, but he was otherwise completely still. Edward sat watching the chimera for a good while without any change in its behavior.

Roy's breathed in deeply, silently. He sighed audibly and slowly opened his eyes. He blinked as he tried to rationalize why Edward was in front of him. He squawked in shock as it dawned on him. Jerking upwards and falling backwards, the chimera flailed in surprise at the discovery of the child. Edward!? What the hell!? Edward jumped up and awkwardly tried to help him up. "Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!" He pulled Roy back up into a sitting position

Roy screeched loudly in annoyance at his subordinate as he brushed his feathers back down. Edward chuckled. "I said I was sorry, jeez! Drama queen!" Insufferable shrimp! Edward smirked at the snarling chimera as it turned away from him. He bit his inner cheek and took a breath. "So… Whatcha doing?" Roy turned back and raised a brow, still frowning. Edward gave a nervous cough. "I mean, when you curl up like that?"

Roy twitched.

Damn brat's been watching me…

The chimera sighed and shrugged, hoping that the motion was enough to get the kid off his case, but it was for naught. Crossing his arms, Ed stuck out his lower lip in a fake pout. "C'mon, tell me!" Roy rolled his eyes with a groan. He lifted his wing and motioned to his head, raising his brows while he pointed. Edward squinted as he tried to interpret the action. He blinked with wide eyes when he understood. "Oh, are you talking to the animals?" Roy nodded and returned his wing to its rested position. Edward released a "Hmm…" as he rocked on the balls of his feet. "I see… Okay…" he mumbled, his hand around his chin and lips as he thought.

Roy slid off the bed and stood next to the boy with a look of inquiry. "If you can talk to them, then do you know exactly what animals they are? Like, can you ask?" Roy shook his head. Tried that already. Edward flashed a look of worry before regaining his composure. "Oh yeah, you tried that already, didn't you?" Roy nodded. "Well… Damn, there goes that idea." Edward grumbled, resting his hands on his hips. Roy chirped and began heading for the door. He looked back and Ed and swished his tail. Edward followed the chimera down the hall.

A soldier passing by stopped and began to salute the alchemist and chimera. "At ease," Ed shot as he continued past the man. The soldier nodded and kept walking to his station. Roy turned his head around and watched the officer as he grew smaller and smaller with each new step. He turned back to Ed and scoffed, shaking his head slowly. "What?" Roy shook his head again with closed eyes. He smiled. Nothing… Edward puffed out his cheeks and nudged the chimera's shoulder with his fist. "Will you quit that already!? It's annoying!" Roy laughed. Not as annoying as you, you pipsqueak!

The two bantered while they traveled down the passage until they reached one of the rooms near the end and Edward stuck his head in the entryway.

"Hey, Al! We're heading into town now, are ya coming or are you staying here?" A sound of clanking metal came from somewhere in the room and a young voice replied, "I would, but some of these guys need my help here!" Edward nodded and waved goodbye to his younger brother. As he and Roy passed the door, the chimera looked into the room and saw the suit of armor and some other soldiers looking over maps while two other soldiers were tending to some sort of wounds they had. Roy swallowed nervously as he turned back. He could smell the stench of blood and saliva coming from the wounded soldiers as they wrapped their flesh.

"Colonel!"

Roy jumped and his feathers flared up. "Are you just gonna stand there like a statue or are you gonna follow me?" Ed jibed. The chimera hissed softly and sprinted to be back beside the boy. Edward smirked devilishly and he pat Roy's head. "Good boooooy!" he cooed jokingly. Roy's eyes went wide in horror and he pulled away, trembling slightly. DOG, DON'T YOU DARE! Roy screamed in his head as the animal inside of him grew excitedly happy. He snapped his head around and growled at his tail which was wagging slowly. He tried biting at it to stop the movement but only ended up running in circles until he felt himself getting disoriented. He turned back around and snarled at the five Edwards that he saw. He shook his head hard and swayed as he tried to regain his coordination. Slowly, the five Eds merged back into one laughing one. "AHAHAHAHA YOU JUST CHASED YOUR TAIL—OH MY GOD MY LUNGS! OH, I CAN'T BREATHE!" the alchemist stammered through his chortling.

DON'T MAKE FUN OF ME!

Roy hissed deeply with a sound that made the boy jump and step back. Edward felt his lungs tighten as he stared at the terrifying face making the noise. The chimera's face was furrowed into a snarl that was akin to that of a lion, the fangs that adorned its upper and lower jaws now a deadly frame around the mouth and the other pointed teeth were visible next to the forked dragon tongue. Roy relaxed his snarl, but still frowned with a stern glare. He walked past Edward (who readily got out of his way) and wacked the boy's leg with his tail with an audible smack.

The man walked out into the rare sunlight and passed a sentry guard who instinctively pointed his gun. When Edward ran after the beast the guard lowered his gun and continued his duty with a wave of relief overcoming his mind. "Colonel, slow down, will ya!?" Ed called out to his commander. The chimera whipped his head around over his back and growled, causing his subordinate to stumble on his feet and bite his lip. "Look, I'm sorry! I was just surprised is all!" Roy scoffed angrily. No, all you did was treat me like a mangy mutt! He turned back to face forward. No better than him….

Edward tried to place his hand on Roy's shoulder, but the winged beast pulled back quickly, leaving the tiny alchemist with only a single feather under his metal fingers. He pulled his hand back and stared at the shimmering ebony feather, its hidden colors revealing themselves in the golden sunlight. He frowned and tugged the feather out of his metal joint and shoved it in his pocket. "Colonel, please, I'm sorry! I wasn't laughing at you—I was laughing at the fact that it was that action by you."

Roy let out a quiet grumble before popping his neck. He turned back to his subordinate and rolled his eyes. Edward smiled worriedly. "We good?" Roy chirped and nodded. Sure.

Edward pat the chimera on the back, albeit too hard. "Good! Let's get the tough part of the day over with so we can get to the library with more time to research." Roy rolled his shoulders to try and ease the slight stinging from Ed's slap. Fine, let's just get this over and done with. The two headed into the market center of the town, which was rather pitiful compared to other towns'.

"I'm guessing since the incident messed everyone's lives up, this place took a hit as well…" Ed pondered aloud. Roy nodded solemnly as they passed empty stands and quiet shops. The two walked one the slightly wet road for many a minute with no sign of life to be found. Suddenly, the sounds of freakish giggles and cheers called out from an alleyway to their right. Edward and his commander slowed to let whatever was in there pass, but not fast enough. A group of young chimeras burst from the entryway and found themselves on a collision course with the two alchemists.

Three of the four children gasped and fell back, but one lone child ran on blindly, and ended up ramming itself into Roy, knocking him to the ground with an audible "Oof!" Roy raised himself on one of his wings, and used the other to nudge the child. Are you alright? The child, now clearly female, chirped fearfully and scrambled off of Roy and back into the alley to where her friends were. "Hey, wait! It's okay!" Ed called out worriedly. He looked around the corner and saw the kids huddled in the shadows. "What's the matter, little ones?"

The children gasped in fear. Edward raised his hands in a defensive manner. "It's okay! It's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you, I swear!" He knelt down on to ground and squatted, balancing on the balls of his feet. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to know where any of the grown-ups are, would you? Me and my friend here just wanna talk to them," Ed explained, jabbing a thumb back to Roy who was now standing behind him. The chimeric children screamed and ran down the alley with great speed. "H-hey wait! What'd I say!?" Edward rose to his feet and scratched at the back of his head. "Jeez… You'd think they saw a ghost or something!" He turned to Roy. "Maybe it's your face?" Roy opened his mouth in astonishment and then scowled. He whacked Edward on the head with his wing and the alchemist staggered. "OKAY, okay, sorry! God…" Ed stammered, rubbing his now aching head. "Jerk Bastard…" Rude prawn.

"I guess we should follow them…?" Edward began heading down the alley but Roy stayed glued to his spot. Ed turned around with a look of inquiry. "What's wrong?" Roy tilted his head with a rather annoyed expression. Those kids clearly don't want to be followed, Fullmetal, we'd only scare them more. Edward reached back and grabbed Roy by the wing and began to drag the man behind him. Wait a minute! Stop! Roy pulled away, a couple of his downy feathers left floating in the air. "Colonel—c'mon now! Those kids probably went to their parents; who, may I remind you, are the adults we're looking to ask!" Edward continued down the pathway waving his arm for his boss to follow him. Roy grumbled and slowly followed the teen.

Aside from two turns, it was a rather simple alley, leading from the market center to the Main Street. The two exited the path to find themselves in an open courtyard where the only real stone streets existed. Roy looked around the square, noting that this area is where the clock tower was located, being guarded by two large fountains with ornate statues depicting old horoscope characters, with six on each fountain. Enclosing the pavilion were old-town shops such as a bakery, a clock shop, two cafes, a butchery, a toy maker's store, three clothing stores, a floral shop, a very large wine store, and a small park with swings, a slide, and a large patch of mossy grass. "Wow! This place is beautiful!" Edward admired, smiling widely at the sight. Roy grinned softly. It sure was. They heard the pitter patter of paws and hooves however and turned in their direction.

The four kids were hiding behind the right fountain, the tops of their heads just visible above the rim of the decoration. They gasped and ducked behind the concrete mass. Edward and Roy exchanged looks and nodded. They separated and both headed for opposite sides of the fountain, with Roy on the left and Edward on the right. They got within a yard's distance of the children before Edward calmly called out. "Hey, kids, you know it's kinda rude if you hide from someone who just wants to talk, right?"

The children screamed and ran to their left, away from Ed, but they stopped dead in their tracks when they saw Roy in front of them. They hurried back to Ed's direction but slid to a stop when they saw him closer to them. Huddling together, they curled up on the ground, looking ready to cry.

"Hey now, it's okay! Like we said, we just wanna talk, okay?" Ed cooed, getting on his knees. He waited until the children looked up at him, tears brimming their eyes. He pat himself down with exaggerated motions. "See? I have absolutely no weapons on me, and the only thing dangerous is my hand, which is really not that dangerous. And Colonel Mustang over there… Well… He won't hurt you one bit! He's just a big softie." Roy growled at the description, scaring the kids in the process. He sat down, crossing his legs and leaning back on his wings, his black feathers sprawling out wide on the cobblestones. He raised his eyebrows and smiled at the kids, careful not to look like he was baring his teeth.

The children exchanged looks and slowly crept toward Roy. His smile faded to a confused expression as they examined his wings with cowering forms. The man smiled softly and slowly moved it toward them, giving them plenty of time to move out of the way. He held it out for them, keeping his talon relaxed and down. One of the children, a boy who looked to be mixed with a turtle and a fox, bravely poked Roy's wing and recoiled right afterward. Ed chuckled. "It's okay, like I said! He's a friend of mine." The kids looked back at Edward and then back at Roy. All four of them slowly moved toward Roy, a look of doubt in their eyes. The little girl that had collided with him a few moments before hobbled up closest to him, looking to be part cat and rabbit. She leaned forward and analyzed the man, her nose working wildly despite not smelling anything. She hesitantly moved a paw forward to his knee, leaning gently on him as she got closer still.

Roy closed his eyes as he grinned. The girl smiled back and the others followed suit. Before he could even process what was happening, Roy found himself being jumped upon and pulled by the four animalistic children. He flapped his wings wildly as he found himself falling backward onto the street. He fell flat on the ground with a surprised squawk. The four kids jumped on him once he was on the ground and they all howled and bayed at their successful conquering of their new mountain. Edward couldn't help but find himself laughing at the sight. The kids all got on their hind legs and tugged at Roy's plumage for him to follow them.

He scampered up awkwardly behind them, as they were only a third his height even when on two legs. Edward stood up slowly and he laughed harder still. He rested his hands on his hips as he watched the children pull Roy back to the ground on the grassy playground and their cheers of success at their exodus. He shook his head with disbelief. Roy was still complying to the kids' demands and even played along a bit. Edward's smile faded a bit when one of the two girls barked back in his direction but not at him. He turned around and saw that there were adult chimeras looking on horrified from inside the stores. Edward gulped in surprise. He cleared his throat quietly before addressing them.

"Hi there, I'm Edward Elric—a state alchemist—and I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions?"

The chimeras fell back from the windows at the word "alchemist" and a few scowled.

Edward sighed and his shoulders slumped. "Look, if you don't want me to, I understand. This is a scary time for you all and none of you deserve this hell you now find yourselves in. I'm not going to divulge any secrets to the military nor am I going to jeopardize your children's safety or your own. I just…" he trailed off, looking back at Roy, who was now letting the kids play with his tail and his wings. He turned back to the chimeras. "I just want to help my boss return to normal. And all of you as well. I know… I know none of you can communicate with a human tongue now, but if you could please just consider trying to talk to my commander," he motioned back to the group in the park, "and see whether or not you can, then that's all I'm asking of you. You don't have to, I just ask that you consider it."

The boy waited before heading off in the direction of the gay cheers of the children as they played with their new friend. The adults inside the buildings exchanged glances of concern.

"So, Colonel, how're things?" Ed jeered as Roy sat awkwardly with child chimeras around him. He looked at Edward with a look of worry as the children played with him still; one playing a one-person tug of war with his wing, two of them running around him and between his wings, and the little rabbit girl tucking flowers into his tail fur and his hair. Edward chuckled humorously when one of the boys leapt up and ended up hanging off of Roy's neck, bringing the chimera forward. "I take it that everything's goin' good?" Roy shot a glare at the teen and Ed as well as the kids laughed. One of the boys shrieked back to the shop windows and he ran toward them, the other kids following suit. Roy sighed heavily and fell back into the clovers and the grass. THANK GOD THEY'RE GONE.

Edward laughed warmly and he lay down next to the man. "Well, they sure were cute, don't you think?" Roy shot his head back with a look of disbelief. How can you possibly think those little devils are cute? Edward stuck his tongue out. "Quick being a sour puss! They're just kids." Roy frowned. Yeah? Next time they wanna play king of the mountain, you're it. Well… I guess in your case you're more of a hill.

The two looked up at the clouds and for the first time in a long time, gazed at the blue sky. Roy breathing in, sensing the aroma of rain and tiny scents of the flowers that were decorating his tail. He closed his eyes and relaxed all of his muscles. The warm sun heated him quickly due to his black coating but he relished in it. He felt a tickle in his throat and he let out a quiet purring chirp. He heard Edward shuffle at the sound, but he didn't care. This was the best he had felt in weeks and he wasn't going to let it go to waste.

Edward smiled as he looked over his commander who was now sprawled out on the clover patch. He took note of his face and saw that he was completely relaxed; a sight Edward had never truly seen before. There was always something extra going on in Mustang's mind, be it work, case files, alchemic formulas, or jabs at Ed's dignity. But now? Complete calm.

Edward shifted back to his previous position and looked at the clouds passing overhead, looking to drop rain later in the day. He heard the children playing in the fountains off in the distance and he closed his eyes as Roy had.

The sun warmed him due to his dark clothing, but he enjoyed the fiery warmth on his skin. It soothed his aching ports and eased his worry. He relaxed and sighed with a smile.

Things were starting to turn around.