Uh. I apologize for this. It was kind of painful to write ;_; I watched the scene over and over again to make sure I got it right! Owwww my feels TwT

Also, literal interpretation of theme. Bah. I have too many themes that cover the same concept (fire, heat, burning, warmth) but I guess it's about nuance. /bullshitting

Rockmari: Sadly cute is the best kind Thank you very much, I will!

Pen-Name-Kitsune-Chan: AGH I should have done that instead. But I'm glad you liked it anyway. I've been pretty badly blocked for the last few, hopefully this one's a bit better.

What-is-the-color-of-love: I suppose it is a bit. Does your mum ship Edvy too? Haha.

As always, thanks to everybody for reading and reviewing Also, exciting news! We've got TWO new theme collections – one is still having some technical difficulties, but the other is Darkness and Daylight: 100 Theme of Ed and Envy by Rowana Renee. The first theme is EXCELLENT. This collection is non-yaoi, but still awesome. So go read it! If you're interested in doing a 100 Themes or taking part in the discussion about the various theme collections, we have a thread on the Fully Combustive Material for the Fanfic Author! forum (handily linked to in my profile) which also contains all 100 of the themes.

56. Fire

He was so, so small, wriggling under Mustang's boot like a worm. So fragile.

"Envy, your name means 'jealous', right? That makes sense."

"No…" The tiny, almost inaudible squeal, paired with how Mustang's hand made a claw, almost made Ed feel bad for the homunculus.

Almost.

"Don't!" squealed Envy again.

"And jealousy," continued Mustang, his eyes gleaming with a dark light, "is an ugly thing."

Ed could attest to that. He was jealous of Mustang this very moment – for getting to be the one to hold Envy completely in his power, to be the one to exact his revenge for the death of Maes Hughes.

"No, I don't want to die!"

Too bad, hissed Ed's inner voice, and he hushed it with a guilty sense of shock. He shouldn't be enjoying this quite so much.

But…Hughes had been the closest thing he'd ever had to a father. He'd met Hohenheim, his real dad, for the first time since he was three and wished he was more like Hughes.

Envy deserved everything he got.

Mustang – Roy – raised his hand, ready to deliver Envy into the hands of fate…and Hawkeye got to her feet and pointed her gun at his head.

"What do you think you're doing, Lieutenant?"

"That's enough, Colonel. I will deal with him from here."

No! screeched Ed's inner voice. No, let him burn! Let him fucking burn! He turned his head away, trying to suppress it. He was better than this (no he wasn't).

"One more blast will finish him. Put down your gun." Roy's voice was surprisingly calm. He screamed with the shadows in his eyes and the electricity crackling in his fingers, waiting to be released as flame.

"I cannot obey that order, sir."

Why the hell not? Wasn't Maes your friend too? Ed swallowed. He hadn't cried when he found out about Hughes. He hadn't mourned at all. Hadn't had time. He didn't do things like that. But now he wished he did, because maybe it wouldn't be fogging his judgment at times like this –

-and if he, someone who, when you got to the heart of the matter, had barely known the man, felt like this, then Mustang…

He couldn't bring himself to feel any sympathy for Envy. Not now.

"Please put your hand down."

"Stop screwing around! I said put it down!" The tenseness in Mustang's face was starting to crack, lines deepening and making him look ten years older. He didn't look…right.

But he hadn't been right since Hughes had died. And this was the only way he was going to get better.

Right?

With a start, Ed realized Mustang was a second away from accidentally setting Hawkeye alight. Without hesitation, he clapped his hands together and pressed them to the floor, sending a directed ripple through the earth and sending Hawkeye to the ground.

Before she could get to her feet, Ed had grabbed her arm, pulling her away.

"No! Let me go – Edward, let go of me!"

He didn't, looking over his shoulder grimly as Mustang moved his boot slightly. Envy scrabbled even more helplessly at the floor, turning his huge eyes up at Ed.

"Fullmetal! Don't let him – I don't wanna die!" For a moment, he sounded like a lost child. "I'll do anything – I'll help you – just, just stop it stop it stop it!"

In a momentof horror, Ed's dark desire for revenge vanished as the bottom of his stomach dropped. Envy was crying. Those were tears – real tears – welling up in his grotesquely large eyes and rolling down the misshapen, vaguely insectoid face. That was real fear in his voice.

Ed looked up, past Mustang to where the Ishbalan man was still standing. The one who had been consumed by revenge. He had said nothing. He had done nothing. The look on his face said everything.

"Wait, Colonel -!"

Snap.

Ed clapped his hands to his ears in an attempt to block out Envy's screams, but they lingered on long after the homunculus himself had turned to dust.

He was helpless.

A few moments later, the Colonel passed by him. The lines in his face hadn't smoothed. He looked no more at peace than before. He looked worse. "Pull yourself together, Fullmetal."

Ed didn't respond at first, but after Mustang had taken a few steps down the hall, he turned on his heel. "Is that the face you plan to wear when you're the nation's top man?" he yelled, his composure cracking.

Mustang turned slightly back to him, eyes blacker than black. "Is that the face you plan to wear to bring your brother back?"

Ed had no answer. Instead, he rubbed feverishly at his eyes.

They were burning in his sockets.