"I thought you said this was only-" Ed ducked his head as he heard nearby gunfire. "Fifteen minutes my ass! We've been out here for hours, I'm freezing and this stupid blue uniform is so heavy!"

"Take the skirt off, Ed! It's soaked from the snow." Roy gave it a good yank, nearly pantsing Ed as the skirt snapped off the pants.

"Colonel! I swear I'm gonna kill you-" Ed pulled Roy down as bullets hailed past them both, one tearing through his sleeve to glance harmlessly off his automail.

"As long as we live through this. We're ridiculously outnumbered."

"Yeah well we have alchemy!" Ed clapped his hands and slammed them into their snowdrift bunker, showering their enemy's location with a hail of ice shards. "I just wish you had some dry gloves!"

"I hate snow," Roy groaned, squeezing the water from said gloves. "On top of that, my hands are freezing."

"Useless," Ed chided, though humor was clear in his voice, despite the fear that was also audible. "Come on, they know where we are, we have to move or they'll send projectiles of their own!" Despite Roy's protest, Ed leapt out of their bunker, vaulting over the mound with acrobatic ease as he dodged bullets, formed his automail blade, and fatally dropped several soldiers, leaving a break in the gunfire for Roy to escape.

"Edward you can be so reckless," Roy said to himself as he leapt from his spot, quickly finding cover with Havoc nearby.

"Ed makes a great distraction. He's so loud," Havoc commented with a laugh. "Good thing he's a great fighter-"

FWOOOM

The entire battlefield grew silent for several minutes as the Amestrian side struggled to recover from the sudden explosion, the Drachmans taking the opportunity to regroup and retreat. As the smoke and steam finally cleared, Roy and Havoc pulled themselves out of the snow, relieved to find themselves unharmed.

"...The Drachmans retreated," Roy growled, but there was a grin tugging on his lips. "We must have worn them down too much."

"Or maybe Ed just scared them so bad they ran," Havoc replied with a chuckle. "...Where is he?"

"Edward?" Roy shoved away the sudden fear that gripped him. Ed was very near where the blast had happened. What if he... No no no no. Roy scrambled out of their snow pocket, racing toward the steaming caldera where lay an injured Briggs soldier, but no sign of Ed. "Ha..Havoc, get this man help," Roy called, turning to search for Ed. "Breda! Fury! Help me find Fullmetal!"

Roy's men rushed to help him in the search, but even hours later, after all soldiers had been accounted for, dead or alive...Edward still had not been found. Two Briggs men were also missing, and Roy concluded the obvious: "Prisoners of war."

Inside Briggs, Roy discussed plans with Olivier, who seemed adamant on leaving her men in Drachma. "How can you be so-"

"They are Briggs men," She said strongly, glaring at Roy fiercely enough to silence him. "They will be able to return without my assistance. Will Fullmetal need your help?" She sat down at the desk across from him. "To cross into Drachma for three men would be suicide. And let me tell you, Colonel Mustang, the Drachmans do not like to negotiate. I'm sorry, but the men are on their own."

Roy stood abruptly, turning and leaving the room without a word. He hated the truth of her words, hated that he was unable to help Ed, who may already be injured from the blast in the field. He returned to his quarters with his team, ordering Fury to tap into all electronic communications, Breda to keep his ears peeled for any gossip, and Havoc to accompany him to the Briggs watchtower. Roy was determined to find Ed, any way he could.

Two days after the conflict, two men were spotted exiting Drachma and heading straight for Briggs. Identified as the missing soldiers, they were immediately taken in, the officers in charge pouncing on them immediately. Though Roy opened his mouth to ask about Ed, Olivier was the first to speak.

"Men!" Her voice, as always, cut just like the wind outside the fortress, but her face softened. "Welcome home." They had only moments of reprieve before the impatient Roy was silenced by Olivier once more.

That was really starting to piss him off.

"Fullmetal is not with you?"

The mens' face immediately fell, one turning to the other.

"...I'm very sorry sir. He wasn't allowed to leave. We were given this note, strictly for Colonel Mustang..." He reached into his coat pocket, handing the crisp envelope to Roy, the Drachman seal on the back angering Roy.

"Thank you," Roy said as he opened the envelope. He pulled out the white paper, managing to hold in a gasp when he saw the red spattered on it.

Hell, I'm sorry, Roy. I hate to do this to you, but you have to tell Al and Winry that I won't be making it to their wedding. I wish I could've seen it. Go in my place, will you? You have to see Winry in that dress. She's so beautiful.

Roy paused in reading as he wiped at his eyes, as they threatened to begin tearing. He noted in the handwriting of the letter, that Ed had felt the same way.

I had a damn good time of it all. Even suffering through the military next to your superior pain in the ass. I'm going to miss you, and you know, I think I wouldn't mind one more of your short jokes.
They won't let me go. I'm too powerful an alchemist to return to battle against them. I figured they wouldn't. I know I'm repeating, but I'm sorry. I'm going to miss everyone. I love all of you guys. Even you, Colonel.
They should be sending my...things to Briggs in a day or two. They promised me that, for my family.

On a separate sheet of paper, titled 'for Roy only', was a last note. The writing was worse than Ed's usual chicken-scratch, and the paper was warped from what appeared to be tears, as well as the blood.

If they send my body, don't let my family see. Please, Roy. I..I don't want them to see me now. Especially Winry. She'd be crushed to see her automail missing...

Roy turned the pages over repeatedly, looking for more writing that wasn't there. Ed's final words? They couldn't be. Edward Elric doesn't give up that easily. He ignored the stares of those around him, whipping around and heading for his quarters to reread the letters, and hope that maybe there was a code in them to help Roy save Ed.

Despite Roy's attentive study of the letters and the patterning of the blood on them, he could find nothing. To strike the final blow, a wrapped blanket appeared not far from the fortress, its deliverer bolting back to Drachma.

Quickly determined to not be a bomb, the blanket was brought inside the fortress to safety, where Roy stood with the others, hoping to any god that any alchemist had ever forsaken that the blanket did not contain-

Edward.

Golden eyes staring lifelessly up at the ceiling, skin white from the freezing temperatures. Arm and leg were gone, the ports torn off from the body completely; cuts in the left wrist where Ed had struggled against captivity. The blue military uniform was soaked in blood, the crimson broken by pink where it had frozen over.

The macabre image stained itself into the minds of the onlookers, many who turned away out of respect and horror. Roy could not look away, only stare at the body as his heart slowly broke at the loss of a charge, a good friend. And Ed's family...

"We will have him sent to Central for burial," Olivier said quietly, showing rare sympathy for Roy. She knelt down, lifting up a small box next to Edward. "These must be his belongings. I'll leave them to you." She handed the box to Roy, and it was all he could do to take it from her, still staring at Ed.

Roy finally tore his eyes away as Ed was carefully re-wrapped and carried off, finally turning his blurry vision to the box. He opened it with a shaky hand, finding inside a few things that Ed carried with him. A few spare cenz, a photo of Ed and Roy out on patrol-the first time Ed had worn the blue uniform. A photo of Ed, Al and Winry as kids, Ed's favorite little leather journal...and his state alchemist pocket watch.

Roy delivered the news to Alphonse on the day before the wedding. Arriving in person with Ed's valuables, he greeted the Elric and Rockbell at their home, their momentary excitement of thinking Ed was at the door crushed when they saw Roy's face.

"No. No, no, nonononono." Winry backed up, shaking her head.

"..Wait, you can't tell me..." Al looked at the package in Roy's hands, then back to Roy's solemn expression. "Where is he?"

"I'm sorry, Alphonse. There was an explosion on the field," Roy explained, his voice hollow. "This is all we could find."

"I..I don't want Ed's things," Al said in a shaky voice, though it was laced with a growing rage Roy had never heard from him before. "I want my brother!"

"We all do," Roy replied, still holding the mementos. "I'm so sorry."

"It's.. It's..." Alphonse couldn't bring himself to blame Roy for the tragedy, despite his heart tearing itself in two. "I...my brother, he's gone..." His voice shattered as he sunk against the doorframe. "He said he would be back, he never leaves me..."

Roy gripped at the box tightly, taking a deep breath before placing it into Al's hands. "I am sorry, Alphonse," Roy whispered, his voice wavering. He turned and left, leaving Ed's family to come to terms with the news.

The Elric wedding was postponed. A week later, there was a memorial service for Ed, and out of invitation from the ever-loving and forgiving, though still heartbroken Alphonse, Roy attended with Riza at his side. It took some time for Roy to begin talking, but once he did, he shared with the others some of the highlights of Ed's career...and their friendship.

"Every day he would do it. He would spike my tea. I always wondered why my tea tasted off and why I felt half drunk. He told me it was a medicinal herb. I finally caught onto him when I slipped it to Havoc, and he knows his drinks." Roy cracked a smile as the others laughed, and he felt the crack in his heart narrow, if just a bit. He continued to join in with the others, contributing to the shared memories, heartache, and healing.

He knew, despite stories and memories, that it would take a long time...and that loss was something he would never fully heal from.