i apologize in advance

Roy stared at Edward for a long time, not sure what exactly to say. Edward lifted an eyebrow at him and leaned on his leg.

"Well?"

Roy finally found his composure and walked over his desk.

"I'm glad you're well, Fullmetal."

Edward rolled his eyes and got up, walking to the desk.

"Don't give me that bullshit, Roy." Roy flinched at Edward actually using his first name. "What's your excuse for not coming to see me?"

"If I remember correctly, I don't answer to you." Roy growled, looking Edward in the eyes. "Nice glasses, by the way."

"You're avoiding the question. Explain." Edward growled, leaning on the desk.

Roy made a face and leaned back in his chair.

"Well, Dad, I didn't think you'd want me hanging over you like a fly, so I left you alone."

Edward glared at Roy for a long time and finally stood up, walking away from the desk.

"You're an asshole, you know?"

"For what?"

"One, that stunt you just pulled right there."

"What stunt?"

"Calling me 'dad'. I didn't ask for you to get younger than me and start losing your memories."

"I was joking, Fullmetal."

"No." He looked at Roy. "You weren't. And you know that."

Roy fumed and stood up, knocking over his stack of papers.

"Don't come in here and start acting like things are the way they were! You're a little boy, Fullmetal, and I'm a full grown man. I don't look to you for anything! You're supposed to look up to me and respect me! What right do you have to come in here and demand anything of me? If nothing else, I'm your superior!"

Edward sighed and looked at Roy, taking him in for a second. It seemed to make Roy angry and he started going off on Edward again.

"Stop it! Stop acting like you're disappointed in me or something!"

"It's not that, Colonel."

"Then why are you looking at me that way?"

Edward smiled sadly. "Because you're trying way too hard to forget what happened."

"Well of course I want to forget. Don't you?"

"I kind of can't. I got stuck with these eyes…" he says, pointing to the glasses. "Was I freaked out, yeah… but Roy- Colonel, I live with it. It seems to me that you don't want to remember it because it screwed up your perfect emotions. Colonel, please tell me why you didn't come and see me."

"I told you, because I figured you wanted space."

"For three months? Even I know when I'm being snubbed."

"Well there's no use looking at the damage I did, is there?" Roy growled.

Edward smiled. "Ah, I get it now."

"What?"

"You feel guilty for what happened. You keep thinking that you should have been able to do something, don't you?"

"Well, I fucking should have!" Roy snarled, glaring at Edward. "I should have been able to save us and keep us from harm. But I didn't. You ended up in the hospital with not only smoke inhalation problems, but you were stuck as an old man for weeks and unconscious. Why would I want to go look at you like that when I know it was my fault? Why should I have to watch you and wonder constantly whether or not you'd wake up? Why should I have to look at you in that state? What makes you think I wanted to do that, Edward?"

Edward smiled sadly at him and nodded.

"Right… why should you have had to suffer? It's not anyone else was… I was going to come and get an assignment but, I can see it's not the time." He said, walking toward the coat rack.

He was about to leave when a stream of fire melted the doorknob and Edward looked back at Roy, who was staring at him with a crazed look.

"You're not going anywhere."

"It likes like you won't be either. That was idiotic, Colonel."

"No. You don't get to play the adult here, Edward."

"Colonel, listen to yourself! You sound like a child!"

"DON'T YOU DARE CALL ME THAT!" Roy bellowed. "Don't ever bring that up to me or call me that! I suffered enough of that already!"

"And what the hell do you think me and Hawkeye did, huh?! You think we were so happy to see the man we respect get younger and younger every day? Losing himself and all the values he had built up in his life? Huh?! Is that what you think it was like for us?! At least one thing has been consistent and that's your pride! Did you ever think for once how it made us feel? Did you?!"

"I could see it in your eyes-"

"No, did you ever empathize with us? Did you ever wonder how we felt when you were getting into the younger years? Thirteen, ten, five, a baby?! When we could see you physically changing, hear you mentally shifting… Did you… I mean…"

Edward looked away in tearful anger. He balled up his fists and sucked it up like he had done ever since he screwed up his and Al's lives. Besides, crying only made him unable to see through his glasses and solved nothing.

Roy watched Edward compose himself and stepped forward a little, reaching out his hand but pulled it back.

"I know it wasn't easy for you, Fullmetal."

"You know nothing." Edward hissed, turning around to the door again. He clapped and put his hand on the melted metal, turning it into a doorknob again. "Forget this happened. This is stupid."

He walked out, putting his red jacket on and left the building.

Roy watched him leave and walked after him to close the door but looked out and saw everyone staring at him. He frowned.

"Get back to work." He growled and slammed the door shut.

Edward got home and opened the door.

"How did it go?" Winry asked, looking up at the door.

"It didn't. He's just as stubborn and jack-assy as ever. All he cared about was himself and his stupid pride."

"Well, you're kind of the same way…"

"No. I'm not. I empathized with him a lot, even before I was changed… He's just an asshole who only thinks of himself."

"Brother, I think you're just really mad. I think maybe the Colonel is just too prideful to tell you he was scared."

"No, he was pissed off because apparently I was talking down to him instead of up to him, as if he were still a child and I was older than him."

"But, Ed, isn't that kind of how it is?" Winry says.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, from what you guys told me, as soon as the Colonel went below Ed's age, that meant that Ed was older than him. You're a good brother, Ed, and I know you would have been good to the Colonel, no matter what. It's your instinct. But the younger he got, the older you became to him. You even said he called you Uncle Ed, right?"

"So?"

"So… the tables really turned for you guys. When the Colonel was a baby, you got turned into an older version of yourself. In that older version, the brother part was no more; it changed to the way a father views their son."

"That is stupid, Winry. Stop saying dumb things." Edward mumbled.

"Brother, it's kind of true. Just like getting younger affected the Colonel's thinking, I think being older for that short amount of time affected you too… and perhaps it's stayed with you."

Edward thought about it for a moment and sighed, coming to the conclusion that they were right.

"I guess that's why I took offense when he mockingly called me 'dad'… Ugh… Why me?" he said, sitting on the couch.

Winry and Al just smiled at each other as Winry pat Edward on the back.

Late that night, there was a knock on the door. Edward had let Winry have his bed and so he sat up a little. The knock sounded again and he got up, opening it. He found Mustang leaning on the doorway.

"Colonel? Do you know what time it is?" Edward mumbled.

"I know exshactly what time it ish." Roy said, pointing a lazy finger up in the air.

Edward woke up more.

"Oh, jeez, Colonel, you're drunk."

"Yesh I am!"

Edward rolled his eyes and opened the door wider to help Roy in.

"You're sho short…" Roy said, laughing.

"Yeah, yeah, I know… Here, sit on the couch."

He got him to lay down and started to leave.

"No…" he grabbed his hand. "Don't go."

Edward sighed as Roy sat up, pulling Edward down. He pulled him into a hug, startling Edward.

"Uh, Colonel…"

"I'm sorry…" He mumbled. "I'm so sorry."

Edward sat on the couch, hugging Roy back as the colonel cried on Ed's shoulder.

"I didn't mean to hurt you or scare you, Ed… I didn't mean to make you get older and lose some of your eyesight… I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry…"

Ed smiled and hugged him tighter, putting his hand on the back of Roy's head.

"It's fine, Roy…"

"Uncle Ed, I'm sorry." Roy sniffled.

Edward made a face but sighed.

"You're drunk, Colonel. Let's just put all this behind us and go back to being the way we were. I won't bring it up if you won't. Okay?"

"Okay…"

"Now get some shut eye. I hope you don't remember this in the morning…"

"Okay…"

Edward pushed Roy away from him and let him sleep on one end of the couch. He maneuvered himself onto the other side and fell asleep.

agh. so roy finally had his own little temper tantrum and ed got to be all parental-ish. and then roy got drunk and let all his walls down, which freaked ed out a little. so... there is an epilogue and this will be the end! i hope this sounded okay...