70I'm so this chapter is so late. I have two reports for English I've been focusing on, Government and Anatomy tests I've been studying for, and numerous other personal projects ontop of work. Gyah! I know. No excuses. It's also kind of hard to write these chapters from near scratch, near being that I have a vague sense of what to write for the chapter and then going about changing and/or adding stuff to the plot to flesh it out. Anyway, here's the long awaited, and long overdue, chapter four of Aquamarine.
Please excuse any errors (although I would appreciate it if you pointed them out if you did find any) and enjoy!
Disclaimer: Ahh...Ye-nooo. I don't own even a partial percentage of Fullmetal Alchemist. What a shame (imagines all the cool stuff I could add or change if I did own it). Ah well. One can dream. XD
~Aquamarine~
Chapter 4
"Ed! You need to clean up this mess right now." Roy called out, dark eyes narrowed and arms crossed. This was the third mess the five-year-old had made today and he was already tired out from cleaning the first two up. The small blond child leaned out of his bedroom door and stuck out his tongue.
"I dun wanna!" Ed yelled back, pulling down the skin from beneath his eye and making a mocking "nyeeeeh" sound. That did it. Roy growled to himself and stalked over to the bedroom, only to curse mentally as he missed the fast blur passing between his legs. "Get back here Ed!"
Triumphant laughter echoed through the house, accompanied by light and frequent footsteps. "You can't catch me!" Ed teased, laughing even louder when Roy finally gave into the game of chase, a smile now on his face. It was hard to stay mad at his son, especially when he decided to come out of his shell and actually play with others. It was strange, seeing his usually loud, exuberant son being shy and withdrawn when out in public. Thankfully he retained most of his manners during those moments, but it made him wonder why he didn't show the same face to strangers as he did when with his friends and family.
"I'm gonna getcha!" Roy laughed, now creeping silently through the house. The tension rose as Roy made his way down the main hall and peeked into the living room. 'There he is.' His target was crouched behind the long couch, checking the entrance to the room from the kitchen, completely forgetting about the other entrance. The raven-haired man stepped forward. One step, two steps, and-
"Boo!" Edward screamed, scrambling over the top of the couch as hands proceeded to grab him, missing by millimeters.
"Ha! You-" Abruptly, Ed fell to the ground, tears flooding his eyes as pain seared through his left big toe and knees. Roy sighed and shook his head as he neared, kneeling down to Ed's eye-level. "Are you okay?" Roy asked, checking Ed's knees for bruising.
"My toe!" Ed whined, eyes shining as they began to water. Roy glanced at the mess now even more scattered about the floor. He picked up a few toys and shook them in front of Ed's face, hoping the visual would help enforce his point.
"See, Ed?" The boy looked up, sniffling as he tried to hold back his tears. One fell despite his best efforts. Gold eyes flickered downward, the pain just a little more than he was accustomed to dealing with. The hardwood was not merciful to a young child's still hardening bones and cartilage. Roy sighed and pushed the toys to the side, lifting Ed up by the armpits and setting him on the couch.
He left for the kitchen to get some ice. No more than a minute was he away, but one step back into the living room made him blink when he realized something was missing. Scratch that. Someone was missing.
"Ed?" Midnight blue eyes blinked. Wasn't he just on the couch? A cold breeze teased his skin, goose bumps appearing on his skin as it tried to keep warmth in. Roy glanced around, trying to figure out where it was coming from when his eyes landed on the front door. Wide open.
Rain poured heavily from the dark sky. Clouds filled the troposphere, drowning out the sunlight, only letting a few strands through. He hated the rain. Always had and always would. However, the scene before him made him wonder if it was all that bad.
Ed laughed and ran around in the rain-slick street, rolling in the drowned grass. His clothes were beyond saturated, creating the illusion he was producing his own rain. Hands swung through the air, tracing patterns only the child could see. What made Roy contemplate his sanity was the beauty and grace of the rain as it followed his son's fingertips like paint on a brush.
For several minutes he stood there, mesmerized at the impossible act being performed in front of him. By his son, no less. Shaking his head to clear the various thoughts scampering across his brain, Roy opened his mouth to call the blond inside.
But…Ed was having so much fun out here. He hadn't seen Ed smile like this since their last visit to the Hughes', and even that seemed dead in comparison to this raw rapture. Smiling, Roy decided to let Edward stay out for just a little longer.
"Achoo!" Ed sniffed heavily, wiping his nose with his sleeve. He stuck his tongue out at the disgusted look on his father's face. Despite trying to keep his nose away by turning it side to side, Roy managed to wipe the dripping snot with a soft cloth.
"Good going, kid. Two hard lessons in one day." Roy smirked, throwing the tissue away. Eventually he had to bring the whole box over to the couch where Edward was laying for easy reach. Sighing, Roy rose from the couch, deciding to get started on taking down this cold. Small fingers grasped his shirt, stopping him in his tracks.
Turning to the shivering form, Roy's eyebrow rose in question. Ed fiddled with the thick blanket he was given, his head down and bangs covering his eyes. Just as Roy's muscles tensed to carry out the action of turning around, the blond's head snapped up, tears falling as fear-filled eyes met dark blue.
"Am I going to die, Daddy?" The whispered words were almost lost to the winds still raging outside, but being the father he was, Roy was able to grasp them and translate them back into something coherent.
"What?" Roy asked. Did Ed think-? Gold eyes blinked as hysterical laughter held tightly onto his father. He, too, was shaking, but not from a cold. Ed glared at him, crossing his arms. "It's not funny! Dad!"
Roy finally got a hold of himself, plopping onto the couch beside his son. Ed sniffled and Roy took pity on the poor kid. Strong arms wrapped around the lithe form, pulling him close in a comforting hug. Ed snuggled closer, burrowing his head into the warm side.
"Don't worry, Ed. You're not going to die." He reassured, looking down as Ed looked up. The relief that flooded those molten pools of gold made Roy smile, pulling him closer and stroking the long hairs. 'It's about time for a haircut' Roy noted as he held out a few strands, examining them. He must have gotten distracted by his thoughts for he jumped when a hand lightly smacked his stomach, effectively getting his attention.
"You need a haircut soon." Roy said. Ed glanced down and shook his head, defiant golden eyes gazing at the lock of hair being held out for him to see, sniffling a bit.
"You don't think you need a haircut? It's getting pretty long." The blond sat up, wiping his nose with his sleeve again, much to Roy's chagrin.
"I don't know." Ed stated, playing with the strands long enough to rest over his shoulders, barely tickling his collarbone. Roy watched his son, wondering what he was getting at. He had inkling, but he wanted to hear it for himself.
"You don't know…whether you need a haircut or not?" Roy asked, an eyebrow raised. Ed shook his head slowly, somewhat lost in thought. As though he was trying to figure out what he wanted to and how to say it.
"I-I don't know if I want to cut it. Um…" Ed cleared his throat, a light blush dusting his cheeks, darkening the red already blotched skin. He continued to fiddle with his hair with one hand, the other tracing patterns on the surface of the blanket. It took Roy a few moments to process the words, connect them to his memory, and pull out it out.
"Ooooooh? Is it because of what Elysia said last weekend?" Roy grinned, laughing as Ed tried to shove him off the couch. He remembered trying to do the same to his mother when she teased him about liking someone when he was around this age.
"Noooo!" Ed growled back, but the snarl on his face was offset by the deepening blush. "It has nothing to do with her liking long hair! I just-um…" He trailed off falling back into an embarrassed silence. Roy laughed and ruffled his hair, an affectionate and knowing grin on his face.
"Alright, Ed. We won't cut your hair if you don't want to 'for whatever reason that may be'." Roy amended. He exchanged a brief glance with Ed before both broke out into chuckles, one deep and resonant, the other higher and full of life.
"Okay, Ed. You need to lie down and get some rest. I'll wake you up when dinner's ready." Roy said as he stood up. This time Ed let him go, smiling as he nestled into the soft blanket and closed his eyes.
"M'kay."
...EDWARD...
'Where am I…?'
White light surrounded him, encompassing his small form. Soft as cotton, it gently held him up, suspending him in what he could only guess was air. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't seem to recall how he'd come to arrive here, wherever here was.
"Hello?" He tried timidly. There was something about this endless abyss that didn't sit right with him. Something that wasn't good. He ruffled his hair in frustration. Then he stopped as a thought passed through his mind, suddenly blank as though someone had just wiped it clean. His breath hitched as the single thought was repeated over and over, nearly driving him mad with the need to know.
"Who am I?" He whispered to himself, golden eyes wide as fear struck through him. He knew this. He knew this! Why didn't he know this? Tears fell freely down his cheeks, staining them with saline as he gripped his hair with tight fists.
The atmosphere shifted and his head snapped up. The boy let out a sharp gasp at the sight of a large, ominous pair of doors looming over him. It radiated darkness and sent shivers down his spine. But what scared him the most were not the skeletons and crude, grotesque images of death decorating the surrounding walls. Nor was it even the engraved eye that laid upon the dual doors' center that, though inanimate, felt as though it carried something akin to life that was watching him, judging him. No, there was something much worse about this...thing. About this whole place.
None of this boded well.
The blond boy stumbled back, stuttering as he sniffled, trying to hold back tears, but instead more fell in their wake. For the life of him he just couldn't expel this revulsion, this need to get away even as he knew no matter how fast he tried to run, how far away he attempted to get, these doors would be no further from him than they were now.
Logic existed nowhere and everywhere here. Sense exited only to those who understood the hidden fundamentals this object guarded. His small form started as a presence suddenly appeared between himself and the Gate. Gate? Yes, that's what it was called...right?
'That would be correct Little One.' Something told him to be angry at the remark, as it related to his height, or lack thereof, problem, but the voice echoed within his very mind. That wasn't normal. It wasn't. Dammit! He didn't even know what was what anymore.
...had he ever really known?
Alone. He felt very much alone. The almost transparent, almost invisible off-white form smiled gently, welcoming him to come closer as though a friend. What– no, who was this creature? Inhuman, he was achingly positive about. But he wasn't afraid, per se. At least not of It. Oh no, he could never be afraid of It. What scared him to the bone and beyond was the looming black set of doors right behind It. They brimmed with excitable energy, held behind solid slabs of death and destruction, a power so volatile, so vile, so widely used in the human realm in the practice of Alchemy that he wondered for only a brief moment how it had even been discovered and its even vague knowledge kept alive if only in myths and legends.
As though growing impatient, his attention was sharply redirected back towards the creature walking toward him. He had downright refused to step any closer, to be any closer to the Gate, a doorway to knowledge where small black creatures laughed as they tore away lim-
'Edward!' The creature cupped the boy's cheeks, forcing his dark, nearly unfocused amber eyes to look at It and only It. Ed sucked in a breath more out of habit than necessity, as nothing of Earth's properties and rules existed here. That same energy from the Gate, but more controlled and far less harmful, rippled off the being. At the points of contact Ed could feel the energy seep into his skin like water, absorbing it as though parched and in desperate need of something to quench this strange thirst.
When sure It had the boy's attention, It pulled Its hands away, smiling fondly at the child's weak attempt at snatching the hands back. He gave up as quickly as he had started trying, growing tired suddenly. Why...? His mind answered the question as though it were the most obvious thing in the world, as though this happened on an everyday basis. The Gatekeeper's touch is powerful, fulfilling, and dangerous. Though safer than the Gate, it was still not good to be in direct contact for too long.
"Ah-I-You-" Ed stuttered as he tried to gather his wits, but after a few moments of wrestling with his aqueous mind, he gave up. No matter what he did, it was like trying to climb a wall of water. What made everything worse was the fact that the longer he stayed here, the less of himself he could recall. How long had he been here, anyway? Seconds? Minutes? Hours? Days? Weeks? Months? ...The list went on and on, and somehow he knew there were more than just those measurements of time. What he couldn't tell was which one fit the timespan he had been in this creature's presence.
'You need not worry, Edward. You are here for only as long as you wish.' It answered him. His brain felt though it wanted to explode, to implode, to absorb more of this sweet knowledge permeating the air, just pouring into his mind, and wring it all out like a towel at the same time. Unable to decide what to do, he merely gripped his head with his hands and squeezed his eyes shut as the pain began to reach an unbearable level.
'You must listen to me, Edward. You must listen to me and promise me something.' It watched him wearily from a close but still safe distance. 'Can you do that? Edward, look at me!' At the sharp, loud tone directed at him, golden orbs snapped wide open, tears flowing from them as he struggled to maintain control and keep "Edward" before that, too, became overthrown and drowned with this power beyond his naïve and limited comprehension.
"What?" He croaked, too scared and in pain to care that his voice had cracked. He felt so old...and so young and alive and so...so dead...
'Find yourself, Edward. Edward Mustang, Roy Mustang's son. Five years old, you go to Central Elementary School, Kindergarten. Don't lose that. Despite everything that happened, that happens, that will happen, don't lose You.'
Ed gasped as the pain receded. He remembered! And then darkness overcame him, followed by an inescapable fear as millions of hungry, amethyst eyes chased him back to the world of the conscious and living.
...ROY...
Roy sat in his favorite recliner, reading the newspaper and absently sipping coffee as he simultaneously kept an eye on the clock. He had always been determined not to burn any dinner since that night roughly four years ago, give or take a few months. He grimaced at the thought. As much as he liked fire, he hated burned food with a passion. He highly preferred his food having flavor and actual substance, not a pile of smoky ash.
'Ohooo! So that's what Lieutenant Colonel Jinkins has been doing every night for the past three weeks.' Roy thought with a laugh. So, as the article stated, the notorious Lieutentant Colonel Jinkins, known for his family values and loyalty to his wife, had been found, after some investigating, to be at a brothel. But not just any brothel, one full of just men. Ooh! What was his wife going to say? Now that he was dying to hear about.
Normally Roy Mustang, Flame Alchemist, Colonel of the Amestris Military, and father of one rambunctious child by the name of Edward, was not one to usually dabble in the art of gossip. At least not willingly. One tended to get swept up in its throes when metaphorically, and on occasion, literally, tied to the office within a larger office with subordinates who just couldn't keep their traps shut about the latest happenings in Central. Sometimes he was even lucky enough to catch something about the neighboring cities or scandalous happenings of higher-ups homed in other large, military-based cities. Or, on rare occasion, in their very own Military Headquarters. In this case, the Lieutenant Colonel had been stationed in East City. Too bad he wasn't stationed there himself. He would have liked to make the extra effort to see him being chewed out by his wi-
An ear-splitting scream tore through the house, causing him to jump to his feet and curse the whole way to the stove. With a flick of the wrist he shut off the fuel to the small, controlled fire beneath the burners and then proceeded to leap up the stairs two at a time as he ignored the burn of coffee on the front of his thighs. He slammed the door to his son's room open and raced to Edward's bedside.
He was sitting up, on the verge of hyperventilating, eyes wide open and blank. Blank? That wasn't right. Could he still be dreaming?
Ed chose that moment to flinch away, as though just seeing his father kneeling by the side of his bed for the first time, color returning to his skin, life returning to his eyes. "D-Dad?" He whimpered, body shaking as he tried to make himself relax, but that feeling of imaginary yet frighteningly solid wisps of arms and hands grasping parts his body, making him feel dirty and stripped free of all mortal blemishes, made him unable to do much more than what he was doing now. He couldn't even blink, too afraid to let his father out of his sight and blocking out the light of the room. Those things would just come back. They would take him and–
And...
The swirl of knowledge, of power and strength, as little as he had been subjected to in comparison to the infinite wealth the Gate and its Keeper held, was beginning to settle, trickling down into his core and resting there, out of sight and now literally out of mind.
"Edward, are you alright?" Roy prodded. "Did you have a bad dream?" He gently placed his hands on the boy's shoulders. His dark eyes widened in surprise as a strangled yell erupted from the five-year old's lips. Even more shock filled him when the boy flung himself backwards until he hit the backboard of his bed.
Taking caution, Roy slowed his movements into deliberate but calm maneuvers. The closer he got, the more the child shook with unexplained trepidation. "It's alright, Ed. I'm not going to hurt you. You're safe here. Remember?"
It took a moment for the words to sink in, and realization of its truth struck the poor boy. Without further hesitation, Roy was glomped with such heavy force that both bodies went crashing off the bed and onto the floor. Roy ignored the pain in his back as he hugged his son tight to his chest, rubbing his small back with large hands as he whispered comforting words. Time passed in a slow metronome, the seconds ticking away, marked off by a wall clock in the bathroom directly across the hall.
The sniffles died away, gold eyes covered by thin layers of skin. Slowly the lids lifted and he blinked at the spinning room. He was feeling light-headed, but that was paradise compared to the near tearing apart of his mind moments earlier as he'd come out of his nightmare. Until his father had solidly reconnected him with reality, he had thought for some insane reason he was still in that light-dark place even with his eyes wide open. The dark of his father's hair and the feeling of hands on him was almost enough to break him and toss the pieces back into that hell.
With a smile, Ed pulled away, eyes glittering in relief as he looked at his father looking straight back at him. These were the familiar orbs of obsidian that he drew his strength from, that he relied on for hope and protection when he just couldn't seem to do it for himself. Strong arms remained around him, warming him from the inside out, his body relaxing as though his muscles were turning to jelly. Roy continued to rock the boy back and forth, sighing against his golden head. He gave the boy a peck on the head, doing what he had to, doing what he knew would help Edward calm down.
Roy glanced down at the now calm child and wondered just what the hell kind of nightmare could this child have had that made him react so violently. Even he hadn't had any reactions as violent as this during or after Ishbal. 'Maes would've told me. He would've teased me about it just to lighten the mood and get me to talk.'
He was tempted to do the same with Ed, but he had a feeling teasing him was the last thing he should to do. So instead he decided on just getting Edward's mind off of it for now. Later, when Edward was more open to conversation, then he would broach the subject. But now wasn't the time.
"Hey, Eddie. You hungry?" The boy blinked blearily and nodded, blushing as his stomach spoke, more like growled, for him. Roy grinned and picked himself and his son up, holding him in his arms as he made his way to the stairs. 'Damn he's getting heavy!' Roy thought with an inward groan. But on he went, treading carefully down the stairs and into the kitchen, setting the boy in his seat. He spent almost a minute trying to pry the boy off his shirt, unhook his arms from his waist, and four other forms of attachment.
"I'll be right here, Ed. Now let go. I'm just going to get the food heated up, put in bowls, then I'll bring them over here for us to eat." Roy sighed in exasperation. "I'll be in sight. You'll be able to see me the entire time, alright?" Reluctantly the boy nodded and hesitated before letting go of the rumpled material of Roy's shirt.
As the military man turned away, he wondered what the hell had scared the boy bad enough to make him want to be with him almost obsessively. It must have been horrible. Was the nightmare of a fear of being abandoned and left alone? That was certainly what it seemed to point to. However, he had this strange feeling that it was far worse than simple fear of abandonment.
If you've taken the time out of your day to read, then you can take even less time out of your day to review. Please be kind and do so! Reviews fuel my fire of creativity and make me write more! Perhaps the more I get the faster I'll be able to type the next chapter up and the faster it'll be posted. (waggles brows with corny grin on face)
Sorry about the strange jumps in scenes before. I've fixed the scene breakers, my usual "FMA" eleven times. For some reason they kept disappearing. So, "...EDWARD..." and "...Roy..." are my alternatives.