Difficult Relations
Title: Difficult Relations
Verse: Further Interruptions
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Pairing: Roy/Ed, mentions of past Ed/Winry and past Al/Winry
Summary: “Why don’t you wake up, Ed? This thing with you and Mustang? Do you really think he’s who you think he is? Do you really think he stopped playing around with all those women? He’s just using you and the kids as a publicity stunt.”
Author's Note: No, I don't hate Winry. I actually like her character, however in the context of this story, she's not in a good place and she makes some bad choices here. There are consequences. I'm not sure if I'll ever explore her side of all this (and why she says and does the things she does) but we all know Aunt Winry sticks around through the years... so there is that for you :P
Roy sat just outside the door with his hands clenched in fists. It wasn’t entirely out of character for him to eavesdrop, but this was his own house. It was his husband on the other side of the door.
He was with her again.
They agreed after her last visit that it wasn’t a good idea for Ed to speak alone with her. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust his husband, but that woman was twisting him up inside and Roy had seen Ed hurt too much over the years to bear it well from the people he cared about.
A small tap to his shoulder made Roy jerk around, but he found himself face to face with his brother-in-law. Alphonse’s furrowed brow was question enough.
Roy whispered, “She’s back.”
He didn’t need to tell Alphonse who. Alphonse gestured to the side with his head and Roy followed, curious. Al looked guilty for a second but then he clapped his hands and pressed them to the wall. He produced a small funnel at the end of a tunnel to the other room. Roy could hear them clearly through it.
Alphonse has been spying on him and Ed. Roy shook his head because he should have expected something of the sort but for now it was pushed aside as she started to speak again.
“I just don’t understand why this has to be so difficult,” Winry said softly. Roy could imagine her at the island counter, sitting for tea with Ed.
“Winry, you agreed to all of this. We talked about it for a long time, just you and me.”
“I didn’t realize it would be like this. I thought things would be different,” she said.
“In what way?”
“Ed, I just … I didn’t realize. You know I’ve always wanted a family. When we were kids, I used to think … even after the Promised Day when you and Al moved back to Resembool, I thought maybe…”
She paused and Roy could hear his husband’s tired sigh from the other side of the wall.
“I know. You and I never worked out. But then … Alphonse and I work in a lot of ways.”
Roy felt awkward listening to her talk about his Alphonse with brother-in-law right beside him, but Alphonse wasn’t looking at him. His eyes were on the floor.
“I know and I’m happy for you.”
“We broke up.”
“What?”
“He didn’t tell you?”
“No.” That explained why Alphonse had been visiting so often lately. He had always traveled back and forth to Resembool every few weeks to spend time with Winry but he’d been over to visit Ed frequently this month. There was no time for him to go back to see her. When he thought back, the visits to Resembool had decreased over the last six months.
“I thought … I thought we were ready for something more but … I was wrong.”
“Winry, I’m sorry.”
“I was upset for a while, but then I started to think about all the good things in my life. I thought about Granny and all my friends. I thought about my work and how well Rockbell automail has been doing. I think my parents would be proud.”
“They would, Winry.”
“And I thought… the things I was really missing … well … I already had that too. I had these two amazing kids.”
“Winry.”
Ed’s voice was a warning.
“No, Ed. I did. I had these two amazing kids and you’re raising them but I could be a part of their lives.”
“We talked about this Winry. When the kids are older, we’ll decide when to tell them. Roy and I don’t want to do that yet though. You know that. We don’t have any problems with you being Aunt Winry, but you can’t be their mom.”
“I don’t understand, Ed. They don’t have a mom.”
“They don’t need one. They have Roy and I.”
She scoffed. “Roy is barely here and what do you know about babies?”
Roy could hear the sneer in her voice and he started to straighten up but Alphonse grabbed his wrist and shook his head. He knew Al wanted Ed to deal with this on his own, but Roy was done with this conversation. She had no right to question them as parents. They weren’t perfect and the Truth knew they had to learn to juggle a lot in the last year, but they had finally found a good balance between work and kids and finding time to be them. Winry wasn’t a bad person, but she’d made choices. A year after the twins were born wasn’t the time to change her mind or to question who they were as a family.
“You know what, Winry. This is bullshit. Don’t come in here and try to act like this is about what’s best for the twins. If you were worried about us as parents, you shouldn’t have signed the papers to give them to us. If you were worried, you should have said something over the last year, instead of waiting until you were feeling bad about your own life.”
“Maybe I should have,” Winry said. Roy could hear the screech of chairs being pushed away. “I don’t know what made me think you and Mustang were capable of raising my kids.”
“That’s enough, Winry. They aren’t yours. You were a surrogate and the only reason you had the twins was for us. Did you forget that? Don’t come into my home and start talking about my family like that.”
“Why don’t you wake up, Ed? This thing with you and Mustang? Do you really think he’s who you think he is? Do you really think he stopped playing around with all those women? He’s just using you and the kids as a publicity stunt.”
That was the end of his patience. Winry had no idea who he was and what he and Ed had been through together. She didn’t understand the depths of his love for Ed, nor his need for the amazing man in his life.
Roy stormed into the room and he could see the pain in Ed’s eyes as he walked in. Ed didn’t doubt him. Winry, however, had just proven how low she was able to go to continue this crusade.
“It’s time for you to leave, Miss Rockbell.”
“I was talking with Ed.”
“You are leaving,” Roy stopped her as he walked up next to Ed. Ed turned to lean into him and Roy wrapped an arm around him and pressed a kiss to his temple.
“This isn’t over,” Winry demanded. “I have a right-”
“No. You don’t.” Roy was done. “And this is over. You might not be aware of this, Miss Rockbell, but I happen to be a general in the military. As such, my people have it under constant surveillance to keep my family safe. If you try to enter again without first gaining my permission, they will detain you.”
“You’re going to keep me from seeing the twins?”
“Until such a time as you are not coming into my family and trying to rip it apart, yes. When you remember you are their beloved Aunt Winry, and nothing more, then you can come back.”
“You can’t.”
“Winry,” Ed didn’t pull away from his embrace, but he looked at Winry. “Just go.”
Her anger seemed to deplete, as if she’d been expecting another argument. “Ed-”
“No. You heard my husband. Go.”
She glared at Roy and he wasn’t feeling any more magnanimous as she tried to stare him down. “If you aren’t willing to leave of your own volition, I would be more than happy to have security personnel escort you from my home.”
Her eyes widened and Ed just turned into him completely then. Roy wasn’t sure he wouldn’t have hell to pay later for stepping in like this, but he couldn’t allow this to continue any longer.
“You can call my office and speak to me the next time you want to see the twins. Do not call the house again. Do not try to talk to Ed about this again.”
She looked like she was about to say something, but Roy heard movement behind him and he knew Alphonse had stepped into the room. Her words died on her lips and her shoulders hunched. She grabbed the bag she had brought with her and left without another word.
There was silence as they listened to Winry’s feet on the floor and then the door closed loudly behind her. Alphonse looked at Roy and then to the brother in his arms. “Ed?”
“You didn’t tell me you two weren’t together anymore,” Ed said quietly.
“It just didn’t work. I love Winry, but she wants to settle in Resembool and I want to see the world. I guess she was okay with you being a traveler, but when we tried to make it work, she was mad that I wouldn’t stay with her all the time. She thought I only did all those things because I was following you, and not because it was who I was too.”
“I’m sorry, Alphonse,” Roy said. And he meant it. Alphonse was a good man who deserved to find someone to love. And no matter what was going on with Winry, she had done them a great kindness in birthing the twins. Roy had never wanted that to intrude on her relationship with the Elric brothers and it pained him to see their childhood friendship end like this.
He hoped, in time, they’d find some way to undo the damage but he was too angry to worry about Winry. He had a husband in his arms that was acting far too meek and a brother-in-law who was being far too quiet.
Before he could think of anything else to say, they all looked up at the faint cry of one of the twins.
“I got it,” Ed said as he pulled away from Roy.
“Ed, I can-”
“Just wanna hold my kids for a minute, Bastard. It’s fine.”
It wasn’t, but if Ed was feeling well enough to call him Bastard the fire wasn’t completely gone. It just needed to be coaxed a little more before he was really okay with what had happened today.
He pulled him close and whispered in his ear, “I love you, Gold.”
Ed huffed before he pushed away. There was a soft smile on his face though as he walked out towards the stairs. Roy just might get out of a lecture tonight about how Ed could fucking hold his own. Maybe.
Once Ed was out of sight, Roy turned to his brother-in-law. He had expected to see a downcast face with an apology on his lips, though Roy had told him time and again that Winry’s behavior was not a reflection of his own. Instead, there were wide eyes and his mouth hung open, as if in discovery.
“Alphonse?”
“Gold?”
Roy closed his eyes and shook his head. He hadn’t meant for Alphonse to hear him. Ed wasn’t a fan of pet names and if he knew someone else had heard, it would probably be the end of it.
“Please, don’t say anything to Ed,” he asked. “He’d be furious with me for letting someone hear that.”
“Never give you gold. Never gold. That’s what you were saying when we found you. That’s … you weren’t talking about money,” Alphonse said softly. “They were looking for Ed.”
Roy’s eyes widened. The team knew that Ed had been the target of his abduction four years ago and Roy’s torture had been to get information on the military, but it had also been to find the Fullmetal Alchemist. Once Roy had been found, Ed and Al had moved away from the case and spent most of their time getting Roy back on his feet. Hawkeye had very subtly kept them under surveillance to make sure they didn’t know the full extent of what had happened. She still had the family under lesser surveillance because those criminals had never been caught.
Roy felt something tighten in his throat and he wasn’t sure he could answer. He nodded instead.
“That’s when everything changed. The two of you … they tortured you but you kept him safe. And hearing those words, when no one else could understand, Ed knew.”
“He did,” Roy said softly. “I hurt him and I tried to let him go. In those two years he was in Aerugo, I had a lot of time to understand why I did the things I did, and exactly how I felt about your brother. And then, things seemed to be going well. I thought we just might be able to move past all that and have something real. They came looking for him though. I had planned to spend my life loving him, Al. To make him forget that anyone had ever treated him as less than he deserved, including me. But they were looking for him and all I could think was that even with all those things left unsaid, dying to protect him would have made this one life worthwhile.”
“He would never have forgiven you if you had,” Alphonse said.
“I’m not sure he has yet,” he said, twisting his wedding ring. The simple inscriptions inside were often seen as romantic sentiment to anyone who saw them but they were two very earnest promises. For Roy, who had hurt Ed so much he’d left the country, who was still terrified of being left by his husband. The words Always coming home to you, Bastard, were a promise that this was forever. No matter how hard things got, Ed would stay with him and never walk out for good.
For Ed, who had seen how obsessive Roy could become, who had witnessed his grief over Maes and seen him tortured and broken to protect him, who was still terrified that Roy would end his life in some sort of self-sacrifice. The words Always yours, Gold, were a promise, that he would never forget that he had someone he belonged to. Someone who would mourn him with the same fervor. Someone who would never recover from it, so he always had to come back.
Neither promise was made lightly, and neither was easy to keep, but they were making a life together and they had a family now that bound them even tighter.
“It makes sense now,” Alphonse said as he walked over to the counter and began to make fresh tea.
“I’m glad it makes things clearer for you,” Roy said as he started to clean up Winry’s visit. “I’m afraid nothing is so clear today for me.”
Alphonse let out a deep sigh. “I think … Winry believed she’d have her own family by now. She never thought she’d be alone. I think she loved both of us and when it didn’t work with either of us, she felt bereft. She’s struggling. Please, I know I don’t have a right to ask, but give her a chance to deal with this and be a better person. She’ll come around. I know she will.”
Roy looked down at the counter as Alphonse slid a cup of tea in front of him. Alphonse was being kind, because he had every right to ask this of Roy. Roy, of all people, knew what it meant to love an Elric. He knew the downfalls and the heights of it intimately. He knew, better than any other, how much a person could grow and how a second chance could change everything. Alphonse had given Roy a second chance, was still giving him the chance to prove how much he loved Ed.
“I can’t say that I’ll ever forgive her for this Alphonse,” he said honestly. “I’m not the sort who does. But if Ed can, I won’t stand in the way of their friendship or of her spending time with the twins as their aunt. But if she keeps hurting Ed, I’ll make sure she can never board a train to Central again.”
Alphonse gave him a half smile and then it broke out into a full one that had him completely confused. Alphonse had always been the harder of the two to read. While most of the time he wore his heart on his sleeve, there was a hidden complexity to the young man that his earnest face covered.
“That’s fair enough. I wouldn’t expect any less from the Bastard that married my brother.”
Roy laughed at that, because Alphonse had never called him a bastard before and there was something that almost felt like redemption in that word.
“What about my Bastard?” Ed demanded as he came into the kitchen. He had Maes tucked onto one hip and Tishy on the other. Both sets of golden eyes looked at Roy drowsily, while their father looked at his brother.
“Come here, buddy,” Roy said as he grabbed Maes from Ed. His son grabbed both edges of his collar and pulled until his face was pressed up against Roy’s and he blew wet kisses into Roy’s cheek. “Did you have a good nap?” he asked his son.
He held him close and Maes settled against his chest for a second. “Da-da,” he said softly, sleepily.
“Not quite done,” Ed said gently. When Roy looked up, Tishy had fallen back to sleep in Ed’s arms. “They just wouldn’t let me put them down to get back to it.”
“Guess we could take a nap then,” Roy offered. “For the children’s sake.”
Ed rolled his eyes, and Roy had no doubt he could read just how much Roy needed to be close to him right now. Before Ed could answer though, Alphonse reminded them both that he was there. Listening.
“I’m stealing your library,” Alphonse said as he took a cup of tea and walked towards the door. “I’ll start dinner when I’m done.”
Maes fussed in his arms and Roy bounced him slightly and began to walk towards the bedroom. Ed laid down on their bed with Tishy on his chest and Roy laid Maes between them, curled up against him as Roy looked at his husband and children.
Ed saw him watching and he shifted, letting Tishy lay between them with Maes as he turned onto his side to look at them as well. “What was that between you and Alphonse?” Ed whispered.
“I can never forgive anything, and I never forget,” Roy said. “Alphonse never forgets.” He raised his hand and ran his fingers over Ed’s cheek, stopping to wrap his fingers around a few loose strands of hair. “But I think,” he took a deep breath because it meant far more to him than he cared to admit. He felt tears well in his eyes, but he continued. “I think he’s finally forgiven me.”
“Roy,” he said his name softly and it made it all the more damning because Ed had forgiven him a long time ago.
“I don’t deserve it. I don’t deserve you and the twins and the chance at this life, but I will spend every day of my life making certain you don’t regret giving so much to me.”
“Everything I have, Bastard,” Ed said softly. “I’m always going to give you everything I’ve got. Get used to it.”
Roy let out a small huff of a laugh and he carefully leaned over the twins and pressed a quick kiss to Ed’s lips.
“I love you so damn much, Gold.”
“Me too, Bastard. Now let me take my nap.”
***
In the hallway, Alphonse Elric smiled as he listened to the sounds of his family settling in for a short afternoon nap. He gave it a minute or two, then peeked his head in. Roy and Ed were facing each other in the bed with the twins lying between them.
Loving an Elric seemed to be easy enough, but making it work was hard. They weren’t like most people and Alphonse had taken a long time to understand that and come to terms with it. Their relationships were never easy. Roy and Ed had found a balance over time, born out of patience and pain and a lot of pushing and pulling, a lot of biting and clawing and fighting to get to this place. With each new stage they entered, they worked to make this thing between them something more stable and concrete.
Alphonse had waited for it to fall apart. He had waited for the moment it got too much for the General. For Ed’s brash personality to grate too much, or for Alphonse’s almost constant appearance in their lives to wear on him. He had waited for the past to become too dark again or for the present to overshadow everything else. It never had though. And Alphonse understood now, that it never would.
Roy Mustang was right. Gold. In one word, he understood everything. The depth of Mustang’s love for his brother. The ends he would go to protect him. And he understood why his brother, who had moved past his initial belief in this fairytale life, had suddenly become so wrapped up in his former lover again. He understood their need to be together and he could see the love between them as strong and as fierce as the sun.
He hoped, in the end, that Ed and Roy would be able to allow Winry back into their lives, but it would be a hard road. None of them were afraid of hard work but patience wasn’t exactly something Ed and Winry were good at and time could only do so much to heal these wounds.
But, one thing about the Elrics that people didn’t seem to understand, was that they could make things work with the most difficult of relationships. Their friendships over the years spanned countries and they numbered homunculi and past enemies among them.
They were easy to love, difficult to keep, but Ed and Al never gave up on anyone in their lives. It wasn’t something they could really fathom. Just as their mother had never given up on their father.
Alphonse let out a deep breath and walked away from his sleeping family. He strolled into the library and began to compile the books he needed.
Maybe it was time to go traveling again. He’d stayed close to Central for so long, afraid to leave his brother. He knew now that he was well cared for and that, while Ed would miss him while he was gone, he didn’t need him to be there like he had before.
Roy and Ed would take care of each other and Alphonse could move on with his own life, freed from that fear.
He flipped open a book, heart lighter than it had been in years, planning to take the train sometime this week to start his journey. He hadn’t been to Ishval in a year. Maybe, after that, he’d return to Xing. He was certain the Emperor would welcome him back. As would the Chang clan. He and Mei still wrote letters after all and she’d invited him back more than once.
It would be a good visit. A good time to renew old friendships. A good time to focus on positive things and move past difficult relations.
Verse: Further Interruptions
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Pairing: Roy/Ed, mentions of past Ed/Winry and past Al/Winry
Summary: “Why don’t you wake up, Ed? This thing with you and Mustang? Do you really think he’s who you think he is? Do you really think he stopped playing around with all those women? He’s just using you and the kids as a publicity stunt.”
Author's Note: No, I don't hate Winry. I actually like her character, however in the context of this story, she's not in a good place and she makes some bad choices here. There are consequences. I'm not sure if I'll ever explore her side of all this (and why she says and does the things she does) but we all know Aunt Winry sticks around through the years... so there is that for you :P
Roy sat just outside the door with his hands clenched in fists. It wasn’t entirely out of character for him to eavesdrop, but this was his own house. It was his husband on the other side of the door.
He was with her again.
They agreed after her last visit that it wasn’t a good idea for Ed to speak alone with her. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust his husband, but that woman was twisting him up inside and Roy had seen Ed hurt too much over the years to bear it well from the people he cared about.
A small tap to his shoulder made Roy jerk around, but he found himself face to face with his brother-in-law. Alphonse’s furrowed brow was question enough.
Roy whispered, “She’s back.”
He didn’t need to tell Alphonse who. Alphonse gestured to the side with his head and Roy followed, curious. Al looked guilty for a second but then he clapped his hands and pressed them to the wall. He produced a small funnel at the end of a tunnel to the other room. Roy could hear them clearly through it.
Alphonse has been spying on him and Ed. Roy shook his head because he should have expected something of the sort but for now it was pushed aside as she started to speak again.
“I just don’t understand why this has to be so difficult,” Winry said softly. Roy could imagine her at the island counter, sitting for tea with Ed.
“Winry, you agreed to all of this. We talked about it for a long time, just you and me.”
“I didn’t realize it would be like this. I thought things would be different,” she said.
“In what way?”
“Ed, I just … I didn’t realize. You know I’ve always wanted a family. When we were kids, I used to think … even after the Promised Day when you and Al moved back to Resembool, I thought maybe…”
She paused and Roy could hear his husband’s tired sigh from the other side of the wall.
“I know. You and I never worked out. But then … Alphonse and I work in a lot of ways.”
Roy felt awkward listening to her talk about his Alphonse with brother-in-law right beside him, but Alphonse wasn’t looking at him. His eyes were on the floor.
“I know and I’m happy for you.”
“We broke up.”
“What?”
“He didn’t tell you?”
“No.” That explained why Alphonse had been visiting so often lately. He had always traveled back and forth to Resembool every few weeks to spend time with Winry but he’d been over to visit Ed frequently this month. There was no time for him to go back to see her. When he thought back, the visits to Resembool had decreased over the last six months.
“I thought … I thought we were ready for something more but … I was wrong.”
“Winry, I’m sorry.”
“I was upset for a while, but then I started to think about all the good things in my life. I thought about Granny and all my friends. I thought about my work and how well Rockbell automail has been doing. I think my parents would be proud.”
“They would, Winry.”
“And I thought… the things I was really missing … well … I already had that too. I had these two amazing kids.”
“Winry.”
Ed’s voice was a warning.
“No, Ed. I did. I had these two amazing kids and you’re raising them but I could be a part of their lives.”
“We talked about this Winry. When the kids are older, we’ll decide when to tell them. Roy and I don’t want to do that yet though. You know that. We don’t have any problems with you being Aunt Winry, but you can’t be their mom.”
“I don’t understand, Ed. They don’t have a mom.”
“They don’t need one. They have Roy and I.”
She scoffed. “Roy is barely here and what do you know about babies?”
Roy could hear the sneer in her voice and he started to straighten up but Alphonse grabbed his wrist and shook his head. He knew Al wanted Ed to deal with this on his own, but Roy was done with this conversation. She had no right to question them as parents. They weren’t perfect and the Truth knew they had to learn to juggle a lot in the last year, but they had finally found a good balance between work and kids and finding time to be them. Winry wasn’t a bad person, but she’d made choices. A year after the twins were born wasn’t the time to change her mind or to question who they were as a family.
“You know what, Winry. This is bullshit. Don’t come in here and try to act like this is about what’s best for the twins. If you were worried about us as parents, you shouldn’t have signed the papers to give them to us. If you were worried, you should have said something over the last year, instead of waiting until you were feeling bad about your own life.”
“Maybe I should have,” Winry said. Roy could hear the screech of chairs being pushed away. “I don’t know what made me think you and Mustang were capable of raising my kids.”
“That’s enough, Winry. They aren’t yours. You were a surrogate and the only reason you had the twins was for us. Did you forget that? Don’t come into my home and start talking about my family like that.”
“Why don’t you wake up, Ed? This thing with you and Mustang? Do you really think he’s who you think he is? Do you really think he stopped playing around with all those women? He’s just using you and the kids as a publicity stunt.”
That was the end of his patience. Winry had no idea who he was and what he and Ed had been through together. She didn’t understand the depths of his love for Ed, nor his need for the amazing man in his life.
Roy stormed into the room and he could see the pain in Ed’s eyes as he walked in. Ed didn’t doubt him. Winry, however, had just proven how low she was able to go to continue this crusade.
“It’s time for you to leave, Miss Rockbell.”
“I was talking with Ed.”
“You are leaving,” Roy stopped her as he walked up next to Ed. Ed turned to lean into him and Roy wrapped an arm around him and pressed a kiss to his temple.
“This isn’t over,” Winry demanded. “I have a right-”
“No. You don’t.” Roy was done. “And this is over. You might not be aware of this, Miss Rockbell, but I happen to be a general in the military. As such, my people have it under constant surveillance to keep my family safe. If you try to enter again without first gaining my permission, they will detain you.”
“You’re going to keep me from seeing the twins?”
“Until such a time as you are not coming into my family and trying to rip it apart, yes. When you remember you are their beloved Aunt Winry, and nothing more, then you can come back.”
“You can’t.”
“Winry,” Ed didn’t pull away from his embrace, but he looked at Winry. “Just go.”
Her anger seemed to deplete, as if she’d been expecting another argument. “Ed-”
“No. You heard my husband. Go.”
She glared at Roy and he wasn’t feeling any more magnanimous as she tried to stare him down. “If you aren’t willing to leave of your own volition, I would be more than happy to have security personnel escort you from my home.”
Her eyes widened and Ed just turned into him completely then. Roy wasn’t sure he wouldn’t have hell to pay later for stepping in like this, but he couldn’t allow this to continue any longer.
“You can call my office and speak to me the next time you want to see the twins. Do not call the house again. Do not try to talk to Ed about this again.”
She looked like she was about to say something, but Roy heard movement behind him and he knew Alphonse had stepped into the room. Her words died on her lips and her shoulders hunched. She grabbed the bag she had brought with her and left without another word.
There was silence as they listened to Winry’s feet on the floor and then the door closed loudly behind her. Alphonse looked at Roy and then to the brother in his arms. “Ed?”
“You didn’t tell me you two weren’t together anymore,” Ed said quietly.
“It just didn’t work. I love Winry, but she wants to settle in Resembool and I want to see the world. I guess she was okay with you being a traveler, but when we tried to make it work, she was mad that I wouldn’t stay with her all the time. She thought I only did all those things because I was following you, and not because it was who I was too.”
“I’m sorry, Alphonse,” Roy said. And he meant it. Alphonse was a good man who deserved to find someone to love. And no matter what was going on with Winry, she had done them a great kindness in birthing the twins. Roy had never wanted that to intrude on her relationship with the Elric brothers and it pained him to see their childhood friendship end like this.
He hoped, in time, they’d find some way to undo the damage but he was too angry to worry about Winry. He had a husband in his arms that was acting far too meek and a brother-in-law who was being far too quiet.
Before he could think of anything else to say, they all looked up at the faint cry of one of the twins.
“I got it,” Ed said as he pulled away from Roy.
“Ed, I can-”
“Just wanna hold my kids for a minute, Bastard. It’s fine.”
It wasn’t, but if Ed was feeling well enough to call him Bastard the fire wasn’t completely gone. It just needed to be coaxed a little more before he was really okay with what had happened today.
He pulled him close and whispered in his ear, “I love you, Gold.”
Ed huffed before he pushed away. There was a soft smile on his face though as he walked out towards the stairs. Roy just might get out of a lecture tonight about how Ed could fucking hold his own. Maybe.
Once Ed was out of sight, Roy turned to his brother-in-law. He had expected to see a downcast face with an apology on his lips, though Roy had told him time and again that Winry’s behavior was not a reflection of his own. Instead, there were wide eyes and his mouth hung open, as if in discovery.
“Alphonse?”
“Gold?”
Roy closed his eyes and shook his head. He hadn’t meant for Alphonse to hear him. Ed wasn’t a fan of pet names and if he knew someone else had heard, it would probably be the end of it.
“Please, don’t say anything to Ed,” he asked. “He’d be furious with me for letting someone hear that.”
“Never give you gold. Never gold. That’s what you were saying when we found you. That’s … you weren’t talking about money,” Alphonse said softly. “They were looking for Ed.”
Roy’s eyes widened. The team knew that Ed had been the target of his abduction four years ago and Roy’s torture had been to get information on the military, but it had also been to find the Fullmetal Alchemist. Once Roy had been found, Ed and Al had moved away from the case and spent most of their time getting Roy back on his feet. Hawkeye had very subtly kept them under surveillance to make sure they didn’t know the full extent of what had happened. She still had the family under lesser surveillance because those criminals had never been caught.
Roy felt something tighten in his throat and he wasn’t sure he could answer. He nodded instead.
“That’s when everything changed. The two of you … they tortured you but you kept him safe. And hearing those words, when no one else could understand, Ed knew.”
“He did,” Roy said softly. “I hurt him and I tried to let him go. In those two years he was in Aerugo, I had a lot of time to understand why I did the things I did, and exactly how I felt about your brother. And then, things seemed to be going well. I thought we just might be able to move past all that and have something real. They came looking for him though. I had planned to spend my life loving him, Al. To make him forget that anyone had ever treated him as less than he deserved, including me. But they were looking for him and all I could think was that even with all those things left unsaid, dying to protect him would have made this one life worthwhile.”
“He would never have forgiven you if you had,” Alphonse said.
“I’m not sure he has yet,” he said, twisting his wedding ring. The simple inscriptions inside were often seen as romantic sentiment to anyone who saw them but they were two very earnest promises. For Roy, who had hurt Ed so much he’d left the country, who was still terrified of being left by his husband. The words Always coming home to you, Bastard, were a promise that this was forever. No matter how hard things got, Ed would stay with him and never walk out for good.
For Ed, who had seen how obsessive Roy could become, who had witnessed his grief over Maes and seen him tortured and broken to protect him, who was still terrified that Roy would end his life in some sort of self-sacrifice. The words Always yours, Gold, were a promise, that he would never forget that he had someone he belonged to. Someone who would mourn him with the same fervor. Someone who would never recover from it, so he always had to come back.
Neither promise was made lightly, and neither was easy to keep, but they were making a life together and they had a family now that bound them even tighter.
“It makes sense now,” Alphonse said as he walked over to the counter and began to make fresh tea.
“I’m glad it makes things clearer for you,” Roy said as he started to clean up Winry’s visit. “I’m afraid nothing is so clear today for me.”
Alphonse let out a deep sigh. “I think … Winry believed she’d have her own family by now. She never thought she’d be alone. I think she loved both of us and when it didn’t work with either of us, she felt bereft. She’s struggling. Please, I know I don’t have a right to ask, but give her a chance to deal with this and be a better person. She’ll come around. I know she will.”
Roy looked down at the counter as Alphonse slid a cup of tea in front of him. Alphonse was being kind, because he had every right to ask this of Roy. Roy, of all people, knew what it meant to love an Elric. He knew the downfalls and the heights of it intimately. He knew, better than any other, how much a person could grow and how a second chance could change everything. Alphonse had given Roy a second chance, was still giving him the chance to prove how much he loved Ed.
“I can’t say that I’ll ever forgive her for this Alphonse,” he said honestly. “I’m not the sort who does. But if Ed can, I won’t stand in the way of their friendship or of her spending time with the twins as their aunt. But if she keeps hurting Ed, I’ll make sure she can never board a train to Central again.”
Alphonse gave him a half smile and then it broke out into a full one that had him completely confused. Alphonse had always been the harder of the two to read. While most of the time he wore his heart on his sleeve, there was a hidden complexity to the young man that his earnest face covered.
“That’s fair enough. I wouldn’t expect any less from the Bastard that married my brother.”
Roy laughed at that, because Alphonse had never called him a bastard before and there was something that almost felt like redemption in that word.
“What about my Bastard?” Ed demanded as he came into the kitchen. He had Maes tucked onto one hip and Tishy on the other. Both sets of golden eyes looked at Roy drowsily, while their father looked at his brother.
“Come here, buddy,” Roy said as he grabbed Maes from Ed. His son grabbed both edges of his collar and pulled until his face was pressed up against Roy’s and he blew wet kisses into Roy’s cheek. “Did you have a good nap?” he asked his son.
He held him close and Maes settled against his chest for a second. “Da-da,” he said softly, sleepily.
“Not quite done,” Ed said gently. When Roy looked up, Tishy had fallen back to sleep in Ed’s arms. “They just wouldn’t let me put them down to get back to it.”
“Guess we could take a nap then,” Roy offered. “For the children’s sake.”
Ed rolled his eyes, and Roy had no doubt he could read just how much Roy needed to be close to him right now. Before Ed could answer though, Alphonse reminded them both that he was there. Listening.
“I’m stealing your library,” Alphonse said as he took a cup of tea and walked towards the door. “I’ll start dinner when I’m done.”
Maes fussed in his arms and Roy bounced him slightly and began to walk towards the bedroom. Ed laid down on their bed with Tishy on his chest and Roy laid Maes between them, curled up against him as Roy looked at his husband and children.
Ed saw him watching and he shifted, letting Tishy lay between them with Maes as he turned onto his side to look at them as well. “What was that between you and Alphonse?” Ed whispered.
“I can never forgive anything, and I never forget,” Roy said. “Alphonse never forgets.” He raised his hand and ran his fingers over Ed’s cheek, stopping to wrap his fingers around a few loose strands of hair. “But I think,” he took a deep breath because it meant far more to him than he cared to admit. He felt tears well in his eyes, but he continued. “I think he’s finally forgiven me.”
“Roy,” he said his name softly and it made it all the more damning because Ed had forgiven him a long time ago.
“I don’t deserve it. I don’t deserve you and the twins and the chance at this life, but I will spend every day of my life making certain you don’t regret giving so much to me.”
“Everything I have, Bastard,” Ed said softly. “I’m always going to give you everything I’ve got. Get used to it.”
Roy let out a small huff of a laugh and he carefully leaned over the twins and pressed a quick kiss to Ed’s lips.
“I love you so damn much, Gold.”
“Me too, Bastard. Now let me take my nap.”
***
In the hallway, Alphonse Elric smiled as he listened to the sounds of his family settling in for a short afternoon nap. He gave it a minute or two, then peeked his head in. Roy and Ed were facing each other in the bed with the twins lying between them.
Loving an Elric seemed to be easy enough, but making it work was hard. They weren’t like most people and Alphonse had taken a long time to understand that and come to terms with it. Their relationships were never easy. Roy and Ed had found a balance over time, born out of patience and pain and a lot of pushing and pulling, a lot of biting and clawing and fighting to get to this place. With each new stage they entered, they worked to make this thing between them something more stable and concrete.
Alphonse had waited for it to fall apart. He had waited for the moment it got too much for the General. For Ed’s brash personality to grate too much, or for Alphonse’s almost constant appearance in their lives to wear on him. He had waited for the past to become too dark again or for the present to overshadow everything else. It never had though. And Alphonse understood now, that it never would.
Roy Mustang was right. Gold. In one word, he understood everything. The depth of Mustang’s love for his brother. The ends he would go to protect him. And he understood why his brother, who had moved past his initial belief in this fairytale life, had suddenly become so wrapped up in his former lover again. He understood their need to be together and he could see the love between them as strong and as fierce as the sun.
He hoped, in the end, that Ed and Roy would be able to allow Winry back into their lives, but it would be a hard road. None of them were afraid of hard work but patience wasn’t exactly something Ed and Winry were good at and time could only do so much to heal these wounds.
But, one thing about the Elrics that people didn’t seem to understand, was that they could make things work with the most difficult of relationships. Their friendships over the years spanned countries and they numbered homunculi and past enemies among them.
They were easy to love, difficult to keep, but Ed and Al never gave up on anyone in their lives. It wasn’t something they could really fathom. Just as their mother had never given up on their father.
Alphonse let out a deep breath and walked away from his sleeping family. He strolled into the library and began to compile the books he needed.
Maybe it was time to go traveling again. He’d stayed close to Central for so long, afraid to leave his brother. He knew now that he was well cared for and that, while Ed would miss him while he was gone, he didn’t need him to be there like he had before.
Roy and Ed would take care of each other and Alphonse could move on with his own life, freed from that fear.
He flipped open a book, heart lighter than it had been in years, planning to take the train sometime this week to start his journey. He hadn’t been to Ishval in a year. Maybe, after that, he’d return to Xing. He was certain the Emperor would welcome him back. As would the Chang clan. He and Mei still wrote letters after all and she’d invited him back more than once.
It would be a good visit. A good time to renew old friendships. A good time to focus on positive things and move past difficult relations.