Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ For A Moment ❯ Epilogue ( Chapter 6 )

For A Moment

 

Disclaimer: Oh, what I'd do if I owned Full Metal Alchemist. For starters, certain people who died would not (don't want to ruin the surprise for those of you who haven't seen episode 25), Roy and Riza would be married with children by now, Ed would have hooked up with Winry by now, Havoc would be in the 3D world so he can be mine, and other things I can't remember right now.

 

Summary: Rated for Ed (you know how bad his mouth gets). “For a moment, eyes as red as the blood I would shed looked back at me.” “Though he would never admit it, for a moment, absolute fear shone in his eyes.” “For a moment, he walked with the souls of the dead.”

Also known as Fullmetal vs. Flame: The Day Roy Showed Fear.

 

Roy's POV

 

The setting sun painted the world orange. Hawkeye was still here, and was nice enough to hold my jacket for me. Al was waiting for Ed with her, holding Ed's coat. I don't know how many hours I've been shoveling; I wanted to use alchemy to clean it up a long time ago, but the Fuhrer struck out that idea before I had a chance to voice it. So that gets me here: hot, sweaty, tired, and stuck with the youngest alchemist with the shortest temper. I really wanted that shower. Maes told me to meet him after that at the bar. He probably wants to get my mind off things. What would I do without him?

 

I stuck my shovel into the ground and sat on a piece of overturned cement to catch my breath. I yawned and said, “This is the reason I tried to avoid the fight, Ed.” Not a complete lie, but not exactly the truth either. Ed didn't answer me, but he asked a question I was expecting since the end of the fight. “What happened? Why did you hesitate at the end?” I decided to play dumb. I turned my head to look at him and replied, “Eh?” He continued, “I don't need anyone to cover for me. If you had time to beat me, you should've done it.” I let my mouth close and took a moment to gather my words. A long second passed before I turned back to my shovel. Finally, I started.

 

“This goes back more years than I care to admit, but there was something called the Ishbal Rebellion.” The proper name. Anyone who was there or saw one of the few true media links calls it the Ishbal Massacre. That's what it really was. They never had a chance once we came, the Amestris Alchemists. Ed had some idea what I was talking about. Probably from talking to Hughes. “Part of the Eastern Rebellion, right? When the people of Ishbal clashed with the military?” Oh, it was so much more than that, Edward. But you'll learn in due time. I decided to resume my story. “I saw my share…of really terrible things.”

 

The haunting memory comes back for the second time today. The boy, wide-eyed and shaking, he couldn't have been older than Ed is now. And I was young, green, just 22. His teeth were clenched, and in his hands was a rifle. I stood over him, as pale as I am now, my fingers ready to snap. My expression mirrored his. We were both too young, too innocent to be in a standoff where your life is at stake. We both knew that if we breathed wrong, our enemy would take it as a sign of attack, and kill in fear and so-called “self-preservation.” The minutes I stood there, hot, sweating, tired, and fearful, felt like lifetimes. The shaking in his hands suddenly coursed through out his body. Something was about to happen; I just didn't know what. At that point, everything happened in the blink of an eye. He moved and gripped his gun tighter. The barrel whipped toward me, and my eyes widened. Even if I wasn't so wired from the adrenaline, reflex would have caused me to do the same thing. Snap. Just like that, he was now ablaze, and a horribly distorted shadow of myself was thrown onto the wall behind me. I could only stare at my first kill. A boy, wide-eyed and shaking, he couldn't have been older than Ed is now. We were both too young, too innocent to be there. Both too young to die. But we did. He died, and I died watching him die.

 

Now is as good a time as any to reveal my secret. I kept my body still and my eyes trained on the handle of my shovel, where my hands rested. “Doctor Marcoh, the deserter…he was the smartest one among us. I still think so, even now.” Ed, for once, appeared as calm as I did. “Is that why you kept quiet about him? Out of respect?” No, I kept quiet to keep you two apart. To make sure that my past and my present did not mix. But… “Maybe I was wrong not to tell you about him. You should pay him a visit. So you'll know for yourself.” Ed gasped. “You mean he's alive?” Child-like excitement made him sound closer to his true age, not the age he acts. I turned toward him, a corner of my mouth turned up, and nodded. He smiled an honest, unpretentious smile. The way I used to smile. That was before I learned that a smirk gave an air of confidence, something I desperately needed after having had my life torn apart.

 

He had one more thing to say. “Colonel…You still haven't told me yet…why you hesitated, and didn't finish me when you could. Nevermind. You don't have to say.” Thank you, Edward. Maybe one day I'll tell you.