Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Future Memories ❯ Realizations ( Chapter 4 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

By: ZaKai

A/N: Well, since today is my birthday, I've decided to do some updating; kind of a happy birthday present from me to you. Enjoy.

Future Memories

Chapter Four

Realizations

“This was a wonderful meal, Mrs. Elric, the best I've had in a long time. You really are an amazing cook.”

At the Colonel's `smooth talking' voice, Ed looked up from his bowl and grimaced. When Colonel Mustang got polite, that often meant there was unpleasant business to be discussed. Having worked with the man for so long, he'd gotten to know this very well. The Colonel was a pompous ass when things were good, even more arrogant when things were bad, but serious and considerate when something was critical…

Or when he thought it would bring pain to someone he cared about.

“Why thank you… um…”

“Colonel Roy Mustang.”

Ed smirked at the force the Colonel put on his rank and saw the younger Mustang glare heatedly at the older man.

“Well… thank you Colonel Mustang. I'm glad you enjoyed it.” She said with a small smile and a blush.

He nodded with a small smile of his own, then said, “Mrs. Elric…”

“Trisha, please…” The blush on her cheeks darkened.

Ed looked at his mother in shock, then turned to glare at his superior officer. How dare he flirt with his mom! For one thing, she was still married. The man was a bastard, but still her husband. Second, Roy was his. Ed could endure Mustang flirting with the girls in Central because it kept up his reputation and kept their secret safe, but they weren't in Central. They were… well… they were obviously in Rizembool, but some how in the past…

“That really is a beautiful name.” The Colonel said smoothly.

Ed gritted his teeth then pounded a fist on the table. “Do you have something important to say old man, or are you just going to sit there flirting?” His mother flushed darkly, the Colonel raised an eyebrow, the Major smirked, and the two boys stared at him in shock, but he didn't back down. “Weeell?” He growled.

The Colonel opened his mouth, but Trisha spoke first, her face still red. “Edward, you're being very rude. I want you to apologize this instant.”

The older officer, now extremely amused, looked at Ed expectantly.

Ed glared, but didn't say anything. Apologize? To Mustang? Never.

“Edward.” His mother said in a warning voice.

The sound of snickering beside him caught his attention and he looked down to see the younger Edward giggling.

“Yeah Eeedwaaard.” His younger double snickered quietly. “You need to say your sor..” But the boy never got a chance to finish because Alphonse elbowed him and shook his head.

“It's quite alright.”

Ed looked up and saw the Colonel addressing his mother.

“Besides, he's right. It's time we talk about what's happened here. As pleasant as this dinner has been, and as well as everyone has been at pretending this is just a normal get-together, we all know it isn't.”

The brunette's face pulled into a worried frown, but she nodded then looked to Edward. “Sweetheart, will you go get the book that you were reading today?”

The little boy nodded reluctantly and scurried off to do as he was asked.

“I'm… I'm really very sorry about all of this.” She said looking at the two dark haired men.

What am I? Chopped liver? Ed thought grumpily at the lack of attention he was getting from his mother at this point. He instantly cheered up when she turned her gaze one him and smiled softly.

The sound of running footsteps broke the moment as Edward ran back in with a thick book in his hands. “Here it is mom!” The boy said as he plunked the book into her lap. She smiled and kissed him on the head before passing the book to the Colonel.

“My husband's writing…” She said, indicating the book.

He nodded and began flipping through the pages. Ed watched as the older man raised an eyebrow and whistled softly. “This is…” He looked up at Ed. “This is really amazing…”

Ed frowned. He didn't like to think of his lover complimenting the man he hated most in the world.

When the Major leaned close to glance at the book, the Colonel looked over and glared. “You don't need to see this. You're too stupid to understand any of it.”

Ed blinked. The Colonel just called himself stupid…?

“Shut up old man.” The younger Mustang growled then scooted his chair closer to get a better look. Ed couldn't help it, and began laughing. It was just too much. This whole situation was just too much…

;-;-;-;-;-;-;

Colonel Mustang glowered at his laughing subordinate before turning his attention back to the book. Hohenheim's theories were incredibly complicated… Roy turned his head and caught his double staring at Ed again. He elbowed the Major and growled, “Stop staring at him.”

“What does it matter to you?” The man hissed back.

Roy shook his head then turned his attention the younger of the two Edwards. “Can you show me where to find the array you drew in the other room?” He asked nicely, passing the book to the little boy.

“Maybe…” The child looked afraid that he was going to get into trouble, but began flipping through the pages.

“Do you think you'll be able to fix this…?” Trisha asked nervously.

“I'm sure we will.” He lied. Truthfully, he had no idea what to do, or how this could have happened. He'd never heard of an array that could bring someone from the future to the past. He smiled at the brunette and her cheeks became a delicate shade of pink. She turned her attention to her stew and began moving her spoon in the bowl, but didn't eat.

He had a feeling Ed was going to kill him for flirting with his mother, but he couldn't help it. She was a beautiful woman, and she was obviously attracted to him. That was quite amusing given the fact that she didn't react to his double in the same manner. Some women just preferred men who were older than them, and it seemed Trisha Elric was one of those. After all, from what he'd heard, Hohenheim wasn't exactly a young duck either.

Roy looked at Ed, and couldn't help smirking. Perhaps attraction to older men ran in the family.

His gaze turned to the Major, who was in turn casting glances at Ed again. Roy frowned. Fullmetal was his. He'd have to have a talk with his younger self…

;-;-;-;-;-;-;

Trisha glanced around and frowned. There was something going on here. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but something just wasn't right.

Well… besides the fact that there were people from the future sitting at her table.

Something else.

Both of the military men were casting glances at her fifteen year old son, but the glances were somehow different… She didn't like it. Not one bit.

“I think this is it…” Edward said, lifting the book up for the older military officer to take.

The older Roy Mustang was definitely more mature than the Major, not only in his looks but in his mannerisms as well. It was very becoming, but she tried to remind herself that she was married… although it didn't seem that way most of the time, having not seen her husband for many years now…

“Wow…” The Colonel breathed. When the Major leaned over again to take a look, the older man didn't object. At first glance it would be easy to say that the two men didn't like each other, but she had a feeling there was more to it than that. She guessed it must be hard for each of them; the younger seeing what could be, the older seeing what was. Was the younger man afraid of his future? Did the older one regret his past? Trisha supposed she'd never know.

Those just weren't questions you asked someone you didn't know.

Her eyes turned to Ed.

She had also seen various emotions flash through his eyes when he looked at his past as well.

No, she wouldn't be able to ask the military men about their thoughts.

But she could ask her son about his.

;-;-;-;-;-;-;

Major Mustang looked down to the floor at the transmutation circle, then to the book he was holding. “I never thought I'd get a chance to take a look at some of Hohenheim of Light's work like this.”

The older Mustang grunted and shut the door behind them. “Not that you understand any of it I'm sure.”

The Major glared and gritted his teeth. “You know, I really don't see why you keep insulting me. I haven't done anything to you.”

The Colonel folded his arms and cast a level look to his younger self. For a moment he just stood there staring, then he said, “I just don't like you. That's all.”

Roy watched as the older man turned around and began studying the array drawn on the floor. Didn't like him? What kind of a lame excuse was that? And why didn't he like him? What a bastard…

Suddenly the door opened and the blond teenager slipped into the room, closing the door behind him. “Gee, thanks for staying and helping with the dishes…” The boy said sarcastically.

The younger dark haired man frowned. “We're trying to get this all figured out. Truthfully you should be thanking us. Just think what might have happened if I wasn't here when your younger self began messing around with such a complicated array. You would probably be stuck here forever. At least now you have a chance to get back to your time. This is State Alchemist business now, so if you'd be so kind as to let us alone while we work…”

It wasn't working.

The short teen had one eyebrow raised and a small smirk on his lips. “So… uh… how long have you been a State Alchemist…Major?” The boy asked in amusement.

This was the second time he'd been asked that… He supposed his answer had been helpful for his older self to know what part of the timeline he was at, but why would this kid possibly be interested?

“A month.” He replied irritably.

“A month.” The kid repeated now sounding more than amused. “Well, you don't really have much seniority, now do you? I mean, really, they only do the tests once a year so you and anyone who passed with you would be on the lowest end of the State Alchemist food chain.”

Roy's eyebrows knit together in confusion and embarrassment. What the boy was saying was true, but what did it matter to him, and why was he so amused?

“Enough of this.” Came an irritated voice, and both Roy and the blond turned to look at the Colonel, who was now walking toward them. The older man looked to his double. “Major. As your commanding officer, and whether or not you like it I do out rank you, I'm ordering you to shut up until you know what's going on here or unless you have something useful to say.”

The younger man glared hatefully at the Colonel, then turned it on the blond who was snickering softly.

“And you…” The older man said, snatching the heavy book from Roy's hands and flopping it roughly against the boy's chest. “I want you to start analyzing Hohenheim's writings and that array your double drew. I want to know what it was meant to do, why it was created, and if it was supposed to work the way it did, or not. If not, what was its original purpose?”

Roy felt slightly gratified that the boy was no longer snickering. In fact, the look of irritation and loathing that was directed at the Colonel did much to cheer him up.

“Didn't you just look this over?” The boy complained bitterly while opening the book to the marked page.

“Of course, but there's quite a bit of information in there and it would take more than a few minutes to compile it all.”

“I'm not going to do all the work while you lay around doing nothing!” The blond spat out.

“Who said I was going to be doing nothing? Someone needs to question your double and I can see the two of you didn't really hit it off.” The older man grinned. “Maybe after that I'll take the time to chat with you're mother abo…”

The man never got a chance to finish. The blond grabbed the front of the man's uniform and pulled him close. “Stay away from my mother!”

The Major was beginning to feel slightly confused with the situation as well as embarrassed that his older self would act so disrespectful. For one thing, why was the Colonel telling the kid to research the array? That was a job better left to them, seeing as how they were older and that they were State Alchemists. Another confusing thing was how the older man was taunting the boy. He could see that although the Colonel found Trisha Elric attractive, he wasn't interested in her romantically. Yet the man was obviously trying to piss the kid off. It really made no sense…

The Colonel shook his head. “You know, you really do blow up at the smallest things.”

The blond growled and shoved the man back. “You just stay away from her. She's married.”

“Only technically.”

A glare from the boy brought a chuckle from the older man and then a softly amused look… as if he actually knew the kid. “I'm sorry.” His double said kindly, then more briskly, “But I still want you to do the research. That's an order.”

Roy frowned and said, “You really are arrogant. You can't order him to do the research.”

They both turned to look at him as if they'd forgotten he was there.

“Really?”

“Yes really! You can't order civilians around like that!”

The older man gave him that look again and said, “Thank you Major. Your insight is brilliantly obvious as usual.”

Roy's eyes flitted to the boy, who was now openly grinning. He let his gaze travel over the teen and when a silver chain caught his attention, his eyes widened in shock. Could it be? How could he have missed it? Of course… the boy had been sitting at the table when they'd come in and was still there was the Colonel had dragged him back to this room.

“You…” He breathed in astonishment. No… No, it couldn't be. The kid was only fifteen…

“That's right.” The blond said in amusement. “Me.” The short teenager pulled the large silver state identification from his pocket and said. “Major Edward Elric. The Fullmetal Alchemist.”

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MasamuneReforged for being my beta.

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