Hello! I wanted to write a short, more light-hearted one-shot in honor of Father's Day! It's not exactly a Father's Day story, but there will be plenty of happiness and slight Parental!RoyEd. I hope you guys enjoy it! The characters might be a bit OOC...oh well.

I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. If I did, Ed and Roy would be forced to hug at least once a day...I'm sure they would oppose.

Colonel Roy Mustang rubbed his temples as the rain pattered against his office window. He hated the rain. It made him drowsy and his desire to procrastinate increased drastically. This wasn't a problem until Hawkeye came into the office to check on his progress. Her visits had been quite frequent considering she knew his procrastination habits.

Of course, there was a very strong reason he hated the rain. It made him useless. As much as he denied it when anyone said it, he knew it was true.

"You are aware that the less time you spend staring off into space, the sooner you'll get to go home, right?"

Hawkeye's voice slashed through the silence like a knife, startling him out of his thoughts. The rest of his team had left for the evening, and he really wished he was one of them at the moment. Part of him knew his First Lieutenant was right. The saddest part was that the only person he could blame for not being done with his work was himself.

There was nothing aside from the rain to distract him. He had a meeting with Ed an hour previously to go over his report from his latest mission, but his youngest subordinate had been in such a good mood that he didn't even react to the Colonel's teasing. He debated whether or not that was a sign of the apocalypse. Without the usual banter between them, their meeting was over within a few minutes. Although, he did spend some time wondering what on earth had the teen in such a good mood. He wasn't exactly sure if he wanted to know. Maybe he was planning something….

Mustang shook his head, snapping out of his reverie. Quickly filling out the remaining documents, he finished his paperwork and grabbed his jacket. He sighed in frustration when he remembered he didn't have an umbrella. He was almost late for work and didn't think to grab it on his way out the door. To be completely fair, he was much more concerned about what Hawkeye would do to him if he had been late than getting a little wet going in and out of Central Command.

He and Hawkeye walked through the halls, which were relatively quiet. Almost everyone had already gone home. The minute the duo stepped outside, they were greeted with loud shouts and laughter coming from the far right side of the courtyard. They were too far away to tell who it was or what they were saying. The two glanced at each other curiously and made their way toward the ruckus. As they got closer, they noticed the familiar red coat and blond hair in the midst of once blue military uniforms.

It didn't look like there was any grass in this area of the courtyard, pure mud taking its place. It wasn't necessarily uncommon for the courtyard to become muddy when it rained, but it never was to this extent. The Colonel had a feeling that a certain young alchemist might be responsible. As he approached even closer, he saw that his entire team was there in the middle of what looked to be a war. They all were flinging mud at each other. Much to his surprise, Falman was even there. Breda, Fuery, and Havoc seemed to have ganged up on him, mud splattered all over their uniforms. While his normally stoic expression remained completely intact, his eyes betrayed him. They were alight with joy.

It wasn't just his team there. He realized this when he had to step aside to avoid some mud hitting him in the face.

"I thought you had better aim than that!" Ed shouted.

"Gracia is going to kill me if I get get mud all over the house!" Maes Hughes yelled back, trying to sound mad but miserably failing.

"That's not my problem!"

"Yes it is! You're the one who started this!"

Ed threw mud at the Lieutenant Colonel and hit him in the glasses. After quickly tucking his glasses away, Hughes chased after the kid through the mud.

"You're going to get it, Ed!"

"Like you can catch me, old man!"

It was strange to see the Fullmetal Alchemist acting like...well...a kid. However, Mustang was certainly not going to complain. Being in the military meant that Ed had responsibilities no one his age should have, and it honestly worried him. He knew the teen rarely ever relaxed or had fun, so it was like a breath of fresh air to see that Ed was capable of doing something other than research or an assignment.

He stared at the kid running away from his best friend and he couldn't help but smile. Ed's golden hair and golden eyes stood out in the dreariness that the clouds and rain were trying to pour over them. Those golden eyes, usually dimmed with the wisdom and experience of men twice Ed's age, were now twinkling in an almost childlike joy. Hughes reached out to grab Ed, but the teen quickly dove to the side, causing Hughes run into Breda. Both men fell face first into the mud.

Of course, Ed laughed at his two comrades' predicament.

Mustang's eyes widened. In all of the years that Ed had been under his command, he had never heard the kid genuinely laugh at anything. It was the happiest sound he had ever heard. He didn't even notice the sound of the rainfall anymore. The young alchemist was happy, and all seemed right in his world. Ed's laughter was so infectious that the Colonel caught himself chuckling.

He shouldn't have.

His team and best friend were so wrapped up in their mud war that they weren't even aware of his and Hawkeye's presence. That changed quickly. Everyone froze and all eyes turned to the two newcomers. Mustang snickered when he saw Hughes and Breda's faces covered in mud. Hughes quickly wiped the mud out of his eyes. The man shared a glance with Ed, evil smirks taking over their faces.

"I wouldn't be laughing if I were you, Roy," Hughes said, "You're next."

Realization hit the Colonel like a tidal wave. He shook his head in denial as he took a few steps back. He noticed that the corners of Hawkeye's mouth were pulled up into a grin. His subordinates began approaching him in a predatory manner.

"No! No way! You're not going to...damn it!"

Mustang's voice ended in a complete octave higher than it had started as he had to make a break for it. He knew he was faster than most of his men, so he did have a slight chance of escaping. He sprinted toward the main gate of Central Command, hoping he could make it out before his team could catch up to him. He had no such luck. Hughes and Ed were right on his heels. Ed grabbed his arm and yanked him backward, causing him to stumble into Hughes.

"Let me go, Maes!" Mustang demanded as his best friend pulled him into a tight and muddy embrace.

At this point, the rest of the team had caught up to them. Hughes did release the Colonel from the hug, but grabbed him under his arms. Ed and Havoc each grabbed one of Mustang's legs. The rest of his team cheered as the three carried him back toward the muddy battlefield they had created. He struggled, but it was quite useless.

"Put me down! This is assaulting a superior officer! I could have all of you court-martialed!" Mustang yelled, trying to sound like he had even an ounce of authority in him.

"Yeah right, Boss," Havoc laughed. "That would be too much paperwork for you."

Mustang groaned, knowing that Havoc was right. Hawkeye watched the scene before her with a smile on her face.

"Maybe this will teach you not to procrastinate your work, Colonel!" she shouted over the sound of the rain when the group was back in the mud.

Mustang whipped his head toward her with a playful glare in his eyes.

"I bet you're real happy!" he yelled back, causing the First Lieutenant to chuckle.

Hughes, Havoc, and Ed dropped the Colonel unceremoniously and the others joined them in slathering him in mud. Not a square inch of blue was visible on Mustang's uniform when they were done with him. They stepped back to admire their work, amused when the Colonel nearly slipped as he tried to get back on his feet. He was about to start yelling at them when someone flung mud right in his face. Running a hand down his face to clear it, he looked around to figure out who did it. The smirk on Ed's face and the evil glint in his eyes were all he needed to see.

Unfortunately for the teen, he was standing too close to the Colonel. The smirk disappeared when Mustang quickly got him in a headlock and wrestled him back down in the mud. Both alchemists grappled for the upper hand and neither one of them seemed to be winning. Everyone but Hughes and Hawkeye took this as their cue to leave lest Mustang decide to retaliate on them as well. They would wait to face the Colonel's wrath until the next morning.

The two didn't even notice the others sneaking away. They were too absorbed in their own wrestling match. Mustang probably wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he was actually having fun with his youngest subordinate. He was never mad at the kid. He didn't think he ever could be, but that didn't mean he wanted Ed to think he could get away with a stunt like flinging mud in his face. Vengeance would be his.

Ed managed to get Mustang on his back and almost had him pinned down when the Colonel flipped him over. They both wound up lying on the ground side-by-side. After they caught their breath, Ed started laughing, and Mustang found himself laughing too. He couldn't help it. Both of them knew that they weren't seriously fighting, but it made Mustang happy to know that it seemed like Ed had enjoyed himself just as much as he did.

"Truce?" the kid asked.

"Truce," Mustang agreed.

The Colonel got up and looked down on his subordinate. Hughes and Hawkeye joined him, and they grinned at what they saw. Despite the mud almost covering Ed completely, bits of his golden hair and his golden eyes were still visible. The smile on Ed's face was so bright that it seemed to light up the entire courtyard. The clouds might have been hiding the sun, but Ed's happiness provided the sunshine that lifted their spirits. Mustang wished he could see Ed this happy more often. It brought him more joy than the young alchemist would ever know.

The Colonel extended his arm out to Ed to help him up. Much to his surprise, Ed took it. He started to slip when he got to his feet, but Mustang held the kid against him to stop him from falling. Ed didn't protest this despite the fact that they were practically hugging.

"Are you okay?" the Colonel chuckled.

"Yeah," Ed said, the smile never leaving his face.

The rain was starting to come down harder, but Mustang didn't really seem to mind. He let Ed go as soon as he was sure he wouldn't slip again.

"As much fun as this has been," Hughes said as he held his glasses out in the rain in an attempt to clean them, "I should probably get going. I'm sure Gracia and my darling Elysia are wondering why I'm running late."

As the Lieutenant Colonel was leaving, Ed spoke up.

"I should probably leave too. I need to get back to the dorms. Al found some good books at the library that he wants to look through with me."

"Do you need a ride?" Mustang found himself asking automatically.

Ed shook his head.

"I would prefer to walk, honestly. I love the rain, but thank you for the offer, Colonel."

Ed turned and walked away. Mustang watched him until he was out of sight. While he would have preferred that his subordinate didn't walk in the rain, he knew better than to argue with the stubborn teen. His eyes widened when he realized that Ed had told him something even remotely personal. He never knew the young alchemist loved the rain. That explained why he was in a good mood earlier. He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Hawkeye laughing.

"You look absolutely ridiculous!"

The Colonel looked down at his uniform, temporarily forgetting that he was covered head-to-toe in mud. He rolled his eyes.

"I guess this is what happens when the men on my team act like a bunch of children. Remind me to never have kids," he joked as they started to walk toward the gate.

He saw Hawkeye smirk out of the corner of his eye.

"Considering you already have two wonderful boys, I would say it's a little late for that, sir."

Mustang was tempted to deny it, but didn't. There was no point. He actually smiled when Ed and Al came to mind. As usual, his First Lieutenant was right.

I hope you guys enjoyed this one-shot! I've been working on two of my other fanfics and they're getting a bit dark, so I took a break to write something that made me very happy! I had so much fun writing this little fic and I hope you had fun reading it! Anyways, I should be updating my other fics fairly soon!

Until then,

alightintheshadows