Day 5 Theme- Wait for me

Hughes Lives! AU bc im in denial

A long time ago, Trisha Elric had told her sons that, "Good will come to those who wait,". It was a common phrase, and she had meant this to mean more on the lines of "wait your turn" and "don't skip in line" and that sort of thing.

Ed mused on his mother's advice. He noted wryly that waiting hadn't done her much good at all- it probably did her a whole world of bad, in fact. He never understood why she waited so dutifully. Never, that is, until now. As he looked upon his garden that Friday evening, the alchemist realized that he, unexpectedly, took after his mother in this way.

Ed awoke on Saturday two hours after he fell asleep; his alarm for 6:00 had yet to ring. Even in his sleep Ed had been restless, as the blankets were twisted at the bottom of the bed, and his pillow lay a few feet from his dresser across the room. In an attempt to calm his nerves, Ed took a long shower and, unable to find a second towel, called Winry with his hair dripping all over the office rug.

As he waited for his sister-in-law to answer, Ed looked out upon the back yard in the office window, dewy and colorful in the early spring sunrise. Maybe he'd pick a few of the flowers to spruce up the house a little bit- was that too cheesy?

Winry's tired voice greeted him at last, "Hello?"

"Heya Win." Ed replied, followed by what he guessed to be a sigh.

"Edward, the sun is barely up! What could you possibly need from me? If it's an emergency I'm sure there are people who live closer to you to call."

He chuckled a little guiltily, "Sorry Win, 'M just trying to kill some time until 10:00. I'm too jittery to get anything productive done."

Winry gasped, "Oh, is today the day?"

Ed nodded, knowing she couldn't see, "It's the day."

The past two years had been a long string of going to work at the lab or in the office with Team Mustang, reading the paper, and anxiously awaiting the rare phone call from Al or Roy. To both of their credit, they called whenever possible, but Al was very busy with his teaching job and helping Winry with their young daughter, and Roy…

Roy was never around phones much, Ed guessed.

The blonde currently slouched in his office chair, doodling on a spare sheet of paper in lieu of alphabetizing the sources for his latest compilation of research. Riza looked at him reproachfully from her own desk across the room until he sighed and got back to work, balling up the spare paper and throwing it into the bin. Even then, it took him a minute to focus enough to actually comprehend the words he was trying to sort.

'Abrams, Addison, Anderson, Amaryllis… wait no, m before n… shit this is dull, I need to get out of here.' He pushed himself up and muttered about an early lunch break before he strode out of the large room. He looked disdainfully at the coffee machine, before deciding a quick stop by a café would do him better than the bitter crap in the office.

He hadn't been sleeping well, even worse than he usually tended to, and it was only partially because of the workload regarding his research.

Outside, the air smelt of rain, and Ed regretted not taking an umbrella or something with him when he left (Riza would give him an earful if he came back dripping all over the freshly polished floors). The old coffee shop stood in a quaint corner, rather out of place in the midst of military office buildings, yet wholly welcomed by the lot. Ed knew the barista, Louise, well, and when he walked in she smiled, "Morning, Major! Usual?"

"Please." Ed sighed, giving her a wad of cash, insisting she keep the change because he was too lazy to try and count it out, and sitting at a small two-person table towards the back of the building. He hadn't brought any work with him, so while he waited, the alchemist kind of dazed out, just letting the ambiance of the little shop clam his nerves a bit.

A familiar female voice interrupted his tranquil state, "Edward?" He looked up in surprise, coming face-to-face with Rose's friendly smile. He moved to stand and greet the young woman, but she motioned for him to remain seated, and took the chair across from him.

"Rose, what brings you to Central?" Ed asked curiously.

"Winry asked me to come drop off some parts with clients she has over here. And to check up on you, of course." The Leorian responded, "Speaking of which, Edward, you look absolutely tragic!"

Ed was about to retort, but Louise came to the table with his usual coffee and sandwich. He thanked her, and took a large bite of his food before continuing where he was interrupted, "I do not look tragic, Rose, you're being dramatic."

"Did you sleep at all last night?"

"Uhh…"

Ed knew Rose wasn't nagging just to be annoying, as the evident worry in her eyes was practically palpable. He only assumed everyone else back in Resembool would have the same expression if they saw him like this. This thought sent an arrow of guilt into his stomach, but he suppressed it quickly, changing the topic of their conversation, "Well, they say the war's dying down a bit in the east. Some Ishvallan insurgent groups and all of the Southeastern front are still neck-in-neck, but that's a good sign, right?"

Rose gave him a very unimpressed look, knowing full well what he was doing. She took to bait, however, to appease him, "Yeah, I heard the Fürher's been trying to start peace negotiations, futile as it may seem. Have they begun sending soldiers home yet?"

Ed nodded with a small frown, "Hawkeye said they're releasing some who have families and stuff to tend to at home: pregnant wives, senile grandparents, and the like. Just means the non-priority soldiers'll have to stay out longer."

Rose frowned as well, "Not necessarily. If there's less conflict, then they don't need as much workforce out there, you know?"

"I guess." He sighed.

Rose rolled her eyes, "I know what this is about, Edward. He'll be back soon."

"What, did he tell you? 'Cuz the certainly didn't tell me."

Rose looked cross, "He's fighting! Not getting any response is better than a letter saying he's dead! Do you really think digging a pity hole is going to help the situation?"

Ed looked at her angrily, then his expression dropped as he saw then emotion on her own face. He remembered the Rose of eight years previous, broken in the midst of a war, yet not fallen prey to self-pity. Sure, she had been manipulated by Dante, but everything she did was for a good greater than herself. Settling in Resembool, even, was for her son to be happy, and she took her present with such grace it was ridiculous.

Ed looked to his plate and quietly admitted, "It's just… stressful, not knowing. God, I wish I knew how he's doing, Rose."

She smiled, "I know, it's the worst. But you know what?"

"What?" Ed asked around another bite of this lunch.

"When you do find out, it'll be worth the wait." She stood up, "I've got to deliver these parts, but I'll swing by your place tonight. We can make some dinner or something, okay?"

Ed smiled at her, "That sounds great. I'll see ya then."

"See ya!" She turned out the door. Ed sat at the table, alone again. Now, however, the thought of returning to his list of names wasn't so daunting, especially with the promise of Rose's divine cooking in his future. He took his time finishing the sandwich, and took his to-go cup of coffee back to the office with him.

Riza was the first to acknowledge Ed as he walked in, placing his cup on his desk and making as if to sit down. She held a little orange envelope out to Ed from her desk, and Ed quickly took the telegram. Seeign Riza's small smile, he had an inkling who it could be from.

"Excuse me." He muttered, taking the envelope into the long-closed room to his right, Roy's private office. He pushed down the sadness at the empty desk and lack of paper heaps set out to be avoided, sitting hard on one of the large office chairs, hands shaking a bit as he opened up the folded paper. A smaller slip of paper came out, and Ed read the words greedily.

'Coming home Oct 16, 10:00. Central West Station.

I have a surprise. Love you more than I can say.

-Roy'

After Winry hung up, stating that Trisha had awoken and needed 'Mama time', Ed was at a loss for what to do. He trudged back to the bedroom and changed into his day clothes (no point in pretending he may go back to nap). He threw his old clothes into the laundry basket and decided, on a whim, to change out the bedsheets and throw the old ones in with his dirty clothes. That started, Ed began obsessively cleaning the house- once the laundry was piled up, a table looked dusty, then the oven needed a wipe down, and he had to cook his own breakfast so there would be dishes, and so on, until before he knew it, the clock struck 7:00 and the phone rang.

Ed threw down the dish rag, seemingly broken from his mindless work trance, and retreated back to the office to answer it. This time, Gracia's voice greeted him.

"Edward? How're you doing?"

Ed sighed, but it came out as more of an exasperated laugh, "Just barely keeping it together, I guess! Trying to find something to do until I can go down to the station."

Gracia laughed as well, sounding just as tired as he felt, "I understand the feeling. Elicia and I've been up for hours!"

"Have you talked to Maes?" He hoped he didn't sound too desperate, but that hope was fairly fleeting.

"Not for about two weeks, but I haven't heard from anyone else about him so that's a plus, yeah?"

Ed didn't want to tell Gracia that to him it absolutely wasn't a plus, so he just hummed in agreement, "Roy hasn't called or anything since the telegram. I guess we'll see what that means today."

"have you thought about what that surprise could be?"

"Yeah, probably too much." Ed laughed a bit, "It's making me even more anxious, somehow."

Gracia laughed lightly, "Hey, so I called to ask if you wanted me to bring some lunch to the station for you. I'm already bringing some for Elicia so it's not a big deal."

"No thanks, I can't eat right now." Ed politely refused. Gracia seemed to understand, for she didn't push the matter.

They talked lightly until Gracia hung up (something about an oven or something like that). The blonde stood in the study, anxious and with nothing to do for the next three hours.

Ed watched the tracks obsessively. He knew he'd definitely know when the train came to view, but he'd grown so anxious and excited he couldn't do much more than sit and stare. Gracia sat beside him, reading the paper with Elicia working through a novel beside her. She seemed very composed and must make Ed look like an absolute wreck in comparison. Her day dress looked very clean and neat, whereas Ed had barely the patience to bother fully buttoning his own shirt.

Elicia noticed the train first, dropping her book and standing quickly, "Mom, Ed, I heard a whistle!" The eleven-year-old bounced excitedly as the train slowly screeched into the station. Ed felt his nerves burn deep in his abdomen, and he almost felt sick as he stood with the woman and girl, watching the train cars take far too long to slow down. Inside the train, every window was filled with blue-capped soldiers, their faces practically pressed to the glass, much like small children, in search of their loved ones. Several groups in front of Ed jumped and waved, their husbands or wives or whatever identified out of the many faces in the vehicle.

Finally, the train stopped, and the soldiers were let off one-by-one, each saluting their superiors at the doors before they were set free to find their families. Ed anxiously stood about the growing crowd of soldiers.

Hughes was the first out of the two, happily saluting his superior and running straight to Gracia, having seen her already from inside the train. HE managed to lift and spin both Gracia and Elicia at one time, an all-around bubble of joy. Seeing Ed, he shot the blonde a broad, knowing smile. After three more men, Ed finally, finally, spotted Roy. He boarded off the train, saluted, and scanned the crowd hopefully.

His eyes found Ed the moment the blonde's feet began to move and was thusly prepared for Ed's weight as he ran full-force into Roy's arms. They didn't talk for a short time, too busy trying to get each other as close as possible, as if to make up for the lost time. Then, Ed leaned back to look over the other, checking for injury.

Roy laughed, and it sounded pretty close to perfect, "I'm not hurt, Ed."

Ed laughed too, finding his emotions burst out with his smile, "I had to make sure, you haven't really contacted me aside from a single telegram in-"

He fell quiet, as suddenly Roy's mouth was in the way and he was too busy kissing him back to continue his protest. "I'm sorry," he murmured as they parted.

Ed sighed for dramatic effect, "I think I can excuse it this one time. Besides, I believe there was a surprise I was promised?"

Roy's smile brightened, if that was possible, and he quickly looked to the superior officer at the door and back to Ed, "Of course! They should be off of the train soon; had to have a double check."

"They?" Ed repeated, confused. Roy just smiled and took Ed's hand, leading them to the door of the train. Looking back, Ed could spot Maes with a devilishly gleeful look, Elicia jumping around excitedly, and Gracia looking at he and Roy with a hand over her mouth. "Roy, what's going on?" Ed asked.

They reached the doors as the superior officer helped out the last of the ensemble, two very shaken looking Ishvallan children, a boy and a girl. If Ed had to chance a guess, he'd peg them at around two or three years old. They looked around, helplessly confused, and Ed realized with a sinking feeling in his gut that their parents weren't with them. They didn't have anyone to meet at this station. Except…

They noticed Roy, and walked quickly in a beeline to him. As they reached the couple, the children seemed to realize that Roy had a companion and slowed shyly. The older man chuckled and squatted down to be eye-level with the two, "Molly, Gregory, this is Ed. He's my husband." He looked up at Ed, motioning for Ed to join him on the ground. He did, and the children seemed to look at him curiously. Roy continued, "Ed, this is Molly, and this is Gregory. Their parents asked me to… to take good care of them." The blonde's heart stung at the visible pain in Roy's eye from a memory he was sure to learn of later.

He also saw a bit of uncertainty in his husband's face. He realized that he's been awfully non-responsive to the two so far, and Roy was essentially bringing kids into the complicated equation of their relationship. Smiling, Ed squeezed Roy's hand affirmatively.

"Molly and Greg? Well, this is a surprise!" Roy's grin lost it's callous edge, seeing Ed's positivity, and he pulled the both of them up to their original standing position.

Ed turned to the little kids, "We'll make sure to take great care of you. I'm not very good at doing things halfway."

Molly nodded and replied, "kay,".

"You alk-mee too?" Gregory asked, hiding a bit behind his sister.

"A-alchemy? Yeah, I'm an alchemist."

Roy muttered, "Greg's blown away by alchemy. Thinks it's the coolest thing he's ever seen."

Ed grinned broadly, "Well, that's good! Cuz you're gonna be around a lot of alchemy, right?"

The little boy's eye sparkled, "Ya!"

Roy proffered the hand not already taken by Ed, which Molly took gladly. Greg was hand-in-hand with Molly as Roy led the little pack towards the Hughes's, Gracia looking like she might cry, and Elicia already running to give her Uncle Roy a big welcome hug.

Ed looked back at the two kids- technically his two kids. 'Oh, fuck I've got kids!' he thought, finding himself increasingly excited about the prospect. Plus, if these kids already thought alchemy was awesome, what could possibly go wrong?