He tapped the razor against the sink and paused. After a deep breath, he tossed it into the basin and cupped his hands under the faucet. He rinsed his face and turned the handle, sounding a light squeak. The water ran slow and stopped.

Drip, drip…

Hunched over, Colonel Mustang looked into the mirror and saw a weary-eyed man looking back at him. His hair was coiffed and smoothed back. Even smelling of cologne, his outfit was ironed to perfection from his crisp shirt cuff to the hem of his pant leg. He was scrubbed and polished like a brass medal.

An uneasy smile broke the numbness in the Colonel's expression. There was a day somehow similar in his memory to this one. When he was 'all gussied up' for a special occasion.

Slapping his hands away with an irate growl, he barked: "Will you cut that out?! It's straight enough!"

"Come on, Roy, it's the least you can do on a day as special as this one," Maes Hughes plunged to adjust his best friend's neck tie, only to succeed in getting swatted again. He wasn't offended; in fact, it only egged the man on to croon louder. "What other day am I going to marry the most beautiful woman in the whole world?!"

Mustang righted his tie the way he felt fit and flattened the uncomfortable vest he was wearing under his suit jacket. "A man should only endure this much torture on his own wedding day…"

"There she is! The most wonderful fiancée in the whole, wide world!" Hughes whipped out a snapshot from his pocket. Slinging an arm around Mustang's shoulder, Maes shoved the picture of a pretty girl with short, russet blond hair into his nose, making the Colonel go cross-eyed.

"We're about to see her in a minute; you think you could put the photos away?" Mustang grumbled, tucking his shirt into his pants and leaning away to escape the chokehold.

Once again, his bitterness was ignored. Hughes held the photo in both hands going gaga over it. "My lovely Gracia! Soon we'll be husband and wife! I can hardly believe the day's finally here~!"

Unlike the oblivious, blushing Hughes who was now spinning in blissful circles, Mustang found his friend difficult to tune out despite years of practice. He looked around the room they were in, now fuzzy in his mind's eye, but clearly the back room of a church. There was a vase overflowing with white lilies before them, blocking out half of the mirror Hughes was currently nit-picking his appearance in.

"She doesn't deserve anything less than perfection," Hughes was saying, adjusting the glasses on his nose and firmly pulling his collar. He gave Mustang a sideways glance with a more serious tone of voice. "Seriously, Roy, I hope you feel this excited someday."

"Perhaps for my inauguration as the Führer," Mustang smirked at their smart reflections in the mirror. This slightly treasonous talk was dead serious despite the jovial way it was said.

Hughes gave his friend a rough pat on the back, jostling him somewhat. "And I'll be sure to wear an uncomfortable suit in support."

There was soft piano music starting just outside the closed door. The whole building seemed to have come to a hush. The jabbering voices of the crowd died out as the service began to the first, sweet notes of a springing melody.

"They don't have groomsmen at those ceremonies," Roy scoffed, attempting to swivel his friend out the door to get the whole thing over with. "Now look alive. You've got to be there waiting for her by the time the next song's over."

"Already?!" Maes began panicking, rushing through his pockets. "Where are my vows? What if I forget to tell her the part about how she's the arrow to my heart?!"

Roy rolled his eyes, continuing to push his friend towards the exit. "I'm sure you'll blow enough steam anyways."

"Aha!" Hughes had missed the insult at the victory of finding his vows in his inner coat pocket. Mustang paled at the massive document that seemed to be pages long. He held it close to his chest for safe-keeping and put on a brave face. "Alright! I can do this!"

"You can do this," Mustang echoed from behind.

"I'm going in there!" Hughes pumped his fist.

"Right you are," the affirmation came again.

"I'm getting married!" He cheered at the top of his voice.

The chandelier above them shook, its crystals chiming in the muffled silence. Roy winced, knowing the entire procession just heard that outburst. But if any of them knew Hughes, he supposed a little chaos was to be expected.

Maes turned around to face his best man, his face softening into disbelief. He outstretched his arms. "I'm getting married…"

"I'm proud of you," Mustang said with all sincerity. He smiled and gave his old friend a hug.

Hughes stood back with his hands on both of the Colonel's shoulders. He took a deep breath and sighed. "Roy Mustang, it's good to have you here."

"You're feeling awfully sentimental, Maes Hughes," Mustang mimicked his friend's formality.

"It's my wedding day!" Hughes said once again out of many countless times since that morning. He was beaming.

"And I couldn't be happier to be here for the both of you," Roy said, hands in his pockets. He almost regretted it as it had caused happy tears to well up in his friend's eyes.

"This is just the start," Maes nodded, holding the doorknob and looking back at his friend. "I'll have to be best man at your wedding, after all."

"When I settle down? That'll be the day," Roy chuckled and straightened up as loud chords echoed from the sanctuary.

"And it's a day I'm already looking forward to!" Hughes promised with a thumbs up. He took a long look at Mustang that made the latter feel almost uncomfortable under the scrutiny. Maes bounded back, twisted Roy's tie once, and hurried to the door. "It's show time!"

The Colonel left the bathroom as if he was walking through time, back through the church door and up the aisle. He stared down at the sunlit floor of the present. There was an eerie closeness in the air that felt stifling even though there was a nice breeze coming in the window. A seed of resentment welled up deep in his heart. He felt at his neck where a tie's knot could have been.

It's show time…

Slinging his coat over his arm, Roy took up his military-issued hat to complete his uniform and slowly stepped out the door.

A/N: Hello and thanks for reading! Don't really have much to say except I've never been to the FMA fanfiction base before, but this muse came out of nowhere, and I followed it. This is just how I imagined it could have been like when Hughes was married. And also how it could be potentially haunting when he's gone. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to crawl back to my poor, neglected stories desperately in need of updates. Thanks again!