A Home for a Boy Named Ed

These are the misadventures of Roy Mustang and his little son, Ed. A series of one-shots that take place before the events of A Boy Named Ed. Not written in chronological order.

A.N. Under the assumption that Amestris celebrates on a different day than we do (because otherwise this wouldn't fit in ABNE canon) the final scene in this one takes place after Ed gets his memories back but before he leaves on his summer trip to find Al.

Disclaimer: Ed, Al, and all their friends are the property of Hiromu Arakawa. I do not own them, but am grateful for the opportunity to use them in the unleashing of my own imagination.

Rating: This story is rated K+

Father Time

Age: 3

Roy didn't expect it.

The holiday's existence honestly hadn't crossed his mind in… well, ever, beyond Hughes' gushing over the gift Elicia made for him – probably not as much "all by herself" as Hughes had claimed considering the gift had involved copious amounts of plaster and paint. Nevertheless, that heart with a two-year-olds handprint had hung in Hughes office until they cleared it out after his death. Now it rested on the Hughes' mantle next to a framed photograph of Hughes and his little girl.

Beyond that, Roy thought very little of the day. It wasn't a paid work holiday. There weren't any festivals in town requiring extra security details. There wasn't even some mandatory office party with ample amounts of food and spiked punch for those who were going off duty.

No. It was just another day on his calendar with a note at the bottom indicating that a significant percentage of Amestris' adult male population would likely be receiving cheesy gifts and sappy greeting cards which would more than likely end up in the trash before the week was out.

Roy could barely remember his own father. He'd never had a reason to celebrate for someone else's sake. So he certainly didn't expect to have the day celebrated for his sake.

Which is why he was so surprised when he and Riza were greeted at Gracia's house by a large banner reading,

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, DADDY!

in bold block letters, each carefully colored within the lines by a different colored crayon.

There was also a cake – clearly decorated by children if the deluge of sprinkles was any indication – resting on the coffee table, and a random number of balloons taped in various locations about the room – all about waist level or below.

But Roy had less than a second to take all of this in before an Ed-shaped cannonball hit him squarely in the chest and latched on – his grip surprisingly strong considering that two of his limbs were prosthetic.

And if a red, plaster heart with a three-year-olds handprint was seen hanging in the General's office the next day, well… woe to the man who tried to mock him for going soft. As far as he was concerned, it was the best Father's Day gift ever.

Age: 7

Roy was starting to expect it.

The whole "surprise" aspect of the surprise party kind of fell away after the second time and, despite Roy's best effort to act surprised, Ed caught on. The boy was just too smart. So it was apparently time for something new.

This year, Father's Day fell on a weekend. Roy slept in – as he usually did on Saturdays – expecting Ed to do the same. Riza was always up at the same time everyday – regardless of the weekend. She'd probably be making breakfast. He could already smell it cooking. Mmm… bacon and eggs and toast and…

Creak!

Roy opened one eye to peer at the door that was opening, ever so slowly on the other side of the room. He couldn't see who was opening it from the angle he was at, but he wasn't left wondering for long. The clacking of Ed's new trial prosthetic leg – the one he said he definitely didn't like because it was too noisy (they'd be going in to try a different one on Monday) – alerted Roy to the boy's presence.

He didn't move. Maybe if he pretended to be asleep, Ed would let him laze about a little longer. Five more minutes at least. It was almost time to get up but he'd rather do it on his own schedule. If the kid really needed something, his mother was already up and about. Ed knew that. So why was he bothering Roy on a Saturday morning? And why was the smell of breakfast so much stronger now?

There was a slight thunk on the bedside table, followed by a startled gasp, and Roy opened his eyes completely to catch his son in the act of steadying a glass of orange juice on the breakfast tray. And yes, that was bacon he'd been smelling.

Ed turned to look at him, grinned sheepishly, and then turned around and left the room, only to return a few moments later with another tray which he set on the other side table before scrambling up the side of the bed to sit beside his father.

"I know you're awake." Roy could hear the smile in his boy's voice as he poked him in the shoulder.

Roy groaned and rolled over to face his son. "You couldn't have let me sleep a little longer?"

"Mom says you sleep too much."

"Ah, but today is a special day just for me, remember? I get to do whatever I want."

"Nope!"

Roy blinked. "Nope?"

"Nope!" Ed repeated, grinning. "Today, you're gonna do whatever I say. And first, we're gonna eat breakfast."

"Is that so…?" Roy asked slowly. But he sat himself up and accepted his breakfast tray without anymore fuss. He was skeptical and slightly worried, but he trusted his boy not to have anything too painful in mind. He'd play along… for now.

And… for the rest of the day as it would turn out.

Roy followed Ed around the city to all of their favorite spots: the monkey pavilion at the zoo, the pond in the park where Ed used to feed/chase the ducks when he was younger, the hot sausage stand near headquarters which had the best toppings, and finally the alchemy shop where they sold the best supplies. Then it was back to the house for hours of father-son alchemy time.

And when Ed finally passed out with his head on his father's lap and an alchemy book on his face, Roy decided that a day spent with his boy was the best Father's Day gift ever.

Age: 10

Roy expected something.

But lately, something was a bit smaller and less thought out than it had been in years past. Time was passing far too quickly. Ed was growing older and ten year old boys don't often put a lot of time and thought into such things as Father's Day.

Roy wasn't upset. Not really. It wasn't as though he needed a specific day to know that Ed loved him. That was evident everyday – in perhaps more subtle ways than it had been before, but evident nonetheless.

And Ed had given him a big hug that morning and wished him a Happy Father's Day.

So Roy put aside his nostalgic thoughts for days gone by and got to work.

The letter, on top of his stack of paper work, gave him pause. It had been typed out on a type-writer and there was no byline, so he couldn't tell right away who it was from. It was also written in code – a simple one but it still took Roy several minutes to decipher and when he did…

LOOK UP

…was all it said.

Roy looked up.

It took him a moment to notice. White chalk doesn't stand out very much against white ceiling paint. And he couldn't for the life of him figure out when and how the kid had managed to get it up there – because it was so obviously one of Ed's; Roy knew his son's circles well after all this time.

But he had a pretty good idea of what it would do when activated.

Roy laughed and climbed up on top of his desk. The ceiling was high enough that he had to reach far above his head to touch it.

"How on earth did the Shrimp pull this one off?" He smirked and then placed his fingertips on the edge of the array and activated the transmutation.

When Riza came in five minutes later with another stack of paperwork, she just rolled her eyes at the sight of her husband sitting smugly underneath a large flashing arrow that read:

BEST DAD EVER!

"I trust you'll have the ceiling fixed by tomorrow, sir."

Roy laughed thinking this might be the best Father's Day gift ever.

Age: 12

Roy didn't know what to expect.

Things were so different now.

Ed was not only twelve years old – practically a teenager and thus unlikely to do much at all to acknowledge a sappy greeting card holiday – but he also knew everything now, everything about the past, about who he was, about who they had all been…

Ed Mustang loved his dad. But Fullmetal?

Roy was pretty sure they'd worked out this whole both/and situation but that didn't mean he could always be sure what Ed would do or how he would react to well… anything. And he really couldn't imagine Fullmetal going out of his way to celebrate a day that was all about dads. His first father had been… well Fullmetal had made his feelings towards that man perfectly clear in various, loud, discussions so many years ago.

But Roy was his dad now and Ed had made it a point to celebrate in some way every year. So surely he would do the same this year… or would he? Roy couldn't really assume.

Ed hadn't said anything that morning. Maybe he'd forgotten the day completely. Considering everything he was going through lately, it wouldn't be surprising. Roy couldn't hold it against him. He wouldn't.

No. There probably wouldn't be anything this year. Roy was resigned to it. It wasn't that big of a deal anyway. Just another day on his calendar with a note at the bottom indicating that a significant percentage of Amestris' adult male population would likely be receiving cheesy gifts and sappy greeting cards which would more than likely end up in the trash before the week was out.

Roy looked up at the red, plaster heart with a three-year-olds handprint that was still hanging on his wall after all these years. The paint had faded and the plaster was cracked in some places. Time had changed the gift just as time had changed the father and the son. Things weren't the same as they had been and those precious early days were long gone. Everything kept moving forward no matter how much Roy wanted it to stop or go back at times.

His office door opened and Roy looked up, startled to see Ed standing there. Was school out already? Sure enough, it was almost four. But Ed should have gone home after school today. There was no reason for him to come to headquarters and no reason for him to have that nervous, hesitant look on his face unless…

Roy sighed, slightly dreading whatever half-memory had emerged from Ed's subconscious mind this time. They'd had some rough times working through everything. Just yesterday, Ed had remembered another detail about the Tucker case that Roy would much rather have remained forgotten. His poor son needed a break.

"What is it, Ed? What's wrong?" He steeled his nerves. Whatever it was this time, they'd face it together. They'd get through, like they always did.

Ed didn't respond right away. He shut the door behind him. He shuffled his feet and scuffed the toe of his shoe against the carpet. He slid his backpack off of his shoulder and let it drop to the floor by the door. He sighed and gulped and chewed on his lip.

Roy was getting worried. How bad could it be? "Ed…"

"I've been thinking about it all day." Ed finally spoke up, though his eyes remained fixed on the carpet. "I wanted… to do something special – something I'd never done before. But I couldn't – I couldn't think of anything. Nothing… seemed to be right, to be enough."

He trailed off for a moment and Roy frowned, wondering what on earth the boy was talking about. He opened his mouth to ask but Ed spoke up again before he could.

"Then it dawned on me." Ed's gaze didn't move from the floor by his feet but Roy, watching closely, caught the slight flicker of a smile on his son's lips. "There is one thing I've never done before… ever. And it's something I should have done because… because you deserve it. I was just too much of a stubborn brat back then to realize and, well…"

Ed shook his head and apparently decided to stop talking. Instead, he reached down and unzipped his backpack, pulling out a very familiar red coat. Roy bit back his instinctive response to tell the boy to put it away. It wasn't safe for him to wear that here. But whatever Ed was doing, he apparently needed to coat to accomplish it. So Roy let it go and waited to see what would happen.

The coat was still too big for Ed, the sleeves too long and the hem hanging just a bit too far down by his ankles. It looked kind of funny over top Ed's blue school uniform vest instead of the old familiar black.

There was a moment when Ed seemed to hesitate, toying with the fabric in uncertainty and still gnawing on his lower lip. But then his fiery gaze hardened in determination and he nodded once before standing up straight and tall. His eyes met Roy's. His heels clicked together. And his automail hand rose to his temple in a textbook perfect salute.

Roy blinked. He received so many salutes on a daily basis. It was such a simple, common thing in the military. But to receive one now – from Fullmetal – that simple sign of respect which the boy, in his past life, had never deemed Roy worthy enough to receive – to receive it now. It meant so much more than Roy had ever realized it would. His heart swelled with pride for the boy he could now call his own and to see how much the boy had grown and to know that he'd had a part in this. Roy would never admit just how choked up he'd become in that single moment.

And then his son went and ruined the textbook perfection with a childish grin – the one a son reserves just for his dad.

"Happy Father's Day, Colonel."

Roy laughed.

It was the best Father's Day gift ever.