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That day changed everything and nothing. Nothing, in that the Promised Day still came, uncaring of any relationship that had been made, any grain of care between brothers or fathers or sons. Nothing, in that Ed still traded his alchemy for his brother, in that Roy still lost his sight.

Everything, because those stolen moments here and there - a pat on the shoulder when Ed's guilt sharpened, a listening ear when Ed mumbled out fragments of sentences and curses about his father, a silence when Ed said something too personal and couldn't bear to be heard - all that mattered. It mattered a lot to a boy who had never had a father and a man who had never had a son.

Yet Ed still left after the Promised Day, took Al as soon as he could walk and went straight back to Resembool. And Roy still continued on at Central, healing and working towards a better world.

It was in Central that Roy now sat, eyes lifting from his stacks of paperwork to the window outside. His new office as general afforded him a window with a view over a good portion of Eastern Command and, subsequently, East City. The sun shone down just bright enough to be cheery without searing Roy's eyes, and the sky spread over the city bright blue and cloudless. Roy absently rapped his pen against the stack of papers on his desk. He'd had to deal with more cursed paperwork than ever since being promoted, but Roy knew in the end it'd be worth it. All this took him one step closer to becoming Fuhrer.

A knock came on the door: three raps, a loud and quick but measured. Roy furrowed his brow, trying to ascertain who the knocker could be. He didn't have any meetings scheduled, and Riza didn't knock like that.

"Come in."

The doorknob turned and pushed forward. An all-too familiar figure walked in. "Hey Roy, or should I say, General?"

"Ed!" Roy stood, astonished. "I wasn't expecting to see you."

It wasn't a lie. Ed had returned to Resembool with Al mere days after the Promised Day, both of them eager to see Winry and Pinako as soon as possible. Roy had still been blind then, something he could tell deeply bothered Ed, although he'd said nothing except to encourage Roy to keep moving forward for Ishval.

"Yeah, well..." Ed shrugged, the movement not stiff like it had once been with a shoulder full of automail. "Thought I'd drop by."

Roy took a long moment to look over Ed, aware the boy was doing the same of him.

It had been two years since Roy had last seen Ed in person, two years since the Promised Day. Surprisingly, they hadn't fallen out of contact. Roy would be the first to say that he was terrible at keeping long-distance contact, and Ed was no different, but they'd made it work. Ed would periodically call him, his voice tentative at first then growing bolder, confident. Roy would send letters, rolling his eyes when Ed's response was nothing short of mocking - letters are old peoples' communication, Roy, how old are you?

For the first few months, Roy had fully expected every call, every letter, to be their last. Ed was sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, not part of the military anymore, not even capable of alchemy. Roy and Ed had already been so very different before the Promised Day. Roy had wondered if there were any similarities left. There had been days when Roy waited for a call that didn't come; days when Roy hesitated and decided he'd respond to Ed's letter later, and then later turned into never, until the next letter came.

If they had been any less close before the Promised Day, Roy was now certain, it would never have worked. But somehow it had. Roy had just spoken to Ed a few weeks before, had laughingly responded to an irreverent drawing Ed had sent him titled "Flame Bastard" which featured Roy on fire in a miniskirt. He'd gone to respond with a tried-and-true short joke, only to find that Ed no longer seemed to care much about them. Sure, he'd scoffed and muttered a few choice words at Roy, but the legendary explosions of yore were gone. That more than anything told Roy just how much Ed had changed in the past few years.

Looking at him now, the thought reverberated through Roy. Ed indeed stood taller now, possibly taller than Roy, who had never been extraordinarily tall in the first place. A simple ponytail tied Ed's hair back instead of a braid, and a casual black jacket had replaced the familiar red coat.

"You look well, Fullmetal," Roy said softly. And Ed did. His arms were covered by the long sleeves of his jacket, but two flesh hands poked out of the ends of them, and Roy could see the muscled tone in them. His face was not longer set in its near-perpetual scowl, but settled and calm. He stood with his chin lifted and his arms free, proud and confident and most importantly, whole.

Roy had seen those changes begin before the Promised Day; had heard them continue in their letters and calls. He'd watched Ed's defensiveness slowly melt away into openness, his cynicism be replaced by wisdom. He'd listened to Ed regale him with the most difficult concepts of philosophy, of chemistry, of languages, and somehow make them seem simple. He'd discussed politics with Ed and found that Ed, for all that he hated politics, was brilliant at it.

And once again Roy looked at Ed and thought, with a swelling of pride in his chest, that Ed had come so, so far from where he'd begun.

"Oh, uh, thanks," Ed said a little awkwardly, one hand rubbing the back of the other. Fidgeting. The tick had been one Ed had used when he was younger, but it was odd to see it now that both hands were flesh, not automail. "You...you look good too. I guess."

Roy went to say something, but Ed, in his usual determined way, kept speaking.

"Listen," he said, and Roy suddenly noticed the bag slung over his shoulder, "I just wanted...well, I was passing through and I wanted to..."

One thing the years hadn't changed, Roy thought dryly, was Ed's utter inability to properly articulate anything remotely emotional. In hopes to help Ed out, Roy asked, "Is Al with you?"

"Oh. No. He's...well. Both of us decided to head out, I guess. Travel the world, that kind of thing. There's so much out there, you know? There's so much more than just Amestris. This world is huge, Roy. We want to see all of it."

Roy nodded, though he had a slight sinking sensation in his stomach at the knowledge that Ed would be leaving. He told himself to shake it off - it's not like he'd seen Ed in person even when he was in Amestris. Still, the feeling lingered.

"But not together? Unless Al's still pissed about me giving you the idea to change out his conditioner with mayonnaise?"

Ed snorted. "I mean, last I asked he's still pretty upset about it - he's so picky about his hair, Roy, you wouldn't believe it - but no, he'd still come in. Even if it were just to see Hawkeye. Which, she's still here, right? You better not have abandoned her just 'cause you're some big-timey general now."

"You wound me, Fullmetal," Roy said dryly. "You should know I'd never leave her behind, if just because she wouldn't let me. I told you she's a lieutenant colonel now, right?"

Ed nodded, smiling a little. "Yeah. I'd say good for her, but I can't say that getting promoted in this shit military is something to be congratulated on."

Roy rolled his eyes, used to Ed's stance on the military by now. "You congratulated me on becoming a general."

"Because that meant I'm one step closer to getting my money back once you become Fuhrer, obviously. Do I look like the kind of guy who's rolling in cash?"

Roy made a show of looking Ed over. "I have to say, no. You look like a street bum."

"Oh yeah?" Ed said, eyes flashing. Then his lips turned up in a devious smirk. "Well you look like the kind of bastard who sleeps in flame-emblem pajamas, so get off your high horse while you can."

"Wh-who told you that!?"

"Hawkeye," Ed said smugly, laughing. "Al writes letters to her sometimes."

Roy swore. "I knew I shouldn't have told her!"

Ed sobered. "In any case, Al's on his way to Xing now to learn alkahestry from May Chang - remember her?"

While any meetings Roy had had with her had been brief, Ed had mentioned her more than once over the years in regards to Al. "You mean Al's future girlfriend?"

"That's what I've been telling him, but he keeps trying to be all chivalrous and saying that they 'haven't seen each in years, and might not even be a good fit for each other anymore' and shit. I swear, he regresses at least five years in age every time I mention her."

"Brave words from someone who routinely trips over his own feet every time Winry dresses up nice," Roy said mockingly.

Ed sputtered. "No I don't- who-!?"

"Al," Roy said in the exact same smug tone Ed had just used. "He writes letters to me sometimes, too."

"That traitor, he's never told me that!" Ed muttered. "And for the record, bastard, I don't trip over my feet, Al trips me!"

Roy examined his fingernails. "A true tragedy, the mighty Fullmetal Alchemist brought so low he's tripped up by his own brother."

"SAY THAT TO MY FACE!"

"I just did."

"YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!"

"I'm afraid not," Roy said with a smirk. "Are you regretting traveling to Central just to see me yet?"

He expected Ed to explode with something along the lines of 'I'd never come just to see you!' but, as usual, Ed surprised him by looking away awkwardly and shifting his feet.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I didn't come here because I wanted to say goodbye."

Roy blinked. He wasn't sure there was any other way to take that sentence.

Apparently reading Roy's expression, Ed's mannerisms devolved further into full-out nervous fidgeting. It had been so long since Roy had seen Ed do that in person that the nostalgia hit him hard. The last time he'd seen Ed act like this was...probably...

"Hey, bastard."

Despite Ed freely calling Roy by his first name when they weren't in public, the insult still seemed to be Ed's preferred method of addressing him. Roy had stopped minding nearly as much once Ed, drunk after winning a bet with Havoc (which Riza had done her best to prevent, and would have, were it not for an equally drunk Roy spurring them on) had told Roy he used to call Hohenheim by the same name but had stopped because he felt "the asshole didn't deserve something that nice."

"One day, I'm going to wash your mouth out with soap," Roy said from his bed. "You'd better get ready."

A weak scoff. Then a pause."About tomorrow..."

The reminder sent a jolt of adrenaline through Roy. Tomorrow. The Promised Day. "We've already discussed our plans, Fullmetal. I'd hope you wouldn't need me to walk you through them again."

"I'm not stupid," Ed said crossly. Then he sighed. "What I was trying to say, before you so rudely interrupted me-"

"Brother, you literally hadn't said anything for ten seconds," Al cut in from his place between Ed and Roy's beds.

"-and before my own brother so rudely interrupted me," Ed continued, "was..."

He stopped. Roy looked over. It was pitch black, but the faint light of the moon coming in from the window showed him that Ed was glaring up at the ceiling. Fidgeting.

"Are you in the middle of a stroke, or do you just keep forgetting what you're about to say?" Roy asked dryly.

He could hear the insulted sounds Ed was making, but he didn't explode like Roy'd been expecting him to. There was another pause, then Ed said finally with great reluctance, "I know you're pretty useless in water, but you better not be useless tomorrow, you hear?"

Roy...was pretty sure that was an insult?

Before he could make up his mind on how to respond, Ed kept going. "Because if you die tomorrow, I will personally tell the entirety of Amestris how useless you are, Colonel Bastard. Got it? I will ruin whatever bullshit legacy you've tried to build if you pull that on me."

Al gave an exasperated sigh. "What he means to say, Colonel-"

Roy glared at him.

"-Roy, is that we want to get our bodies back, and we want to save the world. But we also want the people we love to be safe."

"THAT IS NOT WHAT I MEANT TO SAY, AL!" Ed shrieked. "Get that sappy shit out of my face!"

Despite the dread and horror weighing him down, despite the paralyzing fear that rang through his ears with every breath, Roy smiled. "Likewise."

So, if Ed was now doing the same things - fidgeting, trailing off sentences, fumbling words - Roy wondered what this conversation was going to hold, exactly.

"Al's going to Xing, like I said," Ed started, shuffling a bit. "And after he learns alkahestry, he plans on going through the entire world to learn everything there is about alchemy."

Roy watched him for a few seconds. "And you?"

Ed looked at Roy and gave a small, sad smile. "Well, there's not much point in me learning alchemy anymore, is there?"

"You can still learn the theory of alchemy," Roy said, but already knew how Ed would respond.

"You and I both know it's not the same, Roy. Theory is all well and good, but I've never been a theoretical alchemist. I know theory, and I'm good at it, but to me there's no point in knowledge that cannot be put into practice. I'm a doer, not a thinker. I don't...I can't wander the world searching for what I can never use."

Roy nodded slowly. It was true that there were some alchemists who studied alchemy purely theoretically. But Roy had never been like that. For him, alchemy was a means to an end - his way of serving and protecting his country. For Ed, it was much the same. He had started to learn alchemy purely from curiosity, that was true. But as soon as his mother had died, alchemy had become the way to save her. Then it had become the means of bringing his and Al's bodies back. And now, not only was that end accomplished, Ed no longer had the means to bring any other ends about with alchemy.

"Losing your Gate," Roy said carefully, "it was like losing a part of you, wasn't it?"

Ed had never really talked about his experiences with Truth. He'd referenced it in passing when Roy had brought up his own experience; he'd spoken of the horrors of the aftermath; but never had he detailed exactly what had happened in those times. Now that Roy had gone through that himself, he understood. It wasn't something that could easily be talked about.

"It's ironic," Ed said, scoffing and scuffing a boot against the floor. "I'd just gained back my arm. Losing alchemy was like losing my arm once more. Being able to use it...it made me feel whole, I guess. I didn't have an arm, but I could still fight. I could still protect Al. Now I'm useless."

Roy opened his mouth; Ed rolled his eyes, cutting him off with a raised hand. "Shut it, I know what you're going to say. You've said it before. 'You can still fight physically, you're still capable of using your intelligence,' yadda yadda. And sure, I can, but that doesn't change the fact that if you and I were to fight, you'd char me to a crisp in an instant."

"Not if it were raining," Roy said. A moment later his face scrunched up in a grimace worthy of a Renaissance painting.

Ed stared at him for a moment in absolute shock. Then an ugly, gurgling cackle burst forth from his mouth and he started howling in laughter. "You finally admitted it! Oh my God! You finally admitted that you're useless when it rains!"

"I'm not usel-"

"Useless! Useless!" Ed sang, dancing around an irate Roy in glee. "Just wait 'til Hawkeye-"

"If you ever tell her about this, I swear to God I will end-"

"How? All I gotta do is pour a bucket of water on you and you're as dangerous as a two-year-old being potty-trained!"

"Fullmetal, I will kill you!"

"I'm not Fullmetal anymore. Have you forgotten? Oh man, already having memory problems at age 30? Tsk tsk, how're you ever gonna make Fuhrer?"

Roy lunged at Ed, who sidestepped with insulting ease, still laughing like a maniac. Roy lunged again. "Just let me get my hands on you, I'll-!"

"Sir, what is the meaning of this?"

As one, Roy and Ed fell deathly still and silent. Roy had one hand on Ed's ponytail, the other lodged around Ed's ribs. Ed had an elbow frozen an inch from Roy's face and his automail foot on top of Roy's.

"H-Hawkeye," Roy said shakily, not-very-subtly trying to dislodge Ed's foot from his own. "You're earlier than expected."

"Hawkeye!" Ed said, crunching down harder on Roy's foot. "Man, I haven't seen you in ages! How've you been?"

Riza raised an eyebrow, stepping into the office. "I've been well. It's nice to see that neither of you have grown up at all in the past two years."

"See, Fullmetal, she doesn't think you've grown taller, either!"

"Yeah? Well she still thinks you're a five-year-old throwing a tantrum, so shut it!"

"Why don't you try shutting up like the-"

Riza cleared her throat. "I'll be in the hall waiting for you, sir."

With a final disapproving look, she turned on her heel and left, clicking the door shut behind her.

Roy and Ed looked at each other for a long moment. Then Ed sent his elbow home into Roy's face.

"Ow! What was that for!?"

Ed gracefully dodged Roy again, grinning. "Hmm, old times' sake?"

"You're lucky I'm fond of you, you brat," Roy groused, rubbing at his nose. Ed hadn't hit it very hard, thankfully. He'd probably have a mark for a few hours, but other than that, he'd be fine. "Anyway, the suspense is killing me, Fullmetal. Why are you here?"

Ed clutched a hand to his heart. "I can't believe, after everything we've been through together, you don't want me here?"

Roy stared at him.

Ed deflated, wilted, glared at the fancy carpet. He looked up briefly, opening his mouth, then shut it. Opened his mouth, shifted, shuffled, shut it again. "Well, I..."

"Out with it, Fullmetal!" Roy demanded, getting annoyed. "You should know I don't have the time to sit around all day and wait!"

"I want to go to Ishval with you!"

It was said in half a breath, the words jumbled up fragments of sound crammed together with less space than a packed train. Roy took several seconds simply trying to decipher them.

In the time it took Roy to figure out what Ed had said, Ed had gone back to glaring at the floor, sporting red ears and hunched shoulders. Roy, bizarrely, felt the urge to laugh, and did so. Ed whipped his head up.

"What's so funny!?"

Roy reached over and ruffled Ed's hair and said, "It's just...you were so nervous, I'd thought you had bad news to tell me. But you're telling me you were nervous for that?"

"Shut up," Ed muttered. "Stop being so high-and-mighty, you bastard."

The words were said with no real heat, only embarrassment. Roy laughed. "Never. But, Ed, tell me something. Why do you want to work in Ishval? I thought you hated the military."

"Oh, I do," Ed said. "But I also know you're trying to change how much it sucks. More importantly, you're trying to right your wrongs."

"If that's even possible," Roy said heavily. The work had been going on for months, yet nearly no progress had been made. "I won't lie Ed, it's not going well. They aren't exactly amenable to taking help from the same government that slaughtered them only a few years ago."

Ed tilted his head. "Tell me, Roy, why did you let Dr. Marcoh heal you?"

"You know why. To rebuild Ishval and create a better world."

Ed gave a half-laugh. "So damn idealistic still, aren't you. Well, don't tell me you're giving up now! What kinda half-assed job are you doing, to give up so soon? Aren't you the one who once told me to keep moving forward, even if the way forward was covered in mud? What happened to that?"

"Alright, alright, I get it." Roy sighed. "You still haven't told me why you want to be a part of it."

Ed nodded. "Right. It's pretty simple, really. Al and I came up with this new idea. Instead of Equivalent Exchange, we've come up with something better. If someone gives me ten, I don't just give back ten. I add something of myself as well. Al's doing it in Xing. I want to do it in Ishval. I...I'm tired of destroying things. For once, Roy, for once I want to rebuild something."

Ed's eyes burned gold, that fierce gold Roy had depended on for so many years. Yet that, like so many other things, was different, too. Where that fire had once burned selfishly - for himself, for Al, to get their bodies back no matter what - it was now tempered. Selfless. Determined.

"I know I don't have alchemy anymore," Ed continued. "I know I'll be useless in a fight. But I don't care. I've got two good arms, and I'm using them. Two good legs, and I'll keep moving forward. I haven't fought this long to stay stagnant. I haven't sacrificed so much to be powerless. I can help them. I'm tired of only helping myself."

Roy regarded Ed quietly. He remembered long nights where Ed's nightmares would keep them up for hours, nights where even after the Promised Day he'd get a phone call at four and instantly know who it would be. Those nights had dwindled, dwindled, dwindled to become practically nonexistent. Just as vividly did Roy remember other times when Ed, usually drunk or drugged or exhausted, would quietly confess his wrongs. His guilt.

Maybe that was why they had never truly detached from each other. Deep down, they understood each other. They always had. Alchemy or no alchemy, military or no military, they held the same guilt, the same wrongs that they wanted, needed to right.

That was the true reason Roy had invited Ed into the military all those years ago. He had seen what happened when men overcome by their own guilt lost their will to keep moving. He refused to let it happen to Ed. And now, it seemed, Ed refused to let it happen to himself.

Roy nodded slowly. "Very well, Fullmetal. Report to me tomorrow, and we'll get started."

Ed flashed a sharp grin, his eyes a blazing furnace. "You bet, General Bastard!"

He turned, waving a hand goodbye over his shoulder. The light from the window caught the arm - flesh, not automail. Flesh, sturdy and solid and whole. Roy watched Ed leave, an unexplainable feeling catching in his chest. This whole time he had reflected on how far Ed had come - how far detached he was from the angry, hurting, defensive child he had once been. But now, as the last flash of gold hair left Roy's vision and the door clicked shut, Roy found himself thinking of something else. Something that wasn't about how far his kid, his team member, had come.

Roy sat back down at his desk and allowed himself a small, genuine smile.

And he wondered just how much farther Edward Elric would go.

A/N: I know several of you were expecting a dad or a father for the last chapter. But that's simply not realistic, given Ed and Roy's characterizations in the series. Ed had pretty obvious, pretty violent daddy issues, and Roy is far more focused on his career than on having a family. I mean, he can't even confess to Riza.

More importantly, though, this ending is important to me in that Ed grows up. He's not that angry, hurting child who needs a father, a guide, anymore. When he needed it, Roy was there, but now Ed's grown up. Will he still need a mentor figure? Of course, and Roy will still be there when necessary. But it's different now, and both Ed and Roy know it.

That's what I want all of you to take from this fic: that Ed's come a long way and has even farther to go. And you, my dear readers, are the same. Don't give up, don't stand still. Keep moving forward. May God bless and keep all of you. Thank you for reading, and I hope you've enjoyed this fic. 💖