Title – In Death
Rating – K
Summary – Gracia's, Elycia's, and Roy's thoughts after they find out about Maes Hughes' death, during, and after the funeral.
Author's Note – This is my first FMA story. So sorry if it's bad.
Finding Out
Gracia
Gracia Hughes had known what she was getting into when she had married a man from the military. Her friends had spoken of boyfriends and fiancés who had been in the military and gone to war. They never came back. But God, Maes was different. Maes had a desk job, he didn't like to fight. He wasn't like his friend Roy, a State Alchemist. Maes sat at a desk everyday and did paperwork. Gracia shouldn't have had to worry.
But she did. She worried just as much as the next woman with a husband in the military. Because things had been changing. She wasn't sure how she knew, or how she understood, but she did. Something was wrong. Nobody was safe.
And that was why she issued her warning as she watched Maes tuck their daughter in.
"Just...be careful."
Then she watched him leave, not realizing at the moment that it would be for the last time.
Hours later found Gracia sitting up in bed, looking through an old photo album. It was almost sunrise, and Maes still wasn't home. He was, Gracia mused as she found a picture of him sleeping on the couch, baby Elycia resting on his chest, probably asleep at his desk. Gracia smiled as she ran a finger of the photo of the two people she loved most. Despite everything, she would always worry. It was her job as a mother and a wife.
After all, the world they lived in was far from perfect.
Ding-Dong
The ring of the doorbell echoed through the house. Gracia looked up from the album. "Good grief." She muttered, still smiling. "Did he forget his keys again?"
She made her way downstairs and unlocked the door, saying, "Maes, I told you to make sure you had your-"
She stopped as she opened the door. It wasn't her husband standing on the steps; it was, however, two military people, a man and a woman, though Gracia didn't recognize them. They were watching her solemnly. "Hello." She said carefully. "If you're looking for my husband, he isn't home right now."
"We know." The woman said. "That's why we're here."
And as usual, not knowing how, Gracia knew. She knew something was wrong.
"Mrs. Hughes...your husband was found dead this morning a couple of blocks away from Central. He was shot."
Elycia
Elycia Hughes was only four years old, but she had a lot to be proud of. Her daddy was a military man. He did a lot of work and he helped save people. And Elycia was proud of that. When the kids at school asked her what her daddy did, she would say in a proud voice, "He works for the military."
She was too young to understand how truly dangerous this job really was.
Which was why she didn't understand. She didn't understand why two people her daddy worked with were standing at the door, looking so serious, or why her mommy was crying. She didn't understand why her daddy wasn't home yet, or why he hadn't given her a good morning kiss.
"Mommy?"
She was standing at the top of the stairs, and her voice was quiet, but still her mommy heard it. She looked up, quickly wiping her tears away. "Elycia...what are you doing awake?"
"Mommy, where's Daddy?"
Her mother was wearing a look similar to the one Elycia had worn once when the two had been separated at a store. Her mommy looked lost. But why?
Elycia didn't get her answer. Her mother turned back to the military people. "Thank you," she said quietly, "for telling me."
"We're truly sorry." The woman said. The man nodded in agreement. "Your husband was...a good man."
"I know."
Elycia's mother closed the door as the two left. Elycia still didn't understand. She repeated her question.
"Where's Daddy?"
Her mother beckoned for her to come downstairs, and she obeyed. They sat down on the couch, and Gracia took Elycia in her arms. "Elycia...Daddy's not going to be coming home."
"Why, is he busy?" Elycia asked, remembering what her Daddy had said the night before. "Does he still have a lot of work? Is that why those people were here? To tell you he can't come home because he has too much work? He said he has a lot of work."
"No, Elycia." Gracia said quietly. The small girl saw tears in her mother's eyes. "Daddy...had to go away somewhere."
Elycia didn't understand. "Well where did he go? When will come back?"
"He's not coming back, Elycia. He's gone."
"Gone where?" Elycia was quickly becoming frustrated. Why was her mommy so sad? They were supposed to be proud of Daddy, because he worked so hard, not sad. So why was Mommy sad? "Why can't he come back?"
A tear slipped down Gracia's cheek. Elycia reached out a small hand and wiped it away. "Mommy?"
"Oh Elycia." Her mother wrapped her arms around the small girl and held her tightly. And still Elycia didn't understand. Where was Daddy?
Roy
Roy Mustang folded his arms and glared at the desk where he knew full well a certain Maes Hughes sat. Lazy man. Probably at home sleeping. Or fawning over his daughter. What an idiot.
At that moment, a woman stepped into the office. "Oh. Kernel Mustang."
"Lieutenant Ross." Roy turned to her. "Where's Hughes, hasn't shown up for work yet?"
Lieutenant Ross blinked. "You mean…you haven't heard?"
"Heard what?"
Roy looked over at Hawkeye, who shrugged. She had as much of a clue as he did. They had spent all night on the train.
Lieutenant Ross looked around the room, as if trying to find an escape. "Jeez…I didn't think I'd have to say this again so soon…"
"Say what?"
The lieutenant took a deep breath. "Maes Hughes…was killed last night while investigating something we believe involves the Elric brothers. We asked Chezka – the last person that saw him before he was killed – if she knew anything about what he was up to, but she said he hadn't told her anything, just ordered her to put all the books away, fired her, then ran out."
Roy's ears were ringing. He hadn't heard anything Ross had said about the freaky little bookworm. He was still stuck back on the words Maes Hughes was killed. Maes was…dead?
"Kernel?"
Hawkeye stepped forward. "Thank you for tell us. You can go."
Ross gave Roy a concerned look before leaving.
"Roy."
He didn't look over at Hawkeye, who actually seemed concerned for once. If he had looked at her, she would have seen everything he tried to hide; raw, cruel, emotion. The feeling that someone had just ripped him apart from the inside. It hurt too much for him to even register the fact that Hawkeye had just called him by his first name.
Later, in the privacy of the guest quarters, with Hawkeye just down the hall, Roy did something he hadn't done in a very long time; he cried. It was, he knew, a sign of weakness. And if there was one thing Roy Mustang wasn't, it was weak.
But for this one time, for the one person that had always believed in him, Roy supposed it was okay to shed a few tears.
"Damn you Maes. You always know how to throw another curve my way, don't you?"
It had always been that way. Even when they were kids. Roy, a budding Alchemist, and Maes, a budding good-for-nothing. Roy was smart and had no problem showing it. Maes could have been smart if he had taken the time to apply himself. But of course, he hadn't. Roy and Maes were the oddest of pairs, and the best of friends.
It was a fact that hadn't changed in the military. Roy had excelled quickly (his title of 'Flame Alchemist' had certainly helped), and Maes had stayed lower in the ranks. But that had suited him just fine. It was, Maes once told Roy, his place in life; back in the shadows, helping others to excel.
Just as he had promised to help Roy do.
The Funeral
Gracia slid the brush through Elycia's hair, barely noticing that it was already as smooth as it as going to get.
"Mommy, why do I have to wear this dress?" Elycia asked, looking back at her mother. "Where are we going? Is Daddy going to be there?"
Everything she said ended with something about Maes these days. It had been a week since Gracia had received word of her husband's death. And for everything she had done, she couldn't make Elycia understand that Daddy wasn't coming home.
"Yes, sweetie." Gracia took Elycia and pulled the small girl into her lap. "Daddy will be there." Elycia's face brightened. "But not the way you're thinking. He's not going to be able to hug you or kiss you or play with you."
Elycia didn't like that. "But why not? Will he be really busy?"
Gracia sighed. She had tried explaining to Elycia what it meant to die. But the girl was only four, she couldn't be expected to understand that.
It was, Roy supposed, a nice church. Not that he had ever been one for religion. But still…it was a nice church. He just wished he could have been there for a better reason than his friend's funeral.
"Roy."
He turned around. Gracia Hughes was standing behind him, clutching her daughter's hand. Elycia was looking around, confused.
"Where's Daddy?"
The words tore at Roy's heart. He was good at hiding it though. "Hello Gracia. It's good to see you."
"And you." Gracia looked down at Elycia. "Elycia, say hi to Roy. You remember him, don't you? Daddy's friend."
Elycia looked up eagerly on the word 'Daddy'. Her eyes found Roy. "Hi. Do you know where my daddy is?"
Roy looked at Gracia, who shook her head. "I just can't make her understand. In all honesty…I don't think she wants to understand."
Roy nodded. He could understand that. "Sir." Hawkeye approached him. "It's time to go in."
"Right." He turned away from Gracia and Elycia, following Hawkeye inside. The military personnel had their own section.
"Mommy, is Daddy sleeping?"
Gracia couldn't bring herself to answer the girl. She as too busy staring at the body in the coffin at the front of the church. There was no way possible that was her husband. Not bright, lively, talkative to the point of annoying Maes Hughes. It just wasn't possible.
"Can we wake Daddy up?"
Gracia shook her head. "Come on Elycia. Let's find our seats."
"Noble…fair nature…" the words that drifted back to Roy didn't sound anything like the Maes Hughes he had known. Annoying, infuriating, hyper, obsessive…those were words that could have described Maes better.
Elycia stared at her father, waiting for him to wake up. Why wasn't he waking up? Why was Mommy crying? In fact…Elycia looked around. Everybody had tears in their eyes. What was going on?
"Daddy's dead, Elycia."
The words rang in the small girl's head.
"When you're dead, it means you go somewhere you can't come back from."
But he was right there. If he was there, then he couldn't have possibly been 'dead'. Elycia didn't believe it. Her daddy hadn't gone anywhere. Why would her mommy lie about it?
There was a strange man standing in front of them, saying things Elycia didn't understand. Were they talking about her daddy? None of those big words sounded like Daddy. Big, fun, loud, happy…that was how they should have been describing her daddy. None of those silly words that the other man (who was he anyway? Did he even know her daddy?) was saying.
After the Funeral
Elycia was mad at Gracia. It wasn't even a mother's intuition. It was obvious from the way she folded her arms and pouted out the window on the drive home that the little girl was very upset.
"Elycia sweetie, what's wrong?"
"Why did you let them do that to Daddy?" Ah. Gracia had a feeling it was something to do with Maes. "What's going to happen when he wakes up?"
"Oh Elycia-"
"I want Daddy to come home."
"I know honey. So do I."
At home, Gracia helped Elycia out of her dress. As she did, she noticed the smaller girl kept squinting her eyes and sniffing a lot.
"Are you all right?"
"Daddy's not coming home, is he?"
Gracia, realizing that Elycia was finally starting to understand, nodded, and reached her arms around the girl's small body, wrapping her into a hug. Both of them shook with silent sobs, letting the tears fall.
"Déjà vu."
Roy looked around. "What?"
Hawkeye was standing over him. "You. Sitting there. Staring out the window. Only this time we're leavingCentral."
Roy shook his head. "We'll be back before long."
"What makes you so sure?"
"Maes said so."
Hawkeye sighed and went to sit down in her own seat. One week ago they had come back to Central, just so Roy could beat up Maes for not telling the entire truth. And now here they were, a week later, going back, and Roy was in mourning.
Hawkeye leaned her head against the window, sighing. Talk about the ups and downs of life.
Author's Note – If you squint and look really deep into the sun, you might see a little Roy/Riza in here. Then again…maybe not. Anyways, just a little idea that came to mind while I was making a video. Review and let me know what you think! – Sam