Title: Father's Day
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Rating: PG
Type: Fluff, Parental!Roy, Gen
Word Count: 2,118
Summary: Ed decides to get Mustang something for Father's Day.
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Father's Day

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Thirteen year old Edward Elric looked around the busy cafeteria, trying to decide where to sit, then headed toward where he saw Hughes, Breda, and Havoc. Without a word, Ed put his tray down on the table near them and sat down.

"Ed!" Hughes shouted instantly. "Guess what day Sunday is!"

"Uh..." Ed said before taking a bite of his sandwich. He looked at Havoc and Breda who were chuckling and shaking their heads.

"It's Father's Day!"

Ed swallowed, then said, "Never heard of it."

Instantly, Hughes's face took on a shocked look. "Never heard of Father's Day?!"

"I told you," Havoc said. "The towns further east don't celebrate it. It's only here in Central and to the north and west that it's celebrated."

"Well, something should be done about that!" Hughes said in an offended tone.

Ed took another bite, then said around the food in his mouth, "What's this 'Father's Day' anyway?"

"It's a day to celebrate how much you appreciate your father!" Hughes said, then started babbling something about breakfast in bed, and gifts from his precious daughter, all of which Ed ignored.

"Mostly it's a day where you're supposed to 'give back' in a way to your father for putting up with all your crap and for making you do stuff that you didn't want to do because it was good for you, and watching out for you when you do stupid things, and all that," Breda added.

"I don't think there are enough Father's Days to make up for the crap kids put you through," Havoc said.

Hughes glared at them both, but before he could say anything, Ed said, "Doesn't matter to me. My bastard of a father is long gone, and even if he was around I wouldn't give him anything except maybe a punch in the face."

"Well, don't you have a teacher or something that was a father figure to you? You could give something to that person," Hughes said.

"My teacher is a woman," Ed said in an offhand way, then changed the subject to something else until he saw Alphonse enter the lunchroom and start looking around for him. "Well, gotta go!" he said, popping the last of his sandwich in his mouth and getting up from the table. He dropped off his tray, then met his brother by the door.

Ed didn't think about 'Father's Day' until a few days later when he and Al were out shopping. The shopkeepers had put up signs in front of their stores proclaiming this gift or that would be the perfect gift for the perfect dad.

It had been years since Ed had seen his father, and from what he remembered, the man had been far from perfect. Most of the time, Ed proclaimed that he hated his father for abandoning his family and not coming home when their mother had gotten sick. So he was surprised by the sudden prick of sadness and regret that he felt at not having anyone worthy of the 'father' title to give something to on this holiday.

"Hey, Al..." Ed said as nonchalantly as he could.

"Yeah?"

Ed thought about the conversation with Hughes, Havoc, and Breda, and about what Breda had said before saying, "Is there any guy you know of that has put up with a lot of crap from me, whose made me do stuff cause it's supposed to be good for me, and watched out for me when I do stupid things?"

Al laughed. "Sure! Me!" he said. "Well, except for making you do stuff, but I put up with lots of stupidity from you!"

Ed lightly punched Al's armor with his automail fist and growled good-naturedly, "Jerk."

Just as Ed was about to put the whole thing from his mind, Al said, "Well, I guess you could say Colonel Mustang does all of that."

"That asshole?" Ed squawked.

"Sure, I mean, he does put up with a lot of things you do, and he watches out for you, and he does make you do stuff that's supposed to help you."

"No fucking way," Ed said, dismissing the idea that Mustang, of all people, could be any sort of father figure.

Al shrugged his massive shoulders and said, "You asked." And with that Al handed him a paper and said, "Here's your half of the list. Meet you back at the dorms in an hour."

Ed took the paper and watched Al head off into the crowd with his own list. It wouldn't take longer than fifteen minutes for Ed to get all of his supplies, but Al liked to window shop, something that annoyed the hell out of Ed, so they often split up when they went shopping, especially in a town or a city they didn't visit very often.

Twenty minutes later, Ed was walking past the same shops, having finished the unpleasant task of buying some of the supplies he needed. This time he stopped in front of one of the shops and considered some of the items. Ed supposed Al did have a point. Mustang had done a lot of shit for him, even if it had been stuff that benefited Mustang in the end.

Entering one of the shops, Ed looked around for a moment. It was a men's clothing shop, and supposedly there were some very stylish items in here, some that Ed could definitely see Mustang wearing, but in his opinion it was all so very boring. Ed wasn't one to buy gifts very often, if at all, and the idea of giving someone something so common almost made him cringe.

He was about to walk out, thinking this was a ridiculous waste of time anyway, when something caught his eye. Moving closer, Ed examined the item, then decide on impulse to buy it. He'd drop it off on Mustang's desk tonight. Tomorrow was Sunday, so Mustang wouldn't get it until Monday morning, since he didn't work on Sunday. But by that time Ed would be on a train so he wouldn't have to deal with seeing the look on Mustang's face when he opened it. In all probability, Mustang would toss it in the garbage when Ed wasn't looking, but...

Ed shook his head at himself as he plopped the item down on the counter and pulled out his wallet. Who cared if Mustang didn't wear it? He most certainly didn't care. Really, he didn't. He wasn't even sure why he was buying it at all, except...

He thought of Hughes and again the feeling of sadness touched his heart. How would it be to have a father, or even a father figure, who was proud of him the way Hughes was proud of Elysia? It would probably be a little embarrassing, but at least he'd know he was loved.

The cashier neatly packaged the item in tissue paper, then put it in a small box before slipping it into a small sack. Ed took the sack and his receipt, and hurried out of the store. He didn't want to think about the reasons he was doing this, because the more he thought about them, the more miserable he felt.

Roy walked lazily down the sidewalk toward military headquarters as he thought about the last few hours. Maes had invited him to come over for dinner, and he'd graciously accepted given that Gracia's cooking was always delicious.

Maes had bombarded Roy with the pictures Elysia had drawn for him for this very special occasion. His friend had even been wearing a shirt that Elysia had painted on with Gracia's help. The once white shirt now had splashes of bright colors on it. Maes wasn't known for his good taste in clothing to begin with, but Roy could only hope that the man would have the decency not to wear something so ugly out in public.

He knew Maes loved his daughter, but was that really an excuse? Roy guessed it was. He'd seen plenty of men do things out of love for their children. Most of them were more circumspect in how they showed that love, but it was there nonetheless. Was the love and adoration of a child really that important? Roy couldn't understand it if it was. Perhaps it was one of those things that you couldn't understand unless you had a child, which mean that Roy would probably never understand because he had no intention of having any children. He didn't have the time to commit to a wife, let alone offspring. He was just too devoted to his career.

Even now, Roy was heading to his office to pick up a few things so that he could work on them at home before coming in Monday morning. It didn't take him long to get to his office, and he quickly grabbed the folders he needed from his filing cabinets. He was about to leave when he noticed a small box on his desk.

Curious, Roy picked it up and slowly pulled off the lid. Moving the tissue paper away, Roy saw that it was a neatly folded cravat. Roy wore them all the time when he was off duty, hell he was wearing one now, but he usually wore black ones. This one was the brightest, most garish color of red Roy had ever seen. He didn't even know they made such abominations.

Stuffed on the side of the cravat was a small, folded piece of paper. Pulling it out, Roy read the short note quickly.

You should wear more red cause red is badass. Happy Father's Day. – Ed

Roy read and reread the note several times, then looked back at the cravat in curiosity and a little bit of wonder. Ed had given him a Father's Day gift? But... why? And yet, despite it not making sense, despite the loud color of the cravat, despite the fact that he wouldn't want to be caught dead in something so ugly... he was touched.

Putting the lid back on the box, Roy slipped it in the pocket of his jacket and started for the door with a small smile on his face that he didn't even know was there.

Ed yawned widely as he settled into his seat. He hated having to get up before sunrise to get on the train. It didn't happen all that often, but sometimes there was no other choice. He yawned again, watching as Al pulled out a book and started reading, then he blinked out at the station platform beyond the window. The artificial, electric light seemed almost too bright, even though it wasn't nearly as light as it would be once the sun came up and shone through the windows.

Deciding it was time to lay down on the seat and try to get more sleep, Ed was about to turn away from the window, when something caught his eye—or rather someone. Making his way toward the train was Roy Mustang, dressed in civilian clothes. Ed frowned, wondering why Mustang would be up at such an early hour. Had he forgotten to do something? Ed couldn't think of anything, but he was a little too sleepy to think straight.

Then all those thoughts flew from his mind when he saw that Mustang was wearing the red cravat Ed had left for him Saturday night. He hadn't expected that the man would ever wear it and seeing it on him now filled Ed with an inexplicable happiness.

Mustang stopped walking when he saw Ed looking out at him from the train window. He didn't come over and say anything, simply stood there. Ed was unable to stop a delighted grin from spreading across his face, and at that moment the corners of Mustang's lips quirked up into a small smile.

The whistle blew and the train began to move, but before Mustang was out of sight, Ed saw him lift a hand in farewell. Ed waved back, and then they were out of the well-lit station and into the night beyond.

Lying down on the seat, Ed closed his eyes, but the smile lingered. It was so ridiculous to be this happy about anything related to Mustang, but... he'd worn the gift Ed had given him, and he'd come to the station to see him off while wearing it. It was something dads did for their children, something that he never thought he'd experience, and that meant more to Ed then he could ever adequately express in words.

I doubt they actually have Father's Day in FMA, but I got the idea and decided to do it. I hope you all enjoyed, and happy Father's Day to any fathers out there.

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Comments are love.