It's a Promise

"You don't say." Roy said as he glanced at the sketch in his hands. "Xingese alcahestry." He passed it back to Edward, his eyes still focused on the road. "Sounds promising. I'll ask around and let you know what I find."

Edward took the paper without looking, his eyes focused on Roy through the passenger side window. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get the conversation with Hawkeye out of his head. He couldn't even look at Roy without feeling the weight of the man's future plans.

Truth be told, Edward thought Roy would be a pretty decent Fuhrer. He was trustworthy and fair with a strong sense of justice. And he had this strange way of drawing people to his side and making them trust him.

Not that Ed would tell him so. He'd rather be hung upside down and have pins stuck in his eyes.

The promise of a democracy was also a good one. A country for the people would hardly go about declaring false wars on other nations just to cause bloodshed. Diplomacy would always come first and violence would be the very last resort. With a military state, it was almost guaranteed that diplomacy and violence would be viewed as the same thing.

It was the last part of the plan that Edward couldn't accept. The idea of so many people—innocent people—being tried as war criminals for a war they had no choice but to take part in? It wasn't right. It couldn't be right. Because they weren't just normal people. They were Hawkeye and Armstrong and Dr. Marco. It would be Hughes, if he was still alive. And it would be Mustang.

The Colonel might be a bastard, but he was a better man then practically anyone Ed had ever known. For him to just place himself on the chopping block like that…He would be abandoning all of the people he swore to protect.

It just wasn't right.

"Thank you," Edward said. "But I don't want to get any deeper in debt to you than I already am."

Because he was indebted to this man. For saving him in Resembool and for giving him back a reason to live. For sponsoring him as a state alchemist and taking him under his wing. For watching his back more times than Ed could count. And for so much more. More than Edward could ever hope to repay.

"Speaking of," Roy said. "You owe me some money." He turned to Ed with his hand outstretched. "So how 'bout you cough it up."

"Eyes on the road!" Edward shrieked as the car swerved dangerously in to the oncoming traffic. Ed clung to the door, vaguely aware of Al's screams from the backseat. Once Roy had the car back under control Ed loosened his grip and glanced at him for the first time.

"You remembered? Come on! How much did I borrow?...Five hundred cens…?" Ed was sure it was more but he doubted he had more than a hundred cens on him anyway.

"It was five hundred and twenty cens!" Roy roared before turning back to the road. "Don't con me."

"I'm not conning you!" Ed yelled back before turning back to the window and digging through his pocket. "I'm just not a penny pincher like you are."

He could practically hear the Colonel's depression as Al apologized for Ed's rudeness. Edward didn't much care. By now the Colonel knew he didn't mean half of what he said. At least not usually.

Ed extracted the coins from his pocket and was surprised to find exactly five hundred and twenty cens. It would be so easy to just hand it back to the Colonel and be done with it. He was already indebted to the man philosophically, did he really want to owe him money too?

But it was more than just money. To Edward, it was proof that Mustang was still alive.

His fist closed around the coins.

"I'm just gonna hold on to this," Ed said, glancing at Roy from the corner of his eye. "But I promise to pay you back when you become Fuhrer."

And suddenly Mustang was watching him. "Who told you?"

"Lieutenant Hawkeye told me," Edward confessed quietly. And what you plan to do after he silently added, though he couldn't bring himself to say it. "And she told me about Ishval too."

"I see," Roy said as his eyes returned to the road. Ed expected him to continue but he didn't. Silence filled the rest of the trip and Edward couldn't decide if it was comfortable or awkward. Eventually he determined it was on some indistinguishable middle ground.

The car pulled into the curb at the base of the Elrics' hotel. Ed climbed out, ready to leave without another word when Mustang called his name. No, called his title. What would it sound like to have the hard-nosed Colonel say his real name? The idea almost made him laugh. It would never happen.

Edward turned to face him, wondering just what exactly Mustang would say.

"You go ahead and keep that money," Roy said, his smirk filled with surety and confidence. "But you will pay me back."

It was so typical of the man that Ed couldn't help but smile just a bit.

"Alright. But when that day comes I'll just go ahead and borrow some more money. And pay that back when this country becomes a democracy." Ed's expression suddenly turned serious. He didn't want to leave any doubt that he meant exactly what he was about to say. "And when that day comes, I'll ask to borrow even more money from you."

Roy turned away and leaned on the steering wheel. His face took on a tired, almost pained expression. "You're not planning to let me off the hook for a very long time, are you?"

Somehow, Edward knew he was thinking about his plans for the Military Trial. He was thinking that, someday, he wouldn't be around for Ed to borrow any more money from. That made Edward mad. How dare he even think about running away like that?

"No." Ed said. "You get it?" I won't let you duck out like that you coward. "And you better not worry the Lieutenant either."

I need both of you. Al and I both do. So don't you dare leave us behind.

He slammed the door and took a small amount of pleasure in watching the Colonel jump. It seemed he finally realized what Edward was actually saying. Roy looked like he wanted to explain. To somehow justify what he was planning to do, but he didn't.

Edward raised his hand in the closest thing he would ever get to a salute. "Thanks for giving us a ride."

There was a pause when their eyes met and somehow an entire unspoken conversation passed between them.

Do you hear what I'm saying? You're not allowed to die. So don't even think it.

You know I can't promise that.

As long as you lend me money, that's promise enough.

That's hardly fair.

Since when has life been fair you bastard?

Roy laughed once and grasped the steering wheel again. I guess you're right, his actions seemed to say. Then for now, it's a promise.

"Sure," Roy said aloud. "See you later."

He put the car into gear and left. Ed's fist tightened around the coins he still held. It wasn't much, but those five hundred and twenty cens somehow felt like a fortune.

"Yeah," Edward said as the Colonel's car finally disappeared. "Later."

"Ed?" Alphonse said and Edward looked up with a grin. He stuffed the coins into his pocket and waved his brother towards the hotel doors.

"Come on Al. We've got some research to do."

"Ed." Al said again and Edward paused.

"What's up Al?"

"…You better take good care of those coins."

Edward's hand unconsciously drifted to his pocket and his smile fell just a fraction. "Yeah. I will." He glanced upward at the slowly darkening sky and just barely picked out the first evening star. "It's a promise."

End It's a Promise

Kaliea: I have no idea what's up with me lately. I've never written so many consecutive stories about a single genre before, at least not this quickly and never one-shots. I'm more of a 'go for distance' kind of writer. Still, Ed and Roy give me so many ideas that I can't help but write them down. Especially since they're such complete characters. In fact, all of the FMA characters are surprisingly complete. They're not just cardboard cut-outs put into an episode to fill space. They all have their own story, background, flaws, strengths and weaknesses. I think, in that way, Hiromu Arakawa is my idol. I can only hope that someday I'll be able to write characters like the ones in FMA.

But I'm totally acting all sentimental and whatever so I'll move on right now and say: Don't forget to review! Till next time, ja ne!