The Heart of the Mustang

Disclaimer: I don’t own FullMetal Alchemist (anime or manga), their world or any of the characters there within. I just like to imagine them in my own little world (which is totally of my imagining). No profits are made from this story, just gratuitous pleasure.

Summary: Edward is back from beyond the gate, but something is driving him and he can’t seem to settle down, no matter how hard Al and Winry try. Ed has secrets he can’t tell anyone. Sequel to At Fifteen.

Rating: NC-17

Warning Codes: angst, m/m, anal, oral, language, some minor violence, h/c, waff, yaoi, wip,

Pairings: RoyxEd

Author’s note: This story is set several years after Ed returns thru the gate. Al and Winry want him to come home, find a nice girl and settle down, but Ed has other plans. But he can’t seem to tell Al and Winry the truth of his situation. And something is driving him and he can’t confide in Roy about that, either. Ed is just full of secrets.

Feedback is appreciated. Your feedback is your gift to me. My gift to you is the story. I hope that you have enjoy reading it. Any comments left are welcome.

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My thanks to Amethyst-eyed Koneko , Exotic Rose83, Truly Wished and yaoigurl06 for the wonderful feedback. It all made me feel very good about my story. I hope that then next chapters are as well received.

To Truly Wished, well, you know, Roy does have that “f*** off and die’ attitude. I think he’s just showing his colors and marking his territory.
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The Heart of the Mustang


Part III

“Well, Roy, I guess you got your point across,” said Ed.

“Yes. They know it and there is no mistaking it. You belong with me, you are mine. And I intend to keep you, no matter how many times you run away from me,” Roy stated casually.

“I do not run away from you. I’m working. There’s a difference,” said Edward loftily.

“You run away,” said Roy, matter-of-factly, “because you know that if you were to tell me you were going, I would’t let you.”

“But I always come back,” said Ed. “And I’m always faithful to you.”

“Are you trying to tell me something?” asked Roy. “Do you think I have bed warmers while you’re away?”

“I never asked you to be celibate, Roy. Only not to fall in love with anyone else,” replied Ed softly, looking away.

“I know, and I’m only teasing you, love,” smiled Roy. “You know that you’re my only love. I would never take anyone else into my bed.”

“I know. I like it when you smile at me. It’s nice,” said Ed, leaning in to kiss his lover.

“Well, love, I said I’d help you take care of talking to them and get this all sorted out,” said Roy. “I’m not going to let them run over you. Are you going to be comfortable around them if I try to show you affection? I don’t want to distress you.”

“It would distress me more if you didn’t show me affection,” replied Ed. “We’ve been lovers for too long to act indifferently to each other. Besides, I really love you and I want them to know just how much I love you and what you mean to me, that you are not just some passing fancy. I want them to know that you are an important part of my life, and I don’t intend to part with you, not for anyone or anything.”

Roy stopped at a bench that was outside of the hotel and sat down, indicating to Ed that he wanted to talk for a moment.

“I was going to wait until after we’d seen them, maybe until Sunday afternoon, but hearing what you just said makes me realize I need to do this now,” said Roy, reaching out to take Ed’s left hand with one of his and reaching into a pocket of his coat with the other. “Edward, I would like to give you this as a token of my love and affection for you, and if you would consent to wear it, you would make me proud and very happy.”

Roy opened the small case to reveal a gold band nestled within. On the inside of the band were engraved the words ‘All of my love, forever, Roy’. He sat the case in Ed’s hand and waited.

“It’s beautiful, Roy. Of course I’ll wear it. Please, put it on for me?” asked Ed through a mist of tears.

Roy took the band, held Edward’s hand and slipped it on the ring finger of his left hand.

“With this ring, Edward Elric, I give you all of my love, I give you my heart and soul,” declared Roy, solemnly.

“And with this ring, I accept it gladly and return that love to you a thousand times. You already have my heart and soul, Roy Mustang, you always have,” replied Ed, then he paused for a moment. “So, does this mean we’re married now?”

“Well, legally, in the eyes of the law, no, but in our hearts, yes,” Roy answered him, giving him a kiss. “Now, you will always belong to me, no matter where you go or how far you roam. I know that you will always come home to me. Shall we go find our room? I’d like to order some champagne for when we return tonight.”

Roy stood and offered Ed his hand. Ed walked along happily, admiring the way the setting sun played on the soft gold sheen of the ring that now adorned his hand. His beloved Mustang was a never ending source of surprises, and this had totally surprised Edward. But he was very happy. And it was a beautiful ring, declaring their love to the world.

Roy checked them in while Ed wandered around the lobby in a bemused cloud of bliss. He felt very much like a blushing bride. When Roy came to get him, he couldn’t help but give him a kiss, much to the shock of most of the people in the hotel lobby, but Ed didn’t care. He was just too overflowing with happiness right now.

They checked out their room, took the time for a few more kisses and a cuddle, then it was time to go to Al and Winry’s for dinner. Ed was ecstatic to be taking his lover with him and was so glad Roy had said he’d come. Finally, Al and Winry would listen to him and understand and leave him alone to do what he had to do. Finally. Roy’ presence would make sure of that.

~*~

They arrived and the door opened before they could knock, Al inviting them in and showing them to the living room, acting as if nothing was amiss in his world. Roy and Ed sat next to each other on the couch, close, but not touching.

“Can I get you something to drink? We only have coffee, tea, juice, water, or I have a white wine, if you’d like that,” Al offered.

“Coffee, please,” Roy responded.

“Yes, the same for me, with a little milk and lots of sugar, please,” replied Ed.

“I’ll be right back,” Al told them. “Winry is just finishing up with dinner. It’ll be about ten minutes.”

As he disappeared into the kitchen, Roy reached over to squeeze Ed’s hand, then turned it to look at the light catching the gold of his new ring.

“Looks nice there, love,” he murmured softly.

“It feels nice there,” Ed replied, squeezing his hand back.

They sat holding hands until Al came back in with the coffee, then sat and listened to him talk about the girls until Winry announced dinner.

Dinner was pleasant, the food was good and the conversation cheerful. Ed decided that this was the best visit that he’d ever had with his brother and Winry. For once they weren’t trying to gang up on him and bulldoze him into doing something he didn’t want to do. Thanks to Roy’s commanding presence, the two didn’t stand a chance and they seemed to be admitting their defeat gracefully.

After dinner, Al suggested coffee in the living room and Ed knew it was going to be his time to talk. Tonight he would spill it all. With Roy to stand behind him, he would say everything that needed to be said and there would be no more running, no more hiding, no more demanding. Finally, he could just be allowed to be what ever he wanted to be, where ever he wanted to be and with whom ever he wanted to be with. It felt good.

He and Roy sat on the couch again and he took Roy’s hand in his, the light catching on his ring once more. He’d seen Al and Winry looking at it through out dinner and so he waited for their comments.

“Your ring?” asked Alphonse.

“Yes,” said Winry, pouncing on it. “You didn’t have that on when you first got here.”

“Roy gave it to me tonight, at the hotel,” Ed replied. “It is a token of his love and a sign of our union. I suppose you can consider this my wedding ring.”

The two just gaped, speechless once more. Were the shocks never going to end for them? Wedding ring? Marriage to Roy Mustang? What else?

“How… how long have you and General Mustang been together?” asked Al.

“Roy will do, Al. I’m here with Edward as his partner and we don’t need to be so formal,” said Roy.

“Ah, alright,” replied Al, feeling just a little uncomfortable, not sure if it was more at the request to call Roy by his given name or at the reference to him being Ed’s partner.

“Well, Roy and I have been seeing each other steadily every since I came back through the gate. I stay with him whenever I come to headquarters,” said Ed. “But we’ve actually been lovers since I was 15 years old.”

“Fif… fifteen?” asked Winry, shocked.

“But brother, that was when we were looking for the philosopher’s stone. I thought you’d always hated going to headquarters and reporting. You’d always said you hated seeing the Colonel, all the fighting and everything,” blurted out Al, his brow wrinkled, concentrating, trying to remember.

“Well, yes, at first I did, but things changed. He changed,” said Ed. “I changed.”

“But Edward, fifteen?” said Winry. “He seduced you when you were still underage, took advantage of the fact you were still a child?”

“No. Let’s get this straight. He didn’t seduce me. He never took advantage of me because of my age or naivety. Maybe, legally, I was underage, but, as he chose to put it at the time, if I was old enough to be a dog of the military, if I was old enough to kill or be killed in time of war, I was old enough to fuck, and to choose who I wanted to fuck,” said Ed rather bluntly. “I chose him.”

Winry gasped at his harsh words, and she and Al sat with shocked and disbelieving looks on their faces.

“Don’t be so crude, love,” Roy admonished him.

“I’m sorry,” Ed apologized, “but I’m not going to pull my punches any more. I’m going to tell you everything. I just wanted to make sure I had your attention.”

“Roy and I had sex when ever I came to headquarters during those years we were searching for the philosopher’s stone. And it was consensual. He never forced me, he never coerced me. I went to him of my own free will. I asked him the first time, he never approached me. Don’t ever think he was in the wrong in any way, because he wasn’t,” stated Edward.

“We saw each other as often as possible, whenever I was around. I think we got to be rather fond of each other. Whatever the case may be, we had a standing physical relationship and it was very good. He taught me how to enjoy my body,” said Ed, smiling fondly at Roy. “It was a good relationship we built and I got to know the man under that sneering façade, and I found out he was quite remarkable.”

“All those years, you’ve never said anything. You just let me go on thinking… I mean, about the Colonel… about how you felt… you’d always said you didn’t want me to come so I wouldn’t have to see you two fight, but it wasn’t fighting you didn’t want me to see, was it? It was… ” Al floundered. “Why didn’t you ever say anything?”

“What did you want me to say? ‘So, how’s it going Al? Oh, by the way, I’m gay and Colonel Roy Mustang is the one who popped my cherry. And we screw every chance we get.’ Something like that? I don’t think so. And just what would have been your response? ‘Hey, that’s great, brother. So, is he as good in bed as everyone says he is?’ I sincerely doubt it.

“I was fifteen years old, he was my commanding officer, almost twice my age, and he was screwing me every chance he got, every time I that I came to see him at headquarters. And I was letting him, encouraging him, wanting him. I wasn’t stupid enough to tell anyone about it. What would they have done to us?” Ed stopped in his tirade, aware of the shocked looks he was getting again. Roy simply smiled and squeezed his hand.

“But as far as what we have now, this is real. This is a relationship of our choosing, not just random sex acts, when it happens to be convenient for us. We’re together now because we love each other.” Ed stopped again for a moment. “Love. That’s something I didn’t have a lot of for a long time. After I went through the gate to get you back, well, I never told you about it, but I guess you really need to know, so here goes.

“I spent an eternity in a strange land, with strange people. Nothing was like what I was used to. I was there with a father I didn’t really know and didn’t particularly like. I had to learn a new language, new ways, my alchemy, my only way of life, was gone. I had nothing. I spent all of my time studying, searching for a way to get back home. Home to everyone and everything I missed, that I left behind. Everything I had gladly sacrificed for you.

“I refused to get close to anyone there, to form friendships, to have any kind of relationship, because I didn’t want to hurt those people when I left them. I didn’t want more people I was going to miss. So, I kept to myself for all of those years.” Ed stopped, the pain in his voice evident, his body shaking.

Roy put an arm around him and pulled him close, but said nothing, giving silent support. After a few moments, Ed resumed speaking.

“You want to know what the worst part was? When I finally came back, the first thing you said was ‘I did it! I finally did it. You’re back and I did it.’ And Winry, you said ‘Finally, Al can be happy, he did it, he brought you back.’ Those were the words that greeted me. It was a two way deal, you know, it wasn’t all you doing it, but you seemed to gloss over that fact. You were just so damned proud of yourself and your accomplishment. Is it any wonder I left as soon as I could?” He paused, trying to let the bitter edge leave his voice. After another few moments, he continued.

“So I went back to the military, the only other life I had ever known. And do you want to know the first thing that Brigadier General Roy Mustang said to me when I walked back into his office, back into his life after being gone for so long? ‘I missed you. I’ve been waiting for you, just like I said I would.’ And he kissed me and he held me so tight in his arms and all he kept saying was how much he had missed me and how happy he was that I had come back to him. Those words meant everything in the world to me.

“Roy took me home, and we talked. I told him what I wanted to do, and he said he would do what ever he could to help me, and he asked me to stay with him whenever I could. He understood my need to search for the answers to my question and he let me go.

“Huh. He says I run away from him, and I guess I do, in a way. But I always come back to him, when I’m tired, when I’m frustrated and when I’m just plain discouraged. I come back to him and do know what he says to me, every time that I come back? ‘I missed you.’ You never told me that, Al. You were only pleased with yourself that you made this great accomplishment.”

Ed stopped talking, and lay back against Roy with a heavy sigh, letting his eyes close and Roy closed his arms protectively around his chosen lover and kissed his neck, just under his ear. Ed sighed contentedly.

“All those years and I never knew about you and him. But I did, really, didn’t I? I knew all about it, once, before. And I was happy for you, then. It’s one of those things that I lost, and you never told me about it again. Brother, I’m so sorry. I never realized how terrible we’ve been to you. We were so happy at what we accomplished, so happy that we had you back with us, I guess we just never stopped to think about what you’d gone through, how hard you had worked, what you had and what you lost,” said Al. “But we wanted you to be near us because we loved you and we missed you.”

“Then why could you never say that?” demanded Edward, sitting up abruptly.

“We thought you knew,” said Winry, simply. “We didn’t realize we had to say it.”

Ed just sat and stared at her, several replies flashing through his mind, but none of them appropriate.

“Whatever. So, that’s the way it is with Roy and I,” Ed stated, leaning back into Roy’s warm embrace. Roy kissed his neck once more.

“It’s getting late, love. We should go,” he said softly.

“Yes, it’s been a long day, and I’m really tired,” said Ed.

“Alphonse, Winry, thank you for the wonderful dinner,” said Roy, standing and extending a hand to Ed.

“Yes, thank you,” said Ed.

“Brother, thank you for coming and for finally telling us what’s been bothering you,” said Al, standing as well and walking over to Ed. “Brother, I missed you.”

“Thank you, Al,” said Ed, putting his arms around his younger brother and hugging him tightly.

Winry walked over and put her arms around the two of them.

“Edward, I missed you, too, and I’m sorry that this is coming too late,” she said with a slow trickle of tears. “Why didn’t you ever tell us this before?”

“Because you never let him. You would never listen to what he had to say,” said Roy, reaching in to extract Ed from the group, pulling him into his own arms possessively. “Now, he belongs to me and I’ll be taking him home with me.”

“Roy,” said Ed, fondly, snuggling into his arms.

Alphonse and Winry stood looking hurt, but also slightly ashamed, knowing they had caused much of Ed's pain, but there wasn’t much they could say at this point.

“Why don’t the two of you join us at the hotel for lunch tomorrow?” Roy suggested. “It’s a buffet and I understand it’s quite good. How about 12:30? I’ll make reservations.”

“Yes, that would be nice, Gen… uh, Roy,” said Al. “We’d love to join you, wouldn’t we, Winry?”

“Oh, yes, that would be wonderful,” she agreed quickly.

“Good. Then we’ll see you tomorrow,” Roy nodded. “Come, love, I believe we have a bottle of champagne waiting for us back at the hotel.”

~*~

Al and Winry stood, still somewhat stunned as Roy and Ed walked out, hand in hand. This had definitely not been what they had expected. In fact, it was the last thing they would have ever imagined.

“He does look happy,” ventured Winry.

“Yes, he does,” agreed Al. “Well, at least he won’t be running from us anymore. Maybe now he’ll feel comfortable coming home, even if it’s just to visit.”

Al stopped talking and hugged Winry close to himself for several long minutes.

“Winry, how could he not have known how much we missed him? I just never thought that it was something I had to say. Ed was never one for open demonstrations of feelings when we were young,” Al said, confused.

“I guess being all alone for so long changed him. Changed him a lot. Well, I hope he’s happy with Mustang. That man better treat him well,” said Winry, ominously.

“I don’t think we have to worry about that. If what Ed says is true, they’ve been together for a long time,” replied Al. “Roy looks as if he really does care for brother. He did give him a ring, after all, and that’s something he never did with any woman. In fact, I don’t remember ever hearing about him staying with any one woman for any length of time at all. I just can’t believe I never saw it, though. All these years he was with the military and I never had a clue.”

“Yes, well, let’s go to bed, Al. It’s been a long day,” said Winry, tiredly.

~*~

Thanks for reading, hope your visit was a good one.