Perfectly Unperfect

3. You come to love not by finding the perfect person,
but by seeing an imperfect person perfectly.
~ by Sam Keen ~

~*~

General Roy Mustang was well known for seeking the companionship of a different, beautiful woman every night he had available but never taking anyone out a second time. He always played it off as looking for the perfect woman for him but really, he’d found the one for him long ago.

Of course, no one knew that not only was the one Mustang’s heart was so irrevocably attached to was in fact very male but also fairly flawed.

He thought it was the ideal charade to pull off; keeping the one he longed for in the darkest hours of night in the back of his mind where only his dreams were born and keeping up appearances by dating the most fetching females he could get his hands on. There was never a short supply of women willing to be his date or bed partner for the night and it helped distract him from the ever-gaping hole in his heart.

The Flame Alchemist made it a point to date women with dark hair and eyes as often as he could and found that it helped somewhat to keep his mind away from golden strands and gilded eyes that he just knew he’d never be able to have.

Besides, it was ridiculous wasn’t it? Wanting the Fullmetal Alchemist. At least, for him it was ridiculous.

In the beginning Mustang had let his pride speak for his mind, telling him that it was a preposterous notion for one such as him – good looking, charming, successful – to even feel attraction for one such as Edward who was childish, volatile and oftentimes rude on his best days. That wasn’t even taking into consideration the fact that –when he’d first considered the idea – the elder Elric had only been fifteen at the time.

Slowly, his opinion of the situation changed. Finally the blond had returned from the other world he’d been in for so long and Edward had come back more mellow, refined and mature. His small stature had disappeared to leave a man just as tall as himself and built just like his father. Golden hair was longer and brighter; golden eyes were deeper and even more resplendent.

Soon the General was telling himself that Edward would have no business being interested in him when there were far more appealing specimens out there. He’d come to terms with the fact that he was – in truth – getting on in years and despite the power he still wielded, in the military hierarchy and as an alchemist, he was perhaps too old for the young man.

During the times that his whole entourage went out for a night, he couldn’t help notice how much attention Edward received and it was no longer just for his fame as The People’s Alchemist. Mustang remembered in detail one of the first nights they’d all gone to the bar together after work and Edward had left with fistfuls of phone numbers from men and women alike.

His position as the most eligible bachelor in Central had swiftly been given over to the young blond.

Then a mission had come to him; one that was both almost unbearably long and extremely complex and dangerous. He’d known the minute he read the mission statistics that – despite how much he truthfully didn’t want to do it – Edward would be the best one for the situation. During his travels as an adolescent, Ed had come to make many acquaintances and after he’d been back in Amestris for a year, he was already an ambassador for the military of Amestris and had made several peace negotiations with other countries.

In the periodic mission updates he’d received from Fullmetal, he’d come to find out that Prince Ling was rather fond of the blond alchemist and had been pursuing a relationship with him. Edward had mentioned it along with an inquiry as to the regulations for relationships with officials and whatnot of other countries.

Many a thing had been set on fire that day.

Yet somehow, when the blond had finally returned, Edward told him – after he had bit the bullet and asked - that although Ling was extremely kind and an undeniably good catch there was someone else he’d had his eye on. Roy tried desperately not to feel overly jealous and failed miserably. Nothing more had been said on the subject for weeks afterward and Mustang simply assumed that Edward had caught whomever he had wanted.

Imagine his surprise when he’d opened his door to knocking at an impossibly late hour only to be shoved bodily back into his house and fervently attacked by the Fullmetal Alchemist. Edward was a beautiful display of gold and steel, the scars from his automail not detracting from his attractiveness in the least. It was a strong person that could live through all the blond had and an even stronger one to flourish and the oldest Elric had flourished wonderfully.

After that it wasn’t hard to understand exactly why he had been with so many seemingly perfect women. It was because the one that was perfect for him was completely un-perfect. Edward – though more mellowed out than in his younger years – was still prone to fits of violent anger and still possessed of a fiery and volatile personality. Even being as matured and refined as he was, there were still times that his childish side would rear its head. The blond was a male and over a decade his junior. Apart the two were unstable and chaotic and yet together, they had a weird sort of harmony that none but them understood and everyone could feel. There were so many flaws with the entire relationship and yet, it was the only thing that made him happy.

~*~