Regrets- Part 5 of 5: "Many Meetings" (Mustang x Hughes)
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Title: Many Meetings
Author/Artist: SeaweedOtter
Characters: Roy Mustang x Maes Hughes
Rating: PG for some bad words
Disclaimer: Set around Episode 25. The last time Roy talked to Hughes, got angry and slammed the phone. There was no way he could tell him goodbye.
Copyrights: I dont own the characters, of course.
Dedicated to rhapsodyangel who gave me another damn plot bunny! I hope you like it! (Now go write me some Hughes x Mustang pr0n!!!) :)
Read all five parts of the story arc HERE!
There was a bright light. Everything was blinding white at first, and he reflexivly squinted his eyes.
Wait... Eyes? He blinked. Once, then twice. He could feel them both blinking. Two perfectly good eyes. He ran a hand over his face. Gone were the scars from years of being a dog of the military. They were soft and smooth. No longer were his thumb
and first finger calloused and charred from countless snaps of his fingers that sent hundreds of people to thier graves.
Things started to come into focus. It was still bright white, but he started to make out shapes. There were blobs at first, then, slowly, colors came into view. Red and white, and that distinctive gold-green that he had known so well.
Known so well from where?
Gold-green.
The color... of *HIS* eyes.
He tried to open his mouth but nothing came out. The form in front of him was just starting to come into focus. Just in time for him to see a fist closing the distance to his face.
"You....... IDIOT!!"
*SMACK*!
He felt it, his body jerked and reacted to it, but it didn't hurt.
"What the-"
He didn't even have time to finish what he was going to say, when two long arms wrapped around him, holding him tight. He knew that smell. That touch. That voice.
"M-m-m-Maes?" His voice was soft and hoarse at first.
He felt the head buried on his shoulder. He felt the slight scruff of the beard that had always been there. They stood there, for a while, not even looking at each other, just shedding little tears of joy. As soon as Roy came to his senses and figured out that they were two men who were embracing each other, a flush of embarassment came to his cheeks and he broke away from the hug. Quickly he looked around, scared for a moment that someone would see them, or worse- come after them. Grown men just didn't hold each other like that.
"It is okay, Roy. Where we are, it doesn't matter." Maes, as usual, was smart enough to know what had bothered Roy all of a sudden. As Roy looked around, he still didn't see much more than bright whiteness, although he noticed now that Maes was wearing a very handsome looking pinkish red shirt with a white jacket over it, and white pants. He even had his glasses on, although they looked like there were more there as a force of habit.
Maes pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, I don't need em. But I just got so damn used to them. I feel naked if they aren't there."
A shiver ran thru Roy's spine. Naked. Oh whomever the merciful overseer was, he missed seeing his lover naked. No sooner had that thought finished going through his head then he noticed that Maes had a huge smile on his face. It was a very mischevious smile, like he had read exactly what Roy had been thinking.
"I am sure that brought some nice thoughts to your brain, didnt it?" He gave Roy a little wink, which only made him blush harder. He wondered for a second if he could create flames here and give Maes a little singe as payback. But.. where was here?
"Where.. where am I?" Roy asked, his voice still weak.
"Where do you think, you goof?"
"I.. don't know. I didn't believe in God, or in Heaven. So I certainly don't deserve to go there, if that is where I am." Roy couldn't imagine that this would be anywhere else. Or maybe he was going to have Maes taken away from him again, and this was just a cleverly disguised Hell. He wouldn't rule that possibility out yet.
"Well, it isn't Hell, if that is what you are worried about," seemingly reading Roy's mind for the third time. "But why, Roy? Why did you do it? You were gonna be Fuhrer, ya know."
"Why did I do it?" Roy's voice got stronger with every word. "Why? You should know why, you idiot! I missed you, damnit. I fucking missed you! I couldn't hear your voice, or smell that silly aftershave you always wore, or feel that beard you never
let grow in! Why the hell do you think I did it!" Roy grabbed Maes' shirt and shook him a little, tears welling in his eyes.
He finally let go and buried his head in Maes' chest, balling up his fists and soaking his pink shirt with tears.
Maes didn't say anything for a while. He just let Roy cry. He was crying for years that he had never been able to, and it took quite a while for him to get all of those long pent up emotions out. Maes simply held him close, wrapping his arms around him again and gently pressing him close to his body.
"Shhhh. It will be alright" Maes said in a soothing, almost fatherly tone, while softly rubbing Roy's back with the flat of his hand in little circles. "We have an eternity together. Take your time. This place takes some getting used to."
Roy finally looked back up to his one time lover, his eyes red and tear stained. "An eternity? But... Gracia.." He was already thinking of the future, whenever it was going to be, that Gracia slipped from the mortal coil. And he guessed that she would join her husband in wherever they were now.
"When it comes to her time, she will be here. But I will be here as well, as will you. And there will be no jealousy, no hatred, just love, and togetherness." It was a rather cryptic answer from a normally straightforward man, and it confused Roy for a bit. It would be hell if he had to lose Maes again. He couldn't bear to do it. Maes seemed to sense the confusion, yet again. "Just believe me when I say that neither of you shall want for love or attention. " Roy didn't understand, but for some reason, he did believe him.
"I noticed where you shot yourself." Maes turned serious for the first time. "Right in the gut. Right where... I had been shot." He bowed his head, and had to push his glasses up on his nose again to stop them from falling. "You didn't know this, but Hawkeye found you. She was worried when you hadn't come into work the next day. You hadn't done a very good job trying to kill yourself, and you lingered, in and out of death for over a week. They all came to see you, Hawkeye, Breda, Havoc, Falman, Al, Scheska, even Winry. When you finally... died, it was a relief to them. They had seen how much you had suffered. You had been suffering for close to 20 years, ever since the Ishbal Rebellion. I saw it too, while I was down there. It had been slowly eating away at you, and when you finally passed on, you were at peace. They saw it in your face. They were sad, but they were very happy as well. I guess they knew you were coming up to meet me. "
Roy had been looking down at... well, it wasn't really ground, but whatever the whitness was that they were standing on. He sniffled again. "I... missed you, Maes. I loved you the whole time, after you were gone. I was never with anyone else."
"I know. I guess you could tell by what I just said, that.. we can watch from up here. We don't feel pain, or regret, jealousy or hatred up here. But.. when you shot yourself.. I.. felt it. I don't know how, but I did. I... hurt."
They were silent for a minute more. "You are an idiot, you know." Maes said softly. "For killing yourself. Up here, we can see what may be. The future is always changing, but we can see the future as it is at the moment. And right before you killed yourself, you were going to be Fuhrer, and soon."
"Right now, I don't care. I am back, with you." He looked up at Maes, and saw the hurt in those gold-green eyes.
"Don't care? Isn't that what we both worked for? You wanted to be Fuhrer and I wanted to help. And now, that was all for nothing." He could see Maes starting to tear up again. But then, he got quiet. Maes looked like he was staring into the distance for a few moments, then he blinked and looked back at Roy.
"Hm, an interesting series of events, that." He said crypically again. When Roy shot him a confused look, he pushed up his glasses and explained. "Well, since you died, Riza now wants to continue where you left off. I was looking forward a bit. The future looks good for Amestris, with thier first ever woman Fuhrer, and an extended time of great peace. Perhaps we did get what we were searching for, just not in the way we expected. I have found that it works out that way alot up here." He had that same smile that he had been wearing a few moments before.
"I love you, Maes."
"I love you too, Roy. And it doesnt matter up here. We have no one to hide from. We dont have to be scared of what people think, or worry about holding hands. You have nothing to worry about. I will always be here for you, my idiot."
They had all the time in eternity now. And as much as Roy's mind raced about what could be done now that he had been reunited with his lover, all the places he could kiss and explore, for some reason, he wasn't in any hurry. They just held each other
for a while. And all that time, far away in Amestris, history was about to be made.
Title: Many Meetings
Author/Artist: SeaweedOtter
Characters: Roy Mustang x Maes Hughes
Rating: PG for some bad words
Disclaimer: Set around Episode 25. The last time Roy talked to Hughes, got angry and slammed the phone. There was no way he could tell him goodbye.
Copyrights: I dont own the characters, of course.
Dedicated to rhapsodyangel who gave me another damn plot bunny! I hope you like it! (Now go write me some Hughes x Mustang pr0n!!!) :)
Read all five parts of the story arc HERE!
There was a bright light. Everything was blinding white at first, and he reflexivly squinted his eyes.
Wait... Eyes? He blinked. Once, then twice. He could feel them both blinking. Two perfectly good eyes. He ran a hand over his face. Gone were the scars from years of being a dog of the military. They were soft and smooth. No longer were his thumb
and first finger calloused and charred from countless snaps of his fingers that sent hundreds of people to thier graves.
Things started to come into focus. It was still bright white, but he started to make out shapes. There were blobs at first, then, slowly, colors came into view. Red and white, and that distinctive gold-green that he had known so well.
Known so well from where?
Gold-green.
The color... of *HIS* eyes.
He tried to open his mouth but nothing came out. The form in front of him was just starting to come into focus. Just in time for him to see a fist closing the distance to his face.
"You....... IDIOT!!"
*SMACK*!
He felt it, his body jerked and reacted to it, but it didn't hurt.
"What the-"
He didn't even have time to finish what he was going to say, when two long arms wrapped around him, holding him tight. He knew that smell. That touch. That voice.
"M-m-m-Maes?" His voice was soft and hoarse at first.
He felt the head buried on his shoulder. He felt the slight scruff of the beard that had always been there. They stood there, for a while, not even looking at each other, just shedding little tears of joy. As soon as Roy came to his senses and figured out that they were two men who were embracing each other, a flush of embarassment came to his cheeks and he broke away from the hug. Quickly he looked around, scared for a moment that someone would see them, or worse- come after them. Grown men just didn't hold each other like that.
"It is okay, Roy. Where we are, it doesn't matter." Maes, as usual, was smart enough to know what had bothered Roy all of a sudden. As Roy looked around, he still didn't see much more than bright whiteness, although he noticed now that Maes was wearing a very handsome looking pinkish red shirt with a white jacket over it, and white pants. He even had his glasses on, although they looked like there were more there as a force of habit.
Maes pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, I don't need em. But I just got so damn used to them. I feel naked if they aren't there."
A shiver ran thru Roy's spine. Naked. Oh whomever the merciful overseer was, he missed seeing his lover naked. No sooner had that thought finished going through his head then he noticed that Maes had a huge smile on his face. It was a very mischevious smile, like he had read exactly what Roy had been thinking.
"I am sure that brought some nice thoughts to your brain, didnt it?" He gave Roy a little wink, which only made him blush harder. He wondered for a second if he could create flames here and give Maes a little singe as payback. But.. where was here?
"Where.. where am I?" Roy asked, his voice still weak.
"Where do you think, you goof?"
"I.. don't know. I didn't believe in God, or in Heaven. So I certainly don't deserve to go there, if that is where I am." Roy couldn't imagine that this would be anywhere else. Or maybe he was going to have Maes taken away from him again, and this was just a cleverly disguised Hell. He wouldn't rule that possibility out yet.
"Well, it isn't Hell, if that is what you are worried about," seemingly reading Roy's mind for the third time. "But why, Roy? Why did you do it? You were gonna be Fuhrer, ya know."
"Why did I do it?" Roy's voice got stronger with every word. "Why? You should know why, you idiot! I missed you, damnit. I fucking missed you! I couldn't hear your voice, or smell that silly aftershave you always wore, or feel that beard you never
let grow in! Why the hell do you think I did it!" Roy grabbed Maes' shirt and shook him a little, tears welling in his eyes.
He finally let go and buried his head in Maes' chest, balling up his fists and soaking his pink shirt with tears.
Maes didn't say anything for a while. He just let Roy cry. He was crying for years that he had never been able to, and it took quite a while for him to get all of those long pent up emotions out. Maes simply held him close, wrapping his arms around him again and gently pressing him close to his body.
"Shhhh. It will be alright" Maes said in a soothing, almost fatherly tone, while softly rubbing Roy's back with the flat of his hand in little circles. "We have an eternity together. Take your time. This place takes some getting used to."
Roy finally looked back up to his one time lover, his eyes red and tear stained. "An eternity? But... Gracia.." He was already thinking of the future, whenever it was going to be, that Gracia slipped from the mortal coil. And he guessed that she would join her husband in wherever they were now.
"When it comes to her time, she will be here. But I will be here as well, as will you. And there will be no jealousy, no hatred, just love, and togetherness." It was a rather cryptic answer from a normally straightforward man, and it confused Roy for a bit. It would be hell if he had to lose Maes again. He couldn't bear to do it. Maes seemed to sense the confusion, yet again. "Just believe me when I say that neither of you shall want for love or attention. " Roy didn't understand, but for some reason, he did believe him.
"I noticed where you shot yourself." Maes turned serious for the first time. "Right in the gut. Right where... I had been shot." He bowed his head, and had to push his glasses up on his nose again to stop them from falling. "You didn't know this, but Hawkeye found you. She was worried when you hadn't come into work the next day. You hadn't done a very good job trying to kill yourself, and you lingered, in and out of death for over a week. They all came to see you, Hawkeye, Breda, Havoc, Falman, Al, Scheska, even Winry. When you finally... died, it was a relief to them. They had seen how much you had suffered. You had been suffering for close to 20 years, ever since the Ishbal Rebellion. I saw it too, while I was down there. It had been slowly eating away at you, and when you finally passed on, you were at peace. They saw it in your face. They were sad, but they were very happy as well. I guess they knew you were coming up to meet me. "
Roy had been looking down at... well, it wasn't really ground, but whatever the whitness was that they were standing on. He sniffled again. "I... missed you, Maes. I loved you the whole time, after you were gone. I was never with anyone else."
"I know. I guess you could tell by what I just said, that.. we can watch from up here. We don't feel pain, or regret, jealousy or hatred up here. But.. when you shot yourself.. I.. felt it. I don't know how, but I did. I... hurt."
They were silent for a minute more. "You are an idiot, you know." Maes said softly. "For killing yourself. Up here, we can see what may be. The future is always changing, but we can see the future as it is at the moment. And right before you killed yourself, you were going to be Fuhrer, and soon."
"Right now, I don't care. I am back, with you." He looked up at Maes, and saw the hurt in those gold-green eyes.
"Don't care? Isn't that what we both worked for? You wanted to be Fuhrer and I wanted to help. And now, that was all for nothing." He could see Maes starting to tear up again. But then, he got quiet. Maes looked like he was staring into the distance for a few moments, then he blinked and looked back at Roy.
"Hm, an interesting series of events, that." He said crypically again. When Roy shot him a confused look, he pushed up his glasses and explained. "Well, since you died, Riza now wants to continue where you left off. I was looking forward a bit. The future looks good for Amestris, with thier first ever woman Fuhrer, and an extended time of great peace. Perhaps we did get what we were searching for, just not in the way we expected. I have found that it works out that way alot up here." He had that same smile that he had been wearing a few moments before.
"I love you, Maes."
"I love you too, Roy. And it doesnt matter up here. We have no one to hide from. We dont have to be scared of what people think, or worry about holding hands. You have nothing to worry about. I will always be here for you, my idiot."
They had all the time in eternity now. And as much as Roy's mind raced about what could be done now that he had been reunited with his lover, all the places he could kiss and explore, for some reason, he wasn't in any hurry. They just held each other
for a while. And all that time, far away in Amestris, history was about to be made.