Trials Vol.1: The Sun Behind the Clouds

Disclaimer: A little spoiler hintage about Homunculi. I don’t own FMA. I don’t own Inuyasha either; you’ll understand when you read. More of the Anime will be imported in later chapters, and trust me, angst is coming!


Roy ran into the house, leaning over and breathing hard. He used to be able to run almost 10 miles nonstop and not even be winded. But then again, he was 21 when he could do that. Nearly twelve years and less than a mile later, he felt like he was going to pass out. Heaving deeply and wiping sweat from his brow, he searched around the living room and kitchen, finally going upstairs and finding Ed taking a nap. Roy stood in the doorframe, gazing at his lover’s profile. He almost fell in love with just Ed’s countenance; the fiery golden eyes that were now closed, the sweet breath that emitted from the slightly parted ruby lips, the now dry honey blond wavy hair that covered the pillows, and the soft babyish cheeks, which were slightly red from Ed’s dreams. Roy enjoyed watching Ed sleep, even though the boy woke up many a night crying and clutching at anything close to him that could bring him back into reality. Roy could sympathize, because his dreams also plagued him. It wasn’t often that either of them had a content night of sleep, even in each other’s arms.

Roy silently took off his sweaty wife beater and the military boots and stealthily crawled into bed beside Ed. Ed always slept in the middle of the bed; Roy supposed it was a tactic to wake the boy up if anyone were to sneak up on him while he was sleeping. However, Roy could easily lift Ed and move him over a few inches, just enough so that he could share in the bed space. Roy rested his head on Ed’s silk hair and stared at him until Ed shifted in his sleep and opened hazy eyes to meet the Colonel.

“Hey sleepy head,” Roy whispered, stroking Ed’s cheek. Ed gave him a blank stare. “Hey yourself,” he said, his face still blank. Roy leaned closer to Ed, placing his and Ed’s foreheads together. “I’m sorry for being such an asshole. Not just for today, but for the past six years,” he murmured, rubbing his nose against Ed’s face. Ed felt emotional, it was so out of character to hear ‘I’m sorry’ from Roy, and even more out of character for him to be so soft and gentle. It made Ed slightly uncomfortable. Roy placed a hand on Ed’s hip and brought it up slowly, stroking his thigh, then the stomach, then his auto mail, and plucked at one of the wires, causing Ed to jump a little. “Don’t do that,” Ed chided, and smiled. Roy smiled back and opened his arm for a hug. Wordlessly, Ed accepted and fell into Roy’s arms, and after a few slow smoldering kisses, the two of them fell back asleep entwined for a few more hours.

*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*

Back on base, Riza and Ramona were having their fill of Rush. The Speed Alchemist would NOT stop talking! She talked about Roy and Parker, about Roy and Ed, about how Ramona gained fifteen pounds by eating Moon Pies in the middle of the night, how Major Alex Louis Armstrong liked Ramona’s “chunky butt”, how she kept in shape by running twenty five miles a day, how Riza needed her roots re-dyed, how Elysia had a big head like her father, ect. Riza knew for a fact if Rush hadn\'t been the Colonel’s sister, she would have been strangled in her sleep by some of the officers by now. She did her best to keep Rush from Central, but was having some difficulty because...well, Alex did like Ramona’s chunky butt. So much so that she had caught them more than once playing kissy face, doctor, and don’t drop the soap behind the old firing range that no one used anymore. Well, no one but them. Ramona seemed to flourish with Alex, her curls seemed curlier, her brown eyes seemed darker, and her figure was never better. Riza was happy for her, but hated having to baby sit Rush.

Rush would tease Riza by calling her over to Roy’s house saying something was broken, or that the remote was missing, and then answer the door naked, her wide pink nipples totally erect, and her landing strip was a little moist, if you catch my drift. Riza could smell the spicy scent of sex on Rush, and wanted to ravage her and leave her lifeless body in a dumpster somewhere. Instead of doing that, she’d turn and go home to attend to the throbbing in her own groin and then try to focus on paperwork, the Homunculi, her pet llama, anything else but Rush. She had never discussed with Rush the reason behind why she left, wanting to permanently block out seeing her sweet, beautiful girlfriend under some sweaty, pimply faced private who probably hadn\'t had pussy since it had him.

On one such occasion that Rush attempted to seduce Riza, the actions made Riza snap. Glaring at her ex-lover, dressed only in a silk mandarin collar robe, she made a face of disgust and turned to walk away. Rush grabbed Riza’s arm, only to find herself pressed by her cheek against the wall with Riza’s forearm on the back of her neck, crushing her into the wall.

“Do you think it’s funny to lure me here, to watch my discomfort so that it can bring you some sort of sick pleasure?” Riza hissed, pressing Rush’s head harder into the wall when the woman struggled to get away. Part of her wanted to stroke the ebony curls, to hold Rush in her hands and love her the way they loved each other four years ago. Riza grabbed the front of Rush’s neck and held tighter as Rush’s dark brown eyes bulged out of her head. Riza moved to keep Rush from touching her speed array, lest she break free. Rush felt dizzy, and slowly stopped wagging around as the lack of oxygen began to affect her brain. “Bitch,” she gargled, then fell to the floor.

Rush opened her eyes slowly and recognized the ceiling of her bedroom. To her left was a very worried looking Ramona; to the right was a very embarrassed Alex Armstrong. “What happen-” Rush began, sitting up, but a wave of nausea hit her as she fell back to the pillow. Ramona ran over to the bed and took her sister’s hand. “Lie down Schelle, we think someone may have raped you. We found you naked on the living room floor and your neck is bruised kinda bad.” Rush touched her neck and tears came to her eyes. “I wasn’t raped,” she whispered, looking ashamed. Ramona and Alex both stared quizzically at her statement. “Riza did this to me, but I don’t think she meant to. She thinks I’m laughing at her, at her pain,” Rush finished, her chest heaving from crying. Ramona dropped Rush’s hand and frowned. She looked at Alex and he stood and nodded, patting Rush on the shoulder. “Miss Mustang, I hope you feel better,” he said in a low timbre. He winked at Ramona and made a gesture at her to call him later.

After Alex let himself out, Ramona turned and gave Rush a death stare. “Don’t look at me like that,” Rush mumbled and turned to cover her head. Ramona snatched the covers off her sister and pushed her. “You let Riza go four years ago. Why are you bothering her now?” Rush frowned and hopped out of bed. “I didn’t let her go. She left me. I came home and she was packing, and refused to talk to me. You know me Mona. I kiss no one’s ass, and I beg for nothing. We‘re Mustangs remember?” Rush finished hotly and flopped back on the bed, folding her arms. Ramona sat beside her and hugged her sister’s shoulders. “Maybe you should ask her to meet you for lunch instead of trying to seduce her,” Ramona suggested gently. Rush pouted. “Yeah I guess. But you call her for me. She almost snapped my neck,” she added, gingerly rubbing her bruised neck. Ramona smiled and patted her sister’s knee and went to call Riza for a truce.

Riza paced around her apartment anxiously. Ramona had called her, telling her how she found Rush on the floor, and how she knew Riza was responsible. She was worried, not because of what she did, but because Rush wanted to see her to ‘explain’ what happened four years ago. Memories that were long buried need not resurface again, but Ramona wanted them to make amends and hear each other’s sides. Riza walked to the window and saw Roy’s red Ford F-150 pull in her complex and knew the driver was Rush. Riza checked her outfit for the millionth time, adjusted the black pleated pants and the white button down oxford shirt. She re-tied the black and white polka dot scarf around her head and cleaned up her living room before hearing a soft knock on the door.

“Who is it?” she called, trying not to sound dumb. “It’s Rush,” was the reply on the other side of the door. Riza opened the door to face Rush, and gasped. The woman looked absolutely gorgeous. She was wearing a dark green v-neck halter-top that tied all the way around her neck that flowed over the white capri pants she was wearing. Her jet-black hair was straightened and had a green flower barrette on the left side of her head. The barrette matched the same green flower on her green sandals and her toes were freshly French tipped. There was a slight bruise on Rush’s neck, but the top of the halter covered almost all of the ugly purple marks. Riza was speechless. Rush tentatively smiled and motioned inside the apartment. “May I come in?” She asked, trying to be as polite as possible. Riza wordlessly nodded and moved aside. Rush looked around and smiled, remembering some of the things in the apartment from their old townhouse. She turned around and smiled at Riza, who was holding the doorknob.

“So Ramona said you wanted to talk.” Riza tried to keep the hope and uncertainty from her voice, but was unsure if she did. She sat on the couch away from Rush and looked away. Rush sat in the easy chair across from the couch. “You asked if you thought I was trying to seduce you to hurt you.” she gazed into Riza’s eyes, the hurt and pain mirroring her own. “Do you honestly believe me to be that methodical?” Riza shrugged and stood to fix a drink. “I used to not think so, but then I caught you...” her voice trailed off as she felt slender arms around her waist and smelled the beautiful aroma of cologne. “What did you catch me doing?” Rush whispered, holding on to Riza for dear life. Riza wrenched herself from Rush and walked away. “When I caught you fucking that private!” she spat, feeling her face heat up. Rush frowned in confusion. “Caught me? With a private?” she asked, bewildered. She shook her head at Riza, sitting down. “I never had sex with anyone but you. I remained truthful throughout our relationship, but I always had a feeling you wanted Roy more than me,” she said in a flat voice. Riza glanced over at Rush, who was looking away with her legs crossed and arms folded. She usually only did both of those together when she was about to cry.

Riza refused to feel sorry for her. “I found you, naked beneath that ugly bastard, and when I walked in, you looked straight at me and laughed,” Riza whispered the last few words, the hurt and pain coming back to her like a freight train. Rush shook her head again and stood. “I came here to be honest and to talk. Not to be accused of some strange lies,” she snapped, turning to leave. Riza turned and grabbed the back of Rush’s arm, where the Achilles array was. Suddenly, she realized something. Four years ago, she had grabbed Rush out of the bed with from the private with the same arm in almost the same spot...and the array wasn’t there.

*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>Short Flashback*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>

“Hey, what’s this gray scar on your arm?” Riza asked as she helped her girlfriend get into her strapless black dinner dress. Rush smiled and lifted her arm. “It’s an Achilles array; it helps to boost my speed while doing alchemic transmutations. Roy put it on me the day before he left to join the military. Ramona has one too in the same spot. Hers is of Earth and something else I think. I’ve had it ever since I was ten,” she bragged, flexing her arm. Riza laughed and pushed her arm, then bent to give her a gentle kiss. “Remember,” Rush said huskily, moving her hands over Riza’s body, “I have the Achilles heel. Don’t go feeling up my sister, and if you ever doubt who you’re dealing with, check my arm.” With a grin and a growl, Rush pounced on top of Riza, determined to make them late for the dinner with Roy and Parker.

*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*>*

Riza formed an O with her mouth and stumbled away from Rush, trembling and rocking. “It wasn’t you,” she whispered, staring at Rush. Bitter sobs came from deep within Riza’s chest and she fell to the floor, beating her fists into the Oriental rug. Rush dropped to her knees and cradled Riza as she sobbed. “It wasn’t you, it wasn’t you,” was all Riza could say. Rush felt hot tears of anger sting her eyes, as she held her usually strong lover on the floor of the apartment. She realized at that moment, someone had set her and Riza up, but for what purpose she didn’t know.

Roy awoke in bed a few hours later, happily entangled in Ed. Legs were criss-crossed, arms entwined, origami had nothing on the positions these two got in! He yawned and sighed, combing some of Ed’s hair away from his face, smiling at the boy. Hughes was right; humility was the way to the heart. Roy shook Ed gently, rousing him from his sleep. “Come on kiddo, we have to get back to Central before my sisters kill each other.” Ed smiled and yawned, rubbing his belly. He offered his hand to Roy for assistance getting up. Roy took his hand and helped him out of bed, grabbed the suitcases, and walked downstairs.

“And then I said, I fucked your mom,” Hughes stated, telling Pinako, Winry, Dim, and Al about some stupid confrontation in a bar. Winry’s eyes bulged as she chewed some of the leftover pancakes and sausage from breakfast. “I know that guy beat you up didn’t he?” she asked, really getting into the story. Hughes nodded, smiling and opened up his mouth to show a missing canine. “He knocked the piss outta me,” he said proudly, making everyone laugh. Roy and Ed came out on the porch with everyone and smiled. “Mrs. Rockbell, thank you for your hospitality,” Roy said, reaching in his pocket for a week’s military pay. “Oh no, Colonel. Hughes already-,” Winry was cut off by her grandmother’s hand over her mouth. “Thank you Colonel Mustang. We need the money,” Pinako stated, pushing Winry inside. Hughes looked sad as he walked to the convertible. “Thanks for putting up with us. Next time I come, I’ll bring my daughter, Elysia. She’d love your cooking!” Hughes called out to Pinako and waved. She waved at the men leaving, Hughes and Al in one car, and Roy and Ed in the other. Pinako shuffled inside to the kitchen to begin cleaning up her house. Winry walked into the kitchen and Pinako hugged her granddaughter tightly. “Are you happy for them?” she asked, studying Winry’s face. Winry nodded and smiled.


Roy and Ed returned several hours later to Roy’s house. Hughes promised to take care of Al, stating that Roy and Ed needed to talk. The trip home, however, had been minimal conversation; nothing important about their relationship had been discussed. Roy stopped periodically for Ed so he could pee, get donuts and Pepsi. Roy was still unable to ask Ed for his hand in marriage; he wanted the ambiance to be right, to have a ring and candles and Yanni playing on the surround sound. Asking for the love of your life to marry you in a convertible mustang speeding down the road wasn’t exactly romantic. Edward was beautiful and amazing, and deserved to be treated as such. Ed sat in silence, never looking over at Roy. Deep down, he was very frightened. His insecurities were beginning to take over his common sense, and he was beginning to doubt Roy’s feelings. He knew about Parker’s inability to conceive, and he couldn’t help but wonder if Roy was keeping him around just for the sake of the children. The thought of it brought tears to his eyes and he turned his head to rub at them so Roy wouldn\'t see.

“Are you all right?” Roy asked after four hours of silence. He didn’t stop to look at Ed, but his peripherals showed movement and he wanted Ed in no discomfort. Ed didn’t say anything, afraid that he would get choked up and cry. Roy said nothing, but pressed down on the gas faster to get Ed home.

Pulling into the circular driveway, Ed was awakened by screams. His body jolted out of slumber and realized that they were back at Roy’s house, and that Roy was screaming, jumping up and down and pointing at something. “That bitch! The fucking bitch wrecked my truck! I only had it for three weeks!” he screamed, pointing to a minute scratch on the gate of the truck. Rubbing his eyes, Ed stepped out of the car and examined the scratch. “You could buff that out,” he suggested, but Roy’s eyes went even wilder and his face went redder. “I KNOW THAT FULL METAL! IT’S THE PRINCIPLE THAT MY RETARD SISTER DIDN’T ASK PERMISSION TO USE MY SHIT!” Roy was so angry; he seemed to froth at the mouth. “Anyway,” Ed muttered and walked inside.

Ramona and Rush were at the kitchen table, eating what looked like biscotti and speaking in a strange foreign language. They stopped when he walked in and grinned at him. The smaller of the twins stood and extended her hand. “I’m Rush,” she said, batting her eyes demurely. Ed laughed and took her hand. “I’m Edward. Hi Ramona,” he said shyly, waving his auto-mail hand at her. She smiled and waved back. “You should probably know Roy is super pissed at one of you. Somebody scratched his truck and he’s out there having a shit fit over it.” Rush smirked and raised her hand. “It was me; I killed the truck, in the library, with the candelabra.” Ramona laughed and offered Ed a biscotti. Ed nodded and took it as the back door slammed open. Roy stood there, chest heaving and his head bent down. “Which one of you sluts did it?” he asked in a menacing tone. Ramona folded her arms over her ample chest. “Does it matter? What you gonna do Mustang? Not a damn thing,” she snapped, tired of her brother’s antics. Even when they were kids he didn’t like to share. He was a snitch too, always telling on the twins.

Roy looked as though he could incinerate both twins, but then smiled at the plate of biscotti. “Ae toumb wan fandango,” he said, speaking in the same strange language the twins had been speaking in when Ed came inside. “Her dishwash fick mokky doki,” Rush stated, snatching the biscotti from Roy’s grasp. Ed furrowed his brow and stared at the Mustang trio. “Mind telling me what the hell you all were just saying?” he asked moodily. He figured they were saying something about the biscotti, but being of nosy nature, he wanted to know what they were saying.

Roy laughed and walked over to Ed, kissing him on his temple. “My sisters developed their own language when they were really young, and by listening and trial and error, I eventually learned what they were talking about. I could talk to them openly about military situations, and only they would understand. Maes can speak it too, but not as well as we can.” Ed frowned and sat in the chair beside Rush. “Well it’s nice you all have your little language thing, but us English only speaking people prefer other English speaking people.” Roy rolled his eyes and shook his head. Ed could act so silly when he wanted to. He stood to stretch and yawn. He hugged both of his sisters and then Ed, stating he wanted to go and get a shower and check on things at Central.

After Roy’s shower, he lay down in his bed and closed his eyes. He felt something press down on the bed and lay next to him. Eyes still closed, he touched the arm beside him, noted that it was warm and touched the hair on the head. The hair was coarse and thick like his own, not fine and silky like Ed’s. “Rush,” he said, deeply sighing. He had hoped it was Edward that had come in to join him for a midday romp. Rush smiled and tapped her brother’s forehead.

“Listen bro, I have some news. Someone set Riza and me up four years ago.” Roy chuckled and turned to face his sister. “Yeah, I did slow-mo. Or did you forget?” he asked, pinching Rush’s cheek. She slapped his hand away and gave her a I’m-dead-fucking-serious look. “Someone who looked like me but isn’t Ramona posed as me to make her think I was cheating on her.” Roy sat up and looked at his sister like she was crazy. “A doppelganger?” he questioned, bewildered. Rush shrugged. “Either that or one of those Homunculi people things you and Maes told me about.” Roy scratched his head and fell back to the pillow, thinking. Homunculi were sometimes created from botched human transmutations. Roy had heard of an extremely old woman who could create homunculi and of a shape shifter by the name of Envy. He had never encountered either though, so they were like the philosopher\'s stone. Myth until proven actual. But still...Edward healed him under the cherry blossom tree with a...

“HELLO??!!” Rush shouted, smacking Roy in the forehead. The curled his upper lip at her and felt an overwhelming urge to bite her and howl. Too much Inuyasha on Adult Swim at night, he supposed. “I’ve been talking to you for the past five minutes and you\'re staring at me like you have Down Syndrome,” she snapped angrily. How dare Roy tune her out?! This was her and Riza’s relationship she was talking about. Roy grabbed some matches out of the dresser beside the blue vial of oil (ha ha) but before he could ignite a flame, Rush activated her array and was gone, almost as if she had vanished into thin air. Roy chuckled again to himself and rubbed his sore forehead. Looking at the clock, he sighed and hopped out of bed to put on his uniform and go to Central to get chewed out by Riza and do another Redwood of paperwork.

Ed was alone in the living room, his shirt rolled underneath his breasts, stroking his stomach. Rush and Ramona were both gone; they claimed they wanted to go shopping for the twins, but Ed suspected they went shopping for themselves. His twins were very active today, and he thought it was because their father hadn\'t played with them yet. Roy could always seem to calm the twins down by cooing softly to them, pressing spots on Ed’s stomach to see if the babies would respond, and laughing when the kicked Ed. He looked up when Roy entered the room, surprised to see him in uniform and with a red welt across his forehead. Roy looked at Ed and smirked to see him in such an intimate way. He walked over to Ed and kissed his soft lips slowly, taking in the full taste of his lover’s lips. He smiled under Ed’s return kiss and ran his hands over Ed’s torso, briefly cupping the soft round breasts and rubbing the belly that contained his children. Edward’s eyes sparkled happily as he wrapped his arms around Roy and held him close, kissing his neck and losing himself in the smell of Roy’s aftershave. Roy wordlessly took Ed’s human hand and kissed the palm, then rubbed his sore forehead with it.

“Tell me how you healed me under the tree,” he whispered, still rubbing his forehead with Ed’s hand. Instinctively, Ed snatched his hand away from Roy, and felt the same dread wash over him that he felt on the car ride home. The feeling that he was being used. “I told you,” Ed muttered feeling his face redden in anger. “I did NOT do a human transmutation on you.” Honey eyes met dark brown in a staring match, and as usual, Roy won. He took Ed’s hand again and placed it on his neck, where his pulse was. “I am warm today because of you. I breathe now because of you. I felt my spirit slip and I heard your screams. I saw my body below me and you kneeled over me. I was dead,” Roy whispered, looking deep into Ed’s eyes. “No!” Ed cried, and struggled to take his hand back. Roy refused to let go. “Yes, Edward. You brought me back. Tell me, did the red stone do it?” he asked in a low voice. Ed’s eyes widened at Roy’s last question.

He thought he was fast enough to put the red stone back in his safe hiding place before Roy awakened. Ed set his jaw line to keep from crying. “Get away from me,” he hissed, feeling stupid. How could he have allowed himself to sleep with the enemy? Roy again refused to let go. “I said get away!” Ed screamed, pushing Roy away with his auto mail arm. Roy hung his head and began to sob, his broad shoulders shaking. “I can’t let you go,” he whispered. “I saw the red light, the exchange was made.” Ed grew frightened. He never knew what Roy’s next move was, even though he had known him going on six years now. All this talk of exchange brought back memories of attempts to revive his mother, pain that at this moment, he was unable to combat.

Roy placed his lips on Ed’s bare stomach, kissing it gently. “I know you have part of if not a whole Philosopher’s Stone. And I know right now we aren’t even with the trade. I was dead, Edward. You restored my life. Now something is going to get taken away, and I fear that it is something painfully close to me.” Roy raised his head, tears in his eyes. He looked at Ed’s stomach, then at him. “My babies, so many of them have already died,“ he moaned, holding Ed and rocking back and forth. Ed shook his head wildly. “Shut up. Shut your fucking mouth! You weren\'t dead, no exchange like that had to be made!” he screamed, slapping Roy across the face. Roy’s cheek stung, and blood trickled from the cut on his lip. “Not me, not you, and not our children!” he shouted Roy‘s face, grabbing both sides of the man\'s head and pulling him close. Roy gave Edward a blank stare. “It’s equivalent exchange, Full Metal, and it happens ANY time you use alchemy,” he whispered and turned to leave. Edward clapped his hands and sealed all the locks on the windows and doors in the house.

“When we were in Risenmbool, you asked me to never leave you,” Ed stated coldly at Roy’s back. “Was that a one way street?” he asked, acid dripping from his tone. Roy shook his head and slumped his shoulders. “Keeping me here won’t stop the exchange,” Roy whispered, turning back around. He and Edward stared watery eyed at each other for a long time, until the doorbell rang. Ed clapped his hands and unsealed the locks, dreading the visitor at the door. It was Riza, and the look on her face was one of deep pain.

Roy opened the door and nodded at Riza, who noticed both of their tear streaked faces. “Should I come back?” she asked, really not wanting to interrupt whatever was going on. Roy shook his head and closed the door behind her. She sighed and looked at Roy. “I know who betrayed us. His name is Envy.” Roy knowingly nodded and moved to embrace Riza. She held her hand up to stop him. “There’s more,” she said fidgeting uncomfortably. “Parker is dead. Faith found her last night during that storm that was all over the country. She said it looked like someone...ripped her apart,” Riza whispered, then fell to her knees crying. “Faith heard everything, she was hiding in the medicine cabinet. Envy told her who he was and he asked her where Edward was and when she refused to tell, he...he,” Riza leaned forward, sobbing so hard she could barely breathe. Edward gasped and looked at Roy’s face, contorted in pain.

Roy gathered Riza off the floor and sat her on the couch and held her while she cried. He felt both guilt and relief at the news. He hoped that this was the equivalent exchange, the dead children and now the dead mother. He looked at Ed, hope in his eyes. Ed felt sickened by Roy’s reaction, and his own. He wanted Parker to die, and he wanted to be the only one in Roy’s life. It always seemed that through alchemy, wishes were granted, and lives were taken. Ed ran away and threw up in the bathroom while Roy held Riza and stared out he window at the fresh mist that was now falling.


>I almost cried while doing this. It was emotional and drawn out, but I finished the chapter. Evny will play a HUGE part in this whole story and be paitent if you dont understand things. By the end of this story, you\'ll get all of it.