Trials Vol.1: The Sun Behind the Clouds

Disclaimer: I don’t own crap. Actually, I had something repossessed today:( Just kidding. But I don\'t own FMA. Only bootleg copies.

“Da-da,” Cillian slobbered, walking wobbly over to Roy. Roy smiled and reached for his son, chuckling when the cubby boy fell a few times before reaching him over on the couch. Cillian clapped his hands and placed a soggy, graham crackery hand in his father’s hair.

“No, no, daddy just washed his hair,” Roy cooed, pulling his son’s hand out of his hair. Cillian stared at him, turning red. “DA-DA!” he screamed, grabbing Roy’s hair and pulling hard. “Damnit!” Roy yelled, nearly dropping Cillian. Ed smirked in the doorway, holding a sleeping Cori against his chest. “Can we trade?” Roy asked miserably. Ed clicked his tongue and placed Cori down carefully on the other couch across the room and covered her with a thin blanket. He took the drool covered baby, changed his wet shirt and wet pamper, and began to hum and rock him to sleep. Roy stared amazed that Ed got both kids to sleep within twenty minutes, something he couldn’t do in two hours. Ed placed the baby on the opposite end of Cori and wrapped him in his own blanket, leaning down and kissing both babies on their foreheads. Then he quietly clapped his hands together, causing the springs in the couch to come out and make a half circle around the couch to contain the babies, lest one of them rolls off the couch again (damn Roy for falling asleep and letting Cillian bump his head!) and land on the floor.

Wordlessly, Ed took Roy by the hand and let him to the Red Room and lay down with him on the bed. He propped his head up on his arm and stared silently at Roy, waiting for him to speak.

“Envy visited us the night you had the twins,” Roy said after about ten minutes of silence, not looking at Ed.

“I know.”

Brown and gold met again for another classic stare down, but after months of losses, gold finally won! Roy shifted his eyes away from Ed in shame, knowing that all of the sleepless and restless nights could have been avoided, especially since ED KNEW!!!!!

“How?”

Ed smiled and turned over onto his stomach. “Don’t think that you were the only one who Envy talked to that night.” He placed one of the red satin pillows carefully under his head and offered one to Roy. “I saw a fireball hit the oak tree out front and I saw a blonde headed girl jumping away. I didn’t attack her or anything; I just watched her go. For a moment, I thought you were cheating on me, you cad,” Ed teased, poking Roy on the tip of his nose.

Roy stared at Ed, amazed that he missed all of that, that small sweet face and golden eyes staring out the window at Envy. How could he, trained in tactical and stealth abilities, he, a fucking military COLONEL, he, smarter than the average bear not notice his FIANCEE hanging out of a window that was right over his head? “I feel like Corky again,” Roy whined, pouting his lips. Ed grinned. “Good. I’m glad when I make your self-esteem drop. I realized quick it was Envy when I threw a book at him and hit him in his stomach. He changed in to his “normal” ugly form and came over, and told me that things aren’t what they seem or objects are closer than they appear or something like that.”

Roy nodded, relieved that Envy hadn’t tried to reciprocate and attack Ed or Cillian. “What do you think it all means,” he asked, studying Ed’s face. Ed shrugged. “Something. Anything. Nothing. Who cares? As long as he isn’t trying to hurt us, then it’s all good.” Roy shook his head. “There’s something else, Edward.” Ed looked into Roy’s eyes, alerted by the fact he called him Edward. Edward, as in listen up because what I have to say is important and I’m only gonna say it once.

“I think that Dr. Faith is really that Dante woman.”

Roy stood; slightly dizzy from the blow Ed delivered upon his not quite healed concussion. “What the hell?!” he cried out, holding the back of his fast swelling head. Ed was on the other side of the bed, chest heaving and face reddening. “YOU-YOU LET THAT OLD WHORE TOUCH ME!!! OUR CHILDREN?!!! YOU LET THAT TRAMP CUT ME OPEN?!!”

Roy spread his hands out. “I DIDN’T KNOW IT WAS HER UNTIL AFTER YOU GAVE BIRTH! Hell, I’m still not a hundred percent sure,” he added, lowering his voice. “I realize what she did to your family and all, but she didn’t exactly hold a gun to your father’s head. It was his decision to leave you all.“ Roy instantly regretted the harsh words. He was known for putting his foot in his mouth.

Ed’s glare could have made hell freeze. Roy returned the same icy glare, figuring now was not a time to show weakness; so there they stood, glaring at each other until familiar cries from the living room signaled that the babies were awake and probably hungry. Roy walked past Ed, bumping into him as he headed toward the living room to get the babies. Ed placed his hands on his hips and sighed; worried about the information Roy had just given him. Biting his lips and frowning, he turned and walked to the living room to assist Roy with the babies.

Isis and Evergreen stepped out of the jeep, which was now parked in front of Central headquarters. They adjusted their clothes, which consisted of green, and black colored silk kimonos and black slippers. Evergreen wore a traditional green sheer cloth around her mouth but Isis had none, since she was past the age of marriage. They walked to the front of the building, ignoring the whispers and glances they received from the military personnel on staff.

“I need to speak with either Major Mustang or Major Hughes,” Evergreen said to the woman at the front desk (who today just happened to me one, Riza Hawkeye). Evergreen’s eyes narrowed as the woman chuckled and covered her hand. “Is there something funny?” Evergreen snapped. Five days in a hot car with your bitch cousin was not a great way to spend a week. Besides, how dare this...this GIRL laugh at royalty. Didn’t she know who Evergreen was? Riza composed herself and gave an apologetic look to the women.

“I meant no offense, but Mustang is now Colonel Mustang and Hughes is a Second Lieutenant. Obviously you haven’t spoken to either of them in years,” Riza trailed off, narrowing her eyes. Then she snapped her fingers. “Evergreen Shimo!” she declared and outstretched her arms. Evergreen was taken aback. “Oh. I’m sorry. You don’t even know me. Roy told me so much about you when he was stationed in Ishbal...” she trailed off again and blushed, realizing that a great deal of Evergreen’s people had been murdered in the massacres and probably didn’t want to be reminded of it. Evergreen smiled genuinely at Riza and nodded her head. “Yes, I owe a great deal to Roy and Maes. They mentioned you, but I don’t want you disliking me so I wont repeat what they said,” she grinned widely, keeping her laugh in when Riza’s face fell.

“So anyway, where are they?” Isis snapped, bringing Riza and Evergreen out of their friendly talk. Riza picked up the phone and placed a call. “They should be here momentarily. They had to find someone to watch the kids,” she said more to herself than to Isis and Evergreen. Then picking up a thick stack of papers, she walked up the oak steps, leading to the upstairs offices. “Wow, she was sort of a bitch,” Isis mused, picking at her fingernails. Evergreen smiled. “No she wasn’t. You were just left out of the conversation.” She pulled her cousin by the sleeve over to a small waiting area with couches, a television, and a coffee maker. She poured both of them a cup of coffee and drew a transmutation circle on her cup. Placing her hand on it, she froze the coffee enough so that it became ice slush. She stared at the ice for a moment and then swallowed it all in one gulp, happy that she wasn’t like other people who got headaches from swallowing too much ice at once.

Roy’s mustang tore into Central’s parking lot, nearly running over some of the new recruits. They started after the cherry red convertible but quickly fell back when they realized who it was that nearly killed them. Roy had an insane look on his face and glared at the people who were approaching his car. He smiled to himself when he saw the looks of fear and contempt and visually challenged them. Of course, the challenge was unaccepted. He walked inside of the air conditioned building to see two women, one caramel complexioned and one more of a lighter olive skinned complexion and both adorned in green and black kimonos in the small waiting area to the left of the stairs.

“Well, well, well, I’ll be an Amestrian whore,” he said, holding both arms outstretched and embracing the two women. Isis appeared less than thrilled to be in the Colonel’s grip, but Evergreen was entranced by Mustang. “Roy, what a handsome man you’ve grown up to be,” she gushed, running her hands over his chest. Roy blushed and straightened out his jacket, mumbling some strange quotes and one-liners about ’becoming a stud’ and whatnot. Evergreen smiled and laughed, batting her emerald eyes bewitchingly at the Colonel for a stretch of time before Isis loudly and angrily coughed. Not even looking at her, Roy pulled an after dinner mint out of his pocket and offered it to her. Isis gave Roy a cold look and prepared to freeze him when she heard a loud clinking noise behind her.

“Yes, sir, Mr. Elric, I can have those last few volumes of that alchemy book you needed typed and ready by tomorrow night,” Sheska said to Al as they walked through the foyer. Al nodded, adjusting the weight of the books he was carrying for Sheska. Ed had called him not long ago screaming that he needed an alchemy book to read, which really meant he and Roy had gotten in an argument and he needed something to do instead of transmute Roy’s clothes into strings of cotton and polyester like he did the last time they fought.

Evergreen and Isis’s mouths both dropped open at the sight of Al. “Excuse me,” Evergreen murmured to Roy and walked up to the giant metal man. Al stopped walking and stared down at the pretty faced dark skinned woman who boldly approached him. “Um, hello?” Al said, posing the greeting more as a question than a statement. Evergreen looked up at him and smiled sweetly. Then she frowned. “You aren’t the Fullmetal Alchemist.” Al shifted the books again. “You’re right, I’m not. But he’s my brother.” Evergreen nodded and placed a hand on Al’s metallic arm. Their eyes connected for a moment before Evergreen blushed and turned away. Al and Evergreen walked back over to Roy and Isis, who were chatting and catching up the latest gossip from the Xing.

“Where is my brother?” Al asked, placing the stack of books on the table. He looked at Roy and was alarmed by the silence. “Did you two get in a fight again? Did he use all the hot water? Did he not want to watch the kids? Or is this another lover’s spat?” Al noticed Roy’s eyes darting back and forth from him to the women, signaling for him to shut up too late. Isis and Evergreen frowned and stared at Roy, who was turning red and sheepishly scratching his head.

“Lover’s spat?”

“Kids?”

Roy shrugged and smiled. “I’m engaged to Al’s brother.” Evergreen smiled but Isis frowned. “I always knew you were a sugar cookie.” Evergreen slapped her cousin’s arm and embraced Roy. “That’s wonderful! Especially that Ed accepts your kids.” Roy gave another sheepish grin. “He’d have to; they came out of his belly.”

Al couldn’t reach for the ohimesama soon enough as she fell and hit the ground, her green and black silk kimono wafting behind her. “She’s the third person to faint after hearing about Ed,” Roy said sadly and shook his head.
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When Evergreen came to, she was a handsome blonde in a red cape sitting next to her on her left and at the foot of the bed she was lying on were two black haired children with two sets of bright golden eyes staring at her. She struggled to sit up, but dizziness overcame her and she fell back on the warm, comfortable bed. Closing her eyes for a moment, she sighed and opened them, facing the blonde.

“You must be Edward.”

“Must I be?” he joked and reached out to fluff her pillow. He put a cold compress on her head and shooed away the children who were mesmerized by the pretty dark skinned woman in their bedroom.

“Where are Roy and Al?” Evergreen whispered, her tongue feeling thick. She hated fainting because she always managed to hit her head and make it worse. Ed patted her hand. “They’re both in the living room. My brother seems quite taken by you, but he’s always like black women. Even when we were kids, there was this black lady that lived down the road from us and he would always go to her house, pretending to be injured. She’d always give him cookies and tell him how cute he was,” Ed said sadly, looking at the framed picture of Al on the wall. “That picture was taken a few weeks before our mother died,” Ed spoke in a low voice. Evergreen smiled at the chubby blonde haired boy with wide brown eyes. He looked so darling and sweet.

“Fullmetal isn’t irritating you, is he?” Evergreen looked toward the door to see Roy who was now holding the squirmy active children in his arms. Ed frowned at Roy but was quickly pacified by a loving and gentle kiss on the lips followed by a feathery caress on his cheek. “Greenie, this is Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist and also fiancee and mother of my babies. Ed, this is Evergreen Shimo, successor to the Shimo Dynasty throne of the Xing.” Ed’s eyes went wide at the mention of royalty and quickly bowed his head. Evergreen smiled and bowed back, holding her head. Cil reached for Evergreen, as did Cori. She laughed and took both babies, who promptly threw up on her and pulled her hair. “Ohh, how pleasant,” she said, trying not to gag at the smell of milk and stewed carrots. Ed took both babies and smiled at her before walking away.

“So what exactly brings you to this neck of the woods?” Roy asked, sitting in the chair Ed had previously occupied. Evergreen’s emerald eyes traced over the lines of Roy’s face, slightly amused. Roy frowned at the look on his friend’s face. “Is there a problem?” he asked as respectfully as he could. Evergreen snickered and motioned to the door in which Ed had just walked out of.

“Enlighten me. Honestly, is that a male or a female?”

Roy’s face slightly colored. “Male.”

“But..” Evergreen trailed off and motioned to her own ample chest.

Roy’s blush deepened. “Male with female accentuations. All the good, none of the bad. Except Ed doesn’t have a fah-china.” He chuckled at the mispronunciation. He had always hated the word ‘vagina’, it sounded like a disease you’d get from Frank Archer or something. Plus, the nasty slits bleed all the damn time. Being in the military taught him very important lessons, one being to NEVER trust anything that can bleed profusely five days or more without dying.

Evergreen smiled wickedly at Roy. “I never expected you to be gay. Or if so, with Maes.” She laughed at Roy’s open mouth. “I am not gay! I’m bisexual!” Roy surmised, for the first time actually considering his sexual orientation. Well, his boyfriend DID have breasts...and he enjoyed them a lot, so that made him bi. Honestly though, Ed was the best fuck male or female that Roy had ever had. Maybe he was gay, but with heterosexual tendencies. It’s not like he and Ed went shopping or to Raze (a gay club Archer had been seen in MORE than once) or carried man purses, and the diaper bags did not count! “Ed and I are a great match for each other. We fight, curse, scream, and occasionally beat each other up.” he grinned sardonically at his friend, who returned the grin.

Evergreen nodded and gingerly rubbed the back of her head. “Sounds chock full of angst and other warm snuggly feelings. At any rate, I think that Ed is cute and very sweet. I’m glad you’re happy and not with that pasty wench Parker anymore.” Evergreen noticed the slightly sad look on Roy’s face. She had heard gossip around the palace that Parker was attacked and murdered by a pair of Homunculi, but didn’t want to be rude and ask Roy. Instead, she took Roy’s hand in hers and held it for a moment, saying a prayer for him and Edward. When she finished, she smiled at him and laughed at the babies who managed to get away from Ed and wobbly walk into the room, screaming and clamoring for attention.
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“So when do we get to kill Macmillan and wife? Or should I say Macmillan and husband?” Envy said, giggling at his cruelty. Lust stared at him, wishing she could impale him and be done with it. Dante walked over and slapped Envy in the back of his head. The doll was so irritating; she wondered why she even put up with him. Envy glared at her, wanting to hurt her back, but because she had his bones, he was powerless before her. He and Lust were basically Dante’s mindless minions, or atleast gave the appearance of being such.

“We will not dispose of Fullmetal or Flame until the children have been processed.” Dante grew tired of hourly explaining to her Homunculi that they were unable to wreak havoc upon the military alchemists. She hoped and prayed that the children would grow faster so that she could transfer her essence into a younger, better looking body and be powerful enough to discard the Homunculi...before they find out that she indeed did not possess their bones. Dante discovered years ago that if one was to obtain the bones of someone the Homunculi were related to, that it would have the same weakening effect as the possession of the actual bones of the failed human transmutation. However, if the Homunculi were to obtain the relative’s bones, it would give them a short lived power boost very similar to the boost given to an alchemist when he or she possesses a red water stone.

“Processed children...you make it sound like we are going to cook them. Gluttony would have loved that,” Lust said in her smooth melodic tone. She walked over to Dante and began to play with the silvery strands of hair, desperately wanting to lengthen her finger and pierce the old bitch’s skull. Dante sensed Lust’s feelings and reached a strong hand behind her and swiftly broke Lust’s wrist. “Don’t play with me little girl, I might make you cry.” Dante got up and walked away, making Envy and Lust stare hatefully after her.
********************************

Isis opened the door to the kids’ room and stared at her cousin, who was lying in one of the beds. Roy had graciously asked Isis to stay with them while her cousin recuperated, but declined, stating that royalty can not abide under the same roof as commoners. The Fullmetal one had muttered something under his breath, but Isis ignored it; if it were meant for her to hear, the boy would have said it to her face. She didn’t want to be rude, but she and Evergreen didn’t come to Amestris to stay. They were supposed to be bargaining the bones off and informing Mustang and Elric to not use the stone, or chastise them furiously if they already had. Isis walked to her cousin and gently but firmly shook her shoulder.

“Wake up, Miss Thing. We need to get to a hotel before dark.”

Evergreen rubbed her jet-black hair and stared around the room disoriented. “We can’t stay?” she sleepily asked, her eyes having difficulty focusing. Isis glared. “We could, but we won’t.” She gathered her cousin up and walked into the living room where Evergreen instantly perked up upon seeing Al.

“Hey Al,” she tried to say as nonchalant as possible.

“Princess,” Al said and bowed, now aware of Evergreen’s rank. Evergreen placed her hand on the cool metal chest of Al’s armor. “You didn’t bow before, and you don’t have to now,” she said in a voice that vaguely resembled a whisper. Al looked down at the lingering hand on his chest and ached for a body of flesh and blood. He longed to feel the woman’s hand on his chest, and she was wishing the same thing for him. Al had entranced her, and Evergreen became determined to find out who exactly this Alphonse Elric man was.

“Ahem...Let’s go.” Isis’s harsh sounding voice made Evergreen jump and snatch her hand away from Al. “Will I see you tomorrow?” Green eyes pleaded with Al’s red ones, hoping for a ‘yes’ as an answer. Al remembered once that Ed told him when he got his body back, he would school him in the ways of the women. That seemed highly unlikely now. However, Ed told him to remember a cardinal rule: Always act a little disinterested. It makes the ladies (and some men) go wild.

Al looked away for a moment, as if he were thinking. Then he shrugged. “Probably, but I’m not sure. My schedule is usually pretty busy.”

“Since when?” Roy muttered. He rubbed his ribs from where Ed jabbed him and hissed for him to shut up.

Evergreen’s face fell. “Oh. I was going to ask you to lunch, but since you’re busy and don’t even eat...” she trailed off. Then she shrugged and gave Al a wan smile. “I’ll just see you when I see you. I’ll call you tomorrow to let you know where we end up.” she smiled at him once again and patted his armored arm, walking past him and out the door.

“I see what you were doing over there, Al,” Roy exclaimed, running over to Al and patting him on the back. \"It\'s called pimpin, and I for one am NOT mad at you!!!\" Roy grinned up at Al, who pretended to brush his shoulders off. “Yeah, you were smooth and used my ‘Don’t be desperate’ tip. Nice, nice,” Ed complimented and walked up to his brother. He smiled and cocked his head, looking at Al. “You’re special, you know that? You can pull chicks without even having a body!” All three of them chuckled and Roy and Ed said their good nights and walked off together to the Red Room. Al sat in the living room staring at the spot on his chest where Evergreen touched him and sighed. He REALLY needed his body back, pronto.



>*smiles* Sorry this took so long. I had...\'events\' that have recently happened. Bear with me!!!