Chapter Text
Though Roy had seemed convinced that the two of them would be met with vitriol after the battle, everyone remaining hailed them as a hero, and Ed figured those who didn’t had been carted off. After all, no one would stand by Bradley at this point, not unless they had unsavory motivations for doing so, and even then those types who normally would have done so were at least smart enough to be happy that a corrupt fucker had just been taken out of power. The government was looking at a long task of cleanup ahead of them, but Ed had complete faith that Roy would do well.
The remaining forces immediately got to work, collecting bodies and repairing damage, the State Alchemists coming together to assist with the latter. Ed helped where he could, and when he spotted Izumi, trotted over to tell her of the news—if she hadn’t already heard.
He waited for her to finish hugging Gracia fiercely (“Are you stupid? You could have been killed!” “Could have been, yes, but it was my decision to make.” “I swear, you’re going to be the death of me.”) before stepping forward, lifting a hand.
“Well, Elric. Or should I say Hohenheim?”
“Elric.” Ed grimaced. “God, I’m not gonna be able to escape that, am I?”
“Nope. Who would’ve guessed?” She tilted her head. “And here I thought you were just some stupid kid who had tried human transmutation.”
Ed snorted. “Like you’re one to talk.”
Izumi shook her head, but then continued. “That was an impressive stunt you pulled back there. Even I didn’t really believe you until you decided to turn yourself into the military’s magazine and walk out of it with that crazy grin on your face. Speaking of stupid fucks, I feel like I’m going to be lecturing a lot of people on reasonable behavior in the next few days.”
“Well, it worked, didn’t it? And I’m fine?”
She scoffed, then bent down, scooping up Ed’s coat and shoving at him. “You’re a goddamn drama queen.”
“I’ve lived for hundreds of years. This gives me a whole hell of a lot more perspective than you have!”
Izumi just rolled her eyes, but she punched him gently in the shoulder. “Good work. Jacob’s seeing to the medics; we’ll try and save that louse, even if he doesn’t deserve it. It’ll look bad. Also, due process and all that.”
“Yeah, that’s a thing.” Ed sighed, glancing around. “Who’d we lose?”
Izumi listed off a few names Ed knew, smiling faces that he would sorely miss. “And Nina about came close. We found her with a gunshot in one of the labs. She’s probably going to be all right, but she wouldn’t tell us what she had done. Looked damned pleased with herself, though, even through all that blood.”
“Kind of alarming, but I think I’m not gonna question it.”
“Good decisions.” She lifted her head, looking at something over Ed’s shoulder. “And… well, there’s one thing you might want to resolve that hasn’t been yet. Trust me, Ed, it’s not worth it to leave open-ended regrets.”
Ed turned and saw a familiar pair of golden eyes watching him, a pleading expression in their depths.
He sighed.
“Yeah,” Ed murmured, stepping away. “You’re probably right.”
“Hi, brother.” Al’s voice was slightly shaky, with the same shakiness of his smile. Ed offered him a more confident one in return, which clearly eased his concerns. “I’m… I’m glad you’re all right.”
“Hey, you know I’ve gone through worse.” Ed reached out to punch Al’s shoulder gently, echoing Izumi’s gesture from earlier. It seemed to work, as Al grinned slowly. Encouraged, Ed slid an arm around Al’s shoulders.
“We should probably talk about this, huh?” he murmured, leading them away from the battlefield.
Al reached up to take Ed’s wrist, squeezing it before letting it go. “I’d like that, Brother. There’s a lot to say.”
—
Ed never cared much for sticking around for the aftermath of political revolutions. It always got so… messy.
This time, however, he figured that he had better help out his useless boyfriend with wrapping things up, what with all the scrutiny Roy was about to receive. Ed soon realized that this meant he himself would be under intense scrutiny, being a human Philosopher’s Stone and all that, but once he realized that also meant people wouldn’t be paying quite as close attention to the barbecued former Head Protector in intensive care, he embraced it, doing what he could to keep unpleasant attention off of Roy.
Roy eventually learned to smile again. It took quite some time, and his cracked voice with the words, “I didn’t even get to go to the funeral,” would stay with Ed forever. But Ed did his best to remind him that, despite devastating losses, they had succeeded with his dream.
For his part, Roy spent much of his time sequestered with the remaining generals who hadn’t been arrested, killed in the coup, or chosen an early and comfortable retirement at the totally non-coercive request of the resistance. Having jumped three ranks in the span of so many weeks (as far as “Heyyyyy, sorry for framing you for treason and trying to have you executed without a trial, please don’t set us on fire” gifts went, Ed would have preferred another, but Roy seemed to be pleased), he and a couple of others, part of the old guard before Bradley’s time, did their best to iron out the kinks in Amestris’s new interim government.
It would remain that way for a while, possibly a couple of years, while Amestris readied itself for a democratic government, while candidates campaigned and rallied and made their case for leadership.
“This wasn’t a coup,” Roy told Veronica one evening, on what they told Ed was the most listened-to radio event of the century. “This was a revolution. And it is my honor to support the citizens who fought for it.”
“So you won’t be running, then,” Sean asked, watching Roy intently. “Not even with your reputation, the support of Edris—”
“Ed!” Ed snapped.
“No, I won’t be. Not right now. Right now, this government needs a leader who knows what they’re doing, but isn’t a part of the military. We have to finish demilitarizing the police, for one, and the people need to know what it’s like to have someone else as their leader.”
“So you’re not ruling out running later, once Amestris has gotten back on its feet?”
Roy simply smiled his enigmatic smile. “Honestly, Sean, I have no idea.”
In fact, the elections had been a hot topic amongst their circle, with much speculation over who would run. Some had jokingly suggested Jacob run; many more had less jokingly suggested Izumi do so. Though both of them had vehemently rejected the idea, Ed would never forget the look of horror and disgust on her face when someone had posed the question. His laughter would fuel him through many a cold and lonely night.
Among more private gatherings, Roy had indeed expressed an interest in running… perhaps in five to ten years.
“I really do have ideas for the direction this country should go, but like I said in my interview, Amestris needs to get its feet underneath it without military leadership, first. Right now, I represent an upholding of the status quo, which is the last thing I want. Once they get a taste of something different, the people will be that much more qualified to decide if they want me or not.”
“I think that’s very honorable of you.” Gracia beamed as she set down her strawberry rhubarb pie, producing a devastatingly sharp knife. “But I’ve been thinking, you know. What if I run against you?”
Roy laughed at that, but… he was the only one at the table who did so. His eyes flickered nervously to the knife in Gracia’s hand as she began to cut the pie into slices; with a subtle cough, he lifted his hand to his face, obscuring his expression from Gracia’s view as he looked over pleadingly at Ed, clearly wanting his support, as he mouthed, fffuuuuuccckkkkkkkk.
Ed refused to give it, tilting his head as he considered. Gracia had certainly gained a large amount of experience with the inner workings of the country while Hughes had been running its intelligence as well as when he had been handling the food shortages with her help. Nothing official, no, but she certainly had the public adoration that the job would need…
Glaring over at Ed, Roy straightened, putting on his best charming smirk as Gracia handed out plates of the pie: Izumi, Elicia, Ed with his extra large slice. “You also might consider being my running mate. How does vice president sound?” He raised an eyebrow.
She began to hold the slice out to Roy, but when he reached for it, withdrew. She lifted a finger to her mouth, looking far more innocent than any human being had a right to.
“I will… consider it.”
Roy huffed, snatching his pie from her hands.
“Well, not with those manners I won’t.” She laughed softly.
They all dug in, and honestly, if Gracia could run a country with a quarter of the skill as with she baked a pie, they would all be fine.
“And what about you, Ed?” she asked, voice warm. “I’ve heard you’ve been fending off all sorts now that Roy has you in charge of reestablishing alchemical knowledge throughout the country. How about after that? Are you going to be staying with us for a while?”
Ed glanced out of the corner of his eye at Roy, who was watching him as well, The two of them slid their hands down to their sides, twining their fingers together beneath the table, Roy’s thumb reaching up to rub gently against Ed’s left ring finger. Still empty, yes, but… things could change.
“Yeah,” he managed out, voice a little rough, lips curving up in a grin. “Yeah, I think I will be.”