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That was it. The life he knew—that they both knew—was gone. There was no way they could have been together the way they truly wanted had they stayed at the palace. Ed abdicated the throne—secretly, or else his father would have sent a fleet to come after them, and they couldn't have that. The only one who knew of their departure was Al. He was the only one who knew of their relationship and accepted it. It was only fair that they said goodbye to him, and Roy left the king’s guard, only leaving his prized sword behind. People would eventually put two and two together, but by then they would have been long gone. Ed did not doubt that Al would do amazing things for their—his kingdom.
They rode on Roy's trusty steed for days with only the clothes on their backs and the sword Roy had gifted him so many years ago. Ed refused to part with it. They rarely took breaks on the off chance someone had followed them. All three were tired and starving, but they had to keep going.
Eventually, they came across an abandoned house just beyond the dense forest. The house was incredibly worn down and caked with dust. Luckily, there was a small bed and a fireplace; not a single table or chair in sight. This was their new home.
Roy gave the sheets a half-hearted shake, then collapsed bonelessly on the bed, and Ed joined him. The bed, if you could even call it that, was incredibly uncomfortable and worn with age, but it didn't matter. They were so exhausted and so low on energy from not having eaten in days that they didn't care that they would wake up insanely sore and that their only mode of transportation could easily run away if something from the forest spooked her, since she wasn't tied down. Nothing mattered except that they could finally be together the way they had always dreamed, how they would talk about on stolen nights together in Ed’s chamber. This was the beginning of a new chapter for them. A beautiful new chapter; scary, but beautiful nonetheless.
Ed’s eyes drooped the second his head hit the mattress. Just like that, they were out like a light in seconds.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“God fucking damnit!” Ed cursed. “Why do they keep dying?! This is getting ridiculous!” In his fury, he ripped the dying plant from the earth and flung it as far as it would carry.
“I told you to stop doing that!” Roy yelled. “What if something were to grow from that? You just set us back weeks of progress, again!” “Are you losing your sight in your old age? Nothing was going to grow from that wilted mess! This land has clearly been farmed before, but—for some fucking reason—we can’t make anything fucking grow!!” Ed went into a blind rage and started kicking up the dirt in a frenzy and ripping out as many dead weeds as he could, but it didn’t last long. He started feeling dizzy and fell to one knee.
The first few times this had happened, Roy had rushed to his side in a panic, but not this time. Ed didn’t take it personally. They were both so hungry that it was getting harder and harder to conserve their energy. And Roy probably didn’t have the strength to help Ed even if he wanted to. They had been lucky to have “found” a few packets of various vegetable seeds during their endless travel. What they failed to realize is that a spoiled, sheltered ex-prince and an ex-knight who spent the majority of his life living in the palace had no business attempting manual labor. They had no fucking clue what they were doing, and it showed. They were running low on seeds and were just barely avoiding dying of starvation by eating various berries they found in the forest. Thankfully, Roy’s experience during the last war kept them from ingesting anything dangerous.
Ed wanted meat. There were times when Roy’s horse looked so damn appetizing. He didn’t bother to ever voice these fantasies. Roy loved Meade almost as much as he loved Ed. He would never suggest such a thing.
“First of all, I’m only 8 years older than you.” The past month of them living together in the middle of nowhere had them learning a lot about each other. Like how incredibly snippy Roy was when he was hungry. Which was all the damn time. “Second of all, you don’t know that. We don’t know that because you keep killing them!”
Ed jumped to his feet, ignoring his filth-covered body—he was so fucking dirty and he just wanted to take a hot bath and soak for days!— and got nose to nose with Roy. Well… as best as he could. Stupid, tall, and beautiful freak of nature. “I killed them? Hey, asshole! We have no idea what the fuck we’re doing out here! If you would just take your head out of your ass, you would see that!”
Ed had never seen that deep a scowl on Roy’s face before. Especially not directed at him.
“Don’t test me, Edward,” Roy said through gritted teeth.
The sound of his full name pissed him off even more. “Ha! You think I’m scared of you? Did you forget that I can beat you in a fight?” Roy squeezed the bridge of his nose. “Must you constantly bring that up? And how many times must I remind you that the only reason you won is because you cheated!”
It was a good thing they lived in such a secluded area because their fighting continued long after the sun fell behind the hills.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
They laid in the tiny bed with their backs against each other, neither having the energy to continue fighting but also not wanting to apologize. Ed was exhausted. He had exerted way more energy than he should have during his rampage and fight with Roy, yet he was still far too tired to fall asleep.
The dead silence of their surroundings took some getting used to. There had always been the slight shift of armor from the guards patrolling the halls to lull him to sleep. Or the warmth of Roy holding him tight during the rare night they had fallen asleep amidst one of their late-night rendezvous. For the past few nights, it had been more of Ed, with his back to Roy, fighting over who got more of the too-small and paper-thin blanket that had come with the house.
“Roy?” Roy didn’t respond, but Ed knew that he wasn’t asleep. His back didn’t have the slow rise of someone who would be sleeping. Ed kept quiet for a moment, staring into the dark. “Are we going to die out here?” He knew his voice sounded small, but it was a real concern that he refused to let surface until now. Did they really leave their entire lives behind just to die of starvation in the middle of nowhere? Was their happily ever after going to come to an end sooner than they thought?
Roy didn’t respond, only pulled the blanket up higher over his shoulders. Ed didn’t fight him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When Ed awoke, he was all alone. That was odd.
Ed popped his spine back into place and looked out the singular window the house had. Roy wasn’t out in their make-shift garden, nor was Meade. Ed’s heart dropped. Did Roy leave him? No, no! He couldn’t have!
Ed leaned his back against the wall, closed his eyes, and fought to calm his racing heart.
Roy wouldn’t leave him. He made a promise to always come back to him. Roy never broke his promises.
Ed glanced off to the side and saw the sword Roy had given him all those years ago. Right! He wasn’t going to stand around, throwing himself into a panic. Roy would be back; Ed just had to wait. He had done this before. It was hell the first time, but he could do it.
Ed looked around his and Roy’s home. The rising sun shone a light on every speck of dust in the place. Why had they never gotten to cleaning this place? Ok, first things first! This place needed to be cleaned. He opened the window to let in the fresh morning air. A quick search made him realize that there wasn’t a single thing he could use to wipe the dust away with. He wasn’t going to use their only blanket. The only remaining option was his only remaining shirt. Oh, well.
Just as he went to pull his shirt from his body, his stomach growled with an intensity that caused him to wince in pain. Ok, first he would see if he could find some berries, then he would start cleaning.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The sun was hanging low in the sky by the time Ed had finally finished cleaning the house, and Roy still hadn’t returned. The sudden burst of energy definitely helped him get through the day.
Ed was outside, trying his damndest to get as much of the dirt and grime from his shirt, but to no avail.
“Ed? What are you doing?”
Ed froze. He slowly turned around and saw Roy standing there with a wooden cart behind him. The quizzical look on Roy’s face made his heart soar. Ed used the last of his energy and ran straight into Roy, burying his face in Roy’s chest and holding him incredibly close. Fuck, he smelled good.
“Ed? What’s going on—” “I’m sorry.” Ed interrupted. “I was really hungry and you kept pissing me off and—I’m sorry! I…I thought you left… I know you wouldn’t—you promised—but I thought…”
Roy gently pulled Ed’s face from his chest with both hands and kissed him. Fuck, they hadn’t kissed in so long. He wasn’t going to cry, damnit.
When Roy pulled away, he smiled down at Ed. He hadn’t seen that smile in so long, either. “You’re correct, I did make a promise—to always come back to you. And I will keep that promise until my dying breath.”
“Then where did you go?”
Roy’s warm smile fell from his lips. He looked away for a moment before responding to Ed’s question. “I went searching for a town and found one a few hours from here.”
Ed looked as Roy seemed to chew on his words. “Ed, you were right… I mean… I don’t want what we sacrificed to be in vain. I want us to grow old together, not from starvation when we have barely just begun. So, I…” The saddened look that crossed Roy’s face hurt Ed. What could have possibly happened? And that’s when it hit him. Where was… “I sold Meade.”
“You what? Roy, why would you—”
“We needed the money,” Roy said calmly. “There’s no way we could keep her. She’s too expensive to feed, and I had to make the unfortunate decision of giving her away. Don’t worry, I found someone who would take good care of her.” Roy’s tone seemed to pick up a bit with that. “The town I found? It’s full of people just like us. People from all walks of life who want nothing more than to live their lives happily with their loved ones, without the fear of public scrutiny or death looming over them. They’re nice people, Ed. An elderly couple showed me where to buy all the things we need—food, clothes, seeds, and gardening equipment—they even fed me, let me use their bath, and gave me this cart. Their feeding me was the only way I was able to drag this thing here.” Roy chuckled.
"They also told me of a lake not too far from here that we could use to bathe in and wash our clothes. I told them about where we live and our gardening… issues, and they told me everything I need to know, and I made sure to write it down.” Roy patted his breast pocket for good measure. “They also said that we may be able to sell what we grow so we can make an income. Ed…” Roy placed a hand on his cheek and looked lovingly into his eyes. “We’re going to be alright.”
Wow. While Roy was doing all that, Ed was having a panic attack, thinking Roy had left him. It was quite silly in retrospect. Wait…
“You said you got food??” Roy’s grin was large and toothy.
“Yep. It should last a few weeks if we’re lucky. Well… maybe a few days with your voracious appetite.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, jokes at my expense. Get that shit inside! My stomach is eating itself!”
Roy laughed, but did as he was told.
A new chapter in their story was just beginning, and this one seemed far less scary.