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Roy liked to think he was a man of dignity. There was a reason he'd risen to the rank of Colonel so young, after all. Even with all the scorn and envy of his colleagues against him. Although away from the public eye, Roy often dawdled on paperwork, and at home he could barely peel a potato, he was still dignified nonethe-
“Sorry Colonel! Gotta borrow this real quick!” It was no later than Roy heard Fullmetal that he found his face in the dirt. Grunting, he rubbed his head. He tried to call out to Fullmetal as he spat gravel from his mouth, but the iron plod of the boy’s boots was already yards away. Running towards some other commotion that Roy couldn’t make out with only his ears. He was alone again. Floundering uselessly in a lightless world.
The Lieutenant had been taken away soon after Fullmetal had declared his final transmutation at the insistence of urgent care medics. Roy, too, had urged her to go. How their lives would play out from now on was a question for after they beat death off their heels.
Though ultimately, it took a gentle, old nurse assuring her that field medics would soon start making their rounds for the Lieutenant to reluctantly climb onto a stretcher and allow the medics to whisk her away.
Roy’s impaled hands stung sharply as he pushed himself to his knees. Dust wetted by his blood stuck to his gloves and burrowed into the open wounds like hard burrs under his skin. He was dizzy. Whether in spite of the darkness or because of it wasn’t entirely clear. Roy mumbled a curse to Fullmetal as he tried to gather his bearings. The commotion where Fullmetal had been running towards had died down. Concerned murmurs where before there had been voices raised in panic. Like a boil brought down to a simmer.
Twenty. Twenty-five paces away.
Roy sat listening awhile. He briefly considered staggering to his feet and following Fullmetal, but just as soon dismissed the idea. The battle was over. The war had been won, but danger was still present; the air was still rank with ash and ruin. In the state he was in, Roy would be a fool to wander without a hand to hold. And he wasn’t overly fond of the thought of inching his way across the field like a worm. He would wait. He had pride enough for that. As the minutes passed by, the murmuring ahead lost some of its gravity, and at times Roy thought he heard laughter. It was different from the roaring cheers of Amestrian soldiers years ago, crying for victory and home. It was happy and pure, like a sigh of relief. Soon, the sound of shuffling boots was approaching him. As the sound drew near, Roy noted the soft flapping of bare feet matching its stride. Or rather, the other way around.
“Colonel! Huh? Where’s Lieutenant Hawkeye?” a youthful voice spoke. Roy perked up, surprised.
“That voice is…Alphonse!?” He exclaimed, “So you were alright!?”
"Ah, well...in a way..." Alphonse replied sheepishly. Roy gave him a small smile. He let his hands fall to his lap.
"The Lieutenant's wound was pretty nasty, though that Xing girl stopped the bleeding," He assured the boy, "She's receiving treatment now. Apparently, the minorly injured such as myself are to wait for more personnel to arrive on scene."
"I see! Thank goodness!" Alphonse sighed in relief. Fullmetal grumbled,
"They could've at least left a guide for the Colonel..."
"Huh? Did you say something?" asked Roy.
"They-, I-I-I said I'm glad the Lieutenant's okay! It's crazy that she was even standing, after all!" Fullmetal stammered. Roy smiled, amused. Alphonse's sweet, boyish laughter filled the air.
"That reminds me," Roy said, "I asked earlier too, but how are your conditions? Fullmetal? Alphonse?"
Silence. Roy felt the air grow solemn like a sudden cold draft. If he had tried to guess (and he would have guessed correctly), he would have bet that the brothers were staring sadly into the milky depths of his unseeing eyes.
"Colonel..." Fullmetal said, pity and anguish drenching his voice.
"Hm?" Roy started to answer, but was startled by a small, lithe hand around his wrist. Gently, careful not to irritate his injured palms, the hand guided Roy's upwards and placed it on what felt like a nest of long, dried grass. Roy blinked. He rubbed the coarse bed, trying to make sense of what lay beneath his fingers. He heard Fullmetal and Alphonse whispering between themselves as he felt around.
"Al, you should just tell him straight up!"
"This way is fine."
"Is it really?"
"I say it is, so yes."
The nest seemed to shiver ever-so-slightly each time Alphonse spoke. It was warm to the touch. Finally, Roy's mind caught up, his train of thought flying into station at blasting force.
"You got it back!? Your body!?" Roy leapt up abruptly only to trip over his feet, landing back down in a plume of dust. He grunted, suddenly clumsier than what mere blindness could excuse. Alphonse could only laugh for joy in response.
"Yeah!" Fullmetal affirmed, almost boastfully. "He's all skin and bones right now and super wobbly, but he's back alright!" There was a jostle underneath Roy's hand where it still rested on Alphonse's head, telling Roy that Fullmetal had slapped his brother lightly on the back. Alphonse's laughter redoubled.
"To think I'd ever be so glad to feel this sick!" He giggled. Roy, not quite recovered from his astonishment, shouted out in a panic.
"What!? That's terrible! We need to find a doctor quick-!" Suddenly, a heavy clout to his head sent Roy's dark world aspin.
"Brother!" Alphonse cried, mortified.
"SHUT UP! GET A GRIP, YOU IDIOT COLONEL!" Fullmetal raged, all the pity from before gone like a puff of smoke. He broke out in a cackle. "Man, that felt good!"
"What do you think you're doing!? The Colonel just lost his eyesight you know!" Alphonse yelled. Fullmetal scoffed.
"Of course I know that!"
"And he's your superior!"
"Hmph! I can't be a state alchemist if I'm not an alchemist at all!"
The brothers' squabbling was no more than a distant buzz to Roy's ears as he curled over on the ground, clutching his aching head. Under normal circumstances, he would have bit back at Fullmetal himself with matching temper and pettiness. But the day's battle had been long, and so much had happened, both good and terrible. The fatigue that Roy had carried with him in his heart from the fields of Ishval; from Hughes death and his team held hostage, rose fully to surface, and he could do nothing but sit there and try to take everything in with only his ears and his bloody hands to guide him.
Suddenly, a light came on in Roy's mind as the ringing subsided and Fullmetal and Alphonse's bickering became clear. Tentatively, he reached out in the direction of Alphonse's angry voice and laid a hand on his bony shoulder. The touch seemed to grab Alphonse's attention, and the quarreling stopped. Roy hesitantly raised his other hand and lightly brushed down both of Alphonse's arms.
"I get it now," he said as he felt the familiar rough, sturdy fabric under his hands. "So that's why you robbed me of my coat, Fullmetal."
He'd meant it innocently enough--though Fullmetal would never believe nor forgive him after.
"Eh? Robbed?" Alphonse parroted vacantly. Then he gasped in horror. "BROTHER! "
"What!? You were naked!" Fullmetal quickly defended himself. "What kind of big brother would I be to let you walk around like that!?"
"What kind of big brother steals from a blind man!?" Alphonse retorted, "At least ask first!"
"I said 'sorry'..." Fullmetal grumbled under his breath. Alphonse wasn't satisfied. The boys' argument was picked up right where they had left it. Roy sighed tiredly and waited for it to end.
"Sorry, Colonel..." Alphonse said to him at last, "I'm going to borrow this for a while longer..." Roy cocked his head.
"Of course! I don't want you-"
'I'll-!" Alphonse suddenly cut Roy off, his tone hard and determined. "I'll return it to you once you become Führer." Roy hesitated, unsure of what to say. The oath that Fullmetal had sworn--in little brother fashion--now Alphonse had sworn too. Roy's mind turned dark.
'A man of dignity'. It was more wishful thinking than anything else. Through all of Roy's deception and recklessness and occasional laziness, even now sitting blind and powerless in the dirt, dignity could endure. But Roy knew in his soul that he had lost it all the moment he'd snapped his fingers for the first time in the deserts of Ishval. Perhaps he had lost it even before then. The moment he'd signed the army enlistment form. The very moment he'd dared to dream of a brighter future. What a fool he'd been to not realize what would be burned by its flames. His dignity, like those lives, could never return. What then was left for the Hero of Ishval except the hope that the hammer of justice would one day be brought down on his head?
I'll return it to you.
Smiling, Roy released the coat on Alphonse's shoulders.
"Yeah," he said, "I'll make sure that you do."