Chapter Text
“Master Hohenheim? Are you alright?” Mustang tentatively knocked on his teachers’ bedroom door, but he got no reply. He was getting nervous, during their last lesson Hohenheim had claimed he was feeling dizzy and needed to rest. That had been almost three hours ago, Mustang had decided to bring him some soup and tea hoping it would help him feel better. He knocked on the door again but he got no response. “Master I’m coming in.”
Mustang opened the door and nearly dropped the tray when he saw that Hohenheim was collapsed over on the floor. Mustang quickly placed the tray he was carrying but was quick to place it on the Hohenheim’s desk. He rushed over to his Master’s side and helped him up. He was bleeding from the mouth.
“Master what’s wrong?” he tried to straighten him up, but Hohenheim gripped his shirt frantically pulling him closer. “What is it?”
“Mustang—my son—” he reached passed Mustang and grabbed a book off his bedside table it fell from his hands.
“Master forget the book, I need to get you some help.” Mustang tried to pull Hohenheim up but he held him by the front of his shirt dirtying it with blood. “Master please—”
“Listen,” Hohenheim whispered. “I know I don’t have much time…” he opened the book with shaking hands and passed Mustang a picture with bloody fingers. “My sons, Edward and Alphonse.” He pointed to the two little boys in the picture. “Please…see them, give them my body.”
“Master?” Mustang took the picture and tucked it into his pocket. “Please don’t talk like that, we can get you to a hospital—”
“No,” Hohenheim simply pointed to the picture indicating the older boy with golden hair and eyes. “My son Edward—he knows the secrets of Flame Alchemy—he and my younger son—they’re in Xing.” Hohenheim coughed again and blood dripped from his mouth to the ground.
“Master?” but he was silent. “MASTER!”
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The next morning Mustang went to the Rockbell residence.
“He’s dead?” Pinako asked as she smoked her pipe, Winry choked on a sob.
“Excuse me.” She left the kitchen and went to the mechanics shop, Mustang knew that she was leaving the room because she didn’t want to cry in front of him.
“Yes Pinako, it was last night.” He twisted his fingers together. “I had the mortician come last night, but I don’t know what to do with the body. He asked to be taken to his sons, but I don’t know where they are, I’ve never met them.” Pinako sighed and took a deep inhale from her pipe. “He never even told me he had children, he said they were in Xing.”
“Yes, they are.” Pinako had her eyes closed, clearly deep in thought. “They moved there for Alphonse’ health. He has poor lungs the air here wasn’t good for him so they left when they found a doctor in Xing who could help them.”
“Why didn’t Hohenheim go with them?” again Pinako seemed to tense at the mention of Hohenheim’s past.
“Edward thought it would be best if he stayed here.” Right Edward, Hohenheim had told him about, the one who was supposed to have the secrets to Flame alchemy. Did that mean that Edward was a Flame Alchemist?
“How old is Edward?” he laced his fingers below his chin in curiosity.
“He’s about nineteen, just a little older than Winry. But I must be honest, I don’t know they’re address. They only call on holidays or birthdays.” She stood up and Mustang went to stand but she rested a hand on his arm and shook her head. “You stay here, I’ll make us some tea.”
“Are you sure you don’t need any help?” he offered though he knew that she wouldn’t accept it, she simply smirked and left the room. Mustang reached into his inside pocket and pulled out the picture that he had been given from Hohenheim. If Pinako didn’t know where the brother’s were there was a possibility that Winry knew where they were. “I’ll be in the washroom Pinako.”
He left the room and headed towards the mechanic’s shop passing a board with pictures pinned to it. He had walked past it many times, but he had never really looked at it, now he did. He saw that while there were pictures of Winry and her parents who had passed away during a terrorists’ attack on a train before he had ever met them, except now he saw that the two boys were also in the pictures. Along with a beautiful woman with chestnut hair who was in pictures with the boys and Hohenheim, that must have been his wife. Another person he had never mentioned to Mustang, he wondered why. The boys both looked happy and healthy, he wondered when Alphonse had gotten sick. These were all questions he planned to address to Miss Winry.
He knocked on the door of the shop. He heard a sniffle behind the door then the clearing of a throat.
“Come in.” he heard Winry choke out. He opened the door and saw her bent over her desk with a box of tissues at her side. “Hello Colonel.”
“Hi Winry,” he smiled at her warmly as he came to her side. “I’m sorry that I couldn’t come with better news.”
“I’m glad you told us.” She looked down at her hands. “How did it happen?”
“I’m not sure.” He picked up one of the screwdrivers from her table. “He said he was feeling dizzy, then went to bed. I went to bring him something to eat, but when I found him he was on the floor. The coroner said that it was exhaustion.” He twisted the screwdriver in his hands. “I just hate that I didn’t notice it before.”
“Hohenheim was very private,” Winry whispered. “It’s no surprise, he and Edward are similar in that way.”
“How well do you know Edward?” he was finally getting the information that he needed. “Pinako said you two were close in age, and I saw pictures of you all as children. You seemed close.”
“We were, before they left.” She sighed as she balanced her beloved wrench on the table. “I hardly hear from them now, Alphonse sends letters back home, but Edward’s busy working.”
“Really?” maybe Edward was an alchemist like his father had been. “What does he do?”
“He works in the Palace.” Winry rested her chin on the table.
“Excuse me?” Mustang asked baffled. “Did you say the palace?”
“Yeah.” She stood up and went into her leather rucksack. She pulled out a small envelope. “Here they are with the Emperor’s son.”
She handed him the envelope that had a picture inside of it. The two boys were certainly older. Alphonse looked healthy but had a crutch under one of his arms and Edward…was surprisingly handsome. He had filled out in his face and grown, he also kept his hair tied back similar to the way his father had. They both looked happy as they were embraced by the man in the middle he was about five years younger than Mustang with long black hair in a ponytail. “They’re quite close with him since Ed works with their healers so he can learn Alkahestry.”
“What’s that?” Mustang turned the picture over to see that it was sighed Tell Dad we send our best Love Alphonse and Ed! Did they not send any letters to their own father? What was going on?
“I think it’s medical alchemy, at least that’s what Alphonse said, but I’m not sure since I’m no alchemist.” Mustang noted the address on the upper corner of the envelope.
“So he’s not a flame alchemist?” he asked curious. Winry looked down at the ground now, why did everyone seem so touchy on this subject? True Hohenheim never seemed to bring up his studies around Winry or Pinako but he had never thought that was because he didn’t want to, but more because it wouldn’t interest them. Now he wasn’t so sure.
“No, he’s no Flame Alchemist.” She said sadly as she sat down at her desk then looked up at Mustang with tear filled blue eyes.
“Colonel, I know that you want to learn all the secrets of Flame alchemy and I’m not a State Alchemist like you or Mr. Hohenheim was…but I know one thing for sure: Edward hates Flame Alchemy more than anything.”
“Could you tell me why?” she shook her head.
“It’s not my place.” She opened one of her drawers. “But I’ll tell you right now, the only way that you can successfully become a Flame Alchemist is with Edward’s help.”
“That won’t be easy since he hates Flame Alchemy.” Mustang lifted the envelope for Winry to see. “Is this the address where they’re living now?” she nodded. “While I might not be able to convince Edward to help me, I have to bring his father to him. It was his only request.”
“Colonel.” Winry pulled out a leather bound notebook. It had an inscription on the front with the letters T.E. “This was given to me by Edward before he left for Xing. He asked me to hold on to it for him, to…” she looked down at the notebook again. “…He wanted to keep it from Hohenheim. I know that I shouldn’t have but he begged me to. I don’t know if it’s anything you can use, but it might help you if he won’t.” she handed the notebook to him and Mustang had to stop his hands from shaking. He felt like he was being handed the Holy Grail, could this possibly be the answer to all that he had been searching for?
“Thank you Winry,” he looked down at it amazed. “I promise to take care of it.”
“Colonel?” Pinako called from the kitchen. “You’re teas going to get cold.”
“Be right there.” He called as he opened the door. “Winry I can’t thank you enough.” He winked at her as he left. He was too happy to see the look of fearful sadness on her face or hear her whisper:
“I hope you don’t regret it Roy.”
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In the morning after Mustang had been to see Hohenheim’s lawyer so he could make sure that everything that belonged to his sons got to them. Then after he finished there he went to the mortician and had the body readied for the train. Then Winry walked him to the train station.
“I’ll make sure to send them a letter so they know you’re coming.” Winry told him as they walked together.
“You can’t call them?” she shook her head disappointed.
“They didn’t leave a number, every time I try to call them back after they call me it never works. I’ll send it rush so they’ll get it.”
They reached the platform and saw the train making it’s way over to them in the distance.
“It’s a shame they have to get this news over the phone.” She sighed and shook her head again.
“Ed wasn’t on the best of terms with his father, I hope that this won’t upset him too much.” Mustang placed a comforting hand on her shoulder just as the train pulled into the platform.
“I’m sure if they’re anything like they’re father they’ll be ok.” She smiled up at him thankfully. “Make sure to tell Pinako thanks for everything. And,” he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you Winry. It’s been fun, I’ll let you know once I’m there and I’ll tell the boys to write you.” He turned to get on the train but he felt Winry grab his hand and stopped. “Is something wrong?”
“When you see Ed,” she had tears in her eyes again. What was wrong now? “Please don’t tell him that you’re a state alchemist.”
“What?” he asked confused. “Why not?”
“I already told you he hates state alchemists, he’s not going to want to help you.” She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I don’t think that you’re a bad person like the other ones who have tried to learn from Hohenheim. I think you’ll use the research properly, I want you to be successful, so try to get on his good side before he rejects you.”
“Thanks for the advice.” He smiled then kissed her on the forehead. “Stay safe.”
He picked up his suitcase and got on the train just before it pulled out of the station. Winry waved goodbye and Mustang waved back at her until she was just a speck in the distance.
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Once he was alone he pulled the notebook out of his briefcase. He hadn’t had time to review them since he’d been busy insuring that everything was ready for Hohenheim’s funeral.
He smiled to himself as he opened admired the cover of the book. He traced the letters T.E. with his fingers. He knew enough from talking to Pinako the night before that the T most likely stood for Trisha, Hohenheim’s wife, who had passed away when the boys were very young, right before Alphonse got ill. He couldn’t help but think that all these things fitted together some how.
He opened the notebook and started to read. Of course the notes were in code, in fact they read like an extremely detailed way to treat Peonies, there were lots of references to a Golden King flower that needed to be treated with the utmost care. Mustang couldn’t help but assume that meant Edward, if he had the secrets it would make sense. The thing that confused him the most was the fact that the notes were written in a very delicate cursive, like that of someone with a small hand. They looked nothing like the notes that Hohenheim had written with his large blocky wording. It was becoming clearer and clearer that Hohenheim hadn’t written these notes.
Before Mustang dozed off he tucked the notes into his inner most pocket of his suitcase and sat on it, there was no chance he was going to lose his Master’s legacy. But that was just the thing, the more he thought about it, the less sense it made that the notes were Hohenheim’s. He might have dictated and had Trisha write them for him, he might have given them to her for safe keeping, but why didn’t he know that Winry had them? Why had Edward, this young boy he knew nothing about seem to be the answer to Flame Alchemy? Exactly what was Trisha Elric’s association with all of this?
These were the thoughts that rocked him to sleep as his train continued East into Xing.