Central High

7. Home Again

As Alex pulled up into the Presidential Estate, he smiled happily as he listened to Ái chatter away, filling him in on all that he'd missed out in his three months in Drachma. He'd really missed his precious little sister; he and her father both were protective of her and hated to be away for long periods of time. He loved the way her sapphire eyes sparkled with a happiness that she only got when the two men of the Mustang family came back from military affairs, and how she just couldn't seem to keep quiet because she just wanted to keep talking to him after missing him for three months. He parked and she was quick to grab her bag and run inside, seeing her mother's car in the driveway, eager to hug her dad for the first time since he departed on the first train of the day to Drachma at the beginning of the hot summer. He gave a soft, happy laugh, watching her hurry up the steps to the building and inside, heading for the living room where he usually was when he got home.

He locked the car and tailed her at a slower pace, a small pain in his abdomen making him careful of his steps, a hand resting on it softly. He had to give props to that Drachma soldier who snuck into base camp and managed to pull a knife on him without anyone noticing until it was too late. He'd been bedridden for a week after taking that sharp blade through his side, piercing into the tough muscle and just narrowly missing his small intestine. Any more to the left and he would have needed a serious surgery and not just some stitches and bed rest. It had healed up pretty well, scabbing and rebinding to itself and keeping away the threat of reopening the wound, but he knew he still needed to be careful, his muscles were cut and sensitive, forcing him to take it easy. 'Bummer too, I wanted to go skate boarding with Jonathan, Ryan, and Ái this weekend, but it looks like I'll be sitting sidelines.' He thought humorously as he entered the house as well, watching as Ái finally found her dad and nearly tackled him with her hug, making him bump into the kitchen counter. His mother was smiling sweetly at the two, looking up at her son and giving a sweet smile.

"I'm so glad you're both home!" Ái said happily and her father smiled and ruffled her hair. She smiled happily up at him as he spoke.

"Come now, you think we wouldn't come back? We're too tough to not return from a small dispute like this." Roy declared proudly, his daughter giving a happy giggle and hugging him around the neck in his knelt state. As much as she'd missed him, he'd missed her. She was his precious daughter and he always carried a picture of Riza and her with him when he left on military duties. The only two beautiful women in his life; his wife and daughter. They were his everything and his son was his pride and joy, just the kind of man he'd hoped he'd become in his late teenage years. A loving wife, beautiful daughter, and a son he was proud of; he was happy with life, and he prayed that things stayed like this. "You know, I think your brother and I left you something on your bed, why don't you go check?"

"Alright!" She said happily and headed off happily to her room. Roy smiled sweetly at her as Riza set a hand on his shoulder, resting her chin on her hand.

"She's missed you both so much; she was praying every night, on her knees by the window of her room, that you'd come home." She said sweetly as she kissed her husband's cheek. "Though, she wasn't the only one; I missed you both, too. So, why don't you two go change into something more comfortable and I'll start getting dinner ready, alright?" Her caring smile eased them both. So tense had they been on the border, always watching their backs and hearing the sounds of war rage on around them or in the distance, so Riza's disarming and soothing smiles and voice were more than welcome. Home was the only place they ever felt at ease and that was because of the stubborn beauty that stood by Roy from before The Ishval Rebellion and the young, mousy girl that had been steadily becoming more and more filled out and beautiful as the years passed them by. "Go on you two, out of the uniforms. Tonight you should both just relax and be glad to finally be home again, safe and sound." She gave a soft, humored laugh. "Shoo now, before I sic the dogs on you both and let them maul you both with their love and affections." In response, the two men gave a happy laugh and headed off to do just that, admittedly wanting to escape the heavy, blue fabric that they both wore so proudly.

Alex walked beside his dad towards the area of the presidential estate where the bedrooms were located. "Same as ever, bossing us around when we've only just gotten back." Roy laughed and Alex nodded.

"She can't help it; that's her way of getting you to do things in a decent time frame since you're notorious for procrastinating." The blonde teased his father, earning an irritated huff from the raven haired man. "Only reason me and Ái don't procrastinate like you do is because she was having none of that from us as kids. Then again, I procrastinate in my own ways too; can't help the genes that got passed down from a certain someone."

"Oh hush. I get it, I get it; I'm high maintenance because I'm easily distracted and bored by paperwork. No need to rub it in, your mother does that plenty as is and the worst part is she gets paid to do so." Alex laughed at this because it was so very true. When Roy became Fuhrer, he chose her to be his personal aide. The elder of the two yawned and his son smiled.

"I agree, I'm tired too. Sleeping on trains is impossible." Alex groaned and his father just gave a sympathetic smile and nodded in agreement. "Then again, I doubt I'd be able to sleep until I took some more pain killers; my side is still hurting like a son of a gun."

"You holding up ok?" His father asked, concerned about his son, knowing that it had been a clean and deep stab wound.

"Yeah, just need some pain killers and I'll be fine. I'm a Mustang, we're built to last." Alex replied with a happy smile that was returned by his father.

"That's true; it's always been hard to take us down. I'm still standing after all."