As the train slowly rolled into the station, Riza began to feel her chest clench in anticipation and dread. It has been over ten years since she's left her hometown and hasn't visited once since then. As she stepped off the train, her heart raced and her mind filled itself with nostalgic memories. She breathed in deeply before walking slowly towards the exit.

It was the first time since the beginning of her career that she has taken the full paid vacation allocated to each military personnel every year. After over ten years, Riza felt the sudden urge to take a break from all the chaos in Central and travel out west to her hometown for old times sake. Which was why Riza was now in Hawthorn for the next two weeks. She believed it was the right time to take a long vacation, after all, she felt her mission was accomplished after Roy had finally been elected as the new Fuhrer.

Riza made her way down the market, which was the only route she could take to get to her old house. Even after ten years, she still remembered exactly how to get home even with her eyes closed. She couldn't help but be amazed by all the changes that had taken place while she was gone. It was much livelier than she ever remembered it to be and the number of merchants, as well as buyers, had increased tremendously. Riza recognized a few of the merchants and smiled to herself, reminiscing on the past when she used to come down every week to do her grocery shopping. These old ladies were like family to her. Since her mother had past away when she was just a young child, the ladies at the market were more than glad to be there for her when she needed comfort. They had all aged gracefully and she wouldn't be surprised if none of them even remembered her.

"Riza? Is that you?" Riza was jerked out of her reveries when she heard one of the ladies call her. She felt her heart leap in excitation at the mere thought that one of them had recognized her.

"Yes, Mrs Martin, it's me," she answered with a shy smile.

Mrs Martin clasped her hands to her mouth as she gasped. Her eyes teared up and she quickly made her way to see her. She took both of Riza's hand into her own and gave her a long heartwarming stare.

"Where have you been all this time? We were so worried about you! You just suddenly left town and nobody knew where you went. Have you been living well? What are you doing these days?" Riza felt her own eyes prickle with tears threatening to come out. She was surprised and felt touched by the sincere feeling of this old lady. She had never known the love of a mother, but she had always hoped it was similar to the care these ladies had given her throughout her childhood.

Riza smiled and said, "Yes I've been living well. I'm sorry I haven't come back sooner to visit. I've just been so busy all these years, so it took me over ten years to come back."

Mrs Martin's outburst had attracted the attention of the other ladies of the same generation. They all rushed to her as they recognized who Mrs Martin was talking to and hugged her while crying.

"I'm glad you all still remember me. I wasn't sure if there was still anyone in this town that knew me." She said in embarrassment from all the attention she was receiving from these ladies. Riza wasn't the type to enjoy being in the center of attention in such a crowded area.

One of them slapped her lightly on her shoulder and said, "Of course we remember you! You were this market's favorite customer and a daughter to all of us! You don't know how worried we were after you left without a word. We had no idea where to look for you. Where have you been all this time?"

Riza smiled sadly, "I enrolled in the military academy after my father passed away. I'm now a military officer working in Central." Riza heard them gasped and look at her with worried glances. "It's alright. I'm here now aren't I? I like my job and I think it suits me fine."

After a moment of hesitation, Mrs Martin spoke up, "I'm glad you're living well. Are you here to visit your parents' graves?", when Riza nodded, she continued, "when you were gone, we each took turns from time to time cleaning up their resting place, pulling out the weeds and all."

"Thank you so much, all of you. I can never tell you how grateful I am and how much I am in debt to all of you."

This made all the ladies scream and scold her out loud. "Don't say that, child. We don't do this to make you repay us one day. We do this from our hearts."

After a few more minutes of chatting, most of them had to return to their stalls since they couldn't be left unattended for too long. Mrs Martin, being the last one to stay with her, only returned to work after she had made Riza promise to come back to see them before leaving.

It took another twenty minutes before Riza reached a small cemetery on the outskirts of town. She stopped by the gates, holding two bouquets of flowers and stared at all the tombstones in the distance. Her eyes didn't focus on anything in particular. She was lost in her thoughts, trying to remember her parents, but found it to be a more difficult task than she imagined. With heavy steps, she entered the graveyard and walked silently to her parents' graves.

Her father had been buried beside her mother because she thought that maybe her mother could help her father regain happiness in the afterlife. At least that's what she hoped for her father. She couldn't remember one moment from her childhood when her father was living happily with her, nor could she remember a time when he smiled at her. But he was still her father and she loved him nonetheless.

"Father, mother, it's me, Riza. Sorry it took such a long time to come visit. A lot of things have happened these last ten years. If you've been watching over me, then you should know all the things that happened right?" Riza felt ridiculous talking to the cold stones. She knew her parents weren't there anymore and that no one was listening to her. She was a rational person and knew that if the men from work ever saw her talk like this, they would definitely think she has gone crazy.

But at this moment, Riza didn't want to be the rational, serious adult she has been for all her life. She wanted, for once, to be someone's child, even if they were dead. She never had a parent whom she could confide in and talk about all the troubles she's been going through. It wasn't the same as talking to a friend about your problems. Even at that, Riza wasn't the kind of person to open up and speak about her feelings.

"Father, you remember Roy, your apprentice, right? He's doing a good job fixing up our country. He's been the Fuhrer for the past year now. He has also taken good care of me like he promised you he would. In fact, we're dating now. I just thought I would tell you so you wouldn't be mad. I hope it's alright with you. I really do like him." She paused, hesitating whether she should continue or not.

"Mother, I'm sure you would like him. Just ask father about him. He's a good man. One day I'll bring him here so you can see what he's become. I'm sure you'll find him handsome like I do." Riza smiled to herself. If her parents were alive, she thought, that would be the kind of conversation she would have liked to have with them. She could only imagine their responses, but it pleased her nonetheless.

"I'll come back to visit soon again mother, father."

Riza walked away, satisfied with her first visit in years. In the beginning, she was afraid that her emotions would get the better of her, but she realized that time had healed her lonely heart. The friends she made and the man she had given her life to had made her forget the emptiness throughout the years. The longing for her parents disappeared and was replaced by happiness from her friends and from Roy.

She would always remember the moment Roy had confessed to her. She was shocked and surprised when he told her his feelings, but deep down she felt that she had already known the truth. They shared a bond that not many people had. They had spent so many years together that they could feel each other's love even if it was never pronounced. Their actions and their everyday lives were proof enough of their strong bond. However, it was only formally confirmed when Roy told her he loved her. Riza felt her heart quicken just thinking about it and felt a smile pull at her lips.

Riza walked up the hill that led to her house in a lighter mood. There was an almost unnoticeable bounce in her steps and a light humming coming from her closed mouth. For a stranger, she might have looked like any other person having a good day, but for someone who knew Hawkeye, she was most definitely in her best possible mood.

Arriving at the old house, any normal person would've felt dejected at the first sight. Thick vines were crawling all over the brick wall, a part of the roof was falling apart, some bricks were breaking down and everything just looked worn out. Riza took each step carefully and walked up the cringing steps of the front door. She slid in her old key into the rusted door hole. The key had been kept with her ever since she left. She had never bothered to sell the house, maybe because, despite her lonely family, she had still felt an emotional attachment to the place.

When she opened the door, a cloud of dust welcomed her and she coughed waving her hands to disperse it. The sudden opening had made fresh air enter the house for the first time in over ten years and she had to squint her eyes and cover her mouth and nose with her arm while going in to avoid breathing in too much dust. She stood there in the threshold and thought, 'Where do I start?', followed by a sigh. Everything was covered by a thick layer of dust, some windows had cracked glass and chipped wooden frames and there were some rotten wood caused by a leaking roof. Before she had the chance to do anything, there was a knock on her open door and someone called out, "Repair man!".

Riza jumped lightly and spun on her heals, astounded by the repair man's miraculous visit, but mostly by the fact that she hadn't noticed his presence.

"What? But I didn't-"

She was met face to face with Roy Mustang and his wide grin. A moment of silence passed between them as they stood motionless, Roy with his grin and Riza with her mouth agape.

"Roy, what are you doing here?" she asked sternly, breaking the silence.

"I'm here to repair your house," he said, like it was the most obvious answer.

"No, I mean why are you here when you're supposed to be in Central working as the Fuhrer?" she asked in an slightly irritated voice.

"Oh that's easy. I followed you." He crossed his arms and smirked triumphantly.

"Why?"

"Because I wanted to spend time with you of course."

"What about your work?"

"I secretly applied for my formal vacation too, the same time as yours," he answered with a smile, only to receive a dubious look from Riza.

Roy smirked and said, "don't be grumpy just because you never noticed my presence."

Roy knew he hit the spot when her eyes widened for a split second and her muscles tensed. She didn't say anything but sent him a death glare. Roy laughed out loud and circled his arms around her, bringing her close to him.

"I really just wanted to spend some time with you. And I wanted to make sure you were alright coming back here alone. But I think I was too worried over nothing because I saw how happy you were when you walked over here," he gave her a knowing smirk.

Riza felt her cheeks flare up at the embarrassing thought and hid her face in his chest with a defeated groan. Roy chuckled and pulled her face up and planted a soft kiss on her lips, which made her smile.

"Shall we clean this place up?"

"How do you plan to do that? There's so much things to clean that I don't know where to start." Riza said.

"Don't worry, darling. This is where your favorite alchemist comes in." He clapped his hands and touched the floor. In a few seconds, all the dust disappeared like it was never there in the first place. Roy got up and laughed aloud. He always like to play the macho man in front of Riza, especially when it came to something she didn't know how to do and he did, which didn't happen often. Riza feigned surprise and playfully exclaimed, "Oh my, Roy Mustang! I didn't know you could be this useful!"

"Hey! Don't make fun of me with such a cute voice." he, in turn, feigned to be hurt. Riza laughed softly and walked to him. "I'm glad you came Roy."

"I know," he gave her his infamous arrogant smirk. Riza only rolled her eyes. They had a lot to do that day, but it was definitely going to be much faster and cheaper for her with Roy doing all the fixing using his alchemy.

By late afternoon, the house was almost as good as new, even a little better than she remembered it to be. Riza had done many batches of laundry, washing all the drapes, the blankets, the bed sheets and everything that she deemed appropriate to go into the washing machine. She was glad Roy had gotten rid of all the dust in the house because she wouldn't have been able to finish cleaning even one floor.

Riza was outside hanging the wet laundry on a line Roy had made, or more like transmuted, for her when she heard him ask, "Riza, does this look okay to you?"

Roy was on top of a ladder trimming the vines climbing on the wall of the house. They had decided to keep it there, because it ended up giving a good look to the house, with a little trimming of course.

"Hmm, cut a little more from that side," she replied after analysing his work.

Roy got down from him ladder and moved it to the spot she had pointed to. As he was climbing up again, he playfully said, "You know, you can be court marshalled for ordering around the country's Fuhrer in doing hard labor."

" I'm not ordering around the Fuhrer, I'm ordering around my boyfriend." She wittily remarked with a smirk.

"I guess that's acceptable then," Roy answered with a laugh. He loved it when Riza called him her boyfriend and every time she did it, which was pretty rare, he felt his heart tingle.

When it was near dinner time, they decided to go into town to find a place to eat since the fridge at home was empty. They walked hand in hand enjoying everything they saw together, reminiscing on the past, comparing it to the present. Roy was wearing a simple black T-shirt that fitted him nicely and a nice pair of jeans. Riza had to admit that he was extremely attractive tonight, maybe because she could picture his nicely toned body underneath his thin shirt. Of course, Riza had already explored every part of his body and was impressed every time she did, but the fact that she couldn't see it now and was imagining it made made her feel very hot.

"Riza, are you okay?" Roy glanced worriedly at her, "You look a little feverish".

"Oh, yes, I'm okay. Just lost in my thoughts." She laughed nervously, embarrassed for getting caught staring with lust at the man that belonged to her.

"Alright, if it's too hard for you to be in town, we can always take dinner back home." Roy was completely convinced that it was the past that was causing her problems, oblivious of her perverted thoughts.

"No, no, it's fine. I want to eat out." Riza answered hastily. "Come, let's choose a restaurant." She quickly dragged him faster to change the subject.

They randomly picked a new restaurant that neither of them recognized and was pleased with the result. It was a fine Italian restaurant that made very good pasta and thin crust pizza. Throughout the night, they were lucky enough that nobody recognized Roy as the Fuhrer, since everyone was busy with their meals, so their night went on uninterrupted.

As they slowly walked back towards the house, eating the ice cream Roy had bought them from a stand on the side of the road, Roy suddenly stopped, remembering something.

"Oh I forgot to buy something. Wait here while I go." He said quickly.

"I'll just come with you." Riza answered, getting ready to follow him.

"No, wait here. It's a surprise." He winked before running off.

Riza smiled and sighed. He was always excited when it came to surprising her with something. On day, he even reserved a whole amusement park for their date, since everyone in Central would recognize them if they were to go out in public like this. She could remember the sweet words he said to her when he brought her there, 'You've never had the chance to go to an amusement park when you were young, right? Well, nothing's too late with Roy Mustang, so we're going to go today no matter what.' Riza would always laugh when she remembered that event. It had really surprised her how Roy would go out of his way to please her, to make her laugh, and that's why she loved him even more.

Riza was brought out of her thoughts when someone screamed her name, literally. She looked towards the direction of the voice with alert eyes, but was met with surprise when she recognized who it was.

"Anne?" Riza asked with uncertainty.

"Yes! You remember me! Oh Riza, I can't believe it's really you! I heard from the ladies down at the market that you came back, but I wasn't really sure if it was real, but I guess it really is!" She hugged Riza really hard. "Where have you been all this time? How have you been? Are you married? Any kids? Oh I have so many questions to ask you, but I don't have much time now!"

Anne was Riza's only friend in this town. She was the only girl in school who would talk to her, since the other kids were always calling her a loner, since she was always quiet, with a creepy dad.

"It's alright, I'm really happy to see you again, Anne, and I'm sorry I never told you when I left." She gave her an apologetic smile.

"How long are you staying? Can we meet in two days? I have to work tomorrow and do overtime too. So I can't meet you tomorrow. But can we meet the day after tomorrow?" She asked frantically, as if Riza would vanish right in front of her again.

"Yes, yes I'll be here. I'm here for two weeks actually."

"Oh that's great! Do you want to meet at that cafe we always used to go to? It's still there after all these years."

"Yes, that'd be great. What time?" Riza asked.

"How about twelve so we can have lunch together?"

"Sure."

Anne hugged Riza again and said "You don't know how happy I am to see you again Riza. I'm so glad you're doing fine. I have to go now, because I'm late for an appointment." Riza nodded and watched her childhood friend run off.

But before she got too far, she turned back and said, "Oh and in case I forget, there's a ten years high school reunion next week. I know you left before the last year, but it would be great if you could still come, since you technically were in our year's promotion. And everyone knows you too. Think about it. I'll give you more details when we meet again!" She waved her hand energetically and ran off.

Riza thought about the reunion, wondering if she wanted to go or not. Most of the people in her class were not very nice to her and she wasn't very fond of them either. They would laugh at her clothes, her hair and everything they could find an excuse to laugh at. On the other hand, she was curious as to what each of them were doing now and what they had become. Deep down inside, she was cruelly wishing they were suffering now because of karma. She hoped they got what they deserved for bullying her all those years back and making her life even more lonely and miserable. Yes, she definitely had to go see for herself. This was her vacation after all, she had to enjoy herself, even if it meant satisfying her selfish desires. She thought to herself, 'Who could possibly do better than me, a lieutenant general, dating the most powerful and handsome man in the country?', she paused and thought, 'no one'. An evil smile crept to her lips and she chuckled lightly.

Riza was never the kind to seek revenge or to hope for misfortune on other people, but she decided to make a once in a lifetime exception in this case. She wanted to go full out and live like any normal person would.

By the time Roy came back, Riza had recollected herself and happily greeted him. Roy smiled back and showed her what he got.

"Wine?"

"Yes, for tonight. To celebrate a successful cleanup." He grinned.

"You took a long time choosing," Riza remarked.

"Yes, sorry. I wanted to make sure I was getting the best one for us. It also happens to be the most expensive one." He gave her a 'I am the best boyfriend ' look.

"You never seize to amaze me Roy Mustang."

"Baby, I know." He said arrogantly, receiving a slap on the arm from Riza.

"Owie!" Roy whined, pretending it hurt.

"Oh stop whining, that didn't even hurt. Let's go home now."

As they walked home, Riza told him about her meeting with Anne and the high school reunion.

"What? You're going?" Roy asked her with surprise in his voice.

"Yes, I want to see how everyone changed and what each of them is doing now."

"How do you know they changed? What if they're going to bully you again like before?"

"Oh please, Roy. I don't think I'm the same person as I was back then." Roy thought long and hard, trying to remember the last time Riza got intimidated by another person, but he couldn't think of anything. All he could remember was her intimidating everyone, so the exact opposite.

"Hmm, you're right. I don't know a soul that would dare say anything to you, unless they want to risk death." He said, receiving a nudge by her elbow.

"I don't kill people that easily Roy!" Riza said, defending herself.

"I was just kidding!"

"I warn them." she continued, putting an accent on her choice of word.

"Like that's any better," Roy murmured to himself.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Riza quickly walked into the house, removing her shoes and stood still, her back to Roy. He sensed something wrong with her by her urgency to enter the house. He closed the door behind him and asked, "Riza, is everything alright?"

"Roy"

"Yes?" he was now completely on alert by the seriousness of her voice.

"Don't wear that shirt anymore."

"What?" he said completely taken by surprise.

"It drives me crazy." She said while turning towards him, showing him the face she wore only when they were making love.

Before Roy could say or do anything else, she kissed him feverishly and ran her hands under his shirt, getting ready to remove it for him.

After that day, Roy decided to make that shirt his favorite one.

A.N.: Hey everyone! I'm back with a new short story :) I've been really busy since school started so I was never able to finish writing this story that I wanted to write. :( But I found some spare time and decided to write a bit. It's going to be in two parts though so I hope you'll be able to wait for the next part to come out... but I think it'll see soon, when my exams finish :) Anyways, Like I said at the end of the Forgotten Truth, I was already planning to write this two part oneshot and here it is! I hope you all give me support and leave a review after reading this, if you liked it...? I kinda wrote it fast though, so sorry if it's not up to your expectations or if there's a lot of mistakes.

Anyways, leave a review so I know people actually like this. If a lot of people do, then I'll try to write the second part faster! If not... well, we'll see if I feel like completing it, haha... :s

D