It was their first night after the announcement of the new fuhrer. After Bradley it was now Grumman s turn to be the Fuhrer of Amestris, but the old man was also the one who wanted to make the announcement official, so that even they could hear about it from where they were now. Now they were in Ishval, right after the Colonel s eyesight had been recovered and he could fulfill his promise that he gave Marcoh.

On the day of Marcoh s appearance Roy wasn t so sure whether he should finally say yes to the doctor s offer. After a week full with time of thinking, that he almost always put in the nights at the hospital, Roy just came to the idea of using the Philospher s Stone powers to rebuild Ishval. It would be more useful in transmuting blocks of houses just in seconds or a sea right in the middle of the desert, so that nobody had to worry about water resources. Though the Colonel wasn t so sure about his new plan he would have liked to see an answer in his adjutant faithful, brown eyes, but remebered he couldn t as he opened his eyes and saw just a sea of black, so he had no other choice than listen to her words. "You can rebuild Ishval with or without your eyes, but remember that the stone s power is gone after building whole cities and that there will be no other nor a new one." Her thought s were in the easiest way put in words, but still reflected truth and her own worries. The last week had showed them both that it wouldn t be easy for Riza to be her superior s eyes and if something happened to her or she just wasn t there, Roy would be lost. He remembered hating himself by asking so much of her back in the hospital, while she was still injured. How selfish, he had thought and still thought. Otherwise, Havocs legs were healed, well, he can t walk properly, but the doctors said, that he is on his way to re-learn. So, what was with him, asked Roy himself and closed his eyes, which were constantly open. Though he couldn t see it was an old habit and an hard one to break apparently, though he was blind for just one week now. He felt that it was too long for him, and he knew that he couldn t take it much longer. It was selfish and he knew it exactly, but he wanted desperately to see again. He not just wanted to see what he could create with his new abilities in Ishval, but he also wanted to see the one person, that he saw in a puddle of her own blood at last. It was devastating and it hurt to know, that she s okay now, but still he couldn t be sure when he didn t see it.

Roy raised his head and opened his eyes, whereas his sight was still nothing. He could feel her presence though, just a few steps away from him, but he still couldn t make her out with his own eyes. Roy swallowed hard.
"Please, Marcoh", was all he needed to say and the doctor did, what the Colonel asked from him, though he didn t know the second reason from Roy to do it. But he didn t need to, he did it right away. The next time then, when the blinded man opened his eyes again he wasn t blind anymore and saw the most wonderful woman right in front of him. He smiled, because he wasn t surprised by the fact, that she didn t go away from him and didn t thought of turning back a second. She stood right there and smiled, a true and happy smile, while her eyes were moist and glistened. But she refused to cry and she refused to take him in her arms and tell him how happy she was, not only because they weren t alone. Maybe it was another habit just hard to break. With his smile still on his lips Roy turned his head and saw Marcoh and Hayate, just in this moment the man realised they were in Riza s apartement.
"Welcome back, Sir", she said and Black Hayate barked happily, while he trotted to the relieved Colonel. To him it seemed the dog wanted to show his mistress affection for this moment as the dog jumped cocky on the couch, where Roy sit and cuddled his arm. Smiling Roy patted the dog on the head and turned to Marcoh to thank him, but the man just shook his head. "Just remember your promise", he said huskily and walked off, Riza following him to open the front door. A few moments later the First Lieutenant came back and looked cautously to her commanding officer, who was patiently waiting for her. Their eyes met and he stood up, walking right to her and stopped a chosen few inches in front of his adjutant while his smile grew much warmer. She couldn t take her eyes from his, but were slighty taken off guard when he raised his hand and let it rest on her cheek. It was just too much for her to bear and she knew, that he knew that, as he looked right in her eyes. He felt relieved when she sank into his soft touch and leaned into his hand, that just started to draw small circles on her skin. He didn t need words to say how happy he was to see her again, though she already has closen her eyes he didn t.

Because he wanted to see her.

By now he saw everything more clearly, reminding all the years with her by his side and every lost moment that was just lost in a memory now. So was the last one, Riza, with the cut in her neck and lying in her own blood and he stood just metres away from her, but he remembered he was too far away. Right now, in rememberence, he held her like he held her on that day, in that moment when he thought he d already lost her. It was just like a wonder that her body still breathed in his arms and that she breathed in his arms right now and didn t flinch from his uncharacteristic touch, just leaned in and put her own arms around him. They were whole again. Just them, without any words of comforting much less words of the despair they felt on that day, before and after the fight. She knew, oh yes she knew, how he felt in this moment, because she had thought she would loose him in his attempt of human transmutation. She was so happy that he didn t, that he understood her and respected her decision, though it would have taken her away from him,
while on the other side she also knew, that he wouldn t have forgive himself with his choice by letting her die when he had the option to save her life.
He knew all these thoughts were failure, they were just wrong and not right, but he couldn t think otherwise - when he had just realised how much he loved her.

But now, not a week later, they were together and they were alive, in each other s arms and they couldn t be happier for this moment, that meant a new beginning. Without the homunculi and father the new steps seemed so much easier and the burden not that heavy to carry, only because they had each other, again. And though they couldn t show their affection to the rest of the world, they now could show it to themselves, still not in a way they probably wanted, but with the knowing they just don t have each other s back but also themselves.

And with that they knew they didn t have to show to anyone, but have just to carry on like all the years before. Together and alive. For a better future for everyone, maybe, yes, maybe even for themselves. One may never know.