Chapter 2: Riza Hawkeye I

Riza Hawkeye quickly decided that rooming with Ariyn Fitzgerald was not ideal. After all, she would have much preferred sleeping with her unit. No one needed to protect her modesty; she'd been in all male units her entire military career, and any squeamishness she might have once had was long since squelched out.

Ariyn, on the other hand, was not used to "roughing it" and complained every moment she was awake. The water wasn't hot, the windows let in the draft, and the beds weren't soft enough. Hawkeye encouraged her to take it up with Abra, rightly assuming that Ariyn was all talk. Ariyn grumbled about the firmness of the pillows before falling asleep almost immediately. Riza had never spent time with politicians before, and she wasn't enjoying her first taste of it. To her, politicians lived in a little bubble, ruling from afar, without any of the repercussions of what they decree. Of course Amestrian politicians had never held much power, so they were useless on top of that.

Riza had always been an early riser, so as soon as the tiniest bit of sun crept over the distant horizon, she awoke with a start, her arm already reaching out to her gun on her bedside. She sighed as she remembered where she was. Ariyn slept on beside her, so Hawkeye prepared for the day quietly. She slipped out of the room a few minutes later and got her first taste of an Ishvalan morning in many years. It was mostly dark out; the sun's rays stretched close to the ground creating long shadows. No one else was out in the street yet, so Hawkeye sat and watched the sun rise over the desert.

Dawn had always been her favorite time of day. It was quiet but beautiful. Once upon a time, she awoke at dawn for alone time in her house. Her father often worked late into the night, but by dawn, he would be sleeping on his research notes, his head twisted at an odd angle. She would help him into bed, begin breakfast, and start the day's chores.

She hated everything about her life then. Everything except for the few glorious hours while her father slept and the house was hers. She relished this time, but when her father took on an apprentice, she was disappointed to find that he too was an early riser.

She spent the first few months avoiding him, but one day she caught him watching the sunrise from her favorite spot atop the neighbor's hill beside the aging oak tree, and they watched the sun rise together. Her father's apprentice stood quietly, appreciating the dawn with her, their shoulders side by side, and then it became a routine. The few minutes a day Riza spent standing beside Roy Mustang, pretending that she didn't have a boring life with a dying father and pretending that Mustang was all hers, were among the happiest in her life.

She remained lost in her thoughts until the sun had risen completely and a hand tapped her shoulder.

Riza jumped and Abra laughed.

"I didn't mean to frighten you, dear, but if you're already up, would you mind helping me carry these pots inside? I don't know where that boy ran off to so early," she said, shaking her head. For an older woman, she was remarkably energetic, and she already held two large ceramic pots under each of her arms as though they were as light as newborns.

"Of course," Hawkeye said, and with Hawkeye's help, they made quick work of the morning chores. Riza didn't mind helping Abra. In fact, it was soothing to move her body and put her tensions into tangible accomplishments.

As Riza scrubbed down the table, Abra stopped her work and turned to her, a smirk dancing on her lips.

"Are you married?" Abra asked.

Riza stopped.

"No," she said and returned to her cleaning. Abra laughed.

"There's a story there," she said. "A pretty girl like you doesn't go into the military for no reason."

Hawkeye fought to keep the tension from her shoulders and keep her voice light, "I was left alone when my father died. I didn't have any family. The military gave me an opportunity to start again."

Abra pushed the few wisps of white hair, which had fallen out of her bun back behind her ear, and Hawkeye was reminded of Rebecca Catalina and her propensity for gossip.

"So you don't have a man then?" Abra asked. "That doesn't seem right." She squinted at Riza, her crimson eyes turning to narrow slits and accentuating the grooves lining her eyes. A flutter of nerves sunk into Riza's stomach, and she realized she'd experienced more pleasant interrogations. And this was just a gossipy old lady. Was she losing her touch or had Madam Abra missed her true calling as an interrogator? Something about her eyes made Riza feel like a young girl again, trying to explain to her teacher why her father never came to the parent-teacher meeting.

Riza prayed that any of the others would interrupt. Anyone, even including Ariyn Fitzgerald. But she didn't know if anyone was awake yet.

"No," Abra continued. "You do have a man… a military man."

Riza kept her expression neutral, but Abra persisted.

"Ah," Abra said, and her scrunched face loosened as she'd untangled the mystery. "An unrequited love in the military."

"Not exactly," Hawkeye said. "I'm not in love. I just… have someone I need to protect." Her eyes jumped to the stairs, and Abra put two and two together.

"The General," Abra said, sighing. "We women love a man we can't have."

"Love?" Riza spluttered, and Abra shot her a toothy grin.

"Let me tell you a little secret, dear," she said leaning in close. The cleaning had long since been abandoned. "Many years ago when I lived in Ishval before the war, I was what you'd call… a matchmaker.

"I arranged many marriages. It was something I loved doing. I know you Amestrians haven't had arranged marriages in many years, but when I was younger, it wasn't uncommon, especially in the countryside. I arranged hundreds of marriages, including my own, so I am very familiar with that longing face you wear so well. When girls visited me with that face, they were on my doorstep, begging me to plead their case to their families so they could marry the man they loved."

Abra grabbed Hawkeye's hands. Her palms were warm and coarse but they reminded Riza of her nebulous memories of her mother.

"Life can be too short or too long, depending on how you live it," she said.

"Um… I… need to go-" Riza said. But before Abra released her hands, Abra leaned so close Riza could smell the spices she'd been cooking with this morning.

"Ishvala works in mysterious ways, but She can only do so much. You have to be open to the opportunities She gives you."

With that, Abra let her hands drop to her side and picked up a rag. She dusted off the nearest table with newfound energy.

"Thank you, Madam," Riza said, strangely touched by the concern. "But it's not as simple as you think."

Abra huffed.

"Sure it isn't," she agreed, but Hawkeye got the feeling that she was being condescending.

General Mustang picked that moment to enter the kitchen. Riza's eyes were drawn toward his entrance. His shoulders were tense, but when his eyes found Riza's, they loosened immeasurably. Riza ignored Abra biting back laughter.

"Sure, sure. I'm delusional," Abra muttered as she wrung out her washcloth, and Riza pretended not to hear.

"Ready to go, sir?" Hawkeye asked, and Mustang nodded, leaving Abra behind to chuckle to herself.

"What was that all about?" Mustang asked as soon as they stepped outside. It was only a few hours past sunrise, yet it was scorching out already. The Amestrian uniform was not fit for such heat.

Riza shook her head.

"Nothing, sir," she said, and luckily, Mustang let the matter drop. Or at least he was forced to because the other Amestrian and Ishvalan delegates began trickling outside into the open square. A few of the security guards wore street clothing and were trying to blend into the local population, who were also beginning to go about their day, but their non-white hair stuck out so much they needn't have bothered.

'Good mornings' were exchanged but the levity of the previous night had worn off. Riza could see the stress Mustang was trying to hide, and she did her best to diminish it the best way she knew how: separate Ariyn Fitzgerald, whose flawless wardrobe and make-up on this already stifling hot morning hinted at Central fashion boutiques and not at Ishvalan peace talks, from the Ishvalan delegates to the best of her ability.

On this first morning, the plan was to tour the highlights of the city of Kedesh: what had been rebuilt and the remnants of what was. It was both to show progress and to demonstrate how much work they still had ahead. It was also the perfect opportunity for photographs and good press. Not that reporters had been invited into Ishval, but the state-issued photographs would be released after all of the dust had settled.

"Excuse me, Captain Hawkeye, but I really must speak with the Elders," Ariyn finally said, fanning herself with her hand dramatically, after Riza had distracted her with nonsense for long enough. Riza didn't put up a fight and let Ariyn excuse herself from the pointless conversation they'd been sharing. Hawkeye had done the best she could, and she wasn't feeling particularly generous after prattling with the representative for the better part of an hour.

As soon as she was freed from Ariyn's presence, the morning passed quickly. The city itself had once been sprawling and one of the largest in Ishval, but now it was smaller than East City by a significant margin. Riza had never been to Kedesh before; it had been one of the first battlefields of the war, and it had been conquered by the Amestrians years before Riza had stepped foot in Ishval.

However, Kedesh reminded her of other Ishvalan cities she'd been stationed in. It had no logical city layout, just meandering wherever it wished. It hid narrow nooks and corners where two buildings didn't perfectly meet, but it had much more character than any Amestrian city she'd ever seen.

"Why didn't you plan out a city grid before you started building? You're starting from scratch, you could have made it orderly," Ariyn asked at one point, as they cut through a shortcut in an alleyway across from the Kedeshian school.

"We weren't looking to make an Amestrian city," Elder Vikram said frowning. "We're rebuilding what was here. What had been here for hundreds of years."

"But how are cars-?" she persisted.

"Representative Fitzgerald," Elder Shan said, clanking her cane on the stone beneath of her feet. "Just because you do things a certain way, does not make it the right way."

Ariyn seemed ready to argue, but Mustang, the godsend he was, intervened by asking about the newest educational facilities, and everything was smoothed over well enough.

Ultimately though, there wasn't much to see. The city itself was a walkable size, and sooner than Riza had expected, Miles informed them that what they'd seen so far was the completed area of Kedesh, and that they would now be led through some of the construction sites.

Soon they were surrounded by half-completed buildings in the midst of assembly. They stood in varying degrees of completion. Some lacked roofs, some had only a first level, some had staircases leading to nowhere, but the outsides all glistened in the sunlight, their white stone walls almost blinding on the cloudless day. (This was to keep out the heat Miles informed them.) And then the travelling group passed the end of the construction, and they reached the edge of the current Kedeshian city line. For a moment, no one said anything.

The city of Kedesh had been large, Riza knew. But the one that currently stood was a small town. While walking through, it had seemed like a normal, small but growing community, but it was deceptively peaceful, for it had been built atop a graveyard. Because just beyond the quaint town's reach lay ruins for as far as the eye could see. Dilapidated roofs, partially covered by sand dunes, sprawled out next to concrete slabs which may have been walls. There must have been roads weaving through the buildings, but they weren't evident anymore. Everything had been covered by sand, the desert trying to reclaim its lands.

"We've been working on clearing it," Major Miles said. "It'll be much easier starting over than trying to rebuild what was there. But there's only so much we can rebuild."

"If you need resources-" Mustang began, but Miles raised his hand.

"I meant there isn't enough Ishvalan population to even populate where the old city was," he said simply.

No one had anything to say to that, and despite the heat, Riza felt chills shiver down her spine. The rest of the tour continued uneventfully, but Riza couldn't push the ruins of the Old City of Kedesh from her mind.

Because the city was so small, they didn't need to take the shortest path back to the inn, so they meandered on the peripheral of the city, but as they circled around, the Ishvalan guides stopped in front of a large stone gate.

It was tall enough that its contents were hidden from the path. Unlike the newly constructed buildings she'd seen, this gate was old, evidenced by deep cracks in the structure. Not large enough to stop it from doing its job or to even see into what it hid, but enough so that the wall was no longer smooth, checkered with damage from the elements.

"This is what you would call… a memorial?" Elder Shan said. "Does that make sense in Amestrian, Grand Cleric Heridas?"

"It's difficult to explain because there isn't an equivalent in Amestris," Scar said. "It's a memorial, but also like a graveyard without graves. It's a series of monuments to the oldest families in Ishval."

She didn't quite understand what that meant, but she didn't know whether he would have elaborated further, because suddenly, the ground shook, and they heard the distant, but distinct, booming echo of an explosion.

For a split second, Hawkeye forgot where she was, when she was. Suddenly, it was like she was back during the War again, and she could almost feel the gunshots' cracking through the air. Riza felt her body flood with adrenaline, and she shook off memories long suppressed.

"What was that?" Mustang asked, but the Ishvalans were just as confused as the Amestrians.

"It seemed to come from the train station," Breda said, pointing back towards Abra's inn. Sure enough, when Riza squinted, she could distinguish a small cloud of smoke hovering in the distance. The group split into two, so that the most mobile members of the party could sprint toward the smoke.

"According to the press releases, the Fuhrer was supposed to be arriving today," Mustang muttered to her as they ran through the winding streets. They were on the outskirts of town, so they didn't have to worry about frightening many civilians. The streets were still foreign to the Amestrians, but luckily, Scar was the fastest, so he led them through the twisting alleyways and crevices with familiarity. The few civilians they did pass leaped out of the way of the running soldiers. She knew they probably held as many horrible memories of the war as she did. These were a people very familiar with the sounds of an explosion.

"An assassination attempt? On the Fuhrer?" Riza asked.

"Perhaps."

"Say," Riza said. "When was Edward supposed to arrive?"

Mustang checked his watch and let out a series of expletives.

"That kid just can't stay out of trouble," Breda said, as they turned the corner out of the town and onto the open road leading to the train station. Now they could see a billowing smoke fume, but it was smaller than Hawkeye would have expected for the sound it caused.

Both the Amestrians and the Ishvalans were ready for a panicked crowd when they arrived at the train station, but while smoke still hovered over the train, the train was completely intact, and there were no screaming or injured persons to be found. Instead, an orderly evacuation had taken place, as though the train had simply run out of fuel. But that explosion had to have come from somewhere.

Leading the evacuation was a blond civilian, and as he spoke with a young girl, he pointed back to the train, which revealed a long blond braid over his right shoulder.

"Fullmetal," Mustang said, striding over. "Why am I not surprised that the moment you arrive you're causing trouble?"

Edward made an exaggerated frown of disgust.

"Don't you see I'm helping the public good here?" he yelled back, which made the young girl he'd been assisting flee. "Why is everything my fault?"

"What? Did someone say something? I can't see anything except for a tiny-"

Riza knew a shouting match was coming and tuned them out with practiced ease.

"I've missed this," Breda muttered to her, before he greeted Edward too. Riza couldn't help but agree, but they had more important issues to address.

"What happened here, Edward?" she asked, but Edward shook his head.

"I dunno. I was on the train, and it was pulling up to the station, and then there was some explosion from outside the train. Maybe a mile down the tracks? But there wasn't any damage to anything I've seen or to anyone. Who would do something like this?"

"Ishval has many enemies," Major Miles said, his eyes cold and lips narrow.

"So does the Fuhrer," Mustang said. At the Ishvalans' questioning glances, he muttered, "Not here."

This was about when Edward seemed to notice Scar, who was hovering back from the group.

"Thought you died on the Promised Day," Edward shouted out as a greeting.

"Disappointed?" Scar asked, raising an eyebrow. Edward shrugged, and that was that.

The evacuation of the train had mostly finished at this point, so while Major Miles stayed to investigate the train and seek the explosion site itself, everyone else accompanied Edward back to their lodgings. Mustang and Edward sniped insults back and forth, and Breda, bless his soul, was making sure that neither said something they might later regret.

Riza hung back, checking for dangers more out of habit than actual fear. Whoever had caused the explosion had to be long gone by now. With her slower pace, she found herself walking in stride with Scar.

"He looks like a young man now," Scar said.

"That's what happens," she said. "It's already been a year."

"Civilian life suits him," he said. Against the dirt road, their steps were quiet. The sun beat down on them, and Riza wished she could trade in her uniform for something like Edward's clothing choice: a loose shirt and light pants. Anything but the cotton which clung to every inch of skin like a sponge.

"I think General Mustang disagrees," Riza said finally. "He sees in Edward what every soldier should be. Kindness towards those weaker than him, an unwillingness to take a life, and a strong moral compass. Amestris could do a lot worse than him."

Scar nodded. "I suppose."

The walk to the inn felt shorter than it had yesterday, and soon Edward was shown to his room, promising to socialize as soon as he unpacked.

Civilian life did suit Edward, Riza could see. But it wasn't just that he'd given up being a dog of the military. He'd also succeeded in his one goal he'd held for as long as she'd known him: getting Alphonse's body back. Not to mention he'd defeated the crazy homunculus (who looked like his absentee father) and helped save Amestris from destruction. The weight of the world was off of his shoulders, and he practically glowed. He strode with an easy swagger, hinting of confidence, but not the faux-cockiness he'd once used to strut around Eastern Command.

Although Winry had kept her updated on Edward's progress, it was much different seeing him in person. Riza eagerly anticipated Alphonse's arrival next, because the last time she'd seen him, he'd only had his body back for two weeks. His ribs still jutted out, and he couldn't walk without assistance. He could only eat a few bites at a time, and his eyes were sunken as though he were deathly ill. But it was the exact opposite of that. He was now suddenly alive, and she couldn't wait to see him.

While they awaited Edward's reappearance, the rest of the group returned, led by the Fuhrer and the two Ishvalan elders. Havoc and Major Wilson made up the rear, and the inn which had been so quiet when they'd arrived, was suddenly bubbling with energy. In the daytime, it was much less grim, and with sunshine pouring in from the windows, it was actually inviting.

Hawkeye was quickly brought into a heated discussion on the earlier explosion. There had been no casualties, not so much as a scratch on anyone.

"The Fuhrer was supposed to be on that train, according to last week's papers," Hawkeye said. "Maybe once someone realized the Fuhrer wasn't on the train, he made a diversion and fled."

"That's as good an idea as we have," Mustang said, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Have you many enemies, Fuhrer Grumman?" Elder Vikram asked, which made Grumman laugh.

"Many, but fewer who would resort to such dramatics," he said, wiping a few tears from his eyes, but his face darkened as they continued turning over the strange attack.

"This is indeed troubling," said Elder Shan, speaking for the first time.

It was at this moment that Edward bounded down the stairs and into the lounge.

"Chief!" Havoc yelled.

"Havoc! Nice to see you. You look better. No cane anymore?"

"He's supposed to be using it," Mustang interjected.

"Yeah, and you're supposed to be using your glasses," Havoc said with a glower.

Edward surveyed the room, stopping at the Elders. He stepped away from Havoc and Mustang, who were busy glaring at each other, and as soon as he approached Elders Vikram and Shan, he bowed, keeping his legs and back straight. They appeared surprised but returned it in kind.

"Madam Shan," Edward said.

"You're the friend of the Rockbells," she said.

Elder Vikram turned to her, "You know this boy?"

"We met in Xerxes," Edward said. "I didn't know you were back in Ishval. Did all of the Ishvalans from Xerxes return?"

Elder Shan nodded.

"I passed along your message," Edward said, but didn't elaborate.

"Thank you," Elder Shan said. "I appreciate it greatly."

"Actually," Edward said. "My brother and a friend of ours are coming to Ishval in a few days. This friend is… the Rockbells' daughter, Winry."

Scar, who'd been leaning on the window, stiffened.

"Many of us would love to meet this friend of yours and give her our thanks," Elder Shan said.

"She'd like that," Edward said, running his fingers through his hair. Rather than the glint of metal she expected, his fingers were flesh. Of course. She knew he'd gotten his arm back, but it was still surprising to see Edward with matching flesh arms.

"Why is that boy here?" Ariyn whispered to Riza, so she had to draw her attention away from Edward and focus on something decidedly less enjoyable. She couldn't keep the displeasure from her face.

"That's the Fullmetal Alchemist."

Ariyn gasped.

"Him? He's just a kid. How could he-" she broke off, shaking her head. "How could the military recruit a kid?"

"I imagine he was a better alchemist at age ten than most of our state alchemists are currently," Riza said dryly.

"General Mustang excluded, right?" Ariyn asked.

Riza did not roll her eyes but she desperately wanted to. Instead she settled on a non-committal shake of the head.

"But why is he here? He's not even a State Alchemist anymore, right? I heard that he quit after Bradley died. Maybe he was a hardcore Bradley supporter," Ariyn said.

Riza made up an answer about his unique insights into Ishvalan affairs, but Ariyn was mostly right. Edward didn't really belong here, except that he was a good face for publicity. The tale of the Fullmetal Alchemist as the 'alchemist of the people' was great press for the military, but Edward hadn't been invited so much as Winry announced that they would be there, and Hawkeye accepted it without argument. She suspected that it was largely led by Winry's desire to find closure with her parents' work.

"You must have missed us so much," Havoc said. "It's pretty boring in Resembool, isn't it? You missed the hustle and bustle of Central?"

Edward laughed, "Afraid not, Havoc, I'm very happy living a quiet life in the countryside. Unlike you."

"I'll have you know-" Havoc began, but Elder Vikram cleared his throat.

"May we continue with the actual purpose of this meeting?" he asked, but it wasn't so much a question as a statement.

Tension rushed through Hawkeye but it was assuaged when Elder Shan rolled her eyes.

"How about some food first, and then back to business, yes?"

Abra, seemingly waiting for this exact moment, paraded into the inn with the young boy from last night, carrying a tray of exotic foods. Riza imagined that they were as spicy as the offerings from last night, but she could barely taste the food through her stress. All she could do was sit on the edge of her seat and hope no one blundered too severely.

After the meal, the group gathered outside of the inn again, Edward now included. The photographer snapped numerous pictures, and they wasted at least twenty minutes finding the best angle and lighting. Hawkeye thought Scar was going to murder the photographer, not that she was overjoyed at standing in the hot sun for no reason but public perception. The only person who was the least bit comfortable was Ariyn Fitzgerald. This was her time to shine. She encouraged different poses, from handshakes between the different heads to different breakdowns of group photos. Somehow she was in almost every one, her phony grin stretching across her face, displaying shiny teeth.

When that ordeal finally ended, the consensus was that whatever Ishvalan issue they were to confront couldn't be as bad as that.

Most of the serious work was to be done after the Fuhrer had left and took his over-sized security detail with him, but while he was here, it would be easier demonstrating the sincerity of the Amestrians. Of course the Fuhrer would follow the Accords with regular updates from General Mustang, but it was difficult to hash out ideas through intermediaries.

The first issue on the table was transportation. It was the easiest of the immediate problems that were slowing down a lot of the Ishvalan rebuilding process, but it would be a solid foundation for the rest of the Accords. However, despite it being the easiest, it wasn't exactly easy. Much of the readings Mustang had to power through (which meant Hawkeye often had to read them) involved this very question.

"Ishvalan cities are now like islands," Major Miles said, as soon as they returned into the inn. They settled in the dining room in the back, all crowded around a long table. Ishvalans on one end, Amestrians the other. However, the Amestrian numbers nearly doubled the Ishvalans which didn't feel right. "Ishvalans are trying to rebuild their old towns, none as large as Kedesh, but there have been efforts across Ishval. But there is nothing connecting them."

Before the War, he explained, there had been a rudimentary railroad, which Hawkeye was very familiar with. As the Amestrian military marched eastward through Ishval they tore the tracks, isolating the Ishvalan survivors further until the military could come through and… dispose of them.

"A modern railway is key to connecting Ishval and to connecting it to the rest of Amestris."

"The money and manpower involved would be gargantuan," Ariyn Fitzgerald said. Her face was schooled blank, but she kept clawing at the table with her over-sized fingernails. An old nervous habit, perhaps? "How are we supposed to afford any of this?"

"But you could afford your super powered military," Scar bit back, and Hawkeye couldn't hide a smile. Luckily, Ariyn didn't turn around.

"We could pay for Ishvalan workers to help build it. It kick starts the economy and gets the trains built," Mustang said, directing the conversation back to the issue.

"It's not quite that simple, Mustang," Ariyn said, a fake smile plastered to her face. "The money has to come from somewhere. Why should the people of my state pay for a system which will not benefit them in any way and furthermore-"

"If you don't think that any money will pass from Amestris to Ishval, you can kindly walk out of here with the rest of your dignity intact," Scar said, and honestly, Riza thought he was restraining himself very well.

"I'm not saying no money," Ariyn said, barely holding the faux smile to her lips. Her fingers twitched but stopped the clawing motion. "But since last year's drought, I can't ask for my constituents to pay more taxes for a railroad that will be needlessly expensive and long. There isn't a practical way to connect all of the cities to each other and to Amestris without overburdening-"

"If you're going to spend this whole time-" Scar began.

"Excuse me," Edward said, and every head whipped towards him. Thus far he'd been silent, even when subjected to the earlier photography session (though he couldn't hide the grimaces every time the camera flashed). "Why are you talking about this? This is stupid."

"Boy, you can't possibly understand-"

"No, you don't understand," Edward said. "This isn't the enormous undertaking that any of you think it is, at least at first. Does anyone have a map of Amestris?"

Ariyn Fitzgerald was seemingly so shocked, she'd lost all power of speech (Riza vowed to learn that trick), and Major Miles handed him a map. Edward pulled a pen from his pocket.

"See, I don't know a lot about all this politics stuff, but I do know train stations. I practically lived in them."

He started drawing in the train stations in the Eastern region on the map, hesitating for a moment over Resembool, before circling it, East City, Kedesh, and a few other Ishvalan cities.

"What are you doing?" Scar asked.

"Give me a second, okay?" Edward said, as he connected the circles together. For a moment Riza thought he had drawn a transmutation circle, but instead it seemed like random shapes.

"Okay, so like I said, I know train stations pretty well. For me to get here from Resembool I had to take a train from there to East City and then through Giyoir to Kedesh, which is really annoying," he said, pointing to the different cities on the map as he spoke of them. "Because Resembool is actually really close to Ishval, but there's no way to go there directly.

"Kedesh isn't close to a lot of these other Ishvalan cities so building the train tracks to connect them all would be difficult. But if you connect Resembool," Edward said, before adding, "It doesn't have to be Resembool, you could go with another Amestrian city nearby. Or Fenief in the South. But if you connect these major Ishvalan cities to Amestrian towns, a lot of the access problems go away. You'll need a lot less track and the cities will be at least somewhat connected.

"It's not a long term solution, but it doesn't seem like you guys can afford wasting all of your manpower on building a train when there are still so many cities in ruin. So…? What do you think?"

Silence reigned for a solid ten seconds.

"Come on, it wasn't that bad," Edward said.

"No," Mustang replied. "It wasn't bad at all." Hawkeye got the feeling that Mustang was hiding a severe jealousy of the ease at which Edward seemingly did everything.

"We'll have to run it by the Parliament before you can do anything," Ariyn mumbled, and Edward's proposal was tweaked several times. But by the end of the day, Hawkeye felt like something had actually been accomplished.

"That was pretty impressive, Edward," Riza said that night, after most of the military men had gone upstairs.

"I guess," he said.

"No, it really was." Riza paused. "Is this the real reason you wanted to come down here? Because you wanted to make a difference again?"

Edward sighed.

"I don't know. Not really," he said, playing with his braid. The sun had already set, which left the lounge cloaked in shadow. "It was important for me to come here, but I am not sure exactly what I'm looking for."

"Well while you wait, you're certainly welcome to keep doing whatever you're doing," she said.

Edward had this unique energy that, despite his temper and his unreasonable skills for someone his age, made him likeable and trustworthy, even to people he'd never met before. Elder Vikram, who hadn't cracked a genuine smile since Riza met him, didn't glare at him once, which Hawkeye thought was a miracle.

"I just wish I could do more though," Edward said, staring around the lounge. He looked everywhere but at Riza's face. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought that he was scared. It was easy to forget how young he was. He'd been through so much, and it wasn't fair that he'd had to shoulder the burden of his family and his country.

Something about his expression reminded her of soldiers recently returned from war. They couldn't quite fit into their old lives because they weren't the same people they were when they'd left. They'd seen things, done things, that their families couldn't understand, and they struggled to reconcile the disparate sides of themselves.

"You're… you're not responsible for Ishval," she said, finally deciding to pour herself a drink from behind the bar. She opened a promising bottle of mud-colored liquid and took a whiff. It was strong, which was exactly what she wanted, so she poured a small glass for herself and offered Edward a drink. He raised his eyebrows and shook his head. She downed it in one gulp.

"You had nothing to do with what happened here. You were just a kid. Just because you were in the military, doesn't mean you're to blame for all of this destruction."

"Ishval is my burden to bear too," he said, playing with his hands in his lap. He turned to her and Hawkeye wasn't sure what emotions Edward read on her face, but he immediately backtracked.

"I mean it's everyone in Amestris' burden, right? If Ishval is gonna be a part of Amestris again, like a real part, then we all have to fix it, right?"

Riza nodded, "That's true."

They fell into silence for a few minutes, and Edward stood up and peered out the window. There weren't many lights outside, so she doubted he could see more than a few feet. Still, he stood there like a guard dog, eyes darting from side to side.

"There's one thing I can't understand, Edward," Hawkeye said, feeling the dull warmth from the booze lick at the confusion in her mind.

"Hm?" he said, not looking away from the window.

"How'd you know about the specifics of the Ishvalan cities? The ones you circled. Those were the cities the Ishvalans were most interested in getting connected to the railways, but they weren't even the biggest ones, so how'd you know which ones they'd want?"

Edward turned back towards her and smiled, "I just read a lot, that's all. Hohenheim had a lot of books on Ishval when we were growing up. After he left, I read almost everything he had. A lot of the cities on the list were places with religious significance."

He itched his cheek, and Hawkeye dropped the matter.

"Captain Hawkeye?" Edward asked.

"You can call me Riza, Edward, you're not in the military anymore."

"Riza, then," he said, wrapping his arms across his chest. "Do you ever feel like your life had a purpose you were meant to achieve, like something you were meant to do, but you ignored it and didn't do it?"

"Is this about leaving the military? Or your alchemy?" Riza asked, unable to keep the speculations falling from her lips. But rather than offending him, Edward laughed.

"No, not at all, never mind," he said and turned back towards the stairs.

"I have felt that way before," she blurted out before Edward could leave. He spun back. "When I first joined the military, I thought I was doing something noble, but I learned very quickly I wasn't." Riza paused. She hadn't meant to go in depth about her own back story, but then again, there were few people who knew more about her life than Edward, and he was, for all of his loud-mouthed tendencies, a good listener.

"I had a lot of trouble dealing with that, especially when I went back after the War. I kept thinking that I had misread the signs, that the war wasn't the place I was supposed to end up. Maybe I was supposed to be a chef or a journalist, and that it was my own fault for misreading the signs that I ever became a soldier. But wondering about 'what ifs' will drive you mad. You can't dwell on what should have been, even if maybe it didn't turn out how you wanted. You just have to keep-"

"Moving forward, yeah, I know," Edward said. "But I don't know where my forward leads."

It wasn't a surprise that after having one single goal as his entire essence for years, once he achieved it and got Al his body back, he wouldn't know what to do.

"Sometimes the most important thing isn't what you're going to do but who you're going to be with."

Edward blushed, and she knew he remembered their conversation about Winry. She could push him in the right direction: what was the harm in that? She quieted the voice in her head that said that she was no better than Abra and her matchmaking.

She didn't have the chance though because he quickly retired, and she followed him up the stairs. She was thankful that Ariyn was already asleep when she returned.

But as she laid in bed, she couldn't sleep. She couldn't stop thinking about Edward. Not that he wasn't trustworthy and if he was lying about his reason in Ishval, he certainly must have had a good explanation. Probably protecting someone, knowing him.

It was a mystery that Riza knew she should just let go. It wasn't important, in comparison to the Ishvalan Accords and the averted bombing of the train, but those weren't the issues keeping her up. It was the glimpse of sadness, betrayed by the tenderness in Edward's eyes and the weight on his shoulders, which hadn't even seemed to be there when he arrived this afternoon.

When Riza finally fell asleep, she dreamed of red-eyed children shot by distant bullets and drowned in uncontrollable fire.

A/N: Thanks for all of the support so far! I'm really glad that so many of you are enjoying it. Special shout out to Shiloh Moon for leaving my first review, and it was honestly so sweet. It made me giddy for days (because I am a loser) and finding other people who write like me is exciting.

Just a quick remark: I've been calling this story "98% canon." It's canon from the timeline of the first episode to the last episode EXCEPT for a few things:

1. Things that took place outside the timeline of the story like flashbacks (of the Elrics' childhood) or Winry/Edward at the very end (because this story is only a year after the Promised Day)

2. Roy will NEVER grows a mustache. This is not important for anything except just a general note. It's a poor look for him, and I'll never subject you to that.

3. I played around with the timeline a bit, essentially moving the Ishvalan War from 1901-1909 (which is canon) to 1896-1904. This means that all of our characters: Mustang, the Elrics, etc. experienced the war at a younger age.

Is any of this stuff important? Probably not to anyone except me. But it's just an aside if that kind of thing is interesting to you.

Thanks for reading, and if you enjoyed it, I'd love a review!