Thank you to my reviewers! I feel so loved to have been reviewed! So, here's the latest installment.

Summary:
Months after Alphonse is found in Central and taken home to Resembool by Rose, Roy Mustang finalizes his transfer North and leaves Central for, he believes, ever, leaving Riza to clean up after him, like always.

Dear Al, (2)
He was gone. Roy Mustang left Central City and was probably never going to return. No one believed him when he said he wanted a demotion and to be placed in the most isolated outpost in the country. No one believed him until he was gone. He left on the first train out North when the transfer was approved.

Riza Hawkeye stood watching the disappearing train until even she couldn't see it anymore. She didn't cry, but she was hurt. She had always protected him, helped him, and never left his side. But he wouldn't let her come with him. She had saluted him first when the train whistle that signaled departure rang. He had smiled at her a bit.

"I'm under you, Lieutenant Hawkeye. I should be saluting you." He said before saluting her as the train pulled out of the station. She didn't reply, because the time for words was gone. He had turned his back on her and the rest of the company that had watched it for him for so long.

"Come on, Lieutenant Hawkeye. You'll catch a cold standing out here..." Jean Havoc said quietly as he approached Riza. She had been standing there for a while; exactly how long she didn't know, but the train had disappeared from her sight a while ago. She nodded and turned away from the train tracks, following Jean as he led her to a car he had driven down here to pick up Riza in. They got in, and it was silent the entire way back to Headquarters.

When they arrived, Riza went straight to the old office they had worked in, and sat down at Roy's desk. He had asked her to clean out his desk for him. She had agreed after seeing the depressed state he was in. The others left soon after Riza came in; only Jean and Kain were left after an hour. She started systematically going through Roy's stuff, sorting it into boxes that they had brought in previously. The first thing to do was to go through his three drawers of research notes and other alchemic documents of his.

"What should I do with your alchemy research?" She had asked him after he had asked her to clean out everything. He looked away with his one good eye before replying.

"Whatever you want to do with it. I don't need it anymore."

It wasn't hard to figure out which were alchemic documents. He made specific doodles in the margins of notebooks filled with women's names and dates they were supposed to go on. It was all code, and Riza knew that. Of course, there were a few real date lists scattered in-between the three drawers, but Riza knew how to tell the difference.

"We're going on home, Lieutenant Hawkeye."

"Don't work too late." Jean and Kain told her as they left.

"I won't. I'll finish with this drawer before heading home." She replied to them, already halfway finished with the last drawer of Roy's notes. She looked up at the clock and noticed it was nearly ten, but time didn't really matter to her. She was unafraid to traverse the streets of Central after dark. It was a known fact that the thugs out on the street had more to fear from her than she had to fear from them.

"What's this? A letter in his alchemy drawer?" Riza asked as she checked inside the mostly empty drawer. There were only a few loose sheets of paper and a plain envelope left inside. She picked up the envelope and, after seeing there was no address or postage on the outside, opened it and dumped the contents onto the desk. A small picture and a few pages folded together fell out. She flipped the picture over so she could see what it was, and was surprised.

It was a picture of Edward, Alphonse (still in armor), and Winry, taken outside the Hughes' residence with Gracia, Elicia, and Mäes standing around them. Riza had no idea when the picture was taken, but from the few bandages on Edward's face, it must have been taken after he was released from the hospital following the Lab. 5 incident.

Riza set the picture aside and picked up the letter, unfolding it before she started reading it.

Dear Alphonse,
I know you don't remember me, especially after I talked to you when we found you after the Underground City incident, but some things can't be told face-to-face.

I know Edward isn't dead, but I'm still responsible for what happened to you and him. I went after the Homunculus Pride while Edward went to the Underground City to save you from Dante.

You're going to try to find a way to him, right? If any of my alchemy notes will help, contact Riza Hawkeye for them. She'll keep them safe and help you decode them.

It's the least I can do after everything that's happened. Just please don't come to me. I won't have anything to do with it now. That part of my life is behind me now. I can't go back to it for a while. Maybe in a few years I'll be able to, but not now.

You probably don't trust me, but I genuinely cared about what happened to you and your brother. We might have fought and insulted each other, but I did everything in my power to help you on your quest and protect you as much as possible.

I won't ask for your forgiveness for allowing Edward to go to you alone, and my offer of my alchemy notes isn't out of atonement, because I learned long ago there's nothing I can do to receive that, but because you deserve to know.

Sincerely,

Roy Mustang

Riza stared at the letter for a little while before replacing the letter and picture in the envelope. She finished looking at the few pieces of paper in the bottom of the last drawer of alchemy notes before placing them in the box with the rest of it, and placing the letter on top of the papers. She looked at it for a little while before standing up, turning off the desk lamp, and going to the door of the office. She looked back at the darkened desk and sighed.

"Stupid man, it was never your fault. There's no way you could have known."

End
Like always, ideas and constructive criticism appreciated and accepted! I have a few more ideas for letters, and apologize for the length of this one. I didn't think Roy would write that much to Alphonse, even though he is all emo and depressed.

If my muse cooperates, I have at least three more letters to write. Hopefully I'll be able to get those done soon.

Shadow Kat-Lyn