Riza sighed as she stepped off the train at Resembool. Paperwork could always be mailed, but she knew very well that top secret documents could be dangerous the wrong hands. She wasn't exactly sure of the contents of the envelopes she carried under her arm, but they were sure to be important.
"Lieutenant Hawkeye?" She heard a voice call, confusion ringing out clear as a bell. It took a moment to register that the voice was calling to her- it had been quite a while since she'd been a lieutenant. As Riza glanced around for the speaker, she spotted Winry Rockbell on the road, holding a bag of groceries and looking up at Riza with a puzzled expression.
"Oh, hello Winry. I have to get some paperwork to Edward and Alphonse. Have they gotten back yet?" She asked, even though she already knew the answer. Winry looked down for a moment and sighed.
"No, and they were supposed to be back six months ago. I'm worried." Riza's eyes widened- she'd been expecting the brothers to be back at the Rockbell house by now. They might be juvenile still, but Ed wouldn't want Winry to worry- he was extremely protective of the young woman.
"Still gone? I'll come back later, then," Riza said, glancing up at the train schedule. A day and a half's wait for any train going east – an inconvenience for sure, if not plain foolish on whomever scheduled her trip.
" You can stay with us until the next train arrives, Lieutenant."
"Thank you Winry, but I don't need-…"
"Please, it's no bother."
With a small nod, Riza consented, and found herself quite at home a few minutes later seated at the Rockbell table.
"Ed said he would be back in a year, and he called last month to tell me he was all right. Granny went to Rush Valley last month- I don't know why, and she said she'd be back last week." Winry looked down into the contents of her half empty mug. "But he hasn't come, and his letters and phone calls have stopped. I'm so worried, but I'm sure he's fine, he can take care of himself." Riza put her hand on the shoulder of the younger woman.
"Why don't you alert the military?" Winry shook her head.
"No, I don't… I don't think… He's not even…" she stammered.
"We can find him, Winry. It's going to be all right." Winry looked at Riza, revealing she was crying.
I'm just afraid he'll never come back.
"He's not going to forget about you. Ed won't die. He has too much to live for." She said gently, surprised at how motherly she sounded. Winry wiped her eyes and smiled at Riza.
"Thanks."
An 18 year old Riza sat in the living room, tears silently streaming down her face. A plump woman sits next to hug with her arms wrapped around Riza, comforting her with the occasional "it's all right" and stroking her short hair.
"Now, you've been sitting here crying for 10 minutes. Would you mind telling me why you're crying, Riza?"
"I-I-it's Roy. He…he…he…"
"Oh, he didn't!"
"Left. He left to join the military." The woman purses her lips.
"Of course he did. Reckless young man such as himself, with bravery by the bucket and brains stowed away in some distant drawer of his mind. He wants to prove his worth, Riza. Don't you cry, he'll be back soon. And even if he isn't, even if he leaves this Earth forever, you can bet you were in his dying thoughts, and that he whispered an apology in his dying breath. But Roy won't die, Riza. He has you to live for." Riza smiled, the tears still wet on her face.
"It's not just that, Mrs. Dawdson. Before he left, he transmuted me this."
She unclenched her fist. Maria Dawdson looked down and the small object. "Well I'll be a monkey's uncle!" she said, picking it up and examining it. "What good taste that boy has!"
"He said it wasn't the real one- I get to choose it when he gets back. This one… this one is a promise." Mrs. Dawdson gently closed Riza's fingers around it, patting the younger hand a few times.
"Just don't let your father see," she said, winking.
As she pulled Winry into a tight embrace, she took a moment to brush her fingers over her dog tags. Sandwiched between them was the ring – a trinket of the promise Roy Mustang would one day fulfill.