Once a week updates aren't so bad, are they? Thanks to all of you who reviewed, replies are at the end of the chapter. Enjoy part 3!
-0i0-
"You'll be hearing from me as soon as everything is taken care of," the Governor promised as he helped them load their things onto the train the next morning, Riza standing with her charges as Roy put their carryon bags in their private compartment. She'd laid down the extra funds willingly, unsure of how the children would react leaving their hometown for the first time and deciding it would be best to be away from prying eyes should it result in a total meltdown of some kind.
"We'll be looking forward to it," she replied, giving Zeke a gentle nudge before he grudgingly thanked the man for taking care of him and his sister and bidding him goodbye. The Governor just nodded, letting the boy go board the train before Beth hugged his leg and looked up at him with a hint of a smile.
"I'd say take good care of them, but you already are," he sighed, watching as Riza picked Beth back up and carried her on her hip. Thank goodness the girl was small and thin for her age, or her back would have been killing her a few days before. "Bless you for your kindness; please don't hesitate to call if you need something."
"We'll keep that in mind, thank you." Riza shook his hand firmly, Roy doing the same as he reappeared luggage free. "Goodbye, Governor."
He nodded, stepping back as they boarded together. "Goodbye."
Watching the train pull out of the station, the old man waved until it was out of sight.
-0i0-
Beth sat on Riza's lap as the woman kept an eye on Roy and Zeke across from them, the young girl curious as she watched the countryside flash by. She hadn't cried as they left, in fact inside there had been mostly relief. Every place, person and sound that reminded her of her parents only reopened the wounds that had been inflicted upon her young heart. She hadn't been able to cry until Riza had given her that look, and somehow knowing another understood her pain had made all the difference. With that release had come acceptance, and with it the beginnings of healing.
"Beth, are you ok?" Zeke asked, her brother watching her with the ever present concern. "Do you need anything?"
She shook her head slowly, giving him a faint smile as she snuggled further into her caretaker's protective embrace. "I'm fine."
"Are you alright?" Riza asked Zeke as he put his feet on the seat, bringing his knees to his chest. "You look tired."
"I'm not sad to leave, is that alright?" he asked, forgetting for the moment that he was supposed to be upset with her for his life being ruined. "I don't think I'll be back, either…"
"Sometimes, to grieve you need to remove yourself from the place your grief began," she explained slowly, feeling slightly out of depth as his eyes clouded over. "Don't feel guilty for being glad to leave sad memories behind you."
"But they're memories of good people, people that I loved a lot," he argued, swiping an angry arm across his face when wet trails began to appear. "I shouldn't be happy to forget them!"
"You're not," Roy rumbled from beside him, putting a gentle but hesitant arm around the boy. "And you never will forget them, not if you really loved them."
"Zeke?" Beth slid from Riza's lap, the woman helping her stay steady as the little girl took her brother's hand in her own.
"Hm?" He looked down at her, squeezing her hand gently.
Her eyes watched him solemnly. "You'll stay with me right?"
Zeke rolled his eyes at that, but wiped away the last of his tears and smiled at her as best he could. "Right."
"Then don't be sad, because I'm happy you're with me." The children embraced, and Beth seemed to nod to herself. Moving back to Riza's lap, she watched out the window once more as Roy distracted Zeke by asking what other Alchemists were in his book and who he liked the best.
Zeke had immediately pulled out the volume and began asking questions about who Roy knew best and what the alchemic abilities were like in real life. Realizing that the Brigadier General had known Edward and Alphonse Elric personally and had been their superior officer in the Military brought a whole new level of hero worship to light and by the time they reached their final stop Roy had fairly well exhausted his knowledge of the short alchemist with help from Riza occasionally. It was a very long ride.
-0i0-
Winry was waiting for them at the platform after they called from the last station to say they would be on time, wearing her usual mechanic's garb and a smudge of grease still on her cheek. Helping them unload their things quickly, she waited until the last bag was in the wagon before wrapping Riza in a warm hug. The other woman was slow to respond, but it was strong and sincere once she did.
"It's been too long," the lieutenant said as she pulled back, studying the young mechanic with a small smile. "How are you?"
"Good, work keeps me busy most of the time," she replied, smiling back though there was a hint of sadness behind it. Turning to the small girl at Riza's feet, she squatted and said, "And who is this pretty girl?"
Beth smiled back shyly, though she clung to Riza's leg and refused to speak even after the introductions were through and they were all seated in the wagon.
"Borrow it from a neighbor?" asked Roy as he sat with her at the front, Riza keeping an eye on the kids as they rolled in the hay that padded the back.
"Yeah, he owes us a few favors and was more than happy to help," she replied as she guided the beast pulling them down the road. "Granny will be happy to see you, she won't admit it but it's lonely without Al or Ed sticking their heads in occasionally."
"Wait, do you mean Edward and Alphonse Elric?" asked Zeke as he leaned forward over the seat between them. "Did you know them?"
"I grew up with them," Winry replied with a touch of pride. "They used to live just down the road from my house."
Zeke's jaw almost hit the ground. "That's so cool! You didn't tell me they were from here!"
Winry laughed, Riza pleased to see that the gloom that had once gripped the energetic young woman was truly losing its hold. Ed and Al were gone for good as far as they knew, forever trapped on the other side of the gate. With them, whether or not they knew it, they had taken a part of Winry's heart. She had loved them, though to what extent it was hard to say, and knowing they were still alive somewhere was a double-edged sword. With the relief that they were probably safe and well came the pain of knowing they were as unreachable as though they were dead.
Pulling up to the house, they piled out of the wagon and into the kitchen, bags stashed in the guestrooms and introductions gone through again (with Zeke once more going fan-crazy that Pinako had practically raised his heroes for a short time) before Pinako sat them down to a hearty meal with light banter and much laughter. Beth actually spoke a few times, though she refused to leave Riza's side, was firmly attached to her lap once the eating was finished, and seemed to listen in rapt attention as Pinako regaled Zeke with tales the Military pair already knew about the Elric brothers and a few anecdotes from their days as children that they hadn't heard before.
"They used to fight about everything," the old woman was saying as she poured them all coffee, giving Zeke and Beth juice instead so as to not keep them up all night. "And if it came to swinging fists, Al almost always won. If he didn't, it was a stalemate or their mother broke it up before they got that far. They even fought over who would marry Winry!"
"They were very young, then, and I told them I wouldn't marry either of them because they had cooties," the mechanic chuckled from where she was fixing a piece of automail, having brought it out after the meal.
"You should have chosen Al, just because he was taller," Roy joked quietly, Riza rolling her eyes though she smiled as well.
"Edward would probably yell something like 'Who are you calling so short not even a midget would marry him!' if he heard you say that," she pointed out, Pinako agreeing completely as she lit her pipe.
"He really was that short?" put in Zeke, looking up from the photo album Pinako had let him look through. "He doesn't look too short as a kid."
"It didn't become apparent until he got older. After he turned 11 or so he just…stopped growing almost," Winry explained as she screwed in another bolt. "They had some theories as to why, but even the last time I saw him he was barely taller than me if he was at all!"
"That probably doesn't seem very short to you now," Roy added when he saw Zeke's puzzled look. "But he was probably around seventeen or eighteen at that point, and I wouldn't be surprised if he hadn't matched Riza's height yet."
Zeke tired to hide a yawn behind his hands and failed as the clock chimed the ninth hour, Riza glancing down to find Beth nodding off in her arms. "Time for bed," she announced as she rose to her feet, Zeke complaining immediately as Roy pulled him up and pushed him towards the room they'd be sharing. Beth was easy to put down in the room they would share, giving Riza a kiss on the cheek before falling asleep almost before she was out the door.
"He wants to talk to you," Roy informed her the moment she was back out in the hall, Winry and Pinako hiding amused grins as he headed back to the table and she entered their room.
"It feels strange to see you out of uniform," Winry commented as he sat himself back down, accepting a little 'something extra' Pinako offered from a brown bottle in his coffee. "I don't think I've ever seen you without it before, actually."
"Its felt strange to be out of uniform this long," he admitted wryly. "I don't think Riza or I have been in civvies this much since I was bedridden by King Bradley's sword."
"He wanted to make sure you weren't lying about showing him the Elric's house tomorrow," Riza explained when she reappeared once more. "Resorting to bribes already to keep the boy in bed?"
"It wasn't worth arguing over, not tonight," he shrugged; unaware of the look that passed between their hosts though Riza caught the tail end of it with a frown. She sat down and pulled out her gun from her purse, taking it apart as she did almost every night and cleaning it as she went. Since the house already smelt of metal and oil she fit right in. "Now that the kiddies are in bed, how have things really been around here?"
"Quiet," Pinako sighed, pouring herself more from the brown bottle in her coffee. "Too quiet, really. Business is good, but with the boys gone there's never any excitement around here anymore and Winry keeps leaving for her trips to Rushvalley and Central. Rose has moved back to Lior, she writes but never visits, and since Izumi passed away her husband has stopped coming around. Not much of a talker, but he was a good drinking partner."
"You should come to Central, I'm sure the men would love to take you on over a few rounds of scotch," Roy said sincerely, sipping his coffee as the alcohol warmed his belly nicely. "We could walk around and show you all the places Edward made a spectacle of himself while he was there."
"Maybe someday I'll take you up on that offer," she said as she lifted her cup to him lightly. "Maybe."
"We look forward to it."
"What about you, Winry?" Riza put in as she accepted a drop from Pinako's bottle as well, settling back in her chair. "How are things in Rush Valley?"
"Good, most of my orders come from there, and I always spend more time meeting with clients than I do looking at new automail while I'm there," she replied, holding up the piece in her lap. "This is actually an unusual order, only the four fingers were lost so the port had to be designed not to impede the movement of the palm or knuckles while the fingers had to work naturally with the thumb. The original designer couldn't refine the parts enough to give with the smooth, almost-real feeling automail is supposed to have with the range of motion and versatility needed…" She trailed off, flushing in embarrassment. "Sorry, that's probably more than you cared to know."
Riza shook her head. "It's fine; I'm used to it after working with alchemists for so many years. Automail at least makes a semblance of sense, though, as it is not that different from my guns." She had just finished reassembling the weapon and replaced the clip firmly. Applying the safety, she placed it back in her purse before putting away her oil and cleaning clothes. "Regardless of if it's a machine gun or a pistol; all weapons of this nature require the same basic components. Automail is much the same."
"It is simply the quality and care that marks the difference between a rifle that often misfires and one that works smoothly every time," Pinako finished sagely, chewing on her pipe in a contemplative manner. "Machines are machines; if you become versed in one of them you generally understand them all."
"If only alchemy were the same," joked Roy as he poured himself more coffee and let Pinako add about the same amount from her bottle in his cup. "There's so many different theories and talents and types…Armstrong's alchemy has been in his family for generations, they've been in the public eye as part of the military for almost one hundred years, and yet no one else has managed to copy their style completely. Parts, yes, but not all of it."
"There were those brothers that tried to pass as the Fullmetal Alchemist and his brother," Riza mused quietly. "Plant specialists according to the reports Edward gave us. They managed to use an entire forest of trees to purify the countryside of the red water."
"And there's never been another Flame Alchemist, has there?" asked Winry, leaning forward with her chin in her hand.
"Not in the military, no," agreed Roy slowly, though he glanced at Riza as he spoke. "My teacher is the one who taught me the flame…and his research went far more in depth than I could ever imagine or hope to reproduce."
"Not that you would want to," murmured his subordinate to herself, their hosts throwing her a surprised look but leaving it alone when Roy quickly changed the subject.
"I'm surprised you haven't asked for the full story as to how those two tykes came into Riza's possession," he said lightly, Pinako's special brew relaxing him and his tongue more than he was used to in the company of others.
"I figured if there was a story, you would tell it when you were ready and not before," Pinako replied, though her brows lifted in interest. "All Winry said was their parents had passed on and Riza had agreed to take them in…?"
"They're my mother's youngest stepbrother's kids, technically my cousins," Riza explained carefully, leaning on the table with both arms as her hands cradled the mug. "There was a plague; apparently it wiped out most of the townspeople before the medicine could arrive…all of their family included. Somehow, they survived. They have nowhere else to go."
"The boy seems quite interested in alchemy, especially when it comes to the Elric brothers," the old woman chuckled lightly. "Girl's a mite quiet, though."
"You wouldn't have thought so, the way she opened up to Riza," Roy stuck in with a hint of pride. "She clams up fast if she's around someone she doesn't know, but once she gets used to you she's quite sweet."
"She reminds me of Elysia," admitted Winry as her smile turned somewhat sad. "Her eyes are exactly the same as when, well…you know."
"Or your eyes when the news of your parents came," added Pinako as she patted her granddaughter on the arm. "Perhaps you should try and talk to her tomorrow."
Winry nodded, but buried herself back in her work, the others pretending not to notice when she dabbed at a hint of moisture at the corner of her eye.
"Well, you young ones may be used to staying up half the night, but its time I went to bed for my beauty sleep," Pinako sighed as she hopped off her chair and began to collect the few dishes left from dinner. "Goodness knows I need as much as I can get…"
"Nonsense, you're as lovely as any lady in Central," Roy replied smartly, helping her as he rose to his feet. He managed to avoid the swing of her cane, giving her an innocent look as she laughed quietly at his antics.
"Flatterer," she accused him brusquely as she shook a finger at him. "Careful, your words might go to an old lady's head."
"They should, I never speak but the absolute truth," he replied, prentending to ignore the way his subordinate snorted into the remains of her coffee. "Anyone who says otherwise might be facing a court martial when we get back to Central."
Winry smothered a smile as Riza's brows rose slightly, turning to look at the Brigadier General out of the corner of her eye. "It's amazing what men will say when they think they can get away with it," she murmured so only Winry could hear, the mechanic losing her composure entirely as she melted into a pile of giggles.
"What was that, Riza?" Roy called from where he was helping rinse off the dishes.
"Nothing, sir," she replied.
"Roy."
"Roy," she amended, though her lips twisted slightly. Almost a week he had insisted on the lack of formality, and she still wasn't used to it. She'd stopped jumping when he called her by name, but his didn't come quiet as easily to her lips. Not since he'd left, and certainly not in public. Winry called to her grandmother than she was going to clean the workshop up before she went to bed and motioned for Riza to follow her as she descended to the basement that served as the primary shop for her grandmother's automail business.
"How are you really, now that the…now that Roy and your grandmother aren't listening," Riza asked as she seated herself on one of the stools there, Winry busying herself with putting up the automail piece she'd worked on. "Winry…?"
"It's harder than the first time," she admitted, picking at her fingernails as she refused to meet the lieutenant's eyes. "Its almost like the hope has been sucked right out of me…I know it seems silly to give up hope when he did come back once, but somehow I know this time…they're not coming back."
"I'm not an alchemist, I can't tell you the probability of them ever returning home," Riza whispered as she set her mug down on the countertop, placing a single hand on Winry's shoulder. "I can only be here when you need me to be."
The younger woman's hand curled around her own, squeezing gently before she let go and the Lieutenant pretended not to notice as she wiped the wet tracks on her sleeve. "Yeah, I know…thanks."
"So, how is it having your dashing Colonel return?" Winry asked as she seated herself on the counter, Riza taking her seat once more though she leaned against the counter tiredly. "I remember you were pretty upset that he left."
"It's good that he returned, the men need him at the helm of things and he's once more working his way to the top," she replied as she traced the lip of the empty mug, keeping her eyes on her short, blunt nails. "He's become quite the alchemist of the people, he's put more hours on the reconstruction teams than most of the other State Alchemists and he's gone out of his way on the weekends to find people who need things fixed and help them achieve just that."
Winry waited patiently, cleaning some of the grease from her fingers with a rag as Riza squirmed slightly under her gaze.
"You know I swore to keep things strictly professional after he left," the woman finally muttered as her lips twisted sourly.
"That's why I was surprised to hear you'd taken vacation time together," admitted the mechanic as she met the officer's pained gaze.
"The Fuhrer ordered him to come," she explained as she tucked a stray blonde wisp behind one ear, remembering it like it was yesterday. They had both been summoned at the same time, and after the Fuhrer had explained calmly she was to leave immediately to answer the letter he'd turned to Roy and told him it was exactly what he'd asked for. "He's been working himself too hard, but he told the Fuhrer that unless the man could find him something useful to do with his vacation time he wouldn't use it. He had two years to make up for, and he wasn't about to waste time."
"So he assigned him a week of escort duty, though you clearly don't need it, just to get the Brigadier General out of the office," Winry chuckled quietly. "That sounds like him. I take it this trip has…made things more difficult?"
"It's very easy to maintain boundaries when you only see each other in the office, and you're expected to maintain a certain amount of decorum," Riza sighed as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. "But riding on trains together for hours at a time, finding I've suddenly gained two charges in his presence, and him slowly worming his way in with Beth and Zeke…he's promised he's going to be a constant male presence in their life since they don't have a father and I'm certainly not about to go and get married to someone else just so they do."
"Seems like he's pretty determined not to leave things the way they are." Her companion tilted her head until she met Riza's gaze. "Is it such a bad thing, having him around? When he's not being an arrogant bastard, that is."
Riza groaned aloud. "That's it! He's not been an arrogant bastard since he got back, not the way he used to be at least. He's still so confident, but not to the point you want to shoot him in the face just to get rid of his smirk. He hasn't flirted with everything that has boobs and a decent face on the trip, hell; I don't think he's been on a date since he returned. He's been attentive, helpful, kind, supporting…"
"Then why not?"
"Because," The sharpshooter sighed, staring at her friend blankly. "If he left again, I don't think I could take it. This way, if he has to go, I can still survive."
Winry smiled sadly. "You'd be surprised what your heart can take when it's forced to."
Riza gave a bitter laugh. "Am I a coward, then, for not wanting to face that kind of pain?"
"No, but I have to wonder if it hurts more to have it and lost it, than to let it slip by your fingers and wonder what you might have had for the rest of your life."
Riza had no answer for that, and her companion seemed to sense that as she hopped from the countertop and opened the door. "I'm exhausted, and you look fairly tired as well. Let's get some sleep, ok?"
"Ok."
Back in her room, Riza lay on her bed and stared at the small figure huddled under its blankets across from her as sleep proved difficult to reach. So much running through her mind, it was hard to pinpoint anything at all. Grumbling something about stupid men and why the hell maternal instincts had to start popping up in her life now of all times, she rolled over and prayed for the dawn to come.
-0i0-
The next day passed uneventfully enough, Roy keeping his promise to take Zeke to see the Elric's house, or what was left of it, while Winry coaxed Beth into going with her to buy some more fresh vegetables from the vendor in town. Riza, finding herself with her hands unusually free after she finished the one book she'd brought along, joined Pinako in the kitchen where the old woman quickly realized the Lieutenant knew her way around a chopping board and set her to helping with dinner.
"Thank you, again, for letting us come and stay with you like this," Riza said as she peeled and sliced the apples for the pie. "It was rather short notice, too…"
"It's good to have some excitement around here, and that boy of yours certainly likes to liven things up," the old mechanic chuckled as she pointed with her pipe out the window where Roy and Zeke were seeing who could run along the fence top the farthest without falling off.
Riza almost yelled for them to stop, catching herself just in time as she rolled her eyes. "Which one?" she muttered as she set down the knife, wiping her hands and just managing to catch Roy's eye despite the distance. He seemed to sense her displeasure and quickly moved on to another game, one that didn't involve possible broken bones for her new charge. "Idiot…"
"The Elrics used to do the same thing, until their mother caught them at it," admitted Pinako with an amused snort. "Boys will be boys, I suppose."
"It's a wonder so many of them actually survive to adulthood," Riza huffed as she placed the sliced apples in the pie tin, the crust already prepared and waiting.
"Ah, well, they're sturdier than they look."
Moving onto the meal itself, she was set to stir-frying the vegetables as Pinako checked the roast in the oven and potatoes boiling on the stove. Time passed quickly, and before she knew it Winry and Beth had returned laughing and talking quietly as the older girl gave the younger a piggy back ride into the house. Zeke and Roy weren't too far behind, having found some old fishing rods behind the house and with Pinako's blessing gone to try their hand at landing a catch. Nothing bit, though, and as the sun went down they came back in to find the table set and a delicious smell pervading the air. Laughing and light banter once more filled the air as they sat down around the table, Pinako encouraging everyone to help themselves once she'd seated herself and passing the compliments along to Riza who had done as much as she had for the meal.
"That was excellent," Roy sighed as he leaned back sometime later, the roast decimated, the vegetables gone, only a remnant left of the potatoes and the pie nothing but a bit of crust and some apple that had leaked off to the side. "You're spoiling me, Pinako; I won't be able to eat what they serve us in the cafeteria for a week."
"Have her cook for you," she snorted, jerking a thumb at Riza who rolled her eyes. "Don't give me that look, missy, you know your way around a kitchen as well as I do."
"At least we know we won't starve," Zeke stuck in, never one to miss a chance for a barb at his new warden who had officially wrecked his life, though the others gave him disapproving looks that he ignored. "Say, granny, got anymore stories about the Elric brothers?"
"Boy, I have more than you have time to hear," she chuckled as she tapped a bit more tobacco into her pipe. "Go put your pajamas on and I'll tell you a couple more before you go to bed."
"Bed? It's early!" he complained as he looked to Riza who nodded slowly.
"It is," she agreed, "But we're leaving on the first train out, and that's earlier than you're used to rising. Go to bed and get some rest, the next few days will be busy."
The boy grumbled but obeyed as he at least had the intelligence to pick his fights, stomping off as Pinako followed chuckling to herself.
"I'll put Beth to bed," Riza said as she rose, the little girl following obediently as she clung to her caretaker's hand. Roy watched them leave with a small smile, only turning back to Winry when he heard the young woman take a sip of her coffee and remembered she was there.
"So, you guys talked for a long time last night," Roy started as he leaned back in his chair, feigning innocence when Winry gave him a suspicious look. "What? I didn't eavesdrop, that's why I'm asking you now."
"I'm not telling you anything," the young mechanic informed him firmly.
"Aw, Winry, please…?" Roy gave his best puppy eyes, but apparently Winry was completely immune because she scoffed at him and rolled her eyes.
"Al could do it better when he was a pile of armor," she informed him lightly, smirking as he feigned being shot in the chest.
"I was told my puppy eyes were rather adorable," Roy pouted, breaking into a grin when he noticed Riza watching them with a bemused look in her eyes. "Winry said my puppy eyes weren't very good!"
"They aren't," she informed him smartly. "Hayate is much better at them than you are, and he rarely gets his way with them. Very rarely."
"Riza…!" The women exchanged quiet glances as he sputtered and protested, ignoring him until he finally gave it up and moved on to their travel arrangements for the next day.
"Five is usually a hard number to travel with, but since Beth seems to spend most of her time in other's laps I don't think we'll have too much trouble getting seats together," he commented as he looked around for Pinako's brown bottle until Winry seemed to realize what he was looking for and pulled it out of a cabinet drawer. "Six o'clock, right?"
"We'll want to leave here around 5:30 to be sure we're not late," Riza added as she accepted just a drop from the bottle in her coffee. "That means we'll probably want to head off to bed ourselves soon."
"That boy is the most curious fellow I've ever met, he found that fact that Edward hated milk unless it was in stew so utterly fascinating I almost choked trying not to laugh," Pinako said as she reentered the room. The bottle was quickly placed back in her possession, and as she made herself a cup of half and half she added, "He's the type that will try things 'just because he can', mark my words."
"That type either die young or turn into legends," Roy snorted as he leaned back in his chair. "Wonder which he'll be?"
"If he has his way, a legend, probably," teased Pinako. "I've spent most of this time talking, why don't you tell me some stories now? Those boys of yours at Central always seem to be getting into trouble, I'm sure you can recall at least a few tales to amuse an old lady."
"Actually," admitted Roy as he traded looks with Riza. "Havoc's gotten himself into a rather interesting situation lately…"
Pinako and Winry laughed at the second lieutenant's expense as the Brigadier General related the tale of how the man's heart had been slowly captured by a girl who loved books more than anything else in the world. The girl, of course, was Military, but because of her position the fraternization rules didn't apply. Even so she proved very hard to catch. Not because she was in love with Roy like most previous cases, or because he was an idiot or tried to rush into it too fast. But because she was too interested in her books to notice him much at all!
That morphed into speculations about Maria Ross and Denny Brosh, their new subordinates who had been working together almost their entire military career.
"Brosh was quite upset when Miss Ross took a liking to the Elric's father," admitted Pinako with a nod. "Although it could be entirely one-sided, he seems a bit immature and I think it's been proven that she prefers older men…"
"Brosh is much like Havoc, he just doesn't have the years behind him to make up for boyish tendencies yet," Riza observed as she finished her cup and set it aside, absently scratching Winry's dog on the head as she wistfully remembered she had her own furry friend waiting for her at home. "Despite his faults, he's a good soldier. Armstrong always had positive reports on him, and even if the then-Major was inclined to cast everything in a good light he never outright lied about his subordinates' behavior."
"He just buried it under a mountain of 'however's," Roy coughed under his breath, innocently ignoring the glare Riza gave him. "He's left Central again, according to Fuery, and headed out to some city that had its own earthquake. Natural disaster and not alchemists' meddling with unnatural forces this time."
"He's an alchemist of the people, he'll probably do more good there than the soldiers Central will assign to their reconstruction."
"Probably."
"It's late," said the sharpshooter as she rose to her feet, collecting most of the dishes left and heading for the kitchen. "It would probably be best if we retired for the night before our long journey in the morning."
"I'm not quite packed yet, I should probably go finish before I go to bed," admitted Winry a tad sheepishly, slipping up the stairs as Pinako cleaned up the last little bit and Roy went in his own room slowly.
-0i0-
The night passed faster than any of them wanted it to, and when Pinako came trundling down the stairs in the morning she found the lieutenant standing over the coffee pot waiting for it to finish percolating.
"I hope you don't mind," Riza started only to be shushed by the older woman.
"Nonsense, saves me the trouble of doing it myself," she laughed lightly. "Beautiful morning, hm?"
"Yes, it is," her companion agreed as the machine finished its work and the pot was removed to have its steaming contents poured in two waiting mugs. "Nothing should hold up the trains in this sort of weather."
"Hopefully." She paused, tapping her pipe against her lip as she watched their visitor out of the corner of her eye. "Lieutenant…"
"Riza," Hawkeye corrected her with a small smile. "Since you won't let us use your titles either."
"Riza, then…you're a strong woman," Pinako said as she emptied her pipe before tamping now a new bit of tobacco and lighting it carefully. "Winry actually holds a lot of respect for you, which surprised me at first given her original views of the military in general. Still, just because you have the strength to carry others doesn't mean you can always carry yourself. You have many who depend upon you, but who do you depend upon?"
"Myself, as I have for the last ten years," Riza replied steadily as she sipped the bitter liquid, absently enjoying the way it warmed her middle though she was listening to Pinako. "I have friends, of course…"
"There are few humans that were made to live alone, and I don't believe you were one of them," the old woman said as she tapped Riza with one wrinkled finger. "All strong women, unfortunately, have an Achilles' heal. Generally, it comes in the form of one particular man in their life. Thankfully, there is a cure."
"Running for the hills?" hazarded Riza, though the dry tone she used showed she suspected the truth.
"Just the opposite," the old woman laughed. "Don't scowl, it's too early for that, and just think about what I said. I'm not saying your man is in front of you now, or that he already has come and gone, but when you do find him don't be an idiot."
Riza raised one brow slightly.
"Skeptics," Pinako sighed as she shrugged and began to fry eggs at the oven. "Either you'll find out for yourself or you won't, but be a dear and give me a hand with this."
Even with the decent breakfast spread the pair was able to throw together and Roy over sleeping they made it to the train with time to spare, the Brigadier General loading their luggage in the designated car while Winry and Riza found seats with the children. Goodbyes with Pinako had been short but sincere, the old mechanic staying at the house while the neighbor took them to the station.
By the time Mustang rejoined the group and sagged in his seat beside Zeke the conductor was yelling the last call while the engine rumbled to life once again. With the usual false-start or two, things slowly began to roll along as the train established its usual rhythm and began to fly down the track.
Beth was rather amusing to watch, seated in Winry's lap by the window she started with wide eyes at the passing scenery while Zeke was glued to a book Pinako had given him that had once belonged to the Elric's on basic alchemy. He swore he'd memorize it front to back, and Roy had no doubt he was on his way to doing just that the way he focused on it.
Riza and Winry chatted amiably about the mechanic's last visit to Central and a play that was still showing that they hadn't been able to go see at the time. The reviews were good, apparently, and they were discussing possible days to go while comparing schedules as Roy drifted off to sleep across from them.
Hours and stations passed, and it wasn't until halfway to their second to last stop than anything of interest happened at all. The train suddenly slowed though they were in the middle of nowhere, though Riza could see nothing that might be causing such outside the transportation device.
Mustang woke with a snort as the train braked more quickly than normal, yawning as he slowly stretched.
"Sorry for the delay," the conductor's voice crackled over the intercom system. "We're experiencing some technical difficulties; things should be up and running again soon."
"I wonder if I should go and see if they need help," commented Roy as he stood slowly, stretching out his sore spots and scratching absently below his eye patch as others got up to do the same in their short break.
"If anybody goes, it won't be you," Winry quipped in a very Ed-like fashion. "Even with your fancy alchemy, if you don't understand how trains work attempting to help fix it is pointless."
"I can restore things without knowing their original form," Roy protested as Riza hid a small smile.
"Yes, but if that original form is what caused the problem in the first place you may do more harm than good."
Beth's eyes twinkled as she watched from her place in Riza's lap, having moved there when she began to get dizzy from the train window. Roy sighed, seeing her look and winking before faking being wounded.
"Ah! It hurts that these fair ladies have no confidence in me at all…"
He was cut short as the train engine suddenly roared to life again, the conductor's voice coming over the speakers to announce that the problem had been addressed and they would be at their destination in just about another thirty minutes.
-0i0-
That's it for now, folks. Please review, it makes my day, and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it.
Review replies:
The Tiramisu of Impending Doom : Your name still rocks, just so you know. Something about it makes me smile very big, I think Sorcerer Hunters has something to do with it. Thank you for your high compliments, it's one thing to have someone say 'that's great, write more!' but when the readers really identify the work and effort that goes into a deep story it makes the author feel all warm and fuzzy inside for a long time. Yeah, personally I love the way Riza has a hard time calling him 'Roy', it puts such a nice barrier between the two. I wrote more, hope you liked it!
LoonyBin08 : I'm glad you still love it! Next chapter has been served, hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for the review!
Dailenna : I hope you found your way to your room, and then back to the computer to read the next chapter. And that you remembered the name of the story to do so. Alzheimer's could make that all a bit difficult, ne? Yeah, I feel old to when I start thinking of things 'back in my day'. And Zeke should sound a bit older; he did just lose all but one member of his immediate family in a plague. That tends to age you a bit, I think. Thanks for the review, it was great!
Mrs. Jean-Summers : Thanks for the great review! It was much appreciated.
Bar-Ohki : You got your wish! No, Roy hasn't tried to set Zeke on fire…yet. :P And next chapter we get to see the beginning of the introductions. Thanks for the review, it was much appreciated!
Ruki44 : Yes, we all want to strangle Zeke. That's the point. Thanks for the review!
Winglessfairy25 : Aw, thank you! It's a great honor being added to a favorites list, just so you know. Glad to know I could make your day as well, that's double points for me! Thanks for the great review, I hope you liked part 3.
Jacksparrow589 : Thanks for another great review! Yeah, Zeke's gonna piss off a lot of people before long, but I think he'll get over it eventually. Most guys do, at least. I hope this is still timely enough for you, and it's great to know you're planning on sticking around for awhile.
Twisha : Congratulations on the longest review to date! And rambling is just fine, it gives me more to read. :) Your high praise was most rewarding, as were your detailed recollections of your favorite parts. Yes, it is moving a little slow right now compared to most fics, but part of that is because of how much I'm trying to establish. This is about as multi-dimensional as my stories get, so it has a lot to set up for. Don't worry, it's about to start picking up real soon. I actually did read your fic, I just haven't sat down to write a review yet. Don't worry, it won't be a flame. :P Thanks for the review!
Smiling cat : Thanks for the review, it was much appreciated! I'm trying for realistic, I'm glad it hit the mark.
Anne Packrat : Yeah, I know it's a bit sad that the Elrics aren't around, but their absence is allowing for some other things in the future. Stay tuned to find out what! Thanks for the review, it was much appreciated!
Martrex : You want more Roy-Riza ness? Don't worry, it's coming for sure, just gotta let me get through settling them in first. Thanks for the review, I really appreciated it!
Dennisud : Hello, old friend! Do you know how great it is to see people following my stories from previous submissions? It really makes my day. Nope, no Ed or Al in this story. And while it will be Roy and Riza centric, there will be some side plots going on underneath. And yeah, I'd love to see a post-series Ed and Winry too, but that's not what I got a plot bunny for. If it ever happens, you'll be the first to know, but until then you'll have to be content with whatever else serves up. Thanks for the review, it's great to hear from you again!
That's all for now, folks. Until next time!
CB
Things are always alright in the end. If its not alright, its not the end.
