Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist, nor do I own the song 'Beyond This Life'.

IV: Beyond This Life – 500 words

Lyrical themes: A newspaper article regarding the murder of a young girl by her lover, and his suicide immediately afterwards. As told by a witness' account.

Edward walked home in a haze as his mind kept replaying the scene that had unfolded. He had been sent on a simple mission; to infiltrate a factory suspected of illegally producing firearms with alchemy. Once he had managed to get into the building, he observed from the rafters for a few hours until he had enough proof. After that, Mustang and the soldiers at his command stormed the factory.

Edward and several other State Alchemists had been stationed around the surrounding area in case of any people trying to flee the scene. It had been a moment of distraction as Ed jumped from one rooftop to another to avoid the quakes from Armstrong's alchemy, when one of the culprits sped by in the alley between the buildings before Edward could do anything. Running alongside the alley from the roof, Ed kept an eye on him for a moment he could use to apprehend the felon. His moment came as the man suddenly slowed, before stopping completely as he looked down a narrow lane. Slapping his hands to the roof, the criminal was quickly trapped in a thick rock dome. The top had a number of small air holes; it wouldn't do for him to suffocate.

It was when he made his way to the prisoner that he understood why he'd stopped. A man stood above a young girl who was dead on the ground in a pool of her own blood; the gun in his outstretched hand shook lightly. The man whirled around quickly, aiming the gun at Edward. Before he could do anything however, the man put the weapon to his temple and shot himself. Ed fell to his knees and lost the contents of his stomach. He was told shortly after that the two had been lovers engaged to be married.

Edward finally made his way to his apartment after an hour of wandering; but before he could remove the key from his pocket, the door was thrown open and he was engulfed in a fierce hug by Riza.

"Are you alright Ed?" she whispered. He just nodded as he tried to hold in his tears.

She gently guided him into their apartment, closing the door behind them, and led him over to the sofa. He sat down quickly, pulling Riza onto his lap as he continued to hold onto her. "How could two people in love end up like that?"

Riza calmly stroked his hair as his body shook occasionally from his sobs. "Roy called me with the report Ed. They were engaged, but he was an alcoholic who couldn't quit. She broke it off and he was responsible for what happened today."

Edward seemed to calm down with this news. "But what if..." he trailed off weakly.

Riza smiled, and gave him a kiss on his forehead. "I don't think we'll have that problem Ed. I would be the one to shoot you." Despite himself, Edward couldn't help but laugh with her; she was right.

A/N: I had two ideas for this; the first being Edward and Riza as the dead woman and man, and the second being Ed as the witness and Riza comforting him afterwards. While I almost went with the first, I didn't think I could portray the situation well enough with Edward as the murderer.

Also, a note to any Dream Theater fans who may point this out; I know this is not what actually happened, but I figured I am writing off of the song, and not the entire album, so I used the series of events as told by the newspaper.

Cheers, Ash.