Neither of them could believe that this was the end. They had both made it through 3 years of the academy, and now it was almost over. All they had to do was attend graduation, and then they were free. Well, not, really.

Both of them had training to do before they were assigned to an outpost. Once again, the general's connections came in handy, and he assured them that once their training was done, they would be stationed in the same area. The only kink came in the rebellion in Ishbal. They were sending more soldiers there every day, and it was impossible to think that the general could get them out of that, if they were drafted to go.

Roy wanted to be of service to his country, even if it meant being sent off to war. That was why he went into the military. He had heard his 'grandfather's' war stories before- stories of hope, and stories of loss. He knew it wasn't easy, but he wanted to make the world better any way that he could- and he saw this as the best way to do it. Maes, for the most part, felt the same way, though he was less excited about the fighting on the front lines. He wanted to help behind the scenes. It wasn't that Maes was a coward, it was just that he was better at using his mind than his fists.

The problem of graduating was that they were going to have to be apart for a while. There was no way around that. Roy, being an alchemist, had to do 6 months of intense alchemy training. Maes had 6 months worth of intelligence gathering, gun practice, and overall soldiering skills. It was going to be a month before they had any leave time to be together again.

"I.. I don't think I can take it, Roy- a month without you. I've... gotten so used to you being around." They had to be discreet as they walked back to their dorm room, out of the range of any prying ears. All Roy could do was sigh and nod his head, pushing his hands into his pockets, keeping as little of himself as he could exposed to the cold, crisp fall air.

Maes leaned his head down, blowing his warm breath into his frozen fingers. It was as useful to warm his hands as it was to hide the tears that were trying to form in his eyes.

They walked as quickly as they could to the dorms. Quickly locking the door behind them as they burst in. Roy didn't wait to take off his coat. He pinned Maes to the door with two hand pressing hard into his shoulders and leaned up, kissing Maes deeply, desperately. Maes didn't fight it, he fought back tears of frustration and pain while Roy was taking off his jacket and desperately running his ice cold hands under Maes' shirt, freezing his skin- though the taller man didn't care. He just needed his lover's touch.

Maes reciprocated, using his fumbling, frozen fingers to help peel off Roy's jacket and throw it to the floor. His hands went to Roy's hair, one of the things that he had always loved about the man- his hair- and those eyes that could melt you on the coldest of nights.

Maes tried to lean forward, to guide them to a bedroom, but Roy was so lost in his desperate passion that he pushed Maes back to the door with a thud. Maes let out an grunt as his back thudded against the wood, and looked into his lovers eyes. They were
so needy, so sad. He just wanted everything to go away and let let them just be together. Why did it have to be like this?

Maes managed to use his height and weight to gently push Roy back a few inches and break the kiss. "Roy.. please.. Let's not waste time here.. Let's go to the bedroom. We have all night. Don't rush. I want this to be special.. I know you do as well.."

Roy looked shocked for a few moments after his lover broke away. His breath was ragged and fast. He gently closed his eyes and nodded, getting some composure back. "Yes. But please, don't make me wait. I want every single second that I can spare with you, love."

Roy gave him a long, languishing kiss, then headed back to his room, already taking off his outer dress blues on the way. Maes tarried for a second. This change in Roy was scaring him a bit. Roy was acting like a scared, cornered puppy, desperate and afraid. It was like he thought they would never see each other again. A month was a long time, but it wasn't a lifetime. They would have time after this training to be together. Neither of them knew how hard it would be once they were stationed somewhere to find time to be alone, but that would be a bridge they would cross another time.

Maes was still thinking and wondering as he slowly walked thru the small dorm room and into the bedroom. He took his glasses off and placed them on a nearby dresser table. Softly, he closed the door behind him.

The next morning found neither of the men wanting to move from where they were. As usual, Roy woke up first. He usually tried (unsuccessfully) to get out of bed and not wake Maes, but this time the man didn't wake up. He shook Maes softly.

"Maes, Maes, get up.. We slept late... we don't have long until graduation!"

"Hmm... wha?" Maes said sleepily, idly grabbing for his glasses before remembering that they were on a dresser close to the door. "What time is it?" he mumbled.

"0930."

"WHAT?!?!" He shot up into a sitting position. He tried to get up and out of the bed, but misjudged the distance and fell with a thud to the floor. It was all Roy could do not to laugh at him. Roy calmly got up and helped the poor man to his knees. He got the man's glasses from the table and handed them to him.

"Hmm.. on your knees. I like you in that position." Roy quipped, his normal smirk plastered on his face. But Maes could read into it. He knew the attempt at humor was more of a ruse to cover up what they knew was coming.

Quickly, Maes got up and walked over to his room, gathering his shower kit and towel and headed for the bathroom. The water felt good on his sore muscles. He always forgot how much soreness came from spending a night with Roy until the morning after. But still, it was worth it. He would've loved nothing more for Roy to come in and share the shower with him one last time, but they both knew that time was of the essence- and they needed to get clean, not dirty. He sighed, and quickly finished up, trying to leave at least a little hot water.

The morning went quickly- way too quickly. They dressed in their parade blues, including hats that made Roy's hair stick out at even worse angles than usual. Maes, of course, took intense pleasure in making sure Roy didn't forget how silly he looked, and Roy swore revenge when they met again, which quieted the two down immediately. It was the reminder they didn't need- that their time together was drawing to a quick close.

Roy and Maes had to walk quickly to the parade grounds so they wouldn't be late. Roy managed one tiny little covert squeeze of Maes' hand, before they had to separate into alphabetical order for seating. Mustang had the unfortunate distinction of being able to see the back of Maes' now uncapped head a few rows up, but at least he wasn't hard to miss. He was surrounded by women and short men, and stuck out like a sore thumb.

It seemed like the ceremony would never end. Many generals and colonels got up and spoke about the rich military history of Amestris and how these new soldiers were the next generation, molded to be young men and women of courage, honor, and loyalty. To Roy, it sounded like they were describing them as the dogs of the military that he had heard used to describe alchemist like himself.

Maes was conflicted. As much as this was boring him back to sleep (and his sore muscles from the night before ached to be moved and stretched again), he knew the sooner this was over, the sooner he would be separated from Roy. It was a no win situation.

The time finally came to walk across the stage. Slowly they progressed forward, receiving their diplomas. Roy cheered wildly when Maes walked across the stage and turned the brim of his military hat from the left to the right side, signifying that he had graduated. As he walked back to his seat, their eyes met for a second, and Maes winked and shot him a thumbs up sign.

When it was Roy's turn, there were a lot of girls cheering and yelling his name from the audience. For a few moments, Maes felt a twinge of jealousy. He knew that Roy had had many girls in the past- that was no secret to anyone, but he was the one that had ended up with the infamous Flame Alchemist, so he guessed that was what was really important.

At last, it was all over. They threw their hats in the air and cheered. Three years of hell was over, now there was only uncertainty and doubt that lay in the future, even more so for two of the newest graduates.

It took a while for them to find each other- wading thru the hundreds of graduates, family members, friends, and well wishers that had come. Maes was finally able to spot the shorter alchemist and raised his hand high. "ROY!" he yelled over the din of the crowd. It seemed agonizingly slow before they could part the mass of humanity to meet again. Maes wanted to kiss his lover so badly that he physically ached, but he knew better, and he settled for a firm, manly handshake.

"Hey, congrats!" Roy said, putting on the happiest face he could.

"Thanks. Same to you." He turned to the two people that had been trailing Roy. "You must be the general. It is nice to meet you, sir." He bowed and smiled. General Grumman bowed back.

"Why thank you, young man. I know Roy has told me a bit about you in his letters. He tells me you want to go into investigations, right?"

"Yes, sir." Maes said, straightening back up. "I am more of a thinker than a fighter, but I will serve my country as best as I can, sir." That elicited a large smile from the older man's face.

"And you must be Ms. Hawkeye, it is nice to meet you ma'am. Roy had always had nice things to say about you." He bowed lower this time.

"T-thank you. Just Riza is fine.." Riza blushed a bit at the gentlemanly attention.

"Oh, okay Riza. I am Maes. Maes Hughes."

"Thank you, Maes." It was Maes' turn to blush a little. That didn't slip by Roy, and he shot Maes a little look, then cleared his throat.

"Thank you both for coming, and I will see you guys in a couple of days, but I think Maes and I need to finish packing."

"Roy, you idiot! You need to stop procrastinating and do what needs to be done!" Riza snapped at the alchemist, causing Maes and the general to laugh at his expense.

"Come on guys, I want to get you two together for a photograph. I will take a couple so each of you can have a copy." Roy was more than grateful to the general- the way he diffused the situation with his smile.

Roy and Maes stood, shoulder to shoulder, Maes about a third of a head taller. Roy, after just being chided by his childhood friend, and thinking about how he was going to be torn away from the one he cared about soon, had a deadly serious look on his face- his mouth slightly down turned into a frown. He held his cap, which he was more than happy to finally get off his head, in his hands at his waist.

Maes, on the other hand, was his usual hammy self- holding his cap in his hand, cocked slightly sideways and tilted forward at a rather comical angle. He had his usually cocky, mischievous smile that seemed to take over his whole face, and he leaned his hat-holding arm on Roy's shoulder, further accentuating the difference in height between the two men. There was a flash of bright light, then another, and it was over.

"Thank you, both of you! I will be sure to develop these as soon as I can and mail them off to you!" The general bowed to Roy, then to Maes. "Good luck you two, and I will see you both in a few months." He saluted, then walked off, with Riza trailing behind, waving goodbye.

"Well, let's get this over with. I know we both have trains to catch." Roy said glumly, starting to walk back towards the dorms for the last time.

Their mostly empty room was waiting for them when they got back. Most everything had been packed up and put into storage for when they got back from training and were stationed in the military barracks. All that was left were the few boxes that they were going to bring with them. Roy mostly had his less important alchemy texts, and a few personal items. Maes had less, he had never been one for gathering much clutter. He had some photographs and a few books on intelligence. His prized possessions were his knives, and the sheath for them that had been specially made to fit under his dress uniform.

It didn't take long for either of them to strip their beds and gather up their toiletries and a few changes of civilian clothes.

When they were done, they met back in the main room. It was so deadly silent. Neither of them knew what to say for a while. They didn't try to hold back tears when they hugged tight, sharing a long, deep kiss that neither wanted to end. When it finally did, Maes sniffled a little, his eyes red.

"R-r-oy.. I will see you again.. It'll be a long month, but you know I will wait for you.. nothing will stop us from meeting again. We can write, though I guess we should keep it professional, just in case. I don't know if they read our mail before giving it to us." Roy nodded, his throat closed up, not allowing him to speak.

"I'll miss you, and I know you'll miss me too.. This isn't goodbye- not really, it's just parting, for now. Just count down the days. You know I'll do the same."

"G-g-g-goodbye, Roy. I love you."

"I.. I.. love you too, Maes."

"Now come on, we can at least walk to the train station together." Silently, they gathered their belongings and left the room, and their former lives, behind for good.

Some author's notes for this story arc... (sorry I took 6 chapters to finally post them.) Some of the dates are canon and some I had to make up for the story.

Maes born in early 1885, Roy born in late 1885, Riza born in late 1887. 1901- Ishbal Rebellion starts. 1902- Roy enters the academy at age 17. Maes enters the academy at age 18. 1903-Riza enters the academy at age 16. late 1905- Roy graduates the academy at age 20. Maes graduates the academy at age 20. 1906- Riza graduates the academy at age 19. 1908- State Alchemists and other military are sent to quell the Ishbal Rebellion.