Hello readers…I am very tired… it's like three in the morning and I got seven hours of sleep last night.

*yawns* I decided to stay up and update this chapter today instead of going to bed since I updated my other two stories and was on a roll when I started this…

Um, I'd like to thank my amazing new Beta Dani-Chan Replika 2.06 for editing this chapter.

"Do you seriously think this is going to work?" Edward hissed as the slowly made their way over to the counter.

"Sure it will," Russell whispered.

"She fucking hates my guts!"

"How would you know that? You two haven't been to work together since the break up."

"Which was about two days ago idiot!"

"So? She probably knows you got your draft papers and now she'll feel all bad for you! Just go up there and get to the point before she hits you."

"Fine," Edward said before he marched forwards to towards the counter. "Um, Rose?"

"What do you want?" she snapped, glaring at him.

"Well…let me just get to the point: I need your help."

Rose threw her head back and laughed derisively at Edward.

"You know what? You sure do have a lot of nerve asking me for help after you just crushed my heart. No, whatever it is no-."

"Let me rephrase it then: I need your help to help my brother Al, Russell, and his brother Fletcher."

"Huh?"

"Just come back to the back room with me for a moment and I'll explain."

Rose stared at Edward for a moment before she looked around the deserted store for a moment before she sighed and walked around the counter and over to Edward, who looked extremely relieved.

"Five minutes."

Once they were both in the back room, Rose sat down on a stack of cardboard boxes and crossed her arms. Edward chose to lean against the opposite wall while Russell stood by the door, ready to go and appear to be working if he heard a customer come in.

"So…I was drafted," Edward decided to start with this.

Rose's eyes softened and her murderous aura seemed to dissipate and was quickly replaced by one of pity and sadness.

"Yeah, I always knew that I would get drafted; no chance of running away for me. But you see, Russ and his brother and my brother still have time to make a break for it before they turn eighteen."

"So what am I supposed to do?" sniffed Rose. "Run away with them?"

"Not quite," Russell said.

"You see, people will notice if three teenage boys who will be turning eighteen soon go missing. We came up with this idea where basically, after I leave it will appear as if the three of them have gone away for vacation. They'll stay at a hotel for a week but have a room booked there for a few weeks."

"So what do I do?" Rose asked, sounding more intrigued than annoyed now.

"Well as I said, they won't stay at the hotel the entire time but the hotel people will notice if suddenly there isn't any noise or room service bills or anything coming from the room. So I wanted to ask you if you'd take off a week or two and go to the hotel after they've left. We'll pay for all of the expenses and all you need to do is make noise, make messes, and make it look like they're still staying there. What do you think?"

Rose switched glances from Edward to Russell and back while Edward and Russell held their breaths. Several minutes passed where no one spoke before Rose talked.

"You'll pay for everything?"

"Yes. Every last room service bill, every last spa treatment," Edward answered.

"How?"

"I'll give you my pin number."

"What?" Russell asked. "Have you gone mad man?"

"No. I won't be needing the money that much once I've been shipped off and you probably won't be able to do that much shopping once they've realized you're a draft deserter."

"But what the Hell are we supposed to do? Eat…bark?"

"No you dip-shit. I'll give you all plenty of money before hand but I think they'd monitor my account once I'm gone and they realize that you're gone too. You could probably use it until Rose checks out of the hotel but after that you'll just have to be careful."

"You'll really give me your pin number?" Rose asked.

"Yeah."

"So you're bribing me?"

"Kinda but, don't you want to be bribed?" Ed asked in disbelief.

"Well sure, it helps. But I get the feeling that you guys don't think I'd help you if I didn't get something out of it."

"Well…"

"Um…"

"You two honestly believed that I wouldn't do something that might save your lives just because I'm mad at you?" Rose asked, sounding more like she was asking herself.

"But, you'll still do it? I mean, you don't have to blow all my money but you can-."

"I'll do it."

"Huh?"

"I said that I'd do it!" Rose yelled. "Geez…way to make me feel like a complete bitch. I might be pissed at you and say that I want you to get hit by a car or something but I don't actually want any of you to die!"

Rose eyes suddenly filled up with tears and soon began to spill over, tears rolling down her tan skin. Edward and Russell looked at each other, both pleased she had agreed but very confused all the same. Edward's confusion only increased when Rose stood up and threw her arms around Ed in a neck-snapping hug.

"Um…Rose?" Ed asked, blushing profusely.

"I don't want you to die okay?" She said between sobs. "So don't die. Just get yourself hurt enough to come home but not so serious that you do permanent damage."

"Right. I'll make sure to get just the right amount of injured," Edward joked.

"I'm serious," Rose mumbled before she kissed Ed on the check and let go; she then turned to look at Russell. "And you better not get caught or let one of the others starve to death."

"Right. I'll also try to not get them eaten by a bear or kidnapped and shipped into slavery," Russell said with a smirk before Rose slapped him upside the head.

"Ow! How come he always get hugs and some waterworks and I always get hit?"

"Because you're an asshole Russ," Ed answered. "You should've known that already."

"Yeah, yeah. I hate all of you," Russell grumbled before walking through the doors and in to the store.

The rest of the day went by quickly. Rose had stopped being angry towards Edward, and Russell by association, and they all worked together nicely. Their boss gave Edward some pleasant news when he stopped by at the end of the day; he had granted Ed the rest of the week off so he could spend time with his brother and friends. It was a nice gesture and he accepted it, even though all of his friends were busy during the day and he'd have no one to talk to.

When he told Alphonse the news, Al told him that he did not have anything Friday and had gotten out of school on Thursday as well, leaving only one day of lonesome for Edward.

Wednesday morning, Ed woke up a bit later than usual and stayed in his pajamas during breakfast. After lounging around the house for a bit, something that he never really did, Ed got dressed and went out for a walk. Edward let his feet take him where they wanted, not paying attention to what he was going. He only looked up when he saw in the distance many small white structures, sticking out of the ground.

His feet had taken him to the cemetery.

Shaking his head at the oddness, Edward moved forwards until he was in front of the one grave he spent many hours by but had not spent much time at all lately. After letting out a quiet sigh, Ed collapsed onto the cold, hard in front of the tombstone.

"Hi mom," Ed said quietly. "I know it's been a while…but I'm afraid I probably won't be able to see you again for a while.

"You see…the war, you know the war…you got killed because of it just when it was a tiny rebellion," Ed's fists clenched in anger at the memory of his mothers, along with a few other people from town, innocent deaths. "But it's gotten pretty big since then and…well, I'm going to war."

Saying the words out loud made them seem all too real for Edward. His heart rate quickened, his palms began to sweat slightly, and all of the fear that he had keep bottled up and moved out of sight seemed to explode; because in truth, Edward was terrified at the idea of him going out to war. Not just because he had the strong possibility of not coming back but because he would have to kill not just fellow soldiers but innocent people.

"I'm making sure that Alphonse will be safe though," Ed said, voice shaking. "We came up with this plan for him and a few of our friends Russell and Fletcher-you remember them right? Russ is about six months younger than me and Fletcher's about two years younger than me- but they're going on the run with Al too.

"But…I'm scared Mom…and not just for me. I'm scared about what could happen to Al and the guys if they get caught. Who knows how long I'll have to stay in the army…if I don't die…I don't really want to die Mom…"

Edward was not sure how much longer he sat there in front of his mother's grave, but when he finally got up Edward was freezing and his muscles were stiff. The sun made Ed realize that it was about one o'clock in the afternoon. Once his stomach gave a rather loud rumble, Ed let out a small laugh and began to walk for home.

Both he and Alphonse slept in well past their usual wake-up times the next two days. They ate breakfast, or more like brunch, before doing some sort of activity together. Whether it be reading or talking or going for a walk, they were usually side by side. Al continued to talk of a going away party that Russell had been thinking up no matter how much Ed argued that he did not want one; he was not leaving for good now and it was not like they could not visit him during boot camp.

But when Saturday night rolled around, Ed found himself in the center of his favorite bar in town, being offered drinks left and right. It turns out that the entire town had created a sort of going away party for those who were leaving. There were a few other kids in town who were leaving but Ed was the only one leaving Sunday; the others would be joining him within a week or two.

Even though Ed knew that he was going to be leaving the very next day, he was having a great time, drinking and laughing with his friends and fellow towns-people. Drink after drink, Ed continued to loosen up until he, along with many other intoxicated bar mates, had almost completely forgot about the next day. The last thing he remembered was falling out of his set and onto the dirty floor, laughing hysterically at something someone had said. When he opened his eyes, he found himself lying in bed, back at home. By the door was his suitcase, fully packed and ready to leave with him.

Ed looked at the small clock that sat on the nightstand; it was only nine o'clock but his train tickets were for eleven. He could hear Al in the kitchen, making noises and breakfast while he probably tried not to cry.

He was really leaving for Boot Camp…

Pushing himself out of bed, doing his best to ignore his hangover, Edward began to get ready for the day-long trip to Eastern Command and to Boot Camp where he'd spend the next two months, learning to kill fellow human beings with his own hands.

Next time, Ed's gonna be in Boot Camp.

Ugh…I'm gonna go to sleep now…

*snores…*

-FSK