Another two years passed. Black Hayate was trained to lead his blind master. Riza didn't need anyone else to walk. Only Hughes visited her sometimes, but his visits were rarer and rarer since his son, Montressor, was born. He was now eighteen months and Riza wasn't good company for Hughes, as he spent most time showing his son's photos and Riza had technical problems with watching them. It seemed everyone forgot about her. Only Hayate stayed by her side. Hayate could hear her crying every night and tried to cheer her up a little bit. And every night she ended up taking her dog to bed and falling asleep while stroking him, her only true and real friend.
Of course, she didn't blame Havoc, Breda, Falman or Fuery; she heard that they were transferred somewhere else. Neither did she blame Roy – she told him herself to leave her alone and reach for the top. But Rebecca and Hughes, they were still in Central, they could visit her sometimes… when she came to visit them, they were kind, but she somehow felt she shouldn't come there. Maybe it was because of her face… they also rejected invitation from her…
Useless. Just like Roy in the rain. Thrown away, like a broken toy. Abandoned by her friends… if she could call them so. Abandoned by the whole world. Getting no news. Only Black Hayate would notice her death. He was now much bigger than three years ago, so he ate more. Riza could cook without her eyes. She just had to keep all her stuff in order so that she could know her flat by heart.
Tiding up again, she found something cold and metallic, something familiar. Her gun, this one which Roy gave her for birthday several years ago, was lying uselessly in her drawer. Useless like me, Riza thought, picking up the gun. It was always ready to fire, just unlock the safety lid and point to the temple… now just pull the trigger to end this nightmare…
Right when she was pulling the trigger, Hayate jumped at her, dragging her arm. The bullet hit the ceiling. Riza fell down, almost knocked out by Hayate, and dropped her gun. Her heartbeat was very quick and she was gasping heavily. She patted her dog's head.
'You're right, Hayate' she whispered. 'I… I shouldn't escape. It's running away, a suicide. And if I did it… who'd feed you?'
Riza smiled weakly. The gloomy feeling of uselessness didn't leave her, but now at least she was able to stand up to the next lonely day.
///
With Ed's help, Roy finally understood making chimeras. Of course, Ed didn't want to do this for free; he expected Roy to "find limbs for him". Roy agreed, as he already knew who could be the donor...