Bernard lay on the futon, quietly humming some song he had heard at the deli that afternoon. In one hand he held two train tickets he purchased that morning. The other hand he lightly flung and twirled around as if conducting the instrumentation of the song he was humming. As he waited for Damia to return from the base, he scanned over the train tickets. Everything was perfectly arranged for a short hop over the border to Galicja. They would leave the following morning, easily be able to complete their business over a period of twenty-four hours, and take an early evening train back to Amestris. Bernard had successfully phoned a watchmaker he knew and made the order of a silver pocket-watch mirroring the ones used by Amestrian State Alchemists. Since this particular watchmaker had made Damia's fake pocket-watch a few years ago, the original blueprints were still in his files so the job could easily be completed in a matter of two days.
Bernard was grinning. He could not wait to see his sister's reaction when finding out that he was one step ahead of her. After taking two years to realize that there must have been some sort of tracking device implanted in the State Alchemist pocket-watches, he knew that Damia would require having a fake one made for Roy Mustang. The plan was perfect: Bernard made the arrangements to have the fake made and got their train tickets and Damia would somehow find the opportunity to switch Mustang's watch with the copy. He was also very eager to be able to visit Galicja, even if just for a day. His first century as a Homunculus was spent in Galicja before a conflict with neighboring eastern countries caused Hoenheim to think it would be safer for the three of them to return to Amestris. Bernard and Damia both loved Galicja and even though the Galicjan blood in their veins came from their plotting mother, they both felt more loyalty to Galicja than to Amestris.
They possessed Galicjan loyalty for good reason, after they met their horrific demises – murders – in the once-existing Amestrian city, Xerxes.
Bernard wrinkled his face for a moment upon remembering Xerxes. It was almost two centuries since he had died but still a part of him remained forever haunted by the horrors of his demise. Sometimes he wondered if Damia truly did appear to be unscarred by their deaths, or if she simply kept her pain subdued so that she could serve as some sort of stability for the two of them. Many times Bernard assumed the latter since he was aware of how all through their childhood that their father would tell Damia that she had to be the protecting sibling.
Letting my mind float to this is useless, He thought as he stirred a little on the futon. Xerxes and Dad are far from productive topics.
Thank God, He added to himself when he heard the apartment door being unlocked.
Damia opened the door and entered. Upon seeing her brother she immediately said, "Perfect! I was hoping you'd be here!"
Before she could say anything more, Bernard sprung off of the futon and waved the train tickets in the air. "If you have plans this weekend, they're cancelled because …" He walked over to her. "We're going to Galicja tomorrow! I made the order for a certain pocket-watch for a certain Colonel to smuggle to her new alchemist."
Damia beamed and gave Bernard an energetic hug. "Ah! Bernard you're the best!" she exclaimed joyfully with a bit of a laugh. "You always know exactly what to do!"
He laughed. "We get this done and have an excuse to visit home at the same time!"
She pulled away and slapped him a high-five. She had not felt so elated in quite a while. As busy as it would be, catching the train, doing business, and returning to Amestris, Damia did not care. It would be a wonderful short escape from her rote life. Not to mention that she would get the pocket-watch copy to somehow switch with Roy's real one. The training week should be a workable time to perform the action. She and Roy would be together for an entire week so the opportunity to surreptitiously switch the two items was bound to arise.
What an interesting week it had been.
A pact with Olivier.
An alchemist partner.
The mystery of Riza Hawkeye.
The active volcano ready to spew that was filed under the name of Zolf Kimblee.
Yes, life had taken an immediate turn in being very, very curious and interesting. It was as if the little excursion to Galicja would serve as the marking point of the beginning of a whole new era. An era in what exactly was unknown to Damia, but it was bound to be toasted on by two siblings on a train with a fake pocket-watch over a couple of shots of real Galicjan vodka.
