AN: No promises. Just thought I'd start writing again.
Side note, time as skipped a few months.
Disclaimer: I don't own FMA or any of its characters.
Back to The East
Chapter Ten: The Tragedy
Over the rush of the train's movement, his wife's voice sounded.
"Charles, sit down!"
Hakuro's grey eyebrows pulled together in a scowl as he peered over the morning newspaper. He caught his son's gaze, who complied with his mother's orders almost instantly and backed away from the window to sit down. Settling next to his younger sister, he sighed.
They were on their way back from their week long vacation in South City, where he owned a private estate. Anxious though he was to begin his campaign for Fuhrer, he knew that the recent events that had occurred had taken a toll on both he and his family.
"Charles, if I have to tell you one more time!"
The boy, restless from the long ride, was once again standing up, his gaze set on the nearing city.
Sighing, Hakuro put the newspaper down.
"Let him go, dear… He's just anxious."
All four of them turned at the sound of a knock. The compartment door slid open, and a young woman popped her head in.
"Excuse me for interrupting, General, but the conductor wanted me to inform you that we will be arriving at Central City Station in approximately five minutes. Is there anything I can do for you beforehand?"
The General glanced at his wife and kids before he turned back to the woman.
"No thank you. I think we're all set."
"Alright, sir. Have a good afternoon."
The door slid shut, and Hakuro rose to his feet. Stretching, he moved towards the window, watching the buildings fly by.
The train began to slow as it snaked its way through the city towards the station. Within a few short minutes, it finally came to a stop and the passengers began to file out. Hakuro and his family were one of the first off the train. Soldiers were waiting on them, the black military cars nearby.
"The luggage is in section A, car 9," Hakuro told one of them. Immediately, two soldiers made their way towards the luggage car.
"Papa," his daughter said, tugging on his coat sleeve, "How long until we get home."
"Only a short while, honey," he said, his hand lowering so that she could grab a hold of it.
Accompanied by a corporal, the family made their way through the sea of people towards the black cars.
Then, the shots rang out.
"You shouldn't be here," she mumbled quietly.
The door shut with a soft "thud" and he strode forward, his wet boots heavy on the hardwood floors. The hallway was dim from the lack of light from the window but his presence seemed to make it gloomier.
She stared at him from across the room, unblinking.
"Roy?"
Weary, he looked up, blinking several times as if he had trouble keeping his eyes open.
She rose to her feet, her socks silent against the floor. Nearing him, she became aware of the smell of cold, noted the glistening flakes of snow as they melted into droplets of water. She frowned at his hair, damp and cold and plastered to his face.
Sighing, she stepped closer and began to pull off the black overcoat. She tossed it on the coat rack and began to work on the brass buttons of his labels. His hand rose up to catch hers.
She looked up at him in surprise.
"I love you," he whispered quietly, an unfamiliar emotion stirring in the depths of his dark eyes.
Riza stared at him for a few moments before she smiled. Her eyes lowered and she pulled her hand away from his.
"So do I, Roy… Now let's get you out of these wet clothes, okay?"
She undressed him piece by piece. As soon as she was done, she led him into her bedroom to gather clothes that he had intentionally left at her flat. After he was dressed, she left him to go make tea.
When she returned, she found him sprawled out on her bed, his eyes on the ceiling.
She placed the two cups of warm tea on the bedside table and sat down next to him.
"What is it, Roy?"
His chest rose and his stomach drew in before he let out a long breath.
"I think I've started to doubt myself. I thought I was ready, but… Who am I to lead a country?"
Riza frowned. After the staff meeting those few months ago, Roy had been working around the clock since then to determine what rights would be given to the new position. Physically, Roy had seemed fine, but she knew that he was mentally exhausted.
"I just keep thinking, these rights could end up being someone else's. Maybe the soldiers don't want me. Maybe…they can't forgive me."
Her frown shifted into an expression of sorrow.
"You can't doubt yourself after you've come this far, Roy. I can forgive you. There's no reason they shouldn't be able to."
He smiled weakly at her comment before closing his eyes. No longer wishing to stay on the topic, he changed the subject.
"There were three murders at the train station today."
Her brow rose slightly. She had heard that there was an accident at the train station, but nothing about murders.
"Were you called to the scene?"
He nodded and his eyelids opened.
"Hakuro's wife and children are dead. They were all shot to death… The daughter in the head, the son in the chest and the mother in the back. We searched everywhere. We couldn't find anything. We have a good idea where the shooter was, but they didn't leave a trace. Witnesses say they didn't really see anything."
Riza was quiet. That was so odd. Hakuro had made a few enemies in his days, including Roy, but he had never done anything enough to deserve his family's murder. Roy's voice caught her attention.
"He's devastated. The other higher ups are thinking about making him take a break. I don't know what's going to happen."
She curled up on the bed beside him. He wrapped his arms around her and drew her close.
That was something she was worried about. How many enemies had Roy made in his past twenty some years of military service? If someone had something against Hakuro enough to kill his family…
She could only imagine what might happen to Roy.
"We have gathered here today to mourn the loss of three very special people…"
The pastor's voice droned on through the drizzle and the swarm of black umbrellas. Thunder rumbled from above, and the ground trembled; the soft and spastic taps of water hitting the three coffins resonated through the quiet hush of the crowd.
Roy was gazing forward, unblinkingly, seeing but not really seeing. He was attempting to recall of all of his allies at all of the military camps distributed throughout Amestris. He would need them when the time came… Goosebumps rose underneath the black overcoat. There was more than one reason he liked being the Flame Alchemist.
He wasn't nearly as cold as the hard bodies in the coffins, however, he thought; he watched the trio slowly lower into the ground.
Hakuro was standing alone. Whether or not he had other family members, Roy wasn't sure. If he had, none of them had shown up. How sad…
People began forward, dropping flowers they had brought with them before finding their way to their cars. Military personnel gave their regards, shook hands with him, patted him on the shoulder, nodded solemnly, and left.
Three lives… Gone. Just like that. But Roy would know much about taking lives, wouldn't he?
His jaw tensed and he turned towards his closest friend.
"Come on."
"Where to, sir," Hawkeye asked, her amber gaze catching onto his as he turned around.
"Somewhere warm and dry."
"I thought so," she replied as they strolled towards the black military car.
'How could this have happened,' Hakuro thought, his face hard.
He heard nothing that the pastor said, saw none of the people surrounding him. He had no one. He was alone.
The coffins lowered into the ground. People began forward, dropping flowers and saying their regards. He saw the military officers walk past him. He was unaware of their hands clapping him on the shoulder and the back. He didn't care to return their salutes.
'They were all I had,' he thought as the dirt, which had begun to melt into a muddy pile, was shoveled over the coffins. The three men shoveling paid no attention to him as he stood there beneath the pouring rain.
The sound of car doors shutting drew his attention and he turned to watch the people as they dispersed across the cemetery. Out of the corner of his eye, he spied two dark figures heading off alone. A flash of blonde beneath the military hat and the familiar obsidian gaze stimulated his thoughts further.
Mustang and Hawkeye.
His gaze narrowed and his fists clenched. Always together… She was his little lap dog, wasn't she?
'What were they doing here', he wondered.
Mustang was also at the train station after the murder. Come to think of it, he had gotten there awfully fast…
What if… Yes. That was it. Mustang must have had something to do with it! After all, he hated Hakuro. He had killed his family just as he had killed the Fuhrer.
He watched the couple get into the car together. The engine started and the wheels began to turn as it sped off down the way out of the cemetery.
He would get his revenge. He would make Mustang pay just as his family had.
Yes. Hakuro wouldn't show the mercy he had to finish off his family. The Flame Alchemist would get a taste of his own medicine.
He would burn alive.
Hope you guys enjoyed it. Sorry I haven't updated in a really long time.
Reviews would be appreciated.
Thanks,
-Bryan