AND NOW, for another guest author... Masta of da House! WHOO! YEAH! she has been wanting to write a chapter and i told her she could, so hear it is. maybe this will perk her up after she read chapter 104. but then again, this isnt the feel good story of the centuary. Say hello Masta! Masta: Hello! Yeah, theaterinspired, are you going to tell me whats going to happen next?? theaterinspired: you would like that wouldnt you? you are still in the dark except for what i told you so that you could write this chapter. oh, and readers? please reveiw. for the three of us that have written something for this story. pleasepleaseplease?

Things had been different for Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye since she had returned from the Southern front. She didn't remember quite what it was that changed her; she actually couldn't remember much at all. Any memories she had of that battle were vague and splotchy. She blamed it on selective amnesia, the same reason she figured was why she couldn't remember most of the Ishbal War. She continued filling out paperwork quietly, trying to keep her mind away from the question that had been eating at her since she got back. She flipped through the pile. Half of the paperwork, she realized, wasn't even hers. It was addressed to her superior officer. If she remembered correctly, he had a habit of making her do most of his paperwork. She wondered why she put up with it. She sighed, and continued on, not knowing exactly why, completing the paperwork as fast and as mindlessly as she could.

She looked up briefly as she heard the sounds of footsteps reentering the office. Jean Havoc had returned from his, apparently brief, phone call. He looked disheartened.

"You got dumped, didn't you?" She said bluntly.

Havoc looked at her. It was almost as if what she said didn't register. "What?" he said "Oh, yeah. Yeah. Don't remind me."

"Sorry." She said.

"I'm clocking out." He said, as he grabbed his jacket and headed out the door.

There was something he was hiding from her. It wasn't hard to tell. She knew that Havoc didn't have a girlfriend. He'd never had a girlfriend he didn't tell everyone about. She wouldn't ask about it, she decided. If there was something that everybody thought was best kept hidden from her, they probably wouldn't tell her now.

Riza decided she would head home as well. She had no reason to linger there alone since she had finished her paperwork. Frankly, she didn't want to. There had been such a tense atmosphere about the office recently, and it seemed to be directed at her. Another thing she couldn't quite understand She made sure her work was stacked accordingly and put away before collecting her things and heading out the door. She would go straight home, she decided, as she put on her coat and left. That morning she had walked to Central from her house. It had been sunny for the first time since she had returned, and she didn't want to drive. Now, with the sun gone and the wind in her face, she wished she had taken the car.

She pulled her coat closer around her as she got to the door. Her house key was usually in her pocket, and she felt around for it, desperate to get herself out of the cold. She realized at that moment, she had left it in the car the day before. It was unlike her to forget something like that. She knew she needed it, and should have brought it to work with her. But she had been so distracted lately. Never mind, she thought. I have a spare. She ran her fingers along the top of the door. An obvious place to put it, she knew. But she wasn't really concerned about her house being broken into, since she didn't own anything that would really be worth stealing. All that mattered to her was that she had an extra key in case anything like this happened.

Riza ran her fingers across the door frame, waiting for them to touch the key that she had left there, but she reached the end of the ledge without finding anything. There was no key. She wondered where it could have gone. The lieutenant checked around the area and dug through her pockets again. She touched something, a slip of paper, and unfolded it. It read:

Dear Elizabeth,

I'm sorry if I don't make it tonight. You know how work is. I apologize. I don't mind if you go to see the play without me. I just wish I could be there. I'd like to see how it all ends.

You know those plans we were making for some time now? Things have been hectic lately, but when they calm down on the Southern Front, I promise I'll follow through with that .Hopefully that will be in the next couple weeks.

I'll try to make it up to you if I can. I don't want to miss another date.

Roy

Why she had a note from the colonel to his girlfriend was beyond her. Perhaps, it had gotten mixed up with her papers, or maybe she had taken it from him. She somehow couldn't recall anything about it. But as she decided that this letter contained nothing concerning her, the lieutenant resolved to throw it away once she got the chance.

It was getting colder now, as the night grew darker. The wind wasn't helping much either. Taking a step back, Riza took out her pistol and aimed at the lock. With one shot it fell off, and she was able to open the door. She'd be getting complaints, that was certain, but she didn't worry about it. She closed the door behind her and took off her coat. It was warm inside and she didn't want to wear it. But first she took the note from the pocket. With the coat over her shoulder she headed up to her apartment. That door she had left open. She entered, throwing the coat over a chair and throwing the letter away before she forgot.

The apartment was empty. Black Hayate did not run up, barking and energetic, when she came home, she hadn't seen her dog since she returned and so, the room was quiet.

She removed the clip from her now windblown hair, letting the blonde tresses fall over her shoulders, messy and untamed. She looked at herself in the mirror, seeing once again, someone she knew she was not. She took out her earrings, one by one. She looked at herself once again before she undressed. She wanted to take a shower, a nice long one, and wash away the cold and the emptiness.

As the water ran through her hair, down her back, and over the scars she had forgotten that she had, Hawkeye fell into her own thoughts, those that she had been trying to avoid. She remembered everything that had happened before the battle, except for the way things felt. The way things just were. She knew there must have been a reason why she had been so contented before, driven, motivated, filled with some sort of purpose. It was the reason she bothered to work so hard and act so strictly, the reason she joined the military in the first place. She knew she had a calling, but in the confusion, she must have forgotten what it was. It felt like the answer was right in front of her, perpetually on the tip of her tongue. She couldn't place it, however, no matter how hard she tried. It was a hard thing to lose.

She finished, drying her hair and running her fingers through it to make sure it was straight and even this time. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her tattoo was covered in burns she convinced herself were injuries from the war, when the building collapsed and she had thought she was going to die. Of course she hadn't remembered that, since she had passed out. She pulled a shirt over her head. She was going to sleep in her clothes tonight.

The telephone rang, breaking the quiet. Riza picked up the phone receiver from the table near her bed, and sat on the mattress as she spoke.

"Hello?" she asked "Who is this?"

"Lieutenant Hawkeye."

"Can I help you?"

"This is Colonel Roy Mustang"

"Yes sir?"

"I called to inform you that I've spoken with Brigadier General Mya. I've been informed that the army we fought at the southern border those months ago has regrouped, and is staging a second wave of attacks. There's a possibility, a rather high one, in fact, that we may be sent back to the front. I wanted to make sure you were prepared."

Riza nodded "Is that all, sir?"

There was a pause. "Lieutenant," he said "I also wanted to ask if you were doing alright, and if there was anything I could do."

Riza was shocked. That was almost too thoughtful. In truth, she was anything but alright. But she didn't feel it was her place to ask a superior officer to let her cry in front of him. They weren't close, after all, and what she needed was a confidante. She smiled, however, at his proposal. "No sir,"' she lied. "I'm fine. When are we leaving?"

"Within the next week." The colonel responded.

"Alright sir." She responded.

"Good night, Lieutenant Hawkeye." he said.

She didn't respond. "Good night" hardly seemed like the proper thing to say. Somehow it seemed out of place. She wanted to say something, but didn't, and the colonel hung up before she was able to invent anything to answer with.

War, she thought, we're going back to war. She tried not to think about it. She pulled the covers over herself and prayed her dreams wouldn't be filled with bloodshed. She wasn't afraid the last time, but things had changed since then. Going back to the place that had changed them, with nobody there to protect her, she felt scared. The most she could hope was that whatever part of herself she had left there, would meet up with her again.

THIS IS BRIGGS!!!!! --- reason behind that? its snowing where we are today. please reveiw!