A/N: And we're back in Ishbal. This chapter is a little on the short side because I'm setting up for something but I hope everyone still enjoys it.


Back at the Camp:

Roy slowly walked into camp with his squad, utterly exhausted from their mission in the Cerna region. They had been sent there to rout out the masterminds behind the terrorist attacks in Amestris with specific orders from the brass to capture the suspects alive for interrogations and to confiscate any evidence. Unfortunately, the mission was only partially successful. After engaging the enemy in a firefight for several hours, they finally entered the building to find the insurgents dead or dying and the evidence in flames. His men were able to salvage a handful of papers from the fires but it was clear that the files the military were most interested in were gone. Roy sighed. He was not looking forward to giving his report to the generals.

"Ah, Major Mustang. You're back."

Roy turned and saw Generals Raven and Blackburn sitting inside an open tent enjoying a cup of tea. Shit, he thought before saluting.

"How did everything go?" General Raven asked before taking a sip from his cup.

"We found the enemy in an abandoned building on the outskirts of the Cerna region. Unfortunately, they refused to surrender peacefully so we were forced to engage them in combat. After we finally subdued them, we discovered that they had already destroyed any documents relating to their planned attacks. We were only able to recover this," He pulled out the papers from his canvas bag and handed it to General Blackburn.

"I see," mumbled Blackburn while he scanned the pages. "And were you able to take any prisoners?"

"Only one, sir." Roy motioned for one of his subordinates to come forward. A private walked up to them, pulling a bound Ishbalan man behind him. "We found him unconscious amongst the rubble near the compound but he refuses to talk."

"Hmm…" murmured Raven, stroking his beard. He got up and circled the prisoner. "Who are you and what is your role in these terrorist attacks?" he demanded.

The man didn't answer. Instead, he stared angrily at the two generals before finally turning his head away in contempt.

"Answer me!" Raven ordered, standing in front of the man. The Ishbalan turned his head back to face him and grinned. Then, before anyone could react, he spat in Raven's face.

Raven took a step back, a look of surprise clearly etched on his face. Roy resisted the urge to smirk at the general's reaction. He quickly looked down at his boots until he could regain his composure. When he looked up again, Raven was pulling a handkerchief from his pocket.

"You piece of shit…you're going to pay for that," he muttered as he wiped his face. Turning to the private, he ordered, "Throw him in prison with the rest of those Ishbalan dogs! I'll have Gran deal with him later."

"Yes sir," the soldier answered. He quickly left, dragging their prisoner with him.

"Fucking bastard," Roy heard Raven muttered as he sat back down. "We need to hurry up and exterminate them all."

Blackburn chuckled. "Patience, Raven. Their time will come soon enough," Turning to Roy, he said, "I'll pass these documents to the rest of the generals. That'll be all, Major Mustang."

"Yes, sir."

Roy continued his way through the camp with the rest of his squad, leaving the generals to finish their tea. As they moved deeper into the camp his men slowly dispersed until he was finally alone, at least as alone as he could get amongst a sea of strangers. He gave a sigh of relief. The past week had been long and stressful and he was glad to be back amongst his fellow soldiers.

Looking around, he wondered where Maes and Riza were. He wanted to talk to them, particularly Riza. He had been thinking about her constantly; wondering if those two bastard privates who attacked her were ever disciplined, remembering their conversation afterwards and her kiss….

Her kiss….

Riza's kiss had plagued his mind all week. He didn't know why. He'd kiss other women before; yet, none of those kisses had affected him this much and this was only a kiss on the cheek! Perhaps it was because it came from her, the one girl who he never thought he'd have a chance with. The one girl who never showed the slightest indication that she saw him as anything more than just a friend in all the years he had known her.

He couldn't help but wonder why she kissed him. Did she actually have feelings for him? Or was it nothing more than a response to him kissing her on the cheek the previous night? If it was the former then what was he going to do about it? Somehow, the thought that their friendship could be something more seemed farfetched; yet, his heart had other ideas. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't suppress his feelings for her. Every time they were together, his feelings for her would grow stronger. There was just something about her that drew him to her. She wasn't like any other woman he met; she was unique and he loved that about her.

Looking down at the transmutation circle on his gloves, he wondered if she saw him as anything more than just a friend and confidant. They had known each other for a long time yet he felt there was still so much about her that he didn't know. They had talked many times about their hopes and dreams for their country but he couldn't remember any time where she shared her dreams for her own future with him. Did she plan on staying in the military? Travel the world? Or did she just want to settle down and have a family?

He smacked himself on the forehead. What was he doing? She was a young woman free to do whatever she wanted. She didn't need him to protect her anymore. So why did he care so much about what Riza wanted to do with her life?

Because you want to be a part of it, a small voice in his head whispered.

He clenched his fists. There was no denying that he wanted her in his life. The time they spent together here had made him realize what a foolish mistake it was for him leaving her behind all the years ago and he damn well wasn't going to repeat that mistake again. Looking around, he made his decision. Once he dropped off his stuff in his tent he would go look for her. He had to find out exactly how she felt about him and in the process he was going to confess his feelings to her. If he ended up making a fool out of himself then so be it. At least there would be no more speculating.

"Hey! Long time no see!" shouted a voice suddenly. Roy quickly looked around to find the source of the voice and smiled when he saw Maes's cheerful face appear from the crowd.

"Hey Hughes," he greeted his best friend.

"Good to see you're still alive. So how did the mission go?"

"Not good but not bad either," he answered as they walked towards his tent. "We raided their hideout but the insurgents managed to destroy pretty much all their plans for their next attack. We managed to salvage a few pieces of paper but I've looked at them and I doubt they'll be of any use to intelligence. We were also able to capture an Ishbalan warrior but I'm not optimistic that they'll get any information out of him either."

"Well you tried. It could have been much worse."

"I know. I'm just glad we were able to reach our objectives with minimal casualties. That and the fact that I don't have to do the interrogations."

"Who's doing it?"

"Colonel Gran."

Maes whistled. "I already feel sorry for the prisoner. Gran can be a very intimidating man when he wants to be."

"Then it's a good thing you're on his side then," Roy grinned. "Seriously though, I doubt Gran will have an easy time extracting any information from the prisoner. I've been present during one or two interrogations here and I've noticed that the Ishbalans are incredibly resilient. They rather be tortured to death than divulge any information that could help us annihiliate them."

Maes nodded. "They're dedicated. That's what makes them such a formidable enemy and why this war has lasted this long."

"Yeah." Roy was silent for a moment before asking, "So how are things here?"

Maes scratched his head. "The usual. We just finished securing Sectors 29 and 30. We'll probably be moving onto the Kanda or Dahlia district soon."

Roy nodded. The campaign was starting to move faster which meant that it would probably be over sooner than he had originally anticipated. "Any word on when that'll be and who is going in first?"

"Nope. Us lowly soldiers are not privy to that sort of information," Maes answered as they reached the tent. "The generals are rather tight lipped about their next plan of attack."

"I see."

"Anyway, I have some good news."

"Oh?"

"I got a letter from Gracia yesterday!" Maes grinned as he quickly pulled out an envelope from his coat pocket. "Wanna hear what she wrote?"

Roy groaned. "No thanks," he muttered before entering his tent. Maes quickly followed in after him.

"Suit yourself," he said while pulling the letter out of the envelope and re-reading its contents. Roy noticed a faint whiff of perfume as he dropped his bag on the floor. "You know something?" Maes said, not looking up from the letter, "It's great being in love with such an amazing woman."

Roy rolled his eyes. Here we go again, he thought.

"Seriously Roy, I never really knew true love until I met Gracia," Maes continued, oblivious to his best friend's annoyance. "She's like a gift from heaven. I'm so lucky to have her."

"Yes, you've mentioned it several times already. I get it. You're crazy about her."

Maes looked up at him. "You know, you really need to find a girlfriend so we can go on double dates when this war is over."

"Sure, whatever," Roy mumbled. He flopped down on his cot and sighed loudly as his head hit the pillow. After a week of sleeping on the hard ground it was so nice to lie down on something that wasn't rock.

"Tired?"

"You have no idea," he mumbled, rolling over. Part of him wanted to just curl up and sleep but the other part kept nagging him to get his ass up and find Riza like he originally said he would. "Hughes," he called out.

"Yeah?"

"Have you seen Riza?"

"Not in a few days. I think she's been hanging out with the other snipers. The last time I talked to her she looked a little sad though. You two didn't have a fight or something did you?"

"No," answered Roy, slightly annoyed.

"Good. So when are you going to get your ass in gear and finally admit your feelings to her?"

Roy's eyes widened in surprised. Was Maes psychic?

"Look, I know it's none of my business but as your best friend, I should warn you that I've noticed several soldiers who seem to be taking an interest in her." he continued. "You better make a move before someone else does. Even Gracia says so."

Roy bolted up. "What? You told your girlfriend about me and Riza?"

Maes shrugged. "It's much more interesting than telling her what my daily kill count is or how nasty the food rations are. I've told her stories about the pranks we played in the academy in the past and she seemed interested when I told her I saw you again on the battlefield."

Roy threw up his hands. "Fine." Groaning, he dragged himself out of the cot. "I guess I should go find her then," he muttered. He still had no idea what he was going to say to her but he'd figure that out later.

"Wait…so you're going to take my advice?" asked Maes, wide-eyed.

"I never said that. I just said I was going to go find her." As he walked past, Maes suddenly grabbed him by the hood of his coat. "What the fuck are you doing?" Roy snapped, twisting out of his grasp.

"You're not going to talk to her like this are you?"

"What the hell is wrong with how I am right now?"

Maes gave him a look. "Roy…you stink. When was the last time you actually showered?"

Roy stopped and sniffed himself. Sure enough, he reeked of sweat and filth. Maes smirked at his reaction. "Now I don't claim to be an expert in women but I can pretty much guarantee you that you won't impress a girl smelling like a wet gym sock. In fact, I've been told it's a major turn off."

"Alright alright! I'll go take a shower!" exclaimed Roy, throwing up his hands. He quickly grabbed a towel and some toiletries before walking out of his tent towards the shower stalls with Maes following right after him.


Roy shivered as cold water ran over him. Just my fucking luck, he thought before mentally cursing at all the soldiers who had showered before him and used up all the available hot water. He hated taking cold showers, especially after being out in the middle of nowhere for several days and having sand in places he didn't even know sand could get into. All he wanted was a nice, hot shower. Was that too much to ask? Grumbling, he quickly rinsed the soap off his body and turned off the faucet. Grabbing the towel hanging nearby, he dried himself and wrapped the towel around his waist before stepping out of the shower room.

"All done?" asked Maes when he walked into the change room. He had been sitting there on a bench reading a book.

"Yeah," Roy said, dropping his toiletries into his backpack. He picked up his spare uniform that was folded neatly next to Maes and began to dress. Maes quickly turned away.

"Something wrong?" Roy asked while he put his boxers on.

"Nah. Just don't feel like watching you change and being called a pervert. I am your best friend and all but there are still certain things about you I rather not see or know about."

"Afraid to see who's bigger?" Roy asked with a smirk.

"I'm quite secure with my masculinity thank-you-very-much. And Gracia seems to be quite satis- " Roy quickly cut him off.

"I don't need to hear about your sex life, Hughes. There are some things I prefer staying ignorant about too."

Maes grinned. "Glad we got that sorted out then."

"Indeed," Roy mumbled as he sat down to put his boots on. He glanced over at the book in Maes's possession. "What are you reading?"

"Oh this?" Maes held up the book so Roy could read the title. "It's a compilation book of some of the most famous criminal cases in Amestris and how they were solved. It's quite fascinating."

"I didn't know you were interested in that stuff."

"I wasn't really before. I was just talking to Lieutenant Colonel Vultee about a recent case he finished. You know he's in Investigations, right? Anyway, he lent this book to me saying I might find it interesting since I was curious about the investigation process.

"You're not thinking of a career in Investigations now are you?"

"You know, that might not be a bad idea. I've always enjoyed mysteries. What do you think?"

"I think it might suit you. That said, it is a very demanding job."

"No worse than being a State Alchemist," Maes grinned. "I'll think about it. Not like I need to make a decision right away. I need to survive this bloody war first."

Roy nodded in agreement as he put on his coat. Running a hand through his wet hair, he asked, "So how do I look?"

"Like a lovesick soldier looking for his sweetheart…Just kidding. You look fine."

"Good. Now if you excuse me, there's someone I need to find."

"Good luck!" Maes called out as Roy grabbed his backpack. He raised his hand and waved as he walked out of the room.

Thanks. I'll need it.


A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed the previous chapter. I'll try to have the next chapter up as soon as I can.