Chapter 14

Flashback

Roy sat in his office tracing the design on his daughter's diary. He got out of his seat and strolled over to the closet and pulled out a dusty old box. He brought the box back over to his desk and gently lifted the lid off. Inside the box was a pile of old photos, there was his first military uniform that he had received when he was just finishing his teen years. Roy pulled out the pictures and his uniform.

On the bottom of the box was an even smaller military uniform. He gently pulled it out and set it in his lap. This had been Anya's first military uniform, she had received in from the Fuher when she was just 8 years old.

Roy still remembered the day he had come back. He remembered how everyone reacted when he walked into Central the day his daughter had brought him back. Everyone had celebrated about his strange return.

(begin flashback)

"Where's my little Anya?" had asked. Havok led the way to Anya's quarters. Everyone had gone to see him reunite with Anya.

Roy knocked on her door. "Anya? Anya, it's your father! I'm back!" He turned the knob, shocked that the door was unlocked, and pushed the door open. On the floor of her gigantic room was a transmutation circle. Roy walked toward the circle. In the middle of the circle was a framed picture of himself that Anya always kept at her night stand. On the very edge of the circle was a pile of clothing.

He looked down at the circle again, he knew this circle; he had seen it many times before. "This circle," he muttered to himself. His eyes grew wide and his pupils dilated. "Anya?" Nobody answered his call. "Anya?! Damn it Anya, you come out here now!"

Roy ran over to his daughter's bed and looked underneath it; he ran into the master sized bathroom and checked everywhere that an eleven year old girl could fit. The shower, the cupboards, the closet. Still no Anya was found. "Sir?" Havok asked. "Sir, are you okay?" Roy ran over to Havok and picked him up by his collar. "Jean, you're her best friend. Jean, please tell me you know where she is!" Jean Havok almost slid out of his loose shirt. "No, I'm sorry Sir, she said she had something do to in here. I asked if she wanted my help she said it was too dangerous."



Roy could have punched him in the face until his nose broke. "She said that it was too dangerous for someone who is 13 but you are going to let an 11 year old girl do it herself?!" Roy punched his gut and dropped Jean Havok on the ground. "Sir, what did she do?" he choked out. "She brought me back" Roy almost cried. Roy picked up the small blue pile of clothes at the edge of the circle and spread them out. It was Anya's military uniform, the right arm of the shirt was soaked in blood.

(end of flashback)

"Dad?" Roy snapped out of his memories and back to the real world. Anya's head was poked into the room. "Hey, come in." She pulled the door open and walked in cautiously. Roy stared at what his daughter was wearing. "What the heck are you wearing?!" Anya wore nothing but an oversized button up the front shirt that was obviously made for a man.

"Pajamas, why?" "Those aren't pajamas, it's a shirt. And isn't your room that way?" he pointed toward the back wall where another door into his office was. "I guess, but I didn't come from my room, I just came from Ed's room."

She heard her father tense up, "Dad, I wanted to borrow one of Ed's shirts to wear to sleep, that's all I went in there to do." Anya rubbed her eyes; they were red and puffed, as if she'd been crying all night.

"Anya, are you alright? Were you crying?" She sat down on her father's desk, "Yeah, yeah I was crying." Roy gave a small sigh and pulled his daughter onto his lap. "Tell me what's wrong, I'll listen." Anya leaned her head against her father's shoulder and clinched her stomach. "I was thinking about Ian" she said quietly.

"Is Ian a friend of yours? Is Ian your" Roy's throat went dry as he uttered he word "boyfriend". "No, Ian is…was my baby." "Your what?!" Anya retold the story of her relationship with Alphonse Heidrick. She told her father about how she lost her baby.

"Oh," Roy finally said. Trying to change the subject he said "Jean will be happy to see you." Anya lit up. "Jean?! He still works here? Oh, I bet he's got himself a wife and kids now." Roy almost burst into laughter at his daughter's statement. Jean had only felt serious about two girls, his daughter who was a complete no-no, and Lust, the problem here was kind of obvious.

"No, Jean is still his poor pathetic self," Roy laughed. "Tomorrow I'm having a party for Riza, it's her birthday tomorrow. Maybe I'll introduce you, Ed, Al, and your delightful little friend back to the military. What do you say?" His daughter smiled, "I think that'll be fine," she said as she scratched her neck.

Roy saw the splint she had on her wrist. "What happened here?" Roy asked. "Edward broke my wrist." She said it as if I really didn't matter to her. "Why in the world did he do that?!" Roy almost jumped from his chair. "Dad, calm down, it was an accident" Anya laughed.



Anya and Roy sat in silence for a few minutes. "Dad?" she said finally breaking the silence. "Can you tell me about my parents?" she asked. Roy sighed. "Haven't you heard enough about them Anya?"

"Please dad?"

"Urgh……Fine."

Roy began telling her about her biological parents. "Your mother, her name was Rhai. She was incredibly beautiful. With her long white hair, it reminded me of snow. She was the one who thought to give me guardianship over you, Anya."

"Your parents loved you very much. Your father, he was an assassin though, he ran with the wrong people. But still, he loved both you and your mother." Roy ran his fingers through his hair. "Just about 2 years after your parents got married, you were born Anya. You were the highlight of both of their lives, I'm sure."

Anya cuddled up against her adoptive father as he continued. "Your biological father's boss man was a pretty crappy guy. He was addicted to alcohol, cigarettes, and sex. The boss man took a liking in your mom and demanded that your dad let him have Rhai." Roy sighed; it was obvious that he was nervous. "Dad, it's okay," Anya laughed. "I already know what happened after that." Roy sighed with relief "Oh, alright then!" he smiled. They continued conversing until Anya drifted to sleep.

Roy kissed the top of Anya's head, "It's so good to have you back, Ya. Sleep tight punk, tomorrow will be a great day."