~Ed's P.O.V~
When Alex and I found Lt. Hawkeye's gun in my pocket, we decided to return it. We walked over to her apartment and knocked on the door. We heard a dog barking and right as the door opened I was 'attacked' (not really, more like pounced on) by a dog! "Damn, why does this always have to happen to me…?-.-' " I mumble to myself as I look right at the dog. I hear Alex giggle at me, I guess she heard me. "Aww but Ed he's soooo cute!" she said as she crouched down and started petting him. "Hayate no" we hear someone say as the dog, Hayate, got off of me. We looked over to see Lt. Hawkeye. "Sorry guys" she said apologetically. "Haha it's ok it's not the first time this has happened" I say as I rub the back of my head and sweat drop. "So um, we've heard that you're working for the Fuhrer now?" Alex says as she helps me up from the ground.
Hawkeye looks at us a little surprised but then replied. "Yeah" she says. She leads us into her apartment and offered us tea. I sat at a small table across from Lt. Hawkeye while she took apart her gun and cleaned it. Alex decided to sit on the floor against the wall to play with Hayate. "By the look of the blood it looks like things got intense huh?" Hawkeye said, talking about the gun. "I guess but I didn't use it…I couldn't" I admitted. She just looked at me, a little astonished.
"It's pathetic huh, I couldn't even pull the trigger" I said as I looked down. From the corner of my eye I could see Alex looking down as well. "Tell me about it" Hawkeye said. "Well you remember Scar right?" I asked. She nodded. "We found out that he was the one who killed Winry's parents" Alex said while petting Hayate's head.
"She could've shot him but I knew that was wrong…so Alex and I intervened. I honestly think that if we didn't stop her…she would have actually shot him. After that I looked at the gun in a different way. It's evil. When I took the gun away from her, she couldn't stop crying. It's all my fault…" I said. "You're thinking about it too hard, you're only saying that because you got out of it alive. You need to start focusing on staying alive, that's how you can help Winry. How else can you protect her? You do love her don't you?" Hawkeye said as I took a sip of tea and spit it out. "W-WHAT?! NO NO NO NO NO! I don't like her t-that w-way! I've known her since we were kids! She's l-like family to me! Of course I wanna p-protect her!" I stutter as I feel my face heat up. "HAHAHA!" I hear Alex laugh at me. "You totally love her Ed! Hahaha!" Alex laughs even more.
"Sh-shut up Alex!" I yell at her and she giggles more. "I'm sorry that happened, it only made things worse" Hawkeye said as we settled down. I looked back at her. "If you don't mind me asking, does it ever feel like a burden for you?" I heard Alex ask her. "I've lost the right to look at it that way so I can't complain. No, I'm not proud of what I've done but I've killed too many people to feel sorry for myself. Besides, it was my choice to choose what path I should've taken from the beginning" Hawkeye answered back. I gulped. "Are you talking about Ishval? Would it be ok if I asked you what happened over there?" I asked.
"Ishval was a barren country surrounded by rocks and sand. The land being what it was, it makes sense that the people who lived there had their religion. It was natural that the people there would rise up and protest against Amestris. Their distrust against us was soon justified. That one single bullet changed everything. The people grew angrier and rose up against the military. Their uprising was the beginning of the Civil War which went on for years until a document written by The Fuhrer himself determined the Ishvalans fate. It led to the Ishvalan War of Extermination. It was like a living hell…the air was filled with the stench of corpses and gunpowder. Ordinary soldiers fired rounds without a specific target, but it was different for snipers like me. Someone is certain to die when we pull the trigger. Other soldiers are blind to the effects of their actions, but snipers and the state alchemists know the damage they cause. It was a matter of time before all the Ishvalans were exterminated. Since they were left with no other choice they surrendered and their priest, Logue Lowe, offered himself as a sacrifice in place of all the Ishvalans. In time the war was over and we were all sent home. After that, Colonel Mustang told me his plans on how he will become The Fuhrer" Hawkeye says as she concluded her explanation.
"But even if Mustang does become The Fuhrer, it won't change the fact that this is still a military state" I replied to her statement. "That might be true but the first thing we'd have to do is restore power to the parliament, we'll take it back from the military and make it democratic again. Only after the full extent of the military's corruption has been brought to light this country will be able to move forward" Hawkeye said. "Wait what do you mean?" Alex asks. "Well for example, the war criminals of the Ishvalan War of Extermination will be brought to trial" she answers back. Alex and I gasp. "That's right, the hero of the Civil War would just be a mass murderer in a peaceful world" she replies.
"And the Colonel is going to make sure that happens?!" I said a little bit too loudly. "Isn't that like committing suicide?" Alex said standing up and walking over to the table. "But the homunculi were the ones who caused the Civil War!" she continues. "Yeah but we were the soldiers who followed orders and did most of the work. You should never look the other way when death is in front of you…Never forget the people you killed, trust me, no matter how much time passes they will never forget the ones who killed them" Hawkeye replied. I ball my hand into a fist. "It's not right..!" I growl.
Hawkeye gives us a small smile. "Don't worry about us, you have bigger things to worry about like looking after ur brother and sister Ed. What's more important is you guys getting your bodies back. You've got plenty of people waiting for that day" she says.
I sigh and nod as I look back at Alex, she's on the ground again petting Hayate. 'She's right, I need to get our bodies back and Al and Alex are going to help me'
"Never forget the people you killed, trust me, no matter how much time passes they will never forget the ones who killed them"