"Birthplace?"

"Yes, Ed. It's the place where you were…born"

"Why are you taking me there suddenly?"

Roy rubbed his temple and sighed. "I reckon that it's time you know about your past, you real past."

Ed opened his mouth to ask more, but before he managed to spoke Roy already put his finger in front of his lips.

"I believe you have many questions to ask, Ed. But I will tell you when we get there"

"Why do I have to wait?"

"It's just…I…I need to prepare myself. It's a long story"

"But dad-"

"Edward Elric Mustang,"

"Yes?"

"If you don't wait until we reach Resembool, we can get off this train at the next station and return to Central, and forget about this matter forever."

Ed nodded obediently.

"Good."

For the next few hours, it remained silent between them.

Taking a very long train trip makes every boys grow bored, especially Edward. He has never been the silent type, always making rackets and troubles here and there. Ed only take a few alchemy books on his trip, and he regretted that he picked to bring his favorites instead of the new ones he got from Falman the other day – he almost memorized the content of the books and his hands itched to try it out, but Roy warned him that he cannot use alchemy until they get down from the train. Living with an alchemy prodigy prankster, The Flame Alchemist knew that once his son got bored and he's allowed to use alchemy for stress-reliever, it would be disastrous.

Ed then tossed his books aside and lied on his bed on the top bunk, glancing at the passing scenery outside mindlessly. It was raining outside, and looking at the raindrops trickling down the window always gave him chills. He wondered about Roy who had been out of their compartment since two hours ago and not telling where he's going or what he's going to do – he knew his father hated the rainy day more than everything. It made him feels useless, which made sense because he's a flame alchemy user. He was too lazy to leave his bunk and wander around to look for his father – Roy can't possibly leave the train because the nearest station is still three hours away, and it's raining. He felt like dozing off for a little while until he heard the door shut open. It's Roy.

"Hey kiddo, what are you doing?"

"Nothing" he replied sleepily. "What is it?"

Roy walked towards the bunk bed and sat down "I reckon that you're bored, so I decided to teach you something"

Ed quickly sat up from his bed "Is it alchemy?" he asked enthusiastically

Roy shook his head "Unfortunately…no. But it's something as fun as alchemy" he said, as he shoved out a deck of poker cards.

"Cards?"

"Yes, I'm going to teach you poker"

And so, the father and son spent days on the train playing poker, and he's surprisingly good at it. Roy was so challenged that he started to bet with real money, even though he knew that it's bad for Ed and if Riza finds out, he'll have to play chase with her deadly bullets again. But of course, it ended up with five hundred Centz in Ed's pocket, and Roy lost a quarter of cash in his wallet. And the idea of using poker to get more money from his dad makes him almost forgot about why they went on a journey to Resembool in the first place until they arrived at Resembool station.

"Resembool station! Resembool station! Please check your belongings before leaving the train!" the stationmaster announced with a megaphone. The father and son stepped out of the train with their suitcases, and as the scent of countryside enters their noses, they put their suitcases down and took a deep breath and stretched. Four days in the train makes their body stiff, especially for Ed who is never been the boy who stays quietly at home in the afternoons.

"Come on, Ed! Let's go" Roy said as he lifted his suitcase. Ed took his suitcase and they went out of the train station. The two then walked on the countryside trail – the road is dusty and unpaved, and as they looked around all they see are farms, houses, animals and countryside people working. Ed, born and raised as a city kid as far as he all knows, had only seen these kinds of things on books and movies. He keeps gazing on the scenery with amazement until he bumped on his father's back. He almost tripped and finally comes into his senses.

"Dad? Why are we stopping?" he asked. He popped his head from his father's back and saw a herd of sheep walking across the road.

Ed groaned "Can't we just barge into them or something? Look at their numbers! We'll have to wait for quite a long time for sure if we gonna wait for all of them to go! And what's the point of waiting for a herd of sheep?"

Hearing his son, Roy just smiled "Relax, Ed. We're in the countryside, follow their countryside ways. Look, everybody's waiting, right?" Ed looked around, and saw a few villagers on the other side of the herd of sheep waiting. "In the city, we're all rush rush rush, but here people are all relax and take things slow – they even waited for sheep to pass"

Ed just sighed and sat on his suitcase, waiting for the herd of sheep to pass like what he's told. He looked left and right, and up towards the sky. The fresh air and the cold breeze make him comfortable – and he could feel a little tinge in his heart.

A familiar feeling that he always felt when he imagined what his mother like.

"...Edward! Let's go!"

Ed snapped out of his thoughts right after he heard Roy calling him, stood up, picked up his suitcase and ran to his father. As they walked, Ed grabbed his father's hand – which is surprising for Roy. Since entering fourth grade, his son never hold his hand anymore even when they crossed the road together. Roy just smiled and pulled his son closer to him, and they keep on walking until they saw a familiar house on top of the hill.

"Automail Makers – Rockbell Prosthetics" That was written on the signboard in front of the house. Ed didn't remember about this place, but he kind of felt that he had seen this place before. He let go of his father's hand, letting him to approach the house. He took some time to glance around the hill – mountains stretching around the village of Resembool as far as his eyes could see, and green grassy fields - something that a city boy like him could only see in photographs. He had been on hiking trips to the mountains before, but still, the nature of Resembool amazed him. Meanwhile, Roy walked up the steps of the Rockbell Prosthetics of the house and knocked the door twice.

"Coming!"

The voice of a little girl was followed by the sound of a chair shifted on the wooden floor and rapid steps coming closer to the door. Seconds later, the door is opened, revealing a small blonde girl with blue eyes, wearing a red apron. For a moment, she stood there without a word, and scanned the military man from head to toe.

"Hello there, I see you've grown up" Roy greeted

The little girl tilted her head "…Did I know you from somewhere?"

Roy sighed "It's been many years, no wonder you forgot. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang, and I am here to see you and your grandmother"

Hearing him spoke out his rank, she frowned and took a step forward, her grip on the wooden door hardened "…What do you want from me and my grandmother?"

"Oh, nothing to do with the military. I'm here with my son after all"

"...son?" she then shifted her body and saw a little boy with a bright-colored hair standing in the middle of the hill – and suddenly she felt that he had seen the military man and the boy before.

Before she managed to say anything else, Pinako Rockbell walked towards them "Winry, who is at the door – oh! …It's you"

Roy smiled "Long time no see, Mrs. Rockbell"

Pinako gave a sly smile "Long time no see too, Mustang. You haven't changed much after all these years"

"You too – oh, um, I brought Edward with me – Edward! Come here!"

Ed turned towards his father and dashed to the house. As he stepped next to his father, Roy pulled him closer to his side "Here he is – he's a big boy now, isn't he?" hearing what his father said, Ed couldn't help but smile proudly

"Nice to see him grow up well – last time I saw him he was so tiny" Pinako said, which made Ed dropped his smile "Now, now… why don't you guys come in and have a cup of tea?"

Winry was still confused. She knew that her grandmother hates the military so much – after all, it was that call to the Ishbal war frontline by the military that took the lives of Pinako Rockbell's daughter and son-in-law – Winry's parents. But now, they sat together in their livingroom, drinking tea that she had just brewed. She sat next to her grandmother, while the military man and his son sat across them.

"Edward, Winry, since it's been a very long time since you two met, why don't you guys play outside together?" Roy said. The two were surprised and looked at each other awkwardly. "I need to speak with Mrs. Rockbell". Hearing that, Ed knew immediately what to do. "Alright dad, I'll be outside with her. Come on, uh… Winry" he said. The two kids then left the house and close the door, and they could hear them stepping away from the house and on to the grassy fields.

"…So you took Edward as your son?" Pinako asked as she put her cup of tea back on the table.

"Yes… A lot of things had happened for the past few months. I reckon that it's time for him to know the truth of his past" Roy said

"Truth?"

"He… never knew that he was adopted, he didn't know anything except that I'm his father and he got no mother. He never really asked about his mother either. Back when me and Riza took him to Central, I handed him to the state laboratory for further research… but it turns out that he was treated very badly, like an animal… remembering him in that state back then always wrenched my heart. Then I struggled to get the Fuhrer's permission to get his custody but only in one condition – to teach him alchemy and raise him as a state alchemist candidate"

"That boy? A you raised him as a military weapon? Mustang, I know you are a state alchemist but…"

"I have no choice, Mrs. Rockbell! In the military's eyes, he's only a scientific specimen – a potential living weapon. At first, I thought I made a mistake. I was young and struggling, and marriage or having children wasn't on my agenda. But… years of raising him, it changed me. Edward… I might taught him alchemy and all, but he taught me something else, something way more precious than alchemy that I couldn't quite describe"

"And… your reason for coming here, all the way from Central?"

"He… he have to know his past. He might be young, but it's better for him to know the truth now. He just learned about sex education in his school and because he got no mother, some kids in school bullied him in a very harsh way, making stories about his mother such as she was a slut or something. I can't hide it anymore."

"Are you prepared for the consequences, Mustang?"

Roy took a deep breath and sighed "I… to tell you the truth, I don't know if I can handle it if he will hate me for this but… I love him so much, and I'm telling this for his own sake. I… whatever happen, I am prepared"

Pinako sighed, put her smoking pipe down and gave her trademark smile "I knew it from the very beginning you hold Ed in this house, when you and your female subordinate brought him from the old Elric house, you are different from all those other state alchemists and military folks I knew, and had you been his father, you would do great. I never knew that you did actually adopt him and as far as I see, you had raised him well. He's a well-mannered boy for his age"

"He wouldn't be what he is now without my superiors and my subordinates, Mrs. Rockbell. You know, for them… Edward is their son, their little brother and their nephew"

"You sure you won't regret this, Mustang?"

Roy sighed again "I hope I won't."