Two Years Later

Sami put his hood up, exhaling deeply before heading out into the street, keeping his pace calm and natural as he headed in the direction of home.

"Hey, stop right there." Called the voice of a soldier.

"Dammit." He grumbled under his breath, pausing on the spot.

The soldier approached.

"Hood down and hands out of your pockets please."

He felt his eyes change in a second.

Not good.

"Is there a reason for why I would have to do that, Sir?"

Sami did remove his hands from his pocket and held them up to the soldier but didn't lower the hood.

"Spot inspection, we're conducting them throughout the city."

"Really, and why is that?"

"You can never be too careful, right? Fuhrer's orders, helps us kick out any unwelcome visitors to the capital. It's in the interest of the people so we're hoping they'll cooperate."

Sami bit his lip to prevent himself from saying something incriminating.

"Is that so? Well, I have a condition which leaves me almost blind if I'm exposed to sunlight so lowering my hood would cause me great pain. I hope you can understand, Sir, I'm just out buying groceries for my father; he's been a little under the weather these past few days so I'm trying to help out as much as I can."

"That's terrible, I'm real sorry to hear that. I hope he feels better soon. He'll be proud to have such a kind young boy looking out for him." The soldier offered a smile. "Run along now kid, and stay out of trouble you hear?"

"Will do, Sir." He nodded before continuing on.

As he reached the end of the street he turned the corner and gasped as he walked into yet another blue coat, horror in his expression as he did so.

This was it.

"Edward?"

"Maes..." His breathy tone forced from his throat. "Fuck."

"What's wrong, are you hurt?"

"Blue sky." He provided.

The code for 'my eyes are red'.

The older man didn't hesitate as he began escorting him through the streets, nodding to fellow blue coats as he passed.

"Sir." A group of them saluted. "Everything okay there?"

"Yes, just helping the kid, he got a little lost, Central is a big place n'all."

"You got that right, when I first got transferred here it took me months to get the hang of it. I'll be seeing you, Sir."

"You too."

Mae's hurried them past before they finally reached the apartment complex. They took the lift to their floor. A short walk later and they were home.

Once inside Sami slumped against the wall, almost doubling over as he desperately tried to breathe.

"Edward?"

Gracia's voice drifted in before she appeared. The kind woman began to fuss over him in seconds, removing his coat before guiding him to sit on the couch.

"Edward, you've been gone for hours." Maes stated.

"You came to find me?" Sami asked, confused by why someone would care where he was.

"Of course I did, we were concerned that something might have happened to you."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you guys worry like that."

"So what happened?"

"A soldier wanted me to lower my hood, I managed to talk my way out of it but... fuck it was so close." He scrubbed a hand down his face.

"Still can't change them back?" Gracia asked softly.

Sami shook his head.

"I'll try and keep Elicia occupied until they are so you have one less thing to worry about."

"Thanks; and thank you for helping me out there, I appreciate it, Maes."

"Anytime, kid."

Life had been as peaceful as an Ishvalan living undercover in the main capital of a nation could hope for. He was still chasing leads on Aleem with a few strands potentially coming out of the woodwork in the past few months.

Not that Roy, Riza, or Maes would ever let him chase them.

While he understood their protectiveness given his unique situation, Sami could help but feel as if he was suffocating sometimes. It was hard to express his feelings on the matter considering everything they had sacrificed and just how much they were risking by harbouring him. He knew how selfish it sounded and he hated himself for even thinking it, but his brother was out there somewhere and he needed to find him.

He was in the midst of preparing for the State Alchemist Exam and they'd somehow managed to get him a place training with Shou Tucker. The wealth of rare books at his house had Sami's jaw dropping to the floor in both excitement and disbelief; it took a great deal of resolve to not simply pull every one of them he was interested in reading from the shelf for a quick flick through out of curiosity.

Sami hadn't been able to go in a few days though with Roy being forced to have to think up some excuse about him being sick to excuse the real reason of his eyes refusing to change back.

He wasn't even scared so why the hell were they red?

Probably because he'd worried himself half to death following up Aleem's trail earlier that week. He hadn't been sleeping well with his little brother appearing in his dreams which soon transformed into nightmares as the sound of gunfire and explosions provided an accompaniment to his fellow Ishvalan's screams and the far too vivid memories of bloodshed and violence.

At least Winry was coming to visit soon. She hadn't said when she was coming specifically just to expect her in the next few days.

It had been a month or so since the last time she made the trip to the capital and he would be lying if he said he hadn't missed her. Sami often found himself wishing he could be back in Resembool with her and Pinako which surprised him greatly. That quiet little town seemed like the most boring place on earth during his time there but now, the idea of such tranquillity sounded amazing.

He'd barely needed to hide himself away there but now he lived with the constant anxiety of being caught.

Maybe he'd been too hasty in his decision to leave.

No, he needed to move to capital to become a State Alchemist and find Aleem, he was all that mattered and if that meant putting up with the stupid military and having to constantly wear him damn hood up then so be it.

Finishing the last of his notes he exhaled deeply before flipping the cover closed. Slumping back in his chair he stared up at the ceiling as he leant back.

"Where the hell are you Aleem?"