The Ishvalan woman woke up in a warm bed covered in blankets. She opened her eyes and took in her surroundings, she was in a tent but she wasn't chained. She then sees a man with black hair sitting on a chair writing on a desk, she panicked thinking that she was gonna be tortured again. She slowly got up to be quiet as to not alert the man but when the blankets fell she was shocked to see that she was dressed in a white buttoned up shirt and loose pants. The man must've heard her move because he turned around and looked at her, he got up and went to her. He put a hand on his shoulder and said. "Lay back down, your still healing." He laid her back down and pulled the blankets back up to her chest, he placed a hand on her forehead and sighed in relief. "Good, your fever went down. That's a relief." The woman tried to talk but it came out as a squeak, she grabbed her throat because it hurt to talk. "Your throat and vocal cords are damaged from dehydration and are raw due to screaming. I'm not a medic but I'm gonna take you to a friend back in Amestris that can check you out, it might take awhile because your badly hurt ma'am." Ma'am? Most of the Amestrians she knew called her doll, who was this guy? He dug out his watch to reveal that he was a state alchemist and opened it. "It's almost time to leave, hopefully no one comes in here." He shuts the watch and looks at her. "I'm gonna smuggle you out of Amestris and get you some help, the only way to do that is for you to pretend your a bag of clothes. Good thing the only outfit I brought is this and the clothes your wearing." She looked at him curiously as he brought out a white sack and asked. "I'm gonna need you to get in a lay perfectly still for this to work." She stared at him then nodded, he smiled at her and started covering her with the sack. He ties the end and whispers to her. "Don't worry, your gonna be okay. I promise." The Ishvalan woman felt him move away and heard him start packing. One question went through her head, why was this man, a state alchemist, helping her? An Ishvalan woman? As she kept asking that question, she felt him pick her up and throw her on his shoulder. Like a bag of clothes. "Their gonna grab the tents, cots and desks while we get the trucks. There are separate ones for soldiers and state alchemist, I'm coming home today and I'm taking you with me. I'm gonna save one life if it's the last thing I do." The woman's eyes widened at that as he started walking, he wanted to her. Why? As they walked she heard a familiar voice that made her freeze. "Excuse me major?" "What is it Soldier?" "You didn't happen to go into that underground area last night? Did you?" "No I didn't, I was out on patrol that night. Why?" "No reason sir. What do you have there?" The man moved his hand a little lower at to make it more convincing. "Just a bag of clothes soldier. As you were." "Yes sir." The soldier left as the man walked away as calm as ever but on the inside he was internally screaming. 'Why the hell did I do that!?!' Inside the sack the woman was blushing like no tomorrow because his hand was on her ass. They both died on the inside because of that but it was supposed to be convincing none the less. During this the woman fell asleep, hoping that this will all be over.
Edward and Winry woke up to smelling something really good. They stood up and saw Sylvia cooking something that smelled great, Al was helping her as to not let her over stress. With her having a baby in all, Al noticed them awake and said. "Good morning Brother, Winry! Miss Sylvia made you guys breakfast." Winry and Ed got up from the cots and said. "Thank you Sylvia, it smells great." "Yeah it's smells awesome." "(Chuckles) No problem. What kind of host would I be if I didn't feed my guest. I hope you like it, it's a special oatmeal with cinnamon." She gives them their bowls. Winry and Ed took a bite and were immediately in heaven, it was so good that they scarfed it down. Sylvia smiled at them and said. "I'm glad you like you two, your not the only ones to loves it." Al looks at her and asks. "Is it the baby's father?" "Yes. Whenever he comes to visit he always eats his meals with a smile on his face, something I never want to disappear from his face." Ed, Al and Winry smile at her after awhile they cleaned up for her while she washed their bowls. The rain had stopped and their clothes were dry.
They got dressed and went outside. They looked at Sylvia as she leaned against the doorframe with her hand on her stomach. "Thank you Sylvia for helping us, we appreciate it." "It's no problem Edward, it was nice to finally meet you in person. Whenever he comes to visit he always talked about you." Ed laughed nervously and said. "All good things I hope." "Oh yeah, he's said that even though your reckless all the time and is hotheaded that you always get the job done no matter what. That your a better person then he is and that he sees you like a son." Ed blushed at this and said. "Uh, okay. See you later Sylvia." "Talk to you later Sylvia." "I hope you Have a healthily baby miss Sylvia." "Be safe you three!" Sylvia shut the door as they left.
As the walked Winry asked. "Hey Ed, who do you think the father might be?" "I've narrowed it down to a list of people the were in the war last night of the alchemist that I know of. According to doctor Marcoh there were only four alchemist that Ishvalans hate more, the iron blood alchemist, the crimson alchemist, the strong armed alchemist and the flame alchemist. Only those are the ones that might cause Sylvia's people to disown her, I doubt it would be the crimson alchemist because he's in prison and the iron blood alchemist would've killed her on the spot if he saw her laying on the ground like that. So the only ones that it could be is the strong arm alchemist or the flame." Winry scoffs and says. "I doubt it would be the colonel, that guy doesn't like kids and I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be happy about getting an Ishvalan pregnant because it would ruin his status." "Winry we don't know that. Maybe he didn't mean to get her pregnant and when he found out he decided to stay with her because he loves her." "Or maybe because he was guilty for getting her pregnant and mislead her into believing that he loved her." "Winry." "Come on Al you can't expect not to think it's true."
As Winry and Al talked Ed was thinking about who the father might be. 'It couldn't have been the colonel because of his status, maybe the major? No she said she pulled him into a kiss not jump on to him. But maybe he was sitting down? No if he got her pregnant then she'd look five months pregnant and not two, plus she wouldn't even have a bed to sleep on. She also said that she recognized him in the crowd and that he looked better then from the last time she saw him mentally. I guess he was mentally unstable but got better, from what I heard Major Armstrong suffered an injury during the war and that would leave the colonel but even if it was him. He'd tell us about her-' Ed gasped in realization. He stops walking and looks at where they came from. Winry and Al look at Ed and asked. "Ed? What's wrong?" Not replying, Ed sprinted towards the cabin. "Brother come back!" "Ed!" They chased after him as he remembers what the colonel said.
"Head South in this Forrest, there you'll find a cabin there with a woman that'll welcome you with open arms. She's an old friend of mine, she's very kind and will take care of you. She's also a good cook, even though she had a hard time reading it for awhile. It was still good."
Ed sees the cabin in his line of vision as Sylvia came out of the house with a bucket. She sees Edward and asks in surprise. "Edward? What're you doing here?" As he got closer to her, he stopped and caught his breath. Al and Winry caught up with him and looks at him. "Ed, what's going on?" "Brother?" As Ed caught his breath and stood up straight. He looked at her and places he flesh hand on her belly saying. "I know who the father is Sylvia." Winry and Al gasp in surprise as Sylvia look at him in shock. "You said that he stayed by your side while you healed, he brought you to a settlement with Ishvalans in it, your people disowned you for loving him because he was a state alchemist, when you saw him again he looked better mentally, when you told him you loved he said you could do better then him and you said that he knew me. I thought about for awhile and narrowed it down to two people. Major Armstrong and colonel Mustang, I knew it couldn't be Major Armstrong because you said he looked better mentally. Major Armstrong had an injury during the war, so it only meant that one person could be the father."
Winry and Al looked at him surprised and Winry asked. "Ed your not saying, it couldn't be." "It is. The father to Sylvia's baby is one Colonel Roy Mustang, the flame alchemist." Sylvia's expression said that he was was right and the other two were surprised at this.
The Ishvalan woman woke up in a bed and saw the man talking to a doctor. He had revealed that she had tearing and horrible bruises but other then that she'd be okay. She would need therapy for eating and needed lots of water, her throat would heal with lots of rest. The man notices she woke up and said. "I'm glad your awake, the doctor said that you'd be okay with lots of rest and you need therapy for the eating because of how thin you are." The woman nodded and started moving her hand like she was doing an Orchestra when he realized that she wanted to write. He grabbed a pencil and paper, he gave it to her and she wrote down what she wanted to ask. She gave it to him and it said.
'Why help me?'
He looked at her and said with a small smile. "I'm helping you because I want to help you. I actually want to help someone for once instead of kill." The woman could see the guilt in his eyes and started writing again, she didn't speak Amestrian but she did understand it. She was a little rusty on writing but she could write. She handed him the paper and he read it.
'Are you like 'them' or is your heart full of guilt?'
Not understanding who them are but answered. "I regret what I've done to your people ma'am. I am truly sorry." The woman nodded and grabbed his hand, rubbing her thumb on the back of it. She wrote on the paper again and handed it to him, he read it and it said.
'Name?'
The man looks at her and smiles nervously. "I'll tell you when I get you to the slums and you can tell me yours, how about that?" She smiles and nods, he smiles back and that was the start of her healing.
A year later.
The Ishval woman and the man were walking to the slums of the refugee camp in the forest. They stopped when they were a mile from it, the man looked at her and said. "Well, I guess this is it then." "Yes, I guess it is." Her Amestrian had gotten a little better and her throat had finally healed. The man looked at her and said. "A deals a deal then, I'll start. My name is Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang, I'm the flame alchemist and you are?" The woman hesitated, struggling to find her words. Roy waited for her to find her words and seeing as though she's embarrassed he says. "You don't remember your name, do you?" "No, I forgot it while I was captive. The only thing I heard was 'doll'." "Well we can't let that stay now can we. How about we give you a new name, would that be okay?"
She nods as Roy thought of a name for her, it took awhile and he looked at her with a smile and said. "I got one that I think you'll like." He whispered it to her ear and she smiled. "That's a wonderful name, thank you." He looked at her and smiled. "I'm glad you like it. The refugee camp is only a mile away from here, you'll be with your people again." She smiles at him and said. "Thank you Roy, for coming helping me." Roy smiled back at her and said. "It was my pleasure." The woman walked down the path that Roy had pointed to her, as she walked she turned around to see Roy was walking back into town and disappeared into the trees.
She made it Into the settlement and they welcomed her back with open arm. A elderly woman looked at her and asked. "What is your name dear?" The woman smiled and proudly said. "Sylvia. Sylvia Lockheart."
To be continued