Chapter 3

First lunch started and Riza picked at her lunch as she graded homework from earlier periods. There was a light knock on the door frame. "You can just come in; you should know that by now." She replied without looking up from the papers. She set them aside and looked up to him.

He shrugged and sat in the middle to back row of the classroom. She sat back in her chair and sipped her tea. "I'm sorry I haven't called in the past couple of days." He fidgeted.

"That depends on why you were gone."

He smirked and nodded. He picked at his fingers. His face fell and she sat forward in her chair "Madame had a growth and I just wanted to be there for her. Just to be certain."

Riza studied him. "Oh Roy. How did it go?" Her shoulders slumped and she watched him carefully.

He shrugged and looked up to her "I don't know. They took a biopsy said it looked benign but…" he shook his head and struggled to find words "they're doing other tests too just to make sure." He avoided her eyes.

"That's good Roy, that's-, that's-. This is good, their just double checking."

He nodded "That's what they said, but its scary." She nodded and gave a small smile "she's all I have left and I can't help but think that I might have to say goodbye." He covered his face. Riza studied her tea unsure of what she could contribute to this conversation. "I'm sorry, that may be callous of me to say. Considering…" He stopped.

"My parents?" she whispered. They exchanged a look. Riza's mother had died when she was young devastating her family. The loss made her father go numb and harsher than he had previously been. Her father had died in her teens while she was in high school, that was when her grandfather had stepped in. Riza wished he had sooner. "Roy, your mother has always been especially kind to me. There are times when I considered her as a mother, I still do. Her loss would be just as hard."

Roy nodded "I should have told you sooner." He placed his hands on the desk.

"You needed time to come to terms with it yourself. That's okay Roy. Just take care of her while you can." She gave him a small smile.

He nodded. "I'll do that." He leaned back in his chair sipping his third cup of coffee for the day. "Any prospects on the girl's team that your looking forwards too?" He looked to the ceiling.

She roller her eye and leaned back. "Maybe, Winry and Paninya told me that they were going to try out."

Roy laughed "Winry? I know she's got a hell of a left hook but soccer?"

Riza smiled and shrugged "Paninya shows promise, at least she's conditioned from all of that cross country in the fall. I saw her play once or twice last year. How about the boys, anyone promising?"

Roy sighed. "Ling rather proudly told me was trying out. I don't know if I can handle that kid for another hour every day." They laughed. "No other freshmen have signed up as of yet."

"I spent the whole weekend trying to figure out how to design the new jerseys." She said with a grimace.

Roy laughed. "Don't stress on that I'll get you number for the vendor we use. He already has the logo and good rates. All you have to decide is style" He offered.

"That would have been really nice two days ago." She joked.

"The one time I call in." He smirked and ran a hand through his hair. "And I could have been useful."

The newest student to East City Academy entered the classroom. He had transferred halfway through the previous fall semester. Edward Elric looked nervously to Riza and quickly realized that Roy was in the classroom too. He froze when he locked eyes with Roy.

"Oh, I'm sorry Ms. Hawkeye I didn't realize you were busy." He turned and looked to the door ready to leave.

"No Edward, I'm not. How can I help you?" He stood uneasy in the middle of the room.

He opened his mouth and closed it a couple of times, before taking his phone out of his pocket, holding it in the air "I just thought you were free during this period" He whispered.

Roy chuckled in the back of the classroom, Riza and Edward glared at him. Roy quickly straightened and picked up his mug.

"I'm sorry Edward." She glared again at Roy and mouthed "leave".

"what?" Roy mouthed back.

"It's okay." Edward said and he closed the door "I don't mind." He said but hesitantly looked to Roy. He took a seat beside Roy, facing Riza. "Sometimes I feel upset" he said hesitantly. "it's been worse lately." He continued slowly. Roy was very confused, but Riza returned to her relaxed position.

"Why do you think it has been worse lately?" She asked calmly, Ed shrugged "Does it have to do with being at a new school, has it been challenging?"

"Oh no. Everyone has been really helpful and nice. It's my mom." He answered quietly. Riza and Roy exchanged a glance. "Oh it's nothing really, but my mom has been sick. We moved into East City so that she could get treatments." Ed paused and looked to the floor. "She's supposed to be getting better and… she's not." He slumped in his seat as he realized "She's getting worse, there are days when she can't get out of bed. She can barely use the stairs anymore." He whispered. "she doesn't like it when we help her or offer to do things for her. She just keeps saying that she doesn't want us to see her like this. That she doesn't want for us to remember her like this." Ed choked and hesitantly looked up to Riza. He expected her to pity him, but instead she remained stoic.

Roy glanced to Riza, her eyes had glassed over. She looked stoic but he could tell that she was reliving her own memories of her parent's illnesses. "I'm sorry Edward." He offered. Ed shrugged but didn't look to him. "Do you ever talk to your mother about this?"

"No, she doesn't like for us to talk about it." He looked to Roy "She just keeps pretending like everything is normal and that its all okay. Mostly for my younger brother, Al."

"Ed, I'm going to ask you something and you don't have to respond, okay?" Ed nodded. "Is your mother dying?"

Riza snapped from her daze and looked to Roy, her mouth hanging open. The façade had cracked some. He was leaned forward his eyebrows stitched with determination and focused on Ed.

"I think so." Ed whispered. "but she won't say. She doesn't want to worry us but that scares me even more." Ed fidgeted "Our dad left when we were young, and we don't have any other family. I don't know what to do." He swallowed "What were going to do." He whispered again.

Riza had gone pale after snapping from her daze. "Ed." He looked to her, Ed took in her new appearance. It still did not display pity, instead she looked scared. "You don't have to do anything. Just be with her and with Alphonse, okay?" he nodded. "Enjoy every time you see her okay and don't think about the future."

Ed gave her a small smile "Okay". Ed appeared relieved and determined. He stood grabbing his bookbag. "Thank you, both of you." He nodded to each of them.

They gave him a small smile. "If you ever want to talk to us again, your always welcome." Roy added as Ed opened the door, closing it behind him.

Roy approached her slowly stopping to lean at the first row of desks. "You, okay?"

She laughed sarcastically "Am I okay? I am the last person that you should be concerned about right now." She gripped her tea, enjoying the warmth.

Roy cocked his head "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'll be okay." She set her tea down and put her face in her hands. "Will you be okay?" She asked through her hands.

She felt a hand on her back, her back tingled at the contact. "If you need anything you know where I am." He whispered to her sending shivers down her back. She felt the hand leaver her back, she removed her hands from her face just in time to see his back leave her doorway.

Later that day Riza flipped through the student directory for the Elric's home phone number. It took the remainder of the day for her to formulate what she would say when she spoke to Mrs. Elric. Riza decided to ask to schedule a parent-teacher conference, and make an unofficial home visit during the lunch periods the next day.