Author's note: phew… finally it's chapter two. Thank you so much for the reviewers, I'm very very very glad!!

For 'clouds darkyasha': Some people said it's 'Liza', some people said it's 'Riza' and now I'm really confused which one ;;;. In this chapter I will use 'Riza', thank you so much for telling me!

Enjoy!!

CHAPTER TWO: "PARTING"

(Riza's point of view)

"Roy nii-chan!!" (Note: 'nii-chan' means older brother)

I waved my hands as I was running towards the tall tree of where Roy Mustang stood beneath. As usual, I greeted him in the very first morning each day. This 'ritual' of mine started a month after that incident of my father, after we neutralized ourselves.

"L… Riza, stop calling me 'nii-chan'" he blushed. Aww, he looked so cute!!

"But you're older than me! Besides, I do want an older brother ever since I was small."

"You can imply me as your brother; just… I just don't very comfortable with the call"

I laughed. Truly, I didn't care about the 'nii-chan' label or whatsoever; I just love teasing an expressionless Roy Mustang. Teasing him will make his face expression a little bit more varied than his usual plain look. That's also why this teasing of mine was also included in my everyday 'ritual'.

I saw a book in his grip and wondered what it was. Seemed like he realized my curiosity that he answered my questioning face.

"This is an alchemy book" he said

"Alchemy? Do you mean… the complicated round shape drawn to perform magic, like your father did before?"

He laughed "It's not magic, Riza, it's alchemy. The way to create something when we give something of equal value. But the one I hold here right now is not just a basic alchemy, it's an element-based alchemy book.. I'm observing the flame one."

"Aww, I don't understand" I knocked my head lightly "And what makes you interested in the flame what-soever?"

"Our promise! Do you remember?" he said

I tried hard to remember. Did we happen to make a promise before? All of a sudden a flashback went through my mind.

start of flashback

It was a late night. I was standing near the door of a candy shop in our village with Roy beside me two weeks ago. We wanted to buy some candies that we went there, and all of a sudden the rain fell.

"Roy, don't you feel cold?" I shivered

"I'm used to it. How about you? He asked

"I felt like I was going to freeze to death" I gave a hyperbole. But I did feel very cold. "This is only the rain in the late night; I wonder how it felt like in the winter. It's a nightmare just to think about it"

"Don't worry! I promise will warm you!" he said cheerfully

"How?" I asked

"Secret! You will know when the time comes"

"Aww… oh, look! Your mother is coming this way!" I gazed.

"Huh? I can't see it… where?"

"There! She brings an extra umbrella with her. We can go home!" I said

"Wow, Riza. You sure have nice eyes." He said.

I grinned, "I promise that these eyes of mine are here to protect you if anyone wants to harm you from afar!"

"It's very nice, Riza… but what a scary reason you got there" he grinned. We laughed together and went home.

end of flashback

Oh, that was the promise, I thought.

"I got it! Wow you sure are working hard to fulfill it" I said

"If it's for you, I am" he smiled. I blushed.

"And I will also protect you, you know" I said

"But unfortunately I can't find someone to harm me" he said

"Arrr, you wanna tease me in return, don't you?" I said. He giggled.

"Hey, Riza. Your hair grows longer"

"Really? I don't realize… maybe I should just cut it"

"Don't! I like your long hair" he said.

I blushed and looked around to find any other topics. Then I think I see something… Hey, that's my friends!

"Rizaaaa, let's play! Let's play!" A few friends of mine called me from afar.

Automatically I invited Roy to come along. All of a sudden he looked really sad. Well, it's another varied face expression of Roy Mustang but I, in fact, didn't like this one.

"I'm fine. You can go playing without me" he said.

He's definitely not fine, I knew that the most. He would felt all alone again, like before, which meant that my 'ritual' is for nothing. Oh come on, I wanted to change him! So then I took his hand pulled him forcefully to come along. He gasped and gave a few complaining reactions, but did he think I care?

My friends gave me an odd look, but then again, I didn't care.

"Riza, why do you take that peculiar, creepy boy to play with us?" a girl whispered right to my ear.

"He's not as eerie as you think, you know. I can guarantee that" I grinned.

Then everyone surrounded Roy. He blushed again. I giggled. This was a very nice scene. At the corner of my eyes, I caught the frame of Roy asking for help. He mouthed 'Riza what should I do?' in perplexity. Then I gave him signals and mouthed back 'Introduce yourself!'. I never imagined he would be like a robot.

"I… am Roy Mustang. I am 12 years old. I was born in this village. Er…" he spoke as if he was interviewed by the police.

I laughed hard that everyone looked at me. I approached towards him and whispered "Hey, smile and say 'nice to meet you'! Smile!"

He did what I said. I succeed. Yay! Everyone surrounded him and looked surprised.

"Hey, you're nice!" A friend of mine said.

"Nice to meet you too, Roy!" Another friend of mine said.

"I thought you were weird, I'm sorry! Let's play!" Other said.

He beamed. I was sure it was right from the deepest of his heart. He replied, "OK, let's play!"

Somehow I felt quite lonely… to see 'my' Roy played and cheered with everyone else beside me. But I can't be selfish, can I? I sat on the grass and bowed my head, while suddenly a hand appeared before me.

"Riza, c'mon let's play" he said.

I smiled. I had to erase all that negative thoughts. Roy was loyal to me, wasn't he? He didn't forget me. I accepted his hand and stood up, then played along with them.

And when I thought of the words 'Roy was loyal to me, wasn't he?', I realized that I wanted him to be mine. Or at least, I didn't want to part with him. My feeling for him was beyond the word called 'friend', though I was only 10 years old and didn't understand what it really meant.

We played and played until the sun set which indicated that we should go home. Everyone was going home already except Roy and me. I kissed his cheek and said "Same hour tomorrow, OK?"

He blushed and nodded. I gave a wide smile, then left. When I arrived home, I couldn't find my mother anywhere. In the dining room I saw a paper with 'Mommy has an important thing to discuss with the villagers. I will go home late, just go eat dinner' written on it. I also saw a pot of stew beside the paper. I wondered what were they discussing about in this late of day. Usually if there were things to be talked or discussed, mommy talked with the villagers in the midday. Since I'd got nothing to do with it, I just ate the stew and went straight to bed after changing my pajama.

The next day was perfectly indifferent from the day before. I met Roy in the morning (and teased him as usual), played with him and the others, went back home when the sun set and still, my mother left a message: 'mommy will also go home late like yesterday. You know what to do. Don't wait for me', and I found a bowl of beef porridge beside it. And also, just like yesterday, I ate dinner and went straight to bed without waiting for mommy.

This continued everyday, which made me meet my mother only in the morning. And every morning my mother gave me an I-am-sorry-look. I thought it was because of her going home late everyday, I never suspected there were any other special reasons beside it. So then as usual, I did the everyday ritual with Roy and my friends at the same place and found my mother not there in my house when the sun set. This lasted a week and finally it was the 30th of November.

I woke up in the morning and heard the sound of the rain. It was raining hard. I felt very down as the rain's falling meant that the playing day with Roy and others wouldn't be present. I decided to go back to sleep and woke up late, but I couldn't. My heart hurt, I didn't know why, but surely it's not a sickness. I couldn't calm myself and my feeling that I hurriedly changed my clothes and rushed downstairs. I saw my mother in ready-to-go- clothes.

"Mom, you also go today like usual?"

She approached me, kneeled (because I'm small??) and hugged me tight.

"Riza, I'm sorry… I'm so sorry" she apologized heavily.

"W…why?" I asked. She kept silent then released me and stood up.

"No… Never mind. Oh, Riza, I will also go today and come home late, so be a good girl and stay home. It's raining"

I nodded and watched her going. After she left, I thought of obeying her words but I couldn't. My weird feeling couldn't calm me. I had to go to the tall tree, I just had to. I had the feeling that if I went there, I would find Roy. I tried to find an umbrella but it wasn't anywhere. I didn't know exactly how many umbrellas did we have here, but if it was only one, then I couldn't take any because my mother brought one.

Since it took too long to find an umbrella, I rushed outside without one and ran as fast as I could to the tall tree. I found no one there, and by the time I arrived, the rain soaked my whole body already. I remained silent and stood there for a few minutes, while suddenly…

"Riza!?"

I startled. "Roy?"

There was Roy Mustang; looked like he's on the way to the tall tree but I arrived earlier. He was also soaked wet without an umbrella.

"What are you doing here?" he asked "You can catch a cold!"

"That is my line" I said "What about you?"

"I want to see you" he gave a sad smile, the smile that really stabbed my heart to the bottom. I didn't know why, I felt really sad to see him with that kind of smile.

"Usually I don't come here in rainy days" I said "How do you know I come today?"

"I'm not really sure that you'll come, but…" he raised his head "I wished you did. And my wish comes true, doesn't it?"

I laughed, "You're going to be an alchemist, aren't you? Alchemist never believes unreal things like wish or prays"

"Well… I don't know. Anyway don't you think you'd better go home? I'll be really sad if you catch a cold" he said

"Really?" I smiled "Thanks! But you'll warm me, won't you?"

He laughed "I'm in the middle of studying. I can't do it now"

"I'll wait. Well then… I'd better go home, you should too! We'll see each other again tomorrow, OK?"

He didn't answer. I didn't suspect it to be anything serious, so then I just waved goodbye and left, while he muttered under his breath: 'sorry'. I looked back, he smiled to me. So that day I thought I was only mishearing.

And there I was on the next day, sitting on the floor of my house, crying madly as if I would be the happiest girl in the world if this next day didn't come.

"Why… Why…" I uttered madly

"I'm so sorry, Riza" my mother tried to hug me but I pushed her cruelly.

"Why did you never tell me? Why did everyone never tell me?"

"I don't want you to make a ruckus in the village. I'm sure you will do anything to make the chief stop our decision. I don't want the Hawkeye family which is well known for generations for the best shooters sided with the antagonist"

"ROY IS NOT THE ANTAGONIST!!"

"It will not change the fact, though, Riza… I'm so sorry. The Mustang family has to leave the village based on the villagers' decision"

"So this is what you discussed with the villagers in the past days?" I said in anger

"Yes. This village cannot have a killer, and we could live in peace as they have left yesterday night"

"ROY IS NOT A KILLER! HIS FATHER IS!"

I ran fast to the tall tree, leaving my mother behind. I tried to find Roy Mustang. I wished he would stand beneath the tree as usual and greeted me. But he wasn't anywhere. I sat down and caught my breath. Roy wouldn't just leave me without a word like that. He would come home someday to meet me. With that feeling of calming down, I walked slowly to the Mustang's house. But what I saw brought my feeling down to hell. Roy's house… was burnt to ashes… which meant he had no place to go home. Then I remembered his last word: 'sorry'. I wasn't mishearing that time. Why didn't he tell me anything?? If he muttered that word then he sure already knew about his expulsion. Why didn't he tell me??

I tried to find the answer and I went home in depression. I ignored my mother that I went to my bedroom and locked it. I hate my mother. I hate everyone.

It took a week or two to heal my heart's deep wound, yet I couldn't find the answer. Everyday I went to the tall tree, wishing he was there. I was always waiting for him. But he never appeared. Then I found a new hobby that could make me, at least a minute or two, to forget him: shooting. I enjoyed shooting so much, maybe because it was there in my blood inherited by father. I used my father's old pistol, and sometimes I tried practicing with a gun, revolver and handgun. This way I could also protect my promise to Roy that I would protect him with my eyes. I was good in far-distance look. I didn't really care whether he still kept his promise or not, but I would. Ever since I was really small, ever since I knew his name for the first time, I wanted to follow him anywhere he went. I wanted to be with him forever. And for that reason, I practiced every single spare time I had. And also I never forgot to go to the tall tree everyday, just in case if Roy would come back… somehow.

One season came after another. I didn't count how many years already after the day Roy left the village. But one thing for sure, I never forgot his face. I never forgot our precious memories together. I never forgot my feeling towards him. And as I grew bigger and bigger year by year, I understand. The feeling was what you call 'love'.

"Hi Riza! How are you today? Do you have a spare time tonight?" a guy appeared before me. Huh… it was just another strange guy's flirting.

"I have lots of spare time but I think it would be better if I use it to practice" I answered coldly.

"Come on. Hey… don't say that you haven't forgotten that boy… who's his name… Ray Marker?"

"It's ROY MUSTANG! Wait… why do you know him?"

"The villagers talk about it often, you know… That Riza Hawkeye couldn't forget her troublesome childhood twerp"

I raised father's pistol that I brought along anywhere I went. I pointed it right to the peevish guy's head. "You do know the function of a pistol, do you? To protect myself from irritating guys like you"

"H…Hey! I don't harm you!"

"I didn't say you harm me, but you irritate me. … If you ever insult him…" I threatened him.

"OK, I'm sorry! I promise I won't do it again!" he shivered. What a coward, shivered before a girl. I lowered my pistol. Then he continued "You… really love him, don't you?"

"Isn't it normal for love to bloom at an 18-year-old girl like me?" I said

"I wonder why do you wait for someone who has rejected you long, long time ago" he said

I'd been thinking that too for uncountable times. I'd felt down for billion times but then I was full of courage again. I just couldn't suspect anything without evidence. I had to prove it with my own eyes that he abandoned me, so then I could accept it.

"You're weird" the guy said, then left.

Phew… I thought I should just cancel my practice for today. That guy destroyed my mood. I went home and found my mother's reading newspaper.

"Hey, mother!"

She looked very shocked to see my going home, and hid the newspaper behind her back.

"W…W… Welcome home, darling…" she said nervously.

"Mommy, I saw that! What's on the newspaper?" I approached her and tried to reach for the newspaper.

"Riza, no! You can't see it!"

"Why?"

"There's… um… there's violence news…"

"Oh my dear mother, I know you're lying. I'm not a 5-year-old girl… Let me see" I grinned and took the newspaper.

"Riza stop!!" she screamed.

I looked at the newspaper and my eyes grew very, very wide as if they were going to fall. My hands that held the newspaper trembled. My heart beat hard. The reason was there on the headline on the front page: 'FLAME ALCHEMIST ROY MUSTANG LED THE CIVIL WAR', and on the picture beneath it. There was Roy's picture… he should be 20 by now… wearing a blue uniform. He… was in the military?? I dropped the newspaper to the floor. Why did he go to the military?? Just like his father… why?? So many questions filled my mind, but one thing for sure: my legs walked by themselves to my bedroom and my hands automatically reached for my clothes. I heard my mother's walking toward my bedroom and screaming madly.

"Riza, promise me you won't go after that boy"

"You know it already, mother. He is the reason that I wait like this for 8 years."

"But you can't go, Riza, please!!"

"If it's because I hold the Hawkeye name, and you're ashamed of me, I will let it go."

"Riza… why do you have to go this far just for that boy?"

"I don't know… but it's my determination ever since I was small, that I will always be with him… that I will always follow him"

"You will not go. You will not be in the military" she held my hand. I release it slowly.

"I promise I won't be in the military, but I will go meet Roy." I said.

I put some clothes and other things that I need in my bag. And finally I put my pistol by my waist.

"I'm sorry, mother. I bid you farewell"

I left my mother and my house, then to the train station. I thought that mother would come after me to prevent me from going, but she's not. Had she understood me, or did she resign? I didn't know… and I didn't care. I was going to see Roy after all. I bought a ticket to Central and went in the train. As soon as I sat down, the train's leaving. On the way I gazed to the blue sky. I smiled happily. If you did never go back to the village, I would go after you. Roy, you wait for me!

(End of chapter two)

End note: please leave a review!! Chapter three is in process!!