Transfer
By Rukusho
Chapter 3- The Rarity of Friendship
The day started out so nice, Riza thought to her self as she stared at the sky, and now look at it. With my luck, it's probably going to start raining right before I get home. She sighed as she felt a few small drops of water splash against her face. She picked up her pace so she was at a brisk walk when she saw that her apartment building was only a block away. Just as she got to the door to her apartment complex, a car pulled up to the sidewalk. She turned her head to see if it was one of her crazy neighbors, but instead she saw the familiar smile.
"Hey Riza!" Gracia Hughes ran up to her, waving.
"Gracia? What are you doing here? I was just about to call you." Riza shifted the box she was carrying so that it was resting on one of her legs as she gave the woman a one armed hug.
"Really? I just received a call from Roy saying that I should come over and check on you." She saw her daughter get out of the car and run towards them. "Here, let me help you with that," she took the box out of Riza's arm as she heard the giggles of her daughter approaching.
"Auntie Riza! Auntie Riza!" Elyisa giggled even harder (as any three-year-old girl would) as she stretched her arms up towards Riza, signaling that she wanted to be picked up.
"Here ya go," Riza said while lifting the girl up into her arms, resting Elyisa on her hip. "Hey kiddo, how are you," Riza mused as if her godchild was her own daughter, "boy oh boy, you just keep on bigger and bigger!" She playfully touched the girl's nose, which sent her into another screaming fit of giggles.
"Guess what Auntie Riza," she took in a big breath of air, as if she had some super important secret to tell, "Uncle Roy called us and told us to come over and see you," Elyisa whispered into her godmother's ear.
"Oh he did?" Riza straightened up a bit, turning her head towards Gracia. "Would you two like to come in?"
"Pwease mommy! Can we visit Auntie Riza? I really want to see the puppy," Elyisa squirmed as she begged to her mother with puppy dog eyes.
"Sure," Gracia smiled, "I don't see why not, just as long as it's all right with you Riza."
"Oh don't worry, it's not a problem at all." Riza gave her first smile of the day as she opened the door to her apartment complex for Gracia. They decided taking the stairs would be easier and it would be Garcia's exercise for the day. The trip up the stair well consisted of Elyisa's screaming giggles when Riza would tickle her every so often. The three ladies exited blandly painted stair well, and turned down the hall where Riza's corner apartment resided. Small barks greeted the three women as Riza opened the door. Elyisa jumped out of Riza's grasp as she went to pet Black Hayate.
"Here, I'll take that," Riza said as she took the box from Gracia and placed it on her bed, "make yourself at home Gracia, would you like any tea?" Riza moved into her tiny kitchen pulling out a kettle to boil some water in.
"Tea sounds perfect," she replied, taking a seat at the small card table Riza used as a dining table. Riza filled the kettle with water as she turned on her small stove, and placed on her front burner. She scrounged around for something in her cupboards, calling Elyisa over to her. "You know what Elyisa," Riza said placing a cup full of dog food into the little girls hand, "if you pour this into Black Hayate's food bowl, he'll probably play with you a lot longer." The little girl squealed as she ran over by Riza's bed pouring the food into the dog's bowl. Riza smiled, seeing the girls pure enjoyment in the chore, then pulled two cups from the cupboard and brought them with the kettle over to the table. She poured some water into each of the cups before sitting down and pouring a fair amount of honey into her own cup.
"I can't believe how big she's gotten," Riza commented while stirring her tea, "Maes would be proud to see her this big."
"He would be, she was his pride and joy," Gracia smiled, slowly stirring her cup of tea.
"How have you been?" The comment seemed normal, but Gracia knew what Riza was asking about.
"It gets a bit easier every day, but I still don't think Elyisa understands what happened," Gracia's voice trailed off for a moment. There was silence between the women as they watched Elyisa and Black Hayate play with each other. "You know Riza," Gracia finally broke the silence, "he sounded really worried when he called me today."
Riza directed her attention back towards Gracia, "Yah? What exactly did he say on the phone?"
"It was a very strange conversation actually," Gracia took a sip of her tea, "Roy just called me out of the blue saying that I needed to come over and talk with you. Did something happen?"
"No one's hurt or anything, I just received transfer orders to go back to Central." She found her cup of tea very interesting, stirring it again.
"Really? How long are you going to be gone?" Gracia moved her head a bit closer to the middle of the table.
"I'm going to be in Central for about six weeks, then I'm being sent out into the field with Major Armstrong and the cadets I'm training." Gracia gasped, with a hand covering her mouth.
"When did you find out?"
"Just today, that's why I wanted to talk to you. I'm really busy tomorrow, and I leave on Sunday. I won't have enough time to find Black Hayate a new home, and I was wondering if you could take Black Hayate home with you."
"Sure, sure that's no problem Riza. No wonder Roy sounded so concerned. How did everyone else take the news?"
"I don't think it has really hit Cain yet, and I don't know about the other guys yet because I left the office almost immediately after I got the letter."
"You mean you didn't even say good bye to them?"
"No," Riza hung her head low, "I just couldn't face them and tell them that I was leaving. I was in so much shock when I got the note; I just closed up on everyone."
"It's understandable Riza, the same thing happened with me when Maes died. Do you need any help packing, or getting things in order?"
"The Colonel is coming over to help me pack, even though that won't take long. Then I need to go to the train station to pick up my tickets."
"Do you have a ride to the train station for Sunday morning?"
"No, but I think I'll ask the Colonel to take me. Could you still come by, and I'll give you Black Hayate then. I…would like to spend tomorrow with him."
"That's completely understandable. Just call me tomorrow with the time when your train leaves. How are you going to tell Ed and Alphonse? You're practically there mother type figure, do you think it will break there hearts to hear you're going back out into battle?"
"I don't know. It didn't even hit me that they won't be here when I leave. I think I might just ask the Colonel to tell them."
"I see," Gracia stood up pushing her chair back underneath the table, finishing off her tea, "I think we should be going. You probably want some time alone." She went over and picked up Elyisa.
"Yeah," Riza walked the two out to the hall, hugging each of them. "Thank you for everything Gracia."
"It's not a problem Riza. We'll see you Sunday." Gracia turned towards the stair well and started walking.
"Bye Auntie Riza!" Elyisa waved just as she went out of sight. Riza closed and locked the door; walking over to her bed, she flopped down on it. Black Hayate soon joined her, resting his head on her leg as he fell asleep. She stared at the ceiling, running through her checklist of things that she needed to do tomorrow. She really did feel bad about not saying goodbye to the guys, but something about telling them that she was leaving crushed her inside. She sighed, is he really that worried about me? He did react oddly when I told him that I was going out into active duty again. So many thought flooded her head, and tired her out. Riza really didn't know what to think anymore, and decided to sleep on it. She drifted into an uneasy sleep, her mind constantly going over what still needed to be done.
To be continued…
A/N: All right. I have another chapter done. I'll write more tomorrow, and I'll reply to viewer comments tomorrow too. I'm really tired right now falls asleep at keyboard