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Halfmetal Alchemist :Chapter 6

Tears and Regrets

Riza silently parked the car outside of Central Graveyard and let everyone out. Roy stepped out a bit morbidly and didn't make eye contact with Riza or any of his children. Ed detested the gloomy atmosphere and gave Leroy a questioning look, to which Leroy promptly shrugged. Maes, however, was oblivious to any of his siblings' discomfort and asked Ed to lift him up so he could ride the 'Ed-Monster' again. Ed lifted him up without complaint and set him on his shoulders, and bore Maes's bang-pulling with minimum wincing.

"Hey! Are you getting divorced?" he blurted out without warning. Roy and Riza turned on the spot and stared at him for a while, then burst out laughing, much to Ed's surprise. "I guess that answers the question, Ed," Al said quietly, lifting his sword onto his shoulder. Roy had requested that Al wear his old suit of armor and take the sword, though Al had protested and then commenced to wonder why. Alley had a full arsenal of guns, wrenches, and metal parts stowed away in her bag, also at Roy's bidding.

Ed and Leroy had nothing on them, except for bags of food, paper, pens, and refill ink bottles, as well as a large set of blankets. Roy said nothing and walked further into the graveyard, and Leroy shuddered slightly and followed. Ed grimaced at the alignment of tombstones and nudged Leroy. "What does that look like to you, Leroy?" he pointed at one of the stones that had an ominous red color smeared on it that was dripping into the ground. Leroy squinted at it and shrugged, waving his hand in a dismissive gesture. "Probably nothing."

Roy finally stopped into an almost empty plot of land, vacant except for two tombstones in the center.The kids gathered around it and shuffled uneasily, not knowing what to expect. One was in the shape of a flaming phoenix, the other a flower, by far the most decorative tombstones in the entire graveyard. Roy ran his fingers over the phoenix's beak and laid some flowers down on both graves slowly, regretfully. "These... are the graves of my parents."

Riza watched him sadly and gazed at the graves again with a new light. "My father, Leroy Mustang, and my mother, Ilia Durandal Mustang... both of them died when I was fourteen; the same year my sister, Terra, was born. I promised... that I'd look after her, but she disappeared fifteen years ago. There have been odd events popping up across the continent, the foremost of which is an entire city being destroyed overnight. I have a feeling, that she's there. Also, as Fuhrer, I have no choice but to investigate, and I've decided that your four will come with me.

"I need two capable State Alchemists to watch my back, and Al and Alley... we'll probably need your mechanical skills for Ed's arm, and various other areas; I'm assuming you were paying attention to your instructor in Rush Valley, right?" Alley bobbed her head enthusiastically, but Al shuffled his feet guiltily. "I... was training with someone else, a sword master..." Roy sighed. "Don't worry, Al, you'll be fine. We'll probably need you just as much as Alley."

"Why did you bring us here, though?" Leroy asked. "A graveyard isn't the best place for a sendoff, and it's really far away from the station." he reasoned. Roy smiled sadly. "Perfect logic, as usual. But... I thought I'd stop here before moving on. Who knows? Today might be the last day I come here." The group of four frowned in unison and Maes tugged unhappily at Ed's hair. "No more riding the Ed-Monster?" he asked. Ed sniffed and quickly covered up by scrubbing viciously at his nose. "You can ride all you want, Maes, promise. And when I come back, you can ride forever and I won't complain!"

Leroy, Al, and Alley hugged Riza tightly and she kissed their foreheads. "Promise you'll take care of your dad, okay? And don't give him too much trouble." "We won't Mom, and we'll keep him safe." Leroy stood in front of his twin sister uncomfortably and smiled a little. Ilia stared at him, tears in her eyes. "You're so stupid!" she yelled, grabbing him and hugging him. "I'll miss you, Leroy... It'll be me and Maes and Mom, all alone. You'll write to us, won't you?" Leroy nodded and patted her back. "Sure I will, I'llwrite when I can, 'kay?"

Roy faced Riza and tried not to stutter. "I-I... I hope you can understand... I don't want to leave, but... it's something I have to do," he said gruffly. "I understand... I'll miss you, and the kids." Roy watched his feet, unable to make eye contact with Riza. He somehow felt that he was letting her down. "I wanted you to go back home... neither of us is good at long goodbyes, and I wanted... to give you this." he reached into the pocket of his jacket and drew out a small box, placing it in her hand and closing it. "Open it when you get home, okay? And keep safe."

He let out a deep shuddering breath and backed away from her, quickly wiping tears from his eyes. "Goodbye, Riza," he whispered. Leroy, Ed, Al, and Alley quickly followed him out and in the direction of the station, while Riza stood rooted to the spot, coming to grips with what had just happened. Ilia placed her hand on her mother's shoulder, her other hand holding a sobbing little Maes tightly. "Let's go home, Mom." Riza followed her wordlessly to the car.

When she got home, she sat down heavily on their bed.

But Roy won't be here anymore

She stared at the little box in her lap and, hands trembling, opened it. It was an emerald ring with a beautiful golden band and a matching necklace, the one she had always imagined Roy giving her as she stood outside the store, gazing at it. The light shone on it and she caught a glimpse of something inscribed on the inside of it.

I'll think of you every moment, when you call, I'll come, rain or shine, day or night; You're my heart, my Riza -Roy-

Tears beaded in her eyes and she let them fall.

T.T waaaah, Roy finally leaves. I was dreading this part, waaaah... Anyway, Halfmetal Ed will definitely become a more prominant character in future chapters, but I thought I'd let Roy have the spotlight for a while, well... cause I just love Roy! From here on out the story becomes a bit darker, so you've been warned! T.T