A/N: I disclaim! Nothing about FMA is mine. This was written for the LJ fma_fic_contest Prompt 217- Castle.

Warnings: Takes place in Ishval. That should be warning enough.

-+-+-+-

Pyut Pyut.

Bullseye, she thought sadly. Nearly always a bullseye. Sergeant Pratt had called her the Angel of Death. She agreed with the label, except for the angel part. At least she was not the kind of angel she had read about in fairy tales.

A memory flew in on the hot gust.

Mama had usually plaited her hair into two braids. It had been so pale, almost white when she was little. Mama had kept a lock of it from every year- one for each of the seven years that Mama had been… her mother, pressed in a scrapbook. Each year, her hair darkened a shade or two. By the time that Mama had died, her hair had been more gold. She didn't care. Hair was just hair. But she had wanted to grow her hair long, long, long like Rapunzel's when Mama had told her that story.

She had been so thrilled when the handsome prince came to rescue poor Rapunzel and take her to his castle to live happily ever after. She had made Mama braid her hair into a single queue and wondered how long it would take for it to be a rope strong enough and long enough to climb.

Mama had laughed and said, "You know, a girl can rescue herself and even others. That's what lady doctors do. And my father told me that the army was taking female soldiers. What do you think Rapunzel could have done to save herself?"

She had been shocked by the idea. The princesses always needed the princes to save them. Or did they? Mama had said to think about it, and they'd discuss it tomorrow. She had thought so hard about it, and she had come up with a couple of ideas.

"Mama! Rapunzel could have served the witch some sleepy tea and tied her up while she slept!" she had proudly stated. "Or, she could have cut off her braid and tied it to the bedpost and climbed down it herself when the witch was out." (That had actually been the witch's idea, but why couldn't it work for Rapunzel, too?) "Why didn't she, Mama?"

"I just don't think that she was very smart, Sweetie. You are, and you will know how to take care of yourself."

What a joke! Here she was, a prisoner in a tower, just like Rapunzel. She could climb down when her daily or nightly duty was over, but she was still a prisoner.

Her father had cut her hair short right after Mama had died. He had said that he couldn't handle it. Hair was just hair. She had thought that it was right that she lose a part of herself when Mama died.

All of those years without Mama, she had felt like she was in a locked tower. She didn't try to escape, because Father needed her.

Then, Roy showed up. He was scrawnier than the storybook princes, but his looks were exotic. Even she was not immune to that. And he did rescue her, just by being Roy. He helped her with the housework when he could. He talked to her about the news and books. He made her feel good. Even pretty. Happy. He could fill the bill, she had thought, forgetting all that her mother had taught her. It was a good time for both of them. The old house had begun to feel like their castle.

But now, it looked like the prince needed rescuing himself, if he was even worth rescuing.

After her father had died, she decided to follow her soldier boy. Despite what she thought she knew about the horrors of war, she had been excited about being sent to Ishval, because she knew that he was there. Here. Before she saw him in person, she saw what he had done. With her gift. With her back. With her father's life. She had never thought that she could want to kill anyone until she saw the horrors he had scorched. She'd felt revulsion and hate, and when she had seen him in her sight…

She'd killed the Ishvallan with the knife, instead. She decided that she would talk to Roy, and she found him by a fire. Of course. One look at his eyes had made her wonder if the Roy she had known was even in there at all. He seemed more lost than she. More a prisoner. She wasn't sure whether she cared or not. She didn't know what she would do if she had him in her sight again.

Then, Captain Hughes had sought her out. Sharp green eyes when you could see past the lenses. "You know him. He hasn't changed beyond being able to change back. Yet. He's going to do great things. He just has to figure out how to save himself first. He hates himself more than anyone else does.

Let's ask the Ishvallans about that, she thought.

"He told me about how you were the only other person he has told how much he wants to help people," Hughes continued. "He needs us, Eye of the Hawk. Please don't despise him or dismiss him. That might push him over the edge. He respects you so much." He seemed to want to say more but didn't.

"What happened to him, Captain?"

"War happened. A corrupt war. The worst kind of war. You see our eyes. We do what we have to do to survive. To make it through. To go home to our princesses and our castles."

Damn that Hughes. It was simpler to just hate Mustang.

Pyut.

So she would have to rescue them both. And Hughes, too. And then, maybe they'd get strong enough to help others who needed it.

What would her castle be like, if she made it out of here? She didn't think it was going to be a little cottage with a flower garden.

Pyut. Bullseye…

A/N- What do you think Riza thought when she got to Ishval and saw Roy murderous use of Flame Alchemy? How could she come to support him again? Reviews are very welcome. Thank you for reading, and take care.