In no way, shape or form do I take credit for creation or ownership of the Hagane no Renkinjutsushi (Fullmetal Alchemist) series. The original manga is the property of Hiromu Arakawa and the anime is the property of Bones animation studio.

Unfortunately, this was long ago abandoned, and I apologize for that. As the manga continued to divert further and further from the original anime, I found myself liking the auxiliary plot that the anime created (and that this was based on) less and less. With quite a bit of the story unable to be bridged over to the "true" timeline that was appealing to me more with each chapter, it just seemed time to let this die. -K

By your side Forever

Surrounded by gunshots and the zombie-like suits of armor slowly bearing down upon her and her comrades as the city was awash with explosions and destruction, all Riza Hawkeye could hear was the roaring of her blood in her ears as she lined up another shot and fired, taking down yet another suit with her precision sniping. As she ejected the cartridge from her rifle, she vaguely registered Havoc's voice swearing to Breda amongst the sounds of ricocheting bullets and the far-off screams of the frightened denizens of Central fleeing for their lives.

Just as she was lining up for another shot, she heard Armstrong let out a fierce call to her right and caught motion out of her peripheral vision, partly blocked by her helmet. She let her eyes stray for but a moment, her heart clenching as she heard him mention alchemy and returning to its normal hurried state as she saw his powerful arms dig into the ground, knowing that he would be fine and that his stone alchemy would buy them a few more moments of safety, for now. Her eyes were long gone from him by the time he vaulted over the sandbags once more, this time to safety, already fixed onto her next target.

With the familiar slide of her finger against the trigger, another suit fell to the ground in a heap, felled by the sharp shots of a hawk. She paid no heed to the suits scaling down the walls behind her, having finally come to the notice of her peers, continuing to fire into the mass moving towards them. After all, with everyone else focused on them, who else would hold back the encroaching lines from the other side of the sandbags but her. Were she as proud as the Colonel, she would consider her single shots more effective than the whole barrage that Feury and the others were firing, but she was no where near as vain and openly proud of herself as he. Realizing that her thoughts had strayed to him, she struggled to refocus on the battle, ignoring the knowledge that they needed him here gnawing away at her insides. He was safer this way, she reassured herself, even though they would all surely die without his fire, his leadership, his powerful presence. At least this way he would remain safe, far away from the death and destruction that would soon swallow them all whole.

She wasn't a fool, she knew they would die here, they could not stem the flow of armored lines fast enough to save themselves, much less their dilapidated capital as it lay smoldering around them. If only…

The absence of shooting registered in the back of her mind and Riza stalled for a few seconds, her eyes darting to the side to see everyone looking to the distance. Ignoring them, she let off another shot and began to reload her gun for another round. The silence was stretching on, really only seconds, but enough to overload her mind as she was once again left to only the sound of her thundering pulse. She forced her mind to focus and stared through her sight, her fingers an instant away from pulling the trigger when the deafening silence was broken by a sharp snap.

Her stomach fell out in alarm, a pitted feeling forming in her gut as she whipped her head around in shock at the familiar sound she had not heard for almost two whole years. Her heart skipped a beat and flew into double-time as she heard Havoc say "Taisa" around his cigarette, the smile apparent in his voice. She finally smiled a half-smile, her wide eyes returning to normal as he repeated the words, "Mustang-Taisa" cutting through the roar in her ears. Without another thought, she shouldered her gun-strap and stood, her hand coming up to her face in a salute as the others continued to stare mindlessly at the calm, collected figure of Roy Mustang as he walked through the barricaded area as though he was in charge. Really, from the moment Havoc announced who he was, everyone there was prepared to follow him, regardless of the rank he had been demoted to and the fact that he shouldn't even be in Central.

Riza watched in silence as one by one, he gave orders to Falman, Feury, Havoc, Breda, and even Armstrong, everyone of their old contingent aside from her. As Armstrong ran off to get him an air-balloon, they were left alone and seeing the look on his face, she finally let her hand fall and smiled at him faintly. He was here, he was back.

It really was like something out of a dream. He was almost exactly as he had been the day before their fight with Pride, the patch covering his left eye not deterring from his imposing figure at all. Though she would never admit it out loud, Riza felt herself fall in love with him all over again as she gazed upon Roy for the first time in almost two years. Their eyes remained locked together, his eyes glittering like onyx as she gazed upon her one-time commanding officer.

"We've been waiting for you," she said, knowing that as usual, he would be able to hear what wasn't said, as he'd always done, for more years than she could count any more.

With a short nod, he acknowledged her words, but before anything else could be said, their attention was drawn once more to the approaching lines of armor bearing down upon their stronghold. Without thinking, Riza pulled out one of her pistols, lining up shots and letting fly much faster than before; the comforting sound of his fingers snapping filling her ears and lifting her spirits, giving her hope for survival and for the future.

She sensed him backing off at her side and began moving in his direction, firing off shot after shot to safeguard his exit as he ran to join Alex Armstrong. She would not allow a single suit to get to him, to get to her friends, as long as she could still fire her gun.

Too late, she heard the sound of him snapping once more, followed by the billowing of air as the balloon provided by Armstrong began to lift from the ground. As quickly as her legs could carry her, she sprinted for the balloon. Surely he wouldn't leave her here! It was her responsibility to keep him safe, to ensure that nothing happened. She'd failed once already, losing Roy an eye and almost his life. After two years of not seeing him, she was not about to let him out of her sight again!

Futilely, she called for him to wait; she was only a few steps away, easily within reach of the balloon if she leapt with the speed she had already built up. However, powerful arms stopped her and she struggled against Armstrong as Roy called down that he couldn't carry her, that he only had enough power for one. Never in her life, in all her long years of following Roy, had she ever heard him willingly admit that something was beyond his power. Calling him a liar at the top of her lungs, Riza clenched her fists and stopped struggling, watching as the only man she'd ever loved sailed into the sky, once again out of her reach.

"He'll be alright," Armstrong said, his large hand now a comfort on her shoulder as he nodded down at her. With a thin smile, she nodded, agreeing. After all, the spark in his eyes, the thing she had missed the most in the long days sitting at his bedside while he'd been in the hospital and later in his sparse home, was back, burning as brightly as the flames that her father had bestowed upon him.

Taking a few minutes to catch her breath, Riza found her helmet and with a final nod back at Armstrong, ran to join Havoc and the others as they returned to the front lines; the gentle giant and his contingent of soldiers following her back into the fray. Long minutes of shooting stretched on as she fired round after round, her eyes every so often looking to the sky towards the abomination that had arrived mysteriously, searching for any sign of Roy that she could find. As long as she could see bright fireballs in the sky exploding parts of the horrible flying contraption, she knew he was still up there.

With time, one by one, the suits of armor lost their automation and began falling to the ground, the battle on land slowing to a halt just as a bright flash lit the sky, looking suspiciously like the light of alchemy, of the unique method of transmutation used by the long-missing Edward Elric. Surely he wasn't here, up there on that… that thing? It wasn't possible, was it?

Looking around herself at Breda, Havoc and the others, she saw that they too were now watching the skies, looking for Roy. She couldn't see him, but she could tell that the flying contraptions were headed back in the direction from whence they came. Ignoring the calls of her companions, she vaulted over the tower of sandbags in front of her, running in the direction that the pieces were headed. If anything had happened to him, he'd need her, she reasoned in her mind as her legs were pumping furiously against the ground to propel her forward as quickly as she could move.