"Thank you, Nami!" Elicia always called Manami that. "You're welcome, Elicia." Manami grinned back at the girl and watched as she went to play with the Xingese doll that she had brought home as a late birthday and Christmas present for her. She had been gone for a year, after all, so she talked about her stay in the foreign country well into the evening.
"And that's about everything. Luckily there was no danger to the Ambassador, but I learned martial arts from the Xingese Army General!" Manami smiled fondly of the man she only knew to address as "Jiaoshi," which simply meant "teacher" in the Xingese language. She never did learn his real name.
"Yeesh, don't acquire too many skills while you're enlisted in the military, kiddo." Maes lifted his cup to sip his tea. "You're gonna be on the front lines as top war machine before you even turn fifteen." While he said it lightheartedly as if he were joking, a small chunk of him wasn't. He was an Ishvalan War veteran, and he had seen many things he wouldn't want anyone of any age to see… much less a child.
"I trained in secrecy, so that won't be in the report." Manami waved her hand dismissively.
"Ah, that State Alchemist report you guys do annually, right?" Maes asked, to which Manami nodded. "I kept a diary while on my travels, which I'll get typed up in a nice report in a day or so." Manami lifted her hands to pantomime the act of typing. "Should be fine."
"And after that?" Gracia spoke up, to which Manami shrugged in response. "In a perfect world, I would keep escorting Ambassadors to different countries. It's pretty neat to go out and see and learn the ways of a foreign country, but… I don't think any other surrounding country would want our company." She pointed out, and Maes nodded.
"Well, we're glad that you're home." Gracia assured her. Home... that word felt so nice to hear.
"Elicia couldn't be happier that you're back. She asked about her 'big sis' at least one a day." Maes and Gracia chuckled softly, not aware that the word "sister" had caused Manami's heart to throb. She managed to keep a content outward demeanor as she glanced to Elicia humming to herself as she played with her new Xingese doll in one hand and another regular doll in the other.
There was a brief moment of silence before Manami went to stand. "I think I should get some rest."
"Aww, already?" Maes pursed his lips in a pouty fashion."Well I guess I get that you're tired. By the way, Roy wanted me to remind you—"
"I know…" Manami placed a hand on her hip. "Report to him first thing tomorrow."
"Why did he ask me to remind you? You're always on top of it." Maes laughed and shook his head. "Well anyway, your room is the same as you left it. Well…" He went to correct himself. "We actually had a couple guys stay in there for a night or two, but Gracia washed the sheets and everything right after they left anyway.
"Well, it is a guest room, and I am a guest…" Manami chuckled weakly, and Maes quickly shook his head.
"Uh-uh! We adopted you." He held up a finger, and Manami chuckled again. "Not legally. I thought that was just a joke, anyway." She said.
"Well, jokes on you, then." He retorted with a grin. "Now, go sleep in your room. We'll see ya in the morning. Let's walk to work together!"
"This is my stop."
Maes looked up to the section of Central Headquarters he worked in, and then glanced back at Manami. "Tell Roy to call me after you're done. Maybe we can have lunch together." He said with a smile. Anytime they both went to Central HQ together, Maes would always try to eat lunch with her. She wasn't a daughter of blood, but he had still come to see her like a daughter nonetheless, and he didn't trust one soldier with her.
"Yeah!" Manami gave a nod and a wave before turning to walk to her building. She looked up to the sky while walking, noticing how beautiful of a day it was. The only clouds in the sky were white and puffy. It was the perfect time of year where it wasn't too hot, and there was a nice breeze to make it even cooler. Her favorite kind of day. She made her way to the office of Roy Mustang. She had seen a few of his subordinates on the way, who didn't seem to have much time to say hello. Little did she know, they were actually avoiding her.
"Good morning!" Manami chimed in as she entered Roy's office. He seemed to be alone, which he had requested of his squad. He sat at his desk, hands folded tightly over his desk. He had a serious demeanor, and while Manami saw that as normal, Roy knew that he was about to deal with literally defusing a bomb.
When Manami had enlisted in the military, she had not known of the FullMetal Alchemist. It wasn't until the situation in Lior where Edward had gained some popularity that Roy was shocked to find Manami coming in to his office to actually resign. He managed to stop her from doing so, but only by giving her one of his best pep talks as well as vowing to never tell Edward of her existence, and avoid it as much as possible. It was easy to do when she had gone to Xing, but now that she was back, that was complicated enough, but now...
"How were your travels?" He asked, managing to put a small smile on his face.
"Great!" Manami stepped up to his desk. "Y'know, I wouldn't mind doing this for a living, escorting the Ambassadors and seeing new countries! Well, if we ever come to peace with the others…" Manami went to glance at the world map Roy had on the wall, and his black eyes followed her gaze. He chuckled. "Maybe one day. In the meantime, I'm glad you made it back in one piece. I—" He went to start saying something else, but stopped when noticing Manami reaching in her jacket pocket.
"I also got you a souvenir— oh, I'm sorry," Manami noticed Roy's mouth open. "I interrupted."
"That's alright…" Roy eyed the gift-wrapped box she set on the desk. She got him a gift? Though, his expression must have given away that he didn't have the best news, because he noticed that she didn't take her hand off of the gift. "I, erm…" Roy cleared his throat. "I have something important to tell you. In fact, you might want to sit down... you're not going to like it."
He noticed Manami pull the gift box back a little. Was she going to take it back?! He tried not to think of something so foolish. He needed to focus.
"I'm okay standing." Manami replied, her voice now with no emotion.
"... Alright." He sighed and went to hand her a document envelope. As she went to open it and read over the documents, Roy waited for a few moments before giving her the rundown verbally. "Due to a serial killer on the loose, the Furher himself has come up with some sort of 'buddy system' to where all State Alchemists under 21 and who aren't commanding officers of a squad will be assigned another State Alchemist as a partner, until further notice."
Just as he finished, Roy noticed Manami's hands grip the paper tightly and crumple a good chunk of it. She lowered the papers to where she could look him in the eyes, and he braced himself. She was livid.
"I asked for one thing… you agreed." She growled.
"And if you think I didn't do my absolute best to change it, then you don't know the kind of person I am. I am a man of my word, and this was out of my control." He quickly retorted, determined to not show any fear. "I even tried to have myself considered a potential partner because I'm your direct commanding officer, but that was denied."
"Ugh, I'm glad I wasn't paired with you." Manami threw down the papers back on his desk, lifting her hand off the gift to cross her arms.
"Thanks for the gratitude." Roy muttered, but quickly let it go. "Listen. The Furher doesn't know your beef, and even if he did, he has no reason to continue this any further." He sighed, noticing that Manami's eyes were glued to the floor.
"... unless I resign." Manami replied quietly.
Roy gritted his teeth. "Alright," He stood up. "This is where I draw the line now. And I need you to look at me." He said, but she didn't obey.
"Wind. Look. At. Me. That's an order." He demanded, and Manami sighed as she lifted her eyes to meet his.
"You can't run forever. You had to have known this." He said. "I told you that you would have to face your past when you enlisted a year ago, and I even gave in to play along with your shenanigans. You're lucky you made it this far. Today is the day you have to face it."
"I don't have to do anything!" Manami growled with gritted teeth.
"As long as you're a dog of the military like the rest of us, you absolutely do have to do what I, your commanding officer, tells you to do!" Roy raised his voice. "You can resign now, but where will you go? What will you do? Keep running? What kind of life do you expect to live if you just run from all of it like a coward?" His words made her flinch and she looked back down.
Roy sighed and regained his composure.
"... You have a gift, Wind." Roy said, his voice a little softer. "I saw potential in you and helped you get enlisted because I... well, I guess I see a little of myself in you." He admitted. "You have a talent that no other Alchemist has. I know how that can be a blessing and a curse. I know you want to use it to make this country a better place to live in. And I know that you know better than to waste all of that because you're scared." He said, and then there was a long pause between the two.
He was right… and Manami couldn't fight it. He noticed her shoulders start to tremble.
"... can't I have some time to prepare for this..?" She whispered.
But, right after she asked, there was a knock at the door that made her jump. The door opened.
"Colonel, the Elric brothers are here." They heard Riza call into the room. Manami's desperate, trembling eyes met with Roy's as she heard two pairs of footsteps come into the room. Roy kept his firm expression as he looked back at her, his eyes burning into hers.
Manami felt herself get nauseous from the shock of hearing such a familiar voice. She couldn't turn around to look.
"What do you need now, Mustang?! We're busy!" Edward yelled. He then noticed that there was someone standing at his desk, obstructing his view of Mustang. Who was that? Seemed to be a girl. He didn't recognize her from behind… probably just someone he hadn't met, yet.
"... hello, FullMetal." Roy greeted Edward, finally breaking his stare with Manami as he went to approach the Elric brothers. He handed Ed an envelope similar to the one he handed Manami. It contained the same news.
"What's this?" Ed asked, going to open it. While he read, Alphonse glanced back at the person who still hadn't turned around. He found it strange that her back was to them, and she didn't turn to face them and introduce herself or something...
For some reason, he got a sense of familiarity from her, but couldn't place how.
His thoughts were interrupted by Roy speaking to Ed. "To sum this all up, thanks to Scar being on the loose and targeting State Alchemists— especially you— the Furher himself has started up a sort of 'buddy system' program to where every State Alchemist not in command of squad and or under the age of 21 will be assigned a partner." He explained, and Ed looked up at him in shock, followed by quick anger.
"What?! Colonel, there is no way we're dragging along—"
"As of today, you will be partners with The Wind Alchemist…" Roy cut Ed off and turned a little to gesture with an open palm to the brunette, her back still facing them.
"... Manami Kami."
"..." She managed to turn slightly and look back to see Edward, accompanied with a suit of armor. She somehow had a feeling that Alphonse was in that suit.
Before her stood her childhood friends whom she left to think she was dead six years ago.