A/N: Hi dear readers. :) I would only like to say that this story will get slightly darker the more chapters I write, either way I write subtle clues (foreshadowing) or I'll write out brutally direct scenes with blood and gore and basically everything fittingly meant to happen in a war. Of course, I won't forget the romantic aspect of the story (the ships xd) but I just like to remind that it's not the 'main aspect' of story, just like it wasn't in the original Fullmetal Alchemist series. :) Thanks for your attention and please enjoy the story! ;)

ANSWERS TO REVIEWS:

Cutepanda12323: Thanks so much, I always look forward to your reviews! :) But if you have any suggestions to further improve or make the story more interesting, don't hesitate to tell me! :3

Unlucky Alis: And thank you for always putting in the effort to write a review and give me inspiration to write! :) Now what sort of person would I be if I don't respond to my reader's comments? Granted, not all or many writers do so, but I always thought it difficult to communicate with readers that way. ^^ My thoughts exactly, their relations and partly geographical positions on the map as well as culture properties always gave me the feeling like it may be intentional since there are so many similarities. Ahh, interesting theory indeed, then again, as you already said, the uniforms would pose a problem. And stitched as they were, only one side would be visible, which would make it difficult portraying their "double status" as soldiers from either country. Ohh, that burns ;) I doubt Roy would appreciate that comment haha Don't worry, I don't plan on starting with killing off characters in at least a few chapters, besides there would be some foreshadowing involved so some readers are at least suspicious who could die first. Lol (that sounded so brutal ^^)

Beta Readers: Searching for a beta-reader for this story! :)

The Calm

"General Mustang, sir! A telegram for you just arrived!" a soldier bowed respectfully and held out the sealed letter to the stunned dark-haired male, who took it with a grateful nod and a dismissing gesture at the soldier.

Ed stared at the telegram, "Already? Was Ling so fast?" he scratched his head quizzically.

Roy turned the letter over and recognized the small but visible initials on the bottom right corner.

R.M.

Roy's eyes widened, "No, it's from Riza," quickly turning it around, he opened the envelope quickly and folded the letter open.

Edward was about to stand up and give the man some privacy but the firm voice of his senior made him stop, "Edward,"

Turning his head, he watched how Roy's lips tightened into a thin line, lines and creases becoming more pronounced and visible at his creased eyebrows.

"What is it?" he sat back down on a sturdy box, waiting patiently for Roy to speak.

He frowned, "Listen," his eyes scanned the letter again as he read the contents of it out loud, "I just managed to contact Rebecca about that concert she said she was going to. The band's name is Forever Proud and at first it was a group project made by the original band members, I think you should listen to them too sometime. However, they are hard to find since they travel a lot.

-Riza"

Roy's gaze lifted to meet Edward's confused expression and Roy turned the letter to show the emphasized, bold letters Riza specifically highlighted in her letter, "You see this, Fullmetal?"

Edward nodded, "She marked the words 'project', 'hard to find' and the letters 'F' and 'P'." raising a fair brow, gold eyes meet dark ones, "But what does she mean with that?"

Roy leaned back against the wooden beam supporting the temporary makeshift tent, staring at the letter in his hand, "This is new, she never mentioned anything with the letters 'F' or 'P' before." His gaze narrowed, "But it also says project and hard to find." He brought the piece of paper closer to his face, "If we read it in order, the coded message would say first 'F' and 'P' project is hard to find," he locked eyes with the younger soldier briefly, "'F' and 'P'? Project F.P.?"

Edward crossed his arms, "Project F.P.? What's that?" he tilted his head to the side, searching his own memory for the words.

Roy shrugged nonchalantly, "If only I knew. It must be something important if she writes it in code, though." He frowned, rubbing his chin, "She also couldn't find it in the State Military database if she says it's hard to find…" a hum escaped the General's lips thoughtfully, resting his hand with the letter on his knee, "I'll ask Hughes, maybe his intelligence network could figure something out concerning the initials."

Reaching behind his back, he retrieved a lighter from his back pocket, holding the letter above it and clicking the lighter to produce the fire, setting the letter aflame. Both men watched, transfixed, as the white of the letter turned ashen black and it's remains crumbled to miniature pieces, effectively erasing its existence in this world with only a flicker of a flame.

Ed hummed thoughtfully, causing Roy to look up at him, "What's wrong?" the blond shook his head, gaze narrowed.

"I feel like…I heard of it from somewhere a long time ago. Project F.P…" he rubbed at his forehead, fingers massaging the sides of his head slowly, "F.P…. I'm sure of it, I heard or read it from somewhere…" he rubbed his chin, growing frustrated at his lack of knowledge.

Roy shook his head, "Whatever, it is, if Riza couldn't have found it in the database, it must be something the military either hasn't documented or is keeping secret." He looked at his gloved hand, "Maybe even something connected to Bradley and his schemes," Ed's eyes widened slightly.

"You really think the old geezer has anything to do with it?" he blew out a persistent strand of hair away from his eyes, frowning at it's annoying length, "…Maybe I should cut it again…"

Roy sighed heavily, "Maybe, it's hard to tell." He looked outside and his voice lowered, "We know he has a group of elite soldiers under his direct control, seemingly untraceable with our database and unknown to the military despite working in it. Maybe they use aliases to get by, but they must have aroused suspicion at one point in time." He looked back at Edward, particularly his arm, "After all, soldiers with special or unusual abilities are difficult to forget, don't you think Fullmetal?" he smirked teasingly and Ed scoffed, glaring at his superior.

"If you keep that up General I sure as hell won't vouch you as my Führer, forget it," Roy grinned briefly before shaking his head.

"We've come a long way haven't we, Fullmetal?" he smiled fondly, "Sometimes, I forget what a brat you were in your academy days…you're still a brat but I miss that short fuse of yours someti-"

"Hey," the tall blond fixed his longtime friend and superior with a glare, "I can get that short fuse back no problem if you don't stop being an ass," Ed suddenly grinned, "Colonel Smartass,"

Roy grit his teeth, standing up to his full height, taller than Edward's by a few inches, "Say that again, mini-sized beansprout," the hair at the back of Edward's neck stood on end and he bristled, a dangerous smile stretching over his lips.

He twisted his wrist, popping sounds sounding from cracking his knuckles, "What? Sorry, I didn't hear you-" suddenly Ed gained a downright devilish expression and Roy recognized it immediately.

"Don't you dare, Fullmetal," his gaze spelled death itself.

Ed's grin only widened, "Oh I wouldn't dream of it…" before promptly turning on his heel and breaking into a sprint, "General Useless!"

"FULLMETAL!" the enraged shout was accompanied by thundering footsteps that unexpectedly halted when Roy crashed straight into none other than Hughes, who rubbed his head after the two men's heads collided together upon impact.

"Argh! Roy! Take it easy!" Hughes rubbed at his throbbing forehead, shooting his best friend a dirty look.

Roy miserably rubbed at his own forehead, "…Sorry Hughes," he frowned, pouting like a child.

Hughes rose an eyebrow, "Now what were you up to that got you so riled up? Did Riza flirt with you through letters again?" the teasing grin on his friend's face caused Roy to become uncomfortably hot.

"No," he praised himself for not stuttering, "We were just about to be one man SHORT!" he shouted the next part, smirking in satisfaction when he heard a answering curse in the distance, undoubtedly coming from Ed.

Hughes crossed his arms, sighing and shaking his head, "What did he call you this time?"

Roy rolled his eyes, "The usual."

"Mini-skirt-army?"

"No,"

"Flame-brain?"

"No,"

"Colonel Smartass?" Hughes rose an eyebrow, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"No! I mean yes, but not just that!" Roy growled, gritting his teeth together tightly, "….He mentioned 'useless' somewhere too,"

Hughes grinned cheerfully, slinging an arm around his best friend, "Aw, Roy, don't be such a bum! Look! This ought to cheer you up!"

Suddenly, at least a handful of pictures was violently shoved into his face, smothered roughly against his nose and eyes by none other than an ecstatic Hughes, who kept rambling on in his ear all the while holding the pictures to his face, "Look! Do you see?! Elicia has a pink dress on! Pink! With ribbons! Look at that cuteness! Oh and did I show you the picture of Gracia yet?! She looks so stunning! Ah, my beautiful girls!" Roy tried to forcefully pry away Hughes' hand from his face but the excited man paid no mind, continuing to ramble on and on about his wife and daughter.

"And Gracia even sent me new pictures of Elicia when she helped her bake a cake in the kitchen! Did you see them yet? They're covered in flour! Flour! Did you see how absolutely adorable they were?!"

Roy sighed and asked himself what horrible atrocities he must have committed to endure this every day.

"Envy," the disguised figure turned his head slightly to regard the curvaceous woman leaning against a lamp post, "How long do you intend to keep up this boring charade? That woman hasn't given out any useful information and she won't either,"

Envy snorted, drinking the bitter tasting liquid that ran down his throat, "And how do you know that?"

Red painted lips stretched into a beautiful smile, "Call it woman's intuition," she casually examined her long, dark nails, giving Envy a side-glance, "Trying to interrogate his woman is pointless. We know now where he is so why try and risk her exposing our plans to him, hm? Surely, she would be smart enough to warn her beloved of our presence here," she watched her sworn brother drink the dark coffee, rolling her eyes when he grimaced at the bitter taste.

"The thing is, she didn't. I doubt she did anyway, Greed would already be here by now searching high and low for us, ya know?" he gazed at the stolen police car parked in front of the little coffee shop they were standing in front of thoughtfully, "Maybe she trusts me – to some degree – or maybe she doesn't feel endangered enough to tell him anything, whatever the hell it is, I'll take advantage of it," he crushed the paper cup in his hand and threw it in the bin, plucking his keys from his back pocket and walking over to his car.

Lust frowned, "Just be careful, Envy, one careless move and it may well endanger our plans," her gaze narrowed when he moved into his car and shut the door, only to speed off seconds later, "….and our lives,"

"Selim, you haven't eaten all your vegetables," his mother's admonishing but soft voice caused him to pout.

"But mother…you know I don't like broccoli," the woman sighed, fixing her son with a practiced stare.

"1…."

Selim's eyes widened, "But mother-!"

"2…" Mrs. Bradley was undeterred, the dangerous lowering of her voice promising no good to follow if Selim didn't eat his vegetables right now.

"Fine…" with a quick shove, he forced the fork full of vegetables in his mouth, grimacing while he chewed on it but smiling widely when his mother smiled in satisfaction, petting his head and praising him for being a good boy.

A hearty chuckle escaped the Führer's throat from across the table, pretending to read his newspaper while secretly being amused at his son's expenses and Selim subtly glared at his father, who had a playful but secretive smile on his own face, fixing him with an amused stare, "Eat up my boy, you'll grow big and strong like your father one day,"

His wife smiled, "That's right, your father always ate his vegetables,"

The Führer grinned sheepishly, "Ah, well, I always did have an animosity to cauliflower…"

"Dear, please!" Bradley chuckled again when his wife fixed him with a look, causing him to reach across the table and affectionately pat her hand.

"Why, dear stop glaring at me so, I was just kidding." Looking down at his son, Bradley winked briefly and the boy grinned, nodding when his mother wasn't looking.

The woman sighed, shaking her head, "Oh what am I going to do with you," she rubbed her son's head affectionately and shared a warm smile with her husband, who returned her gesture wholeheartedly.

"Damn this stupid thing," Winry grit her teeth, pulling with all her might, to no avail.

She growled, throwing her wrench to the side in anger, nearly hitting her young apprentice at the same time, who released a short, shrill yelp and ducked just in time to dodge the violently thrown tool.

Winry smiled sheepishly, "Sorry, Aaron…" she rubbed at the back of her neck, frowning when the sweat of the long day gathered in her gloves from behind her neck.

Aaron smiled sympathetically, washing his hands at the small sink in the garage, "You know, if you want to, miss Rockbell I could hold the fort until you're back from your break," he smiled kindly but in Winry's mind, horrific scenes unfolded of Aaron setting fire to the shop, possibly breaking all of her tools, staining her workplace and ruining her automail projects or angering the client when he came to pick up his newly repaired motorcycle and-

"A-ah, you know what? Why don't we take a break together? You've also been working hard since eight in the morning, I think a break would sound good, don't you think so?" she laughed, quickly standing up and dusting herself off.

Aaron blinked in stunned silence, before chuckling and methodically taking off his work gloves, "W-well, if you say so…" he smiled, unzipping the one piece working jumpsuit, a light blue color with the Rockbell logo on the back and placing it carefully on a hanger beside the door leading to the house.

Usually, Winry wasn't as methodical herself concerning hanging up her working clothes, but since a little accident a while back, involving Aaron and her burnt overalls, she had put up safer rules to storing their working gear and thankfully, no accidents had happened thus far.

Nodding in satisfaction that the workplace was clean, Winry took off her bandanna and placed it on the hood of a car, grabbing the keys to her house and the shop along the way, along with her purse, "You ready?"

The young man nodded, waiting patiently outside of the shop so his master could lock everything.

He remembered how shocked and astonished Winry had been when she had first employed him and he called her 'master'. She had explicitly told him not to do so, since she wasn't anyone's 'master'. He still stuck to it at times, but altogether dropped it for her sake. However, he could and possibly would never drop calling her 'miss Rockbell'.

Not only due to being her junior by a few years, but also due to the immense respect he felt for her knowledge and tenacity to always finish her works and pulling so many all-nighters he himself hadn't – couldn't – have done during his high school times.

As they walked side by side toward a nearby café, Aaron cleared his throat nervously and Winry sensed he was preparing himself to ask something, she smiled encouragingly, "Go ahead and ask anything you want, I don't bite," she joked, patting him reassuringly on the arm.

He took a deep breath and blurted it out, "Uhm… I know it's not my business but…I-I heard you were writing to a soldier deployed at the borders," he watched her expression nervously, "I-I just wanted to k-know if w-what miss Lena said was true…" Winry braced herself for whatever question Aaron would confront her with, "Is it really true that you're star crossed lovers?"

Winry did a double take, nearly tripping over an innocently forth peeking piece of cobblestone and crashing head first into the ground if it weren't for her fast reflexes, her face resembled cherries, "W-what?! She told you that?!"

"Oh, I'll kill that woman," Winry's thoughts were about to take an even darker turn if not for Aaron's immediate, equally nervous response.

"W-w-well, she said t-that was the reason why you were happy and so worried sometimes, I j-just figured it was because of work," he scratched at the back of his neck, "I-I'm sorry if I disrespected you-"

Winry quickly shook her head, "Hey, I'm just a few years your senior, it's not that big of an age difference so please stop being so formal with me, alright?" she gave him a calm, genuine smile, "As for…what miss Lena said," she grit her teeth, pinching the bridge of her nose in annoyance, "Edward and I are just friends, really. We've written each-other months ago and we video chatted through skype a few times too. He seems like a nice guy," she smiled at her walking feet, "Um…recently I've had the feeling like he often held back or didn't really tell me things that were going on," she looked at her young apprentice, "I want to help him, but I don't know how if he just stubbornly keeps keeping me out, you know? I know he must have a lot on his mind, things I don't even have to worry about in my condition here, but I just wish that I could be the friend he needs and not be afraid to tell me about the gory details,"

Aaron frowned, quietly watching his teacher look so crestfallen it hurt him, "I-I don't really know a lot about war or b-b-being a soldier and fighting on the front lines but…why not t-try to ask him d-directly?" his stuttering pattern improved slightly since he first came to Winry's shop but Winry could still see he needed improvement.

Aaron didn't have a medical problem concerning his stuttering, according to his mother, which Winry talked to a few times when the woman wanted to be updated on how her son was doing on his first part time job, much to Aaron's embarrassment, but his simply shy demeanor and general nervousness when faced with new or unpredictable events caused him to focus less on his speaking and more on panicking.

Things which have improved ever since working with Winry, where he had to get adjusted to shouting so she heard him over the loud roars of machines or occasionally speaking with gruff customers. Winry genuinely wanted to help the boy, he was so nice and sweet and hardworking. The only problem was…

When they were nearing the shop, Aaron suddenly froze, rooted to the spot, eyes wide in fright as if he had seen a ghost.

Winry stopped walking, blinking at the stunned boy, "Aaron? Is something wrong?" she waved her hand in front of his face, "Hello? Earth to Aaron?"

Slowly, robotically, he lifted a shaky finger in the air, pointing at the café. Winry looked in the pointed direction and immediately saw what the problem was.

A girl was just entering the shop.

A girl she knew Aaron was very fond of.

Winry snickered, a devilish smile crossing her features, "Yes, that's right! There's the shop! Come on now Aaron, let's go we wouldn't wanna waste time!" she grinned widely as she tugged the shell-shocked man behind her.

When Aaron finally gathered his wits about him, his eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw just where they were going, "M-M-miss W-W-Winry, n-no p-p-p-please!" his stuttering, she learned, got far worse when he saw or was near the girl he liked.

Winry tugged harder, "Oh no! No buts and no pleas! We will go inside that shop no matter what!" She slapped his back encouragingly, causing him to squeak in terror, "Come on Aaron, there's nothing better than a good coffee, a tasty treat and a really cute girl to boot!" she winked playfully when she pushed him forward and he released another squeak of terror.

She supposed she was having too much fun at poor Aaron's expanse, but she had gotten tired from seeing him tiptoe around that girl for the past three weeks. Now was the time for actions!

Pushing open the door as loudly as she could, Winry happily grinned when she saw Garfiel behind the counter, whipping up another order for a customer, "Hi Garfiel!" she waved frantically and the flamboyant man immediately spotted her.

"Winry, my blonde working machine! How do you do?" he grinned widely, wildly beckoning the two of them over.

Winry grinned and forcibly pushed Aaron in the direction of the counter, grabbing his hand and forcing it to wave at the girl sitting at one of the tables.

The mousy girl immediately noticed them, rather had noticed them since they have shuffled their way till here and shyly waved back, a ferocious redness covering her entire face as she hid it behind her hair again.

Gripping the counter for dear life, Aaron looked like the life had been sapped out of him, "Now what can I get you two sweeties? Something sweet?" Garfiel winked, pointedly looking at the shell-shocked boy beside Winry.

Winry smiled, "Hmm…let's see…" she leaned in closer to Garfiel and the man immediately leaned his ear closer so Winry could whisper into it, "You see these two awkward messes?" Garfiel immediately spotted the blushing girl at one of his tables and the life drained boy at his counter, he nodded, "Right, our job is to at least get these two to subtly sit on the same table and strike up a conversation," he nodded seriously, straightened up and taking a deep breath.

"BOYS YOU'RE ON BREAK!" Garfiel hollered so the whole shop shook and only seconds later, Winry could feel the ground beneath her feet vibrate as at least a whole football team dressed in white and pink aprons stormed neatly from the back of the kitchen, dutifully hanging their aprons and writing down their break times.

Winry blinked, watching as the men dispersed around the whole shop, taking every seat available except the one table where the girl sat and laughter and boisterous talking filled the previously quiet café, giving it new life.

Garfiel smiled satisfyingly and Winry shot him a look, "I meant subtly!" she whipped her head around when a big man stared Aaron down, who looked like he would require a new set of clean pants as the boy quickly moved away from his seat and offered it to the big man.

Nodding his thanks, the man sat down next to Winry and did a complete one-eighty, smiling brightly and warmly welcoming her, "Why, miss Rockbell! So nice of you to visit our shop! I hope you like our chocolate soufflé!" he grinned, all white teeth, save for a gold tooth at the top right corner of his mouth. The man thankfully accepted a tall glass of milk from his superior and taking a sip from it.

Winry smiled pleasantly, "I do, Edmund! It's very tasty, my compliments to the chef!" she grinned when the whole shop roared in thanks, giggling at the men.

Garfiel smiled, "This should be interesting," he lowered his voice so only Winry and his friend heard, both looked at the nervous young man who watched the girl sitting at the table, stirring her coffee silently.

Edmund leaned back, whispering quietly, "What's his deal?" nodding toward Aaron.

Winry sighed, "He likes that girl over there but doesn't know how to approach her," she nodded at the sitting girl and Edmund nodded thoughtfully.

"Hold my milk," Winry dumbly grabbed the tall glass of milk and watched, transfixed, as Edmund walked around the counter and grabbed a plate, placing two chocolate croissants and a small decorative vanilla flower on top of the two.

Walking again around the counter, Edmund roughly grabbed a stunned Aaron by the collar of his jacket, pulling the chair out with his foot and promptly sitting the youth down before setting the plate of croissants between the two of them, sending them a pleasant smile, "I apologize for the delay, but here are your croissants, enjoy,"

Not noticing the stunned looks the two youths sent his way, Edmund smoothly sat back down on the tall bar stool next to Winry and grabbed the offered glass of milk she held out to him, "Thank you,"

Garfiel grinned, shaking his head proudly at the stunt. A slow, wide smile spread over Winry's lips and all three adults watched the future exchange between their two targets.

Aaron looked at the plate like a deer caught in headlights and the girl nervously looked at Aaron, "H-hi…" she jumped when Aaron looked at her.

"Ah, hi…" he scratched at the back of his neck, licking his very dry lips, "I-I-I I'm sorry if I-I rude you, no w-wait, if I-I disturb you but um…" he quickly made up his mind, listening to his flee instincts, "I-I'll just go-"

"You can stay," both young adults looked at each-other surprised and the girl, dressed in an oversized sweater and simple jeans, smiled nervously up at him, "I…d-don't mind the company,"

Her face was red, his face was red, Garfiel kept biting his nails and Winry couldn't stop the shit eating grin from surfacing on her lips at the exchange.

Aaron blinked, "R-really?" at the girls' nod, he nervously sat back down, accidentally kicking one of the girl's legs when he nervously kicked with his own one, "Ouch!"

Aaron's mind went into overdrive, "Oh god, I-I-I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean to I-" but then the girl started to giggle and he froze.

Straightening up from rubbing the sore spot on her knee, she gave him a small, shy smile, "That's okay, really, Aaron," she smiled kindly.

He blanched, "You…you know my name?" he swallowed.

She nodded, her face still glowing, "O-of course, we used to go to college together, after all…" she shyly adjusted the sleeves of her sweater, pulling them up to her elbow.

Aaron's eyes widened, "W-we d-did?! W-when? I-I-in what classes?!" he noticed the hurt look on the girl's face and he felt his heart drop down to his stomach.

She played with her fingers dejectedly, "W-we….we used to have computer studies and language courses together…I always sat at the back,"

Aaron stiffened, remembering seeing her a few times but thinking she was visiting a friend, he looked down at his shoes, "I…I saw you b-but…I thought you were visiting a f-f-f-friend or b-b-boyfriend,"

The girl looked up from her fidgeting fingers surprised, "Boyfriend? I don't have any," Aaron looked up at her stunned.

"…..What?" he tilted his head to the side.

She shook her head, "I…never had one," she cleared her throat, again pulling the continuously slipping down sleeves of her sweater till her elbows.

"Oh…" an awkward silence ensued and Winry started to feel awkward by this turn of events.

She leaned closer to Garfiel, "It's not going so well,"

Garfiel deadpanned, "No wonder if the boy didn't even know he went to her on the same courses," he rolled his eyes, "Men…sometimes I curse my sexual orientation and our gender," Edmund nodded, calmly drinking his milk as the boisterous talk started to die down slowly.

Aaron felt like a jackass, the girl he had liked for so long actually went with him to a few classes and he didn't even know?

He searched for something to say, wishing the ground would swallow him up, "Um…I know it's not going to justify my actions but I…" his voice dropped slightly, turning serious unlike his nervous, higher pitch earlier, "I was studying really hard to finish all my exams and I thought you would never hang out with a nervous, stuttering guy like me who tinkers with broken cars and likes to read romance and crime books…" he scratched at the back of his neck, "I also didn't want to get you in a bad light, since most people tend to avoid me…" he chuckled dryly.

The girl bit her lip, looking at the counter, "Most people avoid me too…" she smiled shyly, "…Do you like to read thrillers too?" Aaron perked up, watching her with new interest.

"Y-yeah…" a slow, small smile spread over his lips, "W-what genres do you read?"

The girl smiled, "Mostly thrillers and crime books too, but also a few historical romance genres. I always like when the authors write in great detail about a character's feelings and thoughts during the course of the story,"

Aaron rubbed his chin, thinking, "Cool. I a-always liked when there are many unpredictable t-twists in the story when you don't know who the bad guy is or if he is going to get caught. I like reading stories where the villains are flawed and actually likeable, you know like when a villain does something terrible for something good that's revealed later in the story,"

The girls' eyes lighted up, "Me too! I hate typically written Mary Sue's or such, even if it is fiction, it doesn't mean fiction itself should be flawed like that," Aaron chuckled and nodded, absentmindedly taking a croissant from the plate.

The girl blushed when he started to eat and Aaron froze, "W-what?"

The girl giggled, "Um…y-you have nice freckles," when Aaron's eyes widened, she quickly added, "I uh, I'm sorry it was really random b-but I just think t-they cute!" she realized her error and quickly tried to correct it, "T-they are cute!"

They heard a distinctively slapping sound, but didn't bother looking up, otherwise they wound have seen Garfiel slapping his forehead.

Aaron roughly swallowed, wiping his mouth with a napkin before he smiled shyly, "I-I think you have a nice smile,"

Both looked at each-other before smiling brightly, the girl giggled, "I'm sorry, I'm usually not so awkward but uh, I just tend to get nervous I guess," she rubbed her hands against her knees, trying to dry them from the sweat gathering at the inside of her palms.

Aaron adjusted his shirt, "Yeah, me too." He smiled at her kindly, "If you w-want I could, I mean if you want to, uh, have something to drink?" he gestured at her empty cup and the girl flushed briefly.

"H-hot chocolate, p-please!" the redness in the girl's face intensified when she blurted it out rather loudly and Aaron chuckled, standing up and walking on wobbly legs, finally reaching the counter with a relieved sigh.

Garfiel grinned devilishly, "T-two hot chocolates, please," the man nodded and quickly went to work.

Edmund grinned and roughly patted Aaron on the back, "I knew ya had it in ya," he laughed.

Aaron coughed, sharing a look with Winry, who smiled reassuringly at him and whispered, "The girl seems really nice, what's her name?"

Aaron blushed, "A-Amelie…" he couldn't help but smile, "I can't believe she remembers my name,"

Winry smiled, "You don't worry about a thing Aaron. She seems to like you, remember to take it easy, you have all the time in the world to propose!" Aaron's eyes widened and he started stuttering again.

"P-p-p-pro-pro-p-pro-"

Garfiel bonked the small bell at the counter loudly and called, "Two hot chocolates for our lovebirds!" his crew released a resonating 'ohh' and when Aaron barely stumbled to the table, both his and Amelie's faces were as red as cherries.

Winry giggled and gave her nervous apprentice a thumbs-up, before drinking from her own coffee.

Garfiel leaned his elbows on the counter, a small smirk on his face, "So, deary, tell me, how is our handsome soldier hunk doing?"

Winry froze and choked on her coffee.

Edmund laughed.

The intense ringing in his ears didn't stop for several long minutes, not even when he steadied himself against the tree he had landed in.

Rubbing his pulsing head, Ling checked himself for any injuries, finding only scratches. He thanked his lucky stars.

Usually, soldiers often lost limbs and died from land mines, but thankfully, the warning that Ling had heard only seconds earlier allowed him to jump away just in the nick of time.

In war, every second counted. Every second was precious and was, in more than a few cases, the deciding factor between life and death and Ling was thankful for the few seconds that had saved his life.

Looking at the crate-like shape in the ground from where the land mine exploded, Ling scanned the area around and finally found what he was looking for, the soldier that had shouted the warning.

His gaze zeroed in on the color of his uniform, red. Aerugo's color. A white two headed bird symbolized the soldier's country on his shoulder and Ling jumped down from the branch.

"That was close, are you alright?" the soldier's expression was worried and Ling took note of the medic pouch at his hip.

Foot soldiers usually only carried the basics of medical supplies with them or mostly none at all, usually medical staff carried first aid kits or pouches with them.

Ling calmly approached the soldier, dusting himself off, "Yes, I have to thank you for warning me though or I would have been a goner," he scratched at the back of his neck, "Are those your land mines?" the soldier smiled awkwardly.

"Yes, I'm sorry, if I'd seen you sooner then-" Ling held up a hand, smiling reassuringly.

"It's alright, I was careless in the first place, absorbed in my thoughts like I was," the soldier nodded and smiled back at Ling.

He scanned Ling from head to toe, "You're pretty fast, are you by chance Ling Yao? You're Amestris' fastest soldier, aren't you?" there was a look of awe in the solder's eyes and Ling felt bashful.

"Uhh, well I wouldn't say fastest. Perhaps second to my brother," he grinned, "Again, thank you for saving my life…" he looked expectantly at the soldier and the man understood, extending a hand.

"Lieutenant Vega, at your service," Ling smiled, shaking his hand.

The Xingese soldier's eyes widened and he quickly grabbed the bag slung across his chest, finding the zipper and quickly plucking the important telegram from it, holding it out to the Lieutenant, "Please give this to your crown prince Claudio Rico of Aerugo. It is of utmost importance and for his eyes only," Lieutenant Vega nodded seriously, taking the telegram and safely storing it in the pouch at his hip and Ling was able to just make out small, sharp needles stored inside.

"Paralytic needles?" he couldn't help but ask, fascinated that the Lieutenant carried such medical tools with him.

The man, with dirty short cropped auburn hair and hard brown eyes blinked, "Yes," then he rubbed his face, "Of course, you're head medic Elric's right hand, aren't you? Of course, you would know of them," Ling grinned.

"I employ them myself during battle, quite handy if I say so myself," he smirked, chuckling.

The Lieutenant chuckled, "Yes…would you care to tell me how long these can affect a full-grown man? I'm afraid I've been given them mere hours and have no proper knowledge of them," the man smiled sheepishly, rubbing at the back of his head.

Ling's eyes narrowed in confusion, "They've issued medical equipment to you?" he rose an eyebrow, "My apologies if I seem disrespectful, but usually such equipment is handed only to medically experienced staff since they paralyze a person upon contact,"

The Lieutenant froze for a minute, before he chuckled nervously, "Yes, yes you're right, unfortunately our own medics have fallen ill so some of their equipment has been divided among us foot soldiers," he smiled.

Ling smiled back pleasantly, clasping the older man on the back, "I see, well be careful with them, alright? Such needles can inflict potential damage to a human, the paralysis effect takes up to an hour at least."

The Lieutenant nodded, "Thank you, I'll be sure to use them wisely," he looked behind himself, "I shall be on my way, best to deliver this to the prince," he nodded once again at Ling, before disappearing behind the trees.

Standing there for several moments, Ling suddenly frowned.

Reaching a hand back and retrieving what appeared to be a rectangular device, Ling pressed a small black button and turned it on.

The screen flashed, showing a green patterned display along with a red, blinking dot moving steadily away from Ling's own position.

It was a tracking device.

An hour later… Royal Office

"My Lord, a telegram has arrived specifically addressed to you," a tall dark-haired man with piercing brown eyes saluted and handed his prince the letter, leaving the room at the dismissive nod from his leader.

"Good," Claudio Rico smirked upon reading the contents of the letter.

His smirk widened when he came to the bottom of the page, turning to the officer behind his chair, "Contact General Mustang and Lieutenant General Elric's current whereabouts, have our soldiers scout the area," he leaned his chin against his hand, a small lazy smile on his lips, "Tell them…it's an urgent matter we need to discuss personally,"

Thank you for reading! :) Now why would Ling plant a bug on that soldier from Aerugo I wonder? Hmm…^^