This chapter actually made me cry.

Ever since that moment on, Riza had feared for the life of her son. She was afraid to let him do anything that could potentially be dangerous. When he began going to school, she cried knowing that she wouldn't be able to watch over him any longer to ensure he was safe.

Those years where she did have control however, she lived in fear everyday. She never knew what was going to happen, and she was scared for the life of her only son. Riza often found herself in his room late at night, sitting next to him to make sure he was still breathing.

Roy on the other hand couldn't take it.

One day, the two were sitting in his office, Maes had been at school, him being a grade school student at this point.

"Riza, you are killing yourself over this." he commented, "Look at you," he motioned to her body, "Your eyes look like they haven't seen a good night's rest in ages, you have been losing weight due to stress…Riza…you are ruining yourself."

She looked down, ashamed of what she had become. Riza had completely neglected herself due to her obsession with protecting their son and she hadn't even realized it. She looked at her hands, her wrists were thinner than they had ever been before.

"You aren't making our son happy by ruining yourself." Roy continued, looking at his wife with sad eyes, "It's making me upset too…I miss my strong wife, but all you have been showing lately is weakness…it's just not you…this isn't the woman I fell in love with."

The woman looked back up at her husband, "I never even realized…"

He arose from behind his desk and walked over to her, kissing her forehead lightly, "I love you, Riza…" he paused, "Please don't do this to yourself…Maes is a strong boy."

She wanted to tell him that he didn't understand, that there is some sort of motherly instinct inside of her that she can't fight, that her husband could never hope to understand. "I understand…" she whispered, leaning into her husband for comfort.

Later that day, Roy had brought Maes home from school. Riza smiled as she saw her child, embracing him tightly as she welcomed him home. She had already dressed in her civilian clothes, her hair still pulled back into a clip.

Maes smiled as he sat down his bag. "I learned how to write in cursive today!" he exclaimed as he fished in the bag for his pencil and notebook. He began to flip through the pages till he found some of his practice pages. He held them out to show his mother, "Look! See?"

"Wow!" Riza replied, sounding amazed, "You are doing so well, Maes!"

He smiled, happy to hear his mother having pride in his actions. He picked up his bag again and placed his things inside, running to go put the things in his room.

Riza made her way back over to the kitchen where she had started dinner.

Roy walked up behind her and kissed her cheek, "You seem to be in a better mood." he told her, brushing his finger's through the woman's bangs.

She nodded in response, "I thought about what you had said, you made a good point." She stirred the pot on the stove, "I need to stop worrying so much…" Riza smiled and leaned slightly against her husband. His warmth felt comforting to her.

He smiled and kissed the top of her head, wrapping an arm around her, "I'm glad to hear that."

"This will still be about ten minutes." she commented, "Let's go sit while we wait."

He nodded and the two sat at the table, conversing about work, the issue with Drachma, everything else.

Riza's eyes suddenly widened, she had felt small fingers touching her back where the scar was exposed.

"Mommy…" she heard whispered by a young voice, "What happened to you?"

She looked at Roy with a panic across her eyes as if she was begging for him to answer for her. She didn't know how to respond to her son's question. How was she to explain what his deceased grandfather did and how his father helped to erase it.

"We'll tell you later." Roy suddenly interrupted, not allowing Maes to ask anything else. "Now sit down, we are going to eat dinner soon."

Riza spent the meal smiling, but her eyes being filled with sorrow. She was hoping to hide the tattoo and burns from her son forever, but she allowed herself to slip up just that once. Usually, if she wore anything with an exposed back, she kept her hair down so it covered it, but this time she had forgotten to take her hair down.

Later that evening, Riza was sitting in her bed alone. Her hair wet and dripping across her shoulders from her recent shower. All she was doing was waiting for Roy to get out so that they could go to bed.

The small lamp next to their bed illuminated the space nearby Riza as she read a book, flipping through the pages slowly as she skimmed the lines.

She was startled when she suddenly felt the bed sheets move, finding her son squeezing between her and her arm. "What are you reading?" he asked.

Riza looked down at Maes' black hair, "You are supposed to be in bed."

"I wanted to see you." he replied, smiling up at his mother.

Her eyes softened, smiling back down at her son. "You should go back to bed, Maes…"

"Not until you tell me what happened." he demanded, "I want to know what happened to you."

Riza looked away, her eyes saddened. "I don't know if you are ready to know…"

"I want to! Mommy! I am a big kid now!" he protested.

She bit her lip, feeling defeated. "Are you sure?" she asked, looking back at him.

The boy nodded in response.

She sighed and sat her book down, wrapping her arms around her son and pulling him close to her so he couldn't see her face. "When I was little…my father…your grandfather…was researching something called flame alchemy."

"You mean like dad does?" he asked.

She nodded, "Yes…" she paused, "When he finished his research, he gave me the notes. He put them on my back to that I would never lose them." Riza tried to keep herself from crying, she felt her throat grow tight as she tried to stop her tone from shaking, "Your father was his apprentice-"

"What's an apprentice?" Maes interrupted.

"It's kind of like someone who is learning a special skill from someone else." she replied. "Anyways…when your grandpa died, I let your father see the notes so he could learn flame alchemy."

"Can I learn it too?" Maes asked.

Riza's eyes shot wider than they had ever been. Her body began to tremble and she looked down at her son, "No." she stated firmly.

"But I want to be like da-"

"I said no, Maes!" she snapped.

He was quiet for a moment, looking down before he laid his head onto his mother's chest, "I'm sorry mommy…"

Riza tried to calm herself down, "N-No…" she replied, her voice shaking, "I'm sorry I snapped at you…I shouldn't have done that…"

"Can I still hear the rest of the story?" he asked, looking up at her.

"Do you really want to?" she asked, hoping he would say no.

However, the boy nodded.

She sighed, "One day…" she stopped, thinking of how to phrase it, "I never wanted anyone else to learn about flame alchemy again…so I asked your father to get rid of the notes."

"Is that why…?"

"Yes…" she replied.

"Did it hurt?" he asked, looking into his mother's eyes.

Her eyes looked vacant, empty, "Not as much as it hurt knowing that someone could use flame alchemy for bad reasons instead of good…"

"Was daddy bad?"

"No…" she replied, closing her eyes.

Maes hugged his mother, "I never want to see you sad, I don't want to hurt you." he stated, smiling at her, "I'll make sure no one ever learns anything else about flame alchemy ever."

She smiled and patted her son on the head, "Thank you…"

Roy suddenly emerged from the other room, a towel around his shoulders, "Maes, what are you doing out of bed?"

Riza kissed her son's head, "Now go to bed, Maes." she instructed and the boy slipped out of the bed, running out of the room.

"Goodnight!" he called out as he made his way back to his bedroom.

"What was that all about?" Roy asked as he closed the door, walking over to the bed and sitting down on the edge.

Riza was quiet. She looked at the space next to her in the bed where Maes was sitting. Her expression looked crushed as she tried to hold back her tears.

"You told him…didn't you?"