DISCLAIMER - see chapter one
Riza pulled off her shirt and left it on the bed, picking up one of the dresses to examine it, the skirt of the white dress long and flowing, she could tell it would look good on her, even though the chest was lower than she would have liked, and to tie in the waist there was a sash meant to tie in a bow at the back as far as she could tell. She quickly stepped out of her trousers, leaving her in some newly made underwear, not as well made as what she had been wearing, but it did the job,
"Uh! I'm sorry!" A man's voice said, Riza turning with a gasp to see a young dark skinned man, his bare chest and arms well toned and muscular, his hair short, a deep shade of brown, his red eyes wide in surprise and embarrassment, his strong legs covered by ragged dirty cream trousers, the ends ripped almost up to the knee. Riza blushed and raised the dress over her generous chest, the young man turning away, "Jinto…he told me to come get you, we need some things from town." He said apologetically,
"Oh, um, okay, would you mind waiting outside?" She asked, the young man blushing furiously as he nodded and turned his back, stepping a few feet away from the open doorway as Riza lifted the dress and pulled it over her head, tying the sash securely at the back and pulling her hair up, clipping it with the black clip, the only like to her past aside from Hayate, who stood as she made to leave again, clearly not intending to let her out of his sight. "Come on Hayate." She said as she stepped out into the morning sun, squinting a little in the light,
"Are you ready to go?" they young man asked as he heard her approach, turning to look over his shoulder, Riza nodding as she drew to his side, the young man handing her a bag of coins, which she took, putting her wrist through the drawstring of the light brown bag,
"What's your name?" Riza asked as they began to walk slowly away from the camp, many eyes turning to watch them go, Hayate running ahead, but always stopping and turning back, sniffing the air and looking around often as they headed over a hill by a river, the grass reaching Riza's knees, Hayate completely hidden from sight,
"I am Blaine, and you are Riza correct?" he replied, Riza nodding in reply, an awkward silence falling between the two strangers, "Have you been able to remember anything yet?" Blaine asked conversationally, making an attempt to break the ice as they ambled by the river.
"No, well, nothing clear. I remember my birthday and some of my childhood, but nothing else." She replied, her voice frustrated as she glared at the ground at her feet, a gentle hand touching her shoulder, it was strange how a hand so big and strong could give such a gentle touch,
"Don't worry, I'm sure it will come back, just give it time." Blaine assured gently, his voice deep but soft at the same time with a light grainy texture, the sound both soothing and comforting. Riza smiled lightly and looked up at Blaine's handsome face, a confident smile gracing his features as he looked at her,
"I hope so…but there are so many thing I've forgotten! Do I have friends? Family? A lover? A husband? Children? Where am I from? What do I do in my everyday life?" she asked, not directing the questions to anyone in particular, just thinking aloud, "But no matter how I try to grasp the answers they always slip away!" she added as they continued walking, Hayate barking ahead of them,
"Well, I may be able to help you with at least some of those questions, for instance you are very shy around men in particular, not in a frightened way, more a naïve nervous way, the way a young girl who had just come to puberty is when she first finds she has in interest in the opposite sex. This is a feeling that doesn't go away until the girl has mated, therefore I would guess that you are not married and have no children, probably not even a lover, because you tense when I touch you, not noticeably so to most, but I feel it and see it." Blaine replied as they walked, Riza frowning thoughtfully,
"But how can you say for sure? There was an inscription in my hairclip, 'to my beloved Riza,' it's not something just anyone would carve in." she argued, Blaine nodding in agreement, Hayate appearing as the grass got shorter barking as he saw them come into view, a fence blocking their way,
"It could be a childhood love, or perhaps you have met someone, but certain circumstances keep you apart, in which case it is probably a doomed love affair, as for my answers, no, they are not certain, but I have lived around young girls long enough to know how they act." He replied as they reached the fence, a low beam and a high beam nailed horizontally to wooden posts. Hayate jumped between the beams and waiting as Blaine jumped over with ease, Riza hopping backwards to sit on the fence and swing her legs over, finding Blaine's hands under her arms as she was about to slide down, the young man standing between her legs, his arms ready to lift her down, her hands on his shoulders. He carefully lifted her down, Hayate eyeing him distrustfully, watching as they stood there gazing at each other, Riza's hands still on his shoulders as his hands rested on her waist, "Come on, the town is this way." Blaine said as he let go of her and started walking through the field,
"What do we need to buy?" Riza asked as she hurried after him, reaching his side to walk beside him. He was a good foot taller than her, his strides longer, but he seemed to be walking slowly to make it easier for her to walk beside him,
"Food, cloth, tools, I have a list." He replied as he took a folded piece of paper from his trouser pocket, handing it to Riza, who scanned it quickly and put it in a small pocked in the folds of her dress.
"Are you going to go into town like that?" Riza asked, Blaine raising in eyebrow as they approached the other end of the field, where they climbed over another fence, Hayate hopping through and padding ahead past a house, a young man outside,
"Morning, on your way to town?" he called, his attitude friendly, but hesitant.
"Yes, I'm sorry about cutting through your field like that." Riza apologised as the man approached, he was wearing brown dungarees and a red flannel shirt with working boots, obviously on his way out to the fields to work,
"Don't worry about it Miss, I always have travelling gypsies passing through here, they always camp outside town at the side of the river." He replied, Riza frowning at the word gypsy, "Oh, sorry, gypsy is a word we use around here to describe the travelling entertainers. They're usually Ishbalans who live on the road making money by doing shows for us in the town square, singing, dancing, acrobatics, the kids love it when they come to town." He added, Riza nodding and smiling, they never got anything like that in Central, Central? Central! That must be a place I know! She thought,
"Central! What can you tell me about it?" she demanded authoratively, both Blaine and the middle-aged farmer looking taken back at her sudden change, her posture now erect and authorative, almost standing to attention, Blaine frowning with a mixture of worry and disapproval,
"Central? It's the capital city of Amestris! Right in the centre of the country, it's where the military has its main base, and it's the economic centre of the country too, the fuehrer has her office there too." The farmer replied incredulously, wondering how this woman could have gotten to the age she was without hearing about Central, it was in the news all the time.
"Riza, come on, we have shopping to do." Blaine said as he tugged her arm gently, Hayate growling at the contact. Riza's shoulders lowered to their former delicate relaxed posture as she turned to him,
"Alright, thank you for answering my question." She added to the farmer as she allowed Blaine to lead her away,
"Strange young lady…and in the company of an Ishbalan…odd indeed." The farmer said to himself as he headed towards the field to continue working.
"Two weeks Havoc! Two weeks!" Roy snapped as he slammed the door to the offices, once again only Havoc and Roy present. Havoc had taken over Riza's bodyguard duties while she was gone and the others were away leading search groups through the desert, but the tracks of the carriages had been blown over by sand, they had no way of knowing where they had gone.
"Calm down General, we know they took her, and they wouldn't just take her if she was dead." Havoc pointed out as he sat behind his desk looking through the reports from the various search parties, none of them having any luck finding the travellers they were looking for, though they had run into others who gave them other possible locations reluctantly,
"They could be torturing her, she could be dead by now!" Roy snapped as he sat on Riza's desk again, restraining the urge to get up and pace, frustrated with the lack of progress and worried about Riza,
"Why would they? She didn't have any of her military identification with her remember? She was on a civilian mission. I think it's more likely they found her and took her with them, maybe she's badly hurt and they're treating her. We have a man posted at every hospital, no news yet, but if they're travellers they might be making their way to one, and we have contacts on the Zing borders keeping tabs on travellers going into the country." Havoc reported, trying to give Roy some positive news to lighten him up a bit, but he still seemed worried,
"It's been two weeks! They could easily have had her in a hospital by now! They should at least know her name from her hairclip if nothing else, they could ask people they pass if they know anything about a missing woman! We should have found her by now!" Roy replied, getting to his feet and going to the window, looking down into the courtyard where uniformed men walked back and forth with piles of files or walked out of the gates on their way home or to lunch or on various missions. Damnit Riza! Come back to me…he thought, not even hearing the telephone ring,
"Chief! Fuery has something! Two days ago a farmer in Hoshi saw a young blonde woman called Riza heading into town with a young Ishbalan man. They were members of a travelling band of gypsies, entertainers who live on the road. He didn't know where they were going next, but they were staying in the fields on the borders. The tracks head off to the left, but again the desert blew them away after a few miles. I'll redirect the search parties." Havoc decided as he picked up the received and began dialling, Roy nodding in approval, his adrenaline pumping again, wait for me Riza.
"Riza are you ready?" Selares asked as Riza stepped outside. They were now out in the country by a river, and they were preparing for a party, well, not a party exactly, it was more training and practising for the shows they would do in the next town, but they treated it as a celebration, all of them singing or dancing or doing acrobatics, flipping across the camp, balancing on string tied between two trees, balancing on each other to make shapes and structures. Riza was no gymnast, but they were going to try to find something for her to do,
"I-I think so…" she replied as she tugged on the skirt of her dress nervously, she didn't like the idea of singing and dancing in front of people when she didn't even know she was any good at either,
"Okay, we will set you up as a dancer. Blaine will partner you." Selares said as she pulled Riza out of the tent by the arm, the people of the camp sitting in a large circle around the fire, all of them smiling warmly and applauding as she walked nervously to the heart of the group, Blaine standing to meet her with a smile on his face,
"You are nervous." He observed, "Don't be." He added assuringly as he took one of her hands and placed the other on his shoulder, now wearing a long sleeved top in the cool evening air, Hayate sitting contentedly between Avon and Chicho. Riza blushed as he pulled her closer, Riza automatically standing on tiptoe as he moved back, pulling her with him a little awkwardly at first, "I see you are used to wearing high heels when dancing." He observed as he looked down at her feet briefly, smiling assuringly as she blushed, gasping as he lifted her off her feet and span, placing her gently on the ground again, where she gracefully fell in step once again as if she had been dancing all her life. "You have a light step…but how are you with speed?" Blaine seemed to wonder aloud, quickening his pace, Riza soon loosing herself in a series of spins, lifts and ducks, swinging her hips, her skirt flaring out around her legs, she hardly even noticed as fiddles and flutes started playing a fast lively tune. Riza was surprised as she danced to hear laughter, and was even more surprised when she found the laughter was her own,
"Wait! Stop!" Riza laughed as Blaine took her hands and started spinning, his smiling face the only thing in focus as the world around them span until Blaine pulled her to him and stopped, both of them falling to the ground where they were so dizzy, the others around the fire joining in with the laughter, a chorus of young female voices suddenly rising to shrill heights, a sound so ethereal and beautiful Riza found herself speechless as she watched the seven young women sing, all of them getting to their feet and moving to stand together around the fire, Riz and Blaine sitting on one of the large stones around the fire.
"They're great aren't they? They've been singing since I can remember, new girls adding as they reach adulthood, those who choose to sing at least, there are those who choose to dance or join the acrobats, even playing instruments if we can find or buy them." Blaine said as he watched her fascination as she watched the singers, all of them dancing as they sang, the fiddles playing once again, the accompanying flute sounding clear above everything,
"There don't seem to be many children." Riza said, Avon and Chicho were in fact the only children in the group; there were a couple of young girls who had just hit womanhood, but no other children. Blaine looked a little troubled and nodded,
"It's true. Saffie is carrying a child, but it will not be born for many months yet…the trouble is we are a small group, and the younger generation, when they come of age, do not always appreciate life on the road, therefore our numbers fail…we look for new blood, but it is often hard to come by." He added as he looked at Riza, who frowned as she turned to look at him,
"New blood?" she asked in confusion, Blaine nodding and pointing to the group around the fire, Riza following his gaze to the people, many of them her age or just a few years older,
"All of us are related in some way or other, and it's only a matter of time before our lines mix too much to produce healthy children." He replied, "If more children aren't produced our tribe will perish." He explained briefly, Riza nodding her understanding and sympathising deeply,
"It's a shame…your way of life is very…peaceful." She complimented with a smile, Blaine nodding in agreement as he looked up to the starlit sky, the smoke occasionally obscuring his view.
"Yes it is…Jinto, my Great Uncle, didn't think we'd have a chance of a peaceful life after Ishbal. People looked down on us wherever we went, the military tried to force us into small ghetto areas, leaving us to live in squalor, but after a while we left to continue our way of life. We had always travelled, all of us together, but just before the slaughter started we were herded back into Ishbal, the military planned the whole thing…I knew it then, the only difference now is that the Amestrians know it too." He said, Riza listening in horror, Blaine suddenly remembering that she had lost her memory and probably didn't even know about Ishbal, or at least not the full details of the slaughter that took place there.
"I-I don't remember what happened, but…I have a bad feeling about the Ishbalan war…I think I know something…" She replied to his curious yet worried look, her hand on her head as she fought to push through the thick fog surrounding her mind every time she thought of Ishbal,
"Riza, don't force yourself." Blaine advised as he put his hand on her shoulder, Riza's hazel eyes looking at him as he smiled, "It will come back to you, so don't rush it." He assured gently.