A/N: Sorry for the wait :( Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 2: Gone, But Not Forgotten

I hate train rides. It's too bumpy and my rear is numb for hours afterward. Just plain boring. I thought that since Madame came along I would at least have someone to talk to but I was wrong. She either slept or was in no mood to talk, I could tell. She must not like trains either.

My thoughts tended to drift to who exactly I would be living with shortly. Madame told me not to ask question once we got their unless it was necessary. She said Mr. Hawkeye was straight to the point and did not tolerate any childish remarks or question. He didn't sound like a man to mess with. The time I was about to spend with him didn't sound fun at all. Then again, I wasn't there to have fun, I was there to learn alchemy.

The first few days when I arrived were hard. Mr. Hawkeye insisted that I called him 'Sensei' because the only relationship we had was a professional one. He assigned a lot of work that I needed to complete before I was allowed to move on and he provided no help. I was on my own much of the time, except when Sensei's daughter was around. She was the only fun I had while there and I remember our first time meeting so vividly.

A soft sound of someone knocking on the front door could be heard in the small kitchen area of the estate. A young, blonde girl made her way to the door and opened it without a second thought. Her father told her earlier that he was expecting a new pupil this evening and standing in the doorway was an elder woman and a young boy. The woman was first to speak and her voice was rather rough sounding and held a tired tone as well.

"Hello there. We're here to see you father, is he around?" The boy stood there almost as if he had not wanted to be there but gave a small smile when the girl stepped aside to let them in the house.

"He is in the den. I will go get him. Make yourself at home." The two guests stood in the entryway almost awkwardly waiting for the young lady's father to return. The house was rather roomy but bare. There weren't hardly any pictures or any other decorative items anywhere to be seen. The only thing that showed someone was currently occuping the home from the entryway was the small amount of bills scattered across a desk close to where the girl disappeared at.

Heavier footsteps could be heard coming from a hallway and shortly afterwards and tall, blonde man appeared. He had a frown gracing his features and it looked as if he had not shaved in a couple days. He was a pale, pasty color. Sick looking even but his voice was firm and full of authority.

"Ms. Mustang, I didn't expect you so early." His daughter stood slightly behind him with a blank expression across her features and avoiding all eye contact. She seems very timid or shy.

"I didn't want to keep you waiting. You are usually a very impatient man, Berthold." The man, Berthold presumeably, glared slightly at the woman before clearing his throat and looking at the boy.

"What is your name boy?" He seemed very disinterested like he did not believe the boy would be around long. The boy scuffled his feet slightly. He was being to get nervous having the older man's eyes locked on him.

"Roy Mustang, Sir." The formality sounded force but intentional and the man seemed to appreciate it greatly even though he didn't show it easily.

"I will be your teacher from here on out and I expect you to address me as such. You have already met my daughter. I would like you to address her as Miss Hawkeye unless you have permission to call her something different. This is strictly a professional relationship and I want it to stay as such. Do you understand?" The young girl, Miss Hawkeye, still did not raise her gaze to anything but the floor.

"Yes, Sensei." The young man seemed more at ease after receiving the 'rules' so to speak and answered with a more firm voice than before.

"Very well. My daughter will show you your room while I show Ms. Mustang the door. We will not begin your teaching until tomorrow since it is getting late." The man left no room for anymore comments and made his way to the door. Roy's caretaker spared him one more look before turning towards the door as well. Which only left the two children left together.

"You may bring your bags this way, Mr. Mustang. Your room is upstairs." The girl now looked up to meet him in the eyes. Her eyes had such a unique color to them, a soft amber, and the young man couldn't help but look longer than he should have. When she redirected her gaze once again, he picked up his bags and proceeded to follow her upstairs.

There was a soft thump as Roy laid his bags on the small bed that was off to the far corner of the room. As he inspected his new living quaters for god only knows how long, he tried to begin a conversation with his Sensei's daughter but was beat to the punch.

"Will this be suffice, Mr. Mustang?" She was back to avoiding eye contact with him but her voice held more firmness then when she spoke around her father. He furrowed his brows slightly, wondering why their relationship was so rocky.

"Yeah, I like it. My home back at Central was always loud and crazy. Maybe I'll enjoy the quietness around here." He finished off with a slight smirk at her but she never looked his way. He turned to look at the small window to the right of his bed which gave him a nice view of the backyard. The was a big tree at the end of the yard and a small pathway leading to a couple chairs that would be a perfect spot to watch the sun set in the evenings. There were also a couple flowers planted throughout the whole baackyard. It was nice.

"Do you need anything else, Mr. Mustang?" Her posture slackened just a bit, but it couldn't be helped. She was much too tired to care anyway. She watched him turn away from the window and, unexpectantly, stood a couple feet away from her.

"Yeah, actually I do. What is your name?" He smirked again but this time it was one of cockiness, arrogance even. She knew it was one that she would grow to hate.

"Miss Hawkeye. I thought that was already established earlier." He gave her a small smile and shook his head. She was having a hard time trying to understand this boy but was beginning to be much more relaxed around him. Another thing that had her confused.

"Your first name, of course. It's only fair. You do know my first name after all." Her personality was beginning to contradict itself and was confusing him greatly. How could this young girl go from timid and shy around her father, to being relaxed and stubborn in the matter of minutes? She may have tried to cover it but he could tell when her shoulders weren't as tense and how she now kept eye contact with him easily.

"I did not ask for your first name, therefore you should not ask for mine. It's only fair, right?" She gave her own smile, very discreetly though. Roy almost didn't catch it but he did. She turned towards the door, a sign of the conversation coming to an end and that would mean he would be left with nothing more to do other than unpack his belongings. Frowning at the thought he called out to her before he could process the decision himself.

"Wait. Wh-" The next thing heard throughout the room was Roy's stomach letting them both know it was running on empty. A small, red tint came across the features of his face and he turned his head slightly away to avoid her from seeing it.

"I will get dinner started Mr. Mustang. You may unpack now and I will come let you know when the food is ready. Will that be all for now?" He was looking away, obviously embarrassed and she took that as a sign to leave. She could barely make out his grumble but left the room with a genuine smile that she knows he did not see.

"Call me Roy." Her response was muffled due to her already being outside of the room but Roy need no help in knowing what it was.

"No, Mr. Mustang." And with that he began unpacking his bags but did so with a very noticable frown on his face.

She rarely showed any emotion after her mother's death. It took a toll on both her and her father but they moved on from it. Now there was a young man, Mr. Mustang, that you could say filled the empty space of her mother. He would never actually replace her but he made the home more lively. After just a few days, they both settled into a comfortable routine and she was being to enjoy it. He always made it a point to speak with her, even if it were a simple "Hi" and it was something she had not been use to for 8 years now.

She was beginning to notice his irritation with the assignments her father was giving him. It wasn't hard to hear his grumbles when she passed his room doing her after school chores each day. Today was no different. Late evening after dinner she saw Roy make his way from her father's office to his room carry 3 large books and he didn't look to be happy about it. Deciding to see if he needed anything, she made her way to his door and knocked lightly on it.

All she heard was a muffled sound but decided to enter anyway and what she found didn't surprise her one bit. Roy was laid faced down on his bed with his face buried in his pillow and two of the books her father gave him were laid carelessly on the floor. She maade her way to them and placed the on the desk near the door.

"You won't get anything done by laying there Mr. Mustang." He now made an attempt to look her way and his face was nearly laughable. One eye was still covered by the pillow and the visable one surrounded by red tinted skin. Most importantly, he had a very distingushable pout on his lips. She let the smile break through as he finished sitting up rubbing his face and making all sorts of noises.

"It's too hard!" He looked at her and groaned out loud before flopping down on his back this time. With his eyes closed, he could hear her walk over to his bedside and pick up the remaining book that had fallen when he moved.

"Maybe you should work on it tomorrow then." After placing the final book on the desk she moved to the door but did not leave the room.

"Sensei said he wanted it done the day after tomorrow. All three books." She watched him kick off his shoes and knew he was going to take her advice despite whatever he would say.

"It must be easy then." All she got from that was a small which meant he had to be tired because he typically would have had a comment or a more dramatic facial expression.

She clicked off his light and was suprised by his clear voice which only moments ago was clouded with tiredness.

"You should tell me your name. It is going on 4 days now. What harm could it do, Miss Hawkeye?" She did not need to see his face to know that there was a very evident smirk on his face due to the last comment. It was almost as if he was mocking her. Two could play that game.

"If you always take so long to do Father's work, he may not even keep you around. You need to focus on your work and not childish things such as knowing my name. Knowing my name is not as important as learning Father's work. Especially if he keeps you arund for the long run. Father will not want a useless pupil now would he?" With that she quietly closed his door and left him to ponder her statement.

He knows that she was teasing him to a point but her underlying tone gave away the fact that she was also being serious. He would have to make sure to finish the work as soon as possible but he would find out her name. It was a game almost, one that he would not lose. Besides he will be around for the long run, therefore it would only make sense to know what her name was, right? And useless? Like he would ever be useless.

She heard his papers shuffling on the desk inside of his office and knew he would not want to be disturbed but she needed to speak with him. As she knocked gently on the door there was a small sigh and, "What?" in a low guff voice.

Taking it as an invite into the room, she opened the door before closing it curtly. The office had never been this disorganized when her mother was alive. Then again, her Father didn't spend as much time in the office back then. His eyes were even more hollow from when Roy first arrived, and he has lost a considerable amount of weight since then as well.

"We have no bread for dinner, Father." His eyes never once left the paper he was writing on since she enter the room. He had not slept for a little over a day now and she wonders how he can even focus on his work. "And?" She had expected such a comment from him but it was still rather hurtful the way he said it with such harshness.

"Well I was hoping that I would be able to go into town to buy enough for the rest of the week." Figuring that he would just tell her to make due with what they had, she did not have her hopes high. It would be nice once in awhile to be able to leave the house other than to go to school. Therefore she was surprised when he actually agreed to let her go.

"Yes. You know better than to trouble me with such childish things. If you need something then go get it. You know that there is grocery money in the cabinet so use it."

"Yes, Father, forgive me." She allowed a frown to grace her lips since her father still had yet to look at her. "I will be going now."

"Take the boy with you." Another shock. Her father didn't not like him focusing on things other than his alchemy work. "Father, he has work to do, does he not?"

"Are you questioning me? Just take him and leave. Now." He was being harsher than typically but she knew better than to stay there anything longer.

"Yes, Father."

The sun was setting when they finally reached town and it had been quiet until then aside from the occasional breeze or animal in the distance. "It sure is nice to get out that house." When he did not receive any kind of response, he glance over to his right and she was walking with her gaze down.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Again, there wasn't anything to indicate that she wanted to talk. Until she actually did so. "You have work to do. Father will not accept lateness." When he chuckled at her, she sent him a look that could kill.

"I have four days to complete the new books." He just ahd to laugh again when confusion settle on her face. "I finished the ones from last night. It was rather easy after I go some much needed sleep." Only getting a simple 'hmm' out of her, he decided to remain quiet.

The area was getting busier and several small shops were coming into view. When they reached what, Roy assumed, was the food market a friendly old man greet them.

"Oh! Miss Hawkeye! It's been a such a long time since I've seen you last." Roy stood slightly behind her and watch her whole persona change when in the presence of this man. She even gave him what looked to be a genuine smile.

"It has been, Mr. Dennis. How are you?" Roy looked around the small store while they exchanged pleasantries. There were many canned foods and little knick knacks around and it looked like it had been around for a while with the decor. It was nice though.

"And who is this young man?" His attention redirected to the man behind the counter and he offered a small smile to the stranger. "This is Father's new apprentice." Deciding this man was kind enough to offer him a proper introduction, Roy finally spoke.

"Roy Mustang, Sir." The man beamed and it gave Roy an odd feeling of comfort being around him. "Now now. None of that. We are friends here, young man!" His attention turned back to Sensei's daughter once again.

"That old man of yours making you come all the way down here again?" Roy could tell from just the tone of voice he used to speak of Sensei that he did not care for him.

"I was more than happy to come down, Mr. Dennis."

"Ah. Well then, what can I get you?" And he was back to being the joyful old man like once before. "Two loaves of bread will be suffice for now." She portrayed herself as the mature young woman now, getting straight down to business which made Roy laugh inwardly.

"Here ya go." As the money and bread were swapped, Mr. Dennis looked back over to Roy and gave the young man a crooked grin before speaking once again. "Now, Mr. Mustang, you better take care of this young lady. She a good one, you wouldn't want her to slip through your fingers now, would you?"

As Roy and the old man chuckled lightly, Riza had a slight blush across her cheeks and turning away slightly. Roy said his goodbye to the man and was making his way out when he finally heard what he had been waiting for for days.

"Say 'Hi' to that Father of yours for me Riza!" Roy held the door open for her, giving her a knowing smirk and before he could even utter a single syllabel she spoke first. "Not a word." It was enough to silence him from what he was going to say, but not completely.

"Sure thing, Riza."

"It had taken forever to get her name, but I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. I don't think I wanted anything to change between us other than a select few."

"I don't know what I am doing here. I probably look crazy speaking to you like this, but it's not like there is any other way. It's been a month exactly since what happened to you and all I have nothing else to talk about but her." Roy lifts himself from the grass and runs his hands over his clothing to get rid of anything that shouldn't be there.

"I think it's because you didn't know about us. Maybe you had suspicions but you didn't know the real us. Just the masks we wear to protect ourselves so we can reach our goal." The sun had already been down for well more than half an hour but he didn't need it to read what was infront of him.

Maes Hughes

1885-1914

"I will find your killer Maes. I promise."

A/N: Ok, so this chapter was about twice as long as the first one give or take. I hope ya liked it and we now know who Roy was talking to. Also the story will not be in first person any more. So that's all and ill try not to take as long to update next time! Til next time :D