For some reason it seemed that any time a significant group of people gathered in the Rockbell's living room, it meant that something had gone wrong. There were always two constants when it came to these occasions: gloomy faces and tea. I took a hesitant sip of the copper-colored liquid, wrinkling my nose as the overpowering tang of honey washed over my tongue.

"I thought you liked everything," Rolland leaned in and whispered into my ear and I jabbed his rib cage with my elbow as Mustang cleared his throat. "Every post office within one hundred miles of a train station received a summons of all military personnel."

"To where?" Winry's eyes narrowed as she fiddled with an oil-stained rag.

"Whichever military command is nearest to the place which you received the letter-for us, it's East City," Riza informed her, suddenly looking very serious and professional.

The room fell quiet and after a moment of silence Mustang carried on, "Our situation is bad. The Fürer went missing after the invasion and Drachma's troops still occupy Central. I guess there were a few civilian militias that drove a few soldiers from their villages but for the most part they have no intention of withdrawing anytime soon. We need to gather our forces back together and retaliate as soon as possible…"

I could feel my father tense beside me as I leaned over to Rolland-my lips practically against his skin to keep the rest of the room from overhearing, "You have to tell them."

"Tell them what?" he hissed back.

"That you don't want to be in the military!" I replied, watching my father out of the corner of my eye. He was leaning forward, his elbows on his knees, and appeared to be intent on listening to what mustang had to say. But I knew him better than that. He'd subtly tilted his head to the left, listening for bits and pieces of our discreet side conversation.

"Are you crazy?"

"…there have been some border skirmishes in the West…" Mustang was saying and I jabbed Rolland in the side once again, "grow a spine! You can't keep running from reality forever, eventually you'll need to stand up for yourself."

My whisper had grown a bit too loud and my father cleared his throat and shifted in his seat. I pulled away from Rolland and sat up straight, the two of us guiltily focusing on Mustang like children caught passing notes during class. "The brigadier general sent an ambassador to Xing and their emperor agreed to lend us soldiers but they won't be able to cross the desert until the railroads are back up," Riza was saying."

Mustang nodded, "but Xing isn't going to be enough if Creta's president finalizes their treaty with Drachma-they've always been willing allies, now it's just a matter of paperwork."

"Why doesn't Creta just attack us then?" Winry cradled a fading green cup of tea in her slender hands.

"That would be a direct violation of the Non-Aggression Pact that they have with us."

All eyes turned to my father and he grinned, almost smugly, "That's still in effect, isn't it? I'm not completely in the dark here."

Mustang nodded with a small smirk, "he's right. It's ironic, but they're being polite. The basic Etiquette of War is something countries try to avoid straying form. If they swear allegiance to Drachma then the Pact becomes invalid-it's never actually violated, just pushed aside."

"The main problems will be in the North and the West, the South-East should hardly be effected at all," Riza added.

We sat there, digesting this for a moment. "Rolland," the general began, "since your sector hasn't checked in at any of the bases so far we'll need you to-"

I shot him a look and nudged him again. He glared in return before giving in and cutting off his father with a sigh, "about that…"

"About what?" Mustang narrowed his eyes.

Rolland took a deep breath and tensed as he eased into his explanation, "I, um…I don't want to be a part of the military."

Mustang raised his eyebrows and I glanced at Riza, who didn't at all look surprised. "This isn't a game; you can't just change your mind-"

"This isn't a change! I never asked for this life that you put me into-I never had a choice!"

"That's not true, we-"

"Yes!" Rolland continued, "It is! I trained in a military academy instead of going to grade school, I practically grew up in the Central Headquarters and the second I turned sixteen I was taken on as an assistant-you always assumed I wanted this, but never did you ask."

"Wow," I mouthed when he glanced at me after his sudden burst of confidence. "I'm so glad that my child trusts me enough to be honest with me," My father teased, leaning back against the couch.

I bit my lip and this time Rolland was the one who nudged me in the side. "Really, Fullmetal? I'm surprised you're so at ease with your daughter being a dog of the military," Mustang retorted and I could see Riza raise a distressed hand to her forward.

I was almost afraid to look to my right. My dad's eyes peeled open and his superior demeanor shattered as he turned to me. "A what?"

"I thought you knew," I cringed, devastated by the look of surprise in his golden eyes.

"You must have seen me use alchemy after that earth quake…" my feeble attempt at justification wasn't working and after that moment the room exploded in a bought of parent-child inquisitions.

The following discussions pretty much went as follows:

(The left side of the room)

Mustang: What do you mean you don't want to be in the military? What else could you possibly want to do?

Riza: …auto mail, isn't that what you like?

Mustang and Rolland simultaneously: Eh? How do you know?

Riza: It's fairly obvious.

Mustang: Is this true?

Rolland: Well, I'm more of an engineer but…

Mustang: WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING?

Rolland: BECAUSE YOU NEVER LET ME! The military has always been your thing! …and mom's.

Mustang: *sigh* Maybe…I possibly dragged you into this…but you're enlisted now, you can't back out.

Rolland: (being stubborn) I'm not going out to East City.

Mustang: IT'S ILLEGAL TO DISOBEY YOUR ORDERS!

Rolland: YEAH?

Mustang: YES!

*The two of them stand up, glaring at one another*

Rolland: *plops back down on the couch* Well I don't care.

Mustang: *sits back down with a sigh and buries his face in his face*why did we ever have children?

Riza: *warns sternly* Roy…

(The right side of the room)

Edward: You joined the military?

Winry: It was to find her way back to you!

Edward: *overcome with fatherly pride for a moment before remembering that he's angry* Alchemy is what got her here in the first place!

Winry: *grabs a wrench from her work table* What are you saying? You never wanted to be back in this world?

Edward: Of course I wanted to be back! It's just that everything is so complicated now-agh! That's not the point-she directly disobeyed me!

Me: How?

Edward: By reading that book!

Me: *stunned*

Edward: *coughs subtly* your cousins told me…

Me: It's your own fault! Who hides a book in a broom closet?

Edward: NEVER MIND THAT! The military?

Me: You were in the military too!

Edward: I didn't have a choice! I was trying to fix a mistake I had made!

Me: THAT'S WHAT I'M DOING!

Winry: …talk about double standards.

Edward: …BUT...

Me: Dad, I'm really sorry…I never meant to hurt you, but joining the military was the fastest way to get the answers I needed to send myself back…what was I supposed to do, wait around to be rescued?

Edward: YES!

Me: Regardless, alchemy is a part of me-it's a part of you! Don't play dumb Mr. Hero of the People. I did my research. You and Uncle Al were prodigies and my grandfather was some kind of super wizard. You can't deny that it runs in the family.

Edward: *raises eyebrows* …super wizard? I thought you liked painting…what happened to that?

Me: *sigh* I did, er, I do…but the circumstances have changed an-eh, dad?

My father was hunched over; his face flushed a bright red. A bead of sweat swiveled down his forehead and I placed a wary hand on his shoulder. I could feel the unnatural heat of his skin radiate through his long-sleeve shirt. "Edward?" Winry asked quietly, pressing the back of her hand to his forehead only to quickly pull it away in surprise, "you're burning up!"

This got Mustang's attention and he lifted his face from his hands. My father stood up, suddenly shaky, "It's fine…I just need some air…need some…"

"Dad!" I yelped and stood up in time to grab his elbow as he crumbled to the floor.

Mustang shot up as well and helped raise him into an upright position. His eyes lulled shut and his breathing fell into a steady rhythm.

"You should get him upstairs…I'll call a doctor," Riza advised and Winry nodded nervously, "…what happened? He was fine this morning…"

Wordlessly, Rolland slipped himself under the arm I'd been supporting and dragged my unconscious father up the stairs with Mustang. Winry ran off to the kitchen to grab some ice while Riza phoned for a doctor. The front door swung open and Alina came skipping through with a basket of neatly cut wildflowers, followed by an exhausted looking Ava.

I stood there, motionless. Alina bounded up to me, smiling. Ava was saying something-her voice loud but I couldn't distinguish any words. I just stood there, stunned into silence with the growing unease that this was all my fault.

"Has he been under any extreme pressure lately?"

I nearly fainted due to a guilty conscious as the doctor asked this.

"Physical or mental?" Riza was the only person I knew who could stay collected in pretty much any situation.

"Physical," he clarified and I let out a sigh of relief.

"Why do you ask?" Mustang questioned.

The elderly man placed his stethoscope on my father's rising chest and listening for a moment before replying, "I've seen something like this before. It was twenty years ago, maybe, you folks remember when those great big tin soldiers started appearing* all over the place?"

Mustang nodded and I raised my eyebrows. Rolland leaned in and whispered an explanation to me, "Some kooks from your world tried sending soldiers into ours."

"Oh," I mouthed, still slightly quizzical.

"Well," the doctor continued, "I was a big city dweller at the time and was lucky enough to examine the few men in the armor that managed to survive-they had similar ailments to this one. It resembles cases of the bends-where someone goes from an area of very high pressure to an area of very low pressure too fast. The body isn't able to adjust itself fast enough and the whole system is thrown out of balance-the nerves become shotty and chemical imbalances can lead to a number of problems including this fever he has now."

Winry glanced around the room uneasily, "is there anything that we can do?"

The doctor placed his stethoscope back into his black leather back and gave a heavy sigh, "It looks like he's been dealing with this for at least a week now, and his body isn't going to last much longer…I can give you a temporary solution but it's only going to keep him stable for a few months. After that, well…"

I kept my eyes on my father but could feel the floor boards twitch as Rolland shifted his weight behind me. A moment later his hand found mine and he slipped his fingers through mine without taking his eyes off of the doctor. I didn't want him or his hand. I didn't want to be consoled. I wanted my father awake and healthy and scolding me about my future like he had been a few hours ago. But I didn't move. Not one muscle. I just stood there, as always, with our hands hidden behind our backs.

Mustang nodded, "we'll take it."

"Now I gave him a little something to reduce his fever, he seems to have an abnormal level of potassium right now…a lot of sodium too. I'll give you a list of dietary needs, certain foods that will help keep his body in check. There's also a tablet that will work on maintaining a stable internal pressure system so that his organs aren't crushed…er, I'm sorry, I know this must be hard for you folks to hear…you all seem so close to him." A gloomy silence ensued and the doctor sat there awkwardly.

He was truly sympathetic as he stood up and grabbed his bag, "I'll have my assistant come by with that list and a bottle of the pills by tonight at the latest-he should be awake in an hour or two…his body got too overheated is all…once the fever dies down he'll wake."

"Thank you Doctor," Winry said quietly, "I'll show you out."

The doctor nodded gratefully and nervously followed her out of the room. "Oh," he said, turning back to the four us at the last minute, "I forgot to mention that there may be someone else who is…more capable of handling this case. A…er, an alchemist from Xing who has extensive training in ancient medicine. We've got once hell of a medical field these days but nothing really beats the old stuff when it comes to situations like these…she's…well she's young but I think she will be able to help your friend out much more than I can."

"Any help is appreciated," Riza replied kindly and the doctor's pudgy cheeks flushed with embarrassment. He cleared his flustered throat and informed us in a scruffy voice, "her name is May Chang and she's built quite a reputation in Xing…I'll have my assistant instruct you on where to find her as well."

This was good-this was news. "Thank you," I said quietly in a somewhat shaky tone and he nodded once before turning back to head down the hall. Those were the first words I'd muttered since my father's collapse and I could feel a curious glance or two fall upon me for a brief moment but I took no real notice. I gently removed my hand from Rolland's and made my way over to a desk by the window and sat down on the small wooden chair. I wasn't going to leave until he woke up and even then, I'd already made up my mind. I was going to Xing.

*The doctor is refering to the scene in Conqueror of Shamballa when they sent a bucketload of soldiers (insuits of armor) through the gate as an experiment.