Disclaimer: FMA belongs to Arakawa Hiromu
Notes: This is potentially spoilerish for a revelation in Chapter 87 (Page 6, to be precise, although the entire first scene puts it together so much more nicely than one page alone), but not straight out. Just hints. Later parts written about the childhood are more obvious.
Nine: Before We Knew Each Other
There was only one family on the platform when the train arrived. A tall, imposing woman kept an amused eye on the girls with her, exchanging a glance with the man who had accompanied them – a family friend. A sharp reminder prompted two of the girls to stop arguing about the hats they held and pop them on their heads just in time before a man with painfully perfect posture stepped off the train, holding a small suitcase. He set the case down and turned to lift the child behind him over the gap between the train and the station.
When the man introduced himself and verified he was addressing the right family, he put a hand on the boy's back and pushed him forwards, stopping him from hiding from those he had come to meet.
"This is Shi-kuen. I believe the paperwork and official business have already been taken care of?"
The woman smiled. "Yes, that was done at the orphanage." She looked down at the boy. His eyes met hers boldly, but his face remained passive. "We'll call you Roy."
Somewhere in the outskirts of the city a pregnant woman stopped to feel the baby in her womb kicking.