Yesterday this story hit 100 reviews! Thank you so much!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: Finding the Elric Brothers

"Here again, are you? I'm not telling you about those boys."

"Oh- oh no," said Riza. "I'm not here on case business today. I just came to talk to you."

She was alone, dressed casually, and the notepad she normally carried with her was nowhere to be seen. Pinako raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, really, now?"

"I had some things I wanted to tell you," she said. "That I thought... well, I know they don't want our help, but... I thought you could tell them what we've found out, anyway."

Pinako considered this for a moment, then nodded. "Alright," she said. "Come on in. Can I get you anything?"

"A cup of tea would be good." Riza smiled.

Pinako set to boiling the kettle, gesturing for Riza to take a seat at the table. A few moments later she set a porcelain cup down with a soft clack and sat down opposite her.

"What did you come to tell me, then?"

"We went to the prison yesterday," said Riza, adding milk to her tea. "We spoke to the Sins, and we finally got all the pieces in place. We know what happened."

Pinako fixed her with an inscrutable look. "And what was that?"

Riza took a deep breath.

"Some of this is just guessing, but... a while before they moved to Rizembul, Edward and Alphonse Elric started practicing alchemy. And I mean real, proper alchemy- how and why, we don't know, but we do know that Dante and her gang found out, forcing the Elric family to flee. They moved back into an old family property, keeping the move fairly low-key. Only the residents of the local village- Rizembul- knew where they were. They kept their children hidden as an extra precaution."

Pinako nodded. "Go on."

"Unfortunately, though, it was not enough. The Sins found them and began to threaten Hoenheim... asking him to give up his children in exchange for his life. Hoenheim eventually agreed, but only to buy time for them to make another run for it... but the Sins saw through his plot. They came the night before he was due to leave and shot both Hoenheim and Trisha, presumably planning to take the brothers and leave, but their plans were thwarted when Edward and Alphonse ran off into the woods and fell off the rocks. The Sins assumed they were dead, and left..." she took a breath, "...but they survived. They snuck through the village to your home and you took them in. When your son and daughter-in-law died in a car crash, though, it became more difficult to hide them, so you sent them somewhere else."

Pinako Rockbell was silent for a long moment.

"Mrs Rockbell?"

"Yes, I'd say that's about right." she sighed. "When they came up to our door, we thought they were just messing about... until Winry told us they were the boys she'd seen fall off the rocks."

Riza nodded. "What about the fall, though? Weren't they injured? It doesn't look survivable, frankly..."

"They didn't fall." said Pinako. "They jumped. They played up there a lot, you see, because they knew the village kids weren't allowed there, and they found a ledge. They used to climb down to it... and on that night, they were desperate enough to try and jump. They were lucky to make it, really... Winry's been and looked at it once or twice, and she reckons it's barely big enough for one boy, never mind two."

"Are you talking about me, Granny?" Winry's voice came from the door. "Oh! Ms Hawkeye."

"Hello, Winry," she nodded in greeting. "I just came to tell your grandma our findings. I thought she might want to pass the message along to Edward and Alphonse that the people who are responsible for this have been found."

"Oh, I see..." Winry said.

"Thank you for telling us," said Pinako. "We'll pass the message along to Ed and Al."

"Is there no chance we could tell them?" asked Riza, hopefully. "It's just... well, after spending so long on this case, we're anxious to break the news ourselves."

"Nice try, but not a chance."

Riza sighed. "Not even a phone number?"

"Afraid not."

"Well..." Riza bit her lip thoughtfully. "Couldn't we write them a letter? We wouldn't need their address," she said hurriedly, seeing the annoyed expression already forming on Pinako's face. "We'll give it to you to post."

Pinako considered this for a second.

"Alright," she agreed finally. "Bring your letter here once you're done and I'll send it."

Riza smiled.

Pinako took the unaddressed envelope and turned it over suspiciously. "You haven't stuck anything on this, have you?"

"Of course not!" said Riza. "We thought you might want to check it, so we didn't seal it."

She pulled the letter out of the dark blue envelope, turned it over and checked both sides, and then she studied the inside of the envelope for anything that shouldn't be there. Eventually she seemed satisfied.

"Okay then. I'll send it."

Gregory Windsor had been a postman for fourteen years, and he loved his job. He whistled as he unlocked the post-box, and was just about to grab the letters when a child's shout caught him by surprise.

"Mummy, mummy! It's a post-man! Can we go talk to him, can we?"

"Well, we don't want to interrupt him in his work..."

He turned to smile, leaving the box open. "Oh, now, I don't mind." He said cheerfully. "What's your name, love?"

"Elysia!" she said brightly. "And I'm THREE!"

"Wow, three? Who's a big girl! I have a granddaughter your age."

The mother gave him a weak smile. "I hope she isn't bothering you..."

"Oh, not at all, I like kids." he said cheerfully.

"I want to be a postlady when I grow up," Elysia told him seriously. "And deliver letters all over the world!"

Gregory smiled. Technically it was against the rules, but it wouldn't hurt just this once... what harm could a little girl do?

"Well then, Postlady Elysia, would you like to help me with the letters?"

Elysia's face lit up. "Oh, can I? Mummy, can I?"

"Well, if Mister...?"

"Gregory Windsor."

"If Mister Windsor says you can, then that's okay."

"Hooray!" Elysia cheered, and reached into the post-box. "Here you go Mr Postman! One letter, two letters, three letters..." she dropped them into the bag one by one. "Oooh! Look at this letter Mr Postman! Isn't the enva... the en-va-lop pretty? It's blue!"

He smiled widely. "Oh, it is pretty, isn't it?"

"Can I show my mummy, Mr Postman?"

"Well..." he hesitated for a moment.

"Please, Mr Postman?"

He gave in. After all, what harm could it do? "Alright then."

"Mummy, look!" Elysia passed it over to her mother, who took the envelope and dutifully inspected it.

"Very nice, Elysia." She said, and handed it back to her. "Now give the letter back to Mr Windsor, Elysia, and let's get going, okay? We don't want to be late for Daddy, do we?"

"Okay!" she said brightly and gave him the letter. "Thank you for letting me help you, Mr Postman!"

Greg Windsor waved as the mother and child left, chuckling to himself.

"What a sweet kid."

Maes grinned and swept Elysia into his arms. "Who's' a clever little girl?" he grinned, pecking her on the cheek. "Who's my clever little angel?"

Gracia smiled. "She found the right one straight away, no problem," she said. "Maes! Put the poor child down, you'll hug her to death if you're not careful!"

"I would never hurt my precious little girl!" Maes declared dramatically, but put her down. Elysia giggled at her father's antics.

Roy smiled. "I can't thank you enough for helping out, Gracia. Oh, and Elysia?"

"Uncle Roy?"

"We got you a present," he grinned. "Here you go..."

"Teddy!" Elysia squealed delightedly. "Thank you Uncle Roy!"

Roy ruffled her hair. "Oh, no, thank you. You've been a big help today, Elysia."

Riza smiled. "You have indeed. Gracia, what was the address?"

Gracia grinned.

"Izumi and Sieg Curtis, 12 Kings Road, Dublith."