October 27th, 1966

It was one of those brisk, beautifully colorful late-fall days that were perfect for a nice long stroll and then maybe stopping for coffee with a pretty girl and putting your coat around her shoulders as the evening got chillier.

Too bad Tore was walking alone. He'd have liked that scenario so much better than strolling by himself through the last open market of the year before the weather got too bad and the merchants and vendors moved back indoors. He liked the outdoor markets. Especially on days like this, when they were rife with all the fruits of the nearby country harvests, and everything was a riot of color.

People were smiling. Children laughed and dodged through the crowds. Dogs on leashes watched them longingly, or sniffed each other. Families, couples, friends… everyone was there enjoying the day with someone else.

Tore stopped to contemplate a brilliant red and orange scarf at a shop. His current one was getting pretty ragged and it was getting cooler out. The price was decent. Maybe. He'd come back if he decided to buy from that vendor. There were two or three he'd be fine with.

When did my enjoyment get so wrapped up in being with someone else? He used to like doing things alone. Tore had thought he still did.

He was contemplating turning up a side street when he spotted hair – and a backside – he could swear he knew. He rarely forgot a woman… from any angle. But there was no way, right? She didn't live in Central. But…. No, from a momentary side view he was almost sure of it. Prepared to get smacked if he was wrong, he moved closer. "Noelle?"

Noelle turned from a table full of apples and blinked in surprise, "Oh my gosh, Tore?"

It was her! Tore smiled, feeling suddenly awkward, despite being surprised at how good it was to see her face. It was even prettier than he remembered. "Yeah. I live here, remember?" he chuckled. "It's… it's good to see you." Would she feel the same… maybe he should have thought of that first. The brief elation faded.

Noelle's smile was huge. "It's been a long time since I've heard from you, since you suddenly just stopped writing. Not that you wrote a lot, but what am I saying? I'm glad to see you again! How have you been doing?"

Could she…not be mad? Maybe his luck hadn't abandoned him after all. "Yeah I… sorry about that. I had a, well a girlfriend for a while and she was kind of the bitchy jealous type."

"Ouch," Noelle looked sympathetic. "I can see how that would be rather awkward, if you were writing to some strange girl."

"You're not strange." Tore couldn't help smiling. Talking to her was just so easy. "But yeah, she was sort of that way about all my female friends. It didn't last."

Noelle's look softened, "Are you still getting over her?" Then she blushed and looked away, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked that. That was rather insensitive."

"What? Oh no!" Tore shook his head. "I mean, it was over months ago. I've been… well a bit at loose ends, but I don't regret ending it."

"That's good," Noelle smiled. "I mean, that means you can move on, right? Find another special someone?"

That… wow that sounded like an opening. Maybe he should ask her out?

"Noelle!" Another man's voice came out of the crowd, and Tore turned to find a tall, blond guy coming through the crowd carrying a couple of shopping bags. "There you are. Did I bore you at the book shop?" He winked as he leaned over and kissed her cheek.

"Of course not," Noelle giggled. "But I was hungry and these apples looked good! I thought you might like some apple pie one last time while the apples were still fresh. Oh Jean, this is Tore, an old friend. Tore, this is my fiancé."

A cold rock hit Tore in the pit of his stomach. Suddenly he was glad he hadn't asked her out. She was engaged! "That's…great." He recovered quickly and offered the other man – Jean – a hand. "Tore Closson, Shock Alchemist. Nice to meet you." He definitely looked military, which would explain why Noelle was in Central.

Jean grinned. "First Lieutenant Jean Stevens. Likewise. So you're the Tore Noelle told me about."

"What did she say?" Tore wasn't sure he wanted to know.

Jean shrugged. "Just that you were a friend."

Noelle laughed, "What did you expect me to say? It's the truth."

Well he was rather glad Jean hadn't been told that they'd had a brief fling. Most guys weren't too keen on being friendly with their girl's ex-lover. Tore smiled. What else could he do? "Yeah, it is. So I guess you're living here in town now."

"We just got here a couple of weeks ago and I love it so far!" Noelle gushed. "We're still getting used to where everything is but everyone I've met so far has been nice. We even found a nice place for the wedding!"

Wow, she really didn't wait did she? But then, why would Tore have expected anything less from Noelle. She was enthusiastic and passionate about most things. The man she was marrying certainly ought to be one of them. "That's great," he smiled. "When are you getting married?"

"The last Sunday in December," Noelle answered with a loving look towards Jean. "I wanted sooner rather than later since I feel like I've made Jean wait long enough already."

Jean chuckled and slipped an arm around her shoulders. "For you I'd wait forever, but I appreciate that I don't have to."

They were perfect together. That much was obvious. "Well I'm sure it'll be beautiful." The smile felt cemented to his face. As much as he was sorry to lose out on Noelle, her happiness was more important than his loneliness. It was his own fault. "You have great taste after all."

Noelle blushed at the compliment. "You just remember the good taste of my cooking," she laughed.

"Are you saying you don't dress well?" Tore countered, chuckling.

"A girl does what she can," Noelle sighed dramatically. "Speaking of dressing, we still need to find yarn to make new winter scarves this year! Know of any good places?"

Because, of course, State Alchemists knew everything about yarn. Fortunately for Tore, he paid attention, and Lia still did a lot of knitting. "There's a yarn and quilt supply store on the next block, just that way," he pointed down the way to his left. "I'm told they have the best selection in the city."

"Thank you! I've been meaning to get out and look for a good shop but between unpacking, settling in and planning a wedding, well some things just get put on hold for a while," Noelle said excitedly. "Maybe they'll have a pretty light blue!"

"Or something that will go with my uniform," Jean winked. "I guess we ought to go then. Nice to meet you, Closson. See you around."

"Sure. You too." He probably would run into him or see him at HQ, Tore realized.

"Did you want a new scarf?" Noelle asked on impulse. "Since I'm going to be making us some it would be no problem to make another. The one you have right now looks pretty beat up."

The one he was wearing… was the one she had given him in Buzcoul, he suddenly remembered. "Oh, sure, thanks," he smiled. "I was actually shopping for one today, but I haven't seen anything I really like yet."

"Then what do you like? Solid? Stripes? Zigzags? I'm pretty handy with knitting needles, so I'm pretty sure I could even do a flower pattern for you," Noelle said with a wicked grin.

"Oh, stripes are fine," Tore replied. He had forgotten just how quickly she jumped on a project. "How about in blue and red?"

"Military blue and Fullmetal red?" Noelle was still grinning. "I'll have it done for you in no time!"

Well, he supposed so. "Sure," Tore agreed.

"Come on, Noelle," Jean chuckled. "We don't want to keep him standing around all day. I'm sure Tore has better things to be doing than discussing yarn, and you need to get there before they sell out. I'm sure Amestris blue is a popular color." He turned to Tore. "I work in Breda's office."
Breda's… Tore had heard of this guy. "Wait… you're that Stevens."

Jean just rolled his eyes and kept smiling. "I see you've heard of me."

"I do know the two Colonels Heimler," Tore pointed out with a chuckle. "So yeah."

"Good, then you'll have no trouble finding me or I you to get you this scarf when Noelle gets it finished."

"It's settled," Noelle announced. "We'll see you around then?" She asked with a hopeful look.

"Of course," Tore replied. He liked Noelle, and Jean seemed cool enough with him. He wasn't going to reject continued friendship when it was offered just because the girl had chosen to marry someone else. If they were willing to hang out, he certainly wasn't going to turn them down. "I'll see you around. Have a good afternoon."

"You too!" Noelle gave him a wave as she turned away with Jean.

Tore watched them go, then, trying not to feel too sorry for himself, he turned and headed up the street in the other direction towards the soda shop. He didn't want to interrupt their day, and was grateful that the meeting had not been too awkward. Still, he could use a chocolate shake.

November 5th, 1966

Cal tried not to sniffle too much as he opened the door and went into the house. Why today, of all days, did he have to come down with this miserable head cold? Not that it was a particularly bad day for it; any day would have been a bad day for it. Man, all I want is a hot shower and a nap. He'd been dragging all day. Alyse's coat on the hook told him his wife was home. Thank goodness; what he wouldn't give for a little attention tonight.

He dropped his uniform jacket across the back of the couch and pitched forward onto it. Thank you, whoever invented couch cushions. Ohhh, my head. "Lyse?" he groaned out after a minute, coughing and sneezing. "Can I have a cup of coffee?"

His request was met with no reply except one of the cats poking his black and white whiskered face up over the corner. "Neerrow?"

"Great….hey Tux… can you fetch your mistress?"

Tux batted at Cal's nose with his paw, and vanished. His gray-and-white counterpart, Lace, was lounging on the chair.

I didn't think I was going to have luck with that one. Cal didn't mind Alyse's cats, but sometimes he wished they were trained to do the things a dog could. It took all of his will to drag himself back up off the couch. Alyse was here… so where was she? He headed to the stairs that led up to the bedrooms. "Alyse?" About half way up the stairs he realized the shower was running. Dumb cold is stuffing up my ears.

As he reached the bedroom door the water switched off in the master bathroom. "Cal?" he heard her voice as the door clicked shut behind him. "You home?" He immediately sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Yeah, it's me," he replied.

"Oh thank goodness," she sighed, stepping out of the bathroom in her silky peach bathrobe, gently toweling her hair. "Could you make dinner?"

"I thought you were cooking tonight," Cal looked up, surprised.

Alyse looked guilty. "I was going to but… I've had really horrible cramps all afternoon and all I really want to do is lay down."

Cal looked at her sorry expression, and couldn't help a half-coughed chuckle. "And here I was hoping the same thing." He sniffed and reached for a tissue.

"You don't look too hot," Alyse admitted as she sat down next to him and rested her head on his shoulder, one hand resting on her lower mid-section. "And I feel like my insides are burning. What a pair," she sighed.

Cal blew his nose with one hand and put his other arm around Alyse's shoulders. He knew she got cramps every month, but this seemed a little worse than usual. "Yeah. I thought we were supposed to feel like crap one at a time," he chuckled. "So… how do we figure this out?"

"Flip a coin?" Alyse suggested. "Or split the difference."

Cal could do that. Alyse had taken care of him so often when he was healing up, that the few times he'd been able to take care of her seemed scantily few. She was in pain; didn't that make it his turn to be the hero? "Tell you what," he grunted. "You lie down. Let me get a shower in to clear out my head, and I'll see about putting on hot water and we can cheat tonight."

"Cheat?" Alyse looked up at him hopefully.

"Yeah," Cal grinned. "Is there anything wrong with ordering in?" It wasn't something they did often. Alyse preferred to cook, and picking up take-out saved the small delivery charge. Tonight though seemed like a perfectly good excuse.

Alyse smiled and kissed his cheek. "I think you're a genius."

"Well I'm not gonna argue," Cal grinned smugly. "So what do you prefer tonight, Xingese or Cretan?"

November 20th, 1966

The right time to talk to Roy turned out to be the evening Edward and Winry went over to dine at Riza's. Edward had wanted to wait long enough so that Roy wouldn't suspect his grandmother of having much input into Ed's deciding he wanted to take Roy on as a student. Not that the kid might not figure it out anyway, but it gave Ed long enough to consider the idea to almost convince himself it was his own.

Almost. It still felt strange to be the man who would be training the next Roy Mustang to be an alchemist. He had to admit it was kind of ironic, but he also felt a responsibility to make sure the kid turned okay.

He waited until after dinner, when Winry and Riza were chatting, and Rochelle and Théa were quietly playing dolls up in the room they were living in while their parents were out of town. They had Maes' old room, and Roy was in the guest room.

Not that Roy spent much time upstairs. Ed watched him wash the dishes and then head outside with Riza's dogs.

After a few minutes, Ed followed. Roy was putting all three of the current dogs through their paces with tricks. Unsurprisingly, they were perfectly well behaved. Too bad people don't train as easily as dogs. We might be better off in some ways.

It took a minute for Roy to notice him. "Do you want something?"

"Yeah," Ed nodded, leaning on the railing. "I wanted to talk to you. Do you mind?"

Roy looked confused, then resigned, as if he expected a lecture or some kind of man-to-not-really-a-man talk. "Sure." He released the dogs from their sit command and came up on the deck. "What did you want to talk about?"

Ed got straight to the point. "Alchemy."

Roy's eyes got wide. "Does… Grandma know?"

Perceptive. "I have her permission," Ed replied. "I wanted to know if you wanted to become my student."

The boy's eyes got so wide they looked like they might pop. "I ah… you're serious?"

"You think I'd do this kind of thing for a joke?" Ed asked.

"Well no! Of course not, Fullmetal…. Sir I…" Roy stammered. "Yes!" He finally blurted. "Yes I'd like to be your student."

"I don't know Flame Alchemy," Ed pointed out, though he noted the boy's enthusiasm. "But I can teach you a lot of other things. Though if you want me to be your Teacher, there are some rules you're going to have to follow."

"Oh I know about those," Roy replied, almost bouncing on his heels, though clearly trying manfully not to look like a boy. "You mean exercising, and training, and following orders and studying hard right?"

"Well that," Ed nodded, "But that's not all. Winry and I travel a lot, but you're still in school. So when I'm in town, we'll do a lot of training, and if I'm out of town during the summer, you can come with me sometimes. But when I'm not here, you're going to have to treat the Twilight Alchemist with the same respect and follow her orders while I'm gone. You'll also have to promise that you won't practice active transmutations unsupervised until you're a more advanced alchemist; which means, until I say so."

To his credit, Roy took several seconds to think it over. "Yes," he replied. "I still want to be your alchemy student. When do we start?"

"As soon as school gets out for the winter holiday," Ed smiled. He was sure studying alchemy with Trisha definitely entered into the kid's thought processes. "So be ready to do some serious studying over the break too, all right?"

Roy's face lit up in a way Ed hadn't seen in a long time. "Yes, Sir!"

Author's Note: Finis. As usual, new story begins next time, no waiting! Thanks to all of you who are enjoying reading!