Chapter 38: Master and Student

'These aren't Hughes' men.'

It had been several hours into today's tailing that Sylvia Sherwood finally realized what should have been obvious since the beginning. Ever since this morning, the daily Amestrian Counter-Intelligence detail had been strange. At first she had dissmissed it as a string of coincidences, but as those coincidences piled up, it soon became apparent that something drastic had changed behind the scenes.

It had started when she had left her apartment. Neither Dolph or Michelle were at the desk, but it wasn't too odd to think that perhaps something was going around, and both of Hughes agents at the desk were out at the same time. That thinking had also explained to her why it had taken a full five minutes for the car to get behind her on her walk to work. It was far longer than the average ninety seconds it normally took for her "Guard Detail" to attach itself to her.

It had only grown more obvious when she had gotten to the embassy. The military policemen at the front were also unrecognizable to her. Even when Maes moved out some of the MPs from guarding the embassy, he always made sure to keep at least one who had at least a year of experience at the embassy there. Instead, she met two fresh faces, their bodies stiff as they probably were when they were usually guarding something like a research lab or an ammunition depot. They did not have the loose stances that made it easy for them to blend into scenery of the embassy, to become friendly with the Crestan staff, and perhaps catch just the most minor details that might sniff out WISE's next move.

But really, it had been a risk she had taken around lunch time that had shown her that she wasn't dealing with the same level of scrutiny as before. Most of the time, it took months of planning for her to slip away for even half an hour for an important meeting with a field agent. They'd had to do a bomb scare and cut the fuel line of two of the tailing vehicles just so she had been able to meet Twilight when he had first arrived in Central, and even then, it had been closer than Sylvia was comfortable with. This time...well, she brought a wig with her to lunch, and then went to her favorite cafe. She at her seat at the back of the restaurant, back to the wall and eyes at the entrance, and then waited for her tail inside to arrive. After five minutes, when she saw taht not a single person had followed her inside, she went to the restroom, and removed the back up jacket and wig she kept hidden for just such an occasion. Two minutes later, a short black haired woman passed a man in a large overcoat in the middle of summer, something that obviously gave away you were up to something and came to realize just how much change had hit Central Counter Intelligence.

'I knew Lieutenant Colonel Hughes had been kicked upstairs,' that was the only way to explain Maes Hughes moving up two ranks to Brigadier General in one promotion, 'But I never imagined that his entire organization would be dismantled,' she'd have to do some investigation into where officers like Captain Focker or Lieutenant Briar went, if for no other reason than to have solid understanding of where certain traps might be set up for her spies outside central. Still, that was for later, and she could only smirk to herself as she turned left, and headed towards a street she had not gone down for nearly four months, all to protect her most important project currently running, 'Now, let's see if I can check in on Agent Twilight.'

About two weeks ago, she had thought Operation STRIX had been nothing but an catastrophic failure. She had woken up one morning to the news that Franky Franklin was dead, his shop and huge amounts of WISE equipment had been destroyed, and unofficial channels inside Amestris were speaking about how Maes Hughes had killed Agent Twilight. It had taken nearly all her will power to not collapse at that moment, years of work and effort nearly disappearing with one night of sleep.

That had not actually been the case. Apparently, Amestris believed that Franky himself was Agent Twilight. It had been, all told, a stroke of luck she had found rarer and rarer these days. Within 24 hours of that, she had confirmation that Twilight himself was still alive. So, after that, she determined that all she would have to do, would wait for the heat to die down, and she'd receive a report on what happened soon.

So she waited.

And waited.

And after about three days, he had not contacted her, or any one in WISE.

'Something must be wrong,' Sylvia scowled, as she turned down a second street, using the side mirrors of cars she passed to make sure no one was following her, 'Everything says Agent Twilight is still alive,' she'd had confirmation that he'd been seen going to and from his office more or less as before. She needed to see him...

Shen she turned down her street, her eyes widened, and she again inwardly smiled at her unusually good fortune. Even though it was a Tuesday, Lloyd would be off. It was a holiday, some late summer festival from back when Amestris was around a third of it's current size. So, as "Lloyd Forger" was want to do on holidays like today, he would at times take his daughter out from school to parks and such with his wife.

So, she really should have expected that, as she passed by a small day park, she could see her greatest spy sitting on a park bench. In front of him was the little pink haired girl that Sylvia recognized as the adoptive daughter that Twilight had taken for Operation STRIX, Anya. She was currently running around the small little courtyard, her arms outstretched. Twilight himself seemed to be resting against the bench. His muscles were drooping, and it seemed less like he was relaxing, and more that he was thoroughly exhausted.

'Something is very wrong,' she considered, looking over to the other side of the courtyard, and finding a bench of her own. She walked over to the bench, and sat down, directly across from Twilight. She waited for him to look up, and to see her. Twilight had trained enough under her that he'd be able to see who she was the moment he looked up.

'But he isn't looking up,' Sylvia groaned inwardly, not wanting to draw the eyes of anyone who might be watching. She couldn't be sure she wasn't being followed, 'come one Twilight, just look u-'

"Papa!" Anya shouted, walking over and running into Twilight's leg. This brought Twilight out of his stupor, and he looked up, rubbing his forehead for a moment.

As their eyes met, Sylvia saw Twilight nearly jump out of his skin. His eyes widened, his hair stood on end, and she could see that it took nearly all of his will power to remain seated. To a normal person, it would appear he was just slightly shocked, but to Sylvia, who had trained Twilight in control, it was almost like a bomb went off underneath his seat.

'What's wrong,' she asked herself. Twilight never acted like this. He was the best she'd ever trained, but right now, he almost looked terrified of her. Even worse, he just seemed to stare at her, doing nothing to try and engage. No hand movements, no, secret calls, not even saying a word. And at the back of her mind, she couldn't help but ask the question she had been worried about since she'd learned that Franky had been killed, 'Is it possible, that Agent Twilight has gone traitor?'

It shouldn't be possible...but...well his "wife" did work for the Amestrian military. More worryingly, his brother-in-law was one of the new Brigadier General Hughes's most talented lieutenants. He also survived the discovery and elimination of Franky Franklin while not being killed himself. He'd shown a great deal of sympathy to that Elric kid. He'd even apparently met with the Fuhrer himself, without relaying WISE any information.

As the theory began to pull itself together in her mind, she began to grip her hands together tighter and tighter. There was no proof, no real evidence. But there was a lot of smoke, so much smoke that it would almost be impossible to believe there was no fire.

'Come on Twilight,' she thought, fighting to keep any kind of reaction from showing, 'Come on, show me something,' there were plenty of signals to tell her what was wrong. She just needed one, and she'd know he hadn't turned his back on Cresta.

Yet all she could see was Twilight looking over at one of the sewer grates at the side of the courtyard. When her eyes scanned over, all she could see was a rat sitting there.

'Are you going to try and escape that way?' she asked herself, turning back to her spy, who remained frozen, 'Come on, just give me something so I don't have to order you put down too.'

"Papa," Anya was pointing up at one of the taller trees sitting in the middle of the park, "I saw a big bird!"

Sylvia blinked. And to her surprise, Twilight blinked too. He then nodded at Anya, his face still stuck in a place of shock, "Oh really Anya?" he was managing to keep his voice completely measured, "It must have been a pretty big bird for you to point it out."

Bird Signals. They were a rudimentary way to signal current statuses, ones that could be brought up in casual conversation without being noticed. They were a back up of a back up, however, certainly in comparison to trick voice, the ability to say something with your voice while having your lips read. Something must really be dangerous if Twilight was relying on these.

'Though considering how Twilight had to train his daughter to bring those up,' Sylvia kept her relief under control, 'Things must be more dire than I thought,' Sylvia didn't bother looking at the grate. That must have been a signal he had taught Anya so she would bring up the birds. He looks at a grate to the side in a strange way, she notices, and brings it up. Excellent way to hide what you are doing, as anyone with a brain would just think it was a small child being a small child.

"Yeah," Anya stuck her arms out, as though she was the bird itself, "Really big wings."

"Oh," Twilight looked up in the tree, and Sylvia could only sit there, waiting for the message to be sent, "Do you think it might have been an owl?"

'Owl, shit.'

Owl was one one of those codes that was most common for the use of bird language, but that wasn't good. Owl meant, quite clearly, "I've been discovered." Not only that, but, also, "They not only know I am a spy, but they know I am (Insert Spy Name Here)". The implied wisdom of the owl meant that there was a chance more than enough is compromised to be a danger moving forward. Part of Sylvia wanted to immediately leave, but before she could, Anya spoke again-

"Owl's come out at night Papa," Anya said, and this caused Twilight to smile.

'Brilliant Twilight!' Sylvia hid her smirk. Not only had he trained Anya to know to ask the first question, he'd trained his daughter to ask a follow up to provide even one more piece of information.

"Well, I suppose you are right," Twilight rubbed his chin, looking up in the tree, "Well, it's clearly not an Eagle, since they don't like living in the cities."

'Not an Eagle,' Sylvia made a note in her head, 'So he doesn't think there is going to be a large level purge of us,' she felt a little bit of relief, though that only added more questions.

"Maybe a crow then-"

'Crow,' and again, Sylvia twitched up, 'I am being watched right now,' that certainly explained his horror at seeing her. They'd have to end this soon. At least since it was a crow instead of a vulture, that meant that while he was being watched, they weren't specifically looking for her, and more importantly, probably had no idea what was going on, 'If I can just get one more bit of information.'

"Though," Twilight says finally standing up, "You never know what bird you might run into," he reached out, and grabbed Anya's hand, "What do you say Anya, we are going to be trying to get lunch."

'Wait, no!' Sylvia nearly screamed. She was so close, she had already figured out so much more on this one gamble. But he hadn't given her anything else. She was trying to come with a plan, as lead the little girl by the hand, smiling down as he did so.

"What do you think about a new lunch place Anya," he said, "There is this nice little place that has Aerugen food. Like that pasta we had last week."

"I wanted Hamburger Steak."

"We can have that for dinner tonight," Twilight laughed, "Since Momma had to leave to go for her job, I'll make your favorite tonight!" as the little girl raised her hand in victory, "But, we first we'll need to go by my office," and then, Sylvia blinked, "I left some very important papers I'm going to need to review before a couple of appointments tomorrow, so we'll need to stop by there."

'He switched code,' Sylvia cursed inside her mind, 'I nearly missed it, but I should have heard it when he said lunch, and then Aerugen food' Sylvia mentally moved through the second code, 'So Aerugen food...that relates to how fast pasta can cook. He had to start moving so whoever was watching him would become less suspicious,' she gave a quick glance around, and again saw no one else around, even the rat that had previously been on the grate seemed to have left, 'But the follow up...his office...important papers,' she smiled to herself, and slammed her hand down, 'He's trying to say he can probably get me the information in the office.'

Sylvia decided to wait a few minutes. While Twilight had said that it was he who was being watched, she couldn't be sure that someone hadn't been left behind to just keep an eye on her. Anyone who might have seen them together wouldn't even know she was Sylvia Sherwood, what with the wig and all, but she wanted to at least keep any idea of communication between them to a minimum.

'Of course,' Sylvia said, 'I can't rely on a bad tailing again,' she sighed, 'and Sylvia Sherwood herself meeting going is obviously out of the question,' she looked at her watch, guessing she had a few minutes left. It had only been fifteen minutes, but she couldn't be sure they wouldn't check after an hour of only watching the restaurant, 'No, we need someone who can get in, and have communication without arousing any sort of suspicion. Someone who already is known to the Amestran government...as a nurse.'

Sylvia smiled.

'I knew sending having her serve in the Briggs infirmary these last two years would pay off.'

In one week, come to the abandoned factory on the west side of town. Alone. We know your secret.

That was what was on the piece of paper that had been stuffed into his helmet last week during Edward's fight with Demetrius. He was certain it had been the strange man with the spiky hair and teeth. The man had unnerved Alphonse, as had the giant of a man who'd been following his "Boss". Alphonse had wanted to show the paper to Edward...but...he also knew if he did, Edward would go in guns blazing. Something about the way that man had carried himself made Alphonse think he might actually know what was going on with his body. Or at least, that he knew something that Alphonse didn't.

Edward had put so much on the line to get their bodies back. It was his turn to put himself out there. And every time, he seemed to be hurt by it. Scar, Liore, Tucker, the Fifth Laboratory...all those times, it had been Ed taking the lead, and Ed taking the brunt of the pain for those failing.

'It's my turn to do something risky,' Alphonse nodded to himself, 'I hope you stay safe brother,' he raised his helmet up, looking out west, to South City was, and where Edward should be arriving very soon, 'I also hope you don't kill Major Desmond,' he sighed. The two majors had more in common than Ed would ever admit, but Al could understand that this trip might fray his poor brother's nerves.

Still, no need to worry on that now, he had to sneak out from the Curtis butcher shop. After all, he couldn't take the chance that he was followed, and the chance that would send the strange man running. It would be easy enough for her to go on his own if it was only the Curtis's, but that wasn't the case.

Alphonse looked out the window, and saw Maria Ross standing at attention at the front gate leading up to the shop.

'I can't believe I have to sneak around Lieutenant Ross again,' he inwardly whined. The last time this happened, poor Sargent Brosh nearly got cut in half and a building got dropped on Ed's head. But still...if she saw him leave, she'd follow. And he could not take that risk.

Maria Ross was standing where she had for the past week. Alphonse could still remember when Master had told Maria to stay off her property. Maria had managed to get a hotel room, but Alphonse knew she only left at different points at the middle of the night and always came back before the sun came up once again. If Alphonse simply didn't need to sleep, he would have thought the lieutenant was simply standing guard the full time.

'Of course,' Alphonse sighed, 'She's only doing her job, Major Armstrong ordered her to protect us,' he then thought of Brosh, 'And considering what happened to her partner, she's probably more invested in protecting us than the Colonel Mustang is,' he then stepped away from the window, 'still, if brother and I are going to get our bodies back, I need to be able to take risks,' he shook his helmet, 'Sorry Lieutenant Ross, I can't stay here when I have a chance to learn more about what is going on with my body.'

So, he snuck...slunk, over to the side door. It lead to a small porch that lead to the back yard, and from there, Alphonse would be able to sneak over the back fence, and out into the alleys. From there, he could sneak out over the back fence, and never even have to go past her. It would be easy.

He placed a hand on the door, and slowly made to open it, when he heard a set of steps come down from up stairs.

"Alphonse!"

'TEACHER!' Alphonse panicked, threw open the door, and rushed outside. Chances were that Izumi wanted him for some training or chore or another. While her training was no longer nearly as painful as it once was, one of the few times he was ever grateful to be in this suit of armor, he didn't have the time to be pulled aside for an hour or two.

"Alphonse!" he heard his teacher's voice once more, as he slowly closed the door, so no noise came from the action, "ALPHONSE!"

Alphonse quickly hopped the fence. And not a moment later, he heard the back door open. He leaned down on the other side of the fence, as he heard his teacher stomp around. Every morning of his training suddenly came rushing back to him, and he desperately wanted to curl up into a little ball before Izumi found him again.

...Okay, he knew that in his armor body he really couldn't curl up like that anymore, but still, it was a reflex at this point.

"ALPHONSE! WHERE ARE YOU!" She shouted, her dangerous presence emanating through the wooden fence he was hiding behind.

'This is it,' Alphonse thought, as he felt her step closer to the fence, 'she always found me before when I tried to hide. She can hear the breath escaping from a person's lungs. I'm doomed!'

"ALPHONSE!" Alphonse nearly jumped, and had to do everything in his power to not let out a small scream. This was it, she'd fou-

And then he felt her presence diminish, and the sound of her footsteps going towards the front of the house. He stopped, and waited for a second, before slowly standing up, and looking back over the fence at her back. If he had eyelids, he would have blinked in confusion, wondering what had saved him from notice.

'She always found me before,' he asked himself, 'I mean, all she had to do was to listen for my breathi-'

...

'Oh, right, I don't actually breath anymore.'

Somehow, Alphonse felt that were he capable, he would be blushing. Instead, all he did was slowly reach back with his hand, and rub the top of his helmet in embarrassment.

'Sometimes I can be just as thick headed as Edward, huh?'

Still, this was good. He had avoided being seen by his Master. Now, he would be able to get out of here and over to the abandoned factory on the other side of town.

"HEY DOG!" Alphonse stopped cold as he heard his Master's voice from the other side of the house. There was only one other person out front who Izumi Curtis would call dog. He slowly slunk forward, keeping himself beneath the fence to provide cover. While he was getting closer, he heard the conversation continue, "So you are sure you haven't seen Alphonse come through out front?"

"No Mrs. Curtis," he heard Lieutenant Ross say aloud. He slowly stood up, and looked over the fence to the two women, his Teacher with her hands on her hips, while Maria Ross stood at her salute position, a flat look on her face. Maria then spoke up again, "I have not seen Alphonse since yesterday."

"Hmmm," Izumi began to rub the bottom of her chin, before shaking her head, finally saying, "You'd think that a suit of armor would be far easier to spot."

"The Elric brothers have shown an ability to evade monitoring that is quite surprising," Maria nodded, "The last two times I tried to keep an eye on them when they snuck off, they nearly caused an international incident with Cresta and actually did succeed in blowing up a research laboratory," she groaned a bit, "I feel like they might drive me into early retirement."

"Consider that a gift," Izumi spat quickly, and Alphonse could only sigh. His Master...lacked certain amounts of tact.

"I shall seek to keep an eye out for Alphonse," Maria turned back to the street, "If there is anything else you need, just let me know."

"How about you go back to Central and leave the boys alone?" Izumi said. Alphonse now shook his head while sighing again, "I'm tired of having some military lickspittle standing outside my shop all day. You are scaring away the customers," Maria continued to look Izumi directly in her eye, saying nothing. Izumi twitched slightly, before pointing her finger north, toward the train station, "I want you to go away, and leave the boys alone. They have enough problems without some attack dog glowering at them to keep them under the Fuhrer's thumb."

"I understand you have problems with the military," Maria's voice was perfectly level, but Alphonse could see that her body was tense, and that she held her hands behind her back tightly, "However, Mrs. Curtis, let me assure you that my only concern is the protection of those boys. Since Edward ordered me to watch Alphonse, it is my duty to-"

"Just listen to you," Izumi said, ""My duty to protect," like the military has any real concern for those boys' safety," Alphonse would have gulped, but now he was too close to the conversation, and he was worried that he would alert his teacher and the lieutenant to his presence, "You act all high and mighty, but really, you all are nothing more than a bunch of thugs, waltzing around the country side, doing whatever you want, going wherever you want."

"If I could go wherever I want," there was almost a break in Maria's voice, but she did her best to maintain her equilibrium, "I would have been staying inside your house where I could actually keep an eye on the boys instead of spending each night paying for a hotel. And if I'd done that, I'd probably know where Alphonse is at the moment," she then offered a bit of a smile, "But you don't want me to come in, so I am following the law of Amestris and remaining outside your property line," she then raised a hand lazily to the middle of her forehead, "Is there anything else I can help you with ma'am, or may I return to my post on the public property that is this street?"

Izumi's shoulders raised up, and Alphonse thought he could see the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She stepped forward, right into Maria's face, and pointed her finger up only a quarter of an inch from the younger woman's nose, "Listen here you barking bitch," Alphonse nearly fell over at the insult. He never thought he'd hear his Master speak like that, "I know that you and your Fuhrer are just waiting to send those boys to die for your glorious nation," Izumi's finger made contact with Maria Ross's nose, "You would gladly see those boys get blown up in Cresta or Drachma, and then hang up posters so they will inspire more young idiots to sign up and die," she began to push Maria's nose, causing the lieutenant to have to take a step back, "So, I don't care how you phrase it. I know that you are just a spoiled little brat, taking advantage of two boys who don't know better," she pulled back, "But I do. So if you try anything to harm them, I will show you what happens to someone who tries to hurt someone precious to me."

Maria Ross, slightly staggered, pulled her front foot back to where it had been, and stood at attention. There was a small red indent on the front of her nose. She stared at Izumi for a moment.

"Precious?" she asked.

"Yes," Izumi crossed her arms, "Those boys...they mean the world to me."

Alphonse could only stare at his master. He...he hadn't realized that Izumi had thought of him and Ed that way. Sure, he had known she liked them, but to think of them in such terms wa-

"Fuck off."

'Did...,' Alphonse this time snapped his helmet to Maria Ross, who was glaring in a rage at his master, 'did she just curse? At MASTER?!'

"What are yo-"

"Oh no," Maria Ross said, gripping her hands into tight fists, "No, you don't get to act the great protector with me," she remained still where she was standing, not coming an inch closer to the older woman, but her eyes were locked onto Izumi Curtis with a burning rage, "You don't get to act like you did anything to make the lives of those boys better."

"What!? I taught them almost everything they know about alche-"

"A fat lot good that did for them!" Maria cut Izumi off, "yes, they've been hurt by the military. But last I checked, the only reason either of them are missing a limb is because of what you taught them," before Izumi could respond, Maria continued, "Hell, the only reason they ever joined the military is because you taught them. Oh, you think I didn't hear what you all were saying while I was standing out here. Nope, and let me say the only way they were able to try and bring their mother back, was by using the skills and techniques taught to them by you!"

"That was their choice," Izumi said firmly. Alphonse could only nod, "they made their choice to perform human transmutation, and that was why they were punished for their actions," and nod again in agreement with that.

Maria Ross's mouth came open, and she could only shake her head more, "EDWARD WAS TEN!" she shouted, "Alphonse was eight. Those boys shouldn't have been given the knowledge of the alchemy that most of your profession don't learn until they are adults. But you did give it to them."

"I told them not too!"

"You didn't tell them why!" Maria Ross through her hands up in the air, "You should have been able to see where those two boys heads were going when they were studying under you. To see that they might try and break the taboo. You only agreed to bring them along because they told you their mother died. Did it not occur to you even once what they might be planning."

"What was I supposed to do," Izumi growled, "To just leave them there, to let them look for other ways, and probably come up with their own research to pull something like that off? They are smart en-"

"No, you know they probably would have not gotten nearly as far without you teaching them a crash course in advanced alchemy," but then, Maria sighed, "But no. What infuriates me more than anything else, is that you failed them"

"You just said they only could do alchem-"

"I'm not saying you failed them as an alchemy teacher!" Maria shouted at the top of her lungs. Alphonse looked around, and could see that several people on the street were looking at the two of them now. Maria stopped, and took a breath in, before saying, "Mrs. Curtis, it would be impertinent for us to continue out here. We can end this conversation now and-"

"What is it you were about to say dog," Izumi stood to her full height. She stopped, looked at several of the groups around them, and glared, causing both the gossiping neighbors and the random passersby to scatter. Soon, it was only the two of them, and Alphonse hidden by the fence, listening to the conversation, "Tell me just what you were about to say to me."

Maria Ross stopped, took in a breath, and then sighed, "You didn't fail them as an Alchemy teacher. You failed them as a mother."

...

"What?"

"God, the universe, something," Maria Ross continued, , "Something took so much from you. And I can't imagine your pain. But then," she shook her head, "Something then brought two boys, father gone and mother dead, to meet you one day. Two little boys-"

"Who wouldn't betray their mother for me. They were determined to-"

"Bullshit," Maria answered, "God, I don't know why, but those two adore you despite the fact their terrified of you," she finally raised her hand to point at Izumi Curtis, though she made sure her hand didn't cross the fence of the property line, "They were ready to love you. If you had decided to take them in as your boys, as the sons you so desperately craved," she sighed, bringing her hand to her forehead, "Edward and Alphonse would still have their bodies, and you and I would never have had to set eyes on each other."

"They wouldn-"

"How do you know?" Izumi finally seemed to take a step back at Maria's words, "Did you ever even try? Ever offer to let them stay, to keep them there," Maria then added, "No, once they completed the training, I bet you waved them off, happy to think of them as nothing but your students," Maria then sighed, "And less than a month later, they performed human transmutation."

"They made tha-"

"They were boys," Maria repeated, "They were two boys who missed their mother, and the one person who might have filled that void refused to take the call when it came through," she then growled, "So from where I'm standing, Mrs. Curtis, I won't take anymore of your insults of the military. If someone else wants to complain, like their neighbors back in Resembool wants to say we're using them cheaply, or god forbid somehow their mother rises from the grave and asks what happened to her boys, I'll take it," Maria then stood to her full height, before declaring, "But I will not take it from you."

And then there was silence.

'I...,' Alphonse looked down at the black palms of his armored hands, 'Would I have?'

It was a difficult question. It wasn't like anyone had tried to adopt either Edward or Alphonse himself back when their mother had just died. He was almost certain that had anyone, even Izumi, attempted to do so, Edward and Alphonse would have fought back against it, and would have won with their father still technically alive. Lieutenant Ross's argument, no matter how sincere she was being, seemed to completely misunderstand the situation.

...Except. After a few months here in Dublith, when, despite the pain of training, they had settled into a comfortable routine. Where they had adjusted themselves to live by what master Izumi said. Where both he and Ed would just watch Sig do his work as a butcher, and then talk about what cuts of meat they'd like for him to save for dinner. The warm feeling in his heart whenever Izumi would compliment them or praise them or teach them some little trick she had spent so much time studying.

'Would I have agreed to be adopted then,' he asked himself.

"Get off my property," Alphonse could only watch as Izumi growled at the military officer across from her. Maria Ross's face remained wooden, before shaking her head.

"I can assure you Mrs. Curtis," she began to turn back to the main rode, "I've never stepped foot on your property."

Alphonse then slid down behind the fence. A moment later, he could feel Izumi stalk her way back to her home, open the door, and then slam it behind her. The loud sound nearly caused Alphonse to jump, but he kept his composure. For a moment, he just sat there, before shaking his head.

'Nothing I can do about it now,' he thought, turning to follow the fence back to the next street over. He had to get moving, or else he migh-

And then he stopped. Because he heard something he never had before, and he never thought he would here. He knew the voice, one he'd heard in hundreds of tones. But never like this. Alphonse, one last time, raised his head over the fence, and looked into the home through the window. Kneeling just beneath the door she'd come through, was Izumi Curtis.

Weeping.

'Master,' Alphonse should go to her. He should talk to her, tell her how important he was to her.

'But I only have so much time,' he turned his attention one last time to Izumi, before promising to her in his thoughts, 'I'll be back after this Master, and we can talk about this,' he then duck down, planning his route to the abandoned factory.

'I promise.'