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kashiwrites(Continued from Chapter 7)
She was always impressed by his reflexes. Virtually the instant he saw her, he was on his feet and over the other side of the cot, standing there as though it were somehow a barrier between them. To his credit, he didn’t start looking for an ignition glove or raise a hand as though to snap his fingers. There was that much recognition, at least, in that first moment. Though naturally she’d been ready to lunge aside if he’d had his glove on and had indeed sent a bit of flame her way.
Meanwhile, recognition of another sort flooded into his eyes as his brows came down and he snarled, “What the hell are you doing here?”
Which was, of course, exactly what he had said when they’d found him at the edge of the gorge. Riza didn’t move, responding mildly, “Are we going to have that whole conversation over again?”
“What whole – “ and he stopped. He pursed his lips. “Hawkeye, why won’t you just leave me alone? How emphatic do I have to be, before you’ll just go away – “ and he stopped again.
He really had very expressive eyes. Or maybe she just knew his mind better than most. She understood the thought in those widened eyes, and nodded. “Yes. Hohenheim told us. He couldn’t really keep it from us any longer when we didn’t find your…”
His hand moved, involuntarily, to rest on his abdomen, and he turned his head away. “Well, it doesn’t matter whether you know or not,” he said softly. “I still just want you to go away. Can’t you understand that?”
“Well, of course I understand it, now that I know,” Riza retorted. “That doesn’t mean I’m going to leave you.”
“But why? Why?” he demanded raggedly.
“Because you told me I must guard your back. And I’m not finished the job yet.”
Roy’s jaw tightened. “I think I’ve already amply demonstrated that my back – and my limbs and everything else – don’t need guarding any more. I could probably walk through a whole army shooting bullets at me and not be harmed. For very long, at least.”
It was still such an impossible thing to grasp that for a moment she just stood there, watching him. Finally he sat on the edge of the cot and ran his hands through his hair. “I thought I’d thrown you off by backtracking.”
“I know you did. But I know how you think, remember?” Riza replied, amused.
“I suppose the others are downstairs?” he asked wearily.
“No. I sent them all away. There’s only me.”
His head jerked up. And then he was on his feet again, yanking the curtains open and leaning both hands on the sill and his forehead against the window. “I can’t stand this,” he muttered. “Riza…please. Don’t do this to me. I don’t need guarding any more, so please…just let me go.”
“Maybe your body doesn’t need guarding,” she replied. “But your soul certainly does. The last thing the world needs wandering through it is someone who’s immortal and has gone completely mad. So I’m here to keep you from going mad.”
“You just don’t get it, do you? That’s what I’m trying to do – to avoid going mad. You’re just going to make things worse for me, not better.”
“Yes, I know that’s what you think, but I happen to know better than you, this time. And this isn’t the first time, if you remember. Now,” she added briskly, finally straightening and uncrossing her arms. “I think we should get going. I’m sure you were planning to leave much earlier than this. We’re heading for Ishbal, I take it?”
“We aren’t heading anywhere,” Roy grumbled.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s South City, Ishbal, or Aerugo, I’m coming with you, Roy, and you might as well resign yourself. By the way, I brought the horse you bought back in the village, so you can send back the one you’ve stolen.”
“How did you know – “
“Well, you didn’t have any money, did you? It was all in your saddlebags, and those were left at the top of the cliff with your original horse. So now at least we can buy food and pay our way as we go.”
“I tell you, I’m not going anywh – “
“What I’ll do now,” she interrupted, “is head down to the stable and have the horses saddled. They’ve already been fed. Oh, and I’ll settle up your bill while I’m down there, too.”
He began to turn toward her, saying, “I don’t appreciate how you’re taking over my life,” but she heard the last couple of words through the closed door as she stepped outside and shut it behind her. Smiling to herself, she headed down the hall toward the stairs.
But the smile faded as she reached the main floor. How sad he’d looked! And – more than she’d ever seen him – frightened. He really was floundering right now, wasn’t he? She was definitely going to have her work cut out for her, she could tell.
Riza had wanted, more than anything, to run to him and throw her arms around him, at the sight of his body whole and well. Less than twenty-four hours ago, she’d seen him plunge from the top of a cliff, and had expected to find him lying dead and mangled at the bottom. She knew there were very serious implications to his having become as long-lived as Hohenheim – but at the moment, the fact that nothing could ever harm him again overrode all other considerations.
But she couldn’t let her gladness at finally having caught up to him weaken her resolve. For his sake, until he wasn’t reeling quite so wildly, she’d have to be very strong and matter-of-fact. He needed some stability at the moment, something to anchor himself on.
It took only a moment, at the front desk of the little inn, to discover that he’d had just enough money to cover his bills for the night. Having satisfied herself on that point, Riza went to the stables adjoining the inn, as promised, where the horses were already being saddled. “Hold them just a few minutes more,” she instructed the stableman. “We’ll be ready shortly.”
She wandered through the back door of the stable area, walking through a small yard to where a blond, freckled boy in his early teens sat on a barrel by a back fence, kicking his heels against the barrel slats. Pausing at his side, she followed his gaze to a window on the second floor. It was open, and they could see the curtains fluttering as air circulated into the room beyond it.
“Well?” Riza said.
“You were right. He jumped down just a couple of minutes ago.”
She dropped some coins into his outstretched hand. “Want to show me where he went?”
The boy grinned and nodded. He was obviously finding this game a lot of fun. Riza was not about to admit that she was too.
They didn’t have to go far. The market area was just a couple of lots down from the inn, and buying and selling were in full swing since it was mid-morning. The boy took Riza to a large stall and pointed to a wagon that was just pulling away from it, laden with sacks and boxes of produce. She handed him another coin, and was very conscious of his still-grinning face at her back as she sprinted toward the wagon, waving for the driver to stop.
After her quiet, hurried explanation, the man obliged her by stepping down from his seat and climbing onto the back of the wagon to shift a couple of boxes aside and heave some sacks of grain out of the way.
Roy stared morosely at Riza from his hiding place behind the boxes. She remarked mildly, “One would think you’d still like to preserve a little dignity.”
“Oh, shut up,” he snarled, climbing off the wagon and dusting himself off. After Riza had paid the driver a couple of coins, and tossed another one to the freckled boy for good measure, Roy muttered, “You’re making awfully free of my extra money, aren’t you?”
“Well, if you didn’t make it so necessary…,” she sniffed.
This time, he walked beside her without protest as she headed back toward the inn and the stables. But he found another cause for complaint as she paid the stableman enough money to take care of the stolen horse “until we come back for it.”
“Maybe you’re coming back,” said Roy, “but I’m not.” He scowled suspiciously at her. “How many days did you pay him for, anyway?”
She smiled, tucking the bag of coins into one of her own saddlebags. “I’m not telling you.” She swung herself up onto her own horse, tossing him the reins to his. “I’m surprised at just how much money you’ve been carrying, though,” she said. “You could have been robbed if anyone guessed.”
“I wouldn’t have been robbed,” he retorted. “You know that. Nobody could have harmed me, so they’d never have gotten anywhere near the money.”
“Unless they threw you off a cliff.”
“Stop!” he flinched, turning his face away. “Just stop.”
“Yes,” Riza snapped with sudden vehemence. “I’d like to stop. But you just keep going on with what you’re doing, no matter how you’re hurting people. Do you have any idea what it felt like to us, watching you go over the edge like that and thinking we’d lost you? Havoc cried like a baby.”
“You wouldn’t even have been there – and I wouldn’t have fallen over – if you had just let me go,” Roy snapped back. “So if you have a few unpleasant experiences along the way, don’t blame me.”
A long pause. “’Unpleasant experiences’,” Riza repeated expressionlessly. “Like watching you die.”
Another pause as his eyes moved to her face and then slid away again. “All right,” he said at last. “That was unkind. I’m sorry you and Jean went through that. And the others. I never meant for anything like that to happen.”
There were so many things she could say to him right now, about pain and abandonment, and how you didn’t need to see someone topple over the edge of a cliff to still feel those things acutely. But she had to be judicious about how much she lectured him. Time enough to do that gradually, as they went along.
She allowed her voice to soften. “Let’s not worry about anything right now. Let’s just go for a ride, shall we? I don’t know how close we are to Ishbal from here, but we’ve lost some time this morning already. Maybe we should pick up some extra water bottles in the market so we’re sure to have enough as we head east.”
Roy stood below her, between the two horses, and looked up at her for a very long moment. But at last he allowed himself the merest ghost of a smile, and swung up onto his horse. “All right,” he said. “For now. But I’ll shake you off yet.”
“No you won’t,” Riza said. She was rewarded with a little laugh as he directed his horse toward the stable exit and led the way out into the sunshine.
That had gone far better than she expected.
But she smiled privately as she watched the movements of his back and shoulders as he adjusted to the gait of his horse, and the glints that the bright sunshine struck off his hair like sparks from flint. It was so good to be with him again. But she wasn’t stupid. She still didn’t trust him for a second.
He was so furious with her that he wanted to spit. And – perversely – he was so glad she was here that he could hardly contain himself. But he did manage to do so, because it just wouldn’t do, to let her know how eagerly his heart had lifted at the sight of her standing in his room when he’d awakened a few minutes ago. For one thing, he meant it when he said he planned to try to shake her off. It was the wisest thing he could do, for both their sakes, painful though it might be. But it would be even harder, once the time came, if he let himself enjoy her company right now…too much.
He had to admit that it did make a difference in his mood, though, as he rode beside her through the sunshine along the street. He watched her dismount at a booth in the market where there were water canteens for sale, and savored the sound of her voice as she haggled good-naturedly to try to bring the price down. Something she must have learned in Ishbal all those years ago, he surmised.
It occurred to him that he could spur his horse and try to ride away while she had her back turned – but he decided he wouldn’t do that, just now. Later, naturally. But right now he simply let himself enjoy the glow of her golden hair, and the sound of her voice as she talked to the owner of the booth.
He thought he’d left her behind forever, as he said goodbye to everyone at the train station a couple of weeks ago. But not yet. Not yet. It seemed he could steal another precious day or so, before the final break.
Riza handed an extra canteen up to him with a smile, and he couldn’t help but return the smile as their fingers touched, just for an instant. He hooked the canteen onto a saddlebag as she got back onto her horse, and finally they were on the road in earnest.
* * * * * * *
Now that he’d been discovered, the pressure to ride at great speed and get as far away as possible, as soon as possible, had naturally vanished. What he’d been fleeing from had caught up with him, so there really wasn’t much point in riding with the same desperation, was there? Though if he managed to give Riza the slip at some time, later on, that urgency would undoubtedly return.
However, he couldn’t very well do that right now; it only took until late afternoon until their eastward course left the rich farmlands behind and the land began to dry up. There were few settlements in this area, and as it flattened out, one could see for miles and miles. If he’d tried to escape Riza’s clutches right now, she’d have been able to keep an eye on him from a great distance, and catch him at a leisurely pace.
The ridges that had kept the dry air of the eastern desert from flowing into the regions of Amestris near Risemboul had gradually lowered, the farther south he’d ridden. Now they consisted more of large outcroppings, like massive pillars on either side of wide gates through which the dry air came pretty much unhindered. The closer he and Riza rode to Ishbal, the dryer and warmer it became.
They had stopped to eat at a rare green spot, where water bubbled up into a small pool nestled within a half-circle of high rocks. Already the horses seemed more glad than usual of the water.
Roy stood looking east, thoughtfully chewing some cheese and a chunk of bread. “I’m not exactly sure where the next town is,” he said. “I’m so used to going into Ishbal by rail.”
Riza glanced over her shoulder at him as she bent to refill one of the canteens from the pool. “Hohenheim said there would be a little town on the other side of the first row of rock pillars. There’s a pool something like this one, only much larger.”
Roy swallowed what he was chewing, and broke off another chunk of cheese with a nod. “I suppose he’d know, wouldn’t he? He’s probably been this way a hundred times by now. Maybe you should have brought him as a guide.”
She snorted, standing up and screwing the lid back onto the canteen. “And risk destroying that town back there with an alchemy battle? Not a chance. And besides,” she added, clipping the canteen onto the saddle of her horse, “I didn’t want him or anyone else. I want you all to myself.”
“Really? You think you can kidnap me in my sleep or something?”
“No. I plan for you to come back with me with full willingness.”
His jaw tightened. “That’s not going to happen.”
She shrugged. “Fine. Then I’m going to travel with you, wherever you go. Because I’m not leaving without you.”
Roy turned his back to the desert and regarded her for a moment. She seemed awfully sure of herself. So it was time for some hard truths, he decided.
“If you want to travel with me – go ahead. I won’t try to stop you.” He caught her surprised look, but drove on relentlessly. “It won’t really matter, in the end. Because you will leave without me, Riza, whether you want to or not. The years are going to go by, and you’ll get older – and older – and one day you’ll be an old woman while I’ll still be exactly as I am today. You’ll try to keep up with me, because I know that you’re just that stubborn. But eventually you just won’t be able to. Or you’ll force yourself to keep going, and one day you’ll simply collapse and die. And then I’ll bury you, and keep on going as I always have. And you’ll have made no difference at all.”
She stared at him, eyes widening as his voice rose. He hated himself even as he spoke the words, but she simply had to face the facts. She had to understand, once and for all, why he was doing what he was doing. And how she would be hurt, if she kept on with this course.
Riza rubbed her hand down her horse’s neck a couple of times, as though not really aware she was doing it. At last she licked her lips carefully and remarked, “So that’s going to be the way you do things, is it? You’re going to let your immortality make you cruel. Hohenheim may not be perfect, but at least he doesn’t let himself do that. Maybe it’s something you grow out of eventually. Or,” her own voice sharpened, “maybe you just enjoy wallowing in self-pity. I’m sure you’ll refine it to a great art some day.”
“Is that what you think – “ Roy began, but broke off as she ignored him, mounting her horse once again.
Her eyes were hard as she looked down at him. “Are you coming, or not?”
He clenched his jaw and grabbed the reins of his own horse, swinging up and then urging it forward, out of the little oasis. He headed east, toward the distant pillars of rock, and Riza followed him wordlessly.
Hohenheim stood at the kitchen window, sipping his coffee and gazing southeastward into the darkness of the night. He heard a sound behind him, and glanced at Havoc as the man joined him. Ed and Armstrong had only been gone for a few minutes, heading back to the Rockbell place, and Alphonse and Mei were setting up bedrolls for the four who were holding down the fort in Roy’s new house.
Hohenheim set his cup on the table beside him and continued to gaze across the few feet of the garden that were illuminated by the kitchen and back porch lights.
Havoc remarked, “I suppose we should just go to bed. It’s not like we’ll bring them back by staring into the dark all night.”
“I’ll go in a minute,” the other man nodded. “I’m just a little worried. I know how upset he is, and I really wish Ms. Hawkeye had let me come along.”
“Trust me,” said Havoc. “It’s best that she handles him by herself. And she’s going to bring him back. You’ll see.”
“Maybe. But it could take a long time.”
“Oh, she thinks no more than a couple of weeks at the most.” Havoc chuckled slightly. “If you want to place a bet against that, I guarantee that I’ll win.”
“He will, too, dad,” said Alphonse as he came into the kitchen. “Riza has been handling the Commander – I mean Roy – for a long time. If she thinks two weeks, then that’s how long it will be.”
Hohenheim regarded his son for a moment. “Maybe you and Mei should have gone back to Central, then. You’ll be away from your studies for almost a month by the time you get back, even if Ms. Hawkeye does do what she says she’ll do.”
“No.” Al went to the back door and pulled aside the little curtain on the window, peering into the garden before letting it drop closed again. “I really want to be here when he comes back. I think we’ll all have a lot to talk about.” He smiled. “But anyway, the beds are ready. Mei and I are turning in now. We want to get up early so we can finish planting Roy’s garden for the spring.”
Hohenheim nodded. “I think I could sleep now too.” He added, to Havoc. “I hope you’re right. He really does need some help.” He put a hand on Havoc’s shoulder for a moment, and then followed his son out of the room and down the hall.
Havoc remained a moment longer, gazing south into the dark night. Then he stretched with a long yawn, realizing again just what a tiring day it had been. He headed for the kitchen door and flipped the light off as he went out. Maybe he should have turned the porch light off too, but he decided it needed to stay on.
(Continue to Chapter 9)
She was always impressed by his reflexes. Virtually the instant he saw her, he was on his feet and over the other side of the cot, standing there as though it were somehow a barrier between them. To his credit, he didn’t start looking for an ignition glove or raise a hand as though to snap his fingers. There was that much recognition, at least, in that first moment. Though naturally she’d been ready to lunge aside if he’d had his glove on and had indeed sent a bit of flame her way.
Meanwhile, recognition of another sort flooded into his eyes as his brows came down and he snarled, “What the hell are you doing here?”
Which was, of course, exactly what he had said when they’d found him at the edge of the gorge. Riza didn’t move, responding mildly, “Are we going to have that whole conversation over again?”
“What whole – “ and he stopped. He pursed his lips. “Hawkeye, why won’t you just leave me alone? How emphatic do I have to be, before you’ll just go away – “ and he stopped again.
He really had very expressive eyes. Or maybe she just knew his mind better than most. She understood the thought in those widened eyes, and nodded. “Yes. Hohenheim told us. He couldn’t really keep it from us any longer when we didn’t find your…”
His hand moved, involuntarily, to rest on his abdomen, and he turned his head away. “Well, it doesn’t matter whether you know or not,” he said softly. “I still just want you to go away. Can’t you understand that?”
“Well, of course I understand it, now that I know,” Riza retorted. “That doesn’t mean I’m going to leave you.”
“But why? Why?” he demanded raggedly.
“Because you told me I must guard your back. And I’m not finished the job yet.”
Roy’s jaw tightened. “I think I’ve already amply demonstrated that my back – and my limbs and everything else – don’t need guarding any more. I could probably walk through a whole army shooting bullets at me and not be harmed. For very long, at least.”
It was still such an impossible thing to grasp that for a moment she just stood there, watching him. Finally he sat on the edge of the cot and ran his hands through his hair. “I thought I’d thrown you off by backtracking.”
“I know you did. But I know how you think, remember?” Riza replied, amused.
“I suppose the others are downstairs?” he asked wearily.
“No. I sent them all away. There’s only me.”
His head jerked up. And then he was on his feet again, yanking the curtains open and leaning both hands on the sill and his forehead against the window. “I can’t stand this,” he muttered. “Riza…please. Don’t do this to me. I don’t need guarding any more, so please…just let me go.”
“Maybe your body doesn’t need guarding,” she replied. “But your soul certainly does. The last thing the world needs wandering through it is someone who’s immortal and has gone completely mad. So I’m here to keep you from going mad.”
“You just don’t get it, do you? That’s what I’m trying to do – to avoid going mad. You’re just going to make things worse for me, not better.”
“Yes, I know that’s what you think, but I happen to know better than you, this time. And this isn’t the first time, if you remember. Now,” she added briskly, finally straightening and uncrossing her arms. “I think we should get going. I’m sure you were planning to leave much earlier than this. We’re heading for Ishbal, I take it?”
“We aren’t heading anywhere,” Roy grumbled.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s South City, Ishbal, or Aerugo, I’m coming with you, Roy, and you might as well resign yourself. By the way, I brought the horse you bought back in the village, so you can send back the one you’ve stolen.”
“How did you know – “
“Well, you didn’t have any money, did you? It was all in your saddlebags, and those were left at the top of the cliff with your original horse. So now at least we can buy food and pay our way as we go.”
“I tell you, I’m not going anywh – “
“What I’ll do now,” she interrupted, “is head down to the stable and have the horses saddled. They’ve already been fed. Oh, and I’ll settle up your bill while I’m down there, too.”
He began to turn toward her, saying, “I don’t appreciate how you’re taking over my life,” but she heard the last couple of words through the closed door as she stepped outside and shut it behind her. Smiling to herself, she headed down the hall toward the stairs.
But the smile faded as she reached the main floor. How sad he’d looked! And – more than she’d ever seen him – frightened. He really was floundering right now, wasn’t he? She was definitely going to have her work cut out for her, she could tell.
Riza had wanted, more than anything, to run to him and throw her arms around him, at the sight of his body whole and well. Less than twenty-four hours ago, she’d seen him plunge from the top of a cliff, and had expected to find him lying dead and mangled at the bottom. She knew there were very serious implications to his having become as long-lived as Hohenheim – but at the moment, the fact that nothing could ever harm him again overrode all other considerations.
But she couldn’t let her gladness at finally having caught up to him weaken her resolve. For his sake, until he wasn’t reeling quite so wildly, she’d have to be very strong and matter-of-fact. He needed some stability at the moment, something to anchor himself on.
It took only a moment, at the front desk of the little inn, to discover that he’d had just enough money to cover his bills for the night. Having satisfied herself on that point, Riza went to the stables adjoining the inn, as promised, where the horses were already being saddled. “Hold them just a few minutes more,” she instructed the stableman. “We’ll be ready shortly.”
She wandered through the back door of the stable area, walking through a small yard to where a blond, freckled boy in his early teens sat on a barrel by a back fence, kicking his heels against the barrel slats. Pausing at his side, she followed his gaze to a window on the second floor. It was open, and they could see the curtains fluttering as air circulated into the room beyond it.
“Well?” Riza said.
“You were right. He jumped down just a couple of minutes ago.”
She dropped some coins into his outstretched hand. “Want to show me where he went?”
The boy grinned and nodded. He was obviously finding this game a lot of fun. Riza was not about to admit that she was too.
They didn’t have to go far. The market area was just a couple of lots down from the inn, and buying and selling were in full swing since it was mid-morning. The boy took Riza to a large stall and pointed to a wagon that was just pulling away from it, laden with sacks and boxes of produce. She handed him another coin, and was very conscious of his still-grinning face at her back as she sprinted toward the wagon, waving for the driver to stop.
After her quiet, hurried explanation, the man obliged her by stepping down from his seat and climbing onto the back of the wagon to shift a couple of boxes aside and heave some sacks of grain out of the way.
Roy stared morosely at Riza from his hiding place behind the boxes. She remarked mildly, “One would think you’d still like to preserve a little dignity.”
“Oh, shut up,” he snarled, climbing off the wagon and dusting himself off. After Riza had paid the driver a couple of coins, and tossed another one to the freckled boy for good measure, Roy muttered, “You’re making awfully free of my extra money, aren’t you?”
“Well, if you didn’t make it so necessary…,” she sniffed.
This time, he walked beside her without protest as she headed back toward the inn and the stables. But he found another cause for complaint as she paid the stableman enough money to take care of the stolen horse “until we come back for it.”
“Maybe you’re coming back,” said Roy, “but I’m not.” He scowled suspiciously at her. “How many days did you pay him for, anyway?”
She smiled, tucking the bag of coins into one of her own saddlebags. “I’m not telling you.” She swung herself up onto her own horse, tossing him the reins to his. “I’m surprised at just how much money you’ve been carrying, though,” she said. “You could have been robbed if anyone guessed.”
“I wouldn’t have been robbed,” he retorted. “You know that. Nobody could have harmed me, so they’d never have gotten anywhere near the money.”
“Unless they threw you off a cliff.”
“Stop!” he flinched, turning his face away. “Just stop.”
“Yes,” Riza snapped with sudden vehemence. “I’d like to stop. But you just keep going on with what you’re doing, no matter how you’re hurting people. Do you have any idea what it felt like to us, watching you go over the edge like that and thinking we’d lost you? Havoc cried like a baby.”
“You wouldn’t even have been there – and I wouldn’t have fallen over – if you had just let me go,” Roy snapped back. “So if you have a few unpleasant experiences along the way, don’t blame me.”
A long pause. “’Unpleasant experiences’,” Riza repeated expressionlessly. “Like watching you die.”
Another pause as his eyes moved to her face and then slid away again. “All right,” he said at last. “That was unkind. I’m sorry you and Jean went through that. And the others. I never meant for anything like that to happen.”
There were so many things she could say to him right now, about pain and abandonment, and how you didn’t need to see someone topple over the edge of a cliff to still feel those things acutely. But she had to be judicious about how much she lectured him. Time enough to do that gradually, as they went along.
She allowed her voice to soften. “Let’s not worry about anything right now. Let’s just go for a ride, shall we? I don’t know how close we are to Ishbal from here, but we’ve lost some time this morning already. Maybe we should pick up some extra water bottles in the market so we’re sure to have enough as we head east.”
Roy stood below her, between the two horses, and looked up at her for a very long moment. But at last he allowed himself the merest ghost of a smile, and swung up onto his horse. “All right,” he said. “For now. But I’ll shake you off yet.”
“No you won’t,” Riza said. She was rewarded with a little laugh as he directed his horse toward the stable exit and led the way out into the sunshine.
That had gone far better than she expected.
But she smiled privately as she watched the movements of his back and shoulders as he adjusted to the gait of his horse, and the glints that the bright sunshine struck off his hair like sparks from flint. It was so good to be with him again. But she wasn’t stupid. She still didn’t trust him for a second.
* * * * * * *
He was so furious with her that he wanted to spit. And – perversely – he was so glad she was here that he could hardly contain himself. But he did manage to do so, because it just wouldn’t do, to let her know how eagerly his heart had lifted at the sight of her standing in his room when he’d awakened a few minutes ago. For one thing, he meant it when he said he planned to try to shake her off. It was the wisest thing he could do, for both their sakes, painful though it might be. But it would be even harder, once the time came, if he let himself enjoy her company right now…too much.
He had to admit that it did make a difference in his mood, though, as he rode beside her through the sunshine along the street. He watched her dismount at a booth in the market where there were water canteens for sale, and savored the sound of her voice as she haggled good-naturedly to try to bring the price down. Something she must have learned in Ishbal all those years ago, he surmised.
It occurred to him that he could spur his horse and try to ride away while she had her back turned – but he decided he wouldn’t do that, just now. Later, naturally. But right now he simply let himself enjoy the glow of her golden hair, and the sound of her voice as she talked to the owner of the booth.
He thought he’d left her behind forever, as he said goodbye to everyone at the train station a couple of weeks ago. But not yet. Not yet. It seemed he could steal another precious day or so, before the final break.
Riza handed an extra canteen up to him with a smile, and he couldn’t help but return the smile as their fingers touched, just for an instant. He hooked the canteen onto a saddlebag as she got back onto her horse, and finally they were on the road in earnest.
* * * * * * *
Now that he’d been discovered, the pressure to ride at great speed and get as far away as possible, as soon as possible, had naturally vanished. What he’d been fleeing from had caught up with him, so there really wasn’t much point in riding with the same desperation, was there? Though if he managed to give Riza the slip at some time, later on, that urgency would undoubtedly return.
However, he couldn’t very well do that right now; it only took until late afternoon until their eastward course left the rich farmlands behind and the land began to dry up. There were few settlements in this area, and as it flattened out, one could see for miles and miles. If he’d tried to escape Riza’s clutches right now, she’d have been able to keep an eye on him from a great distance, and catch him at a leisurely pace.
The ridges that had kept the dry air of the eastern desert from flowing into the regions of Amestris near Risemboul had gradually lowered, the farther south he’d ridden. Now they consisted more of large outcroppings, like massive pillars on either side of wide gates through which the dry air came pretty much unhindered. The closer he and Riza rode to Ishbal, the dryer and warmer it became.
They had stopped to eat at a rare green spot, where water bubbled up into a small pool nestled within a half-circle of high rocks. Already the horses seemed more glad than usual of the water.
Roy stood looking east, thoughtfully chewing some cheese and a chunk of bread. “I’m not exactly sure where the next town is,” he said. “I’m so used to going into Ishbal by rail.”
Riza glanced over her shoulder at him as she bent to refill one of the canteens from the pool. “Hohenheim said there would be a little town on the other side of the first row of rock pillars. There’s a pool something like this one, only much larger.”
Roy swallowed what he was chewing, and broke off another chunk of cheese with a nod. “I suppose he’d know, wouldn’t he? He’s probably been this way a hundred times by now. Maybe you should have brought him as a guide.”
She snorted, standing up and screwing the lid back onto the canteen. “And risk destroying that town back there with an alchemy battle? Not a chance. And besides,” she added, clipping the canteen onto the saddle of her horse, “I didn’t want him or anyone else. I want you all to myself.”
“Really? You think you can kidnap me in my sleep or something?”
“No. I plan for you to come back with me with full willingness.”
His jaw tightened. “That’s not going to happen.”
She shrugged. “Fine. Then I’m going to travel with you, wherever you go. Because I’m not leaving without you.”
Roy turned his back to the desert and regarded her for a moment. She seemed awfully sure of herself. So it was time for some hard truths, he decided.
“If you want to travel with me – go ahead. I won’t try to stop you.” He caught her surprised look, but drove on relentlessly. “It won’t really matter, in the end. Because you will leave without me, Riza, whether you want to or not. The years are going to go by, and you’ll get older – and older – and one day you’ll be an old woman while I’ll still be exactly as I am today. You’ll try to keep up with me, because I know that you’re just that stubborn. But eventually you just won’t be able to. Or you’ll force yourself to keep going, and one day you’ll simply collapse and die. And then I’ll bury you, and keep on going as I always have. And you’ll have made no difference at all.”
She stared at him, eyes widening as his voice rose. He hated himself even as he spoke the words, but she simply had to face the facts. She had to understand, once and for all, why he was doing what he was doing. And how she would be hurt, if she kept on with this course.
Riza rubbed her hand down her horse’s neck a couple of times, as though not really aware she was doing it. At last she licked her lips carefully and remarked, “So that’s going to be the way you do things, is it? You’re going to let your immortality make you cruel. Hohenheim may not be perfect, but at least he doesn’t let himself do that. Maybe it’s something you grow out of eventually. Or,” her own voice sharpened, “maybe you just enjoy wallowing in self-pity. I’m sure you’ll refine it to a great art some day.”
“Is that what you think – “ Roy began, but broke off as she ignored him, mounting her horse once again.
Her eyes were hard as she looked down at him. “Are you coming, or not?”
He clenched his jaw and grabbed the reins of his own horse, swinging up and then urging it forward, out of the little oasis. He headed east, toward the distant pillars of rock, and Riza followed him wordlessly.
* * * * * * *
Hohenheim stood at the kitchen window, sipping his coffee and gazing southeastward into the darkness of the night. He heard a sound behind him, and glanced at Havoc as the man joined him. Ed and Armstrong had only been gone for a few minutes, heading back to the Rockbell place, and Alphonse and Mei were setting up bedrolls for the four who were holding down the fort in Roy’s new house.
Hohenheim set his cup on the table beside him and continued to gaze across the few feet of the garden that were illuminated by the kitchen and back porch lights.
Havoc remarked, “I suppose we should just go to bed. It’s not like we’ll bring them back by staring into the dark all night.”
“I’ll go in a minute,” the other man nodded. “I’m just a little worried. I know how upset he is, and I really wish Ms. Hawkeye had let me come along.”
“Trust me,” said Havoc. “It’s best that she handles him by herself. And she’s going to bring him back. You’ll see.”
“Maybe. But it could take a long time.”
“Oh, she thinks no more than a couple of weeks at the most.” Havoc chuckled slightly. “If you want to place a bet against that, I guarantee that I’ll win.”
“He will, too, dad,” said Alphonse as he came into the kitchen. “Riza has been handling the Commander – I mean Roy – for a long time. If she thinks two weeks, then that’s how long it will be.”
Hohenheim regarded his son for a moment. “Maybe you and Mei should have gone back to Central, then. You’ll be away from your studies for almost a month by the time you get back, even if Ms. Hawkeye does do what she says she’ll do.”
“No.” Al went to the back door and pulled aside the little curtain on the window, peering into the garden before letting it drop closed again. “I really want to be here when he comes back. I think we’ll all have a lot to talk about.” He smiled. “But anyway, the beds are ready. Mei and I are turning in now. We want to get up early so we can finish planting Roy’s garden for the spring.”
Hohenheim nodded. “I think I could sleep now too.” He added, to Havoc. “I hope you’re right. He really does need some help.” He put a hand on Havoc’s shoulder for a moment, and then followed his son out of the room and down the hall.
Havoc remained a moment longer, gazing south into the dark night. Then he stretched with a long yawn, realizing again just what a tiring day it had been. He headed for the kitchen door and flipped the light off as he went out. Maybe he should have turned the porch light off too, but he decided it needed to stay on.
(Continue to Chapter 9)
