Author's note: I do not own FMA or its characters. This is AU.

Welcome Reminders

Roisin Mustang wrapped her shawl more firmly around herself and ducked into the nearest open building. It had just started pouring, and there was no she was walking home in that. She would wait out the rain in here. Looking around, she realized that she had walked right into a bar. It was fairly empty though. The thirteen year old girl draped her wet shawl over the back of a chair. There was a group of people over in the far corner of the bar, and she swore they looked rather familiar. Roisin sneezed. She'd figure them out later. Right now she needed a cup of tea.

The barkeep was more than willing to provide her with that, and Roisin sat down with her cup, turned so she could watch the others in the room. She had been on her way home from some last minute shopping for her sister's birthday. Aunt Evie had decided that twelve was old enough to go out shopping on her own, and besides, these days there wasn't much to worry about. Mina was going to be turning eighteen, and Roisin knew exactly what she had wanted to get her sister. The tricky part had been finding the things.

The group burst into laughter. Roisin bit her lip. She had to know them. Unfortunately, she could only see a few of their faces, a silver haired man and one with black hair and glasses. Where did she know these men from? They weren't relatives. Roisin's only male relatives were her aunts' husbands and her Uncle Roy. Though she hadn't seen Uncle Roy in quite a few years. When all the craziness with the military and the government had started, her uncle had distanced himself from the family. Aunt Evie had said it was to protect them, but some of the family members weren't so nice about it, especially her brother Kurt. Roisin still got cards and gifts from her uncle, but she hadn't actually seen him since she was six or seven.

It was a shame in her opinion. She liked Uncle Roy. Still, Roisin would admit that given all the crazy things that had been going on at the time (she didn't really remember them, but they talked about them in history class at school), it probably had been a good idea. However, now there was no reason for him to keep his distance. While he might not exactly be a national hero, he was a person of importance, and most people liked him. So Roisin couldn't see why he was hiding from his family.

She wondered what this group was celebrating, because it was clear that was what they were doing. Everyone seemed pretty happy. A girl about her own age got up from the table and headed over to the bar. Roisin felt her jaw drop as she made the connection. That was Elysia. They had been best friends since kindergarten. Of course, Elysia had been in and out of school at times during that. Given who her father had been, Roisin wasn't surprised. The daughter of Brigadier General Hughes would have been a target in the early days of the new government.

Elysia seemed to be ordering something for their table. She caught sight of Roisin as she turned and tossed her a bright smile. She came over to the table Roisin had taken for herself.

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

Roisin shrugged. "I got caught by the rain. I didn't want to finish walking home until it stopped. What about you?"

Elysia laughed. "Everybody's actually in town, so we thought we'd all get together, and when we heard Uncle Roy's news, we had turn it into a party."

"News?"

Her friend beamed. "Aunt Riza's finally pregnant. She's due sometime late this winter. Why don't you come on over? I'm sure they won't mind. I know Uncle Roy was talking about visiting his family while he was in town."

Roisin allowed herself to be pulled over to the table. Now that she knew who the people were, she had an easier time recognizing them. And it was easy to recognize Uncle Roy and Miss Hawkeye when she saw something other than the backs of their heads. Of course, it was probably Mrs. Mustang now. They both looked so happy together. Elysia pulled up an extra chair, and Roisin sank into it, joining in the laughter as a story wound to an end. She was mildly surprised by the welcome she received from people she only knew briefly several years ago, but it was good to be among old friends, and Roisin was more than happy to be reminded of that.

Theme: From Yesterday