Disclaimer: I do not own FMA. Title comes from Robert Frost

And have s t o p p e d dying now f o r e v e r

x.

"You're a general now, I see. That will take some getting used to."

"Oh, but I'll trust you'll adapt. We're all going to have to adapt."

The wind blows through the tent and it tastes of dust and promises and regrets.

x.

The first time they meet they shake hands and sit at a small table and they feel, really, quite civilized.

(except it isn't the first time they meet, it is the secondthirdfourth but they do not count those other times when guns were pointed and words were shouted because it would be in very bad taste)

They discuss schools that need to be built, buildings that have to be reconstructed, lives that need to be returned, and people that need a homeland.

They discuss expenditures, reparations, military presence, and governance.

After an hour they shake hands again and leave.

(red eyes meet black eyes and they think ah, maybe this is redemption but they are still not entirely sure)

x.

"Where did you grow up?"

"…Not here. But it was like this place."

"I grew up in the city. It was nothing like here."

"Oh."

"But I think I like this desert better. Is that strange?"

"…No. Not very."

It is something.

x.

The second time they meet is, in many ways, the same.

They discuss agriculture more than schools and geography more than politics.

Still, it is not so different.

It is not so difficult.

x.

"For awhile I thought the only way I could atone would be to be executed for my war crimes. It became my goal."

"And now?"

"There are other ways, I think. I can do more alive than dead, in any case."

"I use to want to encounter an alchemist who could kill me in a fight, I felt so guilty for surviving."

"And now?"

"It would be a very ungrateful death. I can continue to live a little longer."

They wonder if they have reached a strange understanding.

(it wouldn't be so bad)

x.

The sixthseventheighthuncountable time they meet they drop formalities.

(because why pretend when they know the truth and general and priest may sound pretty but when they scratch the surface a little more they already know what is to be found)

They discuss war and peace and guilt and lies and death and murder and life.

They discuss life most of all.

(and agree that it will always be their greatest mystery)

x.

A/N: I've always thought that the idea of Scar and Roy working together after the series would be interesting, so hopefully I've conveyed that well here. As always, constructive crit is appreciated!