Riza and Roy sat on the dirt floor across from one another, their heads bowed down in solemn appreciation of this short rest. A fire burned in between them; Roy had started it hardly 15 minutes ago. Outside a battle was raging on in the distance and they were grateful to get a reprieve inside that abandon and now dilapidated, formerly Ishvalan home.

Though it was hardly a true rest. Rests, after all, do not exist in war. Even though it was late at night Roy and Riza could still hear guns going off, mothers calling to their children, orders being barked out left and right, and the ever present screams of wounded in agony. The once clear and star filled sky could not be illuminated tonight as the smoke from the canons clouded the air, forever drowning out those beautiful lights from any lonesome soldier's view.

They had been told to get some sleep but what sleep could be found when innocent people were being slaughtered only just a few miles off? And who in their right minds could sleep when they were the ones responsible for the slaughter?

Roy would occasionally look across the way to where Riza sat with her knees touching her chin. He had tried to make eye contact but even in restful times like these the air between them was still tense and he knew better then to keep his eyes on her for too long. He wondered if she was cold; he had hopped that the fire would help but in truth all it was doing was providing them something to stare wantonly at.

They heard footsteps approaching their safe haven and Riza instantly gripped her rifle, of which she never left far from her hand. Likewise Roy began to tense up as well and he took out his ignition glove and put it on his filthy hand.

"Hey Roy boy! Riza!" It was only Hughes. Roy and Riza dropped their guards with a sigh of relief.

"I told you Maes, not to call me that."

"Awe! You mean to tell me that your Aunt can get away with calling you that but I can't?"

"That's exactly right."

Hughes plopped himself down between Riza and Roy and he pulled out of his jacket pocket a small envelope that smelt faintly like lilies. Gracia had spriest it with lily scented perfume. The smile on Hughes' face grew by an inch or two as he announced "My 'beautiful future' has sent me a letter!"

"Beautiful future?" questioned Riza with just the faintest of strength; it was evident to all except for herself that she was beyond the point of exhaustion.

Hughes nodded ardently "Yep! My beautiful girlfriend Gracia—and soon to be wife." He said the last part in a sort of excited whisper, as though he were afraid that Gracia might hear this and his proposal would then lose all shock value.

"You know Maes, she can only be your wife if she actually says 'yes'"

"And what makes you think she won't! After all, this letter is proof enough that she's still thinking about me!"

"Alright, alright. Are you going to open the letter or not?" Roy's eyes scanned over to Riza and he caught the briefest glimpse of a smile; it was a minuscule but welcomed site.

Hughes opened up the envelope delicately, so as to preserve the whole of the letter. He unfolded it and began to read with his exuberant amount of energy. It read…

My Dearest Maes,

I'm glad that you were able to find your friend, Roy. Has he changed much since last time you saw him?

Maes stopped reading as he examined his friend. His hair was longer, his complexion paler, and like the rest of them he was in need of a bath. Being in a place like this would change anybody, that being said he could still spot obvious indications that his friend was still the way he always was; an idealist.

The letter went on is a dreadfully sugar coated fashion. Roy and Riza continued to listen to it all; small smiles would appear and disappear just as the flames from the fire rose and fell.

….my father is, thankfully, away on business and my mother is for once in good spirits.

"Does she not like her father?" questioned Roy

Hughes thought it over for a moment, intent on finding the right wording "Well…she grew up in a stifling household." That was the understatement of the century.

"Father's should never treat their daughters like that. After all, if a woman has a poor father figure she'll have trouble being close to anyone let alone finding a good husband."

It was at this point that Roy wished that he had interjected sooner.

"Not every woman needs to get married." Spoke Riza

Hughes turned to Roy and mouthed the words "What did I say?", Roy simply shook his head with a disheartened look. Hughes understood "No, you're right. As long as you share a close bond with someone marriage isn't a necessity."

Riza's head lifted slightly as Hughes finished the last bits of this precious letter.

Everyday I wait patiently for one of your letters to arrive in the mail and every night I dream of your return. I swear there are some nights when I can feel you. Please come home soon

Love,

Gracia

All was brought into silence. The words began to seep into the minds of the trio. His beautiful future was waiting for him and they knew that he shall have it. Roy and Riza could already see it. Gracia and Maes would get married, buy a huge house with an even larger backyard to entertain their seven rambunctious children; all of them would be girls, of course. This is what they could see and that is what made them happy. It was their own futures that appeared bleak and often, even nonexistent.

At that point Riza could scarcely count the number of times that she had narrowly escaped death and Roy could no longer imagine fresh air, free of the stench of chard flesh.

They were all lost. They didn't even know why they still fought; other then they did not want to die.

Roy had sworn to himself that if he were able to make it out of this alive he would make it up to Riza and the rest of Amestris; somehow he would make things better. As for Riza, she was waiting for Roy to voice his desires and assure her that he still had a plan. It was after all that childish dream of his that had led her to where she was now. Even after all the unspeakable and inhuman acts that she had paid witness to, she knew that she could go on as long as Roy did because if Roy was still fighting then their must be something worth fighting for.

Hughes folded the letter up and placed it back inside the envelope, he then kissed it with a loud SMACK!, before tucking it away safely in his jacket pocket. He then looked at his fellow comrades with their tired faced and darkened circles growing underneath their eyes.

"We should all get some sleep." He offered but they declined

"Alright, fine!" He pulled Roy close to his chest and Roy, who was too worn out to fight complied with great annoyance. "If you aren't going to sleep, fine. But I'm not just going to sit here staring at a fire all night. Instead were going to sing."

"Sing?" Roy groaned

"Sleep or sing; those are your options."

"What do we sing?"

Hughes tried to think of a repetitive song, which with any luck would eventually allow them all to sleep without realizing it. "I know." And he began a tune that was familiar to all of them.

"There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,

There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza,

There's a hole."

He nudged Roy's shoulder urging him to continue and so, reluctantly he did

"Then fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,

Then fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, fix it."

And Hughes continued on with that energy that seemed to come out of nowhere

"With what should I fix it, dear Liza, dear Liza,

With what should I fix it, dear Liza, with what?"

Hughes then motioned to Riza to move closer and begin to sing herself. She shook her head but Hughes continued to press her till she was laughing with annoyance at the notion that she was about to make an absolute fool of herself.

"With a straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,

With a straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, with a straw."

Before long they had gotten through the bulk of the silly child's song. Riza was smiling and it wasn't going away and no one was thinking of what lay outside or their own inner demons. They were simply laughing and singling like absolute morons. Soon, just as Hughes had hopped, they all began to yawn and it was begging to get harder and harder to keep their eyes open, let alone remember the next verse. Before long they had made poor Hughes into a life sized pillow; Hughes wished he had a camera then and there as in their sleep, Roy and Riza's hands reached towards each other.

But this was war and in war there are no sweet dreams.

The loud blast of a cannon had jolted the weary eyed trio from their slumber.

There would be no more sleep for the night; nor any songs.

There would only be thoughts of a beautiful future that they feared may never be.

I was looking for a song to use and the first song that popped into my head was "There's a Hole In The Bucket" so I used it. Hughes is kind of like the mother hen in this little group. I'm feeling a bit sick right now and the rain isn't helping. Well, hope you liked it.