this story was sad and the omake needs more but i love it

I have always been in love with the darkness of Riza's past, especially the implications of having her back tattooed by her own father. I always thought of her completely emotionally scarred after that to a point it was a trauma that made her shaky and desperate like you portrayed her here while she was telling Roy what had happened. I believe she is such a fragile character, ready to break at any second. So, this story was like WHOA to me, because it had pretty much all I think about Riza's fragility in relation to her past.

It makes perfect sense for her father to have done human transmutation, it's extremely believable, but what I liked the most was the way you brought that up from the moment they saw what had happened with the Elrics. It opened a crack on Riza's facade and thus an unexplored part of her for Roy to go through. It was so exciting. I had the chills when he locked the door. At first I thought Riza was making too much of a show, but then the explanation you offered was so heartbreaking and amazing. I can totally see young Riza going to the store to buy the ingredients, only to come back full of blood on her clothes. Also her actually WATCHING the whole transmutation was tragic, yet perfect just like the way she still remembers the recipe for the taboo.

I liked, loved, every tiny detail of this story. It was so well thought. What Roy concluded on the life in the Hawkeye house after hearing all of that...everything made so much sense that I was dumbstruck. This story is now permanently engraved on my mind as my headcanon. Brilliant work, from the words you used to the whole idea and, God, the emotions. It's not everyday we find a story of Riza breaking in such way and Roy completely frozen in some kind of horrified awe. gjkrgfrikgjriogkjre Just amazing. *tears of emotion*

I find the idea of Berthold Hawkeye having performed human transmutation to be so logical and fitting that:

1- I wonder why I have never seen a fanfic with it happening before, and,

2- I will never think of the Hawkeyes' past without human transmutation again!

Totally bowled over, here!

Laawl :P Scaredy-cat Mustang. That's why he cauterised the wound Lust gave him - to get the blood off :3

This is amazing. I think you've got it exactly right - Berthold must have done human transmutation. This is part of my head canon now.

I can see Riza being older when it happened, though.

Ahhh! So good! I'm looking forward to reading any and all other Royai fanfics you have. It was wonderful to read a fanfic with good grammer and spelling. *laughs* And I must say, the story of Riza's father makes sense. It truly does. Very enjoyable to read-especially after cosplaying Roy and Riza this last weekend for AX. _

I like the line where he emphasizes how horrible it was by saying he hadn't seen anything like it even it battle.

sentence opening into second part makes me D

"This skill was part of why he had a tendency to have her be present for such discussions, even if she simply just stood behind him and never once spoke." Lovey this!

"He didn't suppose Hawkeye was so dense as to not know what he was getting at, and he began to think she was attempting to stall until she could find a way out of the situation." I feel so sad for both of them there

I love how when she tells him just to ask, you can feel how much she is begging him just to get it over with and out in the open, how horrible this memory is to her.

"Berthold Hawkeye had never been ill. He had been punished." goosebumps

So freaking sad. I got a bit teary eyes at the point where he comforted her/kept her from falling.

So beautiful and moving! 3

This is a well-written fic, laden with drama but without making it wangsty. I love how you showed Riza's great strength of character. :)

Hello, lovely! Good to see you're still kicking around :P I haven't got AIM anymore (and won't for a while) because of computer issues. Saving up for a laptop, which I might be able to afford by next year, though, and then MAYBE I'll see you around _

Story looks good :D I like the idea. I definitely did wonder about the coughing connection between Hawkeye-sensei and Izumi, and wondered if that was something similar. It's interesting seeing someone's perspective on it, though. Poor Riza - having to bury that thing :/

Say hi to Fire for me!

xoxo