Edward leaned his head on the headrest of his seat in the rear of the luxury car as he stared disinterestedly through his window at the passing scenery as the vehicle sped down the highway. It was the middle of the afternoon, and he, Roy, and Alex had been in the car for the past three hours, and between little naps and short stops, he had already read the few short, mindless novels he had brought with him. Knowing that there were at least four more hours to go until they reached the outskirts of Resembool, including rest stops and meals, he pulled his cell phone from his pocket and proceeded to play tic-tac-toe with the computer. After about thirty minutes of trading wins and losses with the cell phone's AI, the teen became aware of Roy announcing that they were pulling over so that the trio could stretch their legs.

It had been about an hour and a half since the last stop, so the blond tumbled gratefully out of the car, glad for the break as his left thigh had begun to cramp from his being sedentary for so long. Wrapping his hands around his phone, he reached above his head, pulling the tightness from his shoulders. Still in this position, he then stretched his legs by standing on tiptoe. Ed swayed side to side, remembering the exercises from when he was still in physical therapy after his arm and a heavy wooden baseball bat had shattered leg. Sighing at the awful memory, he let his arms drop to his sides and looked over at the two men, who were busy studying a map, obviously calculating the most efficient route to their ultimate destination. He had been surprised by their sudden desire to take him to Resembool, but it also made him happy. No one else had cared enough to try to learn about him and his past. However, he still couldn't bring himself to trust their good intentions completely, and his instinct told him that the two men were trying too hard to be too nice. An example of which was that neither man had brought up the embarrassing events of the previous night.

It felt good to grieve for his brother's brutal and needless death. He had cried before, over Al's death, and he felt that his nightmares would replay that day for the rest of his life. But he had never been held through it, had never shared his sorrow. Nobody had thought to console him as he wept since he was male, and therefore an unfeeling, unemotional creature. Yet, nice as it had felt, his mind wandered back to his strong distrust toward most adults, including Roy and Alex. Of course he wouldn't trust men he had known for less than a week, they were technically still strangers, though he was living with them for a few days. The teen snorted at the thought. Ed was shocked when he learned that the orphanage had granted Mustang the permission to take him to Resembool, although he was a known risk running away. Mustang had spent the morning on phone making the arrangements for the trip.

Looking away from the men huddled over the large piece of paper that was spread over the hood of the car, Edward let his eyes roam over the surrounding countryside. He could smell the cows and horses, mixed with the scent of wheat and cotton, on the breeze. By the smell of the livestock, which the teen was sure no one in Central would recognize, Ed knew they were outside of anything resembling a metropolis, and the young blond found himself missing a childhood spent with his mother and younger brother.

Glancing at the date and time on the face of his cell phone, which he had not yet returned to his pocket, he remembered that it was the time of year for the annual Resembool Rodeo Days. Sheep and wool were the major industry in the town of Resembool, but that didn't stop people from showing off their various farm animals, ranging from placid cows to hyper turkeys. Smiling to himself at the memory, he began to feel glad that his prospective guardian had chosen to visit his hometown, even if it were for such a heartbreaking task as visiting the graves of his deceased family. He hoped he might be able to visit the rodeo while there, if only to ease his nostalgia, and maybe to snag a bag of kettle corn, some funnel cake, or a cloud of sticky, sweet cotton candy. He needed to buy gifts for his family, anyway, so maybe he would try to win some prizes at the carnival that was a part of the rodeo.

He was still imagining the large, fluffy teddy bear he would place on his mother's grave, and the cute stuffed cat that he would win in his brother's memory when he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. He looked up into Alex's bright blue eyes. "Yes?"

"We're ready to go, if you are," the large man spoke softly. "We still have time to turn back, if you feel doing this might be too painful for you."

Edward swallowed as he lowered his eyes. "I want to go." He shook his head. "No, I need to go. I haven't been there since they buried Mom."

Alex nodded and turned back toward the car. "All right then. Let's be off. We still have a long way to go."

As the young blond slithered into his seat, he mulled over whether or not to ask Roy if they could stop off at the fairgrounds for a few hours. He usually never asked his foster parents for anything, as the answer had almost always been no the few times he had asked favors in the past. However, somehow, he felt that this time, the answer might be yes, considering how nice the older pair had been so far. "Roy..." he squeaked out, before clearing his throat and start again. "Roy?"

The dark-haired man turned in his seat at the sound of his name. "Yes, Edward?" He asked gently.

"I-I... I was wondering... While we're there..." he stammered, his hands fidgeting in his lap. He was losing his momentary courage under the steady gaze of Roy Mustang.

"Yes? Go on."

Ed swallowed. "Well, there's a rodeo going on right now... In... In Resembool... And, I..." He worked his jaw a few seconds before continuing.

By this time, Alex had slid into his seat and was buckling up. "A rodeo? Sounds like fun."

"Yeah! It is fun! There's sheep shearing contests and bull riding and all kinds of stuff at the fair!" Ed spoke excitedly before checking his enthusiasm. "I mean, it is. There's a lot of stuff going on... And... I was wondering if we could go there tomorrow..." The last part of his speech was spoken at a whisper.

Roy nodded. "We do have a couple days available to us." He nodded again, more sure this time. "I think that's a great idea, Edward. Let's go."