"Zira... Interesting name... I'm Ed." "Nice to meet you Ed..." Zira waved goodbye, walking away. Ed knew there was something different about her, but he couldn't quite place it.
Zira planned on becoming a state alchemist, and had to go get the examination.
---
She passed. Now she was a state alchemist. She was very happy about this, but she had other feelings about it... She'd be at Central, everyday... She knew that there would be a good chance that the woman who killed the one person she had to care for her could be there...
But she couldn't be 100% sure until she went there. Of course, she did. Sure enough, Zira saw the woman. Even though the woman, Riza, had seen Zira during the Ishvalian* war, Zira had been a child, and looked a good bit different now. Riza wouldn't recognize her.
However, Zira recognized her... She couldn't completely hate her though, she knew that it would simply be stupid to do so. It was a war, and Zira's guardian had been fighting, even though he was just protecting Zira...
What else was there to expect?
However, Zira still had a grudge against Riza. Whether it had been a war or not, the one person she had, the one person who actually took time to care for her, was dead. And nothing could change that.
Over the past couple of weeks, Zira basically gave Riza the cold shoulder whenever she tried making conversation with her. Zira was at least a little friendly with everyone else.
However, with Riza, she would normally have a smart aleck comment, or just nothing to say at all. Riza finally got fed up with this. She stormed up to Zira, forcing Zira to look at her. "What's your problem?" Riza snapped.
"Nothing." "Do I look stupid to you? What the heck is your deal with me?!"
Zira stood there, looking Riza dead in the eyes as the two glared at each other.
Zira finally spoke, but it's not what Riza wanted to hear. "I've got my reasons, you don't need to know."
---
She flexed her fingers, bending and unbending them. "Stupid automail..," she mumbled. To anyone else, it would seem she had a normal arm, but in reality, it was automail.
It was strange for her. After so long of her having it, she still hadn't truly gotten used to it. It wasn't very good automail either. Sometimes she wouldn't be able to move that arm if she made any sudden, jerking movements with it. It would get stuck how it was, and she sometimes had to get help to fix it...
If she were in a fight with someone it would sometimes fail on her, not working for her at all, and she'd only be able to use one arm. She sighed. "Oh well... I'll just have to deal with it..."
