It is What it Is (FMA Fanfiction)

Goal Setting

After Edward had turned down the corner, Alphonse faced Roy and Riza.

"Sorry..." He said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his armor head with his hand. "my brother can be a bit much at times."

"Seriously, kid, how do you put up with that...?" Roy sighed, questioning Alphonse's patience level. Dealing with Edward's attitude and smack talk had never been a irritant-free task for the Colonel himself, so he couldn't help but find a little respect for the younger brother.

Even if Riza didn't entirely agree with Roy's actions and way of handling the situation, she did understand that Edward had his own fair share of problems, so the fact that Alphonse had stayed so calm and level-headed about it all despite his young age was quite amazing.

"Well, he's not all that bad." Alphonse laughed a little. "Brother may act tough on the outside, but he's actually really sensitive when you get to know him. But also..."

He trailed off into silence, wanting to tell them about his brother's depressive behavior as of late, but didn't want to be an imposition.

"What is it?" Roy asked, noticing the hesitance in his voice.

"Well..." Alphonse trailed off into silence for a second. He had never disliked Roy, even if he did occationally disagree with his logic on things. Both Roy and Riza, for that matter, were people he considered important and even trusted. On top of that, they were two of the few that knew the full story behind Alphonse's suit of armor, so it made it a lot easier for him to come to them to talk about certain things if need be. "Brother has been kind of upset lately. I've been trying to get him to cheer up, but he's not really listening..."

"It does seem like something has been bothering him lately..." Riza said. Alphonse looked over at her. A part of him was relieved that he wasn't the only one that could tell Edward hadn't quite been himself.

"I..." he uttered in a low voice, Riza's and Roy's eyes on him. "I don't know what all is wrong, but I can tell he's not happy."

He could only guess an extent of what was upsetting his brother, and he wished Edward would talk to him more. But there were a lot of things he didn't talk about with anybody anyway, so it was hard to tell one way or another. He couldn't read Edward's mind, after all.

Roy and Riza could tell that there was probably a lot more to it than was being said as well. And for Alphonse to be so worried over it, it must be pretty serious.

Riza was about to speak, but it was surprisingly Roy who took the initiative.

"Don't worry, kid. We'll figure something out, alright?" he said, giving Alphonse's armor a light tap. Even though he had to tilt his head back, he gazed at him like a parent looking at a child. Of course, he wasn't aware of this, otherwise he would have denied it.

"Yes," Riza decided to add, giving a small smile. "you just enjoy yourself this week, Alphonse."

Alphonse was moved by the gesture, wanting more than anything to believe him, that they would be able to do something to help his brother. He said all he could think to, but it was no less genuine: "Thank you..."

"I should probably go after him for the time being though, in case he gets himself into trouble..." Alphonse said, a little awkwardly. Edward had seemed pretty angry when he had stormed off.

"Of course. You do that." Riza smirked a little.

As Alphonse began running off after his brother, she spoke up again:

"Those boys have really been through a lot..."

"Yeah, maybe this will actually do them some good... To take some time to themselves and just relax a bit." Roy's face turned a bit sullen. "Heaven knows they need it."