Soldier Keep On Marching On

Our Fight

Don't give up
You've got a reason to live
Can't Forget
You only get what you give

**********

Roy groaned as Aiden once again threw him on his ass. For the past week, Aiden had taken up teaching Roy what she could about hand-to-hand in one of the training rooms of Eastern Command. In her honest opinion he was coming along rather swimmingly. He'd been terrible when they first started, Aiden had been able to floor him in less than a minute. Now it took her at least five minutes just to get close enough to land some type of blow on his person. It was strange how he was accepted into the military with such horrible defense, however, Aiden assumed he'd been accepted on his alchemy alone.

"Okay," Aiden puffed, brushing a stray piece of hair aside. "Time out, we need a break."

"That doesn't count, I slipped," Roy said as he shifted in discomfort on the ground.

"I made you slip."

"No, I was already in the process of slipping when you took out my leg. Doesn't count."

Aiden laughed at the response from Roy, who was lying still on the ground trying to catch his breath. Aiden grabbed their water bottles and sat next to Roy before handing him his own. She took a swig of water and sighed in relief. They'd been training nonstop for the last few hours so any reprieve from the workout was welcome.

"I hate my life." Roy didn't take his eyes off the ceiling. "Why did I agree to this?"

"Because you are in desperate need of help and I decided to become your teacher?"

She had no clue why he agreed. Aiden only offered because she felt bad about punching him; there was still a bit of a bruise on his jaw. They'd managed to locate a sparring room after he'd taken her up on the offer.

When she wasn't spending her time training Roy, Aiden would often plan for the future. This usually meant she was up at ungodly hours of the night, but it just had to be done. It was unfortunate that she hadn't gotten far. Any other time off was spent watching the rain fall and listening to the thunder roar above her. Strangely, the rain had come back almost immediately after the Elric brothers had left for Resembool, and it hadn't let up once. The roads were flooded with three-inch deep water and the nearby river canal was slightly overflowing with the added, rushing water.

Aiden glanced at the clock on the wall and sighed. They'd been training too long, it was time to go home. "Hang on Roy. Time's up for the day."

Aiden gathered up her things and shrugged on her coat, Roy following suit. They parted ways at the showers, both agreeing to meet up at the same place and time like they had been doing for the past week. Sometimes one of them would be late for some reason, but the other person always knew because both people tended to share their plans.

While Aiden left for the restroom, Roy made his way out of Eastern Command to head home. He glared up at the sky in annoyance, he hated rain, it made him useless. But Aiden was training him for times like this; when his alchemy would fail him and he would have a way to defend himself. She always said she believed in him and never degraded his hand-to-hand, no matter how bad it was. That woman was a constant source of light for him, Roy mused. Then he sighed and strolled onto the sidewalk, cursing the rain once more.

Sometime later, inside Eastern Command, Aiden closed the door of the women's restroom behind her and sighed in relief. A shower after working all day - sweating for most of it, had been welcomed like bread to a starving man. She wasn't the type to go sanitizing everything, but there was only so much sweat and grime she could take in one day.