February 14 by Melinda-chan
Roy was running down the hallway as fast as he could. He then saw the sign that read "Maternity Ward" and quickly ran to the door.
"RIZA!!" he yelled as he busted into the door. He then went right to the receptionist's desk. "I need to see her now!"
"Who are you?" the receptionist asked. He then realized that she had never seen his face before.
"Roy Mustang," Roy answered. "I need to see my wife." The receptionist immediately pointed down a hallway.
"She's giving birth in Room 235," the receptionist told him. Roy at once ran down the hallway. He stopped when he saw the doctor come out of the door.
"Riza, is she-?" Roy asked. The doctor looked up at him.
"Your wife, she's trying hard, but we don't think we can save both of them," the doctor said. He then looked at him as if saying, "You have to make a choice right now."
It would be one of the hardest choices he ever had to make and he made a lot of hard choices in his life. Still, would he tell the doctor to save Riza, the love of his life, or the baby, whose life had barely begun? What would Riza do?
"Save the baby!" Roy said. "But try to save both of them if you can, do you understand?" The doctor quickly nodded and rushed back to the room. Roy felt like taking a breather. He marched back to the office and sat down on a chair.
Roy saw that he was not alone. Besides the receptionist, there were other expectant dads and other family members, waiting for the big news. He didn't believe that any of them had it as bad as he did. He then looked at the calendar by the receptionist's desk. It was February 14.
Roy found it ironic that this would be that day. He remembered four years ago when they finally decided to get married. No real big reason, other than they had no excuse now not to. They were both out of the military and they knew that time was running out for them, biologically speaking. Two vows, two wedding rings and a hotel night later, Roy and Riza decided to move to East City to start their new life together. Roy even got a job as a policeman. It was then that they decided to start a family.
It took them four excruciating years just to conceive and now Riza was giving birth at just 180 days of her pregnancy.
Roy remembered getting a call that said that his wife was giving birth, which alarmed him since she had three more months to go. But now all he could do was wonder if two, one, or none will be coming home with him next week.
He woke up to someone shouting at him.
"Mr. Mustang!" he heard a doctor say. He opened his eyes and realized that he fell asleep on his chair.
"What is it?" Roy asked in military-trained alertness.
"Come with me," the doctor said gravely. Roy knew that something bad had happened. He sighed.
"Yes," Roy said. He then followed him to the hallway. The doctor then turned to him.
"We tried to save them, but your wife…only survived" the doctor said in a very low voice. There was no point asking questions about it now.
"Riza, is she awake?" Roy asked.
"We had to anaethesize her because of the surgery, but she may be awake by now," the doctor told him. "I do advise that you be gentle. I think that she knows the truth." Roy now looked pained.
"I'll try to remember that" Roy said. He then opened the door of Room 235 and quietly entered.
At first, Roy thought that she died. Her eyes were completely blank, her skin pale white and she just laid there, without even moving her head to see who entered. He walked to her bedside.
"Riza…" Roy said. How that name conjured up so many memories! He still have to remind himself not to call her "Lieutenant" and she still have to remind herself not to call him "Colonel" or "sir." Now that she almost died, Roy didn't know what else to say.
Riza didn't respond. Maybe she did die. He looked closer at her. He then realized that look- as a soldier, he knew what emotional trauma looked like, though he would never thought that Riza would get as bad as this. He had seen her break down, for example, against Lust, but never like this. The doctor was right- she must've known that she lost the baby and now her mind was too shocked to respond to outside stimulus.
Roy knew that even the most loving husband could never comprehend his wife's feelings, especially in connection with losing a baby. In fact, he felt more relieved that Riza didn't die than being sad about losing the baby. Yes, he felt it a few times in Riza's tummy, but it's so different than feeling every little movement, not to mention the high hopes she had when she realized that she was pregnant.
But now that's all dashed to pieces. Maybe she even doubted that she'd ever be a mother.
"Riza, I'm here," Roy said. He then went over her face, as if trying to make her see him. It worked.
"Roy…" she said, her voice so soft that he barely heard it.
"Riza…" Roy said. He then took hold of her hand. "I wouldn't leave you. Just tell me what you want."
Riza then looked at him. He brushed her soft hair. Her eyes burst into tears.
"I'm sorry," she said.
"It wasn't your fault-" Roy said when she broke down.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry-" Riza said over and over again. Roy could only hold her into his arms while his own tears came down.
It was a few years later. Roy and Riza were walking to a gravestone. They were wearing thick clothes, as it was very cold outside. Roy looked down at the gravestone.
The tombstone reads:
THOMAS H. MUSTANG
DIED AT BIRTH, FEB. 14, 1921
LOVED BY DAD AND MOM
ROY AND RIZA
"I think we should revise the tombstone," Roy said.
"Hmm?" Riza said.
"It's not accurate anymore," Roy said. It was true. Riza was holding their newborn daughter, only a few weeks old. They had originally planned it to be born in the middle of February, but Royalle Mae decided to show up a few weeks earlier. When they decided to conceive again, it amazed them that they managed to do it right away. Maybe they waited long enough for both of them to recover from the loss of Thomas, and with time running out, they knew that this might be their last chance. Both of them were almost forty, and Riza may have only five more years before menopause kicked in.
As that was worrisome enough, when they did conceive, they were understandably concerned about the chances of a second miscarriage. The doctor told them that their chances were indeed higher, but assured them that the chances of a placenta tear like that was remote. Simply put, the placenta wasn't attached properly to her uterus. While something like that would've been checked very early in her pregnancy, the tear wasn't big enough until the baby became too heavy for the improperly attached placenta to carry anymore. By that time, the tear was complete and nothing could be done to repair it. With his lungs still too undeveloped, the baby practically drowned in the amniotic fluid before the doctors could open her and save him.
Thomas Hawkeye (the "H" on his gravestone) Mustang died before he could even breathe on his own. Roy knew that even if the doctors did save him, that he might've died anyway. Riza may have been spared from further agony. Still, it did hurt to know that something that you waited for so long had vanished right before your eyes, and there was nothing you could do. Roy was used to that helplessness, and so was Riza. War would do that to you. But now they finally have a child, he hoped that he and Riza would have a normal family, with all the baggage left behind.
At least that was his hope.
"I suppose so," Riza said. She then smiled. "It's getting colder. We should go home and celebrate our anniversary."
"Yeah" Roy said. "Though I do wish that I did have a son."
"You have Edward," Riza said.
"A good son," Roy said. He then laughed. "Let's visit them sometime though. I think that Alphonse would love to see our baby."
"Right" Riza said. "In spring."
"Right," Roy said. They then went back to the car. Edward and Winry now have their own daughter, Tricia Maria, and both of them hasn't seen her yet. She must be two at least. No matter how much Roy could change what happened to his son, at least he had a family now.
And what can he and Riza really want more right now?
Obviously, I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist. Square Enix and Hiromu Arakawa does with English translation rights by Viz Media. This is for a contest run by Dailenna at the RoyxRiza forums. If you like this, I also recommend that you read "Apology" which is also available on I would love some reviews now. I don't bite!