Healing
A/N: After Mr. Hawkeye's death.
"Hey, are you going to be okay?"
Riza sighs. "I don't know. I think so."
Roy lets that digest for a moment, then sighs, as well. "I'm sorry."
"There was nothing you could have done. The doctor said as much." Riza shrugs, clearly starting to tear up.
"Listen, Riza, I—" Roy stops, then starts again. "It's not that. I took your father away from you while he was still living. I had no right."
"My father loved me in his own way, Mr. Mustang. It didn't depend on him being around," Riza half-lies.
Roy knows it, too. He saw the pictures: Mr. Hawkeye holding baby Riza, each looking into the other's eyes, Riza starting to whine, and her father looking somewhat bewildered; Mr. Hawkeye reading with Riza's basket on his desk so that he could give her a bottle at the same time; Riza making a first attempt to stand, using her father's books as support, and Mr. Hawkeye looking confused and slightly annoyed. Roy does not know who had taken them, but he suspects it was Riza's mother.
He prefers the first one. It is how he would like to remember his teacher. Father and daughter have the same piercing eyes and the same soft golden hair. Even with Mr. Hawkeye's odd expression, the way he is holding the baby shows unconsciously that he loves her.
Roy wonders what happened, what caused the pair to become so distant, but knows asking would not be right. The two got along, even seemed to understand each other, even with how little they saw each other.
"Still…" Roy almost persists, then drops it. He walks over to Riza and gives her a hug. She is so surprised that she does not return it at all. Roy finally lets her go. "He would have liked to have done that one last time, I think."
Riza nods, starting to sniffle. "Maybe," she agrees.
"It takes time." The words are unnecessary, but who does Riza have left to tell her even the most obvious things?
"When do you leave?" whispers Riza, this subject sounding almost as painful as the previous one.
Roy bites his lip. "Tomorrow. If you… I can delay it—I'm sure that can happen."
Riza shakes her head. "You know it won't help."
"I wish it could, Riza. I really do." Roy tilts Riza's chin up to meet his eyes. "Really."
"I know," she says quietly, trying to mute the emotion not only in her voice but in her eyes. "Please."
Roy lowers his hand, then pulls Riza to him again. "I don't know, Riza. I just wish I could say something."
"It's enough."
He barely hears it, but does not doubt that she said it.
Someday I'll find the right words. I just hope I can get them to her somehow. Who knows where I'm headed, where she's headed? Roy has the overwhelming urge to run up to his mother and hug her, as he did when he was very young. Then, he gets it.
It really is enough.
END
A/N: To be perfectly honest, I'm half asleep as I write this, so I'm not sure this story makes any sense, but whatever. If it needs editing, please let me know.
By the way: The photos Roy saw are very much a description of a fanart that I can take no credit for. I just loved it so much that I had to fit it into a story.