A/N: You probably already know this song, so the story may be a little predictable. But still, thanks for clicking that link and giving my humble little story a go

Say Something

They had been parading through Central to welcome Fuhrer Roy Mustang's return to the capital from weeks of overseeing progress across the country. It was the final display of pomp before the real business of rebuilding the country began. He could almost smell the scent of newly typed documents, each one requiring his undivided attention and official seal.

People were crowding in the streets, waiting for the Fuhrer's car to pass by. Hundreds of children cheered as eagerly smiling men and women waved little banners. Of course, most of them were in it for the parade and the music, but seeing their new Fuhrer was also a plus. Tiring and loud as it may be, it was the populace's chosen way of showing their love for their new Fuhrer.

To others, it was a display that would usher in the new era. A welcome parade is increasingly common, after all. But to Roy, the day held more than meets the eye…

It was the day when Roy, after more than two decades of waiting for the day to finally speak up, would be able to tell Riza that frat laws be damned, he wanted to be with her. He even brought the ring he intended to propose to her with at all times. It was a simple silver band with a teardrop-shaped diamond.

Tears, he thought. May this ring symbolize my promise to never hurt you or make you cry ever again.

Today, the ring enclosed in its velvet box felt a little heavier than usual in his pocket.

She had been her usual busy self during their return, ensuring he had everything he needed. Roy on the other hand, had been particularly fidgety.

"Are you alright, sir?" Riza had asked, concern dawning on her face.

"Yeah… Uh. Just a little overwhelmed, I guess. But at least it's finally over." He ran his bare hand over his slicked back hair, a hairstyle he had chosen to don during events like this. As Fuhrer, he had also opted not to wear his gloves unless he absolutely needed to. He was a leader now, not a warrior. In this era, he had vowed that using alchemy as weapons would be reduced to cases of absolute need and nothing more.

"Yes, sir. By the way, this came for you earlier." She said, handing a batch of papers to him. "Fuery handed it over to me as you were speaking to the mayor. He said this is the first thing you'll be working on once you get back to the office."

Roy took the papers from Riza, their fingertips brushing slightly. He smiled at the touch, and she tried her best to suppress the grin slowly forming on her face. His smile was tender, loving even. He looked at her like he hadn't seen her in years, despite the fact that they've been riding together throughout their journey across the country.

"You wouldn't be the one to ask, but I thought you should know what this stack of papers contains." Roy started.

She just looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

Roy took a deep breath and nervously fiddled with the edge of the papers. "They're an account of every appeal to abolish the fraternization laws. I thought… I thought I'd work on it immediately." He looked at her, not knowing what to expect.

A furrow appeared on Riza's brow as she stared at him. "Sir, I…" She trailed off, not having the slightest idea what to say.

"It's a strange way of saying it. But I guess it's the way we're accustomed to. I… To put it clearly, this… What I'm trying to say is… These laws…"

Riza reached over and placed her hand on his, smiling at him as she did. "I understand, sir."

Roy took a deep breath of relief and smiled at her. "And here I was, worried that you wouldn't have the slightest clue what—"

"SIR, WATCH OUT!"

Riza grabbed Roy by the arm and pulled him down onto the seat of the car, flinging herself forward to shield him as she pulled a gun from her holster. She'd have fired, but a flurry of people were in the way, and her pistol was nowhere near as precise as her rifle.

The man holding the revolver was startled by Hawkeye's alarming speed, and instead of fleeing, he fired several shots without bothering to aim, sending bullets clean through the two windows of the car.

Before the assassin could fire another shot, Roy's hand shot up and alchemically bent the remnants of the car window onto the man, sending his revolver flying through the air. The Fuhrer's men made quick work of tackling and restraining the screaming man who turned out to be one of the soldiers who had remained loyal to Bradley to the end.

Roy watched as his men put the assassin in handcuffs. He breathed a sigh of relief until…

"S-sir…"

He had never seen so much blood on her before.

The Fuhrer's car careened through the streets, honking its horn all the way to the hospital.

Roy had cradled Riza's bleeding body in his arms throughout the entire ride. With both hands, he applied pressure onto the bullet wound on her chest. She was conscious, but her eyes were out of focus.

"Sir, are… are you… okay?" She faintly whispered.

"How could you be so selfless?! Riza, we're headed to the hospital. You'll be fine. You shouldn't have lunged forward, I had a hundred other men watching out for me. You shouldn't have done that."

"I…" Her voice was barely a squeak, "I had to…"

"Riza, please don't strain yourself. We'll be at the hospital in a few minutes. We can talk later, okay? You can lecture me on being alert when you're better, okay?" He said with a strained little laugh. Inside, he felt like shooting himself for choosing not to even have his gloves on his person. He could have cauterized the wound. He could have stopped the bleeding. He should have learned alchehestry when he had the damn chance!

"We won't… Be…"

"Yes, we will!" He whispered harshly as he leaned his forehead onto hers. "We'll talk about it later, and you'll be on sick leave, and I'll visit you at the hospital every single day. I'll bring Black Hayate with me every day, and I'll keep him in the office with me to make sure he doesn't get lonely while you're recovering."

He continued, desperation clinging onto his voice as he felt her pulse weaken beneath his hand, "And then… And then… when you're better… I can… Well, I refuse to propose to you at a hospital."

She gave a slight chuckle at his words, her eyes slowly closing. She placed her hands over his and smiled.

"Riza, stay with me, please. We're just a block away!"

"Roy…" Her voice was tinged with so much pain that it came out almost as a rasp, "Roy, I'm sorry… I can't… Protect you... Anymore…"

"What are you saying?!" He said, forcing a smile onto his face. And then he saw that her face had calmed, as if the pain had been washed away. As soon as their car stopped, he realized that she was gone.

His pained scream could be heard a block away.

You would have followed me to hell, but I never got to tell you that I'd do the same and more for you. Anywhere, I would have followed you.

It was mentioned during her burial that she died in the line of duty in order to protect the Fuhrer. Everything else from the condolences of the people around him to the rain that fell on him as he stood over her grave was a blur. Had she been here, she'd be ready with an umbrella to keep him from being "useless."

He knew that she meant it when she said she'd lay her life on the line for him. But because of his trust in her quick hand, her sharp eyes and the ability of his other men to protect him, Roy had never thought she'd have to die for him.

As for the assassin who was responsible, he made sure that he felt the fires of hell before even setting foot in there. Riza would have been against using his power for revenge, but Roy no longer cared. She was gone. All he had left was the revenge he would exact on the man who had taken her away from him.

You're the one that I love, and I'm saying goodbye.

Roy had never imagined how life would be like with her gone. On the day of her death, he had considered taking his own life. But his sense of duty and the fact that Riza's death had been to protect the man that would improve the country kept him from doing so.

It was the only thing that kept him going for years. And every single week, he would relay the details of his business to her grave, hoping he could get the sound advice she was known for giving.

30 years later

Roy Mustang paid his weekly visit to Riza's grave. In his term as Fuhrer, he had never wavered in his visits unless he was away on official business. In the first decade of her death, Roy would visit with Black Hayate, whom he had adopted.

After Black Hayate has passed away, Roy would visit alone. He could never face his friends, Fuery, Breda, Falman and Havoc, whenever he went to Riza's grave. He didn't want them to see the pain in his eyes. No matter how often they said that it wasn't his fault, he knew that it was. Even Fullmetal's empathic speech about self-pity couldn't move him.

During his term, Roy had been an efficient and just Fuhrer. The country was able to repair their relations with other neighboring countries, and he was able to improve the economy somewhat. He also managed to abolish some parts of the fraternization laws, but not all of it. He worked on it only enough to keep his word, but he soon moved on to other projects.

All of his friends, colleagues and even his family had asked him, after a respectful amount of time, if he would ever consider getting married. After a few years, they had all realized that there was only one person he wanted to marry, and he wouldn't be able to marry her in this life. They stopped asking soon after.

Roy would only spend about half an hour during his visits to Riza's grave. Sometimes he would sit by her grave, if his arthritis allowed. Other times, he would just stand there and let his eyes defocus as he imagined how their life would have been like.

He imagined proposing to her in the dorkiest way possible. She would smile tenderly as he slipped the ring on her finger. They would get married. They might even invite the Elric brothers. Afterwards, they'd start a life together, having a couple of kids along the way, each child bearing their mother's golden eyes and their father's dark hair.

But this life he had imagined was all in his head. He'd never have that life, not even with those women who threw themselves at him in the hope that he'd latch onto them. The life he had imagined would only be with Riza, no one else.

Roy was only able to spend a couple of minutes contemplating by her grave before he started to feel a little lightheaded. He motioned to his driver to take him home.

As soon as Roy eased into his favorite chair, he could feel all his bones straining. His body felt unusually heavy today.

He recalled this heaviness from the days right before a big battle. He felt it before he travelled to Ishval. It was the same heaviness that hung in his heart when he had agreed to burn off Riza's tattoo. This exact same heaviness was there when the gold-toothed doctor looked at Riza, knowing she was Roy's weakness.

Back then, this feeling signaled the beginning of a battle where he needed to muster up his strength to defeat an adversary. This time, however, it felt like the end of a long battle. He's ready to succumb to it.

In the light of the setting sun, on a day much like any other, Roy Mustang, ex-Fuhrer of Amestris, decided to let the heaviness call him into a deep sleep.

There was a loud thump, and then the familiar bark of a dog. Roy woke up with a start, pleasantly surprised that he hadn't fallen of his chair. His eyes had never completely regained their clarity after Dr. Marcoh's attempts to restore his vision, so it took him a while to focus his eyes on a figure standing near him. He reached for his gloves on the side table, ready to take on whoever dared to intrude into his home.

But as soon as his eyes were able to clearly focus, his expression changed from aggressive to surprised, and finally to that of a man who's seen the light at the end of the tunnel.

It was Riza, sitting on the chair opposite Roy. She wore the outfit she had worn on The Promised Day, only without the bloodstain on her collar. She was smiling at him. Black Hayate was beside her, characteristically behaved beside his mistress.

She was as dazzling as always.

"Would you follow me, Roy?" She said, reaching out his hand to him.

There was only one answer to that.

"I would follow you to hell, if you ask me to."

She smiled knowingly, "We're going somewhere else, my love."

Roy rose to his feet, the aches and pains in his body seemingly lifted away by her presence. He walked towards her and took her familiar hand.

"Riza Hawkeye, I have a question to ask you…"

Anywhere I would have followed you…

The next day, the maid found the body of the ex-Fuhrer Roy Mustang seated on his favorite chair. On his face was a serene smile that no one in the past 30 years had seen. He had his gloves in one hand, and an engagement ring still in its box on his other hand.

A/N: Please leave a review if you have the time. Thank you :D