He thought, with some note of dismay, that she was a very elegant sort of woman, when not weighed down by the heavy books that she usually clutched to her chest and he decided vaguely that they could not all have something to do with her work, for indeed he gave her little. Riza Hawkeye was a great reader in what spare time she had. She was very bright, in any case, and focused, with an air of great intelligence about her.
As he saw her now, watching from his table in the bustling Central café, she was leaning over her own, speaking casually with the blonde man who sat across from her. The man was very like her in looks, but seemed of a much lighter nature, leaning back half a moment later to laugh loudly, whilst Hawkeye only smiled.
"Really, though, Riza-chan," the man was saying, as Roy Mustang stood and moved slowly closer, pretending to be engaged in a conversation with a nearby woman he had never seen before in his entire life. "Despite his somewhat many shortcomings, you seem to have great esteem for him."
Riza tucked a strand of long blonde hair behind her ear, "I suppose I do. He means well- most of the time, anyway…"
Feeling the need to intervene, Roy stepped forward suddenly, "Hawkeye, what a surprise, seeing you here!!"
Riza looked up suddenly, "sir?"
Roy nodded, though, of course, it hadn't really been a question.
"Oh… is there something you needed, sir?"
"Not at all, Chuui- just thought I'd say hi!"
The man Riza had been speaking to smothered a small laugh. "Would you like to sit down?"
Roy didn't bother looking at Riza to see if she minded- it had been his intention all along, after all, "I'd love to," he said, and took the empty seat to her right.
The man looked at Riza pointedly and she gave a small, barely audible sigh, "Erich, this is my superior, Taisa Mustang. Sir, this is my brother, Erich."
"Brother, huh?" said Roy, sticking his hand out for the man to shake, "Well, it's always good to meet another Hawkeye-"
"Grumman, actually," said Erich, shaking it firmly.
"You changed your name then, Chuui?" asked Roy, a little, but not entirely, surprised.
"Yes, sir. When I was married," said Riza, clearly uncomfortable.
"Ma-?"
"Yes, sir. To a man named Edwin Hawkeye. It was brief."
"I'm sorry."
Riza ignored him, standing up, "I'll get the bill, Erich. Excuse me, sir." She left without another word and Roy watched as she retreated, still in shock.
"They met in the military academy," said Erich, offhandedly. "Her and Edwin. They married two months after graduation, when she found out that she was pregnant."
"What happened?"
"Edwin died in only his second mission for the military," said Erich sadly.
"And the baby?" asked Roy, leaning forwards a little, but then Riza returned and the men were forced to end their conversation.
"Come on, Erich, or we'll be late. I'm sorry, Taisa, my brother and I are on our way to a family reunion of sorts; we have to go now."
Roy stood, nodding and made to leave, but Erich held him back. "No worries," he said, grinning. "'Cause I just invited him to come along."
"Uhm… what?" Riza deadpanned.
"I'm sure he'd love to come, right?" Erich went on, "And besides, it'll save me being the only one forced to play Grandfather in chess."
"He'd only be bored, Erich," said Riza, shaking her head firmly.
"No way! Who was it you invited? That nice Ms Hughes! At the very least, you could make him watch Elysia-chan and Maro-chan while the both of you talk!"
"Taisa Mustang doesn't want to spend his Sunday off babysitting-"
"Are you kidding?" Roy intervened, grinning broadly, "I love kids! Lead the way!"
Riza sent her brother a helpless look, then nodded, sighing inwardly, "The car is parked over this way, Taisa…"
-
"Aunty Riza!" came the cry as the silver sedan pulled up at the Hawkeye family residence and little five-year-old Elysia-chan powered up, tailed by a slightly older, blonde girl, who was wearing a blindfold and attempting to dodge the guests scattered across the backyard.
"Mom!" the blonde girl giggled, tripping over. "Mom can you see me? I can't see nothing!!"
"Maro-chan, take that ridiculous blindfold off before you hurt yourself!" Riza snapped, leaving Roy with Erich as she went over to help the blonde girl to her feet.
"That's Maro-chan, her daughter," said Erich. "After she was born, my sister put her up for adoption, but by the time the childcare centre had managed to line up a set of parents, she couldn't let her go. She said that Maro-chan was the only thing that ever made her feel like a normal woman- the only one who'd never judge her no matter what. She'd give anything to see herself through that child's eyes."
Roy nodded sadly. "She's far too hard on herself."
"Taisa," said Riza, coming over with the young blonde girl, "You should probably meet my daughter, Maro-chan. I suppose that Erich has already told you about her…?"
"Are you Mommy's friend?" she asked shyly.
"No, he's my-" Riza began, blushing, but Roy interrupted her.
"Yeah," he said, bending down and grinning, "I'm your mother's friend."
"Elysia-chan is my best friend, but she went to talk to Aunty Gracia."
"Want me to come with you to get her?"
"Okay! I'll show you where!" said Maro excitedly and she began dragging him off.
Riza watched them go, shaking her head but smiling a little.
"Maro-chan seems to like him, huh?" said Erich, grinning broadly. "And wasn't that on your list of things to look for in a potential partner? That they had to like little Maro-chan and Hayate-gou?"
"Oh, shut up, Erich, he's my boss," said Riza, hitting him upside the head playfully.
"Nuh-uh!" Erich teased, "He's your friend."
"If the Taisa is a potential partner, then so is Havoc-"
"Are you kidding, that'd never work: Hayate-gou is scared shitless of him!"
"Breda-"
"He's scared shitless of Hayate-gou!"
"Falman-"
"That old goat shouldn't be allowed near kids."
"Fuery," said Riza triumphantly, "What about Fuery? Hayate-gou adores him!"
"But he's not all that fun, from what you've told me, and I don't think Maro-chan would like him quite as much as she likes your Taisa- look, they're playing tag now. The three of them."
Riza looked over reluctantly just in time to see Roy pick up Maro in one arm and Elysia in the other and spin them around fast. "Taisa, put the children down at once!" she called, glaring and Roy obliged sheepishly. "You see?!" she said to Erich, "I'd have to keep him under constant surveillance."
"You do that anyway, Riza-chan."
"Oh, be quiet!"
"You're just mad because you know it's true," Erich called, grinning as Riza stormed off towards the offending Taisa, but he was to receive no reply.
…
"Roy!" came a loud cheerful voice as Roy put the kids back on the ground- to their evident disappointment.
"Chuujo Grumman, good to see you," said Roy, flinching when he received a hard slap on the back from the surprisingly strong grandfather of Riza Hawkeye.
"Fantastic!" Grumman agreed brightly, "you'll have to verse me in chess later, won't you?! Did my granddaughter invite you?" the last part was said a little lower and was accompanied by a sly wink.
"Actually, no," said Roy, "it was Erich, we met at a café on their way here and he invited me along."
"A café? Didn't he know that Riza-chan was baking this year… then again, that's probably why he was eating out- her too. Have you had anything to eat?"
"No, I haven't," said Roy, "but I saw the food set out in the backyard on the way in, it looked great- what would you recommend?"
"From out there?" said Grumman. "Absolutely nothing. Riza-chan's cooking ability doesn't go past instant ramen, and that's only if she can get the package open. Speaking of ramen… I'll make us some, then we can go inside and play that game of chess."
"Don't you want to be mingling with your family at this reunion?" asked Roy doubtfully.
"Ha!" Grumman laughed, "As if! Riza will be talking to Ms Hughes, Erich will be watching the kids and getting yelled at by the both of them, and everyone else will be talking amongst themselves and silently wishing that they were somewhere else- it's the same every year. I just try to keep out of my wife's way."
"O-oh… Well, if you're sure…"
"Unless you'd rather have some fun with my little Riza-chan?" said Grumman, winking. "Because I'm sure that I can distract Ms Hughes for you…?"
"Don't be ridiculous, I'll play!!"
-
When Roy next became aware of the hour, it was almost 10pm. He had just played 143 games of chess and was in the middle of his 144th when Riza walked into the room.
"Grandfather, is it all right if Maro and I stay the night? I- Oh! Taisa, you're still here!"
Roy grinned and waved. "I can leave if you want?"
Realising how rude she had sounded, Riza blushed deeply. "I'm sorry, I meant no disrespe-"
"It's fine, I was joking."
Riza nodded slowly before turning to her grandfather.
"Of course you can both stay," he agreed in an instant. "You as well, Mustang. If you so wish."
"Are you sure?" asked Roy.
"Well you oughtn't be driving home in this weather at the very least," said Riza, shrugging and, looking outside, Roy realised that as well as growing dark, the sky had also unleashed a heavy torrent of rain upon them. Driving home would be, as she had said, quite ridiculous.
"I suppose I could stay just the one night," Roy agreed without really giving it much thought. "Can I say goodnight to Maro-chan?" he asked, then, of Riza, a happy smile lighting up his face.
"Of course," she agreed, gesturing out the door easily. "She's sleeping upstairs and to the left. There's something that I need to discuss with Grandfather first, so you can go on ahead."
Roy bounced off happily and when Riza returned to her room, there he was, asleep with Maro in her bed. Sighing, she touched his shoulder gently. "There's a room made up for you just down the hall, Taisa," she reminded him softly but Roy was, quite determinedly, asleep.
Sighing once again, Riza kicked off her shoes and shed the outermost layer of her clothing before climbing into bed with both of them. As she did so, she saw a small grin crack on his face, despite his eyes being closed, and she could tell that he was itching to put his arms around her.
"You are such an idiot, Taisa," she muttered.
"But you love me for it," Roy mumbled hazily in reply.
"That I do…" Riza sighed, but it seemed that he was quite decidedly asleep once more.
-
When Maro awoke in the middle of the night she found herself laying beside not only her mother but also the handsome black-haired man who had played tag with her the night before. Giggling to herself, she made the only conclusion that a girl brought up so close to the Hugheses possibly could. "Hey, Mister," she said, poking him awake happily. "Are you my new daddy?"
Roy blinked slowly as the child climbed up to sit cross legged on his chest.
"Are ya?" she said happily.
"No," Roy replied eventually. "Your mommy and me are just friends."
"I don't think so!" Maro replied, jutting her bottom lip out determinedly. "I think that you like her!!"
"You know, you should stop spending so much time around the Hughes family," Roy told her sleepily. "You're so much like Maes already…"
"Hmph!! Well, I know that my mummy likes you, and I know how sad she gets because she thinks that you don't like her back!" The six-year-old puffed up and kicked her little legs fiercely. "You make my mummy happily or ELSE!!"
This cry was enough to wake Riza up and, seeing her daughter awake and pestering Roy, she began to administer a firm reproach before pausing at the look on Roy's face.
"Sir?" she asked quietly.
"Do you love me, Riza?" Roy asked her, removing Maro from his chest and rolling over to look her directly in the eye. "I love you," he said, when she didn't reply. "And if what you daughter said was true, then I…"
"I do love you, Roy," Riza replied easily. "Now, it's 2 in the morning. Back to sleep, both of you."
Roy watched in awe as she rolled back over, as though nothing had happened, and was promptly asleep, he then turned to Maro who was giggling happily and rolled onto his back, sighing to himself hopelessly.
Women.