A/N: Hello everyone! I know I haven't posted any material in quite a while, but I am still getting favorites for a Royai oneshot I did quite a while ago called 'Rule Breaker.' I figured if you all really liked it, why not write another Royai fic?! This one sort of switches points-of-view but I didn't label the characters speaking since it's written in third person, and it should be pretty self-explanatory. This fic is set post-brotherhood series some time after the promised day when Roy has his sight, and Havoc has his legs, yada yada...anyway, I hope you like it!
It was a wonderful afternoon to sit outside under the shade of a large oak tree and simply relax. Roy Mustang could not remember the last time he had been as relaxed as he was at the moment. He was glad he had jumped at the chance to spend this much needed (albeit rare) vacation time away from the office, and had accepted his foster mother's offer to spend two weeks at her summer home, in Southern Amestris. Apparently, the rest of Colonel Mustang's team decided amongst themselves that they would join him there, all except Falman of course, who left for the North to be with his wife and children.
Chris Mustang had an enormous lot far out into the luxurious countryside. When standing in the front yard, one could only see rolling hills of flower fields upon flower fields of every color imaginable for miles in nearly every direction. Towards the back of the house, past the back yard and down a makeshift rock staircase was an enormous lake, from which one could hardly see the crest of the shoreline in the distance.
It was a place where Roy had often thought about settling down one day, never openly of course, but he thought quite frequently about marrying the love of his life, and simply living an easy life in the country. Maybe throw in a kid or two and his life could be made. One thought back to the people he had come here with and the idea would be completely shaken out of his mind, he could never leave his men, not now. They were the best friends he'd ever had. She, however, was a different story. She was more.
...
Riza looked out the kitchen window facing the back yard and looked at the serene view that lay before her: the green grass, beautiful gardens, and the view of the lake in the background. The sight of the fierce Colonel Mustang sitting under a tree, pensively reading his book made her lips swirl into a sort of crooked half smile. She watched for a moment as he paused in his reading to pet her dog, who had followed him out into the beautiful weather. He paid a genuine smile towards the pup and in return got a loving lick on his palm. After only a moment or two, Riza caught herself watching him and went back to her task of washing the dishes she'd cluttered up in making a couple of fresh apple pies for the boys.
She wasn't normally a homey type of gal, and admitted that the sight of her working in a kitchen was amusing, but she did enjoy some light cooking here and there, especially for the people she loved most. She'd thought it a bit odd at first, that she would want to leave for two weeks on a vacation with four men, but quickly accepted Roy's offer realizing that these men were her best friends, and who better to vacation with than your best friends? They'd only arrived yesterday evening and it was the perfect beginning to a much needed vacation.
...
Roy could judge by the slight beginning of a sunset over the crest of the lake that it must have been around six or seven in the evening. He looked to the kitchen window and saw a glowing Riza Hawkeye stirring something over the stove, so he decided to head back to the house with Black Hayate at his side to help her with the cooking. She did make some of the best home-cooked meals Roy had ever eaten, which was saying a lot for the way his foster mother prepared a meal. He picked himself up, lightly ran a hand through his tousled hair, brushed the bits of green grass off his comfortable cotton pants and began his way through the meadow of grass to the house.
"C'mon, boy." He directed to his companion with a smile. He looked down as he walked, and noticed how he loved the way the grass felt between his bare toes. It was smooth, dewy, and carefree. He looked up to the sky and admired the diaphanous, white puffs that waltzed effortlessly across the blue painted sky, not having a care in the world where they roamed. Glancing back toward the kitchen window, he made brief eye contact with Riza as she appeared to be drying off her hands. She gave him a small, sweet smile and quickly glanced down into whatever she must have been slicing. He loved that she looked happy here. Really, if she was happy so was he, which he realized was all he ever wanted since the day he had almost watched the light fade from her eyes, nearly felt the life leave her cold body. Those thoughts were not the sort he ought to be having on his vacation, and he immediately shook them from his mind as he walked up the back porch steps and opened the wooden screen door. The smell of fresh baked apple pie wafted into his nose and made his mouth water.
"Wow, it smells really great in here, Riza!" He remarked with a big smile across his face.
...
She smiled back at him and greeted her dog with the toss of an extra piece of chicken she had been cutting up for supper.
"Dinner is almost ready!" She announced to the hungry men. Mere seconds later, there was a mass of emaciated soldiers flocking to the table, eager for a taste of Lieutenant Hawkeye's infamous cooking.
They all sat around the dinner table, and began guzzling up the delectable meal Riza had cooked for them. There was idle chatter of weather, swimming, and everyone had a good laugh about the incident a few hours earlier where Havoc had fallen out of the tall tree in the front yard and bruised his tailbone, making it difficult for him to sit at the dinner table even now.
Every once in a while, Roy would give a small kick to Riza's foot underneath the table and give her a nonchalant smirk as he ate his dinner. Why did he have to be adorable at a time like this? She would give a small nudge back to him in return with a coy side-glance as they used to when they were younger and Roy had been studying under her father. They were always careful to be discreet, the men would never let them live it down if they were caught flirting.
Roy couldn't express how much the little things meant since the day he lost his sight. Despite only being blind for two weeks or so, he was amazed by what images he had forgotten in those two weeks, as well as how much he had learned.
The day Dr. Marcoh restored his sight he couldn't take his eyes off of her. She looked just the same as ever to the rest of the world, but he saw something in her beauty no one else did. He likened it to the phrase 'you never know what you've got 'til it's gone,' which he realized in the first instance he had showed up at her apartment and seen her face again for the first time.
It seemed now that every time he looked at her he saw something new about her for the first time. He regarded her with more respect and kindness and never once forgot to thank her for everything. These days he made sure that every word out of his mouth towards her was one of love and caring friendship.
Yeah, friendship.
...
As the boys took their plates to the sink and left to play catch in the back yard, Roy stood and made his way to help Riza with the dishes. Just like the old days; she would wash and he would dry.
He grabbed a plate from the clean side of the sink and began to dry it with the raggedy towel he'd found on the counter.
"Oh, you don't have to do that," She began as he placed the dry plate on the counter, "Go out back and play catch with the guys, it's okay, I can finish up here!"
"It's alright," He replied, "I want to help you." And with a kind smile he reached around her to pick up another plate, his eyes meeting hers all the while.
"Thanks." She smiled at him and went back to her soapy water, perhaps slightly blushing? Roy couldn't tell. Truth be told, she simply loved the way he smiled with his eyes. It wasn't a half-smile, or one of those smiles just to be nice. It was a true and genuine, flawless smile. Maybe his smile had always been like that, she'd just never noticed until the life had been returned to those obsidian pools of his. It was as if getting his vision back changed everything; the way he looked into her eyes when he talked to her, the way he always checked on her to be sure she was alright.
The best thing about Roy regaining his sight (in Riza's opinion) was the ability to look into his eyes. To look into them and see absolutely everything he was thinking. It was their main means of communication, small glances or distinguishing looks at each other. It meant the world to have that with him again. She could once again look into those deep, onyx eyes and feel at home, knowing that everything was okay. She could rest well knowing that he had that gift back as well.
When they were alone together, he was a totally different man, however. The rest of the soldiers likely saw their Colonel being chivalrous towards her as his usual gentlemanly demeanor called him to be towards women in general. After all, they all respected the lieutenant quite a lot. In truth, Roy did this to ensure that she knew how much he cared about her. He needed to make her feel special, to help her know how much he needed her around.
...
He needed her more than he needed air. He would never say this aloud of course, not only for fear of being embarrassed or shot down, but for her safety. His biggest fear was that one day someone might use her against him, which Fuhrer King Bradley had already done, as well as that disgusting excuse for a human on the Promised Day who claimed to be a 'doctor.' He feared that next time, he wouldn't be able to save her, or that no one could. If Mei hadn't been around that day, Riza would cease to exist in his world today, and he truly didn't know if life was a possibility for him in that sort of world.
His life changed for the better the day she swore her loyalty to him. He knew that one slip up about his feelings for her and they could be done for, and he wouldn't have that. Being close to her every day and being able to ensure her safety brought comfort and closure to him, therefore their roles in the military took high precedence over his desire to settle down with her.
He knew she felt the same way. There had been several encounters in the past where she'd had to say no, and he thanked whatever powers may be that she had. She possessed much more discipline than he, and he knew that if it were up to him they probably would've been court-martialed by now, which would undoubtedly ruin their plans to fix Amestris. They'd shared short kisses at times, always in the privacy of one of their apartments, but had never risked taking it any further than that. Roy wasn't entirely sure how to classify their relationship at this point, simply because they'd never talked about it before. Deep down, a part of him foolishly wished that would change over the course of this vacation.
A/N: Thanks for reading the first chapter! Please either send a review my way or follow/favorite this story to let me know you want more chapters and I can post them in the next couple of weeks! Think of this as a "pilot episode," if you all like it, there will be more!