Woooot! Exams are over!!! I can't believe I survived my history and geography paper. Ah, it's good to be alive… haha, this is my first attempt at a non-humor fic. Please tell me what you think about it :)
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Mustang sighed as he walked towards his destination. A bark of joy interrupted his thoughts and told him he was pretty near already. He grinned at the huge black dog as it bounded over to greet him.
"Yo, Black Hayate," he patted the huge, furry head. He brought out a big, meaty bone from his pocket. The dog wagged his tail eagerly.
"Sit," Mustang ordered. Black Hayate cocked his head and stared at the bone hungrily.
"Sit," he repeated, louder. Black Hayate merely continued to stare at the bone. Mustang could see it salivating visibly. Giving it up, he tossed the bone at the delighted canine. He sighed in amused exasperation at the happy dog. It never ever listened to him.
Hard to imagine this huge, lolloping creature was once the tiny, excitable puff of fur that cowered in fear every time it was faced with the cold barrel of his mistress's trusty gun, as did most men in the military who dared slack off work in her presence, including himself. Speaking of its mistress……
"Hey, Riza," Mustang turned to her, smiling in greeting "How are you? Sorry I've never been around to see you much. You won't believe how much paperwork a Fuhrer has to do. And here I thought life as a Fuhrer would be all ordering other people around to do paperwork for you but noooooo, I just have to be surrounded by incompetent fools who probably don't know the difference between the letter 'p' and 'q'. I feel as if I've been promoted from colonel to some sort of demented English teacher when I read some of the reports those idiots send in. I bet even Elysia can spell better than most of them."
He grumbled, "I think I'll make a new decree when I get back: The Fuhrer is not allowed to do any form of paperwork unless it has the words 'life threatening', 'date' or 'miniskirt' on it. I mean, I could actually sprain my wrist signing those pointless documents. A Fuhrer has better, bigger, more important things to do than to be stuck doing menial paperwork brimming with grammar and spelling mistakes all day! I could be out saving lives, establishing new laws, organizing miniskirt supporting campaigns!"
Mustang sat down and pouted, "Don't give me that look, Riza. For your information I only procrastinated for three hours today. It's a record, Riza!"
He winced slightly as he felt her steely glare directed upon him.
"Okay, okay!" Mustang waved his hands, hastily and proceeded to dig his grave deeper. "I promise I'll try my very, very, very best not to procrastinate more than two hours and a half everyday, alright?"
Mustang could practically feel his life span shortening. So, he proceeded to do what any honorable man who found himself cornered would do.
"Hey, guess what? Fuery and Armstrong's sister, Katherine or something, got together last week!"
He changed the subject.
He laughed, "I know, it's shocking, isn't it? Havoc tried to kill himself in forty different ways already. Do you know that it's actually possible to kill yourself with a fountain pen? I just found out today when I had to make a new military decree stating that First Lieutenant Jean Havoc was not allowed within ten feet of a fountain pen unaccompanied."
Mustang breathed in relief when he sensed her slight amusement. He was off the hook….for now…
Black Hayate, meaty bone still tightly clamped in his mouth, laid down next to Mustang. Mustang scratched his floppy ears absently and wrinkled his nose.
"You need a bath, you mutt," he told the dog. Black Hayate merely thumped his furry tail in response.
"Oh yeah," Mustang turned his attention back to Riza. "Guess what happened last month? Fullmetal and that Rockbell girl tied the knot."
"I know! It's not that surprising, isn't it?" he chuckled slightly. "Everyone always knew they were going to end up together. It took that pipsqueak long enough to realize that himself though. Last year, he went traveling around Amestris to hound out each and every alchemist and scientist to diagnose 'the weird feeling' he had whenever he thought of a certain 'wrench-wielding she-demon.'"
"But what was surprising was….a week before the wedding, Winry came to see me at my office. She wasn't holding a wrench so I ruled out any murder motives. Being the gentleman I was, I politely asked her to sit down. Her eyebrows were already twitching in a disturbingly Fullmetallish way. She told me straight out that she wanted me to give her away during her wedding because Alphonse was already the best man and her grandmother passed away last year."
"I gawped at her for five full minutes. I mean, me, of all people? I was wondering who the hell was this girl and what did she do with the real Winry Rockbell until she brought out this shiny, silver wrench out of no where and held it homicidally over my head. And thus, I said yes. Fullmetal must have a bad influence on her."
Mustang idly fiddled with his shoelace before continuing, "On the wedding day itself, as I waited outside the chapel door for the bride, I contemplated the irony of it all. I was representing the man whom I murdered on what was supposed to be one of the happiest days in his life."
He chuckled bitterly, "At first, I thought the Rockbell girl was doing this to punish me, you know, remind me that I was the reason why her father wasn't there that day to celebrate his only daughter's wedding in the first place. When the car arrived and she gracefully stepped out, I couldn't believe my eyes; she looked so beautiful, looked so much like her mother. She took my arm and daintily walked through the chapel door. Wedding music was playing loudly as we slowly walked down the aisle together."
"I felt incredibly awkward, Riza, walking there, experiencing what Winry's father could have and should have been experiencing. I felt like…I don't know… like I was taking something important away from him. At last, I couldn't take it anymore. Softly, I mumbled to her a single word: 'Why?' Winry seemed to understand what I was asking because she looked down, avoiding my eyes at first before replying, 'Because I knew mom and dad would be ashamed of me if they knew I was still mad at you for something that wasn't your fault.' I could hear her voice trembling slightly."
"Then, she looked straight into my eyes and continued, 'Besides, I know, I just know, that this was what my mom and dad would've wanted me to do, wanted you to do.' She smiled up at me and my knees buckled slightly. I had seen that smile before, Riza, years and years ago when her mother had the exact same brave smile on her face when she told me to tell her daughter back at Risembool that she loved her, before I pulled the trigger. I stared at the young bride before me and I swear, for a moment; it was Dr. Rockbell herself smiling up gently at me. And at that moment, I knew I was forgiven at last."
"It made me feel a bit better you know, that I was able to do something for the Rockbell doctors, even if it was just taking their place during their daughter's wedding. I would probably always hate myself for taking their lives but at that moment, I felt as if a little of the horrible guilt had been lifted off my chest…"
Mustang trailed off and stared into space. Black Hayate whined slightly and pawed Mustang's hand. Mustang smiled slightly and patted his head, "You know what, Riza? When I saw Edward and Alphonse waiting for us as the altar, I felt this weird lump in my throat. They both looked so strong, so responsible and so whole. I mean, what happened to those rash little brats who were trying to shoulder more burden than they can carry? What happened to the boy and the armor who were forced to grow up too quickly and act so tough just so they can protect each other from the weight of their sins?"
"They just grow up so darn fast, Riza. I realized that as I walked down the aisle, seeing Alphonse and Edward beaming happily at us. They weren't boys anymore, Riza. They were two responsible, mature young men. And as weird as it may seem, I actually missed the foul-mouthed, hot-tempered little brat."
"When Winry and I finally reached the altar (it seemed to take forever to get there) Fullmetal took his wife from me and smiled lovingly at her. He turned to me and mumbled almost indistinctly, "Thanks for everything, Bastard.""
"I was floored, Riza. I was hearing the words I thought never even existed in his vocabulary...apart from the bastard part, which I knew only too well. He was glaring at me, as if daring me to laugh at him. I could see how hard it was for him to thank anyone because he absolutely hated admitting that he had to depend on anyone for anything. That kid always tried his best to be so independent...that idiot. So, regaining my composure, I smirked back, "You're welcome, pipsqueak.""
"And thus, I landed head first into the wedding cake," Mustang winced slightly but grinned nonetheless at the memory. "Winry proceeded to bash up her husband with a wrench (don't even ask me where she took out that wrench from.) Oddly, despite being humiliated in front of an entire chapel full of very amused guests and covered in white icing, I couldn't help grinning widely like a fool. Maybe it was because I was relieved that a small part of the old, short-tempered Fullmetal alchemist still existed. Weird huh? After all those times back then when I practically begged him to act his age, I was actually relieved that he still possessed that childish, violent streak."
Mustang grimaced slightly, "I'm acting like a real sap, aren't I, Riza? I guess what with things changing so fast, I'm glad that some things will always stay the same. Like Havoc still getting dumped by girls, Armstrong's muscles still as abnormally huge and sparkly as ever…..it's somewhat reassuring that some things in life would always be constant, especially now when I'm Fuhrer and things seem so different than before. For one, officials who used to try to put me down all the time are constantly sucking up to me now. Kind of pathetic really."
"Speaking of being a Fuhrer, I don't think I would've made it to the top if it weren't for you, Riza," Mustang said, leaning back.
He stared thoughtfully into space before continuing, "You know what, Riza? If it weren't for you, I don't think I would've survived the Ishbalan war either, physically or mentally. War changes men, Riza. Before we actually trudged down into the battlefield, we imagined wars to be times of glory and honor….of bravery and courage. We were fools, that time. There was no glory and honor. We were killing little kids! Women! Harmless people! But all we could think of while we were down there was…..nothing. We don't think. We just act upon our natural instinct to survive…the philosophy of 'it's either me or him.' When men are cornered, we'd do anything to survive…even resort to killing innocent people. Down in Ishbal, we were no better than savage animals."
"Bravery and courage?" Mustang scoffed, slightly. "We were probably more cowardly than the women and children we had to kill. While we were going about butchering innocent people, we felt nothing. No empathy, no compassion, no sympathy. The excuse we used back then was that we were too busy fighting to feel anything for them. Truth was, we were just too scared to let ourselves feel anything, too scared to taint our conscience, too scared to face our own feelings and guilt. In other words, on that battlefield, we lost our sense of humanity. We lost sight of our noble visions and goals we once had."
"In fact, I was actually slowly turning mad back at Ishbal. I couldn't take it anymore, the screaming, the pleading, the sound of gunshots and bombs, the smell of blood, and above all, the snapping sound of my own fingers. I slowly trained myself not to care, trained myself to think that those Ishbalan people don't matter in order to shield myself from all the guilt. I was becoming a cold blooded killer. And then, you showed up, Riza. No matter how many lives you had to take, no matter how much you had to dirty your hands, you never lost sight of your goal….which was, incidentally, to protect my useless ass."
"And no matter how much guilt you felt, no matter how much horror you had seen, you never lostyour sense of humanity. You thought I never realized, but I did. I noticed that you only ever shot people who were aiming to hurt me in any way if you could help it. I even noticed how you silently apologized to the people you had to kill, though it probably didn't do much good to them anyway…watching you back then was the only thing that kept me sane actually. And if you weren't there to watch my back, I'm sure I would've died at least fifty times by now."
"Some people told me that in order to move forward, I have to forget all about the Ishbal massacre. They say that it'll only hold me back in all the guilt and trap me in the past," Mustang said, frowning slightly. "I don't think so somehow. I sort of think it would be an insult to the memory of the Ishbalan people we massacred if we ever tried to forget about them, or try to convince ourselves that the day they died never happened. I promised myself that I'd remember each an every Ishbalan I killed, no matter how much it hurts me. They deserve that much….not to be forgotten, not to become just another boring text in Military history."
"And besides, they're partly the reason why I strived so hard to be Fuhrer. I swore to myself, that when I became the Fuhrer, I'd make life easier for the Ishbalan people. So, they're partly the reason why I am the Fuhrer today, despite all odds. I guess in a certain way, I owe them, huh?"
Mustang was silent for a while as he stared broodingly into space. Then, he slowly stood up and stretched. He yawned, "Well, I'd better get going now. I've got something to do."
He paused for a moment, as if sensing her reply. He chuckled slightly, "No, no. I'm not going out on another date. It's just that I'm fifteen minutes late for Edward and Winry Elric's baby shower. He'd kill me if he thought I forgot. I swear that kid is getting nearly as bad as Hughes now. He's even started calling me up at 2 A.M in the morning to discuss baby names!"
Mustang smirked slightly, "Besides, I'd never cheat on you, Riza Mustang."
Mustang turned to Black Hayate once more, who was still sitting protectively by his mistress's side. "Want to follow me home, boy?" Mustang asked, though he already knew the answer.
As he expected, the dog merely stared at him and refused to budge an inch from his mistress's side. Mustang smiled slightly and muttered, "Take care of her for me, will you, Black Hayate?"
The dog licked Mustang's hand reassuringly. Mustang turned to his wife and spoke once more, "See you, Riza. I'll try to visit you more often….if Fullmetal doesn't cause me to die from exasperation first. That kid is really turning into another Hughes." But he was grinning slightly in a good-natured way.
"I love you, Riza, I'm just sorry I didn't tell you that often enough before," Mustang smiled sadly. He paused for a moment, apparently unable to leave his wife, and then slowly, he turned and walked away with his hands in his pocket.
He passed by a man clutching a broom and greeted, "Good evening, Mr. Gunter."
Mr. Gunter touched his cap and grinned, "Evening, Fuhrer. Nice day, ain't it?"
Mustang nodded absently. Mr. Gunter leaned on his broom and stated conversationally, "What're you doing here all alone, Fuhrer? Oughtn't you be with them bodyguards or something? Surely you ain't allowed to be wondering alone by yourself?"
Noticing Mustang suddenly looked rather stony, Mr. Gunter quickly added, "Of course, you'd be able to look after yourself …it's just that….they wouldn't let a man as important as you go wondering unprotected, would they? I mean, you being the Fuhrer and all…."
Mustang grinned sadly and merely stated, "There's only one person I'd ever trust my back to. Good day, Mr. Gunter."
Mr. Gunter nodded and as the Fuhrer left, he could have sworn he heard him muttering, "Does it have to rain every time I set foot on this place?"
Curious, Mr. Gunter glanced up; the sky was as bright and clear as ever. Shrugging, the grave keeper continued to sweep the leaves that most irritatingly blew all over the cemetery.
Whistling, he swept pass a white, marble grave where a great, big black dog dolefully laid by its side. Its big black eyes were fixed upon the tombstone at a picture of a firm looking blond woman with stern amber eyes.
Below the picture was an inscription carved in fancy writing:
Riza Hawkeye.
Beloved lieutenant, comrade, friend and wife.
Her strength, loyalty, bravery and trigger-happy ways
Will never be forgotten.
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So…how was it?? I wasn't exactly sure what you called a person who took care of graves so I dubbed Mr. Gunter a grave keeper. I hope I got it right o.O; Please review! Cheers