Roy Mustang has decided to drive her home, because usually she's the driver but today he needs something to occupy his mind. He knows she's watching him out of the corner of her eye, even when she pretends to look out the window. He knows that she saw him crying, even when she said nothing about it. And he knows that today has been a difficult day, and the two of them just want to go home and be alone in their misery.

But no, that's not true. That's not what he wants to do today. Today, he wants to go home with her and he wants to be with her, only halfway clothed, and he wants her to hold him tightly, so that he'll never have to wake up and realize that he has to get up tomorrow morning and get back to work. He wants to cry some more, and he wants her to be the one to wipe away his tears, instead of just turning her head away, like she thinks he wants. He wants to tell her how much she means to him, because tonight could be their last moment, she could disappear at any time, it could be her funeral next.

He stops the car. This is where she lives, her small home. He wonders if she calls it home. He gets out of the car and, like a gentleman, opens the door for her. She nods; her eyes are on the ground. She doesn't want to look at him because she's afraid he might be crying again. He's not, and it's embarrassing.

They stop and stand next to one another, and she raises her head and looks him in the eye blandly. His gaze flickers to her ear, her hair, and he feels a strong urge to reach up and tuck a loose strand of hair behind that delicate, pierced ear. But he doesn't, and he looks away and so does she. One of them is disappointed. She says, "Goodnight, Colonel," and she turns and walks up the pathway, towards her home where she will sleep alone tonight.

"Riza," he says, and he stops her by saying her name, something he hasn't done since they were young. She stops and she doesn't even turn around, she just waits. His voice is raw and shaking, and he's just standing there, looking away as well. She waits, and when nothing comes she turns around to look at him. His eyes flicker towards her.

"Yes?" she says.

And he startles her by simply saying, "I love you."

She continues to look at him. As a soldier, she doesn't give anything away. But suddenly her heart is pumping like mad. She's never heard this before, not from anyone, and at the expression in his sad eyes, her heart breaks. Neither of them turns away.

He asks, "You know that, don't you?

She considers him; his words, the naked way he has laid himself out before her tonight. He's not asking for her to reciprocate his feelings. He just wants to know that she knows, he wants reassurance that during every moment of the day that they are professionals, she knows that he is grateful, and she knows that he loves her.

She knew this already, of course, but for the first time he's telling her, he's putting it right out there in the open for her to turn away from and scorn if she wants to. Here's a man who has lived his whole life by being unreadable, invincible. And he's asking for her acknowledgement. He needs her approval. He needs her to say something and here she is just standing in her doorway looking like an idiot. He's still waiting, but if she stays silent much longer, he might turn away and tomorrow it'll be like any other day.

"Yes," she says softly. "I do."

And she pauses for a moment, then she turns and unlocks the door and walks into her house, and she closes the door behind her.

Somehow, it's not what he expected, but he suddenly knows it's what he needed her to say and, more than that, this is what he needed her to do.

They love each other. That was simple, and that was true. Tomorrow, the day would be like any other and there was no sadness in that. The moment she followed him into the military, they'd both known, even if at the time they hadn't fully grasped what it meant for them, as individuals and as lovers.

As of tomorrow, they were comfortable. Maybe someday in the future they would venture out of their comfort zone, into somewhere uncharted and terrifying and exhilarating all at once. Maybe one day soon they'd decide that love was more than depending on each other, more than being eternally grateful, more than being completely petrified when they didn't know if the other was alright.

But for tomorrow, everything was going to be okay.

Yeah...still workin on that Dead chapter...and for some reason I'm really into Royai lately. Probably Facebook conversations. If anyone is friends with a active Riza Hawkeye on Facebook, it might be me. lol. I thought I'd make one for her for a joke, but people are really into it. I like being in character :D

Tell me what you think