Riza sighed, staring out of the window of the office that she shared with Roy. Speaking of Colonel Mustang, he hadn't shown up at work all day. That morning Riza thought she would wait just an hour or two to see if he would show up, but an hour or two had turned into all day without her noticing it.
The Lieutenant sighed heavily. "He could've at least called me and told me he was going to bail on work today. Lazy bastard." She decided to go look around the building, quickly finding Havoc chatting up the cute new secretary. "Hey Havoc!"
Havoc stepped away from his lady friend, sighing. "What? I was actually getting somewhere with that one!"
Riza rolled her eyes, resisting the urge to smack him. "Where's the Colonel? I haven't seen him all day."
That made Havoc raise an eyebrow. "That's weird. Even if he's not going to actually work the Colonel almost always shows up. Why do you ask? Is something wrong?" Riza shrugged. Havoc thought for a moment. "Maybe he's visiting family?"
Riza sighed. "He doesn't have any family..."
The phone rang and the secretary picked it up. "Lieutenant! The hospital is requesting your presence immediately! The Colonel is in the hospital!"
One moment kept repeating itself in Riza's mind as she rushed by car to be at Roy's side. That precious moment in December.
"Come on outside with me! It's snowing!" Roy exclaimed, looking up from his paperwork at his comrade.
Riza sighed and shook her head. "Snow means cold, and cold means no Riza Hawkeye."
Roy laughed, rolling his eyes. "Come on, Lieutenant! It's beautiful outside! Plus, it'll be fun!" Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed the arm of his longtime friend and dragged her outside.
"Roy, no! Stop! We have work to do! Someone will notice that we're missing!" Roy ignored his friend's protest. He gave her a defiant kiss on the cheek and picked her up, twirling her around. Riza squealed and laughed, kicking and squirming. Roy smiled. This was the real Riza, the one only he knew.
The mustang set the hawk down, both trying to catch their breath and stop laughing between sweet, warm kisses. Roy suddenly reached for something in the pocket of his military greatcoat. Riza raised an eyebrow as she saw a jewelry box in his gloved hand. "What is this? My birthday was yesterday, you know."
Roy just smiled, getting down on one knee. "I want you forever, forever and always. Through the good and the bad and the ugly. We'll grow old together. Forever and always."
Riza sighed as she finally made it to the hospital and walked to the front desk. The nurse led her though a maze of halls. Riza only heard short phrases like 'fractured' and 'bleeding into his lungs' seep into her brain as she tried to keep up her well guarded emotionless composure.
The military woman had to try so hard to not let her expression, or lack thereof, break into a million pieces as she saw who she held most dear at night hooked up to tubes and needles. Through her shocked stupor, she managed to hear a weak yet familiar "Hey Riza-Girl."
She sat at her Colonel's side in silence, holding his hand so tight that both of their skin was paper white and she could hear bones crackling like wood on a fire. Roy's fire burning the wood that was her shattered heart.
After a long while, Roy broke the silence. "I've got myself into quite the mess, haven't I?" He said it so casually, even with his adorable sheepish smile.
That made Riza break down like eggshells, sobbing and burying her face into his hospital gown-clad chest. "You're so fucking stupid, Roy! What the fuck am I going to do without you, you idiot?!"
"Hey, hey!" Roy said quietly, weakly lifting her chin with his fingers so their eyes could meet. "You, me, and Maes" He put his hand gently on her slightly raised stomach. "Will be fine! I'll be out of here soon enough, safe and sound!" He smiled more. "After all this mess is over with, we'll go back to Gondor and I'll build you that little house on that little hill, just like a promised you when we were kids."
"Really?" Riza asked with a hiccup, wiping away the tears with the hand that wasn't holding the hand of her secret husband.
Roy nodded. "Mmhmm. We'll have lots of babies and grow old there and we won't give a rat's ass if we're rich or poor or whatever, because we'll still love each other. Forever and always."
Riza suddenly got an idea. It was now or never. She called in the nurses and their many friends and coworkers waiting outside, explaining her plan. She got the head doctor of the hospital to act as their priest and borrowed a pair of wedding bands from a man and his pregnant wife having a sonogram done in the next room. Everyone in the room was laughing, even as tears fell on the floor.
Riza looked into Roy's eyes. "I want you forever, forever and always. Through the good and the bad and the ugly We'll grow old together, and always remember, whether happy or sad or whatever, we'll still love each other, forever and always. Forever and always. Forever and always."
Riza finished her vows in tears, not failing to notice that Roy's breathing had gotten even weaker. "Riza Elizabeth Hawkeye Mustang," There were tears in his own eyes and his voice was low, just too low. "I love you forever, forever and always. Please just remember even if I'm not there, I'll always love you, forever and always..."
