Coco: Hello to all who decided to give this story a chance. My name is CocoGirlRevised, but I was formally known as ChocolateIsMyWeakness. This is my first try at a FMA fanfiction, and I ask if you please, go easy on the reviews. I don't mind constructive criticism. Just no flames, please. Anyway this is a Roy/OC story, and it starts in the future before dropping back into the Ishvalan war. Some things might be a bit different compared to how things went in the canon, and I hope that doesn't bother you all too much. Also, I am basing this off the 2009 remake of FMA since it's closer to the manga.
I hope you enjoy.
OH! And I don't known Full Metal Alchemist. Just this story, and my OC Alarice Rockbell and any other OCs I might add.
Music played softly in the house of the Führer as a young woman was rocking in a rocking chair set by the large window that gave her a view of outside. The woman had a content smile on her face as she hummed along with the music while rocking her young son in her arms. The young boy, who was going to be turning five soon, had dark hair like his father, but inherited his mother's blue eyes. Her beloved baby boy who she never saw herself having nearly two decades ago. She didn't see herself having her other two children-Diedrick and Isolde-either, who were off somewhere in the house playing, but she was happy to have them.
She had never pictured her as the wife of the Führer either. She had never cared much for the military in her younger years. She hadn't wanted anything to do with them, but then she had been pulled into their war with Ishval. Well, she wasn't exactly pulled against her will to become involved in the war. She followed her brother into the war, but not to fight. No, she went to help the injured whether they were people of Amestris like herself or Ishval.
In that war she met the man that would later become her husband. Of course, if you went back in time to tell her younger self that then she'd laugh in your face. The woman chuckled knowing she and her husband didn't exactly have a smooth start after their first meeting. She had thought of him as some arrogant man who only cared about getting promotions as a way to seem important. Well, she hadn't been completely wrong about the arrogant part. Not to mention he acted like quite the womanizer. Though he had showed her that he wasn't completely swallow, which ended with her coming to work for him. Though she hadn't been pleased much with him even then. No, her past self would definitely tell you there was no way in a million years that she'd ever consider to marry that man even if she did see him as a friend of sorts back then.
"And yet here I am his wife and the mother of his children." She said to herself as she chuckled once more. "Life sure is funny sometimes."
Not that she regrets her decisions that led her here. There had been many hardships. There had been times where she had felt she couldn't go on, but that man never let her give up…and he never gave up on her. He could be quite stubborn, and when he wants something, he works to get it. Despite all those hardships, she would do it all over again if it meant having the life she has now because she can't imagine being any happier.
"You seem to be happy today, sweetheart." A deep and familiar voice said from behind her.
She turned her head with the smile on her face widening when she saw her husband had returned from work. He grinned at her in return as he took his hat off his head. He walked over to her and their youngest son to lean down, and place a kiss on her temple then gently stroke their son's head.
"Welcome home, dear." She said sweetly as she kissed his cheek in return then gave him a teasing grin. "We've been waiting for you, and you kept us waiting long as usual. Sweet Klaus fell asleep as we waited. Then Diedrick and Isolde ran off tired of sitting here keeping me company."
Roy Mustang looked lovingly at his sleeping son while still thinking it was a bit unreal he was married let alone with three children. He never could have saw this coming back in the day.
"I'm sorry, Alarice." Roy apologized. "Busy day, but I promise to take tomorrow off to spend with you and the children."
Alarice smiled at her husband while quite liking the idea of having Roy home all day. It has felt like a long time since they got to spend a whole day together like a family.
"Now what were you thinking about that had you smiling so brightly when I walked into the room?" Roy asked curiously.
"About the choices we made and paths we took that led us here." Alarice said honestly as she looked down at the still sleeping Klaus. "Do you remember, Roy? What led to us meeting in the first place?"
"Yes, the war." Roy replied as he took the seat across from the rocking chair.
Alarice nodded her head as she returned to rocking when Klaus let out a small grunt meaning he was waking. The rocking had him settle down to return to his deep slumber while completely oblivious to the conversation his parents were having.
"Back then I didn't think anything good came out of that war." Roy said. "I didn't think I gained anything from it…but now, I realize that one good thing did happen…and that was meeting you."
Alarice's smile widened a bit at his sincere words as he reached out to place his hand on her knee.
"I met you not long after losing Yuriy and Sarah." Alarice said. "I remember that day quite vividly…"
1908 ISHVAL CIVIL WAR
Chaos roared around as the war between Ishval and Amestris continued. People were screaming and shouting and the sounds of shots being fired could be heard. Smoke was in the air, and the air smelled mostly of death. It didn't seem like the place for a young woman to be, but there was one. A young woman of Amestris, who appeared to be in her early twenties, was running around the battlefield trying to avoid being pulled into the direct fighting.
The young woman had light brown hair that was pulled back into a braid, but it was loose and she had hair falling around her face. Her sharp blue eyes, which were framed by a pair of thin spectacles glanced around as she paused to take in her surroundings. She let out a breath of relief to see she was still going unnoticed by the people running around. She wasn't here to fight them anyway, so she'd prefer to avoid them. She only came for the injured, so to take them to where her brother and sister-in-law had set up operations to heal the wounded.
Of course, she can only take back one at a time since she wasn't big or strong enough to move more than one person at one time. And she was sure that when she got back to her brother that he'd give her an earful for risking her life by running into the heavy battle...again.
"Though if he wanted me safe, he would have sent me out of this area." She muttered to herself. "Though he probably knew I'd just come back if he did."
All other doctors had run off and pulled back along with most of the soldiers, but she and her brother remained here with his wife to help those who were still fighting whether they be of Ishval or Amestris. And even if they did stay behind to help, there were still many soldiers and Ishvalans who were dying on the direct battlefield. She couldn't stay in one place and wait for the injured to be brought to her, so she started coming out onto the battlefield to look for the wounded and nearly on the brink of death. The girl took a deep breath about to keep going, but there was suddenly a loud and large explosion not far from her.
"What the—?!" She exclaimed as she was knocked over from the shaking caused through the explosion.
She sat on the ground with wide eyes as she watched the flames roar and the smoke shoot up into the air. She could also hear the screaming of many Ishvalans.
"No…all those people." She whispered.
It took her a few seconds, but she soon found her bearings as she got onto her feet. She ran in the direction knowing it could be dangerous, but she had to go see if anyone could be saved. She ran as fast as her feet would take her towards where the explosion happened as the fire dispersed a bit and mostly smoke remained. She reached the area with her eyes widening even more at all the blood and charred bodies that remained.
"Who could commit such an act?" She asked. "I know this is war…but this…this is too much."
She highly doubted anyone in this area would have survived, so she turned to continue her search. However, she paused when she could have sworn she heard someone call out for help.
"Somebody! Anyone!" She heard the voice again.
She ran towards where she heard the voices while trying not to fall in her haste or looking at the dead around her. She kept running forward until she finally spotted an Ishvalan man knelt beside another Ishvalan while begging him to hold on. The man's head snapped up to look at her as she got closer.
"An Amestrian!" He gasped. "Are you a soldier?!"
He moved to place himself over his fallen comrade to protect him if necessary, and the young woman could see that even if he was wounded that his man would fight her to protect his friend.
"No, my name is Alarice Rockbell, and I'm a doctor." Alarice said as she held up her hands in a non-threatening manner. "Please, allow me to help you and your friend."
The man stared at her for a moment then moved back out of the way to allow Alarice to see to his friend. She looked over his wounds. He had a deep wound on his head that was bleeding profusely, but that wasn't what was the most worrying. He had lost an arm, and the wound was bleeding so much that he could die from blood loss in seconds.
"Can you do anything for him?" The other Ishvalan asked. "Please, there has to be something…please, help my brother."
Alarice's heart clenched when hearing the man's pleading tone and when hearing this dying man was his brother.
"I'll try what I can but…I don't have the proper tools to treat such wounds here." Alarice said. "He'd have to be moved to where my brother, his wife, and I set up our medical base. But he might not make it that far."
The man looked down not knowing what to do. He didn't blame this woman who came to their aid. He understood the situation, and he understood his brother's condition. Doctors aren't miracle workers, but they do try their best. And this woman came out to this dangerous area to help, and she's trying to help people who weren't even of her own race. He looked up at the woman to see she was trying to help his brother with the medical supplies she did have even if they both knew it would make no difference in the end.
"I need to find a way to stop the bleeding in his arm." Alarice muttered to herself. "Cauterizing is the only way I can think of, but even then it might not save him. And it's not like I can just give him another arm now. Automail takes too long, and I don't have the equipment or a spar arm lying around."
The man's eyes widened for a moment as an idea came to mind. He looked at his own arm then down to his brother's stump. Give him…another arm?
"Miss, I know you don't owe two Ishvalans anything…but could you please take my brother to this medical base you mentioned?" The man asked Alarice.
Alarice looked up at the man in confusion. Didn't he realize moving his brother could actually be the worst thing to do? Honestly, she knew there was nothing she could do for this man's brother. He's as good as dead, but even knowing that herself…she couldn't give up on him. She wouldn't stop trying to save him until he took his last breath. The man who asked her for this favor lightly smiled when seeing the answer he needed in her honest blue eyes. He could see she was a kind woman and would take care of his brother.
"Thank-you." He said.
Alarice frowned wondering why he was thanking her when she hasn't done anything worth being thanked for. The man then placed his hands near his brother's bleeding stump. That's when Alarice noticed the tattoos on his arm. Those tattoos…they reminded her of the transmutation circles that she once saw in Mr. Hohenheim's alchemist books that she read when she was babysitting the Elric brothers. Electricity then came from the man's hands as he was doing something to his brother's stump.
"What are you doing?" Alarice asked.
"I am going to give my brother an arm." The man said. "That will give him a better chance of living, yes?"
"Yes, but what about that equivalent exchange thing or whatever it's called?" Alarice asked. "What will you have to give?"
The man just grinned, and Alarice's eyes widened when realizing he was prepared to pay any price to save his brother. She opened her mouth to protest, but then there was a blinding light that had her looking away. When she looked back, she saw the man's brother had an arm…and that man was dead. She looked at the book in her hands then the man's brother. She then got a determined look in her eyes as she continued to look at the unconscious Ishvalan.
"Don't worry." She said. "I'm going to make sure you live."
"Rice, I need more bandages here!" Yuriy called out to his sister.
"Coming, brother!" Alarice called back.
She ran across the rundown building to her brother as he was seeing to a wounded Amestrian soldier. Not far from them Sarah was looking to an elderly Ishvalan woman and Ishvalan boy. Alarice had returned about an hour ago with the wounded Ishvalan man, and as she predicted, she had gotten an earful from Yuriy for running off again. And then a hit on the head for good measure. But now it was time to work, so they couldn't dwell on how dangerous her choice had been.
"Thank-you." Yuriy said as she set the bandages beside him. "Here help me wrap his wound."
Alarice nodded her head then helped Yuriy wrap the soldier's wound then they both set him down to rest for a few moments. The man wouldn't be able to stay here long though since the fighting was getting closer. Soon all patients would have to be moved for their own safety. As the building shook from a nearby explosion, the Rockbell doctors paused with worried expressions on their faces. They didn't have much time. They had to get these people out of here to a safer location.
"I have to keep fighting." The soldier they helped say as he tried to get up. "Let me go back out there."
"You can't." Alarice said. "If you go out there now, you'll only die. That helps no one."
"She's right." Yuriy agreed. "Besides, we didn't treat you just to let you die."
Yuriy then went to help another patient as Alarice finally got the soldier to lay down without a fuss. She gave him a kind smile then quickly moved to check on a few other patients.
"Doctor, you, your wife, and your sister need to get out of here." A soldier said.
"Like hell we're going anywhere!" Alarice snapped at him. "There are still people to treat!"
The man jumped at her tone since he hadn't been expecting it. Alarice felt a hand placed on her shoulder, so she turned her head seeing Sarah standing there. Sarah gave a light squeeze to Alarice's shoulder to tell her to calm down. Alarice frowned though nodded obediently. Once seeing she was calm, Yuriy turned to the soldier who spoke.
"Young man, we're not going anywhere." Yuriy said sternly. "Now anyone who can move on their own go now."
Some people prepared to move as Alarice started continuing her work. There was still so many to treat.
"He's awake!"
Alarice blinked when hearing that while turning towards the only patient that had been unconscious, which had been the Ishvalan she brought here. She ran over towards the man as Sarah was telling him to keep still.
"Dear, come here!" Sarah called for Yuriy.
"No, it's alright." Alarice said. "I'll look after him. I brought him here after all."
Sarah nodded her head then moved back to let Alarice check on the man. Alarice looked down into his face while smiling when seeing he really was awake. However, the smile soon dropped while knowing she'd have to tell him about his brother soon. She mentally shook herself to put those thoughts to the side for now. Right now she had to focus on the good news that this man is alive.
"I'm so happy you're awake." She said as she placed her hand on his shoulder. "But even if you are awake, you're not well enough to move on your own, so please take it easy. I promise you will leave this place."
She couldn't let his brother's sacrifice go to waste by letting his man die. Alarice then looked at a couple of the soldiers who weren't that wounded.
"You two." She said pointing at them.
They jumped when she pointed to them since they saw how scary she could be, so they were a bit intimidated by her even if she was a petite woman with a thin figure.
"You two get a cart to put this man into." She said as she walked towards them. "You will be taking him with you to safety, understand?"
"Yes, Miss Ro—!"
"Doctor." She interrupted. "I may be young, but I am a licensed doctor, so I will be addressed as such."
She narrowed her eyes at the men who good measure, which had them nodding quickly. Yuriy and Sarah lightly chuckled when seeing the soldiers were scared of Alarice.
"Right, of course, Dr. Rockbell." They said in unison as they saluted her as if she were their superior officer.
They then hurried to do as they were told, and Alarice nodded in satisfaction of getting what she wanted.
"What is going on here?!" Alarice's Ishvalan patient shouted.
She turned around quickly to look towards him as did Yuriy and Sarah. He moved to get up quickly with some of the tools and beakers falling to the ground to make a loud crashing noise. Alarice's eyes widened realizing the man was unstable, which wasn't uncommon for war patients. Especially ones that just woke up from a traumatic event. Alarice went to run over to the man as he screamed as if in pain, but Yuriy grabbed her arm to hold her back.
"Stay back." He said. "We don't know if he might lash out."
He then moved over towards the bed as Alarice frowned. She knew Yuriy just wanted to keep her safe, but she knew what she was getting into when she followed him and Sarah onto the battlefield. However, she did remain back as he wished.
"Sedatives." Yuriy ordered Sarah to get as she joined him at the injured man's bed.
"There aren't anymore!" Sarah said. "We used them all up."
Yuriy frowned then turned towards his little sister. He walked over towards her with Sarah following.
"What are we doing to do, brother?" Alarice asked. "He's obviously in pain."
Yuriy placed his hand Alarice's shoulder while knowing she was worried about the man. She did drag him here through the battlefield then bandaged him up and treated his wounds herself after all.
"Dr. Rockbell!"
Yuriy and Alarice jerked at the sound of someone calling for one of them then noticed the Ishvalan was out of bed, and he was running at them with a surgical tool.
"Watch out!" Yuriy shouted as he pushed Alarice out of the way.
Alarice hit the ground with her eyes widening as she watched Yuriy barely managing to put his arms around Sarah before the Ishvalan cut them down savagely. She watched their bodies drop to the ground as tears quickly filled her eyes. She didn't even care the Ishvalan had turned to her with his blade raised since her eyes were completely focused on Yuriy as the tears quickly rolled down her cheeks. She didn't even flinch as the Ishvalan started bringing the blade down towards her.
"B…brother." She whispered.
The man suddenly stopped his assault with his visible eye widening as he stared at the crying woman.
"Big…brother." She murmured as her shoulders started to shake. "No…no, no, no! You can't be dead, brother!"
She scrambled past the Ishvalan, who was frozen in place, to her brother and Sarah's body to shake them to get some kind of response, but there were none.
"You can't die like this, Yuriy!" Alarice cried. "Please, no! Don't leave me, brother! And, Sarah, what about Winry?! She doesn't deserve to live without both of her parents, so please don't be dead!"
As she continued to sob over her brother and Sarah's dead bodies, the Ishvalan came more to his senses. He realized what he had done as he listened to the woman's crying pleas. He then ran from the building with no one trying to stop him.
"Yuriy! Sarah!" Alarice screamed.
A WEEK LATER
Alarice looked around at the camp she was brought to this time around to assess the amount of injured there were and who looked as if they needed immediately medical treatment. Ever since losing Yuriy and Sarah, Alarice has been moving from one camp to another to help with the wounded. She had wanted to stay closer to the fighting like she was before, but she was told that if she didn't go somewhere safer to treat the wounded that she would be forced to return home. Honestly, a part of her had wanted to go home to Winry and her mother.
However, there was still so much to do. So many injured that still needed a doctor to see to them, and there weren't enough doctors here to begin with. So she had forced herself to pull herself together a day after Yuriy and Sarah's deaths. She had to keep going for Yuriy and Sarah. She knew that if the two of them were still here that they would remain on this battlefield to help the injured. As a doctor, she couldn't turn her back on those in need. She was sure Yuriy would be disappointed in her if she did anyway.
"Dr. Rockbell, are you still with me?" Dr. Knox asked.
Alarice jerked out of her thoughts then looked to the older doctor to see he seemed to be looking at her with veiled concern.
"Yes, sorry, Dr. Knox." Alarice replied. "Now what were you saying? I'm afraid I didn't quite catch it."
Knox studied Alarice for one more second as if looking for something before he gave a sigh.
"I was saying for the moment we only need to worry about the soldiers with minor injuries." Knox said. "I took care of the majorly injured just before you came here. Now is the time to look after all the other soldiers before a new wave of injured comes in."
"I see." Alarice said. "I'll get started immediately."
Knox nodded his head then watched as the woman walked off to immediately dive into work. As he watched her, he wondered just how she was holding herself together. He knew what happened to her. He heard all about it. How her older brother and his wife were killed in front of her by one of their own patients, and how one of those state alchemists found Alarice covered in their blood and crying over their corpses.
What she went through would be enough to send a grown man into hysteria with no chance of recovery, but this young woman pushed aside her grief to continue her work. His respect for her and the other Rockbell doctors grew when hearing all she went through. They really were magnificent doctors that should be respected, but now two of them were gone. He looked down at his own hands with a frown on his face. These hands were once meant to do the good work that Alarice was doing, but the military didn't want him to save lives. And so he feels as if he lost the right to treat the wounded, but today was an exception since the higher ups actually wish for him to save lives today.
"Dr. Knox, I'm surprised to see you here."
Knox turned his head to see Roy Mustang and Maes Hughes standing behind him.
"I thought the military had you performing pathologic research." Roy continued.
"Mustang, Hughes." Knox greeted as he turned to face them completely then went to reply to Roy's statement. "That's still my main job, but we lost two good doctors a week ago and the need for doctors to help save lives has doubled."
Roy nodded his head understanding that. Doctors were hard to come by it seemed, and the ones they do have were looking to the dead not the living who needed the most attention. But it wasn't those doctors' faults. They had to follow orders after all.
"Are you taking care of all these people yourself?" Maes asked.
"No, a fine young doctor arrived today to help." Knox said then pointed in one direction. "I feel more at ease with her here to help."
"Her?" Roy asked.
He and Maes then followed Knox's finger to the direction he was pointing to see Alarice was wrapping up a soldier's arm after putting in stitches. Maes tilted his head while sure he's heard of young female doctor that has been moving from camp to camp to look over the injured.
"Wait, is that Dr. Alarice Rockbell?" Maes asked with wide eyes.
"It is." Knox said as he nodded.
"I know that name." Roy said.
Though he can't remember how he knew that name. Was this woman important or something?
"She's the woman who lost her brother and his wife a week ago." Maes said. "Apparently one of their patients went berserk after just waking, and slaughtered the two right in front of her."
It all clicked in Roy's mind, and he realized where he heard the woman's name. It had spread quickly about the tragedy that happened to two of the three Rockbell doctors, and how the surviving Dr. Rockbell remained on the battlefield to continue her work.
"That poor woman." Maes said. "I can't imagine how she must be feeling."
"Right now all she is feeling is determination." Knox said as he wiped off the lenses of his glasses. "She pushed aside the grief and despair of losing two of her loved ones to continue the work of a doctor, which is to heal people and also to protect them from death if in her power."
Roy watched the woman a bit longer as she finished with yet another patient before moving immediately onto the next one.
"That's one dedicated doctor." Maes said as he smiled.
"A highly talented one as well." Knox said. "The Rockbell Family are all accomplished surgeons that are well known in this region. That and they're automail engineers. Alarice Rockbell is no exception. In fact, some say she's a prodigy in her field. She was one of the youngest doctors to ever graduate from the East City medical school."
Roy smirked as a thought came to mind. A highly talented doctor not afraid if the military agreed with her or not. And she obviously understands that people with the power to protect should take care and protect those who cannot protect themselves. It's the same belief he has come to realize. She would be a great addition to the group he wants to put together to help him climb the ranks. She might not be a fighter, but a skilled doctor would obviously be a fine asset. Of course, he doesn't have an official start to this group of his, but he knows he already has Maes and Riza's support.
"Now if you excuse me, I can't let her do all the work." Knox said. "I don't know how many chances I will have to actually help people after today, so I want to do as much as I can while I have the chance."
He nodded to the two then walked off to start looking after a few of the injured himself. Maes was about to say something to Roy, but paused when seeing the smirk on Roy's face.
"I know that look." Maes said as he looked at Roy. "I hope you're not really thinking about getting her involved with your plans, Roy. The girl has been through a lot."
"It's not like I'm going to force her into anything, Hughes." Roy said as he turned to his friend. "Dr. Rockbell is a strong woman, and I have a feeling she would fully support my naïve idealism as you call it. She does seem like an idealist herself after all."
Maes sighed while having a feeling that nothing he said would change Roy's mind now that it was made up.
"Just don't go pestering her now, alright?" Maes asked. "She's obviously been through a lot."
"I'm not an entirely cruel man, ya know, Hughes." Roy said. "I can wait."
Maes shook his head then went back to watching Alarice as she worked on the injured. The poor woman was completely unaware that a certain alchemist had his eye on her, and wanted to add her to his collection of chess pieces that he wanted to help him get to the top.
"I might even take her out to dinner first." Roy added.
"Are you sure that John was moved in here?" Roy asked as he and Maes entered the medical tent.
They heard that their friend John Maverick had been brought in for an emergency surgery, and that afterwards he had been moved into another tent to rest with other soldiers.
"Has any of my information ever led us astray, Roy?" Maes asked.
Roy gave him a look that said "yes", which had Maes snorting in a displeased manner. The two then heard raised voices. They looked over to see Alarice was standing by an injured man's bed and shouting at his superior officer.
"I'm telling you he's done!" Alarice said. "He can't do anymore in this war. He's lost three out of four of his limbs. Unless you plan to use him as a human shield than send him home, Colonel."
Roy felt his lips twitch up a bit in amusement as he watched this woman who couldn't even be five foot four glare defiantly up at a man three times her size.
"You're supposed to be a master in the ways of automail engineering." The colonel protested. "Can't you give him three automail prosthetic limbs? We can't afford to send back so many soldiers, Miss."
"It's doctor." Alarice said as she poked the man's chest. "Dr. Alarice Rockbell, and no I cannot just slap three automail limbs on him then send him on his merry damn way!"
One of the soldiers assigned to watch over Alarice tried to calm her, but she brushed him off.
"Little spitfire, isn't she?" Maes asked.
Roy nodded his head in agreement as they continued to watch the confrontation along with everyone else.
"Why not?" The colonel asked.
"Do you realize how much time it takes to build three automail limbs from scratch?" Alarice asked. "Just one limb could take three days, and that's pulling all-nighters. I don't even have the means to build those limbs. Nor do I have the resources to perform the surgery. Not to mention that the recovery time from such a procedure is three years usually two at the minimum. Any lower than that, and I'd say the person isn't human or some kind of weirdo. As you can see a lot goes into giving a person automail. It isn't something that can be done magically! Now get this man in a truck and get him out of here!"
It was silent for a moment before the colonel finally ordered two soldiers to get the patient onto a stretcher and out onto one of the trucks. As they were doing as ordered, the colonel was glaring darkly at Alarice who didn't seem scared in the slightest.
"And take Frank Gardner with you." Alarice said as she turned away from the colonel. "He lost his right leg."
"Anything else, Doctor?" The colonel asked frowning.
"Yes, there is actually something else you can do." Alarice said as she glanced back at the colonel. "Once you're done doing what I asked, get the hell out of my medical ward. Your face is disturbing my patients."
The colonel looked as if he might blow a fuse, but Alarice completely ignored him as she went back to work.
"Ya know, Roy, I don't think you could handle her." Maes said. "You might want to rethink your whole plan to ask her for her support on your climb to the top. She doesn't seem to like the military."
"Don't worry about it, Maes." Roy said. "I'm sure that once I use my charm that she'll be happy to agree."
Maes shook his head then finally spotted John sitting up on a cot not far from them.
"Hey, John." Maes called out waving.
John looked up from his lap to give the two men a tired smile as they made their way over to him. Maes sat himself on the edge of John's bed as Roy leaned against the foot of the bed.
"How are you feeling, John?" Roy asked.
"Sore." John said chuckling. "Which I'm considering a blessing considering the state I came in."
He had been caught in that explosion that took the limbs of those other two soldiers. However, his side and partially his back had received burns, and then there had been some shrapnel in his leg.
"Dr. Rockbell fixed me right up." John added. "She's an amazing doctor."
"John, are you crushing on the young doctor?" Maes asked with a teasing grin. "Better be careful because Roy has his eyes on her too."
"Well, if he's brave enough to make a move then let him." John said with a laugh. "I don't think there is a man alive who can tame that woman."
Roy smirked feeling as if a challenged was presented to him. He always did like a challenge, and it'd be a nice distraction from this damned war. Suddenly a loud explosion interrupted the calm atmosphere, and it shook the entire medical tent.
"What the hell?" Maes asked. "The fighting wasn't supposed to have gotten this far. I thought we had it contained."
Roy frowned because he thought that as well. He hurried towards the exit of the tent. As he made it outside, he saw a group of Ishvalans trying to storm the place. The group was small, and he had a feeling they were acting as a bombing suicide squad since they had explosives attached to their chests. He had to stop them before they got too close to the medical tent. He raised his hand to snap his fingers together to send out his flames, but a shout stopped him.
"Dr. Rockbell, come back!"
Roy turned his head just as Alarice went rushing past him towards the Ishvalans.
"What in the world is she thinking?!" He demanded.
He then spotted a soldier, who had to have been caught in the first explosion, lying on the ground while heavily wounded. That crazy woman was trying to get to him. Roy cursed then ran forward as well while ignoring when Maes shouted at him to stop. Roy reached Alarice and the soldier, and he grabbed her to pull into his chest, which had her gasping. He tucked her face into his shoulder since he didn't want her to see what was about to happen. He glared at the Ishvalans then snapped his fingers.
Flames erupted in front of him to engulf the Ishvalans who all screamed in agony. As his flames continued to burn the explosives went off, and Roy created more flames to act as shield of sorts between him, Alarice, the soldier and the explosions. He continued to hold onto Alarice while not letting her see the bodies of the Ishvalans burn. Once the flames stopped, Roy loosened his grip on Alarice, so she pushed back from Roy to look up at him.
"You know, Dr. Rockbell, you might want to think before you act next time." Roy said as he let out a breath.
And that was Roy Mustang and Alarice Rockbell's first step down the path that would take them to a future together that they never saw coming.
Coco: I hope you liked the first chapter, and like I said, please no flames. No reason to be rude, right? Well, until next time~