FMA Angst Week Day 1-Penance

She was nervous. It was silly, to be nervous in that moment over all the others that had led them there. So much had happened to put them in front of the priest that day and it flashed before her eyes, a flipbook of their lives together. Good and bad flowed seamlessly into the next until it screeched to a halt on the very last page.

He watched her deep in thought and hoped she was lost in good memories. He was too stuck in the present, wanting to laugh in agony at how absurd their lives had become. One day they were dumb, young kids and now they were this. If he had done a single thing differently, this day could have be something different in turn.

"Your vows?"

Roy cleared his throat and reached out, grasping her hands as if he was drowning. She was back in the moment with him and he tried to smile.

"Even if it's not for long, I have wanted nothing more than to be married to you. Since we were kids, since the first time I saw you smile. The first time you looked ready to smack me and the first time you did. Without you, I'm nothing, and certainly not anything human or decent but after spending so many years trying to prove to you I was worthy of you, I realized I never could and never would be. But you loved me back anyway." A terrible decision. If she hadn't... Roy tried to get back on track.

"You're half of me, and I'm half of you. Nothing, no matter what it is, has been able to change that or keep us apart and now nothing will. I love you, Riza. Then, now, and whatever happens after."

She squeezed his hands back, looking into his eyes and holding his gaze. "There's a lot we don't deserve. This for example. In my wildest, most childish dreams I couldn't have imagined we'd make it here. Even if…" She sighed quietly and held his hands a little tighter.

"You're right, by they way. We seem to be two halves of a whole. There is no world in which just one of us exists, it's simply an impossibility. I learned a long time ago that I wanted to spend the rest of my life by your side. I don't know what we did to get so lucky, that we were able to do that. Roy, I will always love you."

Olivier Armstrong silently handed over the rings she and Alex had procured for them, keeping her face as passive as possible and rethinking attending. This was already hard enough to watch but they had asked her. And only her, explaining they didn't want their closest to have to be there but wanting, needing, a friend. The stupid kids broke her heart but she respected them and had agreed without thinking what it would actually be like. The large space echoed, each word floating back to the tiny group- one repurposed for this unique request but hastily and half heartedly assembled. It was a little too dark, a little too cold. The whole ambiance was wrong for the type of event but appropriate for this one.

They were declared husband and wife and even as they kissed, Riza could feel the tears running down Roy's face. She pulled back to wipe them away only to realize she was doing the same. "We promised each other, it wasn't going to rain today."

He nodded, swallowing hard. "Easier said than done, Mrs. Mustang." He brushed tears of her own off her cheeks even as his heart swelled at how her name would've sounded. Olivier slid quietly out the door on the pretense of checking to make sure things were prepared. The cleric followed, leaving Roy and Riza alone until one of Armstrong's men knocked on the door. They nodded and allowed themselves a final embrace, trying to pack their entire lives into the few seconds they actually had. With fingers laced tightly together the newlyweds left the cool, quiet room for the blindingly bright outdoor space.

When presented with the challenge only Olivier Armstrong's and the Briggs men were willing to take part and a few had bowed out to join the majority opposing the ruling. The only people who agreed with their sentence were the two up for execution and had had only one request before it was carried out.

Roy and Riza Mustang were married for 5 minutes before the squad opened fire.

AN: I'll try to keep up with the rest of Angst Week but who knows. I already had this horrible idea bopping around in my brain but I also have many others. As PurpleMaple knows, I can't help but kill the things I love. Welcome to Angst Week, Allison-style.