Pansy
Riza Hawkeye was not the average nine year old. She was mature, well-mannered and responsible, but a nine year nonetheless. It was very rare that she let her true child-like nature take over and when it did, her whole adult persona faded. One such day was when her beloved Pansy disappeared and she was frantic. Pansy was a rabbit doll given to her by her late mother; it was the one thing Riza cherished more than anything in her life and it had suddenly vanished.
"Where is it?" Riza mumbled anxiously. She tore up the house looking for her doll.
"What are you doing?" a young Roy Mustang asked.
"Nothing that concerns you, Mister Mustang," she said, still searching.
"I could help, you know. It's my day off and I have some time."
"I don't need your help, now please go."
"I want to help."
"I don't need it."
They squabbled and bickered until Roy started to explore the sofa on his own where Riza was currently searching. "Is this it?" he asked holding up a Cenz.
"No."
"Can you please just tell me what you are looking for so I can help you?" he finally yelled, fed up.
"My bunny doll," she mumbled.
"What?"
"My bunny doll!" she yelled.
"Oh," he smirked.
"Shut up. Now that you know, you must help me look, Mister Mustang."
"What does it look like?"
"It's a rabbit doll, Mister Mustang, do you think it's hard to identify?"
They searched the entire estate all morning but came up with nothing. "We're never going to find it are we?" she sobbed.
Roy, unsure of what else to do, hugged the crying girl."Shhhh…" he soothed. "We're going to find it. I promise."
"Should we eat some lunch before we look for him again? I am kind of hungry," she suggested timidly as her stomach gave a not-so-quiet gurgle of protest at having gone so long without sustenance.
He nodded with a small, knowing smile as he followed her to the kitchen."So why is it so important you find this bunny Riza?" He tentatively asked after a quiet moment, while he helped her pull ingredients for a simple meal out of their various hiding spots in the cabinets.
"It was the last thing my mother gave me before she died," she answered quietly while preparing their sandwiches.
"Oh," he responded just as quietly, before tentatively asking his next question."What's its name?"
"I named it Pansy."
"Pansy?" he repeated, genuinely curious. "Why'd you name it that?"
When Riza had finished the sandwiches, she gave Roy one before starting her story."When I was younger and thought Pansy was a real rabbit, we would often go on 'adventures'," she said. "I would always suggest he do something daring and he'd just stay quiet, like he was scared. I dubbed him a coward and named him Pansy, but I like the name, Pansy. Don't you, Mister Mustang?"
"Yeah, it's a nice name," he said, smiling at the blonde. It was the first time she'd shared anything personal and he was happy to be let in.
"Let's go search outside when you're done, Mister Mustang."
"Pansy's not here!" Roy yelled from behind a bush. They were out on the front lawn, looking for Pansy; there was a large cluster of bushes beside the house Roy was currently searching in. He'd looked in the trees, the bushes, under big rocks, but there was still no sign of the rabbit doll.
"Maybe he's in the flower garden; I took him there yesterday while I was doing my chores."
"Let's go." Roy took Riza's hand and ran towards the backyard. They walked along the stone path, looking high and low for the rabbit. Suddenly, Riza's amber eyes caught sight of white fabric on one of the patio chairs.
"Look!" she pointed to the chair and sped off. Upon discovering a white rag, Riza's shoulders slumped. She was giving up on finding Pansy, but Roy wouldn't let that happen.
"Don't give up Riza. I promised to find you your rabbit and I will!" the eleven year old assured her.
They looked overevery inch of the Hawkeye property, but still came up with nothing. As evening descended, Riza sighed."Let's just give up, Mister Mustang. Pansy is obviously gone and I'll never see it again so why tire ourselves?"
"Just one more minute," he insisted. "I promised you I would find Pansy and I will," he stated before diving into the bushes again.
She knelt down bedside him and pulled him into a hug. "Roy," she cooed, "Thank you. You're really nice to me, even when I'm mean to you. You're the only person in the world who doesn't hate me and I like you a lot. But you don't need to find Pansy for me; it's my fault for losing him in the first place."
"But it's the first time you ever asked anything of me. I can't let you down so soon."
"It's alright, Roy. Now that we're friends, I'll rely on you and you can make it up to me the next time I need help."
"Alright…Wait! You called me, Roy, didn't you? That's the first time you ever called me that," he said happily. "You'll call me that from now on, won't you?"
"Maybe…Mister Mustang," she teased.
"Hey!" Roy blushed and pulled away when he realized they were still hugging, but held onto her hand while they walked back into the house. They walked up the stairs, laughing heartily at a joke he had told, he kept their fingers entwined – she made no move to pull away. When they got into the house, Riza stood on her tiptoes and pecked his cheek.
"Thanks for helping me today," she said, running into the kitchen to start dinner and hide the slight flush that had spread across her face.
Roy placed his hand on his cheek, shocked at the action. He stood rooted to the spot, replaying the scene in his mind. 'Riza just kissed me! I can't believe it! She's so pretty...' he thought. When Roy finally snapped out of his trance, he ran up to his room and abruptly halted upon spotting rabbit doll on his desk. Bewildered, he wondered why it was in his room and checked to see if he had walked into the wrong one by mistake in his kiss-induced haze. Seeing that he had, in fact, wandered into the right room, he walked over to the doll and studied it. The plush doll had black, glass eyes, a pink nose and three long whiskers on either side of its face; it wore a green satin vest and little blue slippers.
Roy walked down to the kitchen, still puzzled as to how the rabbit ended up in his room. "Is this your rabbit?" he asked, holding the plush animal out to her.
"Pansy!" she yelled, dropping her ladle with a clang before gathering the doll into her arms."Where did you find him?"
"I found him on my desk for some reason," answered Roy, brows furrowed as he still tried to puzzle out the mystery. "Did you leave it there?"
She shook her head. "I only go into your room on Sundays to clean," she looked down at the beloved doll nestled securely in her arms."But that doesn't matter." She looked up at him with a beatific smile. "Thank you for today."
"No problem Riza," Roy assured her with a smile as honest as her own. "I'll always be here for you."
(A/N): Hello, fellow Royai fans! I hope you enjoyed my little drabble. Ma beta was awesome enough to proof it thanks, MidnightRoseBud.