Theme #2: Gunshot
Was it silly to say that she hated him? Her orders were to protect him, watch his back, keep him alive, and this she did every day out on the bloody battlefields of the Ishval war in the east. Now the war was years past and they had come far from those days, but looking back Riza would admit that it had crossed her mind at least twice as she laid on her stomach on the roof of a building gazing through the scope of her sniper rifle for her to simply line his back up with the center of the scope and pull the trigger. But she never did, for many reasons. One being that was strictly against her orders and she was good soldier. However, the most important reason was because Riza was not a cold blooded killer, as she suspecting him to be.
When she was first assigned to protect him, she didn't know anything about him other than his name and rank. When she saw him kill for the first time she was horrified, but not nearly as horrified as when she killed for him for the first time. And this was why she hated him. He was a monster. She could remember vividly the night this all changed, however. She wasn't there when it happened, but she'd heard rumors. Two doctors, dead by his hands, then he tried to take his own life. It was said he was broken, devastated, filled with regret and guilt over the innocent lives he had taken. Were they true? She didn't rightly know, but if it was true, maybe she was wrong about him all along. Walking past his tent that night, she heard no sounds from within. She walked to the entrance and paused.
"Sir?" No answer. She ventured further to open the flap and step just inside. It was dark, with only one lantern lit on the small desk. He was laying on the cot, back facing to her. She called again, but he didn't say anything nor show any sign - - wait! His head turned a little, she couldn't see his face, but she could tell she had his attention. She threw her hand up in a proper salute. "Private Hawkeye, Sir. I'm a sniper assigned to you on the field." He didn't say anything in response. Slowly lowering her unanswered salute, she tried again to engage the broken man before her. "We've never actually met before, and I figured –"
"You save my life every day, yet you admit now that you don't even know if I am worth saving?" His voice was rough, scratchy and low. Unused.
"They were my orders," she responded. This evoked a short and bitter laugh from him.
"Not all orders are rational or worth following…" He turned his head from her with this so that all she could see again was the black mess of hair on the back of his head. "Let me save you the trouble of finding out for yourself, Private Hawkeye, I'm not worth saving…" At hearing this, something inside Riza snapped. She dismissed herself with another quick salute and exited his tent, running back to her own. Her mind was racing. She had a lot of things to sort out, and fast.
Back on the battlefield, Riza laid on her stomach, sprawled out across the top of an abandoned Ishvallan building under the blaring, merciless sun. Her sniper rifle was propped up on the short ledge at perfect height for Riza to see clearly into her scope. Through the glass she found him. Her sharp gaze lingered on his back for a moment as she concentrated, then she pulled the trigger. The gunshot rang out through the chaos, and he turned around in time to see the Ishvallan man that had snuck up behind him fall to the ground, dead. Placing his hand over his eyes to shield them from the sun, he scanned the building tops for her. Riza waved her hand in the air to draw his attention. They locked eyes for only a moment, but it seemed much longer to her. Neither smiled or showed any sign of emotion. But they understood. Turning his back to her again he ran off to enter the battle once more. Riza reloaded her rifle with swift practiced hands and in a matter of seconds was back in position on the roof and scanning the area. 'Let me save you the trouble of finding out for yourself, Private Hawkeye, I'm not worth saving…' His voice rang in her ears all night.
"I think I'm going to decide that one for myself, Sir," she muttered to herself before pulling the trigger for him again.
-Fin
Authors Notes: Yay! I'm actually rather proud of this one! Funny thing is that it is absolutely NOTHING like what I originally started writing… I mean different tone, mood, theme and everything!
Sensei: "So, If Reviews Happiness and Happiness Sooner Update, then…"
Student: "…Theeeeen… Reviews Sooner Update?"
Sensei: "Very good "
