Title: The Straight Path

Author: phoenixjustice

Series: End of Manga

Word Count:

Rating: T

Characters: Riza Hawkeye, Roy Mustang, Edward Elric, Riza's father, etc

Summary: But then came that moment when she made a promise to herself, and then to Roy Mustang; she would be by his side. She would protect him.

Warnings: angst, reminising, character death, etc

Prompt: Ishbal

The scent of darkness lingered in the air, as if Father was mocking them all for being pathetic humans, beings of light. Lucky, lucky humans for managing to survive this long. By some stroke of a miracle, they had managed to land a serious blow upon the homunculus.

The Xingian alchemy that Scar wielded alongside the Amestrian alchemy that Edward used, had severely hurt him. Due, in part, to Greed and Ling's combined efforts. But although they managed to hurt Father, they still could not kill him. And, as his power continued to grow, this was when Roy Mustang stepped in, Riza Hawkeye by his side as always. Hawkeye freed those who were still in Father's grasp, while Edward, at Roy's direction, helped him to create an array.

Hawkeye recognized it immediately as her father's work; a larger mirror image of the array on her back. She didn't understand much about the workings of alchemy, but she knew that her father had studied for years on Xingian alchemy as well as Amestrian and told her that he had perfected what had been torn apart. He had had a mysterious teacher and she wondered now just how much he had known about what was really going on behind the scenes and if that wasn't the reason he was so disillusioned with the military.

In fact, if not for her father's untimely death, and Roy Mustang's words, she would never have joined the military. But then came that moment when she made a promise to herself, and then to Roy Mustang; she would be by his side. She would protect him. And she would keep him on the straight path; making sure that he would not become the very thing he set out to stop, which was the whole reason he joined the military to begin with.

He was an idealist. Even after all these years dealing with war, with the pain of losing his closest, and dearest, friend Maes Hughes, with Havoc's paralysis, with death after death, he still refused to lose hope. It stayed with him, however large or small, even now; she could see the determination in his black eyes.

It was one of the traits she had always loved about him. It had been a simple crush at first, watching him from afar as he came to her father's house for lessons in alchemy. Seeing the joy in his eyes as he snaps his fingers for the first time, making a beautiful stram of red flame. Seeing his smile when his teacher, her father, finally praised him.

Slowly, but surely, her feelings grew into something more and she knew that she was in love with him. Time passed; her father dies and she gets left alone. Unsure of what to do any longer, she was moved to the breaking point. When things were looking their bleakest, word started getting around about an upstart named Roy Mustang.

Then war broke out. And knowing he would be sent to Ishbal, she trained and she enlisted. From the very first shot she fired, she was there for one man, refusing to let him die, ready to see his vision of a peaceful world. She stood side-by-side by him, hands bloodied, and did not look back.

But now... the darkness was pulling them all deeper into its web of deceit and death. Their world was being consumed by the monster. But she would not falter. She had to be strong for Roy Mustang, the man who cared about all, but especially for the Elric boys who had come into his care. He worried for them, thought about all he could do to help them, asked about them.

His frantic questions when Edward was missing for a time only served as a reminder to her of how the situation stood. She loved him, and because she loved him, she knew all too well how he felt. Her love was a one-sided one; he cared for her, valued her friendship, but he had never been, and would never be, in love with her.

It was a very painful realization at first, but she perservered and as she always had, had stayed strong. It was all too apparent to her, she who had watched the Flame Alchemist from afar for so long, that Roy cared about one of his subordinates more than he perhaps should. Though if he was even aware of this fact was something she wasn't sure of.

And she could not blame him for not feeling for her as she did for him, could not blame him for his growing feelings for Edward; they were alike in many ways, that much was clear. And, as she watched them side-by-side working together as easily as if they always had, she believed she could see the tell tell signs of something in Edward's face; a small glance here or there, looking as though he wanted to say something but with the situation being as desperate as it was, couldn't.

As Edward and Roy work on the circle, she fights alongside an Ishbalan mass-murderer, a Xingian Princess, a Xingian Prince who harbored a homunculus in his body, a living Philosopher's Stone, and a suit of armor housing a soul. Alphonse Elric, for all his size, was such a gentle soul. Calm water to his brother's firey passion. And a heart too big for his body.

She knew that the brother's would do anything for each other; the grief that they shared brought them closer together. As she and the others successfully fight off the chimera and other things that Father brought out at them, she was reminded all too keenly of the screams of anguish, the all-consuming hate in red eyes, the cheers of the victorious; Ishbal was a stain on her soul that would never leave her.

She soon sees that the array was complete. Roy's brows furrow and she realizes that he knew all there was to her father's array. What it required. He kneels down, touching the circle, and as it starts to glow and spark, he stands, pushing a startled Edward as far away as he can.

"Hey! What was that for you bastard?!"

He stills as he gets a good look at Roy's face.

"Colonel? What--"

Her footsteps never falter as the array grows brighter, as she takes in Roy's griefstricken face, as Roy moves forward, despite knowing what would happen. She could say things like 'her life flashed before her eyes' or that she was filled with fear. Neither was true. All she could see, was the face of the man whom she had always admired and loved.

She was filled, not with fear, but a sense of inevitability. It felt as though her entire life had led her to this point and time.

"Hawkeye, what are you doing?!" Roy exclaims. "Get back! You of all people know--"

She shoves forward with all her might, pushing him away from her as hard as he had done for Edward. He stumbles, startled, quickly looking up.

"Hawkeye!"

"Keep him back, Alphonse!" she barks.

Al holds onto a squirming Mustang who desperately tried with all his might to get free.

"Hawkeye! Damnit Riza, get out of there!"

She merely turns, smiling softly at him. "What's with that face, sir? You are Colonel Roy Mustang! You are a kind, strong man and these people here will need you. Amestris will need you. And I am not going to let you leave this world. Remember? I made a promise I would always protect you."

Tears stream down both their faces as the array goes off.

This array, the lifetime work of her father, was born of a union between different kinds of alchemy and showed how things should be; everything (everyone) working together in harmony. But it required a sacrifice. One person ready to sacrifice themselves for the greater good.

She sees her father in front of her, smiling, hand outstretched. She takes his hand, leaving the tears and sorrow behind.

A/N: Yeah...so this was going to be a short piece set during the manga. But all too soon, Riza took over and by the time I was finished with this, I missed the deadline for suffering/loss.. I have never written in her POV before, but I really enjoyed doing so! =D