It was the first time he had been back to that backwoods place in along time. All of the trees were bare and currently being covered in a beautiful blanket of snow. Any other time, any other day he would have stooped to admire this wonderful scene, but not today. He was headed straight to the military HQ, straight to his old team, but most important of all straight to her.
It had been almost an entire year since he had seen her, or any of them for that matter. So he couldn't help but wonder if Havoc still smoked like he was on fire? Was Breda still deathly afraid of dogs? Was Fuery still a tech wizard and Falman a walking, talking dictionary? Then his mind wandered to her, but no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't find the words to describe her; there just weren't any words good enough.
Since it was Christmas Eve most people were at home with their families, but not her. He just knew that she would probably work all day if she could. Or at least she used to, but had she changed? That was a question he had been avoiding for along time now. What if her feelings about him had faded in the almost twelve since he had seen her face or felt her touch? He immediately shook that thought from his head; she wouldn't do that.
As he rounded a corner the towering buildings of the military headquarters came into view. He could tell form the glow of nearby street lamps that these massive structures of concrete were being lightly dusted by the falling snow. Many places would have changed a lot over a few months time, but not this place. The whole town had pretty much remained just as he remembered it, the quaint little shops that lined the streets and the handful of people who still milled about in the chilled night air. But he didn't mind the lack of excitement; it was comforting. It was a nice change from Central where things seemed to change over night.
He was hurled from his thoughts when he reached the checkpoint at the front gates of the Eastern Command Center. He didn't recognize the soldiers on duty, and they didn't seem to know him either so he had to pull out his silver watch as ID. As he walked into the building he was suddenly faced with a sudden problem; he didn't know where her office was. After a moment of thought he figured his best bet was his old office. He could have stopped and asked someone, but he didn't want anyone to question the nature of his visit or the civilian clothes he was wearing. That was his business not theirs.
When he reached the office he saw that the light was still on, this had to be her office. Before opening the door he paused and took a deep breath. For once in his life Roy Mustang was nervous over a woman and this was the moment of truth. Some thing that could forever change his life, for better or worse. When he finally built up the courage to pen the door he was hit with a blast of familiar sites, his old office, his old desk, and his old subordinate. He heard her let out a soft gasp when she looked up to see he standing at her office door.
She stood at salute before stuttering in astonishment "H-Hello sir! Why are you here?"
"Am I not allowed to be here?" he asked smirking a bit.
"No its not that sir" she said looking a bit embarrassed. But he didn't notice, he was flinching for the second time at the sound of her calling him sir.
"I'm just not used to high ranking officers such as you showing up unannounced" she finished
"Oh well, I'm sorry I didn't call ahead" he said now smiling "But I wanted this visit to be a surprise"
She smiled sadly before she said, "Sorry sir but they've all gone home for the night"
That one stung. "Actually" he started after a short tense silence "I came to see you"
"What do you mean?" she questioned.
For a moment he stood frozen, in total shock, how could she say something like that? Had she for got how much she meant to him?
"What do I mean?!?" he repeated confused "I've missed you Riza!"
"Well I figured once you got settled in Central you'd move on" she said lightly "New subordinates, new friends…"
"Subordinate? Friend?" he asked desperately "Is that all you think you are to me?"
"Well of course" she said looking perplexed "Why would you thing of me as anything more?"
That was it; his heart was at its breaking point. He couldn't help what he said next.
"Because I love you!!!" he blurted.
"But the laws sir, th-"
"I don't care about the damn laws!" he exclaimed heatedly "They can dishonorably discharge me I don't care…as long as I've got you!"
At this point she chuckled a bit.
"What's funny?" he snapped looking both angry and hurt.
She just smiled at him and said, "You passed"
He gave her a confused look and asked "Passed what?"
She continued to smile as she replied "My test, to make sure you hadn't changed"
"What do you not trust me anymore?" he asked still sounding hurt.
"No Roy it's not like that, sorry if I hurt you feelings"
His face immediately lit up, not only at her apology, but also at the sweet sound of his name on her lips. Then not a moment to soon he pulled her into a loving kiss, savoring the feeling of her lips against his. That was a feeling he had missed in the time he had been gone.
"Oh and just so you know," she said as they broke apart "I love you too"