Chapter 2

The day that followed the reunion was a particularly sunny one but not a single particle of light was allowed to filter through the heavy drapes that covered the windows of the hot and musty hospital room. The patient, a young, blonde gunshot victim, needed her rest.

The sharp smell of hospital-grade disinfectant mingled with the stuffiness of the room itself and the sweat of its roasting occupants to create the harsh sort of odour that the military men sitting by the patient's bedside usually associated with the end of a long hard battle- one in which a lot of blood had been shed and more had been lost than won.

Then again, that was close enough to how each of them were feeling at that moment anyway.

Brigadier General Roy Mustang was one of the few men who had learned to accept the necessity of the occasional 'hit and miss' and even believed that it was good for the soul to taste defeat once in a while... That in itself was fine- as long is it was him getting hit. Him, and not his subordinates.

Especially not her.

He had been by her side all night. The others had come and gone at various intervals throughout but he, alone, had refused to leave her side. Everyone had tried to convince him to go home but they had known from the beginning that it would come to nothing.

He loved her far too much to leave her for anything in the world.

-

As it was bound to, day turned to night and thus the first day of his being without her came to an end, but still he did not leave. Even when Gracia and Elysia Hughes came especially to beg him to, he did not leave, merely drew his chair closer still, leaned his elbow on the side-table and indicated that he intended to get himself comfortable and remain again through the night.

The pair left dejectedly, both of them very close to tears.

The doctor made his last visit for the night and, after a brief physical exam, he bid both Roy and the unconscious Riza goodnight, assuring him that her condition was stable before suggesting he get some sleep and leaving, himself.

Roy, exhausted from his lack of sleep the previous night, drew the spare blanket Ms Hughes had left for him over himself and reached over the bed to turn out the lamp on the left-hand side-table, freezing as he caught a glimpse of Riza's facial muscles slackening slightly and her lips parting. He drew back quickly as she took a deep, shuddering breath and rested a hand on her shoulder gently.

"Riza?" he asked softly, his breath catching in his throat, but she didn't reply and grew still again. "Riza?"

A few moments passed in silence then… "I… I'm sorry, Roy. I'm so tired right now… Please don't make me talk. Please don't make me explain what I did for you…"

"Of course," said Roy softly and quickly. "But, God, I was so scared for you, Riza. I don't know what I would have done if I'd lost you."

"I would hope that… you would contin…ue following your… your dream, Roy…" Riza whispered in reply, her voice becoming slower and softer, "…'nd… become… the Fuh…rer… even if I… couldn't make it… couldn't make it there with you…"

Roy just shook his head and leaned down to kiss her forehead gently, refusing to even consider it as a possibility. "Rest now, okay? I'll call the doctor in the morning."

Riza closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, "all right… but, Roy?" Her eyes slid open again, darkened by concern.

"Yes?"

"You're… okay, aren't you? Nothing happened to you after I… I fell…?"

"I'm fine, Riza. Thanks to you."

Riza just smiled contentedly and a few moments later she had fallen back to sleep. Roy reached for her hand and caressed it gently, bringing it up to his lips before settling it in his lap and holding it as he, too, fell asleep at long last.

-

"She's grown up so well, hasn't she, Mustang?" General Grumman said with a sad small smile as he stared down at his sleeping granddaughter from where he sat at the edge of her bed upon his arrival the next morning. "So beautiful- just like her grandmother…"

"An angel," Roy agreed sincerely, not looking at his superior but down at Riza's sleeping form.

"…When I asked you before if you would accept my granddaughter's hand in marriage, did you know that I meant little Riza-chan?"

Roy shook his head silently.

"Does it change anything?"

Roy looked up in surprise and shook his head. "Not right now," he managed to say eventually. "But maybe someday… if she'll have me."

"You've fallen in love with her, haven't you, Mustang?"

Roy glanced down at Riza for a moment before nodding. "Yes, sir," he said. "But you mustn't assume that she feels the same way..."

Grumman just chuckled, "the girl took a bullet for you Mustang- I think it's fairly obvious."

Roy just stared at his beautiful lieutenant longingly, wishing he could believe that Grumman's hopeful implications actually held some semblance of meaning within them… "Maybe someday, sir," he repeated sadly. "Maybe someday."

The two men sat in silence for a while, becoming so detached that a tiny moan from Riza ten minutes later sent them both jumping at least ten feet in the air.

"Grandfather?" she asked softly, then pulled herself up into a sitting position. "Grandfather, what are you doing here? I'm going to be perfectly fine, so you needn't have worried about coming down from the East-"

"It's been too long since I've seen you anyway, Riza-chan," said Grumman, dismissing her protests with a wave of his hand. "Besides, I've nothing better to be doing back home and your birthday is next week."

"Oh, please don't go making a fuss again this year, Grandfather. Birthday parties are for children."

"No, they aren't, Riza-chan! If you're growing out of anything then it's the military- when are you going to find a nice man and settle down?"

"It'll happen when it happens, Grandfather."

"You know, you're not getting any younger, Riza-chan. Don't you want to act now before all the good men are taken?"

"Not particularly," said Riza. Then she turned to Roy. "I'm sorry for having you put up with him, General. Has he been bothering you here long?"

"Oh, he's great company," said Roy, grinning. "We've been playing chess." He gestured over to a portable set and Riza rolled her eyes.

What was it with military men and chess?

"Shouldn't you be back at headquarters, sir? I hate to think how much work you've already missed because of my-"

"It's fine," said Roy. "I promise that I'll do it when we both go back. Together."

"You're just trying to get out of your paperwork again, sir," she chided him and he grinned.

"If I am, you can't stop me," he teased. "You've been confined to bed by the doctor."

Riza suddenly looked very sour.

"I'll be off to arrange your birthday party, then!" said Grumman happily. "You two lovebirds have fun!"

Roy and Riza blushed profusely but by the time they had so much as opened their mouths to protest, he was already gone.

"Sorry about him," Riza said, a little sheepishly, as the door closed.

"It's no problem," Roy replied easily. "The general is a good friend as well as a superior. Like you and I, right?"

A light blush graced Riza's cheeks (which had just cooled down) and she smiled a little. "Yes," she said eventually. "That's right."

Roy smiled too and she blushed deeper, causing him concern. "You look hot- do you have a fever?"

Riza reached up to touch her cheek in surprise, "I think I'm just kind of embarrassed," she said wonderingly.

Elizabeth Hawkeye never blushed- she just… didn't. Not until recently, at least.

Roy looked surprised, too, for a moment, then laughed. Riza joined in with a small, almost nervous, chuckle.

"How are the men finding work without us both?" she asked eventually.

"Don't worry, Rize, I'm sure they know what'll happen if you come back and nothing's gotten done," Roy assured her with a grin.

"You should go and give them a hand, you know?"

"I'd rather keep you company," he told her, shrugging. "It's not often we just get to sit around and talk anymore."

"Are you saying that the hole in my back is a blessing in disguise?" Riza asked, raising a carefully plucked eyebrow in amusement.

"Of course not!" said Roy quickly and now he was blushing. "I only meant that I miss talking to you like this!"

"Don't worry, I understand."

"Good…" Roy paused here before continuing, a little uncertainly. "…But why did you do it? My goal isn't important enough for me to want you to risk your life for. It's fine for me, Riza- this is the path that I've chosen for myself… but I couldn't bear it if I lost you- especially as it'd be my fault."

"But this is the path I've chosen too, sir," said Riza earnestly. "I made a promise to always watch your back and I couldn't bear it if you were killed either- not when I could have saved you."

"It wouldn't be your fault, Riza," Roy admonished gently, moving closer as her weakened body began to shake.

Riza just shook her head and hugged herself around her stomach as though attempting to subdue a very persistent ache. "Even if it wasn't my fault… Losing you would be just too painful, you know?"

"Yes… I know what you mean."

"My heart wants to always be by your side."

Roy leaned forward and took her in his arms tenderly, burying his face in the crook of her pale neck. "Then never leave me again," he told her quiet and she mewled her soft agreement into his fluffy black hair.

"Roy?"

"Mmhmm?"

Riza traced a finger down the back of his neck gently, wondering exactly how to say what she had in mind. Sensing her anxiety, Roy pulled back a little.

"Riza?"

Riza just frowned slightly but she was saved from having to answer as Havoc bounded in the door.

"Hey, 's the Lieutenant awake ye- Oh…" Havoc froze as he took in the sight of the close pair holding each other and a few moments passed before a large grin spread over his face and he started laughing. "Am I interrupting anything, guys? I mean, should I be expecting a baby Mustang in a couple of months?"

"Shut up, Havoc. Roy visited you when you lost the use of your legs as well- it doesn't mean anything," Riza reminded him irritably.

"Maybe," said Havoc, still grinning. "But that's pretty much only because he was in the same ward anyway and, you know, we weren't on a first name basis!"

Riza blinked, confused for a moment before realising her mistake and blushing deeply.

"Haha!! The Lieutenant's blushing! How cute!!"

Roy moved to sit back in his seat, glaring at Havoc as he did so, "I was just expressing how glad I was not to have lost her, and isn't it natural that I was worried about her? We all were, after all!"

"Well, if I were to attempt to hold her, I'd probably get a bullet to the head!"

"You're going to get one anyway if you don't be quiet," Riza snapped, eyes flashing. "And don't think I haven't got any guns around here because I have several."

After that comment, it didn't take long for Havoc to scram, slamming the door shut behind him on the way out.

Riza looked down, smiling apologetically and Roy sat back down on the bed, drawing her close against him and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before pulling back with a grin.

"Thank you for being here with me, Roy," she told him softly.

Both of them looked down, blushing, and Riza slid her bottom lip between her teeth with a tiny sigh that Roy couldn't possibly have heard.

'I was going to tell him, Winry-chan,' she thought, a little forlornly. 'I swear I was. It's just… not the right time.'