AN: i actually completely forgot about this oneshot whoops but here you go another christmas present for all y'all

i hope you enjoy!

thank you for all the support this year!


"you saved my life"

"Hayate!" Riza called into the forest. When she received no answer from her pup, Riza sighed. He was such a well behaved dog, he always came when she called, and that was what concerned her. She called his name again but a strong gust of wind carried her words away on the breeze. But it wasn't a fruitless endeavour, because she heard a very concerning whine.

She started off in the direction it had sounded from, her gait rushed. Why was her pup whining? Was he hurt? She found herself stepping off the woodland trail towards the cliff edge.

She sucked in a deep breath. Her pace was decidedly more frantic now.

While living temporarily in Drachma for the year, Riza had found and taken in Black Hayate off the street. The poor dog was half dead when she found him cold, hungry, and terrifyingly thin on her doorstep one evening trying to shelter himself from the cold.

That been last winter. Now, in the summer months, the forest trails were clear of snow but rain was prevalent most days. It remarkably had not rained today and Riza was actively not acknowledging that fact out of the fear of jinxing the weather. It had, however, rained all through the night which is why her young pup had slid down this slope and got himself stranded on a ledge by a cliff face.

And there he was in all his pathetic glory. Unharmed, thank goodness, but whining pitifully, looking back up the muddy slope he had just slid down. Trying to calm her heart rate, Riza placed her hands on her hips and smiled down at him, shaking her head. She tried not to think about how just one wrong step could have sent him plunging into the angry ocean below. It wasn't too far a fall, maybe about seven or eight feet, but the waves crashed against the rocks below, trying to beat them into submission.

He was okay, that's what mattered.

"Did you slide all the way down there?" she asked her pup. He yipped in response, his feet restlessly moving while he stared up at his master. "How did you even manage that?" she muttered to herself.

What she didn't see however was the small ledge just above where Hayate was waiting patiently. It was hidden under the cover of moss and bracken. Riza only just noticed it as she made her way carefully down the slope. That was why he was stuck.

Hopping down Hayate barked happily and brushed up against her legs.

"And now you have gotten mud all over my jeans. Thanks for that, boy." The only response she received was him wagging his tail and his tongue lolling from his mouth.

"Here," she announced, lifting the shiba up into her arms. "Stay still," she laughed as he wriggled around, eventually settling his paws on her shoulder, staring out at the ocean behind Riza.

"Do you not like the ocean?" she asked him. He was shaking in her arms but she couldn't be sure if it was because of the coldness that had begun to set into the air in the last half hour or so, or if it was out of fear of the expanse of water.

Perhaps he didn't like the water. He was always slightly skittish when it rained, which made sense based on how she had found him. Bath time was always a quick affair. He would allow Riza to wash him and rinse his fur but as soon as he was clean he would hop out of the bath, putting as much distance between himself and the tub as possible.

"Up you go."

Hayate fought to stay next to Riza, but she firmly placed him on the ledge just above her shoulder height. Preparing herself to climb back up, she was very aware of how narrow the ledge was she was standing on.

Pushing aside her nervousness, she reached up for a tree root that was dangling off the overhanging rock. It seemed steady enough. Gingerly, she tested her weight and slowly placed both feet on the exposed rock in front of her. She slowly walked herself up as Hayate watched one, letting out the occasional whine as he shifted restlessly.

The root she grabbed to pull herself up snapped.

Then she was falling.

A sharp pain shot through her ankle as it hit something hard. She landed on the edge and the panic flying through her didn't give Riza enough time to regain her balance or find purchase as her leg crumpled beneath her. Hayate barked endlessly as she toppled over the edge and down the raging sea below.

The cold was a shock to her system. On instinct she gasped from the sudden drop in temperature, allowing a large mouthful of seawater into her lungs. She choked under the water, completely disorientated as she water threw her around like a cat would a ball of yarn. It was merciless as she struggled, her chest burning with the lack of oxygen, eyes stinging from the salt. If she could vomit she would as the water found its way down her throat. The roar of the ocean filled her ears and it was so dark she was unable to figure out which way was up and which way was down.

She could feel her energy sapping. Before long she knew she would be gone. The realisation sent a new surge of energy through her as Riza fought for her life, but she was already spent.

This is it.

She would drown in the Drachman Sea while her dog barked above on the cliff face, unaware of her fate. She was worried about him. If Riza was gone there would be no one to look after her pup. She knew no one in this city, not really. No one would miss her and no one would take care of her dog. She knew people through work but it was a strictly professional relationship. A woman named Rebecca had tried to make friends with her. Riza was polite and engaged in conversation, but her upbringing moulded her into someone who kept to themselves.

As Riza drifted off she was sure she felt herself moving again. The ocean was relentless once more, pulling her away from her dog and her consciousness.


Roy almost missed the sound of barking as he jogged along the trail. His music was blasting in his ears, the beat sounding to the time of his footsteps. He was on a roll and this run was feeling good, which made a nice change from recent weeks. He almost tripped over the small, mud covered, shiba as they darted out from the bracken.

"Sorry buddy," he told the black pup and continued on his way. A brief thought entered his head along the lines of wondering where the owner was, but he continued on his way regardless.

But the dog refused to let him go that easily. It ran alongside him, barking and nipping at his ankles.

"Hey. Hey! That hurts!" he announced, stopping his run and ripping out his headphones. The dog stood before him, barking away. It was restless for some reason, walking back a few steps before returning to him. "What? What is it?"

The dog whined and ran back a few feet before stopping to see if Roy was following. When he didn't, they returned and barked once more.

"Where's your owner, buddy?" More barking. The dog was relentless. "Is something wrong?"

It whined loudly, paws padding on the ground before running off once more.

If something is wrong… He'd never forgive himself if he turned on the news tomorrow and saw a headline about a walker who had died in these woods tonight.

With a sigh he jogged back. The cold air had begun to seep into his sweat drenched hoodie. The damp air clouded over him like a mist, cooling his flushed skin from the exercise. The dog, finally seeing the stranger was following it, darted back into the underbrush. Peering down the slope Roy saw the small ledge it was standing on, barking out towards the ocean.

A sinking feeling filled his gut. Had someone fallen down there? Carefully picking his way down the muddied slope he came to rest beside the dog, peering down into the dark water.

He got a glimpse of blonde hair disappearing under the inky darkness as the waves swept it away suddenly.

"Oh shit. Oh, shit!" Someone was down there! From the skid marks in the mud and the disturbance of the dirt he guessed they might have fallen.

Roy shrugged out of his hoodie and dropped it next to the dog. It looked up at him expectantly, continuing to whine with the occasional bark. The cool air hit his bare skin and he shivered.

The drop wasn't far, maybe about seven or eight feet, but there were large rocks down at the bottom. Calculating the safest way down he crouched and lowered himself to a seated position, hopping down onto another ledge. On the left of that outcropping, there was a rock jutting out that he placed his foot on, edging his way down to a small beach that was hidden under the overhang of rock. The sandy beach was maybe about four feet in length, seven in width, but it would do for dragging the person out of the water. The sea water sprayed Roy as they hit the rocks before him. They formed a wall against the brunt of the water but some still seeped through.

Without another thought he hopped over them and into the freezing water. He hissed as a reaction, his body screaming at him to leave the water immediately but he fought it as ice crept from his toes and up his legs. He tried not to think too much about it, opting to scan for another glimpse of blonde hair.

There!

He dove into the water and swam about six feet out into the water. He grabbed blindly, grasping the person's upper arm tightly just as another wave crashed and pulled them both under. Luckily, Roy had anticipated this move from the ocean and took a deep breath. He used the momentum from the wave's energy to let it carry them both towards the shore. Breaking the surface, Roy reached for a rock as they were passing, anchoring himself to it. Gasping for breath, he hauled the unconscious body up and out of the water.

The woman's hair covered her face and her skin was deathly pale. There was no telling how long he had been under the water for. Her lips were blue and there was no movement from her chest.

"Shit," Roy muttered, dragging them both back towards the beach. His panicked, adrenalin filled state gave him strength he wasn't aware he possessed as he tried to save this woman's life. The dog was barking once more, but had found its way down to the beach.

Roy brushed the woman's hair off her face. Placing a hand on her forehead and two fingers under her chin he tilted her head back, lowering his head down to her face to listen for any signs of life. Looking down her chest he saw no movement. No air hit his cheek either.

"Oh, fuck."

Roy had hoped for something, anything, but the woman was dying. She wasn't breathing and she would be no doubt on her way to suffering from hypothermia.

Without hesitation Roy pinched her nose and formed a seal around her mouth, breathing air into her body.

Roy had never felt relief like it when she jerked and coughed on the fourth breath he had given her. His hands were shaking as he placed one hand on her back and the other on her chin, forearm running down her torso in a vice grip hold and rolled her onto her side to allow the vomit to exit her mouth more easily so she didn't choke on it. Seeing signs of life, the dog barked and placed its front paws on her legs, tail wagging furiously.

"Easy," he soothed, rolling her back over and helping the woman sit up, she gripped his biceps tightly as coughs continued to wrack her body. "You're okay. You're safe now."

What was worrying was just how much she was shivering. He had nothing to give her in terms of providing warmth. He thought of his hoodie but –

The dog has carried it down with them. It lay on the sand a few feet away from them.

"Good boy," he praised, scratching the dog behind its ears. It yipped once, tail wagging.

The woman's eyes opened slowly and Roy found his attention caught in her brown eyes. Roy dipped his hand into the salt water behind him and gently wiped her face free of her stomach contents. His stomach turned as he wiped away the remnants of it, but it was mostly water anyway. The smell had begun to waft his way, but there wasn't much he could do about that. Washing his hand a final time, he brushed her wet hair off her face.

"Are you okay?" A shiver caused her body to jerk. She opened her mouth to reply but it was just a croak. The salt water had done a number on it apparently so she just nodded. "I know that's a stupid question." Then he chuckled in both relief and disbelief. The woman sat watching him, stunned, violent shivers wracking her body.

She was alive.

He had saved her life without a thought and he was quite proud of himself for that. All that lifeguard training he had taken as a teenager had paid off.

"Here," he added. Roy retrieved his hoodie from the sand. Shaking the grainy substance off and brushing off twigs and leaves from the underbrush above Roy placed it over her head. It wasn't ideal, it was sweaty but it was better than her dying from the cold. She needed the warmth more than he did. Speaking of warmth, he had begun to shiver uncontrollably himself. The adrenaline from after the rescue had begun to wear off and he felt incredibly shaky as he remained in a crouched position.

"Come on, we need to get you to a hospital."

"Where am I?" she asked. Roy's stomach dropped at how slurred her speech was. "Who are you?"

"I'll answer your questions but we need to get back up to the path. Can you stand?"

The woman looked down at her legs, confused, before her head dipped forward and her eyes closed. That wasn't good.

"Hey, hey," he called gently, shifting his weight to lessen the pressure on his legs. He placed a hand on her cheek, wincing at the colour difference. While his skin was pale from the effect of the cold, Riza's skin was deathly pale. Gently he tilted her head so her eyes were meeting his.

"I'm tired," she mumbled, body falling backwards. Roy caught her by placing one hand on her shoulder, gripping it tightly.

"Can you tell me your name?" he asked, lowering one arm under her knees and securing the other behind her back. He lifted her into his arms and moved over to the ledge he had descended from. How was he going to get her back up there with her so unresponsive? "Hey, what's your name?" he asked once more. She roused herself from the grip of unconsciousness. He needed to keep her awake for as long as possible.

"Riza," she slurred.

"Riza? Okay, Riza, can you help me out here? We need to get back up to that ledge. Can you help me?"

"You saved my life," she muttered, eyes closing.

Her words sent a sensation he couldn't name through his stomach. He would focus on that later. Right now she needed his help.

"Your dog technically did. Can you help me? Please?"

"He's a good boy…" she trailed off.

"Can you help me, Riza?" he murmured, eyes scanning the cliff face in order to assess the best way to get back up to the path and to help. It was more a prayer than a question to the woman in his arms because it was too high for him to lift her up there himself.

"I'll try…"

"Good." That was all he needed. "I'm going to lift you up as high as I can." A shiver wracked his body suddenly, jerking Riza in his arms. She appeared to have noticed but was slow on the uptake. "Can you grab it?"

Bless her, she did try. Roy had to shove her upwards and onto the overhang, securing her foot on the rock jutting out from the cliff face. It was a clumsy affair but she made it. She lay in the mud while Roy made his own way up. It was an effort to get his own fingers to work properly and pull himself up. They burned with the cold and ached in pain as he gripped the rock tightly. He felt like he might vomit at the exertion.

"Are you okay?" someone called. Roy's head snapped up the slope towards the path. A woman was standing at the edge, peering down worriedly. Riza's dog barked at the stranger, as if trying to tell her they needed help.

"We need help!" Roy called back as he tried to stop his teeth from chattering together. "She fell in the water!"

"Oh my god," the woman exclaimed to herself. She dug into her pockets frantically. "I'll phone an ambulance! My car isn't far, I have blankets there. I'll go and get them!"

"You are cold too," Riza mumbled into his chest. He cradled her body to him as he climbed the slope with great difficulty. Her shoulder rested on his shoulder, her entire body in a constant state of shaking. He was no better off. The cool air from the sea wreaked havoc with his own body. The urge to vomit ever really left him.

"I know, I pulled you out of the water."

"You saved my life?" she asked, head lifting from his shoulder as she tried – and failed – to look up at his face. Eventually her head tilted back once they reached the path. Roy pushed his legs to a jog, the muscles protesting loudly at the movements after their cold treatment. "You saved my life," she breathed, head hitting his shoulder once more.

The woman was still on the phone when Roy met her along the path. In her arms were a bundle of blankets. Her own dog ran close by her heels, looking up at its master as she hurried, sensing the urgency.

"Here." She wrapped a blanket around his shoulders once Roy slowed to a stop. "The ambulance is on its way. Should be here in a couple of minutes."

Roy breathed a sigh of relief, both at the news and the warmth surrounding him. The woman wrapped Riza's legs in a blanket, making sure her feet were covered once removing her sodden trainers.

"How is she?" she asked peering into Riza's face worriedly. Another blankets was draped across her body, adding another layer of warmth to Roy.

"Cold," Riza mumbled, another violent shiver wracking her body.

"I know, honey. The ambulance is on the way. Just hang in there."

"You are cold too," she muttered, eyes still closed. "Why are you… wet?"

"I pulled you out of the water," Roy explained once again, brow furrowing at the repetition. She was confused. He searched his mind frantically, trying to remember the symptoms of hypothermia.

"You saved my life. What's your name?" Riza asked, head tipping back once more. Her eyelids opened with great effort but they were clear as they peered into his. She froze and it wasn't from the temperature of her body. In the distance, sirens reached his ears.

"Roy," he revealed.

"Roy…" she trailed off. She shifted against him, turning her body to face his chest. A hand gripped his sodden t-shirt and Roy swallowed as he adjusted his grpi. This wasn't a time to be thinking about such things, but he couldn't help but enjoy the way she said his name. Something about that East Amestrian accent made it appealing to him. It was so different from the thick Drachman he heard day in and day out. It reminded him of his home.

"I think she's passed out." Riza's body turned limp in his arms, the hand fisted in his t-shirt going slack. A fear gripped him and he wasn't quite sure why. Luckily, the ambulance pulled into the forest car park. Paramedics hopped out and moved towards them with purpose, another one pulling a stretcher out the back of the van.

"Do you know this woman?" one asked both him and the woman.

"No," the stranger beside him replied. Roy offered Riza's unconscious form to them, eager for them to heat her up. "I just phoned the ambulance and found them by the edge of the path. Roy here rescued her from the water." His arms folded over his chest now that they were free as he tried to control his shivering.

"You entered the water?" the paramedics asked.

Roy nodded. "Yes. Her dog chased me down the path and brought me to her." He looked around, spying the dog by the side of the stretcher.

"We would like to check you over as well then. Come with me, please."

Roy nodded and walked towards the back of the van, eyes lingering over Riza's form. He shuddered as he watched them pull an oxygen mask over her face.

"Thank you for your help," he called back to the woman, suddenly remembering to do so. She smiled tightly and nodded, gaze turning back to the person who was worse out of the two of them.

Roy didn't expect them to load Riza into the back of the ambulance as quickly as they did. The paramedic had just finished wrapping him in blankets, instructing him to remove his wet clothing to speed up the process, when the stretcher came barrelling in beside him. Roy shifted his blanket laden legs to stop them from knocking out his kneecaps.

"Take it easy now, we've got you both." The paramedic wrapped a band around his bicep to measure his blood pressure. "Can you tell me exactly what happened?"

So Roy began retelling the incident and how he had pulled Riza from the sea.


Riza opened her eyes to find herself in a hospital room.

Why… Why was she here? What had happened?

"Ah, you're awake," someone greeted her, tone pleased. Groggily, Riza looked down the bed to find a doctor standing at the foot of her bed. He tucked his clipboard under his arm and smiled warmly at her. "My name is Doctor Ramsey. How are you feeling?"

"Cold," Riza replied truthfully. Although she was under a pile of blankets on the bed goosebumps still prickled her skin. The response triggered a memory in her head, but her mind was too foggy to concentrate on it.

"You were suffering from hypothermia when you were brought in. You're in Marmansk State Hospital. Do you remember what happened to you?"

"I think… I fell. Did I fall in the water?"

The doctor nodded, noting something on his clipboard. He walked around the bed and pulled out a light. "I'm just going to check your pupil's reactions, okay?" Riza nodded. "You fell in the Drachman Sea not too far from here. You were helped out of the water and brought here."

Riza thought back to the last thing she remembered. There was something wet underneath her cheek, something soft yet solid. A heartbeat under her ear. Someone had carried her.

"I pulled you out of the water."

"You saved my life?"

"Roy."

Roy… He had saved her life. She felt heat begin to burn in her cheeks, remembering of the way he had held her carefully in his arms as they moved. There had been another woman too, but Riza never found out her name.

"Everything looks good in there," Doctor Ramsey announced cheerily.

"Do you know who it was that rescued me?"

"A man called Roy Mustang. He was discharged two days ago after being treated for mild hypothermia." Riza's stomach sank. She felt slightly guilty about that.

"How long have I been here for?"

"Three days."

A disturbing thought just occurred to her. "I was out with my dog when I fell. Is he here?" Worry laced her words.

"Mr. Mustang took your dog home with him seeing as we cannot allow pets to stay in the hospital. He left this for you." Doctor Ramsey placed a note on the table next to her bed and patted it once. "I'll return shortly to monitor your condition once more. We're optimistic though, you should be out of here in a couple of days. The bruising on your face has been healing nicely too, so there will be nothing to worry about."

Riza remembered her face being struck as she was thrown about under the water. She swallowed thickly, the memory disturbing. She had almost died. No one would have known. No one would have cared. If Roy hadn't come to her aid she would be a corpse lost in the frigid Drachman Sea.

"Thank you, Doctor."

He smiled. "No problem. I'll be back soon."

Riza picked up the piece of paper apprehensively.

Riza,

I've taken your dog to my place while you get better. They wouldn't let him stay in the hospital. Feel free to come and collect him at any time. My address is 213 Ulitsa Street, Murmansk.

I hope you get better soon.

Roy

Riza sighed in relief. Hayate was safe. He wasn't running around, lost in the woods, like she worried.


"Easy, boy," Roy admonished as the doorbell rang. For some reason he was all worked up at whoever was at the door. He ran in front of Roy, pawing at it and whining, looking at Roy expectantly. "Jeez," Roy exclaimed, opening the door. "I'm opening it, calm –"

His sentence was cut off as he blinked in surprise. Riza stood on his front doorstep, hands shoved deep into her pockets. Her nose was buried by a large scarf and she wore a woolly hat which had been pulled down low in an attempt to cover as much skin as possible. A yellowing bruise poked out over the edge of the scarf.

He broke into a grin after recovering from his shock. "Hey! You're all right!" He was more pleased about that fact than he cared to admit right now. He had been worrying about her for the past week.

"Uh, yeah," she replied, cheeks turning a light shade of pink. "Hey, Hayate," she greeted, kneeling down to pet her frantic dog.

"Ah, so that's his name."

Riza looked up at him, her scarf no longer covering her mouth. "Thank you for looking after him."

"It was the least I could do to help."

"You already saved my life." Her cheeks turned pink once more and Roy grinned. That made her blush even more. She looked cute when she blushed, Roy noticed. "Thank you for that. I don't know how I can ever repay you."

"Seeing you up and about is thanks enough." He grinned at her. "Would you like to come in for a coffee?"

She straightened, eyes searching his. The thought of her saying no dismayed him slightly, but he wouldn't push it. Roy just wanted to know she really was okay. Visions and dreams of the woman before him drowning had plagued him for the last week. It hadn't sit well with him at all.

"Yeah." Hayate barked by her side and Riza smiled. "Sure."