YEAH!!! I made my deadline! (Thanksgiving if you wanted to know) Thanks to all who reviewed, and I hope you enjoy this part of Roy and Riza's saga of hope, sadness, and romance! Jk ; )
Ps: I know nothing of daily life in Germany, so this story will take on any and all American/Australia mannerisms I have! (Which is pretty much means it is how I live…or something close to it…okay, I don't know any 'Riza Falconwings' or 'Roy Stallions'…)
Disclaimer: Hmm, if I were Hiromu Arakawa: 1. Ed and Winry wouldn't be in opposite dimensions, 2. Roy and Riza would have been together since the first ep/chapter, and 3. I wouldn't be wasting my time writing fanfics that could just be side stories…like Kakashi Gaiden! For Naruto, of course, not FMA…What, you really thought I was being serious…I would put Kakashi's childhood as chapter 77? Even when it's in a whole different universe where ninja Justus and refrigerators exist in harmony? Ah…but Amestris is a parallel universe too…Touché…
Ps: Nakama means friend, but more than that; it signifies a strong, strong bond with that person.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The rest of the week continued in this fashion. Roy would spend the day wandering around Birmingham, complete with ogling from random women as he walked down the street. He would pop into the internet café to reply to a steady stream of emails from is subordinates (primarily Josie Havoc, who complained about not having anything to do…but as he reminded her, there was paperwork aplenty). After he returned to Falconwings for dinner, Roy would find himself back in that library that fascinated him on his third day away, although he didn't stray anywhere near those gloves; they lay on the floor where he had dropped them. The second time he sat down on the reading chair, random book in hand, Riza had noticed the light on and the usually closed door ajar, and went to investigate.
Her eyes widened when she saw none other than her newest tenant, Roy Stallion, lounging in her fathers reading chair, avidly reading a dusty science journal.
"Umm, Mr. Staillion?" she stuttered, her shock quickly morphing into fear for her father's precious documents.
Reading the look of fear on her face, Roy hastily stood and apologized. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know this place was off limits, I was just looking around, I'm so sorry-"
"No, no, it's alright." She felt the wave of fear dissipate, replaced by sheer longing. "These were my father's books." She ran a hand along the closest self, gazing at the titles, "He used to collect them, before he…before he died."
"Look, again, I'm really sorry-"
"No, don't worry about it. You're the first one to come in here for years. I don't mind. Just…just treat them with respect, okay?"
Roy nodded silently and sat back down as Riza left the room. He didn't resume reading though; instead he gazed into space, thinking about these books.
Riza walked back out into the hallway, but paused before she turned into her room. It was true Roy was the first to enter the library in the past two years, but it wasn't because no one was curious about it. Many a traveler had inquired about the contents of the locked room at the end of the hall, but Riza had always put them off with a generic answer of 'storage' or 'another guest bedroom'. She hadn't even told Winry or Gracia, her two closest friends.
Instead of going into her bedroom, Riza turned around and ended up in the kitchen. Acting on a whim, she whipped up a cup of dark, strong coffee and carried it out the door, down the hallway, and into the library. Placing it down on the table beside the chair, Riza gave Roy a small smile and headed off to bed. Roy kept his eyes glued to the place she had stood, even after the shadows had engulfed her salmon-colored robe.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Soon it was Saturday. Riza relished the holiday and spent the afternoon whipping up her famous stir-fry, storing half in a Tupperware container in the double-door fridge. Picking up the other container, she hopped into her old Volvo and drove into town, parking in front of a clean, yellow flat with the words 'Stoner Mechanics' painted boldly on a wooden sign flapping in the wind outside.
Trumping up the stairs, Riza could hear the voices of her friends calling out in greeting and merriment.
"Riza!" Gracia exclaimed, cheeks flushed, raised her half-empty wine glass in greeting.
Winry welcomed her friend into her home, pulling her into the kitchen were everyone else had already gathered. Laughing and chatting, Riza unwrapped her stir-fry and let her Nakama dig in.
xxx
After a few hours of laughing, chatting, and generally being merry, the women crashed on the couch in Winry's adjoining living room. Pulling open another bag of chips, Maria smirked and addressed Winry.
"So, Winny, when's the wedding?"
Winry blushed and started fiddling with her ring. "We were planning to have it in a few months. Edward wanted to have it earlier, but it really takes a while to plan a wedding. I've always fancied a fall wedding…Anyways, I went out with Ed to this High School Reunion where I got to meet his brother…you know, Alphonse? Ed's always talking about how much fun they had as kids. Anyways, Alphonse is dating this girl I knew in middle school. Rose, do you remember her Cathrine? Noa's sister? Noa was there and started flirting with Ed, even though I was still right beside him! He brushed her off, of course. That's what's so great about him; he always comes back to me and 'us'…" Winry looked thoughtful for a second, then abruptly jumped up and scurried into the darkness that was the hall to her bedroom. After a few crashes, bangs, and the sound of metal against metal, Winry staggered back out, a lugging a small green suitcase. She sat down and carefully unzipped the top.
"Edward gave me this and told me he thought I would want it more than he would. He told me his… great? Yes, great-grandfather lost limbs in some war, and when he died he passed on his prosthetics to his son, who passed them on to his son, who passed them to his son, who passed them to Edward. I haven't had the chance to look at them yet…" She gasped.
Inside, nestled in foam, were two metal limbs: an arm and a leg, much too angular to belong to any woman. Running her hand over the leg, Winry delicately removed it from its mold and hoisted it onto her lap. She felt it's every contour and dent. She knew, as every person who works with metal knows, that these limbs were carefully crafted, and loved by the recipient. Feeling an alien series of scratches on the base of the foot, Winry turned it ninety degrees and inspected the tiny groves. What she read made her gasp a second time.
"'To Edward, with love, from Winry.'…there's no way…"
"Well, now then." Riza started, " I have to get moving. Roy will be waiting-" She abruptly silenced herself with a hand across her mouth, but too little, too late. Maria, Gracia, Catherine, and Sheska's ears had perked and caught every word, identical devilish grins spreading across their faces. Riza inwardly cursed her alcohol consumption and the effect it had on her tongue.
"Sooo, who is this 'Roy'?" Catherine asked slyly.
Riza blushed unconsciously, waving off the question. "Just one of my tenants."
"Just? Is he cute?" Maria giggled, but being the married woman she was, didn't say anything further.
To escape from any further interrogation, Riza grabbed her purse and slipped out the door.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
-----------------
Unlocking the front door, Riza let out an exasperated sigh. She had left her Tupperware at Winry's place. Deciding to pick it up tomorrow, Riza sighed again and headed down the hall towards her room.
Taking a detour, she veered over towards the library, where a line of light outlined the closed door. Roy had fallen asleep on the chair, book still resting open on his lap. Riza dug through the linen closet in the hall and pulled out a faded old quilt. Trying not to disturb him to much, she pulled the book out of his hand, shoved in a bookmark, and laid it down on the table, already crammed with books of all sizes and genres.
She carefully spread the quilt over the sleeping man, trying not stare at his handsome face. The eye patch did not take from his glamour, but instead, intensified it, adding an air of mysteriousness to him. His dark hair framed his face and, even when she tried to ignore it, she could feel the rippling muscles of his arms through the blanket. Riza could see the looks on her friends' faces if the could see her now. Dreading the day they would meet the man whose name escaped on Riza's usually severely tight tongue, said landlady tiptoed out of the room and into her own living quarters.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hem, hem. Short, yes, rushed, yes, proofread,…maybe? Expect more time skips because I am too lazy to write little filler scenes that have nothing to do with the overall plot. Yes, for all you Edwin fans out there, I will write the wedding, and some major drama is coming up! Thank you to all my wonderful readers out there and please REVIEW!
Can anyone tell me how to do those line-break things? Me ishn't in the know!