I don't own Full Metal Alchemist.

He had called Master Hawkeye and let him know that he was on his way home. Master informed him that there was no hurry. But Mustang knew better. When he asked why Riza still wasn't answering the phone his mentor kept giving round about answers. Mustang accepted his silence while he was talking, but he knew something was up. He remembered Hawkeye mentioning that Riza had been sick, and that it was possible that she might need a nurse. This only caused him to increase his speed getting home. Even though the journey took him three weeks, it only took him one to get back.

He approached the house quietly, knowing that everyone was still asleep. It was two in the morning when he finally arrived, so he made quick haste through the door and up the stairs, tip toeing the whole way. He was going to go into his room, but it was too much. He hadn't talked to Riza since he heard she was sick, so he went to see if her door would open. As usual it was unlocked, so Mustang peaked his head it.

The sight before him did scare him at first. Riza as simply laying on her bed, face down. He wasn't sure if she preferred to sleep that way or not. From what his memory could recall every time he caught her napping she had been on her back. So he cracked the door more and slid in the room. He missed her immensely and wanted to tell her he was home. He didn't know if she also missed him, but it didn't matter. He needed to see her.

He approached the bed and that is when he noticed something out of the ordinary. She didn't have a blanket over her back. She had what looked like a large bandage spanning from the top of her spine all the way down, resting on the hem of her pants. She also didn't have a shirt on. The only thing covering her chest was the bed she was lying on, and Mustang could see the outlines of her breast from the side. He knew this was out of character. She always slept with clothes on. Always. Sure she was getting older, but she was still innocent. It wouldn't be comfortable for a woman of her age with the body she had been given to sleep in such a vulnerable position. He knelt by her bed, brushing her hair away from her face. He noticed she wasn't warm, in fact her skin was ice cold from not having a blanket on it. He reached to get it over her when she stirred.

"Please stop. It hurts. Please."

She was talking in her sleep again. She did this often, but she usually wasn't talking about being in pain. In fact her sleep talking almost got them caught once. She mumble something about their shooting range and her father heard. Mustang acted like he had no idea what she was talking about and he never brought it up again. But now he knew better. She was dreaming of being in pain. He had to know why.

"Riza, Riza wake up. Riza."

"Humm. Hun. What? Who's there. No please. Get that needle away from me. NO!"

Riza awoke with a start, and the sudden movement hurt her excruciatingly. She laid back down as to not disturb the wound again when she noticed she wasn't alone. Fear gripped her until she saw the black hair and pale skin of the man in front of her. He had a look of horror on his face, as if he had seen something so scary he couldn't process it.

"Roy. You're back."

Roy snapped out of it, focusing on the girl. "Yes. Of course I came back. Didn't your father tell you I was on my way home?"
"He did. But we weren't expecting you for another two weeks."

"Well, I knew you were ill, so I came home faster and faster. I haven't even gone to my room. I needed to see you were ok. And now I see. You are not okay. What the hell happened?"

So apparently her father decided not to tell Roy what had happened. He lied and said she was ill. He hated the idea of lying to Roy, but this secret wasn't hers to tell. She knew the action her father would take if she told, and she wanted Roy to be able to finish his training.

"I was in the woods when a branch fell on me. Scratched me up pretty bad. I don't know why father did tell you. I guess he figured that if you knew I was hurt you would run home before you found my attacker."

"God Riza, I wish I had known! I could have bought some medicine for you. Anything. I feel horrible for not being here. Can I take a look at the wound. I want to make sure you are healing alright."
"NO. Oh, sorry for shouting. Um, no. Please don't remove the bandage. It hurts so much when its removed. I just want to lie here and sleep."

"Okay. Ill let you sleep. Ill see you first thing in the morning."

"Roy, uh, do you think you could stay here tonight?"

"What?"

"It's just I've been suffering alone for a while now. I just want to you to stay here. There is a extra mattress in the hall closet, and you can set it on the floor right here. I would just feel better if someone was here, you know, if case I need something."

"No problem. I've gotta take a shower, and then I will get the mattress in here."

"Okay. I'll wait for you."

"You don't have to do that. Go ahead and go to sleep."

"I don't think I can. The jump I just did was very painful."

Mustang felt extremely guilty for this, and therefore decided to forgo the shower till morning. He quickly got a mattress and settled in next to Riza, only a few inches down from her. He wasn't sure how he could comfort her from this position when he saw her hand reached over the edge. He go the message and reached up to her. And there they slept, too exhausted to talk, hand in hand.

The next morning Riza stayed in bed. Apparently the wound was superficial, but that didn't mean it didn't burn like hell. Mustang took to his morning studies and finished quickly. He wanted to get in some of Riza's chores too. He went to the kitchen to make lunch when Master Hawkeye caught up to him.

"Have you gone to see Riza yet?"

"Yes sir. I really wish you would have told me. She is in so much pain."

"O yes. I figured if you knew she was in such pain you wouldn't be able to focus. But as you can see she is healing."
"I would like the chance to check on the wound myself. All of us at the academy had a semester of medical training. Scratches are no problem. But she won't let me take the bandage off."

"Yes, its very painful. Did she tell you what happened?"
"Yeah. I can't believe that broken branch fell on her. Do you need me to cut the limbs off of the tree. If you so ask, I'll take the whole blasted thing down."

"No, that won't be necessary. I had someone take care of it already. And I also have a nurse coming to tend to Riza's wound. I think she would be more comfortable having another women dressing it, don't you?"

"Yes sir, of course." Mustang replied, even though he didn't believe what he said. He was very confident Riza wouldn't care if he saw her in this state. She was shirtless last night and didn't mind one bit that he had seen much more than she intended too when she woke up suddenly. If it weren't for the fact she was screaming in pain he would have taken better note of what he saw, but truth be told he didn't get a very good glance. He was too worried about her.

After a couple of weeks Riza was finally able to be up and around. Unknown to her father, Mustang spent every night next to her on the floor, holding her hand. Little by little she was getting stronger, healing up just fine. When Mustang got up to go to breakfast Riza started to rise also.

"What are you doing?"
"I wanna get out of this bed. I'm pretty sure I can make it downstairs today. It only stings a little. Plus if I don't get up my muscle tone is going to deteriorate, and then I will be a walking jelly blob."

"Haha, you come up with the funniest things. But before you get all the way up, would you like me to get you a shirt?"

Riza quickly looked down and immediately turned a very bright shade of red. It seemed to dawn on her that every night Mustang had spent with her she had been shirtless. Mustang was gentleman enough not to look, even now. The whole time she was talking Mustang was studiously staring at the ceiling, never making eye contact. He new that if he attempted to look at her eyes he would never be able to keep himself from look at the other set of eyes.

"O my god. Yes please." she replied and she quickly used her arms to cover her chest.

"Don't worry, when I saw you were rising I looked away. I don't want you to think I would ever take advantage of you when you are in pain."

"Thanks. Most men aren't that considerate."

"Good thing I ain't most men."

Riza instantly felt better knowing this. She had been in so much pain that she never gave any thought to how she was dressed. But she was sure that while he may have gotten a first glance, he would have looked away quickly. Its not that she would mind if he saw her. He was just a gentleman, one of the many (and growing,) reasons she liked him. She quickly put on her shirt when a very sad thought occurred to her. No matter how much she would ever want him, well hell, anyone, she wouldn't be able to. But especially him. He was trained. He would be able to tell. And she knew just how dangerous it was. Her father made sure to drive this into her mind. It was dangerous. She had to do everything possible to make sure no one ever got their hands on it. Even if that meant she had to leave. The only thing she wasn't allowed to do was get caught. It was so very important she never get caught.

Without realizing it she had signed her death warrant. She could see it now. Never could see have someone to be with her. Never could she feel the touch of a loved one. She was trapped. And she was slowly coming to hate it.