Chapter 11

She must have sped all the way home in some sort of trance… Riza suddenly seemed to find herself sprawled on her bed. Her blonde hair splayed around her head in waves of gold as she slowly glided her arm across her soft sheets to rest on her stomach.

Lifting her head, she looked at the clock on her night stand. The blurry red numbers that displayed 2:21am hurt her eyes in the darkness of her room, and she rested back down, gradually feeling the heavy sadness returning to her.

Did it all really happen? Riza looked up, watching her white silk curtains blow outwards in the breeze from the open window above her bed. She sighed, closing her eyes to the starry sky she managed to catch a glimpse of before the curtains moved in way of her view.

Everything seemed to have been a dream. The memory of what had taken place earlier played through her mind in clouded short segments of picture. She groaned, as a sickening feeling began to grow in the pit of her stomach.

She hadn't been this upset since… since before she had become a soldier. When she was a normal young woman with a heart set on falling in love. Since then, over all the years, she had grown accustomed to pain and suffering; her heart had grown cold and unfeeling. She had been unable to show emotion; unable to cry.

Opening her eyes slowly, she exhaled softly, calling to mind the words Roy had spoken to her all too honestly. He had said many things that had hurt her, but one had managed to make her heart break. It was the fact that she had been told she couldn't be trusted; she couldn't be trusted by the only person she had ever wanted to gain the trust of.

Rolling onto her stomach, Riza gathered her cool pillow in her arms and hugged it into her body. Through all the pain, she almost wished for the chance to cry. It could at least give her a chance to remember what it was like to feel real emotions again… she could like a normal woman; even if only for a moment, she wouldn't be a straight-laced soldier, but a normal human being with feelings.

Slowly, her amber eyes drifted closed. Maybe she'd never figure out the way things had to fall into place like the sad fate she was slowly getting used to.

If there was one thing she was sure of, however, it was the firm determination of never letting go of her goals. She had promised she would always stand behind the Colonel and accept his ways, but she had also made a promise to Rebecca- that she would avenge her death. These two promises seemed to contradict each other; which one was the right one to follow through, and which one was wrong? This appeared to remain the only problem which seemed to tug painfully at her heart. Which promise would she find herself able to keep in the end?

Riza sighed, hoping sleep could take her away from all the pain she felt. It didn't seem fair- she didn't want to make such a decision.

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Morning came quickly; the sunlight streamed in through the open window, creating dapples of light across the navy blankets of the bed. Riza rolled over and opened her eyes; the sickening feeling still sat in the pit of her stomach from the events of the night before.

She rose from bed and dressed, sticking to her routine. As she was about to exit her room, she realized that the folder she had taken the night before was sitting on her dresser where she had strewn it. Picking it up thoughtfully, she ran her fingers over it; her thoughts were still on the case at hand. She placed the folder in her bag, not wanting to hold it any longer. It made her think too much of the choice she had made.

On her way to the headquarters, the Lieutenant found herself mildly nervous to see Roy. He had been so angry and upset with her… she could only hope that things wouldn't feel uncomfortable between them today.

She kept her eyes on the road, although she wasn't really seeing anything in detail. Her mind's eye still focused on the Colonel's expressions from the night before, when he had told her he couldn't trust her. She was still surprised at how that had made such a powerful impact on her.

Headquarters seemed no different to her than it had the night before, as she parked her car upon arrival. Last night, it had seemed dark and uninviting; the only difference being there were people inside the building now.

With a calm and collected air, she entered the building, nodding to the officers who saluted a "good morning" to her by the entrance. The staircase never seemed so steep, as she slowly ascended, feeling her nervousness grow with every step.

She could have stopped walking and still would have come upon the office door too fast. Finding herself staring at the door, Riza took a deep breath, knowing she would have to get it all over with sooner or later.

Opening the door, she walked inside with her eyes down as she normally would enter the room.

The men were sitting around the room, engaged in some "manly" conversation. As she wandered over towards her desk, she managed to steal a quick peek at the Colonel's desk and found him resting his head on his hand as he listened to the gossip of his subordinate officers.

Havoc was propped up against the desk he was next to, puffing on his usual cigarette. Breta and Fulman sat on either end of the sofa in the room, and Fury stood behind them.

"So you're telling me that you actually found a date last night?" Breta was asking skeptically.

Havoc grinned and blew out a cloud of smoke, watching it slowly dissipate before responding. "Like I said, she was the sweetest girl. She had nice, soft brown hair and real pretty blue eyes. I gotta tell ya- she bakes a damn good cherry pie. "

"Sounds like a good catch to me. I'd like to meet her then." Roy commented suddenly, catching everyone off guard as he spoke so suddenly.

"Oh no you don't!" Havoc cried, nearly dropping his cigarette from his mouth. "The last time you 'met' one of my girlfriends she dumped me on the spot and went on a date with you instead!"

Breta laughed. "You know the colonel!" he said, "He always gets the women he wants."

"Speaking of which," added Fury in his usual innocent way, "How was your night, sir?"

Things had been going smoothly until that question. Riza could feel her cheeks redden upon hearing so, and she was afraid to turn around to hear Roy's answer.

"It was fine." Roy answered dryly, twirling a pen between his fingers, seemingly uninterested in their conversation.

Riza looked over at him in amazement; had he shrugged off the reality of the past night as if nothing had taken place?

"What, no women last night?" Havoc asked with a grin. "That's strange to hear. You must be losing your touch, Colonel."

"He was just waiting for you to get another girlfriend." Breta retorted. "I'm sure his nights will be a little more interesting now hearing how nice your new girl is!"

Havoc glared at Breta and the others who were currently laughing hysterically at Breta's joke.

Luckily, the men were interrupted by a knock at the door. Fulman, who was closest, reached the door first and opened it. A short, thin woman smiled up at him, wearing the uniform fitting of a secretary.

"Good morning, sir. The General sent me here to deliver a message to Colonel Mustang."

Fulman nodded and turned around. "Sir, General Haruko's secretary."

The woman stepped forward, and nodded. The usual blush rose to her cheeks as she locked gazes with the Colonel. "General Haruko sent me to remind you that papers he requested are to be completed by today. You may bring them to his office whenever they are finished."

Roy grinned, seeing her obvious infatuation with him, as many women were.

Riza looked down at her desk to see the short stack of papers that she had completed the day before, feeling angry that yet another woman had a childish crush on the Colonel.

"I will bring them over right away." She said to the woman, stepping forward. All else aside, she needed an excuse to get out of the office for a while. Although the Colonel hadn't spoken to her yet, she still felt the urge to avoid him for some reason.

The secretary almost seemed disappointed that Roy hadn't spoken to her, but she nodded. "Thank you." She said, "I will let the General know." With that, she exited the office.

Riza gathered up the papers quickly, neatly evening them on top of each other and smoothing their edges with her fingertips. With a final glance to be sure they were all there and in order, she headed for the door to the office and exited into the busy hallway, feeling her fellow officers watching her.

"I almost hadn't noticed the Lieutenant came in." Fury spoke. "I wonder why she was so quiet this morning."

"Yeah, you know, you've got a point." Breta chimed in. "I mean, isn't she always a lot… bossier?"

Havoc nodded. "She usually yells at us to get to work."

Colonel Mustang stood up from behind his desk, scraping his chair back against the floor suddenly, making everyone jump.

"Why are you all still standing around?" he demanded. "Get to work!"

The subordinates all exchanged glances, dragging their feet off to do their work. There was definitely something weird going on…and they were determined to figure out.

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Author's Note:

Hey everyone! Sorry it took a while for me to update… there was a problem with my computer, and I had to bring it to my college helpdesk so they could fix it. I was really upset because when I got it back, all of my pictures and music were deleted from my computer! I was happy to find that my documents had all been saved, because for a minute I thought that this story might have been deleted too! sigh of relief

Soooo anyway, here is chapter 11… look forward to 12 coming soon!

Much love… xoxo