Rumor sat on the bathroom floor next to the Jacuzzi tub with a box of tissues.

What was she thinking, blowing up like that? How could she be so cruel to the one person who had ever treated her with so much respect and kindness? That was their first major fight, and she felt she lost. What could she do to make it up to him?

There came a light rapping at the door; then a click of the lock being undone. Rumor opened the door to him, he was surprised at that.

"I thought you would never want to see my face again…." Mustang hung his head.

"If I ever wanted that, that would be the day I died." Rumor was serious and once again had emotion.

He sighed from the stress filled day.

"I'm sorry for pushing you. I should have just shut up and accepted your answer quietly without making a fuss." Mustang apologized.

Rumor's mouth twitched unwillingly, "wow, a man being the first to apologize? What alternate dimension did I step into?"

He smirked, "Yeah, well, I was wrong and I'm man enough to admit it."

"No, I was. I totally freaked when you asked me to marry you, I'm sorry too."

"Does this mean…"

"No." She cut him off, "No, I won't marry you, yet. I'm perfectly happy with the way things are. There are still some things that I can't tell you, and until I can, I can never be your wife. My decision has nothing to do with the way I feel about you. I can't marry you because there are parts of myself that I can't accept, and until I accept them, I can't expect you to accept them. So… will you wait for me? Until that day comes when I can acknowledge those parts of me and come into your arms with no secrets? I don't know when that day will be, maybe not tomorrow, maybe not next year, but when that time comes when I can accept them, will you be waiting?"

Mustang looked to her, he had always thought of her as not a child, but not a woman either, which is probably why he struggled to keep his emotions in check; because sometimes he was reluctant to love the child part of her, yet yearned for her womanhood at the same time. It hadn't been an easy struggle for him, but he'd managed so far. The thought had never crossed his mind that there could be another part of her that she struggled with. Now, it seemed so obvious that her eyes and religion were related and part of that constant struggle. She loved him enough to want to save him from her past, a past she can't save herself from, that is why she hid her struggle beneath tinted sunglasses.

"Yes, my love, I will wait for you until that day comes, weather it be tomorrow, or in a hundred years, I will wait."

She took comfort in Mustang's honest words and cuddled into his chest. He held her there for as long as she needed. A strange dripping sound entered Rumor's thoughts.

"Roy?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you hear… dripping?" Rumor looked to his left hand and saw a small pool of blood congregating on the linoleum of the bathroom floor. "Oh my God! You're bleeding!"

She grabbed some of her non-used tissues and dabbed delicately at the scraps in his knuckles. He flinched as a piece of the disposable cloth stuck to the raw skin.

Throwing the tissues away, she took his hand more gently and brought it to her mouth where she began to carefully lick and suck at the bright red blood all over his knuckles and hand. Mustang's tension eased up at the act. Immediately, the pain began to subside.

Once she was confident that the bleeding had ceased, she got out a roll of tape and gauze and bandaged up his hand well.

"There, that ought to do it!" Pleased with herself, she stood back and beamed at her handiwork. She was rewarded with a kiss.

The next day Rumor was waiting for Mustang at the gate, something she hadn't done in a while.

"Well, this is a pleasant surprise!" Roy greeted her good naturedly. Things had calmed down after last night. There were no outstanding grudges. Things were back to as they should be; perhaps better because of their new-found feelings and acceptance towards one another.

"Here, this is for you." Rumor held out a page she had torn from her sketch book. It was of many things: a boy on the street with his dog, a squirrel in the park, a couple at a table, the roses from yesterday and his pocket watch.

"Thank you." He said, truly grateful for the token.

"Yeah, it's nothing much. I was bored and felt like drawing something, so I did!" Rumor beamed.

Mustang smiled at her. She brought the only glimmer of cheer to his less than perfect day.

Once back at their house, Mustang decided to be upfront about what had happened that day.

"I'm going off to war." He stated matter-of-factly, without the proper emotion.

"What?"

He nodded. "I've been promoted to Lieutenant Major. There's been an uprising in the desert and I've been called to go."

Rumor didn't know what to say. "… How long will you be gone?"

"I don't know."

"Why were you picked?"

"I don't know."

"Why don't you know anything?" She cried aloud, furious now.

"It isn't a dog's place to question the master. He commands I go, I go."

"And what will I do while you are away?" Rumor was on the verge of crying again.

"Hughes isn't going anywhere, and neither is Gracia. I'm sure they will keep you company." Mustang couldn't look at her, it hurt too much.

Looking towards him, he was looking away. She caught the stripes on the top of his Officers coat. Before, they had just been plain and stripped his rank; now, there was a single gold star attached to it.

"Sound's like you skipped a few ranks, huh?"

"Yeah. All they told me is that my promotion was long overdue, so to make up for it, they bumped me up a few levels…."

"To go to war…."

"Yeah…."

There was a silence that filled the room.

"Where are you going?"

"To Ishbal. That is where the uprising is."

Rumor's heart stopped.

Roy immediately noticed her abrupt change in posture and cease of movement.

"What's wrong? Why aren't you moving? Rumor!" Mustang moved to the couch and took her into his arms, quickly snapped out of his dead-demeanor.

"I- I'm okay… I guess this is all a little… sudden. I'm okay now."

Lieutenant Major Roy Mustang looked at her sincerely. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. When do you leave?"

"… Tomorrow." He was quickly turned to dead toned.

"TOMORROW? We don't even get to say goodbye!" Rumor's eyes spilled tears now; they ran down, over her dark cheeks. Mustang wiped them away gently with his thumb, the rest of his hand rested on her face.

"Don't cry, my love. I will return to you." Mustang brushed the black of the leather collar lightly, "I promise."

That following day, Rumor walked Lieutenant Major Roy Mustang to the gate of Central Headquarters. Their night had been long, neither wanting sleep, yet neither could bring themselves into the mood for other "night time activities", so they settled for holding each other close, exchanging words of love all night and into the early morning hours.

"I love you…." Rumor whispered lovingly into his ear, she took in his woodsy smell one more time.

He had heard her repeat those words over and over to him, all night long; still, he did not tire of hearing them. "I love you too. I always will." He alleged tenderly into her hair and lips all over again.

A whistle blew in the distance; he leaned away from her and placed his soldier's hat on his head, "the master calls." He turned his back and didn't look back after her, afraid that he would never be able to turn again on his call of duty if he did.

Tears prickled his eyes and hung on his lashes, but as soon as the brass came into focus again, they were gone along with everything that mattered to him. It was all with Rumor, all that walked through that gate was the shell of a man with exceptional talent for flame alchemy. He would never be whole again until he held her in his arms.

She watched him go, when he was out of sight, she sprinted back to their house. She grabbed her backpack and bolted out the door locking everything up behind her.

Rumor was about to run past the old woman's shop when a nagging feeling urged her to stop, so she did. Tearing out another page from her newly bought sketchbook, she wrote a letter to the old woman, explaining briefly what had transpired and what she planned to do. With a promise to return and visit, she dropped the letter in the mailbox and headed east… to Ishbal.