in another life

Characters: Roy Mustang, Riza Hawkeye

Summary: They could have been happy.

He sometimes wondered how life would have been if he had not been an alchemist.

Mostly, his results were depressing – he would have died in Ishbal or on another battlefield and he would have never achieved anything. But while he would have been able to accept all of this, he was not so sure whether he would have been able to live a life without the queen by his side, a life without his lieutenant, a life without Riza Hawkeye.

It was strange but while he regretted most of his consequences of his decision to become the student of Master Hawkeye, he could never regret her because she was the only reason why he has always been able to keep going because after everything he had put her through, he could impossibly betray her trust as well.

But maybe, there would have been a way to be a flame alchemist and to have Riza Hawkeye in his life. Maybe there could have been an alternate life where they would have lived in the country after he father's life, where the military and the terror of Ishbal had never harmed them. Maybe they could have been happy in this life, she could have been a teacher and he could have done the research his master had always dreamed off.

He flinched as the door was pushed open and the blond woman stepped into the office, dark bags under her eyes barely concealed under a thin layer of makeup. She had been happier as a young woman and he wondered why they had chosen the way of unhappiness.

"Lieutenant," he called out to her and watched how she turned. "Did you ever consider the possibility of parallel universes or alternate timelines?"

She frowned at him. "If this is a scheme to get out of paperwork…" she started.

"No, no," he assured as he raised his hands. "It's a completely innocent question. Humour me?"

"In that case…" she sighed. "Like everyone else, I considered it a few times and since I rather think that there are parallel timelines that include all the possibilities that might have happened if we would have made another choice, I'd say that my alternate versions should not differ too much from who I am right now. I would have ended up in a similar situation in any case."

"As my babysitter, bodyguard, protector and everything else?" he asked.

"As a protector, yes," she nodded. "Maybe not to you, sir, but I would have protected something or someone. Maybe not you but a ton of children … I am not sure because I have not seen those alternate timelines and so I can only assume from the choices I remember that I have made along the years – and since I cannot remember when I chose to protect, I cannot remember whether I chose to protect you as a specific being."

"So it is true what they say…" he muttered. "We chose neither who we love nor who we befriend … so in the end, we might have been happier in another life."

"This is pretty sure, yes," she confirmed as she gathered finished reports from his desk.

"I am happy that you agree that there would have been a Roy Mustang in your life in any case, Lieutenant," he said as he looked out of the window. "Especially since I would have sworn that in all my alternate timelines, there would have been a Riza Hawkeye."

~ THE END ~