Well, thanks to the reviewers! Here's my responses!
Tsuiraku Nami: Thanks! And kinda sad, hm? Good, my Lit teacher's been on me lately about "inspiring emotion in the reader"…Whatever. Glad you liked it.
Tear drops of flaming darkness: Well, you just seem to like all my stories, now don't cha? –pauses and reads again- Don't…cha…? –starts dancing- DON'T CHA WISH YOUR GIRLFRIEND WAS HOT—pelvic thrust—LIKE ME! –ahem-
The Mr. Clean Alchemist: Love you, too:D Never met you and don't even know your name, but, hey! I'm Frosh! Don't really care. And I know I rock. I rock my own socks. :D
Unexpection: -consoling you- Don't be so pessimisstic, dearie, it's fine in the end. I have only ever done the bad thing (written a deathfic) once, and I'll NEVER do it again. Promises. Unless someone requests it. And, yeah, it is consumption, but I never really cared until you brought it up. Just kinda slipped my mind. And, YAY! MORE KUDOS!
Reiya-chan: -ish forlorn- You don't love it?
ChibiRaccoon: Well, I thought it was interesting, too. :D Fun idealots of homework not getting done. :D
Sangi: As with nearly all my stories, it was indeed a random idea. And I most certainly will keep it up. :D
SierraMisha: Yeah, I understand. Riza was really, really OoC, but if you're adding stuff to your RoyRiza C2, then---group groan---go check out my other stuff:D I'd LUFF to get my stuff put in a C2:DDDDDDDDD
Here is the second chapter. Bear with me, it gets better in the third chapter.
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The next morning Roy woke up and saw Riza sleeping peacefully in his arms. A grin spread across his handsome features, and she snuggled up to him.
"Good morning," she whispered groggily, her blonde hair tangled haphazardly across the bedspread.
He kissed her forehead, and she closed her eyes. "I don't want to wake up," she complained, stretching.
Roy raised an eyebrow at her. "It's only 6:30 in the morning, dear."
"Much too early."
"Funny," he remarked. "Normally I would say that."
"Yes, well, you haven't had kids that suck the energy out of you," Riza answered conversationally. She pulled the blankets tighter around her with a groan.
"At any rate, I need to get to work." Roy was highly amused at her behavior. Really, his Lieutenant had never acted in such a manner; rather, she had reprimanded him for it.
"I'm not your Lieutenant anymore," Riza said, correctly interpreting his expression.
Roy kissed her gently before climbing out of bed. "You'll always be my Lieutenant," he corrected with a smile.
She smiled wearily back at him. Roy noticed that she looked even paler than she had the previous night. She pulled the covers over her head with a groan. "There's still a spare uniform of yours in the closet," Riza's muffled voice floated out to him.
"Really is just like old times, isn't it?" He gathered the shirt and pants from the closet, and began changing in the middle of the room.
"Daddy! Mommy! Daddy! Mommy!" screeched Brian and Allie as they burst into the room, only to find Roy half-dressed and Riza completely oblivious.
(I-I'm sorry, it's just so funny…imagining Roy's face right now…I need to draw that. scribbles it down it's just so unbelievably funny, and totally something you could imagine Roy doing…)
"B-Brian, Allie, kids, go outside," Roy ordered, stumbling over his words.
The kids ran out of the room screaming.
Roy proceeded to stare at the door for a few long minutes, in shock, before Riza's hands at the collar of his shirt distracted him.
"You're blushing, sir," Riza murmured as she did up his buttons.
"Well, I-I've every r-right," he protested, stammering.
"You certainly do," she observed with a wry grin. "Arm." He held his arm up obediently for her, and she tugged his jacket over his shoulder.
"They do that often?"
"Quite." She fastened the jacket closed and straightened it importantly. "Off to work with you now." She motioned him out of the room.
"No kiss goodbye?" Roy asked, a little disappointed.
"I need to change. Go take care of the kids first."
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Roy found the twins downstairs in the living room.
"Brian? Allie?" he asked hesitantly.
They looked up at him and immediately ran and hugged him, nearly knocking him off his feet.
"Daddy, why haven't you been around?" Allie asked, her small face stern.
"Daddy, Daddy!" Brian tugged on his jacket. "Look what I learned!" He dragged a big book off the shelf. Roy recognized it, but he couldn't remember the name.
It became apparent what it was when Brian opened the book and put a block on the paper. The three-year-old put his hands over the wooden block and blue sparks erupted from the book, and Brian clapped his hands together enthusiastically.
"Looky! Looky!" He pressed a wooden carving into Roy's hands. Roy marveled at the workmanship.
"Good job, Brian," Roy said, ruffling his son's black hair.
"Brian Roy Mustang." Riza's voice rang out from the staircase, and they all looked up.
"M-Mommy!" stammered Brian, hiding behind Roy.
"I've told you not to do any alchemy unless James is around." Riza walked down the staircase, looking positively furious.
"B-but Daddy was h-here!"
"That is of no matter to me," she answered sharply. "Come here."
Brian walked meekly over to her, and she knelt down to his level. When she spoke, her voice was considerably softer. "You know why I don't like you to do it when I'm not around, correct?"
"Yes." He hung his head.
"And why might that be?"
"Because you don't want something to go wrong."
"Right. No alchemy until James gets here." When he opened his mouth to protest, she cut him off. "It's for your safety as much as your sister's and everyone else's."
"Mommy?" Allie tugged on her mother's jacket.
"What is it, dear?" she asked wearily, straightening.
"Look what Bry did!" Roy wordlessly handed Riza the carving. Riza raised a delicately sculpted eyebrow.
"Well." She cleared her throat. "Good job, Brian."
Brian looked positively elated that his mother had praised him.
"Now, I'm going out with your father for a while. You two stay home and be good, and maybe I'll get James to come over."
Amid their cries of joy, Riza took her medicine and she and Roy left.
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Walking down the street hand in hand, Roy was a little unsettled about how Riza had handled the incident. Really, if they were their children, shouldn't Riza and he agree on how to discipline them?
Riza sighed. "What's wrong?" she asked.
"Nothing."
"Roy Mustang, I've known you for eight years. Don't give me that."
Roy sighed this time. "I don't approve of the way you handled that alchemy thing with Bryan back there."
"Really? How would you have done it, had you been completely inexperienced at alchemy, yet you knew what could go wrong, and your only son was trying it unsupervised?"
Roy looked surprised. "I didn't think of it that way."
"Of course not." She sounded amused.
They had arrived at the Eastern Headquarters, and Roy pulled Riza into a deserted alleyway.
"Roy—" she began, her voice muffled in his jacket as he pulled her to him.
"There's someone outside of the Headquarters, Riza," he said urgently, his tone soft.
She immediately straightened. "Shove off, Roy, I need to undo my holsters—"
"No." Roy started pulling on his glove, and she stared at him, horrified.
"We always fight together, Roy! Always!" she whispered.
"Not anymore, Riza." She opened her mouth to protest, and he kissed her quickly before moving to run out of the alley.
Riza grabbed him by the collar and pulled him down to her height. "Now you listen to me, Roy Mustang," she hissed warningly. "I am not some—some trophy wife that you'll marry then never allow to do anything again! Don't forget it was me who saved your sorry ass time after time, and without me you wouldn't have risen to where you are now! Why now am I not allowed to—"
"Because we have children at home, dear." Taking advantage of her surprise, Roy kissed her again and ran around the corner to face the enemy.
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He found her later that night sitting on the couch waiting for him to come home from work.
"Hello, dear," Roy said affectionately, moving to greet her.
"Hi," Riza replied stiffly as he kissed her cheek.
"Riza, what's wrong?" Roy noticed something missing. "Where are the kids?"
"At their friend's house for the week." She turned to go up the stairs, but Roy caught her arm.
"You're not still mad at me for this morning, are you?"
"Why should I be? I've just spent the whole day wondering if you were all right, because I wasn't there to protect you, and the one time I might not be there to protect you, you might get hurt. I have no reason to be mad at you whatsoever."
Roy smiled. "It's okay to admit you were scared."
"Okay, I was scared! Did you need to hear it? I was scared that you wouldn't come home today, just like everyday I was away from you I was scared that your name would be in the obituaries one day! And then the kids kept asking me where their daddy was—" Roy's heart sank as she started to cough again.
"Have you taken your medicine?" he asked her, and she shook her head.
Roy swept her off her feet and deposited her on the couch in front of the already roaring fire, ignoring her objections. Gathering the bottle of pills and a glass of water, he brought them over to the living room.
Roy handed her the bottle. "Take," he ordered firmly, and she reluctantly downed the pills and the glass of water.
Riza sighed and put the empty cup on the table with the pill bottle. "I don't know if I'm suited to this."
"We've already been through this, haven't we?" he asked comfortably as she stood and took off his jacket for him, putting it on the coat rack.
"Yes, but it's still something we need to decide, sir." She stared at him until he chuckled and sat down, pulling her onto his lap.
"Can't it wait?" He put his arms around her and set his chin on her shoulder.
"No." She was silent for a moment. "I'm thinking about rejoining the military, actually."
"Riza, you can't do that," he demurred, bemused.
She huffed at him and refused to pursue the topic further.
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However, the topic picked up the next night, after he came home from work again.
"And why not?" she demanded.
"You need to stay home and watch the kids, dear."
"I can't do that the rest of my life!"
"You most certainly need to."
"I do not!" she shouted.
A silence followed this. Riza had never yelled at him before, and Roy wasn't sure how to take it.
"I'm sorry, Roy…it's just PMS," she muttered.
"No it's not, Riza." Riza gave a small shudder at the coldness in his voice.
"Roy, really, I'm—"
"Something's been wrong ever since you came back. You're not the Riza I know."
"Roy," she murmured, aghast. "What's wrong with—"
"You're that homunculus, aren't you? The one who changes form?" Pushing her away, he quickly drew on his glove and stood in one fluid motion, pointing his ready-to-snap fingers at her.
"I will not tolerate this."
"Roy—"
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Blargh for the cliffhangers! BLARGH FOR THEM!
You: She's finally gone loose, that one has.
Me: BLARGH! BLARGH! BLAAAAARRRGH!
Melissa: Figures. Stupid Californians.
Me: BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHETH! BLARGETH FOR THE PEASANTS! BLARGH FOR THE POOR!
Just review, please. I need to post the next chapter. I NEEEEEEEEED to. Desperately.