References to chapter 25. This chapter is longer than the others because it's a kind of turning point. I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.

Chapter 3: The last time

A few days later, when he was finally forced to go back to his dorm to get new clothes, he had a visitor waiting. The visitor was clothed in a plain manila envelope and was the start of the end. The letter merely congratulated Major Roy Mustang on his admirable performance in the war, and promoted him to Lieutenant Colonel. Roy had thrown the letter down in disgust, considered burning it, decided it wasn't worth it, and gathered a few clothes and personal effects to take to Riza's.

Usually they made love to make the numbness go away, softly and languidly. Sometimes they made love to try and reach each other, to become one because they were both just two broken pieces. That night Roy made love to her angrily, as if it were her fault that she couldn't make him forget the letter. He gave her pleasure almost sadistically, wanting to make her scream out his name, because maybe if she did then he would remember who he was. Afterwards she asked him what was wrong. He told her.

"If it upsets you so much, why don't you quit? Why don't you leave it all behind?"

"I'm not sure it can leave me behind. Don't you ever feel . . . helpless? About what happened? About what's happening now?"

"Of course I do. But what can I do about it? I can't bring all those people back to life," and here she faltered.

"But I have to move on," she said with resolve, "Or else I don't know what will happen to me."

"I still don't know what will happen to me, either and any way."

"You should talk to my grandfather. He's a General stationed here at Eastern. Usually it takes awhile for resignations to be processed, but he can speed it along."

The General was a small man with a bushy white moustache, who reminded Roy of the fruit vendor. He obviously doted on his granddaughter.

"Ah, my Riza, you're far too special to be out in the field. I can't imagine that you spent two years at the front lines. My heart can't take it. I'm glad you decided to resign. Better late than never. A beautiful woman like you should really get married to some strapping young man," here the General grinned in Roy's direction.

Roy was flustered. He hadn't thought to think that far ahead.

"I thought your ideal husband was some fellow General, a rather withered old man," Riza teased, though her smile was a bit forced.

"Oh, well, you've obviously got better eyes than me. You always were good at picking out people. But seriously, now that you're out of the military there's no reason why you should wait. You should settle down."

Riza frowned for a fraction of a second then escorted Roy forward.

"This is Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang. He would like to resign as well. I'm going to get some tea for us."

And with that, she rapidly left the room.

"Ah, you're a Lieutenant Colonel already! My, what a fast riser! A boy like you could become Fuhrer one day."

Roy smiled hollowly, "I hardly know what to do with myself, General, much less the country."

"Well, for one thing, you could stop a few wars," the General said good-naturedly.

"What did you say?" Roy snapped. The idea was blasphemous.

"Well, after all, you know this war that happened just now, it started over the damnest thing. Well, those things happen, but sometimes it seems like the people in charge wanted the war to continue. 'A great opportunity to test our new weapons' they said. Those poor alchemists. Bah, I don't know. I'm just an old General, past my prime. I just keep plodding on, don't really know what's going on around me."

Roy was silent. For the first time in a long time, he was thinking, trying to sort things out more complex than "Riza is beautiful" or "The war was bad" (both understatements, and glaringly obvious).

"Do you play chess Lieutenant Colonel Mustang?"

"Hmm?" Roy met the General's eyes, blank behind the spectacles.

"Chess. It's a fine game. Riza's never cared for it. Well, she's a sharpshooter. Direct and to the point. Chess is more subtle. I'm always looking for a new challenge."

By the time Riza returned with the tea, Roy and the General were deeply engrossed in a game. But in the end, the General won. He laughed heartily.

"Not bad my boy! Not bad at all! You could become great. I hope to see more of you."

As they walked away from Headquarters Riza was silent.

"What's wrong?"

Riza pursed her lips.

"Be careful around my grandfather. He may seem like a harmless old man, but he was pretty wily in his day. He was ambitious too. I don't even know everything he was mixed up in."

"You shouldn't worry so much," Roy replied. But Riza knew then that things had gone beyond her control.

Their relationship was much different now, Riza contemplated, handing Roy a new stack of paperwork to be reviewed. He accepted it with a sigh. There was no getting around her. He had chosen this path. She was damn well going to make sure he stuck to it.

But really, it was like they were two completely separate people from what they had been before. If they had been shown a preview of what they would be like, they would have scarcely believed it. Yet it would not have been completely unexpected. It had been what Riza had been afraid of, but she had walked into it anyway. The important thing was that they were together. She would rather have their present relationship than just a sweet memory.

She was thinking too much. Why was she thinking about this now? She hadn't really thought about it in years, almost as if it hadn't existed, like they pretended Ishvar didn't exist, most days. But she remembered. She remembered that Roy had lost more and more chess games to her grandfather, and somehow never resigned from the military. Her own resignation had been hastily processed. Her grandfather wasn't above rushing a woman out of the military while reeling a man in. She remembered the day he had told her he wasn't going to quit the military, and about what he had planned to do.

She had called him a fool. She herself wasn't a fool. She knew what it meant. Besides the danger and audaciousness of it, she knew it would have to become his priority. She didn't enjoy being usurped.

"You want to leave me!" she had accused. She knew it was a lie. She wanted it be a lie, so he could deny it. So she didn't say, 'You're leaving me."

"Don't be silly! I don't want that!" he said, gripping her arms tightly, afraid she would disappear. "I want you to come with me."

"Where?"

"To the top."

"I've already quit the military," she said, stating the obvious, the logical. What she did not say was that if she did go with him, if she rejoined the military, it wouldn't be the same. It would be drastically different.

They made love for the last time that night. It was what they had been practicing for, yet they were both so unprepared for the desperation and cruelty with which they clung to each other. Each trying to make the other stay. Each believing the other one was the one breaking pact. Each saying good-bye.

The next day, Second Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye reapplied to the military.

Wow, was that a plot? Don't go away, the story isn't over yet. Who else loves the idea of devious!Riza's grandfather?

Edward Mustang: Thanks for your review. It is a cute scene, though I've never actually watched it. More second hand anime references to come.

Blond Hurricane, mylovemiroku, and shadowwriter55: Thanks for putting the story on your alert list. If you think it's worth reading, leave a review!