Disclaimer- I don't own it, I don't care.

There's character death

Mary, this is for you, consider it a parting gift.

Enjoy.

-!-

Roy was hard at work when he heard Riza open the door to the office. Happily he looked up, a smile already on his face. He had shown up to work early, had stayed late, gotten everything done, and of course never forgot to kiss his newly found love goodbye or goodnight. When he saw her eyes and face, though, his face fell. She came up to his desk and he tried to make her better, assuming something had gone wrong, like she had woken up late, "What's wrong, Ri?" he asked, using her nickname.

"Roy, we need to talk." she said softly, averting her eyes from his face, which immediately fell. He knew those words all too well, he had used them on a couple of choice women himself, except this time it would be opposite. He had a feeling it wouldn't be Riza going home with a heavy heart or strained smile, pretending everything's alright.

"What about?" he asked innocently, trying to push what was to come out of his mind and make it blank. But anxiousness overwhelmed him and he clenched his fists under the desk, keeping his face cool and emotionless. He didn't want what he thought was going to happen next to happen at all. All he wanted was to continue working, for once.

"I think we need to take a break from one another." she said simply, looking down at her hands which were held in front of her professionally, "It's just...For a while there's been this weird tension between us, like you would rather see other people but are too nice to say something about it...Well, I'm giving you that.."

"A...A break?" there it was. It dropped on Roy like a nuclear warhead and rang in his ears just as strongly. A break. As in, breaking up. As in, she didn't want to see Roy anymore. Roy frowned, "But why? I mean, I know there's been tension, but..."

"But I think you need to concentrate on other things right now. I'm sure you don't need me to make you work hard."

"Alright.." he said softly, though he knew that was a lie. A bad, bad, terrible lie. Riza saw it too, but then again, she could always see through even his most clever and intricate masks. She sighed, and Roy held up a hand. Over the time they shared, he, too, could nearly sense what she was going to say, "I'm fine, really." he said, smiling and putting on the mask he generally wore whenever Ishbal was talked about, or when Roy was insulted particularly scathingly.

"Are you positive?" she asked, inspecting him closely.

"Absolutely." he said, smiling brightly.

Sure, he said he was fine. Maybe, after about a week, he would feel fine. Though he knew that now, his heart was altered. It wasn't the same after he had dated Riza, everything was different. It was as if he was seeing the world without colors, without emotions, or feelings. The world suddenly felt very dull and boring compared to what it used to be.

Gradually he began missing everything about her, even the way she nagged him to do his work. Now she didn't have to do that, for he did all his work in record time and got out of the office in a couple of hours, sometimes by mere lunch times.

He tried to date around, to get Riza out of his everlasting mind, but it failed. Soon, it was going around that the almighty Roy Mustang had lost his sexual luster. His ego evaporated, and he became sullen and introverted, not speaking, at all hardly except for the occasional hello if someone greeted him, or the stern 'Sir' if he was being addressed.

Slowly as he became more introverted his mind strayed to other places he made mistakes, and he thought what would have happened if he no longer existed. If he had no longer was there, would anyone miss him in a loving sense? Slowly his thoughts turned darker until he couldn't stand it anymore.

Until one night it became too much to bear for his mind, and he eliminated the problem indefinitely and permanently, letting his mind finally succumb to grateful- and eternal- rest.

Call this what you will. Call it dark, call it tragic, I pay no heed. This is what love can do to a soul who loves with all their mind and soul. Love can bring one to the highest of highs, and make them feel greater- or maybe equal- to god. Being loved and cherished and lead you to do things you never thought you could do without knowing that the one person you care for would be there waiting for you. But, it also comes with a bad side.

When love is taken away, it makes you feel empty. It makes you feel as if the last couple of times you spent with that person were all to waste, as if they never happened. They were merely a wonderful dream. It feels as if you are missing a piece of yourself, as if you are a person who has been addicted to ecstacy, then your source is taken away. Eventually you fall and collapse to the lowest of lows- rock bottom.

Sometimes it even drains you so much so that you can't even feel the heat from the barrel of the gun once you pull that trigger.