Heir to the Flame
Chapter 6: My Dark Secrets
The second she entered the Hughes household she was crying, locked up in her room and crying her eyes out, curled up under the sheets of her bed and letting her tears stain her pillow. Gracia and Maes had tried all they could to talk to her, to comfort her, or just find out what was wrong, but she refused their attention, refused to even look at them when they came in with food. She did not even glance at the food, just buried her face into the tear soaked pillow and moaned.
Maes finally thought it was about time to call Roy. He picked up the phone and punched in his friend's number and waited for him to pick up, but he didn't. He stared at the reciever in his hand and thought hard. He went back to Riza's room and cracked it open. "Riza... Roy's on his way, I think." A pained cry was all he got in response. He sat on a couch facing the door and Gracia sat next to him and looking at him earnestly. "What happened, Maes? Do you know?"
He shook his head slowly and put his arm around her. "I have... no idea, Gracie... I wasn't there." He was silent for a moment. "I... I can only imagine what Roy must be going through... poor guy. I hope he's alright." She pressed her face against his neck. "You really care about him, don't you?"
"Yeah... Roy and I... we go way back... we've been through a lot together. Most of it was his fault though," he chuckled. "He's a troublemaker, yeah, but he doesn't deserve what he's getting now, Gracie, he doesn't..." There was a frantic banging on the door and Maes jumped to open it. Roy barrelled in with a hello and no further ado, then asked where Riza was. "Where'sRiza?"Gracia pointed him to the room upstairs and he bolted up the steps, through the door, and into the room.
"Riza...?" he crawled onto the bed and touched her arm. She recoiled and moaned, then turned and looked into his eyes. "Riza..." she opened her mouth to speak and stopped, then reached up and kissed him fiercely and he straddled her hips, returning her passion. He stroked her face gently and lifted away from her and she sank back down onto the bed fingering his belt buckle longingly. He shook his head and stilled her hands. "Not until after the baby is born," he murmured.
"Now... why are you still cooped up in bed, pretty lady?" she was silent and her hands stilled for the first time.
"I... I don't want to talk about it..." he placed his hands on her stomach and rubbed. "Are you sure?" She nodded and he pulled her blouse over her stomach and kissed her stomach. "I think you should tell me, Riza." She looked at him fearfully and shook her head. "No, no, I shouldn't!"
"C'mon baby, how bad can it be?" She reached up and murmured softly into his ear, and he breathed in sharply, eyes narrowing to a deadly glare. "How dare he? He's married with two kids for God's sake!" She started to cry again and he held her face in his hands. "Don't you worry... don't you worry yourself at all. I'm going to take a look around Central HQ, I'll be back in a bit."
Her eyes watched him leave the room and he turned. "Don't worry, it's not your fault Riza."
He stepped into the building and walked to the secretary at the desk, giving her a winning smile and a special tilt of his narrow eyes. "Hey there... could I possibly obtain the roster of who works here?" the stuttering woman handed over the roster and he leaned his back against the counter, flipping through it. Then his hands stopped and he frowned. He looked back at her. "Could I possibly pay a visit to General Durandal?" he asked. She asked who to say was visiting. "Tell her Colonel Mustang from East City."
He almost ran headlong for the room and threw the door open, to reveal a slim long-haired woman who had just put down the phone, obviously in a state of shock. "Leroy...?" she whispered. He stood in the doorway, hands by his sides, and she stood up, her eyes widened, and she came out from behind her desk. "No... no... oh my God... Roy?"
Tears were pricking in the corner of his eyes and there was a lump lodged in his throat. "Mom... it's me, Mom, Roy." She ran to him and hugged him tightly, tears wetting the front of his uniform. "Roy... Roy... my little Roy... only..." she looked up at him. "You're not little anymore, you're tall like your father. I missed you so much!" He smiled awkwardly. "I missed you too Mom." She dusted off the front of his uniform, embarrassed. "Roy..." She frowned.
"You look like a playboy!"
"MOM!"
"What has your father done to you? I knew I shouldn't have trusted him to raise you on his own..."
"Mom!"
"Ten women a day I bet, my little boy! I never even imagined it would be this way!"
"Mom!"
"Get in trouble in the daytime, do you? Otherwise you wouldn't be waltzing around here in that uniform with time to spare! Picking up more girls?"
"MOM! I need to talk to you!" he howled, and she stopped.
"Well what is it?" she asked innocently, and Roy groaned. He slumped into a chair in front of her desk.
"I have a problem-" he started.
"I knew all those girls would get to you! And serves you right, you uncouth little-"
"Mo-o-o-o-om... please..."
"Oh fine, continue."
"It's my... uhm... 'girlfriend'... she's not really my girlfriend, I mean, I want to get married but..."
"She's a tramp?"
"Mom! Pleeeease, stop! She's not a tramp, she's not a prostitute, she's a very respectable woman, okay? And she's beautiful..." a misty eyed look overtook his face, then he shook it away. "But we can't get married... because she's in the military, like you and Dad were, and I was wondering if you had any... ad... vice..." A dark look had crossed her face. "The best I could give you is to seperate and never see each other again, or you'll end up like your father and I."
"I can't do that, Mom. I can't just abandon her like that."
She laughed softly, tears forming in her eyes. "What?" he asked.
"I-It's nothing... it's just... your father said the exact same thing to me..." She looked up. "If you can't do it, then you're probably doing very well concealing yourself anyway."
"She's pregnant, Mom."
"Grandchildren already..." she mused. "What's the problem?"
"Haruko... is getting to close for my comfort. I don't like it... he's already tried to... to sleep with her once!"
"Ah. So that was what that nasty gash was..."
"You're a General, Mom, you can... you can keep him from touching Riza, can't you?" he asked eagerly.
"Perhaps... but I can't... ensure that nothing will happen. I can try with all my power if it makes you feel any better though. What's her name?"
"Riza Hawkeye... First Lieutenant."
"Is she loyal?"
"Yes."
"Quiet."
"Only if you don't get her angry."
"Flighty?"
"No."
"Strong sense of duty?"
"God yes; she's demonstrated that enough with her gun pressed against my head... I'm a slacker," he admitted to her incredulous look.
"I'd put a gun against your head too, Roy. I think we'll get along fine, now straighten your collar." Instead of waiting for him to do it she straightened it for him and ran her hand through his hair. "You need to comb your hair too... and how's your father?" he was quiet.
"Dad's dead... He's been dead for fifteen years, Mom." She stopped fiddling with his collar and stared. "What?"
"He... he died... he put himself to death."
"H-how?"
"Gran somehow got enough evidence to put me to death for being fraternized... and Dad... he... he said...
"He said, to take his life instead, and let me go... that it was his choice for me to be born and not mine... and he said that he promised, that he swore..."
" I promised, I swore, that I would protect you from this, Roy. Even if it costs me my life. It wasn't his choice to be born, Gran, it was mine! I know you hate me, so take me instead and leave Roy alone,then we'll be even."
"Mustang! What the hell are you doing?" Maes' father, Brigadier General Hughes.
"It's better this way, Hughes... take care of my son, won't you?" he stepped in front of the firing squad and the men hesitated. "General Mustang... we can't..."
General Mustang took off his gloves and stared at them for a minute, then tossed them to Roy. "There, you've got nothing holding you back now. You're the next Flame Alchemist, Son. Use that power wisely." He grinned. "I love you, Son. Next time you see your mother, tell her I love her too. Tell her I'm sorry."
"Dad! Wait! There has to be another way, there has to be!" Roy screamed. General Mustang looked at the men.
"Ready your arms!" he ordered. They hesitated and he repeated his order.
"Ready your arms!" Guns cocked.
"Aim!" They trained on him and he chuckled drily. "I'm sorry, Roy. This is the only way."
"FIRE!" Shots rang out in East City's courtyard and Roy fell on all fours, Maes dropped down next to him to see if he was alright. "Roy?" Roy held his face in his hands and sobbed. "Is he gone, Maes... Is it over?" Maes looked over Roy's shoulder. "Yeah... it's over buddy... he... he's gone."
"He said that he loved you. He said he was sorry."
"I see... it sounds just like him, to, to, go out with a bang. What a man... what a man," she sobbed. Her shoulders heaved and she reached out to her desk for support, and slowly regained her composure. "I always thought... that one day he'd come back to me... but it turns out I didn't even know he was dead... God, Leroy!" She hid her face in her hands and Roy looked away uncomfortably.
"Why didn't you come to me then?" she asked.
"I didn't know where you were. I was little then, I didn't know what to do. I just lived alone in the mansion, I lived alone in there for all these years until now. That's why I need this favor Mom! I... I don't want to be alone again!" She hugged him tightly and nodded. "I understand... I'll do everything I can Roy..." He got up and stood at the door, hand on the knob. "Roy."
He turned and looked into her eyes. "I love you, Roy. You come visit me after the baby's born, okay?"
He smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I promise, Mom."
Yah! 52 reviews already? And it's only chapter 5! Even Halfmetal Alchemist didn't get this kind of popularity! One more odd thing; Never a Mother to Me has somehow just boosted it's popularity from two to six reviews overnight, sheesh. I must be getting popular. Unfortunately, the new chapter of Halfmetal Alchemist has not gotten a review yet, waah... and I need to put in one or two more chapters for The Only One for Him to finish it.
I have too much unfinished business to take care of, and then there's the problem of creating the much clamored for -cough-sequel to Halfmetal Alchemist. And there's also this to put up another chapter for, and another story under construction in my documents page. Did I mention I have homework? A biology and english project, a spanish project, and another paper to write for english! Grrr... T.T
-T A -one interesting little tidbit that I just now noticed. The initials of my pen name are the initials of my first and last name.Super weird-