AN: Yikes, an autors note before a drabble? You know what that means! SPOILERS! There are spoilers for chapter 40 of the manga (and possible 39...but I tried to keep it strictly from chapter 40.) Also I have a special disclamer for this drabble...no...no smut (sorry RW Grimm XD) but the actual dialouge from "You fool..." to "Be diligent." is taken from the scanlation of chapter 40 meaning...There not my words! shooes the lawyers away These lovley (though they kill me every time) words belong to Arakawa Hiromu. Anywho...enjoy!
#19: Things One Cannot Understand
"You fool! You believed an enemy's words and lost the will to fight," shouted Roy Mustang. "Of course, First Lieutenant Hawkeye, perhaps it is not surprising you are such a person," his words sent chills through the spines of anyone who could hear; a direct insult against his subordinate's character.
"My actions were inexcusable," she responded with no emotion, not caring to look at her commander.
"Don't get flustered! Don't stop thinking! Don't give up your life!" Mustang snarled, not caring who heard what he said. "If you are, if you are to be my adjutant, do so with greater resolution."
"Yes sir." Her gaze was fixated on the hem of her commander's bed.
"I entrust my back to you to watch continuously. Be diligent." His stone cold voice softened a little as he leaned back onto his stiff hospital pillows. A strange silence blanketed the room, no one willing to talk. Riza stood rigid in the corner, looking at the floor, deep in thought. She finally looked up when a young nurse came in the room, telling here there were documents that she needed to pickup at the front desk. She excused herself from the room, walking out with the petite woman.
Havoc sighed, chewing on an unlit-cigarette, "You really can be a bastard some times, you know that?"
Roy's onyx eyes shot open, turning his head to look at Havoc, "Don't speak to a superior officer like that, Lieutenant Havoc." The edge from earlier still resided in Mustangs voice.
"I'm only speaking the truth," he shrugged his shoulders as best as he could.
"You have no claim for that statement Havoc," Mustang folded his arms over his chest, clearly aggravated.
Havoc really started to push the bounds of respect between commander and subordinate, "Don't make me laugh sir," his voice steadily raised showing his frustration, "you, more than anyone, know that the woman who just walked out of here was not our normal Hawkeye."
"If you're referring to the way I treated her, she had it coming. She blatantly defied the basic principals of a soldier. It could have cost us all our lives; she has to be disciplined for her actions."
Havoc sighed in frustration, digging his head into his rock-hard pillow, "You really are one to talk Mustang. If you'd seen her while you were still in ICU, you'd wish you could take back what you said."
"You don't know what you're talking about," Mustang scoffed.
"I watched her put her self through hell waiting for you to wake up. She forced her self to relive those memories, god knows how many times, just to see if you'd wake up," Havoc fumed for a few minutes before continuing. "But since you're so dense some time's, Mustang, I wouldn't expect you to understand the punishment she self-inflicted on herself." He finished, seething in anger, and stared at a crack in the sterile-white ceiling.
Another silence enveloped the room, each man swimming through their own thoughts. Roy, normally a man with no regrets, started to doubt his hasty actions. He understood the nightmare that surrounds the soul when reflecting on the past, but that didn't explain why she still stayed by his side; he, on the other hand, would have fled and tried to escape from the nightmare. There still was no logical reason for any of her actions in the past four days.
He heard a knock on the door, disrupting his thoughts. Riza carefully slid in, trying not to disturb Havoc. She pulled a chair up next to his bed, spreading out papers over his blanked legs.
"Hawkeye," his voice finally lost is edge, questioning her actions.
"They're the latest reports from Edward Elric, sir. They might help us plan out our next move." She looked up at him, only to meet his gaze. There were no smiles or smirks, just a simple nod of approval.
Reviewer Responses:
Ninalee-chan: I love you? Honestly that was the most detailed review I've ever had. I'm very glad you enjoyed all of those. XD You really caught me off guard. Even I had to go back and look at which drabbles you were talking about a few times. As for a few of your questions: In number 8...I looked back over and the only possible spoiler would be the mentioning of his eyepatch. That was basically my angsty mind working with the end of the series. And boy oh boy do I wish that they had a little 'meeting' during Ishbal, but I think thats the dream of most royai fans. There really havent been too many details relased about Ishbal (to my knowledge...either than whats given in the beginning of the series.) Oh...well...heh. #15 also came from the depths of my shadowed mind, however there have been some speculations that have arisen from it -sweatdrop- you can e-mail me about those, and 16 is kind of a prelude into the movie, so I have no idea if that actually happens. Just my view on how things might of happened.
Neko: I'll leave that up to you to decide -wink-
RW Grimm: I know what you mean...-looks around- but I know a some one who may fill that urge -ahem-
CAMEO: Wierd? How so? -blinks- -is totaly lost-
And thanks to all my other reviewers! I'm a comment whore so the more the better XD
