Thank you sincity27, Nuzha, PeachieReads, Natalie and saradina for reviewing! I'm glad you like the story so far and hope you like this chapter too.
Chapter 6
"You may now kiss the bride."
Riza felt a single tear roll down her cheek when his grip on her hands tightened ever so slightly, and his soft, onyx eyes stared deeply into her honey hazel ones as the smile on his lips widened in joy.
"I love you, Riza." He murmured to her, then leaned forward, his lips getting closer and closer to hers…
She closed her eyes, her heart racing and jumping in euphoria as his lips were pressed against hers. She squeezed his hand back as she eagerly responded to the light and sweet kiss.
Bang!
Her eyes widened when a loud, familiar sound rang, then vibrated in her ears painfully, and she felt wetness seep through, the warm liquid dripping on her hands. The soft pair of lips she loved, adored, no longer on hers, and she licked her lips when a droplet dripped on her lower lip.
She gasped as she recognised the metallic, tangy taste and immediately pulled away, just to see blood trickling down from the corner of his lips and the crimson liquid gushing out from his stomach, dyeing his blue military uniform a dark shade of red.
"Roy!" She shrieked, horror and despair filling her heart as he fell into her arms, and she collapsed to the floor from his weight and her weakened legs. "N-No…" Tears flowed down her cheeks like a waterfall while she desperately tried to stop the blood flow out from his wound as she roughly tore off a part of her snow-white wedding dress and pressed it against the wound.
"Riza…" He reached a hand up to cup her cheek, the rough pad of his thumb caressing her gently.
"You can't do this to me…" She sobbed, "You can't just leave me like this!"
"Riza!"
Riza immediately opened her eyes, heaving several deep breaths as tears trickled down from the corner of her eyes. She then noticed her husband-to-be kneeling next to her side of the bed, with a hand on her cheek, looking down at her, his dark eyes full of concern.
"Are you alright, Riza?" He placed a kiss on her forehead and asked.
"Roy…" She stared at him before reaching her arms up to wrap them around his neck as she sat up to hug him tightly, and she whimpered his name over and over again.
He wrapped his arms around her tightly and hugged her back, then stood slightly to sit on the mattress as he whispered in her ear. "I'm here, Riza."
He listened to her soft weeps while caressing her semi-long blonde hair, and asked when her cries died down to sniffs. "Do you want to talk about it?"
I dreamt of you being shot, at our wedding. You were dying in my arms and I couldn't do anything. She stayed silent in his arms, then bit her lip before muttering. "No… it's nothing." She pulled away slightly and wiped her tears with an apologetic yet forced smile. "…I'm sorry, I lost my cool."
"Don't be." His brows crossed to a frown, and he murmured and kissed her tears, then her eyelids and her lips. "I won't leave you."
Her eyes widened, then her lips curled up to a smile as she nodded, and wrapped her arms back around him, resting her forehead on his shoulder. "What time is it?"
"A little over half-past six. I was thirsty so I went to the kitchen to get myself a glass of water, and I saw you cry when I came back." He said, then leaned away to take the glass he placed on the bedside counter. "Water?"
"Yes please." She nodded again, and took the glass from him and sipped the cool liquid. "Thank you."
He responded by placing a kiss on her forehead. "Do you have today off?"
"After fifteen hours I'm free, I have to continue with my planning for the project before then." She put the glass back down on the counter.
He nodded. "Alright. "I'll try to take this afternoon off then, we can go around somewhere and have dinner."
She smiled. "Sounds nice. Well then," She flipped the blankets off her, and got off the bed and stretched her arms and back. "You have to get there by eight, right? Go take a shower, and I'll make breakfast."
"Ooh. Care to join me, my love?" He smirked a boyish one as he stood and wrapped his arms around her tightly, and pressed his cheek against hers. She laughed lightly and planted a kiss on his cheek before heading towards the living room, leaving him to pout at her.
"Looks delicious." Roy commented on the omelette on the plate as he pulled his chair out and sat down. He raised the glass of orange juice to his lips and sipped it, then asked. "How'd you manage to make this, and two, in just fifteen minutes?"
"It's just cheese and vegetables in fried, beaten eggs." Riza turned her head to smile at him, then adverted her attention back to her own omelette as she placed it on her plate from the frying pan, while he stared at her hips that swayed lightly, his shirt just reaching her upper thigh.
She turned around and sat opposite to him, and asked with raised brows when she noticed him staring blankly at her. "Anything wrong?"
"Hmm? Oh, it's nothing." He grinned. "Keep the shirt, by the way."
"Then what are you going to wear?" She took a bite of her omelette.
He too took a bite. "Ooh. Delicious. I'll just wear this T-shirt, I'm going to change to my uniform at the Headquarters anyways, and you wear it better than I do."
"If you say so…" She said in a reluctant tone though her heart leapt in joy.
They ate in comfortable silence till the white Shiba Inu walked over to Roy's side and sniffed his leg. He looked down and petted the dog with a cheerful grin. "Nearly forgot to ask you about it. When did you get it…?"
"She. I adopted her a few days ago." She replied and bent down to scratch Hayate's head when he trotted over to her. "I didn't name her yet."
"Good. I thought you named her White Fubuki or something." He kidded, his grin widening at the sight of her pout.
"That's certainly not a bad name." She said, her brows knitted to a mocked frown. "You can name her if you want."
"Hmm… now that I think about it, it's not easy to name someone or something." He hummed with crossed brows while slowly chewing his meal. "What about a Xingese name?"
"Sure." Her tone was slightly surprised. "You have something in mind?"
He gazed at the dog, then patted his knees and she hopped onto him, giving his cheek an affectionate lick as he caressed her snow white fur. "… Xiao-Bai?"
"Little-white?" She chuckled. "It sounds natural coming out from you, but won't it sound awkward and weird when I call her?"
"Try pronouncing it."
"…Sh-Shao Bai…"
He laughed, enticing her to scowl at him. "Roy, if you're going to laugh every time I call her name, then we might as well change the name."
He laughed harder as he suggested, "Xiao-Xue?"
"Roy!" She scolded though she couldn't help but smile at his merry expression. "Last time I checked, I'm not the one who's part Xingese. Can you even speak the language fluently?"
"Used to, not sure about now since I don't really speak it anymore." He replied after heaving a few breaths from laughing, then asked. "They're a breed from an Eastern island country, right?"
She nodded. "Mmhmm."
"Well… What about Shiro?" He asked.
"Sounds nice." She said with a hum and a nod.
He then raised a brow and grinned a teasing one. "Or do you want to just stick with White Fubuki?"
She raised a brow back at him. "No. I'll save it for my daughter's name." She laughed when he immediately sent her a baffled look, "I was just kidding, Roy."
"Geez, you better be." He narrowed his eyes at her in a jokingly manner. "So, Shiro it is?"
"Hmm, I think I'll stick to White Fubuki." Riza nodded and said with a satisfied tone. "White Fubuki!" She called out to the white dog with an affectionate smile.
Fubuki immediately wagged her tail and barked back a happy one, and hopped off Roy's lap to jump onto Riza's, and she cooed while petting her, making the dog huff gleefully and give her sweet, slurpy kisses.
Roy smiled at them, then said as he finished his omelette. "I think she likes it."
Placing the dog back down to the floor, she smiled back, "I think so too."
"I'll see you later then?" Riza asked as she watched Roy put on his leather shoes.
He nodded and stood and turned to face her. "I'll call you when I'm done. You'll be at home by fifteen hours, right?"
"Should be." She replied, then smiled and gave his arm a light pat. "See you then. Don't skip work and eat properly."
"Yes, dear." He returned the smile.
"I feel like a housewife now." She chuckled lightly and he gave back a chortle in response. A brow quirked up when he didn't move, but just stared down at her. "Something wrong?"
"Do I not get a goodbye kiss?" He asked as the corner of his lips curled up to a grin.
Riza blinked at him, before moving forward to place her hands on his shoulders, then tiptoed to press her lips against his. Roy immediately responded to the kiss as he wrapped an arm around her waist, and deepened the kiss.
"I didn't think that you would actually give me one." He murmured against her lips as they leant away and rested their foreheads against each other's.
"Would you have left without one?" She whispered.
"Fair point." He laughed lightly, and she could feel the vibrations from his chest under her palms as her body was pressed against his. "Imagine if I asked you to give me a kiss just a few months ago."
She let out a soft laugh. "I would've threatened you with my gun and tell you to stop messing around and to do your paperwork."
"Definitely…" He muttered and dipped his head back down to place his lips back on hers. With her eyes fluttered close, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back.
Their lips moved against each other's, and he nipped on her plump, lower lip for permission, and she eagerly granted it as she allowed his tongue to slip into her mouth to entangle it with hers. He cradled her head with the other hand and leant forward as he gently angled her head upwards to kiss her harder.
Reluctantly, she pulled away to end the feverish kiss as her lungs ached for oxygen, and she panted, "You'll be late."
He gave a pout, then heaved a sigh. "I don't want to go to work now…"
She took a small step backwards, pulling away from his embrace and crossed her arms. "No." She then said in a softer tone as she placed a hand on his shoulder, and gave him a peck on the lips, "I'll be seeing you in awhile anyways."
"Right." He smiled, and reached a hand out to caress her cheek, then pulled her back in, ready to kiss her again. The pout returned when she placed her index finger on his soft pair of lips.
She chuckled lightly at the sight of the moue that she thought was adorable. "There's no end to this."
He gave her his best puppy eyes. "Just one more?"
She heaved a helpless sigh, before pressing her lips against his, and quickly pulling away before he could return the kiss, then opened the door. "There, you're really going to be late."
He sighed. "Right."
"See you later." Her lips curled up to a smile as she waved her hand.
He returned the smile, then stepped out of her apartment.
Rebecca heaved a heavy sigh as she collapsed onto the sofa, and buried her face in a cushion as she clutched it tightly, and groaned into it. "I didn't think that being the First Lady's assistant would be this tiring."
"It's only been three hours since you've officially become my assistant and bodyguard, and you're already tired?" Riza raised a brow at her dark-haired friend as she placed a mug on her desk. "Here, coffee."
"Do you even need a bodyguard?" Rebecca turned her head and rested her cheek on the cushion as she reached a hand out and waved at her, gesturing her to come over. "Can you bring it to me? Oh, and did you add sugar and milk?"
"Roy tried to assign me bodyguards, and I refused, but he insisted that I at least have someone with me, so here you are. Assistant plus bodyguard, double the pay, aren't you happy? And do it yourself." Riza scowled as she crossed her arms, "Are you ordering the First Lady? My, how bold."
"There is no such thing called status in friendship." Rebecca chanted while unwillingly dragging her body up, and walked towards her desk.
Riza heaved a sigh and spoke. "Yes, yes, you're right. Now come here and help me with this. It's thirty minutes away from lunch."
Rebecca grunted as she chugged the coffee down her throat, then sat down next Riza. "You've been working on this social project for three months?"
"Mmhmm." She turned to her assistant with knitted brows as she handed her a thick paper file folder. "Are you implying something?"
"Nope, not really." Rebecca took the folder from her, then hummed. "Literacy and poverty, huh?"
Riza nodded. "One of the goals of this project is to allow every child to have access to free education for twelve years."
The dark-haired woman gaped at her best friend, her eyes widened. "Free education, twelve years… every child… How long is that going to take!? And that will cost a lot!"
"As long as it takes, and as much as it costs." Riza simply said, then explained. "Free education would be given to children from the age of six to eighteen, well, only government-subsided schools will be free though."
"Is it compulsory?"
She heaved a sigh as she crossed her arms. "I don't know if it should be non-compulsory, or compulsory for just the first six years."
"Oh! Then you should make primary school compulsory." Rebecca said excitedly. "They would be given more choices then."
Riza nodded with a bright smile. "Right? Ah… fingers crossed that I can achieve this goal as soon as possible."
"Well, what are your other goals, Miss First Lady?" She asked.
"Hmm… Not sure yet." The blonde-haired woman replied as she stood up and stretched her arms up, and twisted her body side-to-side. "But I'll start planning it after the free education one."
"I see…" Rebecca hummed idly, then groaned when her stomach grumbled a protest, and she turned to Riza with pleading eyes. "Can we please, please, have lunch now? I am literally going to starve to death."
"You know, Rebecca, it takes seven days to actually starve a person to death."
"That's abuse of power!"
Riza chuckled, then turned her head to look at the clock. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to take lunch off fifteen minutes early."
The phone rang the instant Riza stepped into her apartment. She heaved a sigh as she placed her handbag on the table and hung her coat on the coat rack, and walked towards the phone.
"Hello?"
"Riza?"
She felt her heart flutter from hearing her dear husband-to-be's voice through the telephone, and a smile graced upon her lips. "Roy?"
"Riza, I'm sorry but I don't think I can leave early. The she-devi—No, I mean, General Armstrong just came to the headquarters suddenly, without announcement, may I say." Roy spoke with an apologetic tone, then grumbled. "Of course she would be unsatisfied with me being the Führer."
She chuckled, though her heart fell (much to her surprise). "I see. Will you be back by seven?"
"Yes. Definitely. I don't care what she'll say or do, no one is going to stop me from going home." He said, and she could imagine the scowl on his face. "She does realise that I am the Führer, right? And that I am her superior."
A light laugh escaped her lips, and she spoke. "Yes, yes, she does, and you should go back to work now. I'll make something for dinner."
His tone immediately softened as he replied, "I'll look forward to that."
She smiled, and hung up after bidding goodbye, then hummed to herself happily as she skipped towards the kitchenette. She opened the fridge, and she was immediately reminded that she hadn't gone grocery shopping in nearly two weeks.
She sighed and turned to look at her two dogs, who just wagged their tails at her, their heads cocked to the side. Her lips curled up to a smile as she kneeled down to pet them. "Let's go for a walk."
"Miss Riza!"
Riza and Rebecca turned around to see a young woman with long sunflower-blonde hair waving at them excitedly as she jogged over to them, her sky blue eyes twinkling in delight.
Riza's honey hazel eyes immediately widened in surprise, then softened as she greeted back happily. "Hello, Winry. It's been such a while."
"It has." The younger woman nodded back eagerly, then turned to the black-haired woman. "Hello!"
"Ah, Winry, this is a friend of mine, Rebecca. She's also my assistant and bodyguard." Riza said as she nodded towards her friend.
Rebecca offered a bright and friendly smile at the younger woman, "Hello, Winry. Riza told me about you, are you the Fullmetal Alchemist's wife?"
"Ah… Yes!" Winry replied bashfully, her cheeks tinted pink.
"Aww, what are you blushing for? You have two kids don't you?" Rebecca chortled, then placed an arm around her shoulder with a mischievous glint in her dark eyes. "Tell me, does he—"
"Rebecca!" Riza nearly screeched in embarrassment as she scowled at her best friend. "Would you stop teasing her?"
"But look at her! She's so adorable!" Rebecca protested.
She sighed a tired one and smiled apologetically at Winry. "I'm sorry, Winry. Did she make you feel uncomfortable?"
"Oh no, it's fine!" Winry laughed, then commented. "I really like your outfit, by the way."
Riza peered down at her clothes, which consisted of a white shirtdress with dark navy stripes, a slim navy belt around her waist and the sleeves rolled up to her elbow, and a pair of ivory ankle strap pumps. She smiled, "Thank you, Winry."
"Right? I chose her outfits!" Rebecca grinned as she stated proudly. "I'm also her stylist. Ah, take a closer look at her face."
"Hmm?" Winry raised a brow and moved closer to her. Her eyes widened in surprise. "Miss Riza, did you put on makeup? Ah, I smell something nice, you put on perfume too!"
Riza heaved a tiny sigh. "Rebecca insisted that I should. She said that I should have a distinctive scent and a perfume I wear on normal days, and she picked the white musk and rose-based one."
"You look really pretty, Miss Riza, and the perfume smells very nice. Oh, I'm not saying that you didn't look pretty when you don't use makeup," Winry quickly waved her hands, all flustered.
"I understand. Thank you." Riza's smile widened, then asked. "How are Edward and the kids?"
"Ed is… childish as ever," The two chuckled, "And the kids are fine. They're in the hotel now. Speaking of which," She leant down to pet the dogs. "Your wedding is coming up in five days! You must be excited."
"I am," Riza replied, and scowled when she heard Rebecca snort. "It's also nerve-wracking for me."
Winry laughed at the two, then said. "I'm looking forward to it. Thank you for inviting us to your wedding, Miss Riza."
"Of course we'd invite you. Ah, this is White Fubuki, I adopted her just recently." She pointed at the white Shiba Inu.
"That's a lovely name." Winry cooed her name as she caressed her fur.
"Not surprised," Rebecca added with a grin and raised brows, and Riza swatted her arm lightly.
The younger woman laughed again, before standing back up. "Well, I should get going. Ed and the kids are still waiting for me."
Riza nodded and they bid goodbye. She watched the girl walk back, before turning around.
"It's a bit hard to imagine the First Lady going grocery shopping," Rebecca commented as they continued walking.
"You don't need to imagine it; I'm right here walking next to you, heading towards the market."
"You know that's not what I mean. Can't you just ask someone to do it for you?"
"Here." Riza handed her the shopping list jokingly with a grin, and Rebecca groaned. "I just prefer doing my own things." She said.
She hummed, then tucked her arm in hers, and the grin reappeared on her lips. "Well, what are you planning to make for your darling?"
Riza chuckled and grinned back. "Well, I'm thinking of beef stew."
"Ooh, delish. Mind bringing me some if you have leftovers?"
"I can make an extra portion for you."
"Thanks. Oh, and what did I tell you about your outfit and the makeup? I told you it was nice."
"Geez, thanks, Rebecca."
"Be prepared, Riza, when you come back from your honeymoon."
"Hmm?"
"You'll see tons of new clothes I chose and ordered." Rebecca offered a wider grin, and Riza let out a laugh.
"How exciting."
A smile appeared on Riza's lips when she heard a knock on the door, and she turned her head from the stove to see her two dogs already standing by the door, wagging their tails excitedly.
She quickly turned off the stove, and speed-walked towards the door and opened it.
Her raven-haired husband muttered a 'thanks' as he heaved a sigh and entered her apartment. She blinked at him as he took his shoes and coat off, then stepped into the living room, before reaching a hand up to ruffle his hair to let his bangs down, and started. "You have no idea how difficult it is to leave the office when there's this ice—"
His rambling was immediately cut off when she cupped his cheek in her warm palm and pressed her lips against his other cheek. He blinked down at her as she smiled warmly at him. "You're back."
The frown that was locked on his brows instantly disappeared and his lips curled up to a smile. He wrapped his arms around her as he hugged her tightly, and spoke softly in her ear. "I'm home."
Her eyes softened, and they fluttered close as she returned the hug, her smile widening.
A/N: Here I go again, cramming everything into a single chapter.
Forgive me for the OOC-ness, but I'm just insanely obsessed with lovey-dovey Royai.
I named the dog White Fubuki because... well... consistency(?)
Constructive criticism and reviews are much appreciated :)