I do not own FMA. Enjoy!

It seemed Riza Hawkeye had always been Roy's guardian.

Even as teens, she had always felt this need to keep an eye on him, to know that he was safe and wasn't in danger. Most would chalk it up to unknown feelings of affection, feelings that Riza wouldn't totally be in tune to as a young, nearly teenage girl. After all, isn't loving something the main reason you want to protect it? While it just might have been that, Riza herself was more inclined to lean towards another, slightly more intricate, explanation.

At first, the "feeling" was less of a feeling bred from her own instinct or wants and more of a sense of duty she felt towards her father and one certain order he gave Riza.

"Keep both parts of the secrets safe- don't let anyone who shouldn't see your back, and keep Roy out of trouble. Look after him."

Those were the exact words Berthold Hawkeye said to Riza shortly after Roy Mustang arrived. She had already had the tattoo for about six months, so the first half of his request could have gone without saying, really- she'd already been doing that. Keeping her father's student safe, however...that was something she never thought she'd have to do. Her mind was whirring with dozens of questions she wanted to ask- 'Why is this suddenly my responsibility? We barely even know each other, and I have to be his keeper? What if there's something I can't protect him from- what will happen then? Will the tattoo be useless then- will I be useless to you, then?' and then the most daunting question of all- 'What if I don't want to?'

She knew she couldn't ask those questions, however- nor could she refuse. Doing either one of those things could cause her father's already fragile state of mind to break, the consequences of said outcome dangerously unknown.

Instead, she simply waited until she killed and buried those questions before nodding and giving a simple "yes, father". The good, obedient daughter, as always.

Riza began playing the role of Roy Mustang's protector almost immediately. She got him out of trouble when she needed and kept him in line, warning him that one mistake or absent minded slip of the tongue or mind could lead to his dismissal as her father's alchemy student. Roy was none the wiser to the fact that, by her doing so and him doing as he was supposed to, they were both being kept out of trouble and she was fulfilling her father's request. At times, it was a tricky role to play- Roy seemed more inclined to cause mischief than to be obedient, especially to orders given to him by someone nearly two years younger than him, and the idea of simply letting him do as he wanted, good or bad, was very tempting to Riza at times. Her thoughts were always corralled by remembering the promise she had made her father, however, and she would go on and continue what she now felt were her duties as Berthold Hawkeye's daughter.

Somewhere along the line, however, protecting Roy became less of a thing she felt she had to do and more of a thing she wanted to do. Maybe it was because, the more she learned about him and his intentions of learning flame alchemy, the more she liked him, or maybe the act of being his guardian had become so habitual that she gained the illusion of enjoying it (a rather pessimistic theory, yes, but a theory nonetheless). Either way, she found that, as her own resolve and willingness to be the future Flame Alchemist's protector increased, the idea that she was bound to her father's word decreased. It wasn't long before she realized that she wasn't really doing it because she had told her father she would- she was doing it because she genuinely wanted to keep Roy safe and wanted to see him succeed in his goals and promises.

Little did she know that these few years of being his unofficial protector was just practice for her adult life, where she would nearly lose her resolve after seeing him destroy thousands of lives in a place of ash and sand, only to regain it when she realized that, just as she had hated pulling the trigger for the means of "war", he had hated his own actions. Riza would sacrifice her own safety and a chance at a normal life for him, soon becoming his protector again- this time, in a more official capacity.

Little did Riza know that, right before Berthold Hawkeye took his final breath, he'd told Roy to look after her, to take of her, a request that Roy would take to mean "protect" a bit later in his life. The protected soon became the protector for the first time, even if his acts of protection weren't as obvious as Riza's. He'd protected her by assigning Riza to be his bodyguard, which made sure that, just as she was looking out for him, he was looking out for her.

The guardian, on the other hand, considered this as a fresh start. Now, instead of a promise she was making to her father out of obligation and slight fear, it was a promise she made to Roy Mustang out of confidence in him and her own volition. In agreeing to this, Riza Hawkeye was no longer just a guardian, a protector. She became a subordinate, a Lieutenant, a confidante, a friend.

Of course, there was a title Roy Mustang used most often for her, one she wasn't fully aware she had.

A- The- Queen.

I promise that it wasn't my intention to leave this story unupdated for over two months- I just got way too busy with little inspiration, which is a kinda fatal combo to your creativity, I realized. My last day of school is coming up in about eight or so weeks, so I should be able to update more once summer comes along. Until then, however, I just hope it isn't too huge a gap with the next chapter x3. I hope you guys have a good week and I'll hopefully see you guys soon!

so I just realized that, with my next prompt, I will be able to update really, *really* soon.

This is good, I'm happy.