The silence was screaming.
It had all been going according to plan. All routine. A simple afternoon drill march. He wasn't sure how the tables had turned. All of a sudden gunshots had pierced the air accompanied by the shouts of the men leading the march. Their organized, peaceful march had suddenly been turned into chaos. Soldiers had been running every which way across the field they had been assaulted in. Where was safety? Who was the enemy? How to take control?
"Sir?" First Lieutenant Hawkeye asked, standing next to him, snapping him out of his thoughts. He nodded and ran towards the source of the problem. He heard her running alongside him, covering him, protecting him as she always did. Men were beginning to get ahold of themselves now, running back to assault the enemy as they should, instead of running away. It would almost have been wise to run away, however. Soldiers were dropping left and right all around him. Dammit.He thought. This was not a part of the plan.
Finally he reached the front line and saw who was firing at them. A group of rebels, obviously displeased with the state military. A group was hardly the word to describe them. They were noticeably well prepared in numbers and in artillery. He wondered how they had gotten ahold of such equipment, but now was not the time for speculation. Now was the time for action. He had already whipped out his glove and pulled it on over his bare hand. Raising his hand into the smoke-filled air he snapped his fingers together, causing an explosion on the side of the enemy. Smirking, he looked over at Hawkeye who was taking aim at the men handling a canon. She hadn't seemed to have noticed nor been fazed by his demonstration. He returned his attention back to the situation at hand. Both sides were already facing quite a number of casualties. Men continued to drop around him, but he noticed that the same could be said about the opposition.
He snapped his fingers again, this time creating an even bigger explosion. What a wonderful afternoon this had turned out to be. The military had one of their largest companies out marching around and it had been ambushed. Now they were neck and neck in a battle that shouldn't have to be fought. How careless they had been. But then again, who could have expected an event such as this to unfold? He lifted his hand into the air a third time, this time preparing to decimate the majority of them and end this unnessary bloodbath. But he was stopped prematurely as he saw a gunman on their side aiming right at him. His eyes widened as he attempted to move out of the line of fire. But the trigger had already been pulled and he wasn't fast enough, but Hawkeye was.
She leapt in front of the incoming bullet and absorbed it into her abdomen. Mustang heard more gunshots and saw how her body convulsed as two more connected with her mid-section. Horrified and angered, he snapped his fingers once more creating a magnificent explosion on the other side of the field. It was the leverage the military needed. The other side was more weakened now than the company was. The rebels were beginning to retreat.
But Mustang didn't care about that anymore. His right-hand woman was wounded, badly. He knelt down next to her, trying to keep himself calm. She had landed on her side and he couldn't see the extent of her injuries that way. Carefully he rolled her onto her back and took in the sight. One bullet had entered near her right breast, the other two near her stomach.
"Dammit all." He muttered outloud. "Someone get the doctor out here! And hurry!" He shouted out into the noise of battle. Of course a doctor must have already been summoned, considering all of the wounded and dead around him now. But he didn't care. He needed one now. She needed one.
"Sir, I'm fine." She said weakly, her eyes open now, a serious look in her eyes. "Go, now. They need you, Colonel."
"The hell they do, Lieutenant. I won't leave until you've been tended to." He said sternly, ducking as a shell whizzed past him.
"I-It's too dangerous to just sit here!" She said as forcefully as she could. "Th-this was my duty, sir. I've fulfilled my purpose, now you have to go on and fulfill yours." He could only stare at her. She was bleeding badly and needed to be helped now. He was no doctor and had no experience taking care of battlewounds.
"A doctor! Someone get a doctor out here!" He shouted again, desperately. "It'll be alright, Lieutenant. A doctor is on his way, I'm sure of it. He'll get you all fixed up in no time, and you'll be back in the office doing paperwork once again." He tried to smile, but it wasn't easy.
"Colonel, go!" She insisted again, wincing as she spoke. He hated to see her in this condition. There was no way he was going to leave her laying here, alone, to deal with the pain alone, to die alone. No, he mustn't think that way. She would live. She had to.
"I told you I'm not leaving." He replied, men running past him to overtake the declining enemy. A new series of gunshots were being fired into the air now. He looked down at her once more, her eyes had closed. It torn his heart apart to watch her suffer. This was the last thing he had wanted. In an instant a searing pain ripped into his shoulder, throwing him backwards to the ground. The same pain resonated in his thigh as well. He cried out in agony, rolling onto his stomach, hoping there were no more bullets to punish him. The pain in his shoulder was becoming unbearable and he was losing conciousness. He turned to face her, his vision hazy. No, not now, not with Riza mere feet from him, dying. He had to focus, he had to, had to.
He didn't know how much time had passed. Enough that the battlefield was now quiet. Quiet in the sense that the fighting had ended. The sun was almost near the horizon and he could hear faint moans of the wounded and dying. It couldn't have been too long if the wounded were still alive. Hadn't a doctor shown up yet? Why weren't the survivors being taken back to Central? That's when he remembered. He remembered what had happened and focused his eyes in the direction in which Hawkeye had been. She was still there, not moving. Her eyes were closed still and she was surrounded by a pool of blood. Instantly his heart fell to his stomach. This was all his fault, he should have been hit. Well, he was hit, but he should have taken the bullets that had ravaged her beautiful body instead.
The pain in his shoulder had dulled, but was still there to remind him of the days events. Not that the sight of her couldn't take care of that. He crawled over to her, minimizing the distance that had been created between them. Miraculously he heard her breathing. It was labored, ragged and weak, but that meant that she was still alive.
"Lieutenant?" He whispered into her ear, an urgency that surprised even him filled his voice. He touched her shoulder gently, rocking her back and forth slightly, hoping to pull her back to conciousness. She didn't respond at first, but her eyes eventually opened. His spirits lifted. She was still here.
"Colonel." She said softly, shifting her gaze to him. If she had had the strength to gasp, she would have at the sight of him. "Stubborn man." She chided him, the fire in her eyes that he loved returned.
"I couldn't leave." He told her again.
"You should have. This isn't the place nor your time, sir." She told him, the color quickly fading from her face as she spoke. She rolled onto her side as violent coughs took over her, forcing her to choke up blood.
"And it's not yours." He replied gently when her coughing subsided. Help would come soon, she would be saved. He wasn't worried about himself. His wounds were nothing compared to what she had received.
"I'm afraid it is, sir." She stated, looking into his eyes. His flickered with pain as he took in what she was saying. She wasn't a fool. She knew she wasn't going to survive this. She knew that he would, he would go on and he would change the world, just as was his plan.
"No, Lieutenant. You see, you're supposed to be standing beside me on the day when I am proclaimed Furher." He encouraged. She didn't reply, still staring at him. "It won't mean anything if you aren't." He added softly.
"Please don't talk that way, sir."
"It's the truth. It won't be right if you aren't there to share in the success. You've done so much. You deserve it." He said earnestly. The pain in his shoulder heightened slightly, causing him to wince.
"Where were you hit?" She asked, ignoring his words.
"Shoulder and somewhere in the leg."
"I'm sorry." She said abruptly. He was taken aback.
"For what?"
"For not protecting you. That was my job, my duty, my purpose." She had turned her blank stare to the sky, the fire in her eyes extinguished.
"If you hadn't protected me I would be the one lying there with three holes in my chest." He pointed out. He knew she wouldn't listen to him though.
He pulled his gaze off of her and down to his leg wound. There was more blood surrounding him then he had thought. In fact, he hadn't noticed before, but he was increasingly becoming weaker and cold. Death by blood loss. If help didn't come soon, that would surely be the case. The inevitable sunk in as he looked around for any sign of help. Nothing. Why wasn't anyone coming? He hid this new realization from her though, if she knew he was destined to die in this field, she would feel even more a failure.
"Colonel?" Breaking the silence, she looked towards him again. He met her gaze. His eyes beckoned her to continue. "You are a hero."
"Heroes don't die."
"I'm afraid they do." She said. A cry escaped her lips as she curled up into a ball because of the pain. "Eventually." She added. He winced at that.
"You are far braver than I."
"B-bravery doesn't always m-make one a hero, s-sir. Ambition, dedication, intelligence, integrity, a good heart. T-that's what I see in you." Her eyes were clenched shut as she spoke. "Bravery too, of course."
It was useless to try to tell her it would be alright. It would only be a lie, a lie not worth being told. It would be foolish to even think such treachery now. He could only lay and watch her as she faded away. The woman who had once been so full of vitality and spirit, was dying in front of his eyes. The woman who had shared her secret with him. The woman who had pledged her undying loyalty to him. The woman who devoted her career, her life to him. The woman he cared most about was about to leave this world and move onto the next. He couldn't bear the thought.
"Riza?" He said, wincing in his own pain now. He was losing feeling in his fingers. Without responding, she opened her eyes to look at him. "I love you."
It was silent for a moment. Her face changed when he said that, and a fire returned to her crimson eyes for a brief second, filled with a passion and desire he had never seen before.
"I've always loved you, Colonel." She replied, a small smile formed on her face.
They laid there like that for what seemed like hours. He lay there, listening to her labored breathing. It was like music to him though, music that he never wanted to stop listening to. The music meant she was still there with him, still alive. She had closed her eyes again, but he wouldn't, couldn't. He knew he didn't have much longer with her, minutes, seconds even. Soon she would be free of all of her suffering he felt he had caused her, though he knew she chose this life and this end. His thoughts were broken by the sound of her weak voice. He looked at her. She had opened her eyes and was looking deep into his.
"Colonel…godspeed." She raised her hand to her forehead and gave him a frail salute. He nodded to her. It was the only appropriate response he could think of. With that, she closed her eyes and faded from his world completely.
The music had stopped, and the silence was screaming.
His body ached with grief and despair as he lay on the cold ground, next to the woman he loved, the woman he had lost. He hoped that death would find him and soon. He couldn't bearcontinuing on without her. And she was gone, there was no doubt about that. He knew that without aid he would be dead by the morning. However, it would be just his luck that a doctor would arrive just in time to save the Flame Alchemist and he would be forced to continue living without her. With that thought a horrible pain, starting from his shoulder, flowed through his body, rendering him motionless. His vision was becoming foggy and blurred. Could this be death coming to claim him? He had deserved it so long ago.
"This is our last goodnight, Lieutenant. Godspeed."