THREE YEARS LATER
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"There were many honorable soldiers in these past five years, but as you all know, there can only be one Fuhrer. Today, I, King Bradley, am retiring my position and appointing what I think has been the best of the best all their life," Bradley began his short speech at the ceremony. Eight different Colonels sat on the stage behind him; hoping, praying, that their name would be called.
Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye sat beside Colonel Roy Mustang, one of the nominees for next Fuhrer. Her hand was on her gun underneath her jacket, red eyes scanning the crowd for any threats. At military gtherings like this, it was rare for nothing to go wrong... and she hadn't been fighting by Mustang's side for the past eight years for him to get killed today.
She could feel him net to her, and could tell that he was jumping up and down with anticipation. Riza spared a glance at him, and saw that he was cool and collected; nobody that wasn't personally acquainted with him could tell how excited he was. Narrowing her eyes, she smirked at his apperance. He wore his cap, his black hair swept back under it... Riza didn't like to think of the two of them as anything more than comrades at work... but he sure did look handsome today.
It was as if he felt her looking at him, he turned his head a bit and gave her a half smile. Her heart fluttered, but she didn't let it show... with all luck he would achieve his goal today, maybe then she would let him know...
"It'll be fine," he seemed to read her thoughts, and allowed his ungloved fingers to touch hers in a way that wouldn't be visible to anyone else.
"I know," she whispered back. Her eyes went back to roaming the crowds, and she spotted a rather... excited face grinning at them. She couldn't help but smile, the boy really was out of his mind half the time. Everyone knew how brilliant he was, but his regular behavior and attitude towards the world did nothing to justify it.
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"Alphonse would you stand still? I'm trying to see, here!" Edward exclaimed in a hushed tone. He caught Riza's smile, and his eyes got brighter. He knew that Mustang's name was about to be called, he just knew it.
"Brother, you're heavy!" the thirteen year old human Alphonse answered him. "What'd you do? Gain weight? You've always been so," but at his brother's glare, he stopped.
"Don't even think about saying small or shrimpy," Ed growled, glaring for a second, and then looked back up at the stage.
"Why do you want the Colonel to get the position so badly? I thought you disliked him! I thought he was a 'condescending, stuck up, perverted, obnoxious sorry excuse for an alchemist, who has no idea what's going on or how badly you could kick his butt'?" Al quoted. His memory hadn't really returned yet, he had almost no memories of what the actual Roy was like.
"Exactly!" Ed exclaimed. At his younger brother's look of beffudlement, he continued. "If he becomes Fuhrer, somebody else will move up to Colonel, and then I don't have to work under stupid old Roy Mustang anymore," Edward explained, nodding.
"Clever," Alphonse raised his eyebrow, impressed. He could have figured that out on his own if he'd thought about it. But the truth was that, he didn't really mind the Roy that he'd experienced in the past couple of years, and thought that his borhter just must be silly.
"And so, we are proud to present Colonel Roy Mustang with the title of Fuhrer," Bradley boomed out over the crowd. Cheers and applause rocked the stadium, as Roy stood to recieve the plaque and medal from the ex-Fuhrer.
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Riza supressed a sob, this must be one of the greatest days of her life. She'd never been happier for Roy, as he storde across the stage to the applause of the entire military. Biting her lip, she clapped, too.
"Thank you," she heard him say quietly as Bradley placed the medal around his neck.
"Well, my boy, say something, won't you?" the man replied in a friendly tone, half smiling.
"Of course," Roy answered, stepping up to the microphone. "I don't really have a speech at hand, but I suppose that I could say a few things. It's a really great honor to be recieving this title," he began.
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"Lemme see, lemme see! What's going on?!" Alphonse exclaimed, trying to stand on his toes to see.
"Would you stop moving? I'm gonna fall!" Ed replied, clinging to hsi brother's head.
"Why don't you just make something to stand on? Why do you have to sit on my shoulders?" the younger boy whined.
"Good idea," he backflipped off his brother's shoulders, in the meantime clapping his hands together and smashing them into the ground. A crate appeared, and he immediately hopped up onto that. Al did the same, and grinned at the sight of Roy at the podium.
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"But the truth is, I could never have gotten this far without the help of the soldiers working directly under me. They've been hrd working for years, but none have been as fiercely loyal as Liuetenant Riza Hawkeye. If she hadn't been watching my back all these years, I'd probably be dead," he told the crowd, which had gone dead silent.
Riza looked down at her lap, her face bright red. Why did he have to say her name in front of all these people? This was not very professional, she should just look out over the crowd like it was nothing. Doing so, she realized that half the eyes were on her, she had to fight herself to nt turn red all over again.
"After this is over, and I've moved from our previous quarters, it would mean a lot if she would come with me again," he glanced back over his shoulder at her.
Come with him, did that mean that all she was was a bodyguard? She was only there to hold her guns at the ready... but this wasn't what she'd wanted. She'd hoped that, once he achieved his goal, she could retire, and be what she'd wanted to be since she was a little girl... Roy Mustang's wife.
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HTT Ah, so what do you think of my amazing new chapter?
AB I told you last time, it's not yours!
HHT Yes it is! I wrote all of it! You just listened to my iPod in the meantime.
AB And damn is Panic! At the Disco Awesome.
HHT I rest my case.
AB Whatever. Thank you for the reviews last time, please review again! Thi chapter is extra long, yay!