"This is getting annoying," Ed sighed, trudging along the streets, eyes half closed, but still alert looking for Hawkeye. His brother had passed out from exhaustion about an hour ago, and he'd been carrying him piggyback for that long. "When did Al get so fat?" he grumbled, sighing again.
Turning a corner, he saw a familar pub. Familar, not because he drank there ever, but because he had often gone there during their sarch for the Philosopher's stone to study without anybody finding him. Yes, "The Fisher's Knot" was a place where nobody would ever suspect him. He'd never once been bother in all six years while in there.
What surprised him, though, was not that the sign above the door was just about to fall off. Nor was it that a crowd of five men had just entered laughing and half drunk already. No, the Elric understood those things.
What surprised him, was that leaning against the wall, was Colonel Roy Mustang. And in his hand, was a black box, with something shiny inside. Ed quickly backed around the corner again and set Al gently down against the brick wall. Poking his head around the corner, he squinted to see what was shimmering in the light of the lamp post.
"It's a ring!" Edward exclaimed, his eyes growing wider. Mustang turned his head in the direction of Ed's voice, his eyes searching for the source of the noise. Luckily, Ed was so small, that the shadow was shrouding him completely in darkness.
"Aah," he sighed with relief once the Fuhrer turned away again. "Maybe it is good to be this small," he nodded, his braid bouncing. His eyes got big and angry realizing what he'd just said. Falling down next to his little brother he held his head in his hands.
"What am I saying? No it's not! People mistake my thirteen year old baby brother as my older brother!" he cried out quietly. "Damn it, Al! Why'd you have to go and get so tall?" he asked his sleeping brother.
He looked so sweet and innocent when he was asleep. Ed's expression softened looking at Al. He liked to look at Alphonse while he was asleep, it had been a long time since he'd seen his real brother. With his dark blonde hair, and cute baby face... Ed always found himself drifting off into daydreams of being little again.
"Oh, Al. I have to wonder what life wuld have been like if Mom had lived," he sighed, half smiling, his eyes gazing at the building across the street, but not really focusing.
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Riza growled, pounding her fist down on the counter. "Gimme another one!" she ordered the bartender, a huge bald man. She knew that she was drinking to avoid her problems, and that she was going to end up drunk... but at this point she didn't even care.
"So this guy, he seriously used you all this time?" the man next to her asked.
"Well... sort of. I guess that I was hoping he would come to see that I liked him, but he never made a move or anything. We were just friends," she sighed. She didn't know why she was telling him about her problem with Roy, but at least she hadn't said his name, right? And besides, it made her feel better to talk about it.
"It sounds like you should have said something before you stayed by his side for thirteen years," the man said. "It's not your fault that you believed that feelings would develop between you, but things like that need a shove sometimes. Now this guy, it's hard to believe that he would have no idea that you liked him."
"Especially being the player that he is. Of course, come to think of it, he's used to having women throw themselves at him. Maybe he wouldn't notice a girl who's right in front of him," she shook her head, downing half the mug of beer.
"From what you've told me this evening," the man began, and from his tone Riza knew that he was about to say a lot. "You two have known each other for a long time, since Ishbal. Don't look at me like I'm a phschic, I can tell that you're a soldier from you clothing... there would be no way that you'd have avoided that war. If you love this guy, and you know that you do, then it's either ment to be, or it's not. Now, seeing as you're so dedicated and all, I like to think that there's something really specal between the two of you. You've never been able to be together before, seeing as you've made it your life purpose to protect him until he reaches his goal. But now you can be together, and he said something that upset you. Well how do you know that there wasn't another meaning behind his words?" the man stared at her intently.
"It doesn't matter. I'v acted irrationally already, running away from him when he tried to follow me," she sighed, blinking back tears. She'd screwed up, she'd seriously screwed up this time.
"Ah! So he tried to follow you? Well, doesn't that prove he cares?" the man shrugged, grinning.
"Anybody would chase after a friend who stormed out of the room," she mumbled in argument, bringing the mug to her lips again.
"You'll never know the truth if you don't ask," the man said nonchalantly. Riza slowly set down the mug and looked over at him. His eyess bore into hers, and she blinked, surprsed at his words.
"How could I?" she asked him in a whisper.
"The next time you seem him, whether he's at work, on a date, or anywhere else, pull him aside. Say: 'Roy Mustang, I have followed you around as your body guard for over a decade. I'm getting old here, so, do you love me, or not? Because I'm getting the hell out of here if you don't'," the man smiled. Riza's jaw dropped.
"H- how did you, I mean... what are you talking about? I've never even met Mustang," she pretended to be surprised he'd even suggest such a thing.
"You're a terrible liar, Hawkeye," he laughed. "Everyone knows your name, by the way. I only knew who youare because no other woman would have the nerve to walk in here... much less sit at the bar and order a drink," he chuckled.
"Was it really that obvious?" she sighed sadly.
"Go to him," the man said gently, placing a hand on her shoulder. "It'll do you both good," he smiled.
"You give good advice, thank you," she smiled, laying down her money for the drinks on the counter and smiling.
"No problem," he smiled, watching her walk out the door. "No problem at all."
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Roy heard the bell above the door jingle, and watched as a blonde in militar blue stepped out, her red eyes glinting with determination.
"Riza," he whispered, clenching the box in his hand with passion. She didn't seem to notice him, and he grabbed her elbow to stop her from walking away. He felt her body tense up, and watched as her free hand reached for her gun.
Pulling her quickly, he soon had her engulfed in a tight hug, with her hand pressed to her stomach.
"What the hell, who are you?" she asked, the shadows were surrounding them so that she couldn't see. The only one that was ever faster than me was... Her eyes grew wide with shock when she whispered his name aloud.
"The one and only," he muttered. "What'd I do?" he asked, backing away and holding her shoulder, staring into her eyes with sadness. The miserable emotions in his eyes stabbed Riza like a knife in the heart... she wanted to melt right there under his gaze... yeah, he looked that handsomely cute.
"What do you mean?" she asked, though she knew exactly what he meant.
"Why did you leave the arena so quickly at the end of the ceremony?" he asked her, his hand raching up to touch her hair. "You know, I think that I like it better when it's down," he whispered, pulling out the clip so that her blonde locks fell around her shoulders and back. "There, that's better," he ran his bare fingers through her hair.
She felt shivers run up her spine at his touch, like they always did when he was being gentle. "Nothing, it just hurt me so much to think that all you thought of me of, was a bodyguard," she forced herself to say, staring at the ground. Would it really make a difference if he knew? She only had so many years left until she got old, and if he didn't know now, there may be no other chance.
"Why? did you think that I didn;t love you?" he whispered, pulling her back into a hug. "Because I do, I really do. More than anything," he bent his head to rest it on her shoulder.
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"Oh my god, Al wake up, wake up quick you gotta see this!" Ed shook his little brother's shoulde vigorously as he coaxed him awake with a harsh whisper. He occasionally looked back at the place where Roy had just pulled Riza back into another embrace.
"What is it? Are we under attack again?" Alphose asked groggily, looking up at his older brother.
"No, come here," he shushed Al and pointed around the corner. The boys couldn't make out what it was they were saying, but they did both see when Mustang kissed Riza, and Riza kissed him back.
"Big brother, I don't think that we should be watching this," Al said, backing up.
"It's blackmail, Al! Blackmail!" he pulled his little brother's head back to watch.
"Ed, he's getting down on one knee!" Al exclaimed.
"Shh, I know!" Ed exclaimed, but his jaw dropped and his eyes grew wide next. "Al! Look, he's holding out a sparkly ring, that's the ring that I saw earlier!" Ed blinked.
"Now Riza is nodding!" Al said, while Ed just blinked like mad and rubbed his eyes, not believeing what was going on. "Does it sound like Roy is laughing or crying?" he asked his brother.
"I think that the two of them are each doing a little of both. Now watch, she's just flung herself into his arms, and he's spinning her around in the air kissing her," Ed grinned. "Isn't that just the sweetest thing you've ever seen?" he gagged.
"Are they going to get married, big brother?" Al asked him, poking him in the shoulder. Ed looked up to see that there were tears in his brother's eyes.
"Yup. I wonder if we're invited to the wedding," Ed tapped his chin. Then an evil smile appeared. "I'm going to order the most expensive thing on the menu! We'll see how Mustang likes that!" he cackled.
"Shut up, Ed! Can't you see how nice this is? They finally admitted their feelings!" Al clasped his hands, smiling.
"You always were the hopeless romantic type, weren't you, Alphonse?" Ed sighed, leaning back against the wall again.
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"You know, after all these years, I'd still say that you were worth every second of my time. I'd still say you were worth protecting," Riza smiled into his chest, leaning into his embrace.
"You know, Fullmetal is goig to insist on some insane thing at the wedding," Roy grimaced.
"So what? That's not important, now," Riza sighed. What matters is that we were both patient, and now we're together... nobody can change that, nobody.
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HHT Aww, what a sweet ending!
AB I agree.
HHT Who was the man in the bar, you ask?
AB Well, originally he would have been Hohenheim. Then we remembered the movie, and, well, you know.
HHT Yup! So, we hope that you liked this story! We have 150 hits!!! We might write a sequal, or a companion fic, or something-
AB But don't count on it! We're really lazy and only get together on weekends.
HHT Poor us. Thanks for all your reviews!
AB They mean a lot!
HHT Ja ne mata!
AB Sayonara!