This prompt was again written for Royai week which was held from 11th June to 17th June :'D I am so pleased that i got to participate this time :'D

Written for day 6. All the themes were used; Shoulder Holster, Seasons and bouquets nestled in an envelope. The last one was picked from the set of picture prompts ! I believe it was the first time they added that sector. I actually liked it! it give the event a unique twist!

I hope you guys like it!

Dokhtar is farsi word which means 'Daughter'

Chapter 03
Amidst the pauses and in between

"Well, this is it" Roy began.
"It is" Riza agreed.

Both of them were standing outside the house on a porch. The suitcases were neatly lined up against the post. Riza was dressed the usual; full sleeved shirt along with a long skirt which reached till her shins. While Roy was in traveling clothes, a folded coat draped over his arm.

There was silence for a moment. Riza's head was bowed down, being particularly mindful of tracing her fingers on the material of her skirt. It proved to be an effective antidote for keeping the feelings off the bay. She can't afford breaking down, at least not in front of him. And certainly not right now, when they were parting of their ways. Well he was. She still has yet to decide where to go.

Roy was looking at Riza, a dejected expression adorning his face. He could already see it happening; Riza eating breakfast alone in table. Riza dusting the book covers clean alone in a study. Riza buying the groceries from the market alone and then carrying it to the home all by herself. The imagination wasn't hard to come by. It was utterly miserable.

'She would be all alone' kept echoing in his mind.

"You should go now. You would miss the train" She said quietly, interrupting his train of thoughts.
"Yeah I should"

Roy then leaned down to pick up the suitcases, but he paused. Straightening up, he said;
"Walk with me"

Riza's eyes widened. Roy realized his mistake, but he didn't correct himself. A chance he was looking for. Anything, just to stretch the time and spend it with her.

Riza's gaze unconsciously darted towards the upstairs closed window. Berthold was taking his afternoon nap and wouldn't presumably wakeup for the next hour or so. Maybe she can accompany him to the station. It wouldn't be too detrimental.

The minutes passed by until the girl shook her head, a sad smile on her lips. Roy nodded. He was asking too much.
"I will write to you as soon as I get there" Mustang said. He then added "And sent the letter to you along with a surprise"

At this, Hawkeye raised her eyebrows "Don't make promises which you can't keep, Mr. Mustang"

"You are doubting me?" Roy feigned a hurt expression.
"Not in regards to letters, no. It's the surprises that I have misgivings about" Riza explained.
"I will prove it to you" Roy declared.
"Time will be the judge of that" Riza smiled impishly, which Roy couldn't help but return it.

He will miss that smile. He will miss her, a lot.

After one month.

Riza was washing dishes on a sink. Every now and then, she would glance outside the window, but the view remained the same.

Hawkeye returned to the task at hand. She then realized that she have been swirling the brush on the same plate twice. Riza sighed. At this rate, she won't get any work done.

"Concentrate Riza, concentrate!" She chided herself under her breath.

Once done with the washing, she began wiping them. With the last plate kept at the set, did the view changed. A figure was approaching from faraway.

Riza threw the towel on the slab and quickly made her way towards the door. Slipping on her shoes, she pushed the door and ran towards the figure.

An old man in a blue uniform was slowly limping his way towards the houses when he saw someone running. Squinting his eyes, he saw it was a girl.

Riza stopped a couple of feet away from the postman, catching her breath. She could have waited. The postman would have stopped at her house and would have delivered the letter, but the excitement was too much.

Smoothing the creases of her checkered apron with her hands, Riza went to him.

"Good morning" she greeted politely.
"Good morning to you as well Dokhtar" He replied kindly.
"Have my letter arrived?"
"Let me see…." The postman opened his bag which was slung across his shoulder. After digging in it, he pulled out an envelope.

"Miss Hawkeye, isn't it?" after reading the address, smiling.
"Yes" Riza took the letter "Thank you"

She was about to turn when the post man said "Wait!"

Riza stopped. Was something wrong?

"I have another thing to give you!" With that, the old man started rummaging in the front pockets of his letter bag. Riza was puzzled. Aside from Mustang, she wasn't expecting letter from anyone. That could have been true if she had someone else living in other cities. Unfortunately that was not the case.

"Found it!" The post man cried. He was cradling yet another envelope.

"I hope I didn't damage it"

Riza took the envelope. It oddly felt heavier. On the back of it, only two letters were scribbled 'R.M' Riza knew that writing.
Curious, she flipped the envelope to the front and removed the taping.

She let out a startled gasp when a bunch of small purple and white flowers seeped out from it.

What was this?!

"You got a good friend there" The old man spoke. Riza snapped out from her trance.
"Yes…..I…" Hawkeye have lost the ability to speak at that moment. This was really unexpected. Before she could further embarrass herself with the stammering, Riza sealed her lips shut and retorted to nodding only.

Chuckling, the man left, waving his goodbye.

Riza went home in a daze, not looking where she was stepping. She was busy staring at flowers.

It was after reading his letter, did she came to know what was this all about. Just beneath the 'Love Roy' (the word love made her heart skip a beat), was a line;
P.S. I hope you like my surprise.

Riza glanced at the flowers which were now residing in a half-filled water vase. Dang! How come she didn't recognize this?! He did say he was going to give a surprise.
Hawkeye didn't believe him when he said that. Truthfully be told, she wasn't actually expecting a letter from him either. It's not like she didn't trust him or anything. It's just that, according to her, one shouldn't tie their happiness to expectations because they are like a glass. Once broke, good luck in sticking the pieces together.
Fingering the petals, Riza couldn't help but think that this was rather a clever idea. Almost unique.

The flowers basked under the sunlight streaming from the window.

And so began the ritual; of envelopes nestling a bouquet being delivered to her. Riza was running out of vases. When her stock of jugs got finished, she used her hideous pencil holder containers. Thank God, for art classes back in elementary school where the teachers used to make them paint on plastic holders. All that craft will be adjusted in a good use now.
The bouquets were kept in her room because Berthold was allergic to pollens. But Riza didn't mind that. Her window sill and study started representing a picture of a little garden. Her little garden perfuming the entire area with its scent.

The flowers were different each time they came. The smaller ones were easier to manage. It's the big ones that cause the hassle like roses and tulips.
Riza soon noticed that bouquets gifted to her, were all according to the seasons. In spring, she was flooded with crocus and freesia. Petunias and marigolds were swaying in summers. Lilies and Anemones peeked out from the mail in autumn while Violas survived the winters.

Now if only they were everlasting.
'At least the paper is durable' Hawkeye sighed while watching the edges of hibiscus writher away.

The Current Time

"Well that went well" Roy said, as they walked towards the parking area where his vehicle was located.
"If you mean Scar slipping from our fingers and nearly assaulted by homunculus, then yeah sure" Riza muttered.

They have been chasing Scar all afternoon and they were nearly at it, when the homunculus intervened. And while fighting with them, Scar took the opportunity and fled away from the scene.

Aside from the market being ruptured (courtesy of Gluttony colliding with it) and a few fires here and there due to his flame alchemy, there wasn't much damage.
Still Roy decided to stay behind and fix it. And so did Riza.

They were now returning from the rebuilt square.

"Don't be like that Lieutenant. At least no one got hurt"
"Ah hmm"

Mustang glanced at Riza, when she replied his comment like that. He saw her shoulders drooping and her back slightly bended, as if standing was proving to be too much. Roy then remembered that she had been on patrol since yesterday without taking any breaks. She was fatigued.

"Are you okay Lieutenant?" Mustang asked, concern flitting across his face.
"Hm? Yes, yes I am fine Colonel" Riza responded lightly. Roy narrowed his eyes.

Silence for a while, until;
"Let me drop you home" Roy offered.
"Thank you Colonel, but I will pass. I can go home by myself" To which Roy snorted.

"In that gait, you will never reach your apartment" He teased.

Riza glared at him sleepily "I will be fine Colonel"

Mustang didn't heed her as he strode towards his car, climbing into it and opening the passenger door.
"Don't be uptight Lieutenant, just get in"

Hawkeye sighed before taking a seat.
'Guess I have no choice'

"But I will walk to my apartment by myself" she reprimanded.
"Okay" Mustang answered, straight-faced, trying to control his laugh. The feat itself was difficult to manage because he knew that in less than five seconds, Hawkeye would zonk out.

And that's exactly what happened. Riza was snoring by the time, they reached the complex. Mustang got out and proceeded to unbuckle the belt wrapped around Hawkeye's torso.
'She can't complain about this one' Roy snickered inwardly, after removing the bindings.

Roy then lifted Riza and staggered a little. Riza wasn't heavy, but she wasn't light either.

'It has to be her arms!' Roy thought as he climbed the stairs, carrying the blonde haired woman 'Those arms of her which she uses for sniping! No wonder she never misses her target'

With some difficulty, he managed to slide a key into a lock and entered the apartment. Hayate let out a woof at the sight of them.

"Hey buddy!" Roy whispered.

Hayate continued barking, leaning up a little and pressing its small paws on the trousers of Mustang.

"Ssh! Lieutenant is sleeping!"

The Shiba Inu puppy immediately understood, as it sat on haunches, staring at them innocently.

"Good Boy!" Roy smiled at the dog before going towards the room. He gently laid Riza on a bed and then straightened up.

'Might as well make her comfortable'

And with that thought, Roy pulled off her boots. He lifted Lieutenant's head, so he could unclasp the clip which was keeping her hair in place. He knew all too well that barrettes were a pain in ass if you slept with them pinned to your hair. On reflex, he stroked her hair. A voice rumbled from Riza's throat, sounding very close to a purr.

'Oh? You like this lieutenant?' Roy smirked as he continued running his scorched fingers through her soft tresses.

Mustang then reached for her jacket. To his shock, he found out that she was still wearing a shoulder holster with loaded guns.

Roy blinked. If he were to remove that holster, she's bound to wake up. But he can't leave her like that. Guaranteed that she was skilled with guns and all but what if she shifted on her side in the middle of a night and shot herself on mistake? No no no! He can't allow that!

Mumbling a small prayer under his breath and sincerely hoping that Hawkeye doesn't wake up, Mustang ever so carefully slid the straps from her shoulder blades to her arms. He was cautious about placing his hands on her shoulders and not somewhere inappropriate. After a few tense minutes, though it felt longer than that, it came off.
Immediately Roy pulled out the guns and kept them at the higher shelf.

'Trust Hawkeye to go overboard when it comes to gearing up' Roy thought warily.

He ran his fingers on the straps, feeling the leather gliding beneath his fingers. Pressing the band, he felt something else. Curious, he turned the holster inside out. Another thin layer of leather was added on the top of each strap. This puzzled Roy greatly. If he remembers clearly, standard shoulder holsters only contained two bands crisscrossing each other, not another layer was stitched on to it.

'Maybe they are for safekeeping the bullets?' The bulge along the length of it didn't felt anything like bullets though.

Mustang then saw something poking out from beneath those layers, right on the edge.

'That's where the opening must be!'

Roy grabbed it and drew it out. Out came a trail of small paper triangles of various colors glued together.

Mustang's eyes widened. The hell was this?! Wait! Something was scribbled on it.

Roy brought the chain of papers close to his vision.

"R.M?" He voiced out, once reading it.

R.M?! What was this?!

"Is it some sort of code?" He muttered to himself.

After standing there for a moment or two, Mustang felt the ground vanishing from beneath his feet.

"Hey!...are those….?"

The colonel wasn't able to complete his sentence. He was doused in shock. He couldn't believe this. Believe this, that his lieutenant would save the envelopes he sent them to her. And not just save them, but rather going an extra mile by folding them into tiny triangles and then tucking them between the casings of leather.
Roy sat down in a nearby chair, looking at Lieutenant who was fast asleep and lost in a world of dreams.

He peered at the chain of folded envelopes again. There was so mistaking it. These weren't any envelopes. They were those very envelopes in which he used to send flowers to her. Not one bouquet, but different each time. Because according to him, Riza was deserving of each of them.

"She had kept them safe after all this time" Roy said to himself.

The initials of his name danced in front of his eyes.
'R.M, R.M, R.M….'

With a jolt in his heart, he realized something else too. Riza had stitched the envelopes to her shoulder holster, the thing used for attacking and protecting itself. Hawkeye had always kept others safety, including his before her. She had never really cared about her own safety.
He entrusted her to watch his back and she did stayed true to her words. But to carry his initials sewn under the band around her all the time; It's like she keeps reminding herself of a duty. A duty to protect someone, to protect him.

Roy smiled. He had always appreciated Riza, but now coming across this, all that endearment seem so low. She should be engulfed with adoration.

Putting the envelopes back in the place through alchemy, he mused. If there was a way to preserve flowers, she would have attached them to a holster too. Now that would have been funny, molding something cold in nature with something so soft. But then, it would have been so her.

Shoulder holster with bouquets, Intimidating exterior but cradling a heart of gold, So Riza…

The next day.

Roy and Riza were stamping some papers together. The room echoed with the sound of thud of stamps pressed on papers.
Working in companionable silence, Riza felt Roy gazing at her. She looked up. Sure enough he was looking at her, but there was something else too. Those ebony eyes of his seem to be welling affection. Hawkeye raised her eyebrow before going back to work.

It was getting hard to ignore with each passing minute. The stare was intense.

"Is there's something on my face, colonel?!" She asked, annoyed.
"Nothing. Nothing at all" Mustang replied softly.
"Then what's with that stare?"
"I just…." Roy pause "Nevermind" He started stamping again, a smile on his lips.

Riza sighed, pulling her collar up to hide her blush and her red neck. His gaze bothered her yet it melted her from inside as well.

The End

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~Noni.