Everything's Not Lost

Chapter.6 – Remember A Day

For 2 weeks, Riza had been working at the Rockbell Automail Shop. She found herself surprisingly adept at working with spanners and screwdrivers, as well as an ability to assemble different parts together quicker than Winry ever could.

Riza sat at the table, screwing a bolt into its hole. She tightened the bolt and held up an automail hand. She smiled at her handiwork.

'Well done!' exclaimed Winry, taking the automail. Riza wiped her brow.

'Design isn't great, but it should hold together pretty well…'

'Agreed…' replied Winry, 'you've had practice assembling things before right?'

'You've seen me with my firearms… it's a piece of cake once you know the general design…'

Riza smiled, turning her gaze and looking out of the window. The sky was grey from the cold weather. Riza sighed. Winry noticed the sigh.

'What's wrong?' she asked

'Nothing…' replied Riza.

'You thinking about Mustang again?'

Riza didn't reply, but just stared out of the window. Winry walked over to her.

'He'll come back you know…'

'How will I know though? It's been so long without any word from him… How do I know he hasn't been killed?'

'He can't have been, otherwise we'd know from the town billboard…'

Riza nodded, not saying anything. She then dropped her head into her hands, crying. Winry stepped back, unsure of what to do. She placed Riza's automail on the table and placed her hand on Riza's back.

'There, there… it'll be okay, don't worry…' said Winry, patting her back.

'Every night I dream of him though… I keep remembering that time back in Central…'

'It was a long time ago, there's no need to worry about it anymore…'

'But I should be protecting him…' she sobbed 'and all I'm doing is waiting here making stupid automail!' She swung her arm out, knocking the automail off of the table and onto the floor. It bounced across the floor before lying still. Winry stepped back, not knowing what to do again.

'Riza… Why not talk about the good times you've had with Roy… if it'll help…'

Riza looked up at Winry, her eyes red from crying. She wiped her eyes, and took a deep breath in.

'You're right, I shouldn't be acting like this…' She wiped her eyes again and took another deep breath.

'So what did you want to know?' she asked Winry.

'I just thought, why not tell me about to good times you've had with Roy…' said Winry. Riza smiled, remembering some of the memories.

'I've had many wonderful moments with Roy.'

'When was the first time you felt close to Roy?' asked Winry. Riza thought about it for a moment.

'Probably this one time, I drove him home as usual, and he invited me in for a drink… turned into a light meal and a long story in the end! But that was the first time Roy invited me into his house,'

'What was his house like?'

'Surprisingly small… but very cosy and neat.'

'You know… You never told me about the time when Roy proposed…' said Winry

'I didn't? One of the best times of my life… It was a few weeks after Roy got his eyesight back. I remember how happy he was that day… He was told he'd never be able to see out of that eye again. I just remember he came into work, saying his vision seemed slightly weird, and he took off the eye patch. His eyesight was slowly coming back!'

'What did he do then?'

'He jumped with joy, and through either my fault or his, we hugged, closely. And I don't know how or why, but we kissed… oh it was so magical…'

'I bet it was…' commented Winry, smiling

'After that we began to see each other in our free time. We used to do so much… go to the theatre, go out to restaurants, or just take walks along Central's streets. The time he proposed, we had been walking along Central, up along the river. It was nighttime, and the stars were shining in the sky. We were crossing over a small bridge over to the other side of the river, when he suddenly stopped, and leant on the railing. I stepped over to him, linking my arm with his. He seemed deep in thought…'

'Did he say anything?'

'I asked him what he was thinking, and he answered by saying 'I'm thinking of how I should do this properly,' I asked him what and he didn't say anything. It took him about 5 minutes for him to get down on his knee and propose to me. My heart was racing when I saw him get on his knee. He dug into his pocket, taking out a small box, which he opened. And inside, was this,'

She held up her hand, showing Winry her engagement ring. Winry looked at the ring, it was a gold ring with a diamond encrusted into it.

'Wow, it's beautiful,' she said

'I know… That's how he proposed to me though… May not seem like much to some people but for me, it was just perfect…'

'I can imagine…' said Winry

'That though, is one of the best time's I've had with Roy… what was best though was from that moment on, it only got better… until…'

She suddenly stopped as she remembered. Winry looked down, feeling awkward. She sighed, looking away and out of the window. She turned to face Riza again.

'You okay?' she asked her. Riza nodded. Winry smiled.

'Come on then!' shouted Winry, jumping to her feet, 'We've got more work to do!'

Riza stayed seated at the table, staring off into the distance. Winry nudged her gently.

'Riza… I said we have a bit more work to do…'

Riza stayed seated still for another moment.

'If you don't mind, I'd like to just stay here for a moment…'

Winry nodded, walking away. She put her hand on the storage room door, turning once more to check on Riza. She sighed, opening the door and walking through.