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His bed in the Hawkeye's house was small and frankly uncomfortable. But it didn't matter now. They would not have had enough of the biggest bed, and they could have settled down even on bare stones. The old mattress creaked pitifully and long, barely withstanding the weight of two bodies suddenly collapsed on it. The rusty springs threatened to break out of it and cling with sharp edges to the heated bodies of two people who finally decided to unite into one. Yes, it was truly a long-awaited night for both of them.
Riza was lying on Roy's chest, trying to catch her breath. Strands of short blond hair stuck to her sweaty forehead and climbed into her eyes, but she didn't even try to blow them away. Yes, it turned out to be cooler than running a marathon, she didn't even know where she got so much strength from. They must have been accumulating all these four years while she was waiting for him from the Military Academy. Riza took a deep breath and immediately winced. But why does it hurt so much? No, she didn't regret anything, it was just... it really hurt. Now she would have to go wash the soiled mattress, but she didn't want to think about it. Not now, not today. Riza blissfully closed her eyes, absorbing Roy's warmth and listening to his heart beating fast. Since when has it become so comfortable to lie on him? When did this slightly ungainly and rather thin boy turn into a handsome, strong young man? She didn't know. Although was it important? No. She loved both: a skinny teenager and a strong man, because there was really no difference. It was her one and only Roy Mustang. Her? Yes, her!
Roy closed his eyes in peace. His whole body ached and he couldn't move, but it was a pleasant fatigue. Roy had been waiting for this moment for so long, so afraid that Riza wouldn't reciprocate. But she supported the mad impulse, and together they fell into this abyss without hesitation. I wonder if he did everything right? Contrary to popular belief that he had already changed a hundred and one girls, Riza was his first. She will always be the first for him. First and last. He couldn't imagine himself with anyone else but her. Roy felt Riza move on his chest, her blonde hair got into his nose, which caused him to sneeze deafeningly. He heard her soft, sincere laugh and smiled broadly himself. Roy loved it so much when Riza laughed. Then he felt her hot breath, which burned his ear.
"I love you," she said softly. Her weathered lips lightly touched his ear. "I'll be your Mrs. Mustang. Forever."
She pulled away, and Roy looked at her in surprise. Riza looked him straight in the eye, but her face was red. Half from "the night's work done," and half from embarrassment. She will always be a shy girl, no matter what loud words she would not say. This blush on her cheeks made her even more beautiful. Besides, Roy himself felt his ears burning and not only from Riza's hot breath. His face was as red as Riza's. The staring game continued for several unbearably long seconds until Riza lowered her eyes. Apparently, she took his silence as a rejection of her. Roy couldn't let that happen, and he couldn't restrain himself either. He pulled her tightly to him, wrapping her in a strong but gentle embrace. Riza let out a surprised sigh, but she quickly reacted by clinging to him and wrapping her arms around his bare torso. Roy nuzzled the top of her head, inhaling her unique scent, which even the smell of sweat could not drown out.
"Then you'll be mine," he said to her somewhere in her hair, but Riza heard it anyway. "And I'll be yours. An equivalent exchange. Forever."
Riza breathed a sigh of relief. That was exactly the answer she wanted to hear. He not only takes her, but also gives himself to her. But…
"You alchemists are an incorrigible people. Be sure to say something about the equivalent exchange," she said, pretending to be angry.
Roy laughed, kissed the blonde head and closed his eyes. His Mrs. Mustang…
***
Roy was sitting on a wooden ammunition crate, staring at his hands with an unseeing gaze. His head was empty. Just an hour ago, with these very hands, he destroyed an entire settlement. With one habitual snap of the fingers. All without regret. Although no, rather not so. Without thinking, without wanting to delve into what he is doing. How he hated this war… How he hated himself…
"Major Mustang," a tired female voice came from behind him.
Roy raised his head, covered by the hood of his camouflage cloak, and turned around. In front of him stood a young girl with short dirty blond hair and tired big brown eyes. As soon as he turned to her, she straightened up and saluted him.
Please don't say that. Please stop.
The first time he saw Riza in the war, his heart sank and broke into thousands of pieces, and a lot of questions swirled in his head, the main of which were how? and why?. He was ashamed to look into her eyes, he was afraid to see hatred and contempt in those native eyes. However, he didn't see anything. More precisely, he saw emptiness. His beloved milk chocolate eyes were empty. After that meeting, he cursed himself every day for dragging her here. Why did he tell her then, standing in front of the grave of her father, his teacher, all this idealistic nonsense about protecting the lives of ordinary people, about an ideal world without wars and how he would do everything to protect everyone? But the problem was that at that time he himself believed in everything he told her. He never expected that instead of protecting, he would senselessly exterminate. Using the same Flame Alchemy that she had so tenderly passed on to him. And he betrayed her. And now she's here, covered in blood and dirt.
"At ease," he said in a hoarse, colorless voice.
Riza took her hand away from her temple and hunched over.
"Did you want something, Cadet Hawkeye?"
"Colonel Gran asked me to tell you that today, at exactly four o'clock in the afternoon, you, together with the Major Kimbley, are going to destroy area number 5. The gathering place is the colonel's tent," the girl replied.
Roy sighed softly and closed his eyes. If Riza hadn't been standing next to him, he would have screamed. Go kill innocents again. So also with Kimbley. So the case is really big and a lot of people will die… And he will snap his fingers setting fire to houses and watching the fire devour everything in its path, and next to him, like a madman, Kimbley will laugh. And also the smell of burning and sticky fat on the lips, released from burnt human bodies. Roy's mouth filled with sour saliva, he thought he was going to throw up.
Suddenly he heard Riza's quiet but surprisingly soft voice close to his ear:
"Don't lose heart, everything will be fine. After all, I'm still your Mrs. Mustang."
As quickly as it appeared, the voice disappeared and when Roy opened his eyes, he saw only a retreating female figure with a heavy, bandaged sniper rifle on his shoulder.
He stared after her for a long time until the girl was completely out of sight. Then, closing his eyes again, Roy smiled broadly. Now, behind the closed eyelids, there was not fire and death, but Riza smiling warmly at him. All is not lost yet, there is still something to fight for and why to live a new day. After all, she's still his Mrs. Mustang.