Royai day ficlet: The End of the Beginning

[sonjajade]

Title: The End of the Beginning
Author: Sonja Jade
Series: Brotherhood
Word Count: 770
Rating: G
Character(s): Royai!!!
Summary: before and after the Promised Day, just 2 moments to celebrate Royai day.  (unbeta'd, written hastily in order to celebrate Royai day!!)

 

 

Braeda and Fuery stood on one side of the road, Mustang and Hawkeye on the other.  The Madame Führer’s car should be coming any moment down the road.  Four sets of eyes were intently watching down the hill, waiting anxiously for everything to begin.

 

“Come on already,” Mustang grumbled.

 

“So quick to meet our fate?” Hawkeye asked quietly.

 

His intensity abated a little as he looked at the back of her blonde head.  “Yes.  I just want it to be over with.”  His hand rested at her lower back.  “Lieutenant…  When this is over… if we make it out alive…”

 

“Don’t get too far ahead of yourself, sir,” she responded coolly.  “Even if we make it out alive there’s going to be plenty of work to do afterward.”

 

He sighed.  Looking back toward the hill he said, “If something happens, I want you to know I’ve always loved you, Riza.  It’s always bothered me that I couldn’t right our nation and have you by my side at the same time.”

 

She smiled, though she never took her eyes away from the road.  “I know, sir.  Now focus.”

 

“Right.”  He stood rigid and tense behind her shoulder, then felt as she sort of leaned into his chest.

 

A little bit later and she murmured, “I’ve always felt the same, so maybe if we make out alive, maybe we can find a way.”  She heard him give an affirmative grunt, and shortly afterward, their hostage arrived neatly in their hands.

 

XXX

 

It was against hospital regulations to keep a man and a woman who were not blood related or married in the same room, but when the acting Führer Grumman demanded that the hospital staff let his granddaughter and her commanding officer be, they threw regulation out the window and did just that.  The first day wwas full of reporters trying to get in, one woman going so far as to impersonate a nurse, but fainted when the doctor drew a blood sample from Roy’s arm.  After that, MPs were stationed at the door, and everyone had to show their ID when entering the room.

 

Finally, that night after visiting hours, the nursing staff and the doctors were ordered that no one go in their shared room for three solid hours I order to provide them both with some much needed rest and recuperation.  However, as soon as they were alone, Roy was feeling his way blindly and coming to rest on the side of his Lieutenant’s bed.

 

His hand cat-pawed around until she finally took pity on him and grabbed his hand.  He felt his way up her arm, her shoulder, then lightly touched the bandages at her neck.  “I’m so sorry, Riza.”

 

She took his hand away from her neck and held it in both of hers.  “There’s nothing to be sorry for.  You did exactly as you should have.  You were terrific, sir.”

 

“Y’know, we made it out alive.  The boys got their bodies back… and Bradley’s dead.  It’s all downhill from here.”

 

Riza giggled, the sound bringing a smile to Roy’s blinded face.  “There’s still a lot of things to be done, sir.  But I think your assessment of the situation is pretty accurate.  Nothing from here on out will be as difficult as what we’ve just accomplished.”

 

Roy’s hands felt softly in the direction of her voice, at first touching the bridge of her nose and one of her ears.  But once he got his bearings, he cupped her face, seeing the memory of her face and now feeling the lines that define it in pitch black clarity.  When he felt her roughened palms at his own cheeks, he took a shuddering breath and leaned down, his lips brushing her before planting themselves down and kissing her tenderly.

 

She let him linger there, tasting of jello and sweet tea.  When Roy pulled back, he rested his forehead on hers.  “We made it.  I can’t believe we’re alive.”

 

“I know,” was all she could manage, silent tears streaking her face.

 

“I almost lost you.  I don’t even want to think about what I would have done if I had…” he sniffled.

 

“I know…”  Riza smoothed his back as he cried quietly in her arms.

 

“I can’t be a King without my Queen.  I could never rule this country without you.  I love you so damn much, Riza.”

 

“I know, Roy.”  She hugged him tightly to her, giving in to her own relieved tears.  “I know.”  The colonel stayed in his lieutenant’s bed until a nurse escorted him back to his own bed three and a half hours later.

 

 

 

Comments

[bay115.livejournal.com]

This is very lovely! The second part is such a tender moment for them. :3 Yay for the both of them out alive, indeed. Great work!

[sonjajade.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I couldn't let royai day go by without something. Glad you enjoyed it :)

[ladynorbert.livejournal.com]

Cuuuuuuuute!

(I'd love to know what was going through that nurse's mind at the end...)

[sonjajade.livejournal.com]

ha, first: "How'd he even get over here??" then "What did they DO while he was over here??"

XD Glad you liked it