Falling For A Flame Alchemist: A Roy Mustang Love Story: Chapter Twenty-Five: Of Babies, Eyepatches, and Farewells

"The courses of true love never did run smooth."
--William Shakespeare
... And this was no exception.

Only the truly heartless- or actors that play the part well- could make one feel such bitterness and hate, yet remorse for the love that should have been.
Only the truly mindless would allow words, oh, such feeble and idiotic words to slip from ones tongue and through lips that would never dare speak it. For, those men with minds always think before acting.
Only the truly naive would run from a place they knew as home. Run from the people, the person, who hurt them, who hurt them the most in a vain attempt to conceal the inner workings of the true suffering that lay dormant within that person. Although, as we all know well, those who run from what is burdening them will only end up being even more imposed on by the same concept, sin, or emotion.
Only the truly idiotic fight what fate has handed them.
But, readers, fate has a way of making itself known. No matter what plans one may already have made.
You, Kira Blackwood, were slowly finding this to be true. More than true, actually.
You were finding it was reality.

You never dared to return here. Yet, there you were, standing just on the outskirts of the platform in the Train station in Central.
And you were just about ready to kill a certain brown-haired man.
"Shae, I really don't want to be here," you managed to choke through your swirl of emotions. "I mean it, I REALLY don't want to be here."
"If I would have known, darling, that you had such a problem with Central I would not have brought you with me," Shae's deep, harmonic tone whispered to your ear as you felt an arm snake around your waist and a hand set on your hip, "But the next train for Ellis does not leave until late tomorrow afternoon."
'Make a train come now,' you instantly thought, exhaling sharply through your nose, 'You're rich. Pay some conductor off. Sleep with the conductor! I don't care just get me the hell out of here!'
"Really, not until tomorrow?" you tried to ask your fiance sweetly but your voice betrayed you, "So, we're here? For a whole day?"
"... And a half," Shae added quickly.
The idea of slamming ones head into a wall sounded pretty nice right at the moment.
Central. It brought back so many horrid, yet wonderful memories from the recesses of your mind. It made you think of Foal, and Gene - your father. It made you think of Riza, Havoc, Brenda, Armstrong... it made you think of the military. It made you remember your encounter with Scar, the truth behind your parents "faked" death, and Darla's passing. It made you remember...
Someone you most certainly did NOT want to think about.
You looked up, carefully, eyeing the man you had agreed to marry only months before. Shae was his name. Shae Dawson.
Shae Dawson, the one man you knew actually loved you. The one man, who didn't play games with your head, didn't hide his feelings. The only man you had ever trusted completely, even more so than...
You shook away the thought. Stupid Central was making you think about him again.
After leaving Central - you had left soon after your falling out with the Colonel- you had dated a few other people in your hometown, mostly old classmates you had in high school. But none of them had been the one. And you had, more or less, given up on finding this mythological man of your dreams seeing that he was simply that, of your dreams, I mean. But, of course, that was ALL before you had met Shae.
Mr. Dawson happened to be a friend, of a friend, of a friend and had been invited to the same party that you had been invited to. It was a chance meeting, actually, seeing as he had been completely surrounded by not so attractive, overly made up women in their late thirties, who liked to flaunt their boobs in his face. (You see, Shae is a musician. A piano player actually and apparently, women like to throw themselves at young, attractive, musically talented men. A memo you most certainly had not gotten before this gathering.)
You had somehow ended up playing the pretend girlfriend to fend off the monstrous fiends.
However, it wasn't long before pretend became REAL, and then girlfriend turned to fiance. The whole process was kind of blurry to your memories. But, it was a love-filled, truehearted blurry mess of ness. Something you never thought you'd find after a certain Flame Alchemist. (I'm so awesome I rhyme.)
That was another thing that had changed drastically since your falling out with him, soon after you left Central you had sent a letter to the state stating that you wished to resign from the Military. It hadn't been easy, no, you had to make various trips to meet with the Furher just to state your reasoning for why you would leave such a "fulfilling" choice of employment. But, you had been completely honest; you had said you weren't emotionally able to deal with the "prospects" of military life. After loosing both your sister and Hughes in such a short amount of time you had became emotional unstable. (Or, so you said.)
Something the military didn't need, of course.
The Furher had agreed almost immediately.
So you gave up your watch, and you gave up your title, and moved back home, to Ellis. Leaving behind three of the most important people in your life.
Ah, I suppose you are asking why three as opposed to two? You see Darla wasn't the only sibling you had lost. Jesse, oh your darling brother Jesse had done something quite terrible. He had gotten himself locked up in one of the most highly secured prisons in the entire world. The reasons to why, even when you were offered them, you had refused to know. You didn't want the image you mentally had of your brother - a joyful and kind one - to disappear with whatever horrid sin he had committed to get him placed there. Many would call it nave on your part but after suffering the hardships you had in only a matter of a year, you couldn't possibly take yet another solid blow to your already fragile emotional web.
These changes were all reasons to why you had avoided ever returning to Central in the first place. The whole thing was just giving you one major migraine.
"No matter what happened in the past, Kira, you need not to worry," Shae said to you, his honey-brown eyes shining with that internal glimmer that he possessed, "It is all in the past now. Do not let it burden you. You can not change it, you know."
Black eyes hued with sapphire, ebony hair, that bastard smirk...
You shook your head, "No. I suppose you can't, can you?"
"I just would like to see you enjoy yourself while we are here," Shae spoke with a warm smile, leading you off the platform and into town. "Could you please just try, for me?"
You exhaled deeply, again, pushing away all memories from your mind.
"I'll try," you promised.

---

Central had changed after the war.
And it wasn't necessarily for the worse.
Central had once just been a town - more like a city, considering how many people lived here. Everyone had went about their own business as they pleased, avoided strangers indefinitely, and most were cold, and maybe even a little callous.
But now, you eyed the streets with an internal wonder, it was as though the war had twisted every thing and made it positive. You had never seen so many smiling faces in one place before, nor had you seen so much happiness. Hundreds of people - or so it appeared - seemed to line the walkways, selling goods outside the stores that had once sat on outside the main streets. There were no cars. And though the buildings of Central still stood, they almost looked vacant and out of place in this new world.
"It's strange," you muttered to the air, your grip tightening on Shae's hand, "It's so completely different."
"War does that," Shae said pleasantly, "Though it causes so much destruction, it also can bring even the most diverse of people together. Remember, there are pros and cons to everything."
"Very true," you said with a slight smile. "Come on! Lets go see what everyone's selling!" You'd act happy for Shae's sake. It was the least you could do for him.
You tugged hard on Shae's arm and led him down the pavement and to one of busiest - or so it looked - streets that merchants were selling items at.
Your fiance laughed in his throat, though it sounded more like a rumble than an actual laugh. He spoke amused, "You are like a child, sometimes."
"Ah, we all can't be mature all the time!" You said with a grin, glancing over your shoulder to meet his gaze as you continued to pull. "I'm not as boring and predicable as you!"
Shae raised a brow high; he looked surprised, "Predicable? I am really predicable?"
You laughed. "The most predicable man I've ever known!"
Shae's smile faded as he quickly yelled, "Kira, watch out!"
You skidded to a halt and whirled around to face forward, wondering what Shae had warned you about. Only, before you had a moment to process the figure in front of you, you were knocked backwards.
You, having never even had the most remote sense of balance, fell flat onto your back, hitting the concrete that had been once beneath your feet hard. You blacked out, only for a moment, seeing as the back of your head slammed pretty roughly with the man-made ground. You blinked, once, twice, three times, maybe? You couldn't recall correctly. After all, one minute you were standing and looking at Shae, and the next you flat on your back nearly spread eagle, staring into a pair of deep emerald eyes.
"Dolly, Are you alright?" Gene Harbore asked you quietly, his messy hair falling in his face, "I'm so sorry!" He almost looked ashamed, "How very clumsy of me."
"Who did you knock over this time?" a eerily familiar, rough, female voice called, "Gene Harbore! I swear I'm going to kick your ass so hard... OHMYGODIT'SKIRA!"
Suddenly, a pudgy face obscured your vision as Gene was roughly pushed away from you. "Oh dear lord! It really is you!" Foal proceeded to basically jump on you, crying words of happiness to your chest. Suddenly, she looked up, a very, very angry look on her face.
"Where the hell have you been!?"
Oh. Crap.
"I-was-am-with-" you managed choke, blinking a few more times. She wasn't really there, was she? It was all just a dream. This whole thing was just one big horrible-
"Excuse me, miss, but that is my fiance that you are on top of," Shae's deep tone growled dangerously from somewhere above you, "And why do you speak to her so disrespectfully? I am sure you do not know..."
"Fiance?" Foal asked with a child-like innocence, eyeing you, then Shae, then you again, "But what about sugar muffin?"
Sugar... muffin...?
"It's nice to see you, Foal," you said with a slight smile, "Now, would you mind terribly just getting up for one sec? Just so I can try and get the feeling back in my legs?"
Foal huffed, crinkling her nose, "You and I need to have a nice, LONG talk, missy." She got up quickly, dusting off the bright yellow and orange, two-piece, female suit she wore. Shae helped you to your feet, only to pull you into his arms protectively, asking in a jumble of words if you were all right and if you needed anything.
"No, no, this isn't right," you heard Foal mutter quietly to the air, "Not right at all."
It was Gene who broke the awkwardness.
"How have you been, Dolly?" he asked, closing his emerald eyes happily as he folded his arms behind his back. You smiled, pulling away from Shae.
"Really well, actually," you told him, "It's been so long! Too long!"
"Yes it has!" Foal grinned, running forward and enveloping you in her pudgy arms. For one reason or another, it seemed as though she had forgotten everything that had just happened.
After releasing you, Foal put her hands on her hips and shook them, "And who is this strapping young lad you're with?" She turned to face Shae.
"Foal, Gene," you nodded to each of them before lapsing onto Shae's arm, "This is my fiance, Shae Dawson."
A pause.
"It is... very nice to meet you?" Shae muttered in more of a questionable tone than a greeting.
"Shae, this is Gene Harbore and Foal Daisy (her maiden name). I told you about them, remember?"
Actually you had never told Shae anything of Central. So when he stood there half-dazed, mouth opened, you nudged him hard in the ribs, "Remember?" you asked in an almost singsong tone.
"O-oh! Of course. How careless of me to forget!" Shae said with an uneasy waver to his tone, scratching the back of his neck, "It is so nice to meet you two. I have heard many stories about you."
"He's a cute one, Kir'," Foal said with a smile, nudging you with her elbow, "He's a keeper. You picked a good one."
But, it was her eyes that gave her approval away.
"So what are you two doing here in Central?" Foal asked, turning again to face you.
'Ask him.' you mentally screamed.
"I have an upcoming concert," Shae explained after you didn't answer, "It's tonight actually. Kira wanted to join me. Right, darling?"
You noticed that Foal nearly pounced on Shae when he called you darling.
"Of course," you said in a soothing tone, eyeing Foal wearingly. She looked like she was going to strike at any moment.
"Oh, are you staying in a hotel for the night?" Gene asked, and seeing Foal's reaction came up besides her and linked arms with her.
"Yes," Shae said with a quaint grin, "It is actually only moments until check-in time." Shae looked down at you. You sighed.
"Yeah, so we better get going," you told the couple. "It was so good seeing you again though!"
"You too, dearest," Foal spoke quietly but her tone was screaming, "I'M GOIN' KEEL YOU!"
"It was nice meeting you, Shae," Gene said, steering Foal away from you two. "Goodbye Dolly!"
"Bye," you managed you choke, wiggling your fingers in the couples general direction.
"Those are some strange friends you have, Kira," Shae spoke with a sigh, "How come you did not tell me you had lived in Central?"
'Because I really don't want to think about it.'
"Come on, let's go to the hotel," you sang happily, pulling Shae in the direction of the hotel you thought maybe he had booked a room in. "What's in the past is in the past."
'And it better sure as hell stay there.'
That really was a dramatic beginning wasn't it?
Yum. Sugar Muffin. *Drools*
THIS CAN'T BE THE LAST CHAPTER! O M G! [Me: I'm actually kind of happy about it. ^^] *Throws daggers of hatred and pain at author* YOU SHALL NOT LIVE TO SEE ANOTHER DAY!
I'm so totally awesome so I'm going to click here.
"Are you sure you do not feel well enough to come, Kira?" Shae asked as he pulled a long over-coat over his suit, adjusting the collar as he turned to you. You nodded quickly from your place on the king-sized bed you and Shae were to share that night, resting your hands on your stomach.
"It's one of those phantom sickness'," you explained, "The kind that come and go? Yeah, that's it."
Shae looked skeptical, "Really?"
"Yup!" you said with a fake smile, "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."
Crossing the room quickly, Shae leaned over the bed and kissed you softly on the lips. You returned the kiss (don't give me that look) weakly, showing him that you really just weren't feeling well.
"I will see you when I get back, okay?" Shae asked, pulling away and running a hand through your hair. You nodded quickly, just as you had earlier, and grinned a childish grin.
"Yeaup!"
He kissed your forehead, "Have a good night."
"Good luck at your show!"
Shae threw you a short wave from the door as he exited. You returned it, willing him from the room with your mind.
You adored the man, really, but he was one for melodramatic leavings. And right at this moment, you wanted nothing more than to be simply alone.
The minute the lock on the door clicked you fell back into the fluffy pillows the hotel had provided and let out a groan. Not of anger, or anguish, but of annoyance. You weren't annoyed with Shae, or the crappy hotel service, or anything of the kind, you were annoyed with yourself and those stupid words that were dancing along the inside of your skull.
"But what about sugar muffin?"
"What about the bastard?" you mocked in a singsong tone, making faces at the pasty white blanket that lay across your lap. "What? Is he even more bastardtastic than before?"
It only took a moment for you to come up with an answer. Yeah, probably.
Suddenly there was a loud knock at the door.
'Is it Shae?' you thought silently as you pulled yourself slowly from the bed, your brows furrowed in thought. 'No, Shae wouldn't knock he'd just come in. So, who the hell could it be?'
Another knock, louder, seemingly more urgent...
"I'm comin', I'm comin'," you mumbled, pulling at the bottom of your shirt, highly suspicious of beings behind the-
"Military, open up!" boomed a loud voice, rapping the door so quickly with a fist that it shook on its hinges. "Or we will be forced to take more physical action!"
You felt your heart stop. Again.
The Military? What the hell did the Military want?
'Damn-it', you thought quickly, 'Why the hell can't anyone just leave me alone?'
Although, the invasion of your solitude wasn't the only thing that made the already made the thrumming beat of your heart increase. It was the uneasiness of knowing there wasn't only one Military Officer waiting outside.
Knowing that, that other officer just may be someone from the past.
"I mean it! We're giving you to the count of three..."
"One."
Shit!
"Two."
Double Shit!
"Thr-"
You jumped towards the door and opened it quickly, a lazy grin on your face. "Hello, Officers."
Two men, both with dark-hair, looked down at you suspiciously.
"You Kira Blackwood?" asked the man to the right. (You didn't recognize him, thank god.)
You sucked in your breath quickly, "Yes."
It was time for the other man to speak. "You've been summoned to Headquarters." His sea-glass colored eyes flitted over you for a moment, "You have five minutes to change before we escort you... unless of course," he half-grinned, "You'd like to leave in such minimal attire."
You glanced down only to realize you weren't wearing anymore than a low-cut tank top and shorts. A blush instantly warmed over your cheeks, as you suddenly felt vulnerable. (After all, you did have two men twice your size eye-bobbling you.)
"M-may I ask why I need to go to H-Headquarters?" You asked quietly, pulling your arms around yourself.
"That's top secret information, Ma'am," said the other Officer with lesser colored eyes, "We don't even know to why."
Oh 'cause that's comforting.
"Fine," you grumbled in a sigh, "I'll be out in a minute." What choice did you have?
"Do hurry, Miss," said the green-eyed man; "We've been told to get you to Headquarters as quickly as possible."
"Really?" You asked through clenched teeth, closing the door, not really believing any of this was happening.
"Really," both Officers managed to mumble before you let out a loud scream of pure and utter frustration.
This was so not your day.

---

"You don't have to carry me!"
"You wouldn't leave the car otherwise!" bellowed the suddenly high-pitched voice of the Officer with sea-glass eyes.
"This is har-ass-ment!" you screamed, feeling like you wanted to be sick. Stupid overly broad, shoulder-bone, in abdomen...
"I think we need some duck tape," growled the other Officer Jenkins, he had introduced himself as.
"I think you need to take me back to my hotel," you whined. You see it was when you were in the car on the way to Headquarters that the reality of the situation had hit you. Hit you extremelyhard.
"Can't do that," Jenkins said with a sigh, scratching the back of his neck with a meaty hand, "Strict orders from H-"
"We're not supposed to tell her anything!" scolded the other Officer repositioning you on his shoulder almost making you heave up the partly digested contents of your stomach. "The orders were very clear about that."
"No, really, tell me," you urged, woozy.
"Nope." And that was that.
The rest of the way up to the front doors of Headquarters was silent. You chose not to think about anything or anticipate whoever may be inside after hours. You wanted this whole thing to be over so you could return to Ellis and just forget about everything and everyone here. It just made things easier... less painful.
Talking about painful...
"Could you put me down now?" you asked in a small voice, sighing. The Officer grunted.
"Only if you don't try and run away," he answered, obviously uncomfortable with the whole arrangement. Plus, it wasn't like you weighted twenty pounds or something!
"I won't," you said happily - forcing the higher tone to your voice. "Cross my heart."
The Officer nearly dropped you when he settled you onto the ground, you nearly lost your balance but each guard came to one side of you, taking your upper-arm harshly into their fists. They squeezed, hard.
"You're hurting me, ya know," you hissed through clenched teeth as Jenkins opened one of the two, glass doors that led into the main building of Headquarters. The Officers seemed to be at their wits end, seeing as they didn't answer with words but rather by pulling you brutally into the building, their breaths heavy.
"Just so you don't run away," spoke Jenkins, glancing down at you for only a moment, his black eyes hard.
"We don't get paid enough for this shit," grumbled the sea-glass eyed man, loosening his hold on your arm just a little bit, while Jenkins kept his grip the same. You were led down a few random hallways, hallways you almost remembered. The memories of walking down these corridors with Hawkeye and Havoc quickly surfaced your mind and you couldn't help but grin just a little bit...
Suddenly you were jerked to a halt in front a closed door to the left of the hallway. You stood there puzzled, taken back. Was this were whoever wanted you was? Was this-
"She's here," announced Jenkins, tapping the bottom of the door lightly with a boot. You shifted your weight, inhaling deeply as the same door slowly crept open.
When the person behind the door emerged your eyes widened. Although shock soon melted to anger...
"YOU!" you barked, desperately wishing to point in his face. "YOU! YOU'RE THE REASON FOR ALL OF THIS?"
An older Havoc gave you a lazy grin while leaning against the doorway, cigarette daggling from his lips, "I'm an accomplice." He motioned to the bulky Military men. "Let her go."
"Are you sure about that?" asked Jenkins, eyeing down at you. "She might attack you."
Havoc's grin widened, "If only she would."
You growled low in your throat. "Pervert."
The officers released you after another moment's hesitation. You immediately took to the task of massaging your certainly bruised upper arms. Your gaze leveled to Havoc's for a moment before you pounced on him. Quite literally.
"I'VE MISSED YOU!" You cried, hugging Havoc around the middle. He seemed surprised, but happy.
"You're moody, aren't you?" he asked almost laughing, gently pulling an arm around. (Internally trying to ignore the manliness within.)
"It's called acting," you said with a smile, pulling away after the non-awkward five-seconds were up. "But how did you know I was here? The only people who know-"
"KIRA, DARLING!" yelled Foal's voice as she pushed past Havoc, nearly knocking his beloved cigarette from his mouth. "So nice to see you again..."
"You did this?" you asked quietly, turning your accusation from Havoc and to the heavy-set, middle-aged woman, "Why the hell would you-"
"Oh darling, shut up will you?" Foal said with a small smile, "We wouldn't want anyone in particular to hear you. It's a surprise after all!"
"What's a surprise?" you asked, all too skeptical of the whole situation.
"You look great! Go get 'em tiger!" Foal grinned, basically shoving you into the room only to slam the door behind you. You grumbled, picking yourself up off the floor only to come face to face with someone you hadn't seen in quite a few years.
Someone you thought you'd never see again.
And boy, had things changed...
Who's different? WHO I COMMAND TO KNOW!
Mehh... don't care. *Clicks*
OH! OH! I KNOW WHO IT IS! IT'S...PIE!!! *Giggles* Me: 0.o *Grins uneasily* 'Kay. Believe what you wish.
You blinked.
"Someone's extremely pregnant," you said with a smile, eyeing Hawkeye's swollen belly.
"Kira!" Riza Hawkeye laughed from her place at the small desk that sat on the opposite side of the room, in one of those big, comfy looking chairs. She positively glowing - probably from the pregnancy - and long, blond hair fell over her shoulders. She was more beautiful than you remembered.
"What are you doing here?"
"I'd like to know myself," you said with a smug grin, walking over to the blond and hugging her lightly around the shoulders. She stiffened against you, inhaling sharply. You pulled away quickly, as though you had somehow caused her harm.
"She's kicking me again." Riza spoke in a softly apologetic strained tone, glancing up through half-lidded eyes.
"She's?" you asked, grinning just a little bit wider. Riza Junior. How... dangerous...
One gun happy female was enough...
"Roy's convinced it's a girl," Riza explained, motioning for you to sit in the chair next to her. "Whether he's right or not will be decided soon!"
"So Mustang's still around, eh?" you asked, uneasiness wavering in your tone as you slowly sat down next to the blond.
"Of course he is," Riza said in a matter-of-fact tone. "It's not like he'd get up in leave his team! He cares about all of us, in his own little way..."
A pang of jealously hit you. If he's so kind to themthen why was he a jerk-off to me?
"So," you asked after a moment of silence had passed between you, "Who's..." you licked your lips was this really any of your information? "Well, you know..." you pointed your chin at Riza's stomach.
"I'm married, Kira," Hawkeye laughed again, showing you her left hand, pointing at the simple golden band that flattered her ring finger. "To Havoc, actually."
You bit back a laugh that would end all laughs.
Oh the irony.
The discussion deepened between you two; you talked about what had happened in both your lives since the last time you talked. Riza had inquired to why you had left Central and dropped from the military, and you lied through your teeth with bullshit about "wanting-to-find-yourself" and needing to "look-for-something-more". She seemed to buy it, kinda...
Though you didn't really notice it at the time, Riza had been eyeing the diamond, engagement ring that flattered your own ring finger. And after you were pretty much finished with catching up, she asked in a ghostly quiet tone, "You're engaged?"
Her gaze flickered towards the right, to the door.
The question caught off guard at first. Mostly because of the tone of her voice...
She seemed upset and looked almost disappointed. You could sense it, even though her eyes weren't on you, you could see her disapproval. You tucked a piece of hair behind your ear bashfully and sighed. "Yeah," you said with a small smile. "Yeah, I am."
"Riza? What's going on-" a deep voice that sent your heart leaping into your throat said in almost a ragged tone, suddenly short-stopping mid-sentence. You glanced over quickly, nearly giving yourself whiplash to meet a wide-eyed ebony gaze hued with sapphire. However, it was only one gorgeously colored eye you saw, the other was obscured by a heavy looking piece of fabric.
An eye-patch of sorts...
You wanted to comment on how much this man looked like a flippin' pirate, but couldn't find your voice. You couldn't even find the will to breathe. After all, after all these years you truly had forgotten how simply breathtaking Roy Mustang really was.
OHMYGOD. It's Roy. HELL YES!
I have a feeling things are about to get a little more complicated... Me: A LITTLE... ha. That's an understatement.
Meep. *Jets to results*
As always, continued in the results. ^_^


"I should go," Riza said suddenly, carefully standing on her swollen feet - one of the "perks", she had explained, to being eight months pregnant. "Let you two," her gaze flickered between you and your old flame, "Catch up."
She exited the room in a hurry, closing the door softly behind her, leaving you and the infamous Roy Mustang together. Alone. In the same room. With no windows you could escape from.
This was hell.
It was like facing your past head-on. Facing every good memory, every bad memory, reliving every single hurtful word he had said after you had told him those three, idiotic words, the words that had made you so vulnerable to him. The words that had ultimately destroyed you...
And it was the feelings that had made you want to speak them in the first place that came rushing back at you, making your fingers and toes tingle, and your mind reeling. But, you swallowed down everything you felt, you were engaged. It was Shae you loved. Not that bastard. No, not that bastard. Not anymore...
"Whose idea was this?" Roy asked in a cold tone, after a long moment of silence span between the two of you. "If it was Havoc's I'll personally fire his ass. Literally."
"I don't know," you spoke softly, crossing your arms in front of your chest and looking down at your lap. "It was probably Foal, being the nosy woman she is."
He half-laughed, half-breathed.
"We never could get a damn thing past her, could we?" Roy asked in an oddly amused tone.
"No," you answered, half-smiling, "We never could."
Another silence. Another awkward tension in the air... however, it wasn't nearly as awkward as you had always thought it would be if you had ever been forced to see him again. Though the emotional pain you felt throbbed unmercifully in your chest, you managed to keep yourself composed and promised yourself you'd be at least slightly polite to the Flame Alchemist... after all, letting him know how truly upset you still were with him would only show that you did love him.
And that something you wouldn't admit to anyone, or anything. You loved Shae. You loved Shae.
"So why are you back?" Roy asked quietly, taking the seat that Riza had left vacant. "I see you've cut your hair too."
You blushed, bringing up a hand to twirl a piece of shoulder-length, black hair around your finger, almost ashamed with it.
"Don't be embarrassed," Roy spoke in a sly tone, "I think it suits you. Even more than when it was long. It brings out your face a lot more."
Nope, the flirting bastard never changed, did he?
"I'm here, with my fiance, Shae," you explained, sighing, refusing to level your gaze to his, "He has - or had, depending on the time - a show tonight that I supposed to accompany him too. But, after running into Foal and Gene this morning, I just couldn't." You shook your head, "I made it point never to come back here. It was only by stupid chance that I came here without fully knowing."
"You're engaged?" Roy's voice was deathly still.
"Yeah," you spoke with the same small grin you had used earlier. "I am, actually. Hard to believe, right? I actually got a boyfriend!" you laughed lightly before your voice softened, "A permanent one at that."
"So," Roys' words were sudden, "I really screwed up, didn't I?"
You closed your eyes slowly.
"Please, let's not talk about it."
"We need to talk about it," Roy said, his voice was closer now, right at your ear. You refused to acknowledge his closeness mentally, despite the goosebumps that fully rose on your skin.
"No, we really don't," you grumbled, "It's just going to make me mad, and you'll get mad and we'll end up beating the shit out of each other."
"Or end up saying something stupid, again," you added quietly when Roy didn't speak.
"I'm so sorry, Kira," the way he spoke your name sent your heart into a beating frenzy, flipping and turning inside of you, fluttering the way it had when you were only in your early twenties... "I honestly did not mean anything I said..."
"You know what?" you asked, making a face as you looked up to find your nose only inches from the Flame Alchemists', "I don't care."
He narrowed his eye, "Well, I don't care if you don't care. I'm going to tell you, and you're going to listen."
"Still a thick-headed idiot, huh?" you asked, pushing the man away from you with your hands and standing. "I'm leaving!"
"No, you're not." Roy spoke dangerously monotone, grabbing the same arms that him pushed him away so roughly - your arms namely - by the wrist. You struggled, feeling a surge of energy, which most certainly could be compared to that of Alchemy, coarse through your body.
You struggled, huffing.
"Let me go!"
"No." Roys voice was final.
You struggled some more, cursing under your breath. However, it only hitched when Roy's fingers tightened around your skin.
"What the hell, Mustang!?" you asked through clenched teeth, "Do you take pride in causing me pain?" His eye widened, "Or is a male ego thing?"
"Maybe if you'd stop being such a immature child and took the time to listen to me like a reasonable adult would, I wouldn't have to force you to stay." Roy growled.
"I'm not immature, I just don't want to see your ugly face!"
Roy raised a brow. You had proven him right.
You tried to pull away, "SHUT UP!"
"No. I. Won't."
Suddenly, Roy pulled you to him. You fell forward a few steps, landing just against him.
"I somebody different that night," Roy whispered urgently to your ear, his hold around your wrists tightening. "Something horrible in me took over. But honestly Kira, how could love someone like me? Love someone you didn't know fully-"
"It doesn't matter. It shouldn't matter." You grumbled to his shoulder, feeling like you could cry, "Love isn't something that needs to based on stuff like that. I knew you. I spent a year, a year with you, Mustang. It's not like we were strangers..."
You fought the urge to rest your cheek on the soft fabric of his jacket. "But it doesn't matter anymore. I'm engaged. I'm going to marry Shae." You inhaled deeply, feeling tears threaten to fall from your eyes, "There isn't room for you in my life, Mustang. Not anymore."
Every word, every single word killed you. Because, well... because it was the truth.
The hard, cold truth.
Roy shivered, you felt his body convulse against yours ever so slightly. At the same time, his grip loosened on your wrists, and he let go completely after a few moments. You stepped away, looking down, unable to meet his gaze. You didn't why you couldn't. You didn't know why it felt as though your heart had been pulled from your chest.
You didn't know why you wanted hold him so badly.
You turned, shaking your head. This was madness. "Just say bye," your superego - the Angel - urged, "Just say goodbye to him."
"Kiss him," Id - the devil inside - whispered at the same time. "You love Roy, not Shae."
You, the ego, the person in the middle of the superego and id, fought within yourself... fought your desire and what you knew was right. What you knew would cause less pain...
You walked forward, and placed a hand on the doorknob and started to turn...
"Kira," Roys voice pleaded from behind you, "Kira..." he couldn't say anymore, but it was enough to make you pause.
"Good-bye, Mustang," you whispered, regaining your strength, turning the knob and opening the door, only to have Havoc, Riza, and Foal fall into the room in one big heap.
You stepped over them, careful not to kill anyone, and made your way out the door, and down the same hallway you had used earlier, following the twists and turns until you were outside. And it was as soon as that warm, summer air hit your face that you started to cry.
The tears blurred your vision as you made your way from Headquarters and down the street to the left. You didn't care about where exactly you were going, or any of that. All you knew is that you had to get as far away from that place as you possibly could. Back to Ellis...
Even if it involved you walking there...
You didn't far down the street, though, seeing as something dark, and short in stature suddenly appeared in front of you on the walkway. You stopped, abruptly; wiping you wet eyes with the back of your hand you squinted, to get a better look at the figure that had just so suddenly appeared.
You fell back a few steps, immediately recognizing the body as soon as your vision had fully cleared.
"Brother," you whispered, bringing a hand to your mouth, "What have you done?"

Sometimes, the past just can't stay where it's supposed to.