Author's note: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or its characters. Part of this story was previously posted as a part of So Kiss Me. This is AU and set during World War Two. Happy Royai Day!

Close Quarters

Riza adjusted her skirt and pulled her jacket closer to her. She hadn't realized that it would so cold and rainy here. Riza might have been born in England, but it had been years since she had been here. Checking the piece of paper in her hand once again, she frowned and kept walking. If the information she had been given was correct, the building should be just down the street. She hoped it was right. If it wasn't, she wasn't sure what to try next. She hadn't realized how hard it would be to get in touch with someone in the military.

She had arrived in England only last week. It had taken her nearly a year, but she had finally managed to escape Germany. Riza had stayed as long as she dared, but she had the sinking feeling that she had definitely been under suspicion when she had left. In a way that made sense, she had been the most active and successful operative for the underground in her area. Someone must have noticed something. At least she had managed to get out alive. That was more than she could say for a number of people she knew.

It felt a little foolish to be right here though. Riza had arrived in England planning on finding one Captain Roy Mustang. It had been a year since she had seen him last, but he had left a strong impression on her. She had started by going to the posting that was engraved on the pocket watch he had pressed upon her just before he had left. However, after getting quite the run around, she had learned that he had been transferred to another post. Tracking down which post had taken nearly four days. And now that she was actually here, Riza was unaccountably nervous.

Standing before the imposing brick building, Riza hesitated. Did she really want to go through with this? She could always locate her grandfather and wait to contact Roy until she was settled in England. Besides, she was assuming that he both remembered her and felt something for her. Yes, she felt a strong connection to the man, but that didn't mean that he felt the same way. He might have wanted to put the whole experience behind him once he got back to England.

Shaking her head to clear it, Riza squared her shoulders. She had said she was going to do this, and she was going to. If Roy Mustang didn't remember her, at least then she would know. She would feel worse if she let this opportunity pass her by and then never really had the chance to see him again. She briskly walked into the building before she could talk herself out of doing this. After consulting the man at the front desk, she made her way up to the fifth floor. Taking a deep breath, Riza walked into the second office on the right.

A teenager in an Auxiliary Territorial Services uniform looked up from her desk. "Can I help you, ma'am?"

"I'm looking for Roy Mustang."

The girl frowned. "He's out to lunch, ma'am, but I rather doubt he'll see you. He doesn't see most of the women who come in wanting to see him."

"He'll see me." Her voice was more confident than she was.

The girl sighed. "You can sit down and wait then. There's a coat rack if you want to hang up your jacket."

It wasn't a particularly warm welcome, but Riza would take what she could get. She hung up her jacket and took a seat in one of the chairs that was in the main office area. Riza knew how she looked. She was on the thin side, and her ivory blouse and blue skirt were faded and worn though neat and clean. Her long blond hair was pulled back in a neat braid; it had gotten too long to easily pin up. Her eyes were a little bit haunted. But then that was true of just about anyone who had been in Germany lately. With nothing else to do, Riza found herself drawing the silver pocket watch out of her pocket and running hr fingers over it.

She didn't know how long she waited. Riza never opened the watch, just held it in her hands, running her fingers over its surface. The office door finally opened, and two laughing men walked inside. The one blocked her view of the other. He was tall with mess dark hair and a pair of wire rimmed glasses.

"Captain Hughes, Captain Mustang." The girl greeted them. "Captain Mustang, there's a woman who insists you'll see her."

Her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest. There was a sigh, and Roy peered around Captain Hughes. His eyes went the wide, and the next thing Riza knew she was held tight in his arms. Roy buried his face in her hair.

"You're safe. Oh thank god. You're here."

It wasn't very coherent, but Riza couldn't blame him. She was having trouble putting together a coherent sentence herself. He pulled away only to kiss her and then hugged her tight again. When he finally let go, he kept an arm around her waist as he turned to the other man.

"Maes, this is Riza Hawkeye. I know I've mentioned her before."

"Mentioned? That's one word for it." Maes laughed then smiled at her. "Thank you for saving Roy. He may be a pain at times, but I'd rather not have to break in a new best friend."

Riza blushed and ducked her head. "It wasn't just me."

"Maybe not, but he would have been in real trouble if you hadn't found him."

She hadn't realized they had been moving until Maes shut a door behind them. The three of them were now in a smaller and much messier office. Roy offered her one of the two chairs in the room.

"Would you like a cup of tea or something?"

"Tea would be lovely."

Maes made small talk with her while Roy fixed the tea.

"How long have you been in England?"

"I just arrived last week. I haven't done much besides get my papers in order. Thankfully, my passport lists me as a British citizen, and my father never bothered to make sure I became a German citizen."

"Have you had any problems?"

"Not since arriving here," Riza smiled. "There were a few close calls when I was getting out of German territory but thankfully no real problems."

"Would you like sugar or milk?"

"Just sugar please." Riza took the cup offered to her.

Roy hovered beside her. Maes looked between the two of them.

"I'm going to get back to work, Roy. Let me know if you need help with anything."

Roy nodded, and then the two of them were left on their own.

"You've been well? Nothing happened to you after I left?"

Riza shook her head. "No, things were fine. It wasn't until several months later that I started arousing suspicion. There were a string of Jewish children that came through my town. I guess we took on a few too many since someone noticed something odd was going on. I stayed long enough to make sure everyone else in my local network got away safely before leaving."

Roy sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I was worried about you. I mean, I know you can take care of yourself. That much was obvious, but I worried that I had brought too much attention to you."

Riza shook her head again. "You've been well then? You had no trouble getting back here?"

"Your people were very good," he smiled. "They had no problems getting me out. The biggest hassle really was making my report. Who knew that getting shot down behind enemy lines created so much paperwork?"

She laughed. He continued talking.

"I let your grandfather know that you were all right. He was glad to hear it. He was reassigned as well, but I have his home address in Wales if you want it."

"Thank you. I appreciate it."

Roy reached out to touch her cheek. "I'm glad you came and found me. I missed you."

"You barely know me." Her voice was soft.

"I know you enough to fall in love with you." He met her eyes.

Riza was almost taken aback by the emotion in them. Almost, because she was pretty sure her own eyes reflected the same emotion. She reached out to take his hand in her own.

"I love you too."

Roy bent down to kiss her. "Good."

They sat in silence for several moments, just being with one another. Riza would admit to dreaming of him frequently over the past year. To actually be here with him, to actually know that he felt the same way, felt something like a dream itself. She was half afraid that she was going to wake up alone in her house in Germany. Except, no dream could match this. Not really.

Roy ran his hand through his hair again. "Do you have a place to stay yet?"

"I have a room at a hotel." Riza smiled. "I haven't really had a chance to find a permanent place yet or even a job. I should probably contact my grandfather as well to let him know that I made it here safely."

Roy nodded. "Actually, I might know of a place you can stay. Maes' girlfriend is looking for a new roommate. She's a nurse at one of the military hospitals, and her last roommate left for home recently to take care of her parents. Gracia wasn't really looking forward to hunting for a new roommate, so she'd probably be for the idea. If you want to write him a note, I can probably get it sent to your grandfather pretty quickly. The military postal system is actually quite good."

They talked and planned a little longer. Riza had plenty of things on her plate in order to get set up here in England. She might be safe now, but the war wasn't over yet, and there was still quite a bit of work to be done. Just because she was here now didn't mean she was going to stop doing what she could to fight the Nazis. Someone had to stop them, and Riza couldn't leave that completely to chance. Still the idea of working against them here where she wasn't constantly afraid for her life was nice. And the idea of being able to see Roy on a regular basis was also rather nice.

She was reluctant to leave, but Roy probably did have work to do, and Riza herself had things that needed to get done. Roy seemed just as reluctant to have her leave. Finally, he sighed.

"I'll talk to Maes about Gracia's apartment. I can probably have an answer for you about that tomorrow."

"Good." Riza nodded and held out the short note that she had composed. "If you could get that to my grandfather, I would appreciate it."

"Not a problem." He smiled and tucked the note into his pocket. "Where are you staying? I can call a taxi for you if you'd like."

"That's all right. It's not too far from here." Riza jotted down the name of her hotel and her room number for him. "I guess I should go then."

"Do you have to?" Roy pouted.

It made her laugh. "Yes. I'm sure you have work to do."

"I'd rather spend time with you." He sighed. "Can I take you to dinner tonight then?"

"I'd like that."

Roy pulled her close and kissed her. He held her tight.

"Thank you for coming back to me. I really would have gone to Germany and torn apart the countryside to find you. I've been so worried about you, Riza." Roy voice was soft.

He kissed her again. Riza sighed softly. She really didn't want to leave the comfort of his arms. It was something she missed almost immediately when he let go of her. Roy walked her out to the main office and helped her with her jacket before insisting on walking her out to the front door. He kissed her again in front of the building, clearly reluctant to let her go.

"I'll see you tonight?"

"Yes." Riza smiled and kissed his cheek. "I'll be waiting."

She headed back to her hotel room with a spring in her step that had not been there when she had left earlier today. Riza had had her doubts about returning to England. She remembered the place from her childhood, but she had been uncertain if it really was the right place for her. She hadn't known what sort of reception she would be coming to or even what she was going to now that she was here. But if anything had become clear in the last hour or so, Riza knew that England was home if only because Roy was here. It seemed a little odd that someone she had known for only a few short days had made himself integral to her sense of home, but it was true. Roy was home, and she had found it.