A/N: Hello there! I'm Cassie Studios and this is my fic. I hope you will like it as much as I enjoy writing it. The idea hit me several days ago and I couldn't resist. Tell me what you think after reading it.
On with the story!
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Riza Hawkeye was a strong woman.
Ever since she joined the military, she has always been such. And she kept being strong because of a certain promise. The promise that she made to herself. The promise to protect someone.
This someone was no other that colonel Roy Mustang. He used to be her father's apprentice when they were both young. She had admired him at that time. And it hadn't been only for his well-built body and handsome face. It had been also related with his devotion to alchemy, his hard studying (she had watched him sometimes, when no one could see her), and finally, his ambitions. Oh yes, he was an ambitious man.
Just before the Ishbal war started she had joined the military. She decided that she needed to be as strong as him. And then they met. She actually saved his life, shooting down the man who dared to raise his hand on the young major. At that time she finally decided, that she would devote her life to him. Namely: to protect him (because apparently he was unable to do this himself) and to help him reach his goals, those ambitious goals that she had always admired.
She became his lieutenant, his aide, thus being able to be always by his side. But there also appeared one more thing, apart from admiration and protection. Slowly, step by step, she developed some feelings for her superior. She didn't show them to anyone, still they were there, very strong, and then again, very painful. The reason for this was as follows: this man apparently saw in her nothing more than a subordinate. An extremely loyal, helpful, credentialed and important one, but only a subordinate nonetheless. Her heart ached, because she wanted him to return her feelings so badly. He never did. She was patient, for patience is a great virtue and always brings fruits… but it seemed that not this time. She knew she meant to him more than her co-workers, but it still wasn't what she desired. Truth to be said, her love for him wasn't the only thing she had in mind, of course not. But sometimes, when she spent lonely evenings at home, her thoughts wandered around a certain man in a military uniform… She felt horrible at such times, because an unreciprocated love is what hurts the most.
After really long time of dwelling in this sorrow she finally came up with a solution. It wasn't probably the best one, but it could do for the time being. Perhaps even much, much longer.
She decided to completely shut down her feelings.
It sounded scary, but it wasn't really any big deal. This just meant that she would have to fight the love, which distressed her so much. It was a convenient way of coping with the situation. It wasn't easy, though. She had problems initially, while the feeling was solid and strong, but after some time…
She finally succeeded.
Needless to say, she couldn't get it over with completely. But she could do this to a satisfactory extent, so that it would be much easier to think about all this and to put up with it. And of course, she couldn't allow herself to get into any other relationship. Partly because of the weakened yet present feelings for the colonel, and partly to prevent any other, so to say, distractions.
Her life became so peaceful and calm that she couldn't believe it was possible. And truth to be said, this was what she had been looking for. Now when she was isolated from the world of feelings, she could observe others nad laugh in her heart at their helplessness. Havoc, for example, who had constant problems with girls, was such a funny poor thing. She smirked shamelessly every time he got turned down.
She was very happy with her life. So happy that she managed to live like this for several months now. She was relieved: she smiled more frequently and didn't take the world so seriously.
But there was someone who had been watching her all the time and wasn't quite happy with the current situation.
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Riza fed Black Hayate and went to bed. She was tired and wanted to sleep so badly that she would even fall asleep in the middle of a battlefield if she suddenly happened to be there at that time.
But at that night she wasn't to be granted peaceful sleep.
Her heavy eyelids closed, and she fell asleep almost instantly. But instead of dreaming about something nice and peaceful, like cleaning her gun, she was unexpectedly faced with a red-haired woman.
Well, she wasn't actually red-haired. Her hair had a color of a chestnut, combined with some fiery shades here and there. She was dressed in a white robe, kind of a one that women used to have in ancient Greece. "She's strange", Riza thought in her sleep.
The woman looked at her in an oddly friendly way.
"Hello", she said.
Riza quirked an eyebrow, but she answered:
"Hello". And then she thought: "This is the weirdest dream I've ever had. Who the hell is she?"
"I assume that you would like to know who I am", guessed the woman.
"Well, yes".
"I'm Love".
"Oh, nice to… Huh??? What?"
„Love", repeated the woman. "My name is Love".
"… Oh well, as you wish. Nevermind. My name is Riza", she said, shrugging.
"I know".
"You do? How?", questioned Riza, sort of taken aback with this statement.
"Well, being Love… I know really much", smirked the woman.
Riza started getting annoyed. She frowned.
"Could you explain this to me?", she asked bluntly.
The smirk on the woman's lips grew wider.
"Of course I can. But I've already told you everything. I am Love. You know what love is, don't you".
"The hell I know…", thought Riza. But she said aloud: "Obviously I do. But it's still unclear to me. How could you possibly be love? I mean, love is a feeling, not a person".
"You have a point", conceded the woman. "But understand: I'm not the love itself, I'm it's goddess. You know, people fall in love, they break up, they have crushes on somebody… That's all my doing", she grinned with raised eyebrows. She seemed to be very proud of herself.
Riza looked at her for a moment with a blank expression.
"You're crazy", she stated casually after a while.
"No I'm not. How do you think I would be able to get into your dream and talk with you if I wasn't who I say I am?", Love pointed out.
Riza considered this for a moment. It could be just her freaked imagination… But then again, she's never had such a realistic dream. Maybe the woman wasn't lying… But if that was the case, Riza would immediately grant it an Absolute Stupidity Award. She couldn't believe such a idiotic thing could ever happen. She was talking to Love in her sleep. But while her logic struggled, her mind had already confirmed the facts.
Riza sighed.
"So what would you want from me then?", she asked with a tired voice.
"Finally we get to the point", Love smiled. "I wanted to talk to you about your feelings".
"What's wrong with them?"
"Nothing. Nothing can be wrong if it doesn't exist".
"You have a point there".
"Why? Why have you done this to yourself? Don't you see that it would eventually destroy you?"
"My life is very convenient and comfortable now", Riza snapped and crossed her arms.
"What about Roy? How long are you going to pretend to not have any feelings for him?"
Riza winced when his name was mentioned, but she quickly regained her composure.
"As long as I want to. What do you want me to do? To go back to my previous life, even though it wasn't more happy than it is now? I managed to surpress… you…? Whatever. The point is, I'm not cutting it out. And you can't force me to, 'cause I've already proved to be stronger than you. So be nice, leave me alone now and let me have my peaceful dreams".
Love had a competitive smile on her face.
"You think you're stronger than me?", she asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"Isn't it obvious? I think you came because you want me to love passionately again and you couldn't achieve it in any other way."
"How about a bet then?", said Love daringly.
Riza blinked in confusion. "A bet?"
"Yeah, a bet. If you win, I'll grant one your wish. If you loose, I'll force you to restore your feelings. How does it sound?"
Riza Hawkeye was no coward. She never turned down a challenge.
"Fine. What are your conditions?"
Love touched her cheek with an index finger, deep in thoughts.
"I know", she said after a short while. "In the next two days you are going to fall in love. Don't worry, it will be my job", she assured her. "I won't tell you now who the guy will be. But he will fall in love with you too".
"So… What am I supposed to do?"
"You are to seduce him, and when things reach their climax, you are to turn him down. Prove me that you can resist a strong temptation I will tease you with, and I'll admit you're better", Love cocked her head to one side. "Are you in?"
Riza thought for a moment. But every doubt or protest in her soul lost to her pride.
"Of course", she replied, smirking. "But when this all is over, you are going to take away the love that you will impose on me, aren't you?"
"Yes, I am."
"What about the guy?"
"It doesn't involve him", Love shook her head. "He'll still love you."
Riza scowled. "Hey, that's cruel!"
Love shrugged with a devilish smirk. "Cruelty is my second nature. Besides, it would be too easy for you if you thought of it as an only contemporary situation. So how will it be? Do you accept the challenge?"
"I do", Riza answered boldly. "I hope it won't be that bad if I loose…"
"Do you plan on loosing?"
"Of course not, but I have to assume every case scenario", Riza explained casually.
"Wise girl".
"Thanks".
"OK then, I guess I'll see you the day after tommorow", smiled Love. This time it was a real, sincere smile. Just as if they were bossom friends. "I have to decide on the guy, you know".
"Yeah", replied Riza, also smiling. "See you then".
Love turned around and attempted to leave, but suddenly she stopped. She looked at Riza over her shoulder.
"Good luck", she said.
In the next moment Riza opened her eyes. It was morning, and she was in her bed. She sat up and looked around, but Love was nowhere to be seen.
Still, she knew that this was no stupid dream. The bet was real. So she'd better start preparing for the match.
Riza grinned foxily. It's going to be real fun.
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A/N: So how was it? Do you think it's stupid, funny, interesting or boring? Let me know!
I must tell you that this is my first fic in English. I desperately hope that I didn't screw it up… Anyway, if you spot something that I could improve, or simply any mistakes, please inform me. I'm not a native speaker of English (as you have probably guessed by now), so any help is welcomed. As well as constructive criticism.
Also, if I figure out that the story doesn't get many comments and is not popular, I'll stop writing it. Because there is no point in writing for no one. Still, if you show me that you like the story, I'll keep on writing.
So please click the purple button below and review so that I will be able to write better for you!