I don't own FMA
Theme 1. The Ring's on the Other Hand
Mangaverse--spoilerish if you haven't read the chapter about the Ishbalan War, and don't know who Roy's teacher was.
Thanks for taking a look at this for me Bizzy and Dailenna!
:)-------(:
When she first saw that he was there her hand slipped from the rifle she was holding. Of course she had heard that he was there, but she thought that she would never see him. Most of his work could be done from a distance, a place where he didn't need the protection of a sniper. He was walking around so carelessly in the town they'd decimated. She looked him and his friend up and down through the magnified vision of the rifle scope. She wasn't satisfied with only seeing the back of his head—she wanted to see the face that often haunted her dreams.
Movement caught the corner of her eye. Something gleamed in a dark-skinned child's hand. Her seasoned hand steadied the rifle at the proper angle, and a second later the child fell forward with a bullet buried in the back of his head.
The pair had turned around just before the bullet hit the boy, and had just enough time for a few moments of their lives to pass before their eyes, and then the boy fell at their feet.
The fear on his face at the time was good to see—she knew it meant he still wanted to live—some soldiers went into battle not caring if they survived, and they were the ones who never went back home.
She studied his far off face, and from the weary lines that etched his sand blown skin determined that his dream was all that kept his will to live burning strong.
She wasn't surprised when the man standing next to him practically revealed her identity. The name on his badge, Hughes, was one she'd heard of during the brief unit meetings they had to give out assignments. He was continually praised for the information he'd gathered on the whereabouts of Ishbalan hideouts. It wasn't odd that he knew which sniper had saved them. Being intelligence he was privileged with knowing the locations to which each sniper was designated.
She could see the bafflement on Roy's face at Hughes' words—could tell he was trying to get a glimpse of her from his spot on the ground, but he didn't. Her job was to stay hidden in the shadows.
Her heart jumped to life when he sat down next to her around the campfire they had going. After everyone else left to try and get some sleep, nightmare filled or not she could only guess. He took off his gloves and fingered the hair at the nape of her neck. "I thought you were going to grow it out."
She repressed the shiver that shouldn't have plagued her in the warm, windless desert air. "I started to, but it was impractical in the academy," she explained.
His hand lay idle on her neck. The only sound came from the crackle of a real, wood burning fire. His hand slid down her back and rested around her waist-his finger just above her hip.
"That's not appropriate," she told him, but didn't make him move his arm. As a matter of fact she leaned closer to him—seeking the human warmth that was much more comforting than the dissipating heat of the desert night and the fire before them. Soon the air would be cold enough that she'd need three of the heavy, military issue blankets to stay warm in her little tent.
He began to rub circles on the area under his fingertips. She didn't say anything to stop him when his fingertips moved under the fabric of her uniform to massage the skin without the friction of the fabric under his fingers, but she did grab his hand and hold it out to the dim firelight when she felt a metal band touch her skin. Just as she suspected it was on the ring finger of his left hand. "Congratulations," she said flatly, letting his hand fall from her grip. It wasn't every day that she discovered the man she loved was married and making a move on her. "Don't worry, I won't tell your wife," she spit as she walked away. Her iron will kept her from looking back at him during her retreat.
It took Roy a minute to process her words. Everything had been fine, and then she—he paused mid-thought—wife. She thought he was married. He looked down at the hand she had examined and quickly realized his mistake.
The ring with the glowing red stone sat on his left hand, wrapped around his ring finger like a wedding band. He pulled it off and shoved it back on the ring finger of his right hand with a grimace. He'd forgotten about the gouge that was stitched up from the bottom of his palm to the first knuckle of his ring finger that he got when he'd helped dig through some rubble that had collapsed on another unit. He followed her away from the camp.
Riza always walked to her tent in a roundabout way to avoid the deprived men of the camp. She hated having to fend them off.
He caught up with her as she rounded a wall of stone, and under the moonless night he pinned her against the rough surface and stole the kiss he was starving for.
She surrendered to his passion for only a moment, and then pushed him off of herself with so much force that he crashed to the sand.
She wasn't above sleeping with the man she loved, but she would be no one's mistress—no ones dirty little secret. "Married men aren't my type," she hissed as she began to walk away.
Roy scrambled to his feet and grabbed her arm. He twisted her around to face him and returned the narrow-eyed glare she gave him. "The only thing I'm married to is my career," he corrected her earlier accusations. He held her right hand up to her face so she could see the ring. "Do you think I'd wear a wedding ring with this size of a stone on it, or any stone on it for that matter? They make me wear this thing to increase my alchemic power, so I can destroy whole cities with fire," he told her in an angry hushed tone, gesturing wildly with his left hand. "Every time I see it I think off those red eyes that will never see again, because of me."
She stared at him—speechless—while he took deep breaths to calm himself. "I'm sorry," she murmured—not just for herself, but for what he'd told her—for making him think about it.
His grip on her arm slackened, but she didn't pull away. She took a step closer to him, and put her arms around him.
He was quick to wrap his arms around her. When he saw her looking up at him the hunger took over again.
Riza didn't know how they'd made it all the way to her tent with their uniforms still in place and without being noticed, since they stopped every few minutes and gave in to their need to claim each other's breath. If her mind could really be bothered by anything other than his body against hers she would have realized that no matter who saw them no one would stop them, because it was something everyone there understood—letting physical desires take over between the nightmares just to have a brief respite.
They were both sated and covered in sweat that the night chill quickly cooled on their skin. Her head was on his chest and she listened to his slowing heartbeat—the same way she had when he'd first made love to her after she revealed the tattoo on her back.
He fiddled with the hair at the nape of her neck again, lost in a daydream of sorts.
She placed her hand on his cheek to get his attention and asked what was on his mind.
Right there during the frigid desert night, in a military tent, in the middle of a battlefield he asked her to become his wife. When she only frowned he added, "After this is over."
She gave him a sad smile. "I'd have to retire. Hand in my guns. Until you've accomplished your dreams I can't do that."
He didn't freeze at her words, but kept running his hand through her short hair, picking out stray pieces of sand until she fell asleep in the silence. "One day," he whispered, his hand tracing the lines on her back. "One day you'll be my wife."
:)-------(:
A.N.-This is for the 30Kisses community of Live Journal. The list I am using is Iota/Proposals. So there will be marriage proposal or mention of one in each chapter. The same pairing will be used throughout all 30 pieces. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter.