Burnout

Chapter 9.

Takes place 1 year later.

Roy's POV:

It's been a whole year, to the day.

Still no closer to being Fuhrer.

Still no sign of Riza.

If she were here, I wouldn't be taking the non-promotion thing seriously, but without her, I am an empty void.

No light. No friends. No love.

Everyone has left me on my own. No one wants to talk to me. Havoc was promoted. Fiery went back to East. Everyone else went to work for another Colonel. Hughes is dead. Major Armstrong went to work with his sister up North.

I am alone.

I open my drawer, and take out my cell phone. Next to it are my painkillers that I use to stop my frequent headaches. I get them when I think about Riza too much.

I type in Riza's number and call her.

"The number you have called is unavailable. Please redial."

That's it. No more sulking, headaches, or depression.

Riza is gone. Everyone is gone. I'll never be Fuhrer. I have no reason to live.

I grab my painkillers, grab a handful and shove them in my mouth. I swallow them, giving them time to do their job.

The world grows fuzzy, corners of my vision turning black.

This is it. I'll finally be free.

Riza's POV:

I'm at the Rockbells. They have invited me for a lovely dinner. Winry is there, the Ed's there, and he brought his, 'interesting' teacher came from Dublith.

Black Hayate and Den are playing outside, Den clearly winning.

We talk about the Fuhrer, we talk about the Ishvalans, but all anyone wants to talk about is Kallie.

Kallie is my daughter. It's short for Kalama, which means fire in an ancient language.

"She's so sweet!" Winry says, holding her.

"She never cries! She must be the most relaxed baby I've ever seen!" Ed  says.

I look at Izumi, the Elric's teacher. She smiles.

"Who's the father?" She asks suddenly.

I freeze. No one knows except for me.

"Just some guy. He couldn't care less about the baby."

"That's a shame. Me and Sig wanted a child, but we lost it." She says, eyes tearing up.

"I'm so sorry! In that case, would you like to be Kallie's godmother?"

She looks at me, shocked. Tears flow down her face, as a huge smile crosses her face.

"Of course. Thank you, Riza."

"She likes you, and you can take care of her anytime. Would you like to hold her?" I ask.

"I would love too."

The evening carries on, everyone making jokes about how short Ed is, and how he won't drink his milk.

We stay until Kallie starts to fall asleep.

"Me and Kallie have to go now, see you guys later!" I say.

"Wait a minute!" Ed almost shouts.

He starts to walk towards Winry.

"You know the basic laws of alchemy. Equivalent Exchange. I want one half of your soul for one half of mine."

He pulls out a box, opens it, and we see a ring, made of automail, and a big diamond.

Oh my God. He's proposing!

"Winry, will you marry me?"

She sits there, dumbfounded, and stares at the ring.

"Ed, I'd give you all of my soul. Wait, no, maybe 90%? No, still too high. 70%? No, too low. Maybe 85%?"

Ed let's out a laugh.

"Leave it to you to completely scramble the laws of equivalent exchange. That's one of the reasons I love you." He says.

"Of course I'll marry you!" She screams, making everyone erupt into cheers.

I take Kallie home, and put her to sleep. Ed and Winry getting married.

Tomorrow, I'm gonna plan out their wedding gift. It'll be beautiful.

Tomorrow will be a good day.

In the morning:

"Hey Kallie? Are you hungry?" I ask her.

She lets out a joyful sound.

"Ok, Mama's gonna eat first, then I'll feed you, ok?"

I start to make some pancakes, because today feels like a good day.

The phone starts to ring. Kallie is sitting in her high chair in front of the fan, her short black hair waving. It reminds me of a flame.

I pick up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Riza? Is that you?"

"Jean?! How did you find this number?"

"Your grandfather gave it to me."

"What do you want? This number is only for emergencies so you'd better have a good excus-"

"Riza, Roy tried to kill himself."