Entrust My Back to You: Roy Mustang/Riza Hawkeye [Fullmetal Alchemist]

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Title: Entrust My Back to You

Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)

Author: cindybin 

Pairing: Roy Mustang/Riza Hawkeye

Spoilers: Up to Chapter 87 of the manga

Word Count: ~4750

Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist belongs to Hiromu Arakawa, Shounen GanGan, Square-Enix and BONES Animation (even though I’m not referring to the anime, I figured better safe than sorry). No profit is being made, so please don’t sue!

Notes: Any quotes I refer to are from scanslation groups so if there are any discrepancies, it’s probably because we’re using different versions (although I sometimes took some liberty in the syntax to make it flow better). Also, this manifesto is based only on the manga since there’s already a ship manifesto written for this pairing regarding the anime here by ninkasa 

Sorry, I had to split it into two even though it's within the word limit. I have the physical copy of the first part here now. Sorry about before!

Fullmetal Alchemist

Set in the fictional military state, Amestris, Fullmetal Alchemist is based loosely on twentieth century Europe. A key difference between our world and the FMA universe, however, is the existence of alchemy which allows deconstruction, reconstruction or transformation of one object into another as long it abides by the principle of ‘equivalent exchange’ which basically means that in order to gain something, something of equal value must be lost. Alchemists may be hired by the military, becoming State Alchemists who are meant to ‘be thou for the people’.

Amestris, however, has constantly been at war and the State Alchemists, who have instead become known as ‘the attack dogs of the military’, are often called to arms to quickly end a conflict. In the storyline, the most significant war is that between Amestrians and Ishvalans and has had the greatest influence on most, if not all, of the central characters.

RoyAi

RoyAi (Roy Mustang + Riza Hawkeye = RoyEye = RoyAi which is a pun on the Japanese word ‘Ai’ 「愛」 which translates to ‘love’) for me is the most exciting pairing in the series just because I’m all for subtle undertones and meaningful moments that tend to get overlooked, and this couple encompasses that more than any other.

‘I want you to protect my back. Do you understand? To entrust my back to you means that you can shoot me from behind anytime. If I step off of the path, shoot and kill me with those hands. You are qualified to do that. Will you follow me?’

Roy Mustang is a State Alchemist, also known as the Flame Alchemist due to his ability to manipulate the concentration of oxygen in the air, subsequently creating flames with a snap of his Pyrotex gloves. At only thirty years of age, his rise to the rank of Colonel has been swift and is, in part, due to his ‘success’ in the Ishval Conflict.

Outwardly, Roy appears to be a power-hungry, lazy, manipulative skirt-chaser. In a sense, Roy could be considered power-hungry, aiming for the highest position of Fuhrer. However his determination to reach the top stems from his desire to not have to follow foolish orders and to not have to answer to the corrupt higher-ups. Emotionally scarred from being used as a human weapon, Roy sets his sights on becoming Fuhrer to reform the government and ensure that lives will never be pointlessly lost again. This goal, this dream, is shared by his loyal subordinates, all of whom are willing to put their own lives at risk to make sure Roy gets to the top.

Everything else about his exterior persona, however, is pretty much a façade (except the laziness — I’m sure he genuinely hates paperwork). He acts like a womaniser to cover for the fact that most of the women he ‘dates’ are actually sources of information, a tactic he learnt from Lieutenant General Grumman that generally works in his favour as it keeps the higher-ups from discovering his true goal. His smug, self-satisfied and apparently manipulative personality covers the fact that he is a man who cares deeply for his friends and followers. This sentiment is echoed in their undying loyalty to him and perhaps the best example of this is Riza Hawkeye, his devoted lieutenant.

‘There is someone I need to protect. It was not because I was forced by anyone, but it was my own free will. It is my own choice to pull the trigger for the person I must protect. Until the day that person accomplishes his goal... I will pull the trigger without doubt.’

Approximately four years Roy’s junior, Riza Hawkeye is probably the sharpest shooter in the Amestrian military and is the person who has probably known Roy the longest as her father was his alchemy teacher. Quiet and stoic the majority of the time, the flashes of passion we see from her are usually tied back to Roy somehow. We find out through flashbacks that her mother died when she was young and that her father was rather obsessed with his alchemy so, for the most part, she was responsible for her own upbringing which probably explains why she’s as resilient as she is.

Riza also took part in Ishval and is also somewhat haunted by the innocent lives she took, though to a lesser extent than Roy. We know that she doesn’t like the military because she’s forced to kill sometimes which makes her being in the military to protect Roy all the more significant. In fact, she is largely defined by her loyalty to her Colonel although she’s not just a yes-woman and it’s probably why Roy places so much faith in her. She’s not afraid to voice her own opinion, as can be seen in the ‘You’re useless when it’s raining,’ scene, and Roy takes her advice to heart.

‘That dream… can I entrust my back to it?’

As previously mentioned, Riza’s father was Roy’s alchemy teacher who was disappointed in his student becoming a ‘dog of the military’, despite Roy’s good intentions. We discover that Riza’s father had only taught Roy the basics of the alchemy and had yet to entrust the secrets of flame alchemy to him. He dies in front of Roy, leaving his daughter in his care, and tells him that Riza will give him the knowledge if she thinks that he’ll use it correctly.

Mustang supports Riza at her father’s funeral and reveals his reason for learning alchemy was to be able to ‘protect everyone with these hands’, a dream Riza believes in as well, so much so that she reveals the secrets of flame alchemy to him, a secret literally carved into her skin, in order to give him the power to achieve it.

However, they were soon to find themselves entangled in something far bigger than they expected: their good intentions and naïve dreams were soon to be shattered by war.

‘Please… burn and crush my back.’

Instead of protecting everyone as he dreamed, the new Flame Alchemist soon found himself embroiled in a bitter war, his power being used to kill innocent people for reasons unknown. Perhaps worse still was discovering that the talented sniper who had saved him from a vengeful Ishvalan was none other than his teacher’s daughter whose skills were also being used to kill. We can see immediately that Riza has changed, her eyes have darkened with the weight of those she has murdered, ‘a killer’s eyes’ as Roy describes, and gone is the innocent glimmer of hope for a bright future. During this time, the Crimson Alchemist Kimbley baits Riza, asking her whether she actually enjoys killing despite her belief that ‘killing is not enjoyable’ because she has to have pride in her skill, and Roy, seeing her distress, tells Kimbley to stop.

At the conclusion of the war, before the grave of an innocent Ishvalan child, Riza admits that, for her, the Ishval War will never be over. She would never be able to atone for the lives she took and, in a sense, she feels accountable for all the lives Roy has taken as well as she was responsible for his power. She asks for something that I feel is one of the most significant Roy/Riza moment — she asks him to burn the tattoo on her back so she ‘can’t give birth to another Flame Alchemist’, and Roy complies, no matter how much it hurt him to do so because he understood how important it was for her to ‘become Riza Hawkeye as an individual’.

And even after the entire ordeal of being in a war, Riza is still by Roy’s side, offering her services and we can see that, despite everything that they’ve been through, she still believes in him and his naïve dream and he, in turn, offers her his back to make sure he never strays off the path they both have chosen for each other.

‘Will you follow me?’ // ‘You’re asking me that now?’

Even as we progress to the current timeline, there’s no denying that Roy and Riza’s relationship is as strong as ever. Riza is the one who accompanies him to Resembool to find the Elric brothers (and here is where Riza tells Winry the reason why she’s in the military) and she’s also the one person to whom Roy lets down his defences after Hughes’ funeral, and this scene perfectly sums up the level of companionship between them: she doesn’t say anything, she’s just there for him and lets him cry without making a fuss about it because she understands that it’s what he needs, that when he says, ‘It’s raining,’ that’s what he wants from her.

After this, a transfer from Eastern HQ to Central is issued and Riza is the only subordinate Roy asks whether or not she wants to continue following him, which stems from Roy’s insecurity that he’s somehow forced her into this situation. He probably feels that he’s the only reason she joined the military and is the only reason she’s still in it, to protect him and help him achieve his goals. He often feels the need to check she’s still supporting him of her own free will, as the question ‘Will you follow me?’ is asked quite a number of times, including when Riza first officially joined Roy, and I think this shows that Roy never takes her for granted and is always aware of what she puts at stake to be by his side. And Riza’s answer is always one of the affirmative. In fact, her answer usually implies, ‘You don’t even need to ask — I’ll always follow you.’

‘I’m glad you are alive.’ // ‘I’m sorry I worried you.’

We now come to the meat of the story when we discover the existence of the homunculi, artificial human beings with a Philosopher’s Stone as their nucleus, who threaten the existence of Amestris itself. We also find out that the military itself is involved after Riza meets Barry the Chopper, a serial killer who had supposedly been executed by the military but, instead, had had his soul attached to a suit of armour (much like Alphonse) in order to guard the Fifth Research Institute which housed research into the Philosopher’s Stone. Barry in fact falls in love with Riza after she shoots him for trying to chop her up (he likes strong women, you see). When Roy arrives to question Barry, he has his arms around Riza’s waist and Roy threatens Barry with some ‘extra strong’ flame power (jealous much?).

They then try to fish out the homunculus to get to the heart of the problem. Here we get to see the delightful rapport between them in a phone conversation between Roy, playing his womaniser card, and ‘Elizabeth’, played by Riza while she is in sniper position to protect Havoc. The action comes when Gluttony attacks Riza and she, while turning around to shoot him, loses her headset. Roy panics when she doesn’t answer him, recognising the eerie similarity between this instance and the circumstances of Hughes’ death. He runs out of the office and arrives just in time to save both Riza and Fuery who had come to help her fight off Gluttony. Instead of being grateful, however, Riza yells at Roy for exposing himself. He admits he was an idiot and later, when they are alone, also admits that he’s relieved she’s alive to which she apologises for worrying him.

Roy and Riza run off to follow their bait, Barry’s body, alongside with Havoc and Alphonse and we are finally privy to how much Roy means to Riza. Together with Al, they encounter Lust who tells her she’ll ‘follow [her] boss in no time’. Riza loses control and, mad with grief and rage, continually shoots Lust until she’s out of bullets. Lust being, of course, unharmed, comments that humans are ‘foolish and weak… sad creatures’. Riza, collapsed on the floor in tears, tells Al to leave because ‘at least [he] should live’. The revelation that Roy means so much to her that, at the idea of his being dead, causes her to despair is almost heartbreaking.

We discover that Lust is mistaken, that Roy has cauterised his wounds to stop his bleeding and comes to finish the homunculus off. Riza, in her relief to see him alive, almost throws herself in harm’s way during this battle to be by his side. As soon as Lust is dead and Roy collapses to the ground, Riza is there next to him. He, however, is only relieved that she is safe and concerned about getting a doctor for Havoc.

‘I will continue to entrust you to watch my back. Diligence.’

The aftermath of this incident is quite hard for them both to deal with. Riza realises what Roy means to her and his scolding of her handling of the situation is hard for her to hear. Likewise, I think it’s hard for him to say. The other consequence of this battle is the loss of Havoc who has become a paraplegic. Roy being Roy, however, tells him, ‘I’ll leave you here. So you’d better catch up. I’m going. I’ll be waiting at the top.’ Havoc marvels at how someone so naïve can continue to climb to the top to which Riza replies with a smile, ‘I think it’s fine to have idiots like that once in a while.’

Even before his injuries have fully healed, Roy is on the move, travelling to a secluded shack which is currently housing the incapacitated Gluttony who had been captured by Ed and Ling, who reveals that Fuhrer Bradley is a homunculus. While arguing over what to do with him, Gluttony, recognising that Roy Mustang was the one who killed Lust, ‘awakens’ into a much deadlier form and is hell-bent on destroying him. During the ensuing fight, Roy reinjures himself and Riza is the one to support him to the car to escape.

From there, they head back to Central HQ where Roy intends to lay traps for the Fuhrer with his newfound knowledge (did anyone else find this scene weird? They’re still getting dressed as they’re getting out of the car! =0). He orders Riza to escape on her own in the case that something happens to him which she refuses to obey. Knowing this, he promises to come back. Bradley is, unfortunately, one step ahead, and the military is far more corrupt than they could have ever imagined. The Fuhrer shows Roy his place by scattering Roy’s loyal subordinates all over the country, except one: Riza Hawkeye is assigned to become the Fuhrer’s new personal assistant.


Part Two can be found here =)

Comments

[mod-journal.livejournal.com]

Once again, both parts must be posted to the community. You can keep your own copy on your personal LJ, but a physical copy must also be hosted here in the event that you, for some reason, delete your journal in the future. I'll understand if you'd rather not do that.

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So does that mean I make two entries and then link the second entry for the second part? Because I've seen some other manifestos that are too big for one entry and they link back to their journal so I thought it'd be okay. I totally understand the reasoning behind it, I just don't really get how to do it =P