A/N: This is my first FMAB fanfic. It's a royai soulmate au. Enjoy!

Everyone has a soul mate. This is the very basis of love in Amestris. And when you first meet your soul mate, the blacks and whites and greys of the world explode into color, and you can finally see the beauty of everything.

Riza Hawkeye has been searching for her soul mate since she realized what love was. She yearned to see the world in color, and feel the love of one who was destined to be your only love, a mate for life. When she was younger, in her teens, she met someone who she felt she could love, and she waited to see the world in color. But it wasn't meant to be, and she watched his colorless eyes follow her father as he was taught alchemy. His name was Roy, and she loved him, until the world remained in its colorless state, and she realized his soul wasn't meant for hers.

It wasn't until after her father died, and she decided to join the military that she met someone who made her world explode into color. Riza first saw him when they were both in the military academy, and she smiled as she saw color for the first time. A teacher at the academy told them the names of the colors they saw, and Riza was so happy to be able to put a name to the color of his eyes and his hair. His eyes, she know knew, were a beautiful green, like the grass that grew outside-and she was so glad that she knew what color the grass outside was, finally- and his hair was a dark red. Red like the color of fire. (And she was so happy she could compare his hair to other items that were red. She was so happy that she even knew what red was.)

Then, in 1908, her brief happiness and life of love ended. Both Riza and her soul mate were shipped out to a war. Separated and put into different units Riza mourned the distance between her and the other half of her soul. And for the first time, she regretted the ability to see in color, as she could see the blood of those she had killed staining her hands, seeping into the ground. She could see the color of flames as they burned and killed, and she could see the blackened bodies of those who were murdered by the secrets she had chosen to give up. Riza was still happy though, even if it was underneath her shell of anger and despair. At least she could see in color, she reasoned, and that meant that somewhere out there, the love of her life was still standing.

The end of the world happens suddenly. Riza was hiding in a building in a city in Ishval, waiting to snipe and kill, when the world suddenly fell apart. All the wondrous colors she had seen and learned were gone. In their place were the drab grays of her youth. Riza cried as she killed that day, knowing that somewhere on the field of bodies was one that had red hair and green eyes, and that he was dead. And with his death the world had been returned to ruin, and she was all alone.

After the war, she remained at the side of the man who had learned from her father, Roy Mustang. Eventually, a strange thing began to happen. She could see the color of the pen that rested on the desk besides Mustang's paperwork. The sign of a café was in different hues of red. A black rose that seems more vibrant and colorful than the usual blacks she sees. The deep blue color of Roy's uniform, and the red stitching on his white gloves. And Riza promises him things she never thought she would say, smiling at the fact that she is lucky enough to have a second chance at love, with another soul that melds perfectly with hers.

Eventually, the world is in color again, and she spends every second admiring the view. And when war breaks out again, and she is in the middle of it, her heart shatters as her soul is pulled through a black gate, and the world is once again reduced to gray. Ria doesn't know if she can take it again, the loss of another part of her soul. Because while most soulmates are souls that meld together, Riza knows that she has given part of her soul to Roy, and she wonders if she can ever recover. But then the world is returned to color, and Riza laughs quietly to herself for believing that he was dead. She had fallen in love with him after all, and only a fighter could earn her soul.

When the war ends, and Roy's sight is fixed, he opens his eyes to a world of color. And Riza loves taking the time to explain each and every one of them to him. (Even if she has to see the color of that horrible mustache. Thank Truth she managed to talk him into shaving off the atrocity.)

A/N: Any and all reviews are welcome.