From Dreams to Reality: From Dreams to Reality

From Dreams to Reality

Riza Hawkeye's eyes were narrowed in concentration as she stared through the rain splattered windshield in an attempt to see the road through the darkness. Visibility was truly non-existent and it took all she had to discern the road even with the high beams on.

The car rumbled onward and once again she thought about just stopping somewhere and wait for the rain to let up a bit. The idea was thoroughly tempting but she knew she couldn't stop anytime soon. Their mission had taken them a little longer than usual and they were running late so they had to drive through the night to make it back in time for work the next day.

She took her eyes off the road for a moment to regard the man dozing in the seat next to her. Roy Mustang was leaning against the door, his arms crossed, lightly snoring. He looked so peaceful in sleep and she couldn't help but want to join him in blissful slumber.

Turning her attention back to the road, she thought what had happened during their mission to make them so exhausted. They had been sent to the border by Aerugo to sort out a group of terrorists who were planning on bombing Southern HQ. The military had only believed that the threat was minimal so they hadn't sent any back up only a small group ofvery skilled people which turned out to be them.

Upon their arrival, everything had gone wrong. Not only had they been misinformed about the rebels numbers, they had also gotten bad information on their location. It had taken them an extra two days to find the hideout and then they realized how outnumbered they were.

Roy had called Central requesting backup only to get the reply that it was a no-can-do because they were a little short handed as it was. Roy was furious of course but there was nothing they could have done about it so they had to do it themselves.

The next day, they attacked and broke through their preliminary defenses with ease but once they were inside it was an all out war zone and they had quickly become over whelmed. Out of sheer luck, they had taken out their offensive power with minor mishaps. One of them being that Roy had bruised his ribs falling down a flight of stairs when he had jumped to avoid a grenade.

She hadn't had any more luck than Roy in the injury department. She had a sprained knee that she could barely put any weight on at the moment and a few cuts here and there along with many bruises. Luckily, those had been the extent of their injuries. It was all they had to show for their troublesome mission and if you added the total of 4 hours of sleep between them, they were utterly exhausted.

Her thoughts fell silent as she continued to forge her way through the downpour, thunder occasionally booming overhead after a flash of lightning lit up the sky. She started up a hill increasing the pressure on the gas as she went. When she reached the top there was a loud crack and her fot hit the floor as the pedal gave way.

She frowned and tried to brake as the car began to gain speed rumbling down the hill.

Nothing happened and they continued to accelerate down the incline at an alarming rate.

She did the only thing that she could think of, she turned to Roy. “Sir! Wake up!” she yelled.

Roy awoke at her yell just in time for the car to hit a bump that sent his head against the window. He cursed and rubbed his head wincing. “Damn Hawkeye, watch your---”

“The car's out of control and I can't stop it!” she interrupted, her eyes once again focused on the road. Her knuckles were white from holding the wheel so tightly.

“What?!” he asked his eyes widening in surprise.

She gritted her teeth. “Exactly what I said! How do I---” she jerked the wheel to the right sending them into a spin. She had just caught sight of what was sitting right in their path. It was a tree.

Riza had tried to avoid it but with the slick ground and the delayed reaction she knew it was already too late, they were going to hit that tree head on. An instant before the out of control car hit the tree Riza saw that the passenger door had flown open during their spin and Roy as nowhere to be seen.

The car slammed into the tree and Riza was thrown forward her head hitting the steering wheel and just before she blacked out, her last coherent thought was that Roy was safe.

Roy gasped his hands quickly moving to his chest as he sat up pain coursing through his body. His hand had landed on the door handle while he tried to anchor himself in the car as it spun and it had fallen open sending him flying out of the vehicle. No wonder he felt dazed and sore all over. He looked around for the car but he couldn't see a thing through the thick downpour.

He shook his head, his soaked hair flinging even more water in his face as he slowly rose to his feet. He paused to gain his bearings before he stumbled in the direction he assumed the car was by the sound of the rain hitting metal. That's when he realized that something was missing. There was no Riza.

Panic and worry surged through him and as he struggled through the mud to get to the car. “Hawkeye! Can you hear me?!” he called out hoping to receive a reply.

Rain and thunder was all he could hear.

His heart raced and he picked up his pace his worry growing every second. “Riza, damnit, answer me!” he exclaimed as he finally reached the car.

A flash of lightning showed him the extent of the crash. The car had almost compacted the passenger side of the car and Roy didn't dare think about what would have happened if he had still been in the seat. He would have died that much he was sure of. But that didn't matter at the moment, finding Riza was his main concern.

He quickly moved to the driver's side of the car that was relatively undamaged and peered into the broken window and the sight that greeted him would probably haunt his dreams. Riza's head was covered in blood and with practically no light he couldn't tell how serious the wound was. He reached forward with a shaky hand to check her pulse. “Please, be alive Riza, I don't know what I'd do without you…” he thought as he touched her skin.

A wave of relief spread over him when he felt her pulse going strong beneath his fingers. She was alive just unconscious. Now he had to figure out what he was going to do next. He knew he had to get her to somewhere dry so he could examine her wound more closely. First things first, he needed to see.

He couldn't see a damn thing through the carpet of rain that surrounded him. Then he remembered that Riza had packed an emergency kit in his duffel bag and it had a flashlight. He hurried to the back of the car and tried to open the trunk but it was jammed. After a few rough tugs and a little sweet talk he managed to get it open. He reached in and fumbled around for his bag. He soon found it and unzipped it. After he rooted around in the bag for a few moments he found the metal box he was looking for.

He flicked it open and pulled out the small flashlight and switching it on. He placed the flashlight in his mouth so he could stuff the emergency kit back into the duffel and zipped it up again. With a pained wince he slung it over his shoulder and headed back to Riza.

He carefully opened the door and he caught her limp form as she fell out of the car. He gently pulled her away from the vehicle and laid her on the ground. He knelt down beside her and removed the flashlight from his mouth and placed it in his right hand. He propped her up by the shoulders with his left hand and placed his right hand under her knees and lifted her up into his arms gasping in pain as his ribs flared in agony. He clenched his teeth determined not to drop her.

He turned looking this way and that trying to decide which way he should go. He shook his head to remove his soaked bangs out of his face only to make it worse as they fell into his eyes.

“Just one more reason for me to hate the rain,” he thought avidly, cursing the weather.

Roy looked down at Riza his expression solemn. This wasn't the time to curse the weather, getting Riza someplace dry was his first priority at the moment.

He swung his head right then left. “Let's see, which way should I go?” he asked aloud. Everywhere he looked he saw rain, rain, and more rain. “How promising…” he thought before he decided to head right.

He began to trudge through the muddy ground tripping more than a few times and catching himself at the last moment. One time, he lost his balance on a particularly slippery spot and fell to his knees straining to keep Riza from tumbling out of his arms. His chest was burning and it hurt to breathe but he continued on ignoring the pain and discomfort for the woman he held in his grasp.

He paused as lightning illuminated the sky and he thought he saw what looked like a large building looming ahead of him. Hopeful, he hurried forward shining his flashlight on the structure before him.

Roy almost smiled at his luck. It was an old barn from the looks of it. He moved sideways following the wall until he found the doors hanging haphazardly off their hinges. He squeezed past them and into the dry interior. There were a few patches in the roof that let in the rain but he sidestepped these until he found a relatively dry patch of hay.

He gently placed Riza down and rubbed his arms to get his blood flowing to the cold appendages. He pulled the duffel over his shoulders and dropped it on the floor next to the hay.

Then he knelt down next to Riza shining the flashlight on her head so he could examine her wound.

The rain had washed away most of the blood so he had a clearer view of the gash. “Not too deep but it might need stitches,” he muttered setting the flashlight next to her head and pulling the duffel towards himself. He unzipped it again and pulled out the medical kit.

He clicked it open and pulled out the bandages. He gently lifted Riza's head and removed her hair clip before he wrapped up her head. Once he finished he sat back and gazed at her face. She looked almost peaceful unlike when she was awake. She hardly ever removed her mask in her waking moments.

Roy reached forward and brushed her golden hair out of her face and realized with a start that she was shivering. He cursed himself for forgetting that her clothes were sopping wet and it wasn't exactly warm where they were.

“I have to get her out of those clothes,” he sighed as he quickly unbuttoned her military jacket. “When I fantasized about taking her clothes off I never imagined it would be like this…” he thought ruefully as he removed her jacket and tossed it over railing behind her to dry.

Next he carefully removed her guns which left him to puzzle on what he should do with her skin-tight brown turtle neck. He couldn't just pull it off over her head, it might aggravate her injury. To say the least there was no other way around it he would have to cut it off.

He retrieved the scissors from the kit and cut a clean line from her waist to the tip of the neck. He threw it over his shoulder promising himself that he would replace it as soon as they got back. He struggled not to stare at her perfect body and her plain black bra as he slipped one of his white button-up shirts. He buttoned up the last button and moved onto her pants.

He slipped off her boots and placed them under her jacket. He slipped off the military pants and he soon had her pants replaced with his sweatpants. He touched her hand and frowned upon seeing that she was still shaking. He had to get her warm somehow.

He swung the flashlight around looking for some sort of thing he could drape over her to keep her warm. He stood up and began to walk around peeking in corners for anything and then he found the tack room. He found two slightly threadbare horse blankets while not much, they were something. He grabbed them and headed back out to Riza. He draped them over her form and set about changing out of his drenched clothes and into another one of his button-up shirts and a clean pair of his uniform pants. He draped his clothes next to Riza's on the stall.

He sat back down and realized that the flashlight was already starting to dim. He would need another light source soon. That's when it hit him and he almost smacked himself for not thinking of it before. He was the bloody Flame Alchemist for God's sake, how could he have been so stupid. He could make a fire! Of course, he'd have to be careful because of all the flammable objects in the barn but it was definitely doable and it would provide some much needed heat.

He crouched down and began to dig at the ground with the scissors and soon he had a small fire pit that was close enough to provide heat but not burn anything. Then he grabbed the flashlight and searched around for some wood he could use. It was getting harder since the light was getting dimmer by the minute. Within five minutes he returned to his makeshift fire pit with his arms filled with kindling. He dropped them unceremoniously next to the pit and began to arrange them in the hole.

Then he was faced with another problem. He may be the Flame Alchemist but with his gloves soaked he had no idea how he was going to get a spark to make a flame. He scratched his chin in thought. “Usually Riza would have an extra pair of my gloves always on hand but with her uniform just as soaked as mine I highly doubt they will be of much use to me. Hmmm, what to do?” he pondered.

After a little more thought he remembered something. “Wait, didn't she say that she had a match box with her too? Is too much to hope that if she does that they're dry?” with that final thought he moved to the stall and reached into her pants pockets and found nothing but a pair of his soaked gloves. Then he checked her jacket pocket and smirked when his fingers came in contact with a plastic wrapped bundle.

He pulled it out and un-wrapped the pristine match box. “Thank you Riza for always being prepared,” he thought happily as he wandered back to the fire pit.

Roy soon had a nice merry fire going. He smiled at his accomplishment and dusted off his hands. He crawled over to the other side of the fire closest to Riza and slumped against the bale completely and utterly exhausted. Not to mention his chest hurt like hell and it still hurt to breathe too deeply. He turned his head to look at Riza once more to see if she was doing alright. He was glad to see that her shaking had ceased and her face was slightly more relaxed than it had been before.

He turned his body to face her and he reached under the blankets to grasp her hand in his. He weaved his fingers though hers and lay his head down next to hers and closed his eyes. With a contented sigh, he fell asleep dreaming of what could never be.

Riza awoke to find herself in her bed at home with Hayate still sleeping at the foot of the bed. She sat up and glanced around confused. `How did I get here? I was on a mission with Roy…' she asked herself rubbing her eyes. She made another sweep of the room with her eyes and saw nothing out of place. She turned to regard the nightstand and examined the two photos that were perched upon it.

The first one caught her completely off guard. It was a wedding picture and not just any wedding, but her own wedding. But that wasn't what floored her, it was the man standing next to her in the picture.

It was Roy Mustang. While she picked her jaw up off the ground she lifted her left hand to rub her eyes once more when she caught a glimpse of what was on her ring finger.

She stared blankly at the wedding band in astonishment. `What the hell is going on? I'm married to Roy and I have no recollection of it! This can't be real!' she mentally screamed not really knowing what to do in this sort of situation. She tore her eyes off of the ring and glanced at the last picture. If she thought the wedding picture was unbelievable, then this one just left her stunned and speechless.

There she was, positively glowing with pride, cradling a beautiful baby boy in her arms. Roy was standing to her left with the brightest smile she had ever seen.

She shook her head in disbelief, staring at the baby she held. He looked just like Roy with a messy mop of jet black hair, but his eyes were all hers.

He looked simply perfect in every way and her mind was completely blank. Hell, even if she could think, she wouldn't know what to think. This was just too much not that it wasn't unwelcome but a part of her just knew it was too good to be true.

She sighed, and tossed off the covers when the door burst open. She jumped in surprise her hand instinctively reaching for her gun to find nothing. Her caution was unwarranted as Roy and a five-year old look alike strode proudly into the room both holding trays. Hayate just yawned and went back to sleep as the two approached the bed all smiles.

“Happy Mother's Day!” they exclaimed offering up their trays.

Her mouth had gone dry and she was filled with emotion. If only she could stay in this dream forever.

Roy came up to her and gave her a peck on the cheek as he sat down next to her. Their son, oh how wonderful it felt to even think that, scrambled up after his father his face scrunched up in concentration as he made sure that the tray remained steady. Once he was settled in her lap he gave her a lopsided grin.

`To hell with the fact that this is just a dream, I'm going to enjoy it as much as I possibly can, no matter how much it hurts me,' she thought as her resolve folded in the face of her son's smile.

She returned their smiles. “Well, this is surprise. Did you boys make all of this yourselves?” she asked gazing down at the trays.

Her son giggled and held up his tray which held toast with jam, eggs, and two strips of bacon. “Uh huh, me and Daddy made you breakyfast in bed for Mother's Day!”

She resisted the urge to almost cry at his sincerity. God, how was she going to handle this without breaking down?

“It looks delicious, honey. Thank you,” she said reaching forward and picking up one of the pieces of bacon, taking a bite. She ruffled his hair with her other hand affectionately and her gaze shifted to Roy. “Did you bring me anything to add to my feast Roy?” she teased.

He feigned shock. “Riza, I'm hurt, did you think I would forget to bring you something?”

“It definitely crossed my mind,” she replied lightly.

He laughed. “Well alright, maybe it isn't as good as what Maes brought you but I'm sure you'll like it,” he said holding out his tray.

It had her favorite tea, a singular white rose, and a long velvet box, but she barely gave it a glance. Her attention was on the name of their son. It was just one surprise after another in this dream but this just struck her in an odd way. It actually made sense, Roy would undoubtabely name his son after his best friend. It was touching.

Apparently, she had remained silent for too long since both Maes and Roy were no longer smiling. Riza gave them a defensive look. “What? Is something wrong?” she asked slightly confused.

Roy reached forward and brushed her face which she realized with a start was wet with tears. “You're crying,” he stated simply his voice laden with concern.

She clenched her eyes shut. `I can't take this anymore! It hurts too much…I want to get out of here…' she thought as her heart, body, and soul cried out in agony. It was too much for her to handle knowing, experiencing the one thing she could never have. It tore her apart.

`Wake up damn you, you have to wake UP!' she yelled at herself and the dream world began to fade and she was swallowed up by the darkness once more.

Riza slowly opened her eyes blinking furiously to adjust to the dim light that hit her face. “Where am I now? Please, don't let it be another dream, I don't think I can handle it,” she thought as she struggled to lift her body up. Her vision swam and she groaned in pain as her head immediately exploded in pain. “Definitely not a dream…” she thought.

Roy still sleeping right next to her awoke with a start at the sound of her moan. He quickly let go of her hand and stood up and touched her face. “Riza? Are you alright?”

Upon hearing his voice she stiffened, her eyes shut tightly not wanting to see his face. “No, it feels like my head is about to explode,” she replied flatly.

“That's because you have a nice gash on the side of your head, which I need to rewrap. Hold on a moment,” he said and she felt his body move away for a moment before he returned to her side.

“I'm going to sit you up for a few moments,” he stated and she felt his hand slide under her back as he lifted her up. She opened her eyes when she was vertical and stared into his face. She cast her gaze down not being able to look him in the eye, it just reminded her of how unattainable he was.

Roy was glad to see that she was alright but he was confused by her actions. Why wouldn't she look him in the eye. Had he done something wrong? He decided to find out later and proceeded to remove her soiled bandages and rewrap it with clean ones.

When he finished he gently laid her back down on the hay unsure of what to do next when she spoke. “What happened? Where are we?” she asked.

“We're in an abandoned barn I found. You were knocked unconscious so I carried you here,” he replied happy for a reason to avoid an awkward silence.

She winced slightly at hearing this reminded of his bruised ribs and how much it must have hurt him to carry her all this way when she wasn't worth the effort. She was only his subordinate after all. She turned her head to look at him and saw that he was obviously fighting to hide his pain from her. “Why?” she managed to ask.

He looked at her with surprise written on his face. “Why what?”

“Why did you do all that when you should have left me there and taken care of yourself? You're in no condition to be lugging me around especially in the rain,” she said pointedly.

His expression darkened. “How can you say that? I would never leave one of my subordinates behind when they're hurt,” he replied angrily. It hurt that she would think him capable of such a thing.

The nail that was lodged in her heart was driven deeper at his words. “Is that all I am to you?” the words flew out of her mouth before she could stop them. She cursed her stupidity and blamed her injury but she knew it was too late to take back her words.

Roy looked utterly floored by her question. “Does she really think believe that I think of her only as a subordinate?” he asked himself. He thought back to what he had just said and mentally slapped himself. “Of course she would think that if I put it that way! Damnit, why do I always mess these things up? I only said that because I didn't want to tell her how I really felt,” he wiped his face with his hand.

He tried to think of ways he could fix this without either of them suffering emotional damage but found none. The only thing he could think of was to actually tell her how he felt. He just hoped telling her wouldn't destroy their friendship any more than he already had, he didn't know if he would be able to handle the rejection.

He sighed, wincing slightly as pain shot through his ribs. “Hell, they say no pain no gain so it's now or never,” he thought standing up. He reached forward and gently caressed her face with an affectionate smile.

Her expression turned to one of uncertainty when he touched her face. “What in the world is he thinking?” she asked herself and why was his smile making her melt?

Roy did nothing more than smile at her for a few moments before he launched into his confession. “Riza, you know I don't think of you as just one of my subordinates, you're one of my best friends. You've always been there for me when I needed someone to lean on,” he chuckled. “Not to mention all the times you've knocked me on my ass for doing stupid things. You have done so many things for me and you probably think I never noticed. Let me tell you, it's bloody hard not to notice a beautiful woman stand two paces behind you every day. It's downright distracting.

“You may think that I don't care or give a damn, but I care more for you than you think. I-I love you Riza, that's why I did what I did. I wanted to protect the woman I love,” his face twisted in pain. “And when I couldn't find you after the accident…not knowing if you were still alive or not…” he faltered. “God, I was so scared, and after what happened to Maes…” he trailed off again, staring into her eyes. “I don't want to lose you Riza, I wouldn't be able to stand it, I love you too much.”

He sat back down propping his elbow up on the hay and burying his face in his hands. He had said it, he had told her that he loved her, now was the moment of his demise when she would reject him.

Riza lay there stunned, her throbbing cranium nothing more than a dull ache in the back of her mind. He loved her…God, he loved her. Her heart leapt with joy and a comfortable warmth spread through her body as his words struck her soul.

She gazed at him with a soft smile. “The idiot,” she thought. She brought her hand up and pulled his hands away from his face. They fell away with ease leaving him to gaze upon his love's face. He stared at her with fearful eyes, bracing himself for the inevitable words that were soon to come. She smiled. “Roy, you bloody idiot,” she chided lovingly.

His expression turned to one of confusion at her odd response but he said nothing.

“I would kiss you but it makes me dizzy to sit up,” she finished with a full blown smile, her hazel eyes dancing.

Roy could have shouted in joy. She returned his feelings! Oh, happy day indeed. He fought to keep the huge smile from spreading across his face. He stood up once more, cleared his throat, determined to keep a straight face and spoke. “Then allow me,” he said leaning down to cover her lips with his own.

Riza eagerly returned his kiss all the while thinking, “Damn him, I didn't even sit up and world is spinning. Ha! It's like a dream come true,” she thought smiling into the kiss relishing the wonderful feeling of euphoria that washed over her, but there was one more matter that she had to settle before anything else.

She pulled away from Roy, her expression stern. “By the way, what did you do with my clothes?”