A/N: This is in response to a prompt from miraculous-stardust on tumblr. The prompt list this came from is the same one as "You're worth any fight".
Thick, scalding, viscous terror began to drown Roy like hot syrup, chilling his bones and burning his skin. Each reverberating boom resonated throughout his entire body, aching in the cavity of his chest and immobilizing him effortlessly. The lightning outside his window flashed in short intervals, illuminating the room and making each movement seem like some sort of twisted, horrifying stop motion film. Roy's chest tightened, crushing his lungs and freezing up his throat, making it impossible to breathe. His breathing came in garbled, half formed sobs that forced their way from between his clenched teeth. The boiling heat ran down his face in waves, and it was only then that he realized that he was crying.
In a panic he reached out for the sheets on either side of him, and his fingers found his wife's skin. He clung to her as if she was his only way to float in the tsunami of anxiety that threatened to drown him. Images of Ishval and charred corpses sluggishly made their way through his brain, snagging and catching on all the broken parts of him, taunting and burning him in revenge. Another spectacular clap of thunder and lightning- or was it another airstrike?- smashed across his conscious, and he clutched Riza to him, trying to breathe in her scent in a manic effort to calm himself.
"Shh, love, I'm here." Riza's voice leaked through his fear, surrounding his war-torn thoughts with a sweet serenity. Through his grief and despair he latched onto that sound and jealously clasped it to his soul, willing himself to calm down. Roy felt Riza's soft, cool fingers on his skin, tracing the lines of his face and chest, anchoring him to the present. She whispered words of love and comfort into his ears, kissing away the tears as she did so. He held her tightly, running his fingers through her short hair, trying to calm his racing heart.
Eventually his broken sobs turned to deep breathing, and the horrific images that had reared their ugly heads slipped away like the storm outside. The rain both outside and in quieted to a light patter, and Roy was infinitely grateful that he had Riza on nights like these. Only she could truly understand the horrors he had seen in Ishval, and it had come to the point where they no longer asked any questions; they simply held each other as they grieved.
"Thank you for always being here for me," he murmured, brushing his lips against the scar on her neck. She responded by grabbing one of his hands and pressing a soft kiss to the silvery scar on his palm. He shivered, but felt warm; that simple action filled him with a graceful love for the woman lying next to him.
"Of course," she replied with a gentle smile. "You need rest, love. Go back to sleep."
Roy agreed, and in the absence of terror grew a deep peace that filled his chest and slowed his heart down. He held his wife tenderly, and together they drifted off into a quiet realm of amity and respite.
A/N: Leave a review! :)