A/N: My foreword. Two long sentences in italics were adapted from the manga. I claim little credit.

This is a pairing that I've been absolutely dying to see more of, sadly, I couldn't find anything. If anyone knows of any fanart/story about these two, please tell me! I will be so grateful.

Now, onto the story, and please review once you've finished

Absolution

He couldn't sleep. When he closed his eyes, he would see her reaching out one last time in defiance, in refusal to accept what was happening to her.

And her eyes… Those inhuman eyes staring at him, until they dissolved into ash, until it was all over.

Into ash…At the time, he was possessed by tremendous fury, his flames engulfing her completely. He thought that she had murdered his friend and that she was about to slaughter his lieutenant. Hatred coated his every single action.

And yet her last words haunted him.

This pair of eyes show no hesitation. I really like them. Oh what joy, the years of living through problems and only your eyes the key to the true emotions inside…

She was the only one who had stated the ultimate truth and it had shocked him. No –one had even thought of it before, not Riza, not Ed and not even Maes, despite their closeness. Only Lust had seen what he truly was.

And he had murdered her.

He needed sleep. A hand searched in the dark, finding sleeping herbs the physician at the hospital had given him. He chewed and swallowed the dry mass without water and soon, he finally managed to lapse into a troubled dream.

'Hello, alchemist.'

He turned around, about to defend himself but her claws shot out too quickly, pinning him against the wall. She had been careful, his flesh was not pierced anywhere.

"What are you doing now, you-" he spat, before being silenced by a backhand slap.

'Quiet. You think you have destroyed me.'

He glared at her face, the same ghostly pale face with the same mocking smirk. She looked so real, but she could not possibly be.

'You haven't. Alchemists say homunculi don't have souls, then why,' a frown marred her face for less than a second. 'Whatever it is, I am still here.'

"I'll destroy you completely then, you monster!" he gasped, still unable to move.

'Lust. My name is Lust. Learn it.'

He shook with barely suppressed rage. How could she simply dare reveal herself like this, after all she had done?

'Look around you, alchemist,' she removed two of her fingers that held his head in place. 'It's empty. An empty wasteland full of nothingness.'

He perused his surroundings. White stretched out as far as he could possibly see. Wisps of beige smoke floating in a few places added to the surreal setting.

'It's a lonely place,' Lust mused.

He did not reply, his mind too focused on figuring out what he could do to escape, since he did not have the means of igniting flame.

'Don't bother. You're powerless now. After all you don't have a lighter,' she smiled, almost hungrily.

"You b-"

'I don't like swearing,' she cut him off again, tone malicious, 'understand that this is my realm and I will do what I want.'

Suddenly, as he blinked, she lowered his body onto the floor and leaned down, face inches away from his.

'This is a dream. You can finally show your true emotions, Roy, and no one will ever find out.'

His rage drained away, replaced by the sensation of her presence, the completely bizarre context of it all. And he realized that now was his opportunity to do what he should have done, instead of what he had done. The circumstances were different and maybe, if he went along with this, he would stop having haunted dreams.

Her lips caressed him, the sensation hot and tingling and he could do nothing but respond, breathing quickening.

Hands brushed through his hair, claws no longer. He was caught up in desire and guilt for sending this ethereal being to her doom, yet he found that he did not care about what happened in the past or what was going to happen in the future. Only the present mattered.

"I know why you're called Lust," he whispered into her ear as she kissed his neck, the dream so vivid, so real.

"Colonel?"

He was forced to address the speaker, "Yes, Lieutenant?"

"Are you feeling fine?"

"Yes, I am," he lied. "Why?"
For a minute, Riza looked perplexed. Then, gesturing at the sketches on his desk, she answered. "You've just been staring at them for a long time, that's all. It's unlike you to act like that, Colonel."

"Oh," he smiled. "I'm just about to file these away. Just trying to figure out how we'll get rid of the rest of the homunculi."

Riza nodded in response.

"Excellent, Colonel. Sorry for interrupting."

She gathered her paperwork and left his room. Roy was alone to peruse the childish pictures Ed had drawn again, caricatures of the homunculi. There was Envy with a mess of scribbled hair, dots for eyes. Angry. And Lust…

The little boy's sketch was incredulously primitive, but he had captured her air of authority with perfection.

Getting killed by a man like you is not so terrible after all.

Sighing, Roy put a sketch back into one of his messy drawers.

Oh what joy, the years of living through problems and only your eyes the key to the true emotions inside…

Folding the other one carefully, he placed it into his shirt's pocket.