Author's Note: This is one of my first attempts at Roy Riza. It's just a ramble on how cruel I thought it was of Riza to ask Roy to destroy the array on her back, not that I blame her. I support her decision but I think it was cruel to Roy and he deserved it.
Disclaimer: I don't own FMA
Cruel by November Murray
Roy would never describe Riza as cruel. She was a sniper, she was clam and collected in the face of life. She stared down her scope with trained apathy. She trained on the range every day so her skills never dulled, so she only ever needed one bullet to kill an enemy. She took in a stray dog out of compassion. She had a kind word for everyone, even him. No, Roy could not describe Riza as cruel but she had been cruel to him.
Riza flinched when Roy rubbed the cream over the shinny burn. An apology bubbled to his lips but she would shoot it down so he bit it lip and said nothing. She was tense as he bound the burn tightly to keep out infection. She did not look at him, simply walked into the bedroom and shut the door. There were no words to say.
He had burned her. Years later he looked back at the mark, ran his fingers over the scar tissue, the ruined skin. He thought that maybe cruelty was not her intention but simply a byproduct of the request.
At the time it had only stung.
She had been shaking as she knelt in the dirt, her shirt pressed to her chest and her back barred to him. Though it was chilly it wasn't cold, it wasn't even fear. No, it was terror. She was terrified of him. The young woman who had made him tea when he wanted to quit his studies, who held his hand on the anniversary of his parents' death, who had brought life and laughter back to the Hawkeye house after her mother died, she was terrified of him.
So it had to be done. There would never be another who could hurt her as he had to. There would never be another to cause the atrocities that his hands had. There would never be another monster like him.
But in her cruelty she saved him. When he was ready to descend, to become cynical and cold she was disappointed in him. When he was ready to become the weapon on fire when told she called him a monster. When he lost hope in his dream she still had faith.
She was not strong. She was not a genius. She was not a leader.
She was tired. She was burdened. She was a soldier.
She was human.
And she made a request he could not refuse.
"Release me from this burden so there will never be another monster like you."
Yes he could do that. He could dirty his hands once more for her. He could see himself truly reflected in her eyes and he could change. If she were by his side he could change more than himself, perhaps, he could change the world… or at least start it.
No, Riza was not cruel.