Disclaimer: Arakawa is the owner of Fullmetal Alchemist. No profit is being made from this.
Comments: I wanted to try something with the 100 Royai prompts. I also wanted to bridge the 2-year gap between the anime and the movie. Plus, the movie begged for a conclusion, so here is my take on things. Please excuse OOC-ness, enjoy and please tell me what you think of it. Allons-y!
Riza's arm twinged with every step. Every breath she chocked in rattled through her battered lungs, leaving her gasping when she exhaled. There was a tiny voice of doubt, but she squashed it down. Just get to the Fuhrer's mansion, don't think about anything else. Every step brought her closer to where she needed to be. Riza prayed, for the first time in her life, that she wouldn't be too late.
She saw the shrub-lined interlock path. She was almost there.
Her dependable gun found its own way to her hand. Her right arm tightened, a normal nervous habit that she despised. The pain, which had faded to a dull throb, flared up again.
"Colonel!" In her haste, she called out his former rank.
There was no sign of her superior officer. And what was that thing standing with its back to her?
One shot. Riza's arm shook uncontrollably, Irritated, she steadied the gun with her other arm.
Two, three, four more shots and the obstacle between her and her commanding officer were down. It looked like that monster, Archer. But never mind that, where was Roy?
Riza looked around, confused by his absence. Where was he?
"Colonel? Where are–!"
She spotted him, collapsed on the front steps. The world stopped turning. Riza ignored the persistent ache in her burning lungs and legs, running to his side faster than she could ever remember running.
There he was, lying in a growing pool of blood. It looked like he'd won, but at what expense? She shook his shoulder.
"Please open your eyes! Colonel! Roy Mustang!" Her voice rose, panicking when he did not respond.
No suave grin assuring her, no sudden laugh at her expense. She pulled her hands away and stared blankly at them. The wet blood glistened eerily in the flickering light cast by the burning mansion.
I'm too late.
The heavy, rusty scent of blood was all Riza could register in her numb mind. Her vision blurred as scalding tears slipped unbidden to her eyes, shoulders shaking uncontrollably.
Riza wasn't sure if the scream that echoed in the vacant courtyard was hers. She didn't really care that her arm pained or that the blood was seeping into her clothing.
The world felt like it was falling apart. She didn't want this victory if the price was his life. Riza clung to Roy's unmoving form as if he would hear her cries and return.
Prompts: Gunshot, The scent of blood