Author's Note: I decided to just make this a somewhat short story (but not too short either since I usually write long chapters.) Because I just wanted to make this as a simple heartwarming holiday fic. (even though I know I already updated this late. LOL. Sorry, I just couldn't find the right words for this story and I just don't have much time in writing fan fictions until now.)

Also I'll just write a new fan fiction that will have the same action-oriented theme as By your side next time. This would just be a prologue to it, perhaps? For now, I'll just focus on finishing my other pending fan fictions. This might not be quite a long story, but I hope you'll like it all the same. Oh and before I start this story, Thanks for reading the previous chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist nor it's characters.


~~~ Warm Winter ~~~


Chapter Two: When a Storm Rages in


Snow started to fall down the stale gray night sky the moment they managed to reach halfway towards their destination.

It has been a quiet trip, but they still got quite a long way to go until they'll managed get back to East City and the snow storm was just starting to get stronger as Roy drove his car carefully under the thick, snow filled road.

It's already dangerous driving in a slippery terrain at night time, but much more when the snow kept storming down on them like this.

If the snow keeps filling up the roads, their car could get immobilized as the snow gets steeper. It would be difficult if they were going to be stuck within the cold road but with this much frost, it wasn't really far off till that happens, much to Roy's fear.

And with Riza sick, he can't really help but worry about her. She claims that she's alright, but she's been quiet the entire trip.

Seeing no car aside from theirs in the road ahead, he turned to look at her and asked, " How are you feeling? "

Riza remained silent, with crossed arms around her chest, she tightly held onto his and her black coat for warmth. She couldn't help but shiver and looked down on the floor of his car ad upon further inspection, he saw that her face looked even more paler than before.

Roy looked back to the road for a few moments, but hearing no reply from her made him even more concerned, so he took another quick glance before he carefully reached out an arm to place his palm on her forehead to check her temperature, " Lieutenant Colonel? " He turned to look at her when he felt her heating up and then called her out again, " Riza? "

Upon hearing her name, Riza managed to looked at him and tried to speak, but no words came out from her dry lips, instead she coughed hard a couple of times. Making Roy even more worried about her and he was just about to pull the car over when she suddenly held on to his arm and stopped him.

Still shivering, she looked up to him and tried her best to smile reassuringly despite herself. " Don't stop... " She faintly said, noticing how frail her voice sounded, she straightened herself and cleared her throat before she spoke once more, " Please don't worry about me, sir. I'll be alright. We need to press on before the snow storms harder on us and we can't risk getting ourselves stranded in the empty open road like this... "

Roy looked back at the road once he heard her was right, it would be better to not pull over right now.

After all, they were driving on a very long empty highway. Hardly any cars ever passed by this time of night, much more in this kind of weather. If their car breaks down due to the rising snow filling up this very moment, he knows that they could hardly find any assistance if that was the case.

With that, Roy could only let out a frustrated sigh due to his helplessness at the situation and just continued driving forward.

Riza leaned back down on her seat and closed her eyes afterwards as she let out a tired sigh of her condition was starting to get worse thanks to the snow storming outside and she knows it.

She let out another soft sigh as she shivered when a cold breeze passed by her even though their car's windows were tightly closed, there's still a very cold draft coming inside which in turn made her feel even more colder than before.

She couldn't do anything but tightly grasp onto her and Roy's coat and held on.

As for Roy, even without looking nor hearing a word from her, he still felt that her condition was worsening.

He knows that they need to reach East City as soon as they can, but he also knows that it'll take a couple or even more hours before they can reach their apartment with the snow as thick as this.

And they just can't afford that time.


A few minutes later, the snow got even more thicker as they passed the highways.

It was also getting even more harder to drive since the snow has already risen up to half of their car's tires and if it reaches their car's engine, that would mean trouble for them.

Noting this, he tried to pick up the pace, but with this much snow, their car felt much heavier than normal so driving any faster is just impossible, which in turn just adds up to his frustration.

Black Hayate and Yuki then whimpered softly from behind, much to Roy's surprise. So after seeing no other car on sight, he turned back to look at the dogs to see if they're alright.

He saw that they were fine, but both looked just as worried about Riza as he was.

Roy looked back at the road before he spoke gently, reassuring the dogs, " Hayate, Yuki, it's going to be alright. Riza's going to be alright, okay? "

Hearing his soft voice, the dogs looked at him for they took a look at Riza one more time, before both Hayate and Yuki calmly laid down on the back seat. Softly wagging their tails to calm themselves while they also huddled close to each other for warmth since they too, were getting cold because of the storm.

Still no city, town, nor even a lone car on looked back at Riza, he saw her eyes closed and clenching in pain as she started panting softly, seemingly breathless.

He reached out his arm towards her forehead once more to check her temperature and his eyes grew wide as she felt her burning up. There's no doubt about it, her fever is getting higher by the minute. They need to reached civilization right now and get some medications.

Making another vain attempt to pick up the pace despite the thickness of the snow and risk breaking their car in the progress, Roy stepped on the gas pedal and he barely succeeded in picking up the slack.

The snow was already as thick and almost as tall as his car's tires. He knows he has to pullover soon, whether he liked it or not.

But the question is where? There's still quite some ways to go before they reached East City and there's no way he would dare pullover in this empty highways.

As he stated earlier this road was seldom traveled, so they're bound to get stranded there until the snow disperses and who knows how long that will take.

Roy looked at Riza once more, it seems like she fell asleep. Her breathing was becoming even more heavy and labored, but it was stable. He felt her forehead once more and she still felt very hot.

Sighing, He then held her left hand and soon felt her body shivering thanks to her fever.

He knows that she won't be able to handle it if they got stuck on his car like this. She needs at least a warm place to be in, if they can't afford a trip to a hospital.

But right now, even that seems impossible since all that he see's ahead is a long straight empty road.

Things were getting desperate, and his thoughts were starting to get frantic, but in a moments notice, he recalls there is a place they could spend the night for awhile. Still, even that may take an hour or so before they get there since it's still a quarter far from their current location and with this much snow building up, it might be too late.

Taking chances, he decided to take a detour and turned his car away from the roads and went straight into the fields to the right.

The snow was just as thick in there as much as there was on the road, however, he knows that it'll take them quicker to the town before East City.

It's not the best towns around as far as he remembered when they somehow pass by it a week earlier. He doesn't even know if they sell any medications around there either.

But if he could get Riza a warm room to sleep in for awhile in that town, then that'll be enough. Roy silently thought to himself as he let go of Riza's hand and placed both of his hands to the steering wheel and concentrated on driving.

He needs to be completely focused and alert when driving into this terrain, after all. Even though the snow covered most of the ground, they're still driving in a rough and rocky land. Who knows what will bump in to them in the path ahead, away from the main roads?

No sooner did he thought of that did he noticed that there was a tall, wide wall of ice a few meters in front of them. Roy hit the breaks hard and forced his car to a complete stop to avoid collision.

He switched gears and tried to moved his car backwards so that he'll be able to turn his car to the left to go around the wall, but unfortunately, their car's tires got stuck deep in the snow.

Noticing that it'll be impossible to get out of there with what he's doing now. He let out a groan, removed his seat belt and prepared to go outside the car even with only his military clothes to keep him all, he can't take his coat away from Riza, she needs it more than he does right now.

Howling winds and piercing shards of glacier greeted him the moment he opened the door, then he immediately closed it shut once he was outside to keep the cold breeze out of his car.

The cold winds were merciless.

It was freezing cold and the strong gust of wind was already making Roy have a very hard time to keep himself from falling down as he made his way to the huge wall of ice in front of them. But to make things worse, visibility was also poor so he clumsily trip on a few rocks along the way.

His legs were starting to get numb when he reached the base of the wall, he felt it and he confirmed that it was made out of solid ice.

He thought that he could break it down easily using alchemy, but since his car was just near, he can't risk sending hurling rocks or shards of ice towards Riza and the dogs because of the explosion.

So he made his way back to his car and bent down on it's tires and tried digging them out of the snow.

Roy didn't care that he was painfully cold outside and kept digging no matter how much his hands and legs felt numb. All that was on his minds was they get out of there and get safely to the nearest town ahead.

Finally clearing the last tire on the back of his car, he groaned as he forced his limping body to stand up straight and hurriedly made his way back inside his car.

As he got inside, he immediately shut the door from behind panting hard, then he leaned into his chair and sighed in relief as he felt a little warmer inside.

" I'm sorry... I feel very terrible that I can't do anything to help you out right now, sir. " Roy was taken aback when he suddenly heard Riza's soft voice.

He turned to look at her and saw that she was staring at his eyes. Her eyes were painfully showing how helpless and worried she was for her superior, " ... I'm really sorry... " she repeated.

He held onto her hands and smiled, " Don't apologize. This isn't your fault and don't worry about me. After all, we've been in worse situations and like them, we'll get through this together. " He said reassuringly.

Hearing that made Riza smile back and tightly held on to his hands.

Feeling his hands calloused from digging with bare hand through the frost outside, she looked back at him in concern, " Your hands... feel so cold... Are you alright, sir? "

Roy just continued smiling at her, " I'm fine. " He insisted as he let go of one of her hands and reached out to her forehead to check her temperature. " You, on the other hand is still burning up from your fever. Are you still feeling nauseous? " He asked and he saw her nod.

" A little bit, but what really hurts me is this strong headache. But I'll be alright... I think I just need some rest... " Riza replied softly.

Roy nodded and gently leaned her down on her chair, " Then please do relax and leave everything to me. I don't want you to strain yourself any more than what you're doing now, so please lean down and rest. " He said as he cupped her face and gently stroke her cheeks as he looked at her eyes, " I'll get us out of here and get us to town, I promise. " He said reassuringly.

Riza's gaze soften upon hearing his words and she lovingly leaned her head to his touch. His hands feels warm and soft on her skin, it was a really sweet gesture coming from Roy and she couldn't help but feel even more comfortable whenever she's with him, even in times like this.

However knowing him all too well that he'll probably do something crazy afterwards. She suddenly leaned in closer to him and embraced him, much to Roy's surprise, " Please don't do anything reckless, sir... " She said once they part and she leaned back to her chair and smiled seeing his shock face.

Even Black Hayate and Yuki were amused at the look Roy was giving from behind.

Realizing he was dazing, Roy shook his head to snap out of his trance and smirked as he moved back to his chair, " I won't do anything that's reckless... " He started as he opened a hidden compartment in the middle of his car, " ...But I might do something that's a little bit crazy. " He said with a boyish smile on his features, making Riza shook her head at the look of him. Then she watched as he got something familiar out of the compartment.

It was his usual pair of ignition gloves.

Although both of them knew that he can now use his alchemy even without it and can just simply clap his hands together once and flick his fingers to ignite sparks of flames at will upon seeing the Truth way back during the Promised day.

In truth, it even doubled in power and there were times, even his own alchemy was too much devastating for him to handle due to its even more destructive strength. So he often told her that he feels that he can control his flames better if he wears the gloves.

Riza watched as Roy closed the hidden compartment and wore his gloves on both of his hands.

Then he started their car's engine once more and changed gears, he looked back and slowly moved his car backwards. Once he was satisfied with the distance of his car to the large wall of ice ahead.

He stopped the engine once more and looked at Riza." I'm going out to blast that wall of ice to pieces, I'll be back in a few seconds. " Roy said abruptly and was about to head outside when Riza suddenly pulled him back in.

For someone who was very ill with a cold, Roy amusingly told to himself that he must give credit to her strength at a later time.

" But that's... that's dangerous! Can't we just go around it? " Riza protested.

Roy shook his head, " No, we can't. I tried it earlier and we just couldn't move to either sides since the snow is too much thick around here. I only managed to clear some snow surrounding our car's tires. But even that's not enough. At full speed, we might be able to break free from the snow and move on ahead. So we have no choice but to moved forward. But in order to do that, we need to have a clear path ahead so I'll burn that wall down. " He explained.

" But... " Riza was still against it, but it was the only way.

Seeing her doubts and hesitation, Roy took her hands in his again and spoke as soon as she looked at him, " Trust me. " Was the only thing he said but that was enough to reassure Riza.

She took a deep breath and nodded. " Please be careful. " She said softly as Roy nod back and smiled, " I will. "

No sooner than he said that, did he turned around and opened the door and went outside, closing the door behind him to seal the frost from coming in.

Riza watched his every move and tightly held on to the black coats on her. She started shivering violently again from her fever and her head ached with pain so much that her breathing became labored again.

She tried to look alright in front of Roy earlier since she doesn't want him to worry about her much but since the snow storm has yet to let up and it was still freezing cold, she doesn't know if she can keep up the act any longer.

Then she looked back at Roy and her eyes soften in adoration. He's out there, in front of the tall wall of ice and his fighting of the raging winds howling from outside. It wasn't any simple storm as well, it's a very violent snow storm.

If she was cold inside the car, she can't imagine how freezing and painful it is to walk outside in this kind of weather.

He doesn't even have any thick clothing on him and was just wearing their usual military uniform to keep him warm since she has his coat with her too.

As much as she denies it to herself at times, She did knew... She knew how much he cares about her. She's also certain that he knows about how much she cares for him as well. But still, she was taken aback on how much he will do just to protect her and jeep her safe.

In truth, she would probably do the same thing for him as well.

Not because he was her superior, nor was it because he was once his father's apprentice and the only eventual successor to his research because of her and even as she saw how much destructive Flame Alchemy can truly be and although she does feel responsible for the destruction his father's alchemy caused in the war with Roy's hands,

She never truly blamed him for it. After all, she herself, had dealt just as much damage as he had. They were soldiers and they had to follow orders.

Even if that was the case though, they still silently kept their beliefs that it could change and she kept believing in his he told her that he can't do it alone and he needs her to be both his eyes from the rear in order to protect him and to set him back to the right direction if he loses his way on the road to the top of the military.

Even though she was ordered to do it, the real reason why she protects him was because she simply just wanted to do it. It's neither an order or an obligation. She'll do it for him and for herself, in order to achieve his goals, which was actually both of their dreams for the future of Amestris, and no one else can ever hinder it.

Not even her terrible cold can change her mind.

Riza coughed and sneezed hard a couple of times afterwards. Her head started spinning again and she felt even more nauseous than before.

Her vision was also starting to get very blurry and her eyes were getting teary and heavy. She was about to collapse and faint but she braced herself and held on as she straightened herself and looked back at Roy.

She saw that he moved back a few distance before he raised his right hand towards the wall of ice and finally flicked his fingers, causing a huge flare of flames exploding towards it. Bits of ice shards cascading everywhere afterwards.

Seeing that got her very worried that some shards might hit him in the process but she saw him flick his fingers again, this time with his left for consecutive times, seemingly unfazed by the explosions. Hopefully he would be alright. She does trust him after all.

When Riza was starting to lose consciousness again, Black Hayate and Yuki let out some whimpers seeing her weak like this.

Hearing them, she mustered up the remaining strength that she has left to look at the dogs and she saw their concerned glances. She reached out a hand to them and gently patted their heads in reassurance.

" I-I'm sorry that you two had to... see me like this. It's just... a case of a bad cold. I know I'll be fine, after a night's rest. I'll be under you two and Roy's care till then... I'm counting at... you guys... " She managed to faintly say.

The two dogs barked in unison, as if in agreement which in turn made Riza smile and patted the dogs softly again for one last time before she felt very weak.

She then looked back in front of the car as her vision started to dim, she laid her head down her chair and watched Roy rushing back towards the car.

It seems like he managed to completely dissipate the wall of ice safely. She was glad to know that he was alright and that was enough for her for the moment. She'll just have to place her complete trust on him to do the rest because she's nearly about to faint and she doesn't know when she'll be able to regain consciousness.

All she can do now is to believe in him.

Roy was only a few meters away from the car now when Riza's head fell to the side and loss all consciousness. Her breathing became a bit more ragged than normal and she continued to shiver violently.

Black Hayate and Yuki started whimpering again once they felt that Riza fainted and those cries didn't get passed Roy, who quickly entered the car and closed the door once he was inside, " Riza? " he called out as he leaned towards her.

His heart skipped a beat when her head fell limply forward. A clear sign that she fainted, her breathing was shallow and ragged, her body temperature was burning up and she was very pale. He knows that her condition has just taken a sudden turn for the worst.

He immediately went back outside the car and went towards where Riza's side was, first he opened the back door to let the dogs out and then he opened her side of the door.

He then removed her seat belt and leaned in closer to her to carefully lift her up to his arms and carried her towards the back.

The dogs watched as he gently placed her down on the back seat and then they hurriedly made their way towards the passenger's seat because they were getting carried away because of the strong winds while Roy closed the door for them as soon as the dogs got inside.

Then Roy placed his black coat below Riza's head as a pillow for leverage. After that, he straightened himself outside and got out a piece of white cloth from his pocket. One of the Ishvalian priestess gave them a couple of towel, like cloths that she knitted earlier as an offering for their service. He told himself to thank the old lady as soon as they get back to Ishval.

He placed the cloth down on the snowy land in front of him and quickly clapped his hands once and slammed his hands on the ground before the cloth gets carried off by the winds.

Hot steam came out after the transmutation and he carefully picked up the now damp warm cloth in his hands. Then he leaned back inside the back seat to place the damp cloth on Riza's forehead. Hopefully it'll help lower her fever.

Riza shivered violently again as soon as Roy placed the damp cloth on her forehead. Thinking that she's still cold, Roy decided to take off his blue military coat, caring not of the cold breeze that hit him as soon as he did. Then he gently placed it over her and tucked it in to keep her warm.

After that, he immediately closed the door and hurriedly made his way to the driver's seat, opened the door and closed it as soon as he got in. Then he proceeded in wearing his seat belt and started the car's engine once more.

Roy looked to his right and saw Black Hayate and Yuki looking at him, then he turned back to look at her and heard that Riza's breathing was slowly becoming more stable.

Then without any more hesitation, he looked back up front and stepped on the gas pedal and proceeded onwards to get to the town ahead.

They'll need to get there as soon as possible even if the storm is raging in and he knows that they'll make it to town safely. Because Riza believes in him and he made a promise to her that everything would be alright and he will keep it and make it so.

Fighting against all odds, Roy sets his eyes on the roads ahead and no sooner than a couple minutes did he saw lights coming from the distance.


~~~ End of Chapter Two: When a Storm Rages in ~~~


Author's Note: I once said that this was supposed to be the last chapter, but I thought of some scenes to make it longer. It's kinda funny how long this chapter became when I couldn't find the right words for it months ago thanks to my terrible writer's block but upon writing this, I really enjoyed writing every bit of this a lot.

Again, I apologize for the long wait and I hope that this chapter compensated for it. It's a far cry on how I usually write, but I hope you'll like it all the same. I never really tried writing a story where the entire chapter involves driving in a car either, so this is new for me. I would like to know what you think of this. Well, see you on the next chapter and Thank you so much for reading.