100 themes FMA

Theme: 28: The Gate of Truth

Characters: Roy Mustang, Riza Hawkeye

Universe: Manga/Brotherhood

Words: 759

Warnings: PTSS

Roy felt his heart thump and jerked awake, his eyes snapping open. They didn't show anything but darkness, but for a moment this was actually a blessed relief; complete darkness was the exact opposite of the image that still lingered in his mind's eye, the nightmare that had awoken him.

"Sir...?" he heard movement in the next bed; he must've woken Riza up. "Are you alright?"

"I'm sorry, did I wake you?" he apologized, moving his head around partly out of habit and partly to listen for the sounds around him. "What time is it?"

"Hmmm..." he could hear her reaching for her side table, the slight tapping of her fingers as she felt for her watch. It must be very late, or very early, and not much lighter for her than it was for him. "It's oh-three-eighteen hours, sir. What happened? Nightmare?"

"Yeah..." Roy carefully lay back down, feeling how he'd shifted in his sleep and moving back to the middle of the bed. "About the Gate of Truth. I finally know what the Elrics meant by that..."

"What is it, sir?" Riza asked. He could hear the click of a lamp being turned on, to allow her to see him better, but not a speck of light filtered through to him. It made him feel naked, isolated, but he could always trust in Riza Hawkeye, always at his back, always with her sharp eyes. "If you don't mind my asking."

"It's like... a white space, with nothing but, well, the Gate," he said, feeling that the words were too mundane to describe that place. "A huge stone gate, and guarding it is... a person."

"A person, sir?" Riza prodded. "What kind of person?"

"Me, I think," Roy said wryly. "But not me... those parts of me that I deny, perhaps, the parts that make up a me that I don't want to be? I don't know... but I think if you'd met him, you'd have shot him." He laughed a little, and heard Riza laugh dutifully.

"Were you having a nightmare about that person?" She asked softly. Roy could hear the layers in her tone, the ones he had been so adept at deciphering in her face. He knew what she was thinking of, the him that he nearly was when fighting Envy, and hoped that she didn't nightmare too often about him.

"No, it was the Gate," he said, struggling to find the words. "Behind it was... everything. All at once. It was too much, too much to comprehend, swarming and drowning..." he shook his head. "I can't describe it. It's like being trapped in a void, but the opposite, because instead of nothing it's everything. I don't know how to explain it..."

"I suspect it's a difficult place to explain," Riza said calmly. "You've been dreaming about it?"

"Pretty much," Roy sighed, dropping an arm over his eyes, more for the comforting pressure on his face than anything else. If he pressed hard enough, little stars appeared, which was as close to sight as he could get. "It wasn't just me... it's been delayed, but it hit me: those boys saw it too. As children. I thought I was going to die in there! How did they survive?" He could still see the ones drowning with him, the ones who had attempted human transmutation; the screaming young woman, the crying children, reaching for each other even as they bled and bled and their bodies were torn apart...

"Perhaps part of them didn't," Riza said quietly. "But they're strong. Just like you are, sir. They recovered, in time, and so will you. You just have to use the Truth that you learned for the benefit of this country."

"Yeah... I sacrificed a lot to get here," he said, pressing on his eyes again. "I guess this is a sign that the time for dreaming is past... time to make my visions reality."

"Still, we can't help our nightmares," Riza said, the light clicking and her bed squeaking as she settled back. "Just remember that you're not alone, sir. I'll be here, sir, if you ever feel like you're alone in the dark."

"I know." Nothing more needed to be said, but he just had to defuse the tension. "So you'll be here when I wake up? Is that a promise for every night?"

"Go to sleep, sir," Riza said firmly. "If you're having trouble getting to sleep, I'm more than willing to help you."

"Goodnight, Hawkeye," Roy laughed, dropping his arm and drifting off.

"Goodnight, sir."

The Gate really is freaking TRAUMATIZING. I would have nightmares forever about being dragged away by freaky black hands. GAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH.

I don't own any of the rights to FMA. Sadly, Arakawa-sensei's lawyers aren't as thick as Yoki.