"Winter Slumber"

I don't own FMA. Arakawa Hiromu does.

I don't own the song "Across the Universe." The Beatles do.

Chapter 6: Memories of Blood

Over the next few days, a routine was developed. Marta would wake up, wake up Greed, then have breakfast. After everyone was gone, she'd get up and shower while she still had the freedom to do so (Greed made her stay bedridden while he was there). Next she did small cores that no one had done yet, such as washing the dishes and putting them away to their correct place. Then, if she still had time before everyone started coming back, she'd sneak a few of her books into the bedroom. Hey, it's boring if you're just sitting in bed all day with nothing to do.

But all good things must come to an end. It was the end of the week, and Marta's turn in the bedroom was over. She felt a strange twinge of pain when she remembered this. She brushed it off; it probably came from the sickness. After the drawing of the hat, Marta gathered up her things in the bedroom and brought them back to her usual sleeping spot. Then she bid everyone goodnight and crawled into her sleeping bag.

Somehow, it didn't feel right without a certain someone's strong arms and warm breath.

Deep within the confines of her mind, while she was asleep, horrid images began to form: ones of war, ones of Ishbal, and ones of Lab Five. They replayed themselves over and over, until they were burned into her mind. Again and again, the memories played themselves in morbid fashion, the bloodiest and most painful in order from least to greatest. Eventually, it was too much, and her brain screamed at her to wake up. Which she did.

She lay there, terrified. Her eyes were open, but darkness covered all, making it a bit pointless. Good lord, she hadn't had a dream this mentally horrifying for her since she was a little kid. Back then, she could just go to her parents' room to sleep. But now… What should she do? Going back to sleep right would risk having the same dream, and staying awake was not going to help her get better. And there was no way in HELL that she was going to the bedroom! Waking Greed in the middle of the night would be the same as asking to be killed; he did not like being disturbed. Ever.

She decided to go with the second choice- staying awake, therefore prolonging her cruel nightmare that she knew was coming. But sleep won in the end; she fell asleep a few hours after she woke up, though the nightmare didn't come back, thank God. Instead, she was granted a somewhat peaceful rest. ("Somewhat" because she was still a bit shaken.)

When she woke up at a more reasonable time, it was around eleven o' clock. As Greed's bar wasn't really a bar (at least not at this time of day), most of the residents had left to their jobs elsewhere. A half-asleep Marta finally stumbled out to the table where breakfast was being eaten, not caring that she was tired, or that Greed was right there.

"You okay?" asked Dorochet. Marta gave him a look that said, "Do I look like I'm okay?"

"Rough night?" he said sympathetically.

"You have no idea," she said, slumping onto the table.

"So, what happened, then?" asked Roa casually, sitting down in a chair beside them.

"I had a nightmare last night," she said. "One that I'd rather not talk about."

"And it was bad enough that you didn't get any sleep?" Dorochet asked, the slightest hint of concern in his voice.

"Apparently…" she said, trying to restrain a yawn. Didn't work too well. "I think I'll go back to sleep once I'm done eating breakfast…"

"Try to stay awake until then, okay?" - Dorochet

"That's what I'm doing now," she said, sitting up in her chair. Twenty minutes passed. With her eyelids drooping, Marta called out "Is breakfast ready yet? I won't be able to stay awake much longer…"

"If you can't wait, then go have some cereal or something, 'cause we aren't don't yet." yelled Dorochet from the kitchen. She sighed and got up to get a bowl from the cabinet. As she was opening it and reaching it, you-know-who's hand grabbed hers and said, "You shouldn't be moving around if you aren't feeling well." Crap, I thought he left already… She didn't even bother turning around. She knew who it was.

"I still have to eat, you know."

"Then I'll have food brought to you." It was then that they heard Dorochet's frustrated screech as he was dragged away, literally, by Roa. (He was spying on them. Again.)

"Remind me to give him a raise," said Greed jokingly,

"What! You don't even pay him!"

"Then remind me to start paying him whenever he does that!" he said, laughing.

"Well, you better have enough money, 'cause he does that a lot!" she replied, smiling in spite of herself.

Perhaps Greed wasn't so bad after all.

The rest of the day went by fairly quick; now that Marta was allowed to move around again, she found tons of stuff to do and kept herself busy until the very end of the day. Of course, she forgot about the nightmare. But then it rushing back the second she slipped into her sleeping bag.

Dammit, not again… she thought frustratedly. She was going to beat this thing no matter what, even if she had to force herself to go to sleep. Which she did.

But the nightmare came back.

And she didn't wake up.

That night, Greed was the one who was rudely awakened. He had been sleeping peacefully, when he heard, in his opinion, the most disturbing sound in the world: tears on flesh. He leapt from the bed and ran to the empty room, ripping open the door.

There was Marta, asleep on the floor, her body shaking and tears running down her cheeks. She kept mumbling something he couldn't hear. He sat next to her, and checked her temperature the way he usually did.

Her fever had risen.

Panicking, he lifted her up, sleeping bag and all, and went back to the bedroom. He carefully put her into a position that he could hold her with one arm, then used his other arm to pull back the sheets. Then he placed her and the sleeping bag onto the bed and put the covers back in place, making sure she had room to breathe.

Of course, Marta couldn't stay asleep for long after being moved a lot. She wasn't surprised to find that she was drenched in sweat and tears, but she didn't expect her sleeping bag to be in Greed's bed. Her eyes fluttered open, not quite awake.

"…Greed…?" she mumbled, finding herself under his gaze. She heard him breathe a sigh of relief as she turned to face him.

"You had a nightmare." It wasn't a question; he stated it as a fact.

"Yeah, and?"

"You should've told me yesterday about the first one."

"…And you heard about that where?"

"Dorochet and Roa told me." Marta clenched her fist in anger. Traitors… But then again, if she had told him herself, then this situation might've been avoided.

"You can leave at any time."

"What?"

"Well, you're not really supposed to be in here, so…"

Oh yeah, she wasn't… The painful twinge from before came back for a second. But, wait… she could ask him if she could stay here, right?

"Um…. Actually…"

"Hmm?"

"Can I…. um… sleep with… you… tonight?" That sounded so WRONG! she screamed in her mind. Why couldn't you think of anything ELSE! He gave her a strange look. "I mean, I don't want to be alone if I have a nightmare again…" she clarified, covering her face with her hands to obscure the blush that creeped onto her face.

He smiled at her blushing face and said, "Alright. Just put the sleeping bag back in your room." Her heart lifted as she got out of the sleeping and threw it unceremoniously onto the floor of her room. Then she walked back into the bedroom and flopped onto the bed, face first onto the pillow. It shook a little, which made Greed say "Hey, watch it! Some of us are trying to sleep!"

"Sorry…" she said as she crawled underneath the covers. They laid there, awake, for another hour, until Greed said, "Ya know, you're being awake keeps me awake."

"Well, what do you expect me to do about it?"

"Why don't you sing or something?"

"What're you, crazy! That'll wake the person who's in here!" (Yes, despite all the noise, that lucky kid somehow managed to sleep through it.)

"Not if you sing quietly…" She made a strangled sound.

"Then how are you gonna hear it?" He pulled her closer to himself, leaving about an inch of space in between them. "Greed, I hate you so much right now…"

"Sing, Marta, sing!" he whispered, trying not to laugh.

"Fine…" she said irritatedly. "Just lemme think of one…" A few minutes passed, until she finally started to sing.

"Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup, they slither while they pass, they make their way across the universe…" She paused and took a breath of air. "Pools of sorrow, waves of joy are drifting through my open mind, possessing and caressing me…"

Jai guru de va…

Ohm…

Nothing's gonna change my world…

Nothing's gonna change my world…

Images of broken light

Which dance before me

Like a million eyes

They call me on and on

Across the universe

Thoughts meander like a restless wind inside a letter box

They tumble blindly as they make their way

Across the universe

Jai guru de va…

Ohm…

Nothing's gonna change my world…

Nothing's gonna change my world…

Sounds of laughter

Shades of earth

Are ringing through my open views

Inciting and inviting me

Limitless, undying love

Which shines around me

Like a million suns

It calls me on and on

Across the universe

Jai guru de va…

Ohm…

Nothing's gonna change my world…

Nothing's gonna change my world…

Jai guru de va…

Jai guru de va…

Jai guru de va…

Hello, loyal fans! Didja miss me? Sorry it took longer to update than it usually does; I've been running out of ideas. Hey, I've got the ending planned, it's just that I need more crap leading up to it. I think I've still got two left…and that's not nearly enough…. Wait…

Scratch that, I've got three more ideas.

And they are:

1) Dorochet sees Marta sleeping in Greed's bed. With Greed.

2) Marta starts singing while the bar is open to earn extra money.

3) One of the other sins (Preferably Wrath, Lust, or Envy) comes to visit, and "interferes."

So yes, that's it for now. And the kiriban won't be coming anytime soon, though now I do have close to 700 hits. I'll probably put it off to the last chapter… BUT THERE WILL BE ONE! I PROMISE! SERIOUSLY!

Until next time!