34. No Way to Say (Ayumi Hamasaki)
A/N: This takes place a few weeks after last chapter. Roy has recovered, and he, Riza, Maes, and Havoc are out scouting to see if they've been found out. They meet up with and elite group from the State—the Homunculi!—and engage them in battle. Maes is caught and, with his abilities, has thrown up a shield so that the two groups cannot interact.
Also, you get a bit of a fluff warning for this. I think I compromised the characters somewhat. They'll be back to normal when I get back to stuff that isn't this universe next chapter, I promise!
"Maes! No!" Riza pounded her fist against the invisible barrier. "You can't do this!"
Havoc's wings unfurled. "I'll get him." He flew up a few yards, then hit something. "A bubble!"
The Homunculi stood in a half circle, and Maes was easily visible to Roy, Riza, and Havoc. Envy raised a gun.
"Fight back, Maes! Fight back!" Riza screamed.
Roy felt powerless to watch this happen. But what could he do? Those barriers resisted everything. He'd already tried his fire with no luck.
"Maes!" Riza was fighting back tears.
Raising his head, Maes did his best to smile bravely.
"Good bye?" Riza whispered, horrified. "Maes, no! Let me see through your eyes—maybe there's a weakness!" Riza focused on her co-leader's eyes, though tears started to fall in earnest.
Trying to break the contact, Maes shook his head, but Roy could see that Riza was doing what she could.
Envy looked up on the hill and grinned horribly.
Then he pulled the trigger.
Riza collapsed. The barrier disappeared.
Roy's mind kicked into high gear. What he had just witnessed was shocking, but they had to get out of there, and fast. The gap between them and the Homunculi was quickly being closed. He grabbed Riza and hoisted her onto his back.
"Havoc, we need to go. Now. We have no choice. We'll come back for him later, I promise, but we'll meet the same fate as him if we stay!" Roy sent up a wall of flames to disguise their escape path and began to run, Havoc only half-heartedly flapping beside him.
The whole compound was in a state of shock. One of their own—a leader, no less—murdered in cold blood. And yet, those who were with him couldn't be blamed. The moment he had been caught, his life had been in the Homunculi's hands.
It was a good thing Riza could block out the thoughts of others, Roy was reminded. He could only imagine what she must be going through. She had been in Maes's head when he'd…
"And it was like nothing else. I shouldn't have, but if there was some way… I feel responsible," Riza said from Roy's door.
"You shouldn't be doing that right now. It's not healthy," Roy told her.
Riza entered the room. "I'm stepping down. As leader, I should've done more."
"As leader, you have to help everyone move on. You can't dwell on the past unless it helps create a future."
"You should step up. You're not so involved."
Roy looked angry. So that's why she's here. "Only because I'm new. If I'd been around as long as you have… You'd be turning your back on everything you stand for. I won't let you do that, no matter what kind of leader I'd make. I'll step up if they let me and if you agree to keep your position unless you are voted truly unfit for the position."
Riza glared right back, but not for long. Her face morphed into the expression of pure grief. "I am unfit. I'm a failure."
Roy pulled her against him. "You're not. You can't save everyone all the time. I know that if you could have prevented this, you would have. Maes would have, too. But some things you just can't change. It's hard, but you have to learn to live with yourself, no matter what."
To this, Riza had nothing to say. She just stood where she was. Here, in private, she could fall apart, wishing that none of this had happened, that she had never discovered her power, but she kept coming back to Roy's words. Strange how, despite their harshness, they helped.
"Time to go remember a great man," Roy informed her.
"And to pledge to carry on what he started, the way he would have done so," Riza sighed.
It wasn't perfect. It wasn't happy. But it was all that could be done at the moment to move past Maes's murder.
That would just have to do.
A/N: This was really hard to write. I had to stop several times just because it was getting hard to keep watching this scene over in my head. It also feels a bit rushed, but I'm trying to tell the parts of the story that I want to tell. If I find a better way to do so, I will come back later and break this up as I see fit.
Also, it was mentioned in a review that Riza's ability is reminiscent of Noah's from the FMA movie. This is completely unintentional, but I thank you all for putting up with it, and for honestly letting me know when something's weird. I like to know these things. :)
Let me know what you think of this!