The sun

Part I

He could see the pain she was trying to hide while the distance between them increased.

She was smiling, nonetheless, knowing how important it was for him to have her support. But he could see how hard she was trying to keep that expression in place.

They knew of that separation from many months now, way before the news, that made him fearful of leaving her side, were of their knowledge. He felt his heart tighten in his chest and his hand, waving in farewell, only wanted to touch her hair and bring her face closer to his own, whispering soothing words, while watching her shy smile erupt in her face.

She was watching him disappear in the distance. His raven-colored hair mixing with the smoke released from the train.

She felt her eyes sting and damned her inconstant thoughts. She was the one that made him promise that he wouldn't put a damper in his official meetings because of her, because of her condition, and now, here she was, unable of hiding her emotions when he needed her to be strong and tough like she normally was.

"Ma'am..." someone called and she turned around, seeing the blue dressed man waiting for her. She sighed, hating all those unnecessary bureaucracies, when she was perfectly able of protecting herself when provided with the right ammunition. She blamed Roy and his officials, always trying to cuddle her when she could kick their assets with a hand behind her back. Nonetheless she followed him, rolling her eyes with all his "Ma'am" and "Mrs. Mustang" and "First Lady" and she was sure to choose one of their old friends the next time her husband had to travel without her.

"And how is your delightful wife? We expected her here..." the emperor Ling said, in a rather formal way, different from how he would talk when they were alone.

Roy could note the corners of his mouth trembling and he knew his old companion was trembling with repressed laugh.

"She is glowing, but unfortunately the travel was too long for her and we thought it was best for Riza to stay at home this time." when he said that a pang of fear shot through his body, making him shiver and regret his decision. He shouldn't be here, he should be with her, supporting her, helping in every way he could. Roy knew how stubborn she could be, he knew she would try to do things on her own, refusing any attempts of help that she could see as an indirect way of calling her weak. He knew that and he also knew he couldn't stay much longer.

"Emperor, could we sign our agreements today instead of tomorrow? I'm not feeling very well and would be a shame to stop the new train rails from starting their construction..." he asked and with a mischievous smile Ling nodded. The man knew him too wel...

"Not now, not now" she kept begging in her mind, while the pain almost ripped her apart.

She had felt a lot of pain during her life: the burn of his flames, the blade of the sword that cut her neck, the bullets' wounds, all of the training in the academy... But it was the first time she was feeling the pain from inside, the first time that wherever she ran she couldn't escape from its clutches. She wanted him there, she wanted to scream for help, but her throat wasn't working and all she heard was a small sob. She knew this pain was not normal, she knew it wasn't supposed to be that way. Why couldn't she scream? Why couldn't anyone hear her silent tears? She felt her conscience slip away and the last thing she heard was a faraway, familiar voice calling her name.

This is the first part of a two-part shots. From now on, the shots won't have a chronological order like the first ones, but it will be clear when everything happens, as soon as you read it. This happens because my ideas are always jumping from different scenes of their lives and I don't want to wait to write a lot of chapter to post another.