Don't Leave Me

Chapter 6

Riza woke up the next morning covered in sweat. "Why does that nightmare keep coming back?" she asked herself. She took her uniform out of the closet and set it on the bed before heading to the shower. She spent the entire time in the shower thinking about the nightmare that kept coming back. She quickly dried off, put her uniform on, and brushed her hair. Riza checked the small clock in her room. "It looks like I still have a little time left before I have to meet the Lieutenant Colonel in the hall." she said to herself. She went over to her bag and pulled out her three guns she always had with her, made sure they were fully loaded, and stuck them in her holster. After she was finished she checked the time and saw she had five minutes to be out in the hall. She quickly put her hair up in her brown clip before heading out to meet her commanding officer.

Roy made his way out of his room a few minutes late as always. "Good morning sir." Riza said, her heals taping together as she saluted. "At ease Lieutenant." Roy said. He paused for a moment to study the woman in front of him. "Lieutenant?" he said finally. "Yes sir?" she asked. "There is black under your eyes... Did... Did it come back?" he whispered. The expression on his face went from that of curiosity to concern in the blink of an eye. "Now isn't the time for that sir. We have work to do." Riza said. "Fine, but you have to tell me about it later." Roy said. "Yes sir." she said softly. They made their way down the hall and outside to the streets. Riza looked up at the sky and stopped dead in her tracks. "The sky, it looks just like it did in my nightmare. Please don't let it become reality." she thought. Roy had noticed that she stopped and walked over to her. "Are you ok Lieutenant? You look like you've seen a ghost." he asked placing his hand on her shoulder. Feeling his hand brought Riza back to her senses. "Yeah, I'm fine." she lied. In reality she desperately wanted to go back home to Central but she knew she couldn't. If something were to happen to Roy because she left him alone she would never be able to live with herself.

"Try to stay focused long enough for us to do our job today Lieutenant. Once we are done for the day I am sitting you down and you are telling me everything. I don't like seeing you like this. It scares me because I don't know what to do." Roy told her "I'm sorry for worrying you like this. Just please don't worry about me. I'm just a simple solider and nothing more. Don't waste your energy on me sir." she said back. "We'll talk about this later. Today we are going to ask around and find out what everyone knows. It will make things easier this way." he explained. Riza nodded and followed behind Roy. They spent the day collecting statements from 50 people and were able to figure out a rough location of where they would investigate the next day. By time they made it back to the hotel it was starting to get dark. "Lieutenant, change into something comfortable and meet me out here when you're done." Roy said. "May I ask why sir?" Riza questioned. "When I told you I'm sitting you down and making you tell me everything I meant it." he stated as he walked into his room. "Yes sir." she said quietly and went into her room. She came back out a few minutes later and seen that Roy had beaten her out there. "Let's go Lieutenant. When we were out I found the perfect place for us to talk. It's just a few blocks down the road." he told her. She followed him in silence, not saying a single thing the entire time.

Once they got to the spot Roy had picked for them to talk he unfolded the blanket he brought along and spread it across the grass. He then sat down and motioned for her to join him and she did so. "Now that we are both out of uniform and away from the hotel we can talk as friends and not as co workers. Any ways, I figured this would be a good spot for us to talk. It's quite and away from people. Maybe your mind can be at ease with it being nice out." Roy said breaking the silence between them. "It is a nice spot Roy. My mind is a little more at ease thanks to the clear weather." she said with a slight smile. "Now tell me please, what has been bothering you? I want to know everything so I can try to help you the best I can." he pleaded. Riza took a deep breath and proceeded to tell him everything. About the weather, the fight, and about him dying. By time she had finished she was in tears. "I see. That's why you got pale this morning after seeing the weather. It's all clear now." Roy said. "Yes Roy, that's why I got scared this morning and why I haven't been myself since we left Central." Riza said quietly when suddenly she shivered. She didn't know they would be outside so she did't grab her jacket. This grabbed Roy's attention. He stood up, took his coat off, and put it around Riza's shoulders and sat down next to her. "Can't have you getting sick can I?" he said placing his arm around her, pulling her close. "Thanks, for everything." she said smiling lightly. "There's the Riza I like to see.. I don't get to see you smile much any more and I kind of miss it. But listen, I'm not going anywhere. You don't have to worry about the nightmare becoming reality. I plan on dying an old man not at the hands of another man." Roy assured her. Roy and Riza sat there for a few hours just talking. It was something they haven't done since before the days of the military. And they enjoyed every minute of it.