ZThemes

‘I-It’s going to rain today…’
‘Yes.’

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Roy and Riza, Fullmetal Alchemist #25

This, this just completely sums up why these two are so unbelievably, so fundamentally wonderful. For once, Roy is truly letting his guard down, no jokes, no sarcasm, no cutting remarks or brush-offs, he knows he’s losing it, he knows he’s about to break down, he’s let everyone else go so he’ll be alone except for Riza, except for her, and she knows, she won’t stand beside him but she’s just behind him, just waiting for him to get through it, not quite there but not alone either, she would never leave him alone. And for once, Roy doesn’t know what to do, how to react, he’s lost everything, and it’s as though he’s asking for permission to grieve, because shouldn’t he be the strong Colonel Mustang? Colonel Roy Mustang, so “egotistical”, “lazy”, “incompetent”, should he, the “Hero of Ishval”, be allowed to admit his grief and his emptiness and his sorrow? So he just manages to brokenly say those five words, he chokes them out, he barely manages to keep his voice level, he can’t look anywhere but at the clear blue sky, that has taken his friend away from him forever, and he can’t stop himself, he can’t deny his helplessness, his tears, but he says it as an admission of guilt, an apology, an acceptance that he hasn’t been strong like always, but he is incapable of preventing this awful, aching grief. And Riza, she will not comfort him, will not react to him, she knows how far she is being let in just by being there with him, and her response, it validates and forgives him, it comforts and calms him, it accepts and protects him, it is enough, she is enough, and she knows that now she is the only person he truly has left, and she doesn’t need to tell him so. She is there, she will always be there, watching his back, protecting him always.

(via aheartmadefullmetal)

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