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Darkness.

That's all Riza could see. She was not blind, she could see herself perfectly fine. No, it was the room itself that was dark, like someone had taken black paint and coated the entire room in the color, from the floor to the ceiling. Riza thought that such darkness would be like ink, that it would not equate to solid walls or a solid floor. Yet, they were somehow just that.

It was a darkness that Riza despised. Since the room was drenched in the unknown, she could not properly see her surroundings. Since the day she had decided she was going to protect Roy, she had conditioned herself to always be vigilant, to always know what was going on. This room, a room that could be hiding anything in its darkness, was the complete opposite of what she had gotten herself used to. The inability to be on the lookout and the complete vulnerability it placed on her was what made Riza hate the darkness.

This detest, however, didn't come without a strong dose of fear for the darkness. Riza knew that the only reason she had been plunged into this place, this inactive recess of her own mind, was because of the fact that she was still deeply unconscience. She was afraid that she'd be trapped in this never-ending midnight forever. She knew her fears would come true if she didn't find her way out of this permanently dark place, which, for her physical body, meant opening her eyes. She'd do anything to escape from this feared yet hated place.

Little did Riza know that the darkness felt halfway likewise about her. It hated her but did not fear her like she did it. Little did Riza know that it would show its hostility towards her very soon.

She was standing at first, her feet placed on ground that shouldn't have been so solid. When she took an attempt at a step, however, she found that it was incredibly slow-going. A downward look at her feet found them suddenly swallowed up by the dark. In a split second, the darkness had seemingly liquified.

In a panic, Riza tried to get her feet free. The darkness, however, was thick. As she struggled, the liquid moved on to her ankles. She suddenly began to fall and she opened her mouth in a soundless scream. She landed in the darkness with a small, muted splash.

Slowly sinking into darkness, Riza couldn't think. She honestly couldn't do much of anything. It was too thick, too omnipresent on her body. Even the task of breathing, which just minutes ago had been simple, now took a great deal of effort as the darkness pressed heavily on her chest. Soon, her entire body, save for her face and neck, was layered in darkness.

At that point, Riza was ready to give up. She wasn't proud of it but it's the truth. She was ready to let the darkness drown her and send her into eternal, quiet silence. She was convinced that there would be no escaping this darkness, so she was close to simply not trying. So close that, had she not heard the voice, it would have happened.

Riza did hear the voice, however. His voice. Riza didn't hear it was being loud at first but, soon, she was hearing him loud and clear. He told her to fight this darkness. Riza's eyes widened in surprise.

'How does he know?' Riza though, her first one since being trapped in the darkness. He had no way of knowing, yet, somehow, he did. He knew just what to say, if unknowingly. No matter how he knew, however, Riza knew that, now, she couldn't give up. She had a feeling that, somehow, he would know if she did.

So, she began to struggle against the crushing darkness. It wasn't a desperate or panicked struggle like when she had tried to get her feet free earlier. This time, it was determined. She wasn't giving up now. That moment of bleakness was over. She was a fighter once again.

Finally, Riza pulled herself out of the darkness, gasping heavily as air fully filled her lungs. She freed her arms and legs from the darkness and slowly regained her footing again. Now that Riza was fully free, the darkness seemed to become part of the ground once more. Riza exhaled a sigh of relief. She had made it. She hadn't lost to the darkness.

Riza's legs, which had been shaking, gave out from underneath her. She fell to the ground, her head knocking hard against the floor. She winced against the pain but a sudden, numbing feeling of exhaustion kept her from feeling much more. Riza slowly began to close her eyes, giving into her body's feverish begging for rest.

Before Riza closed her eyes, she felt a slight spark of warmth on her forehead, like someone had their hand on it. Then, she heard his voice again. He relayed his message in a whisper, yet, once again, it was heard as clearly as if he had shouted it.

"Just keep fighting. I love you. Don't forget that."

Riza could feel her mouth go up in a small smile as her eyes closed.

'I love you, too,' Riza thought, as if she could reply to him in her current state. 'I'll never forget that and I'll never stop either. I'll always fight and I'll always love you...Roy.'