A/N: Hello, sweeties! It's been a while since I passed a fic here that I had a hard time managing and publishing it. I started writing this two years ago for Royai day (but I wasn't able to finish it). I planned to make this as a companion fic to Shared Umbrella. This fic is very simple. I'm also testing myself if I can really write a royai fic. I also decided to finish all those unifinished royai fics I had. Please read my profile for more information. Fun fact: While I was writing this, it started raining, just like when I was writing Shared Umbrella years ago. I missed the rain, to be honest. And this story was inspired by Rie Fu's I want to think I like Rainy days.
I had a dream where I was in the opening of a cloud
But it was like I was crying, looking up at that sky
Crying as much as I could cry
Crying as much as anyone could cry
-I want to Think I Like Rainy Days by Rie Fu
Warmth in a Rainy Day
It was a gloomy day in Central. It has always been like that ever since the tragedy happened.
The rain had not stopped for days. Roy Mustang looked at the dark grey sky from his window, thinking that the sky was mourning for them…for him. He closed his eyes and memories of Maes Hughes played in his mind. He had always been there for him, always giving out a helping hand whenever he needed it. He felt so guilty because he was not able to help his friend when he needed it during that time. He couldn't save him…and now he was dead.
"Colonel Mustang."
He opened his eyes and he looked at the person standing a few feet away from him. Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye was looking at him with worry etched on her face. He slowly touched his face and he can feel the wet tears on them. He didn't notice that he was crying already. He was about to reach on his pocket to get his handkerchief but Riza went immediately beside him and she wiped off the tears on his face with her own handkerchief. He was slightly surprised by her actions that he stared at her with his mouth a little agape. Riza noticed his reaction so she awkwardly stopped and looked slowly away from him.
"Thank you, Lieutenant." He managed to say.
"You're welcome, sir."
She went over his table and she put a stack of paper for him to sign. Roy sighed as he started doing his work. Moments later, he stopped writing. He faced the window again. He can't really concentrate on his work. The sadness was ripping him apart, the guilt was killing him but he was still able to not let others see his most vulnerable state so he still went to work that day. He looked around the room. The place was quiet for once. The others finished their work early. Only the Lieutenant stayed to help him with his work.
"Sir, if you really can't do your work today, you can go home now and take a rest. It's obvious that you haven't had a decent sleep after the…after the funeral." Riza told him, hesitance was evident in her voice.
Roy stared at her. He was feeling guiltier now because he was making her worry.
"Why don't we go home together then?" he uttered, making her look at him with an astonished look on her eyes.
"Well, it seems that you haven't had a decent rest too, so shall we go home now and have our much needed rest?" he continued.
Riza nodded in agreement. "If you insist, sir. Just let me clean this all up"
After a while, they were now standing below the canopy on the entrance of the building. Roy has already his umbrella opened but Riza was struggling to open hers. Roy helped her but he accidentally broke it, now, the umbrella can't be used anymore.
Roy, feeling a little embarrassed offered her his umbrella. "We can share it… It's wide enough."
"But sir…"
"Come on, it's fine with me. I will walk you home." He insisted.
Riza couldn't do anything but agree. She slowly or rather shyly went beside him under the same umbrella. Roy smiled inwardly as he looked at her.
The rain started falling down hard on them as they walked on the wet road. Roy looked straight ahead. He was feeling the awkward silence between them.
"I think I'm starting to like rainy days…" he said, trying to break that silence.
Riza looked up at him. "What do you mean by that, sir?"
Roy looked straight ahead and watched how the rain drops fall on the ground. "I think I'm starting to like it because the sound it makes at it falls down on the pavement, on the roof of the building, on the window… It sounds like a lullaby to me, recently."
He coughed when he realized the things he's been saying and Riza's silence was making him uneasy.
"Well, at least we won't be hearing some complaints anymore from you when it rains; it's really a good thing." Riza said after a while.
He looked at her and he was pleased because of her amused expression. He smiled weakly as he realized something.
"There are times it still make me feel crushed and broken though," he uttered suddenly in a low voice. "The rain…and what happened to Lt. Colonel Hughes."
Riza didn't say anything but he was sure the atmosphere between them changed. It became heavier.
"Just look at them…" he continued, pertaining to the rain as they hit the ground and split into tinier particles. "I wish I could do that too. I want to split this sadness, and divide them until they are gone. That would be better, right?"
Riza just nodded in response. It might not be obvious but she's feeling down too because she couldn't say anything that could comfort him. She glanced at him and she could see his eyes, his eyes full of remorse and sadness.
The rain ensued on descending as they trudged their way down on the cobbled stoned street of Central. Around them were beautiful flowers which were being replenished by the rain. Roy sighed once again then he glanced at Riza. He couldn't actually read any emotion in her face right now. Did he disappoint her by going suddenly all emotional? Did he disappoint her by showing his weakness? He felt a wave of shame as he thought about that.
Riza looked back at him which slightly surprised him so he looked straight ahead. What was that just now? He could feel that Riza was still looking at him and he actually breathe a sigh of relief when he saw her looked straight ahead too.
Maes had always been there but Riza and his other men were too. But to tell the truth, he felt more connected to Riza more than anyone else. She's been there, saving his butt whenever he made some wrong decision in the battle field; she had always there to keep him on track. She could be bossy but it's actually fine with him. He really liked getting her attention so he did things that will make her fired up. He inwardly chuckled when he thought of that.
She was so pretty and he loved looking at her deep brown eyes. Somehow, they remind him of their childhood, of the summer heat and the green pastures and of the sudden gust of cool wind. Nostalgia gripped his heart. He missed the old days and her young girlish laughter as they played under the rain, back when everything was still okay.
"I'm also starting to think that I like you too." he suddenly whispered.
"You're saying something, Colonel?"
"No. It's nothing." He answered while screaming at himself internally for being foolish and not watching his words.
They arrived in Riza's house a moment later. She bid him goodbye but stopped then looked back. Colonel Mustang was still standing there. An idea came in her mind as she looked at him. Maybe, just maybe, she can help him nurse his battered soul. Maybe she can comfort him and make him happy even just for a while.
"Do you want to go inside, sir?"
"What?" Roy looked at her, astonished.
Riza tried her best to hide her embarrassment. "I just want to ask if you want to go inside my home. I can make you some hot chocolate drink…if you want."
Roy stared at Riza for a few seconds then the corner of his lips tugged upward into a warm smile. "Sure, Lieutenant. That's so nice of you."
"Anytime, Colonel." Riza was also smiling.
They walked inside Riza's home taking comfort in its warmth and at the mere fact that at that moment, they were together.
He could see himself of the past where he was still a kid and she was too and they were drinking hot beverages together as they watched the rain fall down outside the window, he once wished to stay like that forever even though he knew after a while he will have to study again under her father's tutelage. He once wished that they will never have to leave each other's side.
Maybe, that was what Roy really need to silence the turmoil in his mind, her to be by his side for her presencealways brought him pure bliss and peace.
A/N: How was that? Please review if you have time.
