I knew the happy stuff wouldn't last. I had a bad week.
Requiem For the Brigadier General is a good piece for this. Nice and sad. Again, off the Brotherhood soundtrack, because that's how I spend my time. Listening to anime soundtracks and writing anime fanfiction and watching anime. Living the good life, oh yeah.
Disclaimer: If I owned FMA, this wouldn't have been written, because Hughes wouldn't have died.
She knew when she married him that it would be dangerous. One doesn't marry a soldier expecting him to be completely safe.
Yes, she would hope, hope that his mostly-desk-job would keep him somewhat out of harm's way. But to expect him not to do anything was foolish. Not like Maes at all.
He always did try his best to help people.
She would always worry, she couldn't help it. Those late nights spent watching out the window, steaming mug of tea sitting forgotten in her hands as she waited for their car to pull up in the driveway. But not once did she doubt him.
It's okay to put faith in others.
She wanted only to help him, to protect him. He was hers, her silly, adoring husband. But he was also a Lieutenant Colonel in the Amestrian military, a war veteran. She couldn't help him in this, for all that they were partners in everything else. So she trusted his friends to keep him safe in the place she couldn't, and she trusted in him to come home at the end of each day. And he did, every day, no matter the hour. He would always bounce in the doorway and wrap her up, kiss her, and apologize for being late. And she would watch as he crept into their beautiful daughter's room and lightly plant a kiss of her head, humming a quiet lullaby even if she was long asleep.
I'll be home extra early, 'kay?
Elysia was too young to understand when that promise was broken. She just knew that Daddy was late. She still expected him to come home, asking her mother to wake her when Daddy got home.
Mommy, why are they burying daddy?
Too young. Too young to know that Daddy wasn't going to wake up. Too young to know that Daddy wouldn't be able to kiss her goodnight anymore, or hum a lullaby, or take her out on her tricycle to the park. No more endless pictures, no more scratchy hugs and kisses. She saw only the uniformed men solemnly piling dirt into the grave, and Mr. Armstrong crying, and Uncle Roy was upset, even if he didn't speak, and she wanted to know why.
I love you, my Gracia.
No more mornings spent wrapped up in each other, lying in bed and feeling their hearts beat together. No more phone calls in the middle of the day, just to say 'I love you'. No more silly jokes or family dinners, or dinnertime phone calls when he was running late.
Love you too, Maes.
She would still wait, when the day was hard and the night was long. She would still sit by the window with a cup of tea in her hands and a blanket around her shoulders, even though the car was in the driveway and the street was empty. Because he wasn't home yet, and she had promised to wait for him.
One of the oldest human needs is having someone wonder where you are when you don't come home at night.
~ Margaret Meade
I love that quote. Review, if you would be so kind.