"Hello, Maes," whispered Riza, the late afternoon cloaking her in a lovely mixture of light and shadow.
The somber gray headstone at her feet said nothing. She gently laid a bouquet of pink roses at its base. The delicate petals settled against the stone in a soft hush. Riza straightened and brushed her bangs out of her eyes.
"Roy couldn't come today," she explained, "He said he has a lot of work to do. I swear he practically lives in the military library these days."
A quiet breeze whispered through the cemetery, turning the grass into an ocean of silver waves. Riza's bangs fell back across her face. She didn't seem to notice.
"He's thinned out a bit too," she said, "I know you always gave him grief for getting soft behind that desk of his!"
The laugher that escaped her lips bruised the evening.
"I visited Elicia the other day."
The shadows fell more heavily across her face.
"She's gotten so tall."
The pain of her fingernails digging into her palms ricocheted inside her head.
"Gracia's trying to teach her to make apple pie."
Her shoulder's began to tremble.
"She's really, really good at it!"
Riza's gaze bore into the name staring back at her, forever silent.
"She misses you!"
For once, she let her vision grow bleary.
"I miss you…" whispered Riza as tears slid down her cheeks.
Then, as quickly as they came, she chased them away with the heels of her hands.
"Today is not a day for rain."
She straightened and saluted the silent witness in front of her.
"I know you worry about the Colonel, sir," she said, "So I intend to overwhelm him with pictures of Black Hayate."
The somber gray headstone at her feet said nothing.
"The assault begins tomorrow."