chapter 2: The plan begins...or does it?

That made him feel kind of...safe. What could it be?

The next day, the whole family started to prepare their luggage. Once everything was done, they all got in the car and hit the road. While they traveled, Riza was reading a book, Sienna was staring at the view through the car windows, Black Hayate was sleeping, but Saito kept thinking about what Roy said yesterday.

After 3 long hours of driving, they finally reached their destination- a beautiful wooden house, right next to a lake. Sienna was very excited to be there. The moment they arrived, she immediately jumped out of the car and started to explore the whole place. She grabbed her brother by the hand and dragged him with her, because she rarely went anywhere without him. And without forcing him to come with her. Black Hayate followed them. He often accompanied the children in their little adventures. He was pretty much like their best friend. Their parents were watching them with glee. Roy and Riza loved watching how their children were having fun together. And how their really different personalities were working with each other.

A few hours passed since their arrival. The sun was starting to set. Sienna and Riza stayed at home to prepare the dinner, while Roy and Saito were outside to prepare the table and fire. Roy gave the dishes to the boy and told him to put them on the table, so that there would be one for each person:

-"Here you go, son! Put them on the table, so that there would be one for each person-mama, your sister, me and you."

Saito nerviously took the dishes and started to do what he was told to do, while his father was arranging the fire. He took out his well-known ignition gloves and with one snap of the finger, he created fire. The sound of the snapping caused Saito to shake a little. The boy had a pretty good idea what kind of gloves these were and what they were capable of. He have heard stories about how his father has used them in wars and battles (the murdered homunculi, for example).

Roy did not seem to have noticed that his son got a little scared by the gloves, because he did not react much. He just turned around, standed up and went to the boy. Out of nowhere, when he saw his father coming closer, Saito stepped backward and turned his face in a such direction, so he could not face Roy. Then, he shivered again.

Just by looking at this, Roy felt another heartbreak. Appearantly, showing his son that he loves him and that the child has no reason to fear him, was not going to be easy. In an attempt for a better relationship, Roy decided to start a casual converastion:

-"So...Do you like it here?"

Saito simply barely shook his head as a sign of agreement and gave a quiet "Yes" which was not easy to hear. Roy kept the conversation going:

-"You do know that while we are here you can do anything you want. As long as you do not cause a fire, of course. This is my job."-he tried to put a little humor into the conversation, but Saito did not show much reaction.

Roy saw that things were not going smoothly. He gave a sigh and thought about anything else that he could say, until he heard the quiet sound of his son's voice:

-"D-D-Da...Father..."

-"Yes, son!"-Roy felt a little excited. He thought that maybe he was getting somewhere, until...

-"May I go and sit on that stump, so I can read, while we wait for dinnertime."

Roy felt very disappointed. His face was showing it all. Every one of their conversations was like this one. When he heard that his son wanted to say something, he thought that maybe the child has decided to take part. That maybe he was not as much scared of him as before. But how wrong he was. It seemed that his son wanted to do absolutely nothing with him. There were moments when he thought that Saito maybe even hates him:

-"Yes, you may."-he answered to the boy's question.

Saito immediately rushed to get a book and the moment he got it, he sat on the stump and started to read, without making a noise. Riza and Sienna were finally ready with the food preparations and they started to take all the food outside. When Roy saw them, he gave a little smile. Despite that he himself was feeling miserable, he wanted to look happy in the eyes of the other members of his family, so he that he will not ruin their vacation. But do not get the wrong impression. He was still not ready to give up. He WILL find a way to win Saito's heart.

To be continued...