Roy woke a few hours later; his vision which was initially blurred became clearer. He was staring at his grey ceiling; he could hear the heavy pour of rain right outside his window and the howling of the wind seemed to have every intention to blow down the roof of his house. He turned to the right; only to see a person lying on the floor near to him. He blinked a couple of times and realized that it had long blonde hair. His heart jumped as he bounced up from his bed and noticed that he was wearing his sleeping attire, before a shot of pain travelled up to his brain; his head became heavier. He placed his own palm on his forehead; looks like the fever had not receded. He approached the sleeping lady whom he knew was his lieutenant; she seemed to have been in a kneeling position before falling sideways when she fell asleep. The colonel looked giddily at the clock hanging on the wall; 11am? He was out for so long; besides that was the lieutenant the one who brought him back home?

He settled next to her; and without thinking much of the consequences he patted her head gently. "Thank you" With his existing strength; he carried her to his bed. She was sleeping so soundly that the colonel was afraid that his movement might disturb her. Thankfully, she was quite deep in sleep; he pulled the covers for her and left her side. He turned to the kitchen table; he was little hungry however he did not expect that there was food on the table. It was covered by a warmer; there was a note right beside the rice. Colonel; this is the best I could whip up using the ingredients in your fridge; I had a feeling you would wake and feel hungry. Hope you don't find the fish too salty. – Hawkeye.

The colonel removed the warmer; he was amazed his lieutenant's cooking skill. All the colonel remembered he had in the fridge was some instant curry powder and a single red sea bream, but the dishes that he was seeing now did not seem plain. His spoon dug into the curry rice and ate a spoon full; it was not at all instant in fact it was delicious. Homemade. The fish was not at all salty; instead it was sweet.

He heard a groan from behind; the colonel turned around to see that the lieutenant had pushed the pillow to the floor and now she was looking for it with her eyes closed. Like an adorable child missing a favorite toy. He approached her and replaced the pillow in her hands; the colonel noticed a small grin.

"Colonel? Colonel!" The grin disappeared and the woman's face was red to a certain degree, she bounced awake and began to panic. "I am so very sorry!" she apologized profusely for sleeping in his bed; but she had a hand on the colonel forehead as well. "You are still having a fever." Her tone was of a worrying wavelength. She got up and pushed the colonel back onto his bed; she herself stride to the fridge and was rummaging for something. She was also muttering under her breath, the colonel who was forced back to his bed could only watch. "Colonel, please have some of this. I bought it from the pharmacy earlier." She insisted when she returned holding a cup of pink liquid. The colonel obliged unwillingly.

After the unwelcomed commotion; the colonel was left lying in bed. A damp cloth on his forehead and the lieutenant sitting on the chair next to the kitchen, there was a thick blanket of awkwardness between the two soliders. Besides the fact that it was the first time any woman visited his house, the first who did enter his house was his lieutenant and he was sick like a washed up cat. The heavy rain outside had kicked up into a fierce storm, while the two figures stayed far apart from each other. Several minutes passed; when the colonel heard the scrapping of the chair; he cast a glance to the blonde woman. She had left from the chair and was heading to the mirror he was at earlier this morning. She scanned the calendar that was left hanging there the day before. Does she know that today was his birthday? The lieutenant walked away and approached him, she was fondling with the towel on his head. It was no longer damp; she removed it and headed to the bathroom.

The colonel felt very strange; the lieutenant had not spoken a word ever since she apologized for sleeping in his bed. Which was not even her fault as he was the one who carried her to it; he was not feeling that warm any longer; seeing that he was alright, the colonel headed to the bathroom where the lieutenant had disappeared to. He was at the door when he heard a soft sob. He peered in, only to find the lieutenant leaning against the basin; she was shaking and her eyes were very red. Tears was also flowing down her cheeks, the colonel was shocked; he rushed in. "Are you alright? Why are you crying, is something hurting you somewhere?" He asked as he pulled her to himself; her head was in his chest. She jumped in her skin however she did not pull away. "Do you hate yourself for being born?" she whispered.

The question caught the colonel off guard; how did she found out about it; he did not exactly hate himself for being born instead it was his birthday he disliked. He breathed in and sighed. He led the lieutenant by the hand to the living room; both of them sat on the bed.

"It may not concern you, but can you listen?" he asked with sincerity. He would not have told anyone, but this was the lieutenant. She was different. She nodded slowly; her hands were still in between his.

The colonel stares at the ceiling. "There was a period of time where the sky did not turn grey on my birthday, and that time was when my parents were still alive…" The lieutenant blinked, she had never heard him mention his parents before. The colonel continued "It was after celebrating my 7th birthday, we were driving back home from the movie theatre. I was sitting with my mother in the back seat when I decided to be playful; I noticed that the door wasn't locked and during the next stop light, I ran out from the car. My mother rushed after me, at that very moment the light turned green. Everything happened too quickly, my mother was knocked down by the speeding van. I turned around and saw my mother a few feet away bleeding to her death. While my father who had stopped the car and ran out looking for us; only to be killed by the same van…" the colonel's voice shook as he recounted his memories. "I stood at the opposite road and watched my parents life drained away; they died because of me. On my birthday, I am constantly filled with regret. Every year after that accident, the sky had been dyed grey and I forgot how to be happy on my own birthday."

"Don't die…please don't die…it was all my fault, I caused your death…I am so sorry…I was the one who was supposed to die. That sentence that the colonel was murmuring during his sleep was finally understood. She had been taking care of the colonel ever since she managed to drag him back from the office to his house. When his fever hit the peak, he was muttering this in his sleep. And she feeling awfully helpless and confused at the same time could only sit by his side and pray that he would tide over this sickness.

"Colonel, you are putting too much blame on yourself." She said at last breaking the silence between them, he stared at her.

"What do you know?" it was the first time Roy Mustang was sounding this defensive and apprehensive.

Riza stood her ground, "I just know, today is grey because you made it to be this way. Forgive yourself and moving on is the only way to give yourself peace. You had held regret to your heart way too long, look at where you are now; you are doing your best in order not to let others die…"

"They won't forgive me, I know they won't." He interrupted her, his fist was tight.

Riza sighs and she placed both of her hands at the side of his head; her own head placed gently on his forehead. "The people, who care for you would not like to see you behaving this way; I am one of the people who care about you very much and it pains me just to see you blame yourself relentlessly for what fate had done. How do you think your parents are feeling? They birthed you; you are their precious son; do you think what they wish for you to be burying yourself in self inflicted pain?" the colonel heard her, though he still did not believe her words. A silver chain around the lieutenant's neck caught his attention and more importantly there was a small silver key hanging from it.

"Where did you get this key?" the colonel nearly shouted. Riza pulled away from the colonel and realized what he was talking about. "I found the key on the roadside, when I was younger." She answered his question wondering where it would go next. Without a word, he left her side and returned with a little blue box.

"I just remembered what this box was; it was a present I had received for my 6th birthday. I found it boring therefore I stashed it in my father's office bag. The same one I had been using all this while, it needs a key to open It." he explained quickly. He caught the lieutenant stunned face. "I couldn't be this key, right?" the colonel shrugged but insisted that he wanted to test it out. The lieutenant handed over her necklace. Gingerly, the colonel slotted the key in the key hole and turned it. The click sound surprised both of them. It actually opened! Wasting no time at all, he opened the box. There was a folded up piece of paper and a silver ring. The colonel gave the ring and the box to the lieutenant, for himself, he unfolded the paper gently fearing that the paper may tear.

Dear Roy; your mother and I were wondering what to give you for your birthday this year when we decided to plain ahead for your future. I went to buy a ring, although I ignored the diamonds and all other beautiful stone and bought a simple silver ring instead. Your mother nearly killed me but that's ok, I believe that the ring would choose the owner; and I wish its owner would be a kind and gently lady who could control you well enough. Seeing how playful you are right now, you may be a handful later in life.

I will tell you a secret though, when I came back with the box. I actually lost the key! But I couldn't let your mum know, I thought it could be a fun game. To see if you could meet the person who may have found the key, of course you will never know that I planned this for you unless you can find that person. So I wish you luck, Kiddo.

Lastly, happy birthday my dear boy. I wish that you would be happy and cheerful like how you are now, if possible for the rest of your life.

P.S: Please remember that even if we aren't by your side one day, we hope that you wouldn't cry over us nor blame yourself for it. We love you very much, - Jacob and Kate Mustang.

His eyes were burning; his parents were such curious people. They had a strange timing for things, and even now when he was thinking about them; they had appeared just for him. Not in a form but in paper, he glanced over to his lieutenant who was holding the box and the ring between her palms. She had not peeked at the paper he was reading; only waiting for him to finish. And when she noticed that he had, she hesitated to ask him much about it. She just peered calmly at him. A woman who can control him, kind and gentle as well? Was it this all coincidence?

"Do you like the ring?" he asked her, Riza cocked her head to one side. "Yes, it is beautiful." She answered him truthfully.

This is it, his turning point.

Outside, the sky had cleared up just like how the colonel's heart was…

"Happy birthday at last, Roy!"

Oh man, I was already writing half way when I thought to myself; this is not going to be a good story as I rushed this out in the middle of the night; it is obviously not going to be good. Its either going to be language, grammar or content that would be falling below standard.

I am so sorry guys; if some of you did not like the story or you find it was cheesy or lame. Although I rushed it out, didn't mean that I didn't put my heart into it. I am just so sleepy. xD

I appreciate reviews and comments!

Oyasumi!….