"Wha- ?" Riza mumbled as she struggled to open her eyes against the weight of sleep.
Black Hayate quit licking her face and yipped happily before leaping off the bed. The tinkling of the tags on his collar fell harshly on Riza's ears. He quickly disappeared through the bedroom door. Riza sat up and flicked on her bedside lamp. She rubbed her eyes with the sleeve of her blue and white striped pajamas.
'He never wants to go out this late,' she thought groggily.
Hayate stuck his head back into the bedroom, his pink tongue hanging lazily out of his mouth. He yipped again.
"Hayate!" whispered Riza fiercely, "No barking inside!"
He hung his head and disappeared down the hallway. Suddenly, Riza heard a soft knock at her door.
'That must be what he was excited about,' she reasoned.
Riza slowly crawled out of bed and tiptoed towards the door to her apartment. Hayate excitedly weaved his way between her legs as she walked. She hardly glanced through the peephole before she whipped the door open.
"C-Colonel?"
Roy couldn't meet her gaze. Riza noted his messier than usual hair and wrinkled white button-down. A loosened red tie hung askew around his neck.
"Are you— ?"
"No," he replied quickly.
"Then—"
"I – I couldn't sleep…"
Riza's breath caught in her throat when Roy finally looked up. The pain in his eyes smothered her words before they had a chance to be heard. She hadn't seen that look since, well, Maes.
"Roy?"
Suddenly, Roy leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her. Riza's eyes widened. She didn't move.
"I dreamt that I… That I lost you… Almost like before…"
She felt his tears, cool against the scar on her neck, and she wrapped her arms around him in return.
"Don't worry," she whispered, a reassuring smile forming upon her lips, "I'm not going anywhere."