4. Grave

A/N: Song: "Never Say Never" by the Fray

Takes place sometime after chapter 108.

It was a pleasant day. Some sun, a few clouds—it was peaceful, if not entirely happy. Riza stood in the cemetery, a bunch of flowers in her hands. As she talked, she absently turned them over and over. "You always told him to get a wife. I wished you wouldn't, even though—especially because—you always looked at me after you said that. I know what you meant, but it wasn't the right time or the right place… But now it is, and he'll never say it, but I know he wishes you were here to see it… and I wish you were, too." She shook her head and let out something between a sob and a laugh. "Even though you'd probably just say 'I told you so', and gush about your wedding and Gracia and Elysia. But I miss that. We all do.

"Sometimes, I wonder if you're watching. Maybe I'm going crazy. Maybe I'm trying to make myself feel better. Maybe I just wish we had the brother none of us ever had here to celebrate everything he worked so hard for… everything that he gave his life for.

"I know you'd say that I shouldn't be standing here talking to dead people who can't hear me, and that I shouldn't feel guilty that I wasn't able to stop what happened. I'll always feel that way, though, but it keeps me honest. It keeps all of us honest.

"So, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't help. I'm sorry that Gracia and Elysia and the rest of us are missing an amazing man. And thank you. Even if it's the only way I can live with what's happened, I have to accept that, as horrible as it was, somehow, it was for the better." She gently placed the flowers on the grave and turned, wiping her eyes with a cathartic smile. "Why am I not surprised that you're here?"

Roy stepped forward to wrap an arm around her shoulders. "That was beautiful," he said quietly. "I know you wish that you weren't saying it here, and I do, too, but like you said, we have to accept it and move on as best we can."

Riza nodded. "Best not to keep the living waiting."

"Especially us," Roy agreed as they made their way out of the cemetery. "We've waited long enough."

A/N: The song I chose for not letting go of the possibility that things would work out. And here, they did! (Majorly-they're on their way to their wedding, if that wasn't clear.)

Too subtle? Not subtle enough? Just right? Let me know!