14. Covered Eyes
A/N: Song: "Two For Tragedy" by Nightwish.
At the end, as it were, of Roy's apprenticeship.
They watched as the coffin was lowered in. The undertaker started to gently but otherwise impassively lift the dirt from the pile next to the grave.
All through the funeral, Riza had remained as stoic as a girl who had just lost her father could possibly be. But now, she paled a little. As the shovel moved toward the grave, she clutched Roy's arm, turned, and buried her head in his shoulder.
Roy watched the undertaker for any cues, but he hardly so much as responded but for the inkling of pity that seeped into his expression for a fraction of a second.
It was all too much to bear. Riza had tried to hold it together—she really had, and now, to break at the final moment… Roy knew how that felt. He was feeling it all over again right now. Slowly, he wrapped an arm around Riza.
This time, if the undertaker noticed, he gave no indication. In his experience, it was best to just get things over with.
Later, they sat in the living room, facing each other, neither really speaking much except for half-hearted attempts at normal conversation just for the sake of being reassured that the other was still there.
Riza squeezed her eyes shut and dashed the tears from her cheeks as they started to fall again. "I'm a coward," she pronounced, her voice tight with emotion.
Roy looked at her and shook his head, though he knew she couldn't see. "No, you're not."
"Yes, I am!" Riza protested.
"How?" Roy demanded softly. "How are you a coward?"
"I couldn't face it. I turned away when I should have been able to watch. I feel like I've disrespected my father by not acknowledging that he's gone," she whispered.
"That makes two of us," Roy murmured, looking at the ground before slowly raising his eyes to meet Riza's.
Curiosity flickered in Riza's gaze.
Roy sighed. He knew how Riza felt, now that he, too was forced to admit it. "I didn't put my arm around you just to comfort you—it was so I could cover my own eyes, too."
A/N: The song is about a mother and son who lived and died together, presumably from some sort of illness, or possibly in childbirth, but I feel somehow that it could also describe mourners.