Disclaimer: Not mine.
Author's Note: Another shorty. Many thanks to my best friend Kate who chose the theme when I was being too decision-making impaired to do so myself. Enjoy.
Theme 25 :: 'So I'm crying'
It was one year ago that Brigadier General Maes Hughes died. And that was why she knew exactly where to find him.
Riza Hawkeye held her uniform jacket closed tightly around her, blocking out as much chill as she could, as she walked through the cemetery.
She saw him, sitting there, staring contemplatively at the marker.
"Sir," she said gently, standing behind him. "I brought you a coat."
He mumbled something unintelligible and didn't turn around to face her.
"Sir," she said insistently. When he still gave her no response, she bent down and draped the coat over his shoulders. "They said there would be rain today."
He nodded, and with closer inspection, she could tell he was trembling. No, she reasoned to herself, it was cold. He was probably merely chilled.
So she stood behind him for the better part of an hour, saluting the grave of their departed friend, not budging an inch in the frigid wind.
It began to grow dark and she laid a hand on Roy's shoulder. "Sir, I think it's about time for us to go."
He turned to look up at her, his eyes red and swollen, the area around his lips discolored as well, old tear tracks coursing down his cheeks.
"Sir," she breathed, kneeling down beside him.
"So I'm crying," he muttered, burying his face in his arms to hide the tears. "So what?"
She only sat there for a moment, wondering if he, with all his damned pride, would try to pull it together so she wouldn't see. She didn't mind, his pride did.
But he didn't stop.
It started with a hand on his arm, then both, and finally she just laid her cheek against his shoulder blade, her arms wrapping themselves tightly about his waist. "Me, too," she whispered, letting some tears soak into his coat. "Me, too."
They stayed like that for a long while, crying. And then, it began to rain.
Meh, not the best, but what can I say? 331 words.