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Sky

Roy would openly admit his idiocy as he walked out of the presidential estate if it would make Riza stop crying. After a heated argument such as the one they just had, she would normally calmly inform him that he was an idiot and could sleep on the couch until he was ready to apologize for his stupidity. Today, though, she had completely exploded, yelling as she burst into tears that he should just leave the estate and not come back for a long time (in a slightly more expletive fashion). When this had happened, Roy had tried to move closer and apologize, but the look she sent him made her feelings on the matter crystal clear: it would be far safer for him to leave her alone for a few hours. As he walked away, he reassured himself that it was just her hormones acting up, as she was eight months pregnant. Although such reasoning didn't make him feel any less guilty, it did allow him to hope that she would forgive him sooner rather than later.

As he passed through the door, he spotted Hayate pacing in the lawn, doing his part to keep the estate safe. Hayate barked as he spotted Roy, running over to greet him excitedly.

"Hey, boy," Roy said, squatting down to pat the dog on the head. He took a deep breath and sighed, unsure why he was about to spill his guts to some four-legged animal. "I screwed up with Riza." Hayate whimpered, as if he knew exactly what kind of danger that posed for the man. "Yeah, I know. I'm banished out here until further notice. And all over some stupid argument about maternity leave." Roy ran his hand through his hair and collapsed the rest of the way down onto the ground. Hayate stepped in closer, resting his head on Roy's leg in an attempt to comfort him. "It's crazy, really. She's had a rough pregnancy, so I suggested that she take a couple of weeks off before the baby's due just to rest up. But she wants to keep working until she has the baby, claiming that she has to keep protecting me for as long as she can. I made some heartless comment about how she's not really in a position to protect anyone right now—I mean, her ankles are so swollen that it's hard for her to walk—and…I guess that crossed a line, because then heated words got thrown around, and I said some things I really shouldn't have. I don't even want to repeat them." He blew air out through his lips, marking his reluctance to share the next details. Stroking the dog, he said in a low, defeated voice, "I made her cry, boy. I'm such an idiot."

Hayate jumped up and barked, giving Roy a pointed glare. It was almost as if the dog had understood every word that Roy had said (Roy wouldn't have been surprised if he actually had). "Go to Riza, Hayate. I'm sure she'd much rather see you than me right now." Without any further noise, Hayate ran off toward the estate, slipping through the doggie door and out of Roy's sight.

For the next hour, Roy sat in the grass, replaying the argument in his head over and over and trying to come up with the perfect wording for his apology. As he was starting to get exasperated (why was he getting so worked up over something as simple as "sorry"?), he heard labored steps behind him, growing constantly closer to where he was sitting. Without turning around, Roy knew that Riza was approaching him, sure to be followed closely by her loyal canine companion. The footsteps stopped right behind him, but Roy still refused to turn around, afraid of what he might find in her eyes.

"Who would have ever guessed that you could be useless on sunny days, too?" Riza's voice sounded behind him softly, devoid of the anger it had previously held. Roy looked up at the sky: sure enough, there was not a cloud to behold. The sun blazed furiously over the land, casting the heavens in a brilliant shade of blue that was almost too painfully bright to look at. Lowering his eyes, Roy stood slowly and turned to face his wife.

"I'm so sorry," he said, his voice little more than a whisper, "Really, I am. I'm an idiot, and I shouldn't have said—"

He broke off as Riza pulled him into a hug, which was a little awkward due to her burgeoned belly. "Shh," she soothed into his ear, "It's okay." He breathed out a sigh of relief as he wrapped his arms around her as much as he could. Finally, she pulled back, moving her hand to cup his face. "You're still an idiot, though," she said, smiling slightly as she stroked his cheek with her thumb.

Roy allowed himself a smile, moving his hand to rest on top of hers and hold it against his cheek. "I know."