XIII "Seeing Clearly"

"Raining, is it? Oh—!"

Roy backed through the door, shaking out the umbrella to a minor degree of success. Riza stepped past him, pulled Black Hyatt out of her jacket and set him on the floor. The dog immediately ran over to the elder Mustang and sniffed at his slippered feet.

"It started just about the time I left," Roy said, giving up on the umbrella and setting it upside-down and open on the tile. "If you wouldn't call that irony I'd worry. Where's mom?"

"In the study, picking through your photo albums."
"Wonderful."

"We can't help but be curious, you know," Charlie said defensively. He bent down with a grunt and scratched the dog's damp ears. "I daresay she would have gone through your dresser if I hadn't stopped her."

"Thank God for small favors. Could you go get her so we get these introductions over with?"

As soon as Roy's father disappeared into the other room, Riza stalked over to the liquor cabinet and pulled out the vodka and peppermint schnapps. "You look like you need one," she said simply at his questioning glance. "I might be inclined myself. Should I offer them something?"

"You've certainly made yourself at home," Aya's voice drifted through from the messy depths of Roy's study. Her tone was a bit harsh, but there was a definite hint of amusement within. Riza smiled back…but behind that smile was something frightening. Roy winced, knowing Riza's most common reactions to presumptive strangers.

Hence began the traditional naming and interview session, the impact of which was somewhat dampened by Riza's not-to-be-underestimated bartending skills. She really was good, Roy thought proudly.

"But mostly you live by yourself?" his mother asked, a little accusingly.

"It's just me and the dog," Riza answered, gesturing to the creature lodged possessively between her and Roy's legs. "After I was given the option of living outside the military dorms I decided I wanted privacy, and I've never had the urge to go looking for roommates since."

"So I imagine this is somewhat of a change."

"Oh, I'm not over here as much as you might think," she said lightly, lying through her teeth. "We both have our jobs, after all, and chores and bills and friends."

"I imagine after so long together you've learned how much time you both need apart," his father said, perhaps a little wistfully. Aya either didn't notice or chose to ignore him.

"That's the advantage of having been friends with him for many years." Roy silently applauded Riza's choice of words…there was a certain disregard for a timetable, yet enough to imply that his parents shouldn't have felt too badly abandoned that they'd heard no news. That ring was paying for itself.

"I saw that you're in a lot of Roy's photo albums," his mother put in. "When did you meet?"

Ishbal would have been a bad answer. "It's been what, nine years or so? The alchemists were staying in my unit's camp for a few days, and we ended up talking at a meal. A few months later I was notified that I was being transferred to Central Headquarters. When I arrived I found that Roy had requested me for his company when he found I'd been reassigned. I'm not sure I've ever understood why."

"I needed one decent soldier in the lot," Roy said, not able to resist the urge to tease her. "I had done some reading on Riza's company and learned that she was set to become an officer. So I nabbed her."

"Isn't it wonderful, the way that system works sometimes?" Aya asked, probably not realizing the irony in the question.

Roy and Riza carefully ignored her. The subject turned to work, mundane but safe. That is, until she reached up and scratched her neck.

"That's a nice ring," Aya said. The comment was innocent enough, for as often as she had made them, and probably would have stayed that way if she hadn't done the mirror-math and realized which hand it was on. A little more accusingly, she added, "When did you get it?"

"Yesterday," Riza said, shrugging.

"May I see it?" Charlie reached forward across the coffee table, and Riza hesitated. "Oh, you don't have to take it off. Just give me your hand."

"My father's a jewler," Roy explained, and nudged her forward. If they were going to bring up the subject, he wasn't going to miss the opportunity to brag.

The older man turned it several angles, inspecting it closely through his glasses. "The band's welding is very smooth, and the color is telling me that it's twenty-four karat… the setting is interesting, kind of an eye shape, non-traditional but I'm sure it has meaning. It's mounted very well onto the band, too…Now that gem's a beauty—classic cut, and excellent clarity. Now that I'm looking closely it's even got a blue tint to it—lord knows those are hard to find!"

Riza's face was a portrait of dawning astonishment. She hadn't had much of a chance to look at her ring since he'd given it to her, and she'd probably never suspected it was quite so fancy. That's why he'd liked it—it reminded him of her, simple at first glance but beautiful and unique upon closer inspection.

"Well, the guy down at the shop gave me a discount. He said he apprenticed under you," Roy told his father, a bit embarrassed. Riza shot him a look that stated that she didn't think she was worth so much—but still was flattered.

"I'm sure he was happy to see you still remember what I taught you," Charlie said happily.

Aya, who had been very quiet, finally spoke again. "This is very recent news, isn't it?"

"I only proposed last night."

She sounded hurt, though less than she might have been. "Were your father and I even going to get an invitation?"

Roy started to deny that he'd ever thought about not telling them, but Riza dragged her hand away and put it over his mouth. "I would have insisted on it…but I know things have been intense. I don't claim to understand why; I don't think any of us do. But—yes Roy—it's time for everyone to put their cards down on the table and sort this all out."

"It is why we came, even if one of us won't admit it," Roy's father said, thanking Riza with a glance. "It's certainly been hard to bring up since we learned what's happened…about Maes, about the revolution and your trial and the truth about Ishbal—yes, we've known for quite some time. We've been worried as much as any parents would be for their child, because we thought that you had no one to talk to."

"I have Riza." Roy pulled his arm a little tighter around her waist. She dropped her left hand over his, and squeezed back.

"And we're glad to have met her. It eases our concerns more than you can imagine."

They continued to talk as the drink wore off, as if only when Roy was older and tired of fighting could he understand why he was so important to them. He was their only child, but as much as he disagreed with them sometimes they knew not only who he was but who he had been. To maintain those memories he needed them as much as they did him.

It was almost two in the morning before Riza's head sank onto his shoulder. Seeing this father suggested gently that it was time to retire. That was far from the end of it, Roy knew, but at least they'd survived the night, and that was something.