The Wants of the Few
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Author's note: When Elysia was dropped off at the beginning of the story, she was just supposed to be there for a few hours, so her mom didn't pack her an away bag.In this chapter and the next few she's wearing what she was wearing yesterday.
Chapter 14 – Giggles and Stories
The two continued the game and Riza was actually winning for a little while. Roy's mind still seemed a bit pre-occupied, but that was mostly because he was trying not to daydream back to the moments they'd spent in her room…the taste of her skin was still on his lips and he longed for her warmth once more. After a little while, Hawkeye made a mistake. Like so many times before, she tried too hard protect her queen and ended up losing it when she tried to protect her king. With only a knight left in her defense she knew it was the end. Roy only had a few pawns and a rook left, but it was enough to finally put her king into checkmate.
"Good game." He said, 'I can think of a few more I'd like to play with you' he thought as his mind wandered back to her bedroom. Somehow…knowing how she felt, knowing that she was going to follow him until the end…it made him feel more relaxed. It made him almost willing to make a few passes at her…even if he knew her answer would be no. Suddenly there were a few giggles from behind them. The two adults turned to see Elysia giggling at them from behind the couch. "I thought you were asleep," Riza said to the little tot. The small girl shook her head. "Then what are you doing behind the couch?" she asked Elysia. Elysia smiled a cheeky grin, "I was spying on you. I thought you said Uncle Roy didn't love you." Elysia said, in a matter-of-fact tone. Riza opened her mouth as if to say something in protest, but Roy beat her too it. "Of course I love Hawkeye." Riza's heart stopped. She knew he cared about her, but love was a strong word…especially from him. She never expected that word to cross his lips…especially describing her. "Of course I love her," he continued, "She's my friend, don't you love your friends?" Elysia nodded. "Did you two have a sleep over?" she asked. Hawkeye's face became a little pink. "Um…yes we did. We just got done with one of the party games." She said making something up. Roy glanced at the clock. '8:00 AM' he mentally noted. 'Elysia's party starts at 10:00, so we should-' Before he could finish his thought Elysia interrupted. "Why don't you have a shirt on Uncle Roy?"
"I was hot. So I took my shirt off." Roy said, making something up. "Hawkeye, its 8:00, I should get dressed and we need to get ready to take Elysia home."
Hawkeye nodded and Elysia burst out with another question, "How come you always call her Hawkeye?"
"Because that's her name." Roy said. The small girl climbed into his lap as she asked, "But why don't you call her Miss Riza like everyone else?"
"I'm not supposed to. The people at my work say it's against the rules." He reasoned with her.
"But you're not at work now…you could call her Miss Riza now."
Roy took a moment to consider…the child made a good point. He turned to Hawkeye. "What do you say Hawk-I mean, Miss Riza? Would you prefer me to use your first name?" Riza only smiled and nodded.
Riza felt a wet tongue on her bare leg and she jumped. It was Black Hayate. It was apparent he needed to go out. "Sir, I'm going to take Black Hayate out for his morning walk…can you help Elysia get dressed?"
He nodded and stood up, picking up Elysia off his lap and putting her on his hip. Riza went to the kitchen to find the dog's leash while Roy went to the guest room to get Elysia changed. Roy clearly heard the door slam as he dug around the guest room for Elysia's clothes from yesterday. He probably wouldn't have found them if Elysia hadn't remembered that Hawkeye had hung them in the closet. "Put these on while I look for your shoes." He said as he handed her the clothes. The little girl nodded and started to fiddle with the buttons. Roy turned his back to her trying to find the little girl's shoes in the closet.
"Uncle Roy?" Elysia said.
"Uh huh?" he replied still searching through the closet.
"Miss Riza told me a good story last night. You want to hear?"
"Sure." He said, not really paying attention to what the child was saying.
"Once upon a time there was a really pretty prince. He was so pretty that all the princesses in the world fell in love with him. The daddies of the princesses got mad at the prince because he didn't want to marry any of the princesses…are you listening Uncle Roy?"
"Uh huh." Roy said, still looking for the shoes. 'They're definitely not in the closet.' Roy thought to himself as he stood up. 'Maybe they're under the-' his thoughts were interrupted as he turned around to find Elysia "dressed". Well one really couldn't call it dressed…it looked more like she fell into a hamper. 'Note to self, don't let four year olds dress themselves.' Roy thought as he tried to figure out how to get the little girl dressed. The dress was inside out, upside down on her head and the shirt that went under it was hanging around her knees with a few of the buttons in the wrong button holes. As Roy started to unbutton the wrong buttons and take the skirt off Elysia's head, she started back into story. "Because the daddies of the princesses were mad at the prince one of the daddies sent an ask-a-sin to go kill the prince."
Roy stopped, "What's an ask-a-sin?"
"You know, a person that's told to kill someone important." The child explained.
"You mean an assassin!" Roy exclaimed as the realization hit him.
"That's what I said." The little girl clarified. "Stop interrupting the story."
"Ok, okay, I'm sorry."
"Well the daddy of one of the princesses sent the ask-a-sin to go kill the pretty prince. The pretty prince found out that the ask-a-sin was coming so, he hired a pretty guard lady to protect him. But he didn't know it was a pretty guard lady, he thought she was a man because she wore armor. The pretty guard lady really liked the prince and she thought it was mean of the princess's daddy to send and ask-a-sin to go hurt the prince so she decided to help him." Elysia continued.
Roy was actually listening and the part about the "pretty guard lady" caught his attention… 'this is some story you dreamed up Hawkeye…' he thought as he put Elysia's arms through the arm holes of the shirt.
"One night when the pretty guard lady was guarding the prince he told her that he wanted to become king so that he could help the people in his kingdom because they were all really hungry and sad. The prince's daddy was really mean and wouldn't let anyone eat the food. When the pretty guard lady heard about what the prince wanted to do she fell in love with him because she figured out that he was pretty on the outside and on the inside. After the prince went to sleep the guard lady took off her helmet to kiss him and the ask-a-sin came in and tried to kill the prince. The pretty guard lady stopped him, but before the guard lady killed the ask-a-sin he cut her face."
Roy was actually finding the story fairly interesting, 'Only Hawkeye would make a fairytale when the woman came in to save the day…' he thought as he finished the final button on Elysia's shirt and started to put her arms through the arm holes of the dress.
"The pretty prince helped the guard lady get better and when she got better, she cried because the cut became a scar and she thought it made her look ugly. When the prince saw her crying he told her that it's more important what is on the inside than what is on the outside and he said that he loved her. The guard lady loved him too and they wanted to get married but the mean king said that it was against the rules. He said that the prince had to marry a princess…" Elysia said. She paused for a moment and stopped talking. She was fully dressed now, with the exception of her shoes and Roy was just standing there listening to the story. "Well what happened?" Roy said.
"Um…I can't remember." Elysia said guilty. Roy was actually getting interested and now he wouldn't be able to find out the end of the story. He smiled good-naturedly and said, "Well stay here, I'm going to go get a shirt for myself and try and find your shoes." Elysia nodded and stayed at her position on the bed as he walked out of the room.
'I don't think this past 24 hours could be any more peculiar.' Roy thought to himself. 'First I helped Gracia decorate and we both end up mistaking each other for people we care about…then I find Hawkeye screaming in the street in her pajamas looking for someone that not only wasn't lost, but was actually still in the house.' The events seemed to roll through his mind like a highlight reel…he slowed it down when it came to the point in the evening when he and Riza had shared a kiss. He rewound the moment in his head and let the memories of the few moments rush back to him, the taste of her skin, the feel of her fingers; it excited him as he found himself back in her bedroom. He let little fantasies follow him around the room as he glanced around for the child's shoes. He ultimately found them underneath Hawkeye's bed. Roy smiled at the shoes. They were so tiny, he found himself unwillingly wondering what it would be like to buy a tiny pair so shoes like this for a child of his own…a slight emptiness filled his chest… 'The wants of the few…' he thought to himself. The little shoes would have to wait for a while, Roy had a job to do, and fantasizing about spending the rest of his life wasn't going to get him to the top any faster. He made his way back to the guest room and was met by Elysia in the door frame. "Uncle Roy!" She said excitedly, "I remember what happened next!"
"Okay, tell me the rest of the story." He said as he lifted her up and plopped her on the bed. Her chibi feet dangled off the side of the bed as he untied her shoes and she began to tell him the story's finale.
"After the prince and the pretty guard lady fell in love the king told them they couldn't get married because only princesses were allowed to marry princes. The prince and the guard lady were really sad, but then the guard lady heard about another ask-a-sin that wanted to kill the king. The guard lady knew that if she just let the ask-a-sin kill the king then the prince could become king and change the rules so they could get married, but the guard lady didn't want the king to die, so she waited really quiet in the king's room and stopped the ask-a-sin. The king was so happy that he told them that they could get married. Then they got married and convinced the king to be nice to the people and everyone was happy forever. The end!" Elysia said, finishing with a flare.
'If only real life were so simple…' Roy thought sadly.
"Did you like the story Uncle Roy?" she asked. He nodded, "Yes, it was a very nice little story." He finished tying her first shoe and tried to get the other shoe on.
"When are you and Miss Riza going to get married?" Elysia asked.
Roy's eyes widened, but he quickly regained his composure. "Who told that we were going to get married?"
"Nobody," She said, "but you love Miss Riza…and Miss Riza loves you. She said that sometimes you can't marry the people you love, but I think she's just being silly."
"She's right Elysia, sometimes you can't marry the people you love. It's against the rules of my work to get married to Miss Riza." Roy explained.
"But why." She said, her voice beginning to whine. "Those are silly rules!"
"You'll understand when you're older Elysia. Rules are important things. Without them, there's chaos. The rules are there to protect people…the needs of the many outweigh the wants of the few…" Roy said, though he didn't really expect the child to understand the weight of the statement, but maybe she would grasp its meaning when she was older.
"What does that mean?" she said, realizing his serious tone, understanding that what he was saying meant something to him.
"It means that sometimes you have to do things for other people first because that's what is most important, even if it means you can't have something you want." The child nodded as if she understood. Roy smiled at her. She seemed to really want him and Riza to be happy. "Don't worry Elysia; someday we might get married…"
She smiled, her hope restored. "That's good, you'd make a good daddy."
Roy raised an eyebrow at the statement. "What do you mean?"
"You tied my shoes just right. Not too tight and not too loose. You even did the bunny ears like my daddy used to do."
Roy smiled widely, "Well it was your daddy that taught me how to tie my shoes." The two grinned at each other. A door slammed and the sound echoed through out the house. "Miss Riza's back" he said as he picked up the small child and put her on his hip. Riza met them in the living room with Black Hayate and he handed Elysia over to her and went back into Riza's bedroom to get his shirt. Roy came from the back room and they all headed out to the car. "Riza, would you mind if we stopped by my apartment, I want to change clothes and grab a shower." Roy mentioned.
Hearing her name from his mouth surprised her bit, but she couldn't help but smile. She had never really been that happy about her name, but hearing it from his lips made her name sound like a song. "Of course, Sir. We have plenty of time before the party." She replied as she put Elysia and Black Hayate in the back seat.
Roy fought back an exasperated sigh. She was still calling him "Sir"…he couldn't remember the last time she'd used his first name. Here he was trying to be open with her and get to at least a first name basis and she was still playing soldier dishing out "Sir"s.
"Why are you still calling him Sir?" Elysia interjected. If these two were ever going to get married they were going to need her help.
Riza blushed a bit. "He's my boss, I'm not supposed to call him by his first name."
"Well it's not right if he calls you Miss Riza and you call him Sir…it sounds funny." Elysia said. Riza looked at the Colonel uncomfortably, she was about to ask him if it would be all right but he interrupted her. "Go on, Miss Riza, call me my first name…unless you've forgotten after all these years."
Riza looked at him with a slight smirk, "Like I could ever forget your name, Roy." Just saying his name lightened her mood. It felt so sinful to finally get to use his name after so long. It was something she'd only dreamed of…it was strange, but it seemed the past 24 hours had been a dream…