Maes ran out the back door. In front of him laid a vast garden that was illuminated by the moon that had risen in the sky.
"Elicia!" he called out, hearing his voice echo over the yard. He walked around, looking for her, trying to follow the soft sobs that he heard deep within the plants.
Eventually, he made his was to a patio area that his parents had set up for nice spring days. Elicia was sitting on a bench, her back to the pond that stretched across a stretched across a portion of the yard. The young woman was crying, her head in her hands as she sat hunched over.
Maes walked over to her, placing his hand on her back as he leaned down on the ground, trying to look at her face, "Elicia…what's wrong?"
She sniffed as she wiped her face, trying to speak, "You…You…You…" she stammered as she spoke, her throat tightening each time she tried to form words, "You are joining the m-m-military!"
The young man looked confused, "What about it? Aren't you happy for me?"
Elicia shook her head in protest, wiping her eyes as more tears came out. "I…I know I should be happy." she sobbed, "But…but…"
"What is it?" Maes asked, wiping one of the tears from her face.
She shook her head again, "My dad was in the military…" she finally managed to get out, "And…and because of it he died!"
"I'm sure that wasn't the case-"
"No!" she protested, "H-he got killed because he knew too much!" she turned to Maes, grabbing his hands, "I..I don't want to see something like that happen to you too! I'm tired of losing people I care about!"
He looked at her, his expression shocked by the words she spoke,
"I really, really, really like you, Maes!" she sobbed, squeezing his hands tightly with her own, "I don't want to see you get hurt. I don't want to lose you, too!"
Maes smiled at her, letting go of his hands so that he could wrap his arms around her and bring her closer to him, "You aren't going to lose me." he whispered in a comforting tone, "I promise to you right here and now that I will always come back to you, no matter what happens."
"Y…You swear?" she asked, feeling her tears begin to stop as she looked up into his eyes.
"I pinky promise." he said with a smile, holding out his pinky for her.
She smiled and connected it with him, leaning her forehead against his. "Thank you…" she whispered.
Maes closed his eyes, leaning his forehead back against her in response. He smiled, loving the feeling of her warm skin against his. She was so soft, so sweet, and he loved her for it. "I never want to make you cry again." he told her, "And I'll make sure to keep my word about that."
He pulled away from her and they both opened their eyes, looking at each other with a smile. Maes turned his body to face the pond behind them, watching as the moon and their images reflected on it's surface.
"It's beautiful tonight." Elicia commented, still sniffing every so often as she tried to get over her crying.
The young man smiled at the reflection of them, looking at Elicia in the rippling waters, "Yeah…but I know something more beautiful…"
"Oh?" she asked with a smile, "What is it?"
He shook his head laughing, "It's nothing…" he smiled as he looked at the reflection of her, "I would sound stupid if I said it anyways…"
Inside the house, people had appeared to return to their normal conversation flow, after the events had settled.
Riza however was still frozen stiff. Even after she had shattered the cup, she hadn't bothered to move to pick it up. It was in fact Roy, who had swept up the pieces before returning to the side of his wife to comfort her.
Her expression hadn't changed. It was as if she was frozen in shock from the words Maes had spoken moments earlier before he left.
"Riza…" Roy whispered softly, gently taking her shoulders in his hands.
She wouldn't respond.
He frowned, pulling out a chair at the table for her. He made her sit down in it and pulled a chair up next to her. Roy looked into his wife's eyes, holding her hands as he tried to search for some sort of answer inside of her.
However, her eyes only led him to sadness. He never before had seen such a broken look in her eyes. It was as if the words Maes had said were slowly rotting her body, pulling her slowly into a death like state that she could never hope to come back to life from. "Riza…" he spoke her name again, trying to get her to focus on him. "Stop doing this to yourself." he whispered, leaning close to her, "Maes is a smart child, he knows what he is doing."
She turned her head, to face away from him, her eyes brows pushing together. She wanted to tell him that he was wrong, that he didn't understand.
"Besides." he grabbed her chin gently and made her look at him, "We are in this for our careers, I am the Fuhrer…we can keep an eye on him and make sure he is safe. It's going to be alright."
Riza wanted to protest but couldn't find her voice. She wanted to tell her husband that he didn't understand how a mother could possibly feel about a situation like this. She had always been afraid since that fateful day when their car turned that she could lose her son in an instant. Riza feared that this could bring him away from the embrace safety and into the grip of danger.
She wanted to cry, but she couldn't bring herself to. She had to accept that Roy was probably right, even though her gut was telling her the concept was wrong in so many ways.
The woman leaned into her husband, resting her head on his shoulder as she continued to not say a word. Her son had managed to take the words from her mouth and all she felt was weak. Her strength that she once carried had vanished, and she prayed that she had given in to her son.