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Roy’s last sight of the sky was clear and bluer than any sky he had witnessed previously. The sun shone bright and warm against the pavement of the streets of Central as they escaped any capture by the oppositional forces of the military. But it wasn’t the sun that bothered him, nor was it the heat. It was that somehow, on the cusp of a solar eclipse, he knew it wouldn’t be the only thing shrouding the day in darkness. It was the terrifyingly real possibility that he—or worse, anyone else fighting by his side—might not emerge from this day alive.
While through all of this, he remained confident that their plan would succeed. What good would a leader be if he could not guide his soldiers into battle without the certainty they could win? Without the certainty that there would be a light at the end of the tunnel, the dawn after the darkest hour.
“When the day is over, Lieutenant, we will watch the sunset and know that what we are to do today was right. We stand in the last, setting light of an era, today, and we will watch it rise again, anew and bright as ever, tomorrow.”
And in the end, he was right. It did succeed, and they were triumphant through almost mortal wounds and the exhaustion of a coup d’etat. It was no longer his idealism that clouded the future, but it was his vision. The loss of his sight. He was a man with a future that he could not see. A sun he could not watch rise.
“It seems the inclement weather won’t be keeping Central from beginning reconstruction on its Command Center today after the catastrophic toll it took on what is now being called the Promised Day by many of the citizens and soldiers, who took part in the uprisings, alike. Newly-pronounced Fuhrer Grumman will be overseeing—”
“If you can, Lieutenant, will you escort me to the roof?” Roy asked after the nurse had shut the door to their hospital room.
Riza closed her novel and hesitated to answer, eyes on the rain as it pattered against the window. “I would, sir,” she paused, knowing how he would react to her words, “but it’s raining.”
“Oh.” He was low-spoken, his voice breaking even with the shortness of his words. It was then he heard the drops against the panes, and a twinge of pain struck his chest.
Riza sighed and lowered her head. “Is there anything else I can do, sir?”
“Just rest, Lieutenant.” Roy let his eyes fall shut as he ran his trembling fingers over his bandaged hands, tracing the scars as he laid back in his bed.
“Yes, sir.”
—
“Any update on the weather, Lieutenant?” Roy asked as he sat cross-legged in the windowsill. He knew the answer, for he didn’t feel the heat on his skin as he would have if the sun was out. All had heard for the past week had been the sound of rain against window panes, and Riza’s breathing when he couldn’t take solace in sleep.
Riza sighed and moved to his side, sitting in the chair beside him. “You must have been asleep when I turned on the radio,” she said, easing him into the expected news. “No change out of the South, and Fuery says the radar is showing rain for an indefinite amount of time. I apologize, sir.”
Roy was quiet for a moment and he looked in the direction of Riza’s voice. He then assured her that there was no need for her to apologize. The colonel found himself longing to take her hand in his, to have her fingers run over the aching scars that cause him to tremble. The thought made tears brim in the backs of his eyes as he reminded himself that he couldn’t.
“Are you alright, sir?” Riza asked, careful with her question.
Roy nodded and quickly wiped away any tears that might fall. He then asked about Havoc to shift her attention away from himself, if they had scheduled his arrival.
“They’re trying to get him here on Monday—that’s the day his family’s store is closed.”
Roy focused on the details of Havoc’s healing. Once he regained his mobility, the colonel would be able to assess not only the conditions of the weather, but the state of his lieutenant with his own eyes.
—
“Has it stopped raining yet?” Roy whined like a petulant child as he laid flat on the bed, staring at the ceiling he could not see.
Riza sighed. “No, sir, it has not stopped raining. And if you ask again, I will find a way to put a bullet in you.”
Roy was amused by her declaration, so, five minutes later, he asked again. And she followed through on her threat, but with a water bottle instead of a bullet.
“There you go, Colonel,” Riza said as the bottle hit him in the chest. “Water makes you useless.”
“And that’s exactly why I keep asking you if the rain has stopped.”
—
It was just past two o’clock in the morning when Roy turned on the lamp.
Riza rolled over in her bed, blinking her eyes open to adjust to the light. “Colonel, did it cross your mind that I’m trying to sleep?”
“I know your breathing pattern, Hawkeye,” Roy said, unwaveringly certain. “The last thing you were doing was trying to sleep.”
The lieutenant groaned and sat upright. “I could say the same for yourself, sir. There’s no reason for you to be up right now.”
Roy stood from his bed and walked to the windowsill. He pushed back the curtain and peered out into the darkness, examining the nighttime conditions. The colonel let out a heavy sigh and turned back around to look at the lieutenant. This time, he didn’t have to ask.
“It’s still raining.”
—
The morning after Roy regained his sight after two weeks of non-stop, pouring rain and absolutely dreadful conditions, the skies finally cleared.
“A meteorological oddity has finally come to an end. After two weeks straight of heavy rain and flooding across not only Central but all of Amestris, unprecedented even for the spring, it seems that the skies have finally cleared for a blue-skied day, without clouds on the horizon out of the South. The sunrise is sure to be beautiful, folks, get out and see it if you can.”
“Hawkeye.” Roy shook her shoulders softly and called her name once again as he glanced back to his clock.
Riza blinked her eyes open and groaned at her awakening. “Colonel? You never wake up before me—what is it?” She sat up and met his eyes. There was unbridled excitement in his expression; he looked as though he was raring to go.
“Come to the roof with me,” he said, a smile forming on his lips as he helped her stand from the bed. “We haven’t much time. The nurses start their rounds on our ward at seven o’clock. It’s stopped raining, Lieutenant.”
Her eyes widened, and Riza shuffled into her shoes by the nightstand. She followed Roy out of the hospital room and kept a watchful eye out for any nurses. Thankfully, they made it to the roof without being caught.
Roy rushed to the eastern side of the balcony, taking in the beautiful sight of the orange, pink, and near-red gradient against the blue sky. It’d been years since he truly watched the sun rise, and as the sun broke across the horizon, tears brimmed in his eyes. He leaned against the railing, taking in the sight as he emotion overcame him. He didn’t know if there was any natural sight better than this.
And then Riza joined him. Her amber-brown irises shone almost red in the increasing sunlight, orbs of swirling color against bruise-like circles underneath her softened eyes. He’d been unable to see her features fully until now, and it occurred to Roy just how tired his lieutenant looked. By the pallor in her face and her sunken cheeks, it pained him to see the current state of her visage.
But it was Riza. He could see Riza. All of her beauty for him to behold and in the light of the morning sun, nonetheless! For all of two weeks, Roy believed he would not see her again. But he saw her now, and he saw her for all that she was. His lieutenant, his Riza, his Queen.
Roy then closed the space between him and his lieutenant, enveloping her in his arms and holding her tight. He carded a hand through strands of her hair as she settled against him and coiled her arms around his waist. Tears fell from his eyes, but he was too caught up in the embrace to wipe them away.
Riza looks up at the colonel. “Isn’t it beautiful?”
Roy hummed in agreement, pressing a kiss to her forehead. He then rested his chin atop her head and spoke, “But you are my rising sun, Riza. And I want to spend the new day with you.”
Riza was quiet for a moment, and her expression shifted to understanding when she realized what he meant. Her eyes softened, and she cupped his cheek with her hand, pressing a kiss to his cheek.
“I do too, Roy.”