Hey, look! After almost a year on hiatus I've returned with a small offering.

Rain poured in sheets outside the tiny apartment window. Petrichor filled the air. Clouds blotted out the evening sun, prompting the street lamps to turn on one by one down the sidewalks of Central City. The downpour had come on sudden and fast and pedestrians scrambled to seek shelter.

An orange glow radiated from the apartment window high above the streets, embracing the couple inside with warmth despite the unexpected turn of weather.

"Sir, you can't keep coming over here with lame excuses."

"Well I can't very well leave now, can I?" Roy countered, standing there with an emploring grin on his face and a grocery bag in his hand.

Riza sighed. She was about ready to shove him out the door anyway. His concern was endearing at first, but now he was being too reckless. Someone was going to catch on that he was visiting her out of more than just being a worried colonel looking out for his subordinate. He was there as Roy worried about his newly proclaimed secret girlfriend, Riza.

After the Promised Day a little less than a month ago, they had vowed not to waste any more of their time together. To hell with waiting until their goals had been reached. Riza almost dying was a wake up call for Roy. He refused to let her die, or die himself, without telling her how he felt. Of course it wasn't necessary. They had both known for years how they felt for one another. Though saying it outloud and being able to act on those feelings was completely different than simply being aware of it.

Riza had been sent home from the hospital several days earlier, but was to remain off duty for another week. Roy took it upon himself to be her unofficial (and unneeded as far as Riza was concerned) caretaker. He arrived at her apartment every day after work, usually with something to do, like paperwork, to use as an excuse. But really, there was only so much paperwork help and other nonsense that others would actually believe he was seeing her for.

Whenever she chided him for coming over again, he claimed that the military was still too preoccupied with rebuilding Central command that no one would notice he was visiting her every day.

It was a reasonable thought, but it still made Riza nervous.

"Fine, you can stay again. But please don't make this a habit."

Roy's face fell a bit. "You don't like seeing me like this?"

"You know that's not it," Riza sighed. "You're getting a promotion soon. I don't want to be the reason you lose everything you've worked so hard for."

"We."

"Hm?"

"Everything we've worked so hard for." Riza opened her mouth to respond, but Roy continued, knowing what she was going to say. "I understand your concerns, but please put a little more faith in me. And a little more faith in yourself."

Riza looked away, eyes downcast. They had used her against him. She had become a liability. She broke down when she thought Lust had killed him. In her eyes, she had failed him one too many times. Somehow he knew she was beating herself up about it and tried to reassure her. Sometimes it worked. In that moment, it wasn't.

The gentle caress of Roy's knuckles against her temple and cheek brought her back from her destructive thoughts.

He was alive. She was alive. In this moment, nothing could harm them.

Riza leaned into his touch then wrapped her arms around him, burying her face into the scratchy wool of his uniform jacket. Roy dropped the grocery bag in his hand and immediately returned her embrace.

This was how things were meant to be. Why had they denied themselves for so long? He pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head.

"We'll get there," Roy muttered into her hair. "When you're well enough to come back to work, we'll figure things out. For now, just let us have this."

Riza nodded against his chest, not moving to look at him. It was warm and safe in his arms. It was something she could get used to. That thought scared her maybe a little more than it should have, but as he asked, she would have more faith in him in the future, and attempt to have more faith in herself. After all, if Roy believed in her that much, maybe there was something within her only he could see. It was more comforting to think about than anything else that had been on her mind so she focused on it and smiled.