Roy Mustang hated the Military Ball. Believe it or not, being swabbed by gorgeous and desperate women, clawing at each other for the chance to dance with him, was not his idea of fun… well, it had been once. But not anymore. Everybody was at least beginning to notice the slight change in the colonel's behaviour; he went out less often and worked later- no more pretty girls with empty heads. He was a changed man- focused and determined… or maybe he was just trying to impress someone special.
And that certain someone hadn't even bothered to turn up! Effectively leaving him to face the desperate women alone…
'Where's Havoc when you need him?' he thought miserably, 'and where's Riza.'
He had always taken for granted that she would be around, but recently, where he had stayed in, she had gone out. She finished work earlier and no longer waited for him to finish too before leaving. And, once –just once- he swore he saw her walking around Central Mall in a dress… well… that one might have been a dream…
Either way, he came to the heart-wrenching conclusion that Riza Hawkeye had finally done the sensible thing and found herself a decent man. She looked happier these days and he was happy to see her happy! …But sometimes, when she left the office with that tiny grin on her face… he couldn't help but wish that she were smiling that smile for him.
Still, he continued to look around the ballroom for his First Lieutenant- the ball was mandatory, after all and if nothing else, he needed to be sure that she had attended. Blocking out the trill of the violins against the layers of violas and cellos, he turned a complete circle very slowly, not caring how stupid he must look- not to mention sad and sort of like he was dancing with himself…
A moment later he caught sight of a familiar face and saw Gracia waving at him, apparently she had been invited due to her deceased husband's past ties with the military. Elysia was there too, holding her mother's hand, while rubbing her eyes sleepily.
"Colonel, what a pleasant surprise," she said pleasantly.
Roy nodded and bowed a little, "good evening, Gracia. Good evening to you too, Elysia."
"Hallo, Uncle Roy!" said Elysia, brightening, "where's Auntie Riza?"
"I don't know," said Roy.
"You don't?" Elysia seemed confused, and in a way, she was right to be- when had Roy and Riza not been together, after all.
"She hasn't been around much lately," said Roy and then he turned to Gracia, "have you talked to her?"
"Oh, yes, she's lovely," said Gracia. "She's being so kind about… well… you know."
Roy bowed his head sympathetically.
"Auntie Riza comes to play with Mommy," said Elysia, speaking a little too fast in her evident excitement, eyes sparkling as she remembered something supposedly important, "and I get to play with my friend, Lillei! She's five, but I'll be just as big soon! Her mommy got her a tea set for her birthday. Do you like tea parties, Uncle Roy?"
"Uhm… well…"
"I had a tea party with Lillei and Mommy and Auntie Riza yesterday and I asked Auntie Riza if you'd wanna come but she said no."
Roy immediately decided that he loved tea parties and asked to be invited to the next one.
"Okay! It can be just the five of us! Like a big happy family!"
Gracia smiled weakly at the word 'family' and Roy put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, I really should go," he said eventually, "so have you seen Riza- I'm sorry, I mean Lieutenant Hawkeye- tonight?"
"Not since we came" said Elysia, answering for her mother brightly, "but Auntie Riza looks sooooooooo prettyful! She's got her hair down and she's wearing a pretty black dress and she let Momma put sparkles on her face before we all left!"
"You and Riza get along pretty well, don't you?" he said thoughtfully.
"Yes, we do," said Gracia, smiling.
"Then perhaps you could tell me…does she have a boyfriend?"
Gracia's eyes glittered in amusement, "no, Colonel, she does not," she said, and she began to walk off.
"Are you quite sure, Gracia?" asked Roy quickly, following them.
Gracia stopped, turned her head back towards him slightly and nodded, "quite sure, Colonel," she said, "but I know there is a young man whom she loves very much right now."
Roy's heart sank, "oh?"
"They've known each other for a very long time and they're madly in love… if only one would tell the other," Gracia sighed "…he's a fool… because I know if he only plucked up the courage to ask her, she'd tell him how much she loves him… but no, she's too afraid of getting her heart broken to initiate it herself, and him… you'd never think it but he's desperately anxious about it all... Well, I shouldn't keep you. She's around here somewhere. Don't break her heart, Colonel." The last part was said very slowly and seriously and it was only when she had walked off with Elysia that it struck Roy that she was talking about him.
Riza…?
"Colonel, good evening."
"Ri- Hawkeye?" Roy turned around slowly and saw Riza standing before him, looking just as beautiful as Gracia and Elysia had said. "Uhm… You look… uhm…?"
Riza smiled understandingly, "thank you, sir, you look quite handsome yourself."
Roy grinned, scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment, "would you care to dance, Hawkeye?"
"Sir, you may call me Riza tonight… if you wish."
"Riza, then," said Roy, taking her slender black-gloved hand in his larger one. "Dance with me?"
"Yes, sir… yes, Roy…?"
Roy nodded and led her out onto the dance floor, still grinning as he placed a hand on the small of her back. It seemed to fit perfectly. He ran his fingers up and down her back gently, taking a moment to explore the thin black silk that covered her creamy white skin before assuming position for the dance.
Several dances later, it was late and Riza's eyelids were, admittedly, drooping quite a lot.
"Are you alright?" Roy halted her movements and placed his hands on her side gently.
"I'd like to sit down if you don't mind," Riza replied, looking down.
Right hand at her back, Roy led her outside and sat her down on a bench in the courtyard before excusing himself and returning with two cold drinks. He sat too, smiling, "you're quite the dancer, Riza."
Riza took her drink from him and hid her smile behind her glass, blushing a little.
"And you look beautiful." Riza shifted uncomfortably and he paused, shaking his head, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you."
"No, it's fine," said Riza. "I should learn to take a compliment as well as I can take a punch."
Roy laughed and Riza smiled, taking another sip of her drink.
"Hey, Aunty Riza! There you are!" giggled Elysia, skipping up and almost tripping on her scarlet party dress in her haste.
"Good evening, Elysia," said Riza, "where's your mother- isn't it getting a little late for you?"
"I just came to say buh-bye," Elysia explained breathlessly, "'cause Mummy says its bedtime."
Riza nodded understandingly, "well goodnight then, I'll see you tomorrow."
"'Kay! Oh! And Mummy wants to know if you're coming for dinner again tomorrow."
Riza nodded, yes, and bid the little girl tell her mother thank you again.
"Hey, Uncle Roy- Mummy has something to say to you too!"
Roy, who had begun to feel a little left out, looked up, grinning, "yeah?"
"Uh-huh! She said for me to tell you to be nice to Aunty Riza."
Riza chuckled a little and Roy looked insulted, "I'm always nice," he protested indignantly.
"Don't worry, Elysia," said Riza reassuringly, "if Roy steps out of line, your Mother will hear about it tomorrow, okay?"
The two girls laughed at Roy's expense for a few moments more, then Elysia skipped back off and Roy was left trying to look disapproving, but ending up laughing too. When they had both calmed down enough to speak again, Roy decided to venture into a little more personal of a subject, "so, Riza… what have you been doing lately? You seem happier somehow."
Riza frowned a little at the question but shrugged it off, "I've been spending a lot of time with the Hughes girls, and with Winry and Maria. It may surprise you a little, but I am actually a girl- I need my private girl time as well."
Roy just raised an eyebrow at her perplexing emphasis, "believe me, Riza, no one would question your sex in that dress."
Riza glared at him, unable to keep the blush from creeping up her cheeks, "sir-!"
"Back to 'Sir', are we, Riza?"
Riza didn't reply, mouth forming a hard line.
"I'm sorry- too flirty?"
"A little, sir."
"Roy," he corrected her sternly. "But I am sorry. You see, I've been trying to tell you something all evening and I can't think of any other way."
"How about plain and simple, sir."
"Roy," he said again. "Come on, you were doing so well up until now!"
Riza might have smiled if it weren't for her determined curiosity, "Roy," she said, sighing in exasperation, "what is it you want to say to me?"
"Promise you won't laugh- it's not something I've ever done before, okay?"
"Roy, stop beating around the bush and tell me!"
"I love you."
Riza blinked. How did she reply to that? She had possible replies set for almost every other occasion- "I'm being promoted to Fuhrer" "I've got two weeks left to live" "Someone's replaced Hughes' gravestone with a photo album" …everything but that.
"Roy…"
"Ha! 'Roy!' Not 'Sir'! That's a good sign, right?"
Riza smiled at his enthusiasm, "it might be. But don't go saying that you love me unless you mean it, okay? I might just do something stupid… like believe it."
"Well does that mean you love me too?"
Riza couldn't reply for a moment, but she looked up slowly- mahogany meeting obsidian orbs- and her smile widened.
"Why aren't you saying anything?"
"I don't want to say the wrong thing and wreck this moment…" said Riza, laughing, almost anxiously.
"Say 'yes'," Roy urged her, "nothing could wreck this moment if I knew you loved me back."
"Yes," said Riza simply.
"Yes, what?"
"Yes, I love you, Roy."
Roy grinned and set his glass down beside them on the stone bench, Riza following suit and taking a quick, nervous breath as he leaned forward to kiss her. Slowly, she slipped her arms around his neck, drawing his face closer to hers until their mouths were a little less than an inch apart, "Meeting you," she whispered, "was fate, becoming your friend was a choice, falling in love with you was beyond my control."
Roy didn't reply, pressing his lips to hers gently and smiling as he felt the tiniest bit of pressure pushing from her mouth back against his- undoubtedly her idea of a rough a passionate kiss. Roy chuckled at the thought and Riza drew back a little, raising an eyebrow in amusement, "what?" she said, cocking her head to one side.
"Nothing, Riza- just thinking."
"About what?"
Roy just shook his head, "nothing- what Maes would say if he saw this."
Riza smiled gently, "I'm sure he is watching…"
"I'm sure he's snapping pictures…"
"…And shoving them in all the other angels' faces…"
"That sounds about right."
Riza leaned her forehead against his, still smiling, "he'd be happy to see us like this."
"He was the first out of any of us to figure it out."
"Idiot…"
"Yeah… why'd he have to go and get himself killed…?"Riza stiffened, noting the unpleasant turn the conversation was taking. Sensing this, Roy placed a light kiss on her lips and withdrew, "still, I'm sure he's happy up there- Havoc! Is that a camera!"
Riza whirled around furiously, only just in time to see him dash behind Major Armstrong. Glaring, she shoved a hand up her dress –to Roy's evident fascination- and removed a gun from an almost invisible holster at her thigh, "you had better start running, Second Lieutenant!"
Armstrong stepped aside to reveal, not only Havoc, but also Breda, Falman and Fuery.
"Don't look at me!" Fuery whined, followed by Breda's wild pleads of innocence and Falman's insistent denial… Havoc… well, the camera was proof enough, right?
Riza clicked the safety off her gun just as Roy pulled on his Alchemic gloves. Glancing at each other briefly, the two stood, knocking their drinks to the courtyard's stone floor.
The next second was one that was familiar to them all… fire, smoke, a couple of gunshots in quick succession and the sound of shattering glass.
Whoever thought that war could be so fun?
Fin-
DFR,
Please review, guys- you know you wanna!!
Xx-Bexy-xX