Astridhong: Hey guys, another story for you! This will be RoyAi obviously. Tell me what you think afterwards? :)

Disclaimer: I do not own this amazing work of Arakawa called 'Fullmetal Alchemist'. I just own the plot. :)

Summary: Maybe life just loved playing games with her...but fate does have its reasons. "Fate has reasons for everything: the good, the bad, the happy, the sad. It's all threads in a beautiful tapestry called life."

The first time she ever laid eyes on him was at her childhood home. Her father introduced him as his apprentice. Riza thought it odd since her father didn't accept apprentices ever. She supposed Berthold Hawkeye saw something in this raven-haired boy that the others lacked. But, being alone with her father for so many years after her mother died, she felt like this Roy boy was an outsider.

That night, little Riza knocked lightly on the smooth wooden surface of the door to Roy's room, hoping tht he's already asleep so she didn't have to face him.

"Come in."

Oh rats, he's awake. She hesitantly turned the knob and pushed on the door. She almost shrieked when shee noticed he was directly in front of her.

"Oh, hi!" the teenage boy greeted her, stepping back to not frighten her even more. "You're Riza, right?"

The girl could only nod.

"So why are still up?" Roy looked fown to the tray in Riza's hands holding a plate of cookies and a glass of milk.

"Father told me to greet you properly," she answered in a whisper like she always did whenever she spoke of her father. "I didn't get the chanve earlier since I still had chores to do, so..."

The boy smirked and she thought the expression suited him well. "Why don't you come in? That tray looks quite heavy," Roy offered.

Riza shook her head. "I just came here to give the cookies and milk to you and wish you a good night..." She took the time to look at his room. "...and it seems tht I have disturbed you. I apologize."

True enough, the room was in complete disarray. The only thing that lit the place up was the oil lamp on top of the desk near the window. The floor was littered with the boxes in which he put his stuff during the move, and it looked like he was halfway in unpacking his clothes from his bags when he got distracted by the books on his desk. On closer inspection, Riza found out that they were books on alchemy.

"No, not at all! I was just scanning through my notes for tomorrow's lessons and I desperately needed a break."

And with that, he took the tray from Riza's hands and led her further into the room.

"Mmm! This is delicious!" Roy exclaimed through a mouthful of cookies.

"I baked them," she mumbled, taking a small bite of the cookie in her hand before wrinkling her nose in apprehension towards the boy. "But please eat slowly or else you'll choke."

The young alchemist ignored her comment and continued to shove the sweets down his mouth. Riza had to resist rolling her eyes when he suddenly jerked forward and started thumping on his chest with the heel of his right hand while his other hand covered his mouth to avoid spraying the chewed cookies everywhere.

Riza stood up from her seat at the edge of the bed and walked over to him. His face was rapidly turning pale due to the lack of oxygen to his system and she quickly sat on her knees behind him, rubbing soothing circles against his slightly broad back.

She gave Roy an 'I told you so' look when he finally calmed down, and he responded with a sheepish grin. Then she handed him the glass of warm milk to help ease his throat muscles which he was grateful to accept.

"I couldn't resist. They were so good," he rasped, licking the traces of milk left on his lips. "Dinner was great too! I think I haven't eaten more than tonight."

Her eyes widened. Nobody ever praised her in any way before...not even her father. All she received from him was a nod of approval or something. "Thank you, Mr. Mustang."

"Oh, c'mon. Call me Roy."

This time she frowned. "I can't. We're not even friends yet."

"Let's be friends, then!"

That night was marked in her memory as the night she received the brightest in her entire life.

A/N: Finally uploaded a RoyAi fic! This is a multi-chapter one, so look out for the next ones. Though the chapters here have waaaaaaaay less word count than Paint It Golden and Tsumetai Yoru, I'm kinda proud of this project! This will be at least 7 chapters. Got everything planned so I'll be uploading chapters slowly but surely.