Author's Notes: Yes, it's September and I technically wrote this in August and it's very much a Christmas fic. You can either blame this on my Roy levels of procrastination or absolute determination - because I found this fic request in my tumblr inbox back from last December and still wrote it.

Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine, etc. etc.

Missed Opportunities

Christmas time was always a light-hearted affair in the office of Team Mustang. Over the years, they had become more like family than anything else with new additions as the years went on. This was the second Christmas with Edward and Alphonse on the team and though Edward and Roy butted heads more often than not, the two boys still found themselves in Eastern around the holiday season. It wasn't the eggnog or teasing Edward that had Roy grinning a little more loosely. It was the first Christmas in a long time that his best friend had joined them for the festivities, having brought his wife and two year-old daughter to visit.

There was no way that Riza could've stopped herself from smiling as Roy played with his goddaughter, raising her up and down in the air as she giggled and waved her hands at him. It wasn't often that Roy displayed his emotions so openly, especially when in front of the members of his team, but everyone was so wrapped up in the glee of the season that few seemed to notice but her.

Well, Edward noticed as well, but he wasn't saying anything, too busy gawking in utter confusion, as if he could no longer recognize his commanding officer and didn't understand what he was seeing. That made Riza smile too. Roy would be horrified later on when she told him that Edward had seen such a gentle, rare side of him and would probably work extra hard to aggravate the younger alchemist.

After handing Elicia back over to her father, Roy meandered towards Riza's spot as she leaned against the door. It technically wasn't legal to drink at HQ, but then every team did when it came to a little office Christmas party, so she was working as both the designated driver for later and a lookout for now. Riza didn't often indulge in breaking the rules, but she didn't mind it right now. Maybe it was the holiday spirit.

"She's gotten so big since we last went to Central," Riza pointed out as Roy handed her a glass of eggnog.

"I thought Hughes was going to have a heart attack," Roy laughed as he leaned on the wall. Indeed, Hughes was checking over Elicia to make sure that no injuries had occurred while Roy was tossing her in the air, even though he had been watching Roy like a hawk.

"Hey, Colonel!" Havoc called out from the other side of the room. When Roy looked over to the Second Lieutenant, the man grinned cheekily and pointed at something above them. "You might want to look up."

Both Riza and Roy looked up, only to find mistletoe hanging directly above them. Riza refused to blush, even if it was her first instinct to do so. Normally, Riza was extremely observant and noticed when things were out of place or something had changed, but she had not caught any of the men hanging up mistletoe. She thought it might be for whenever one of the other female officers popped in to visit, but it had ended with the two of them unwittingly standing under it instead.

Without missing a beat, Roy reached up and picked the mistletoe off from the door. "Careful, Lieutenant," he said coolly as he tossed the offending plant into a trash bin. "That could've fell on you."

"Thank you, sir," Riza replied, relief washing over her. "I'll look out next time."

Riza did not miss the put out look on Havoc's face, but decided to ignore it. Of course he was only teasing them, seeing as how he knew about the anti-fraternization laws, but she couldn't help but get the feeling that he sometimes knew that there was something more between her and Roy. Even if that something was, well, nothing. Roy was her commanding officer, after all, and so even a kiss on the cheek could be considered inappropriate. Riza was not about to let some ridiculous seasonal plant tradition get them in trouble.

What she also did not expect was the sheer amount of effort that the team went through to continuously prank them. She had to avoid the table holding the drinks because of an obviously placed piece of mistletoe done by Falman. And then there was the door to Roy's interior office where Breda had strategically hidden the mistletoe on the inside of the office, so that Roy didn't notice it until after he'd turned to walk back inside the exterior office. When Riza peered at Fuery to see if he had done something as well, the younger officer blushed and shook his head emphatically.

Even Hughes got in on the fun. For the most part, he would whip out a piece of mistletoe so that he could hold it above his wife's head and he would kiss her. Or he would do it to his daughter and kiss her on the cheek, nuzzling noses with her. It was positively adorable. But at least one time, he used a stick to hold it above Roy's and Riza's heads and then chuckled as Roy swatted it away. Maybe it was best that they didn't stand near each other, especially doorways, but either out of stubbornness or something else, they refused to do so.

After presents were exchanged and the evening winded down, the team began to pack up. Hughes and his family were staying in a hotel, as Roy admittedly didn't have enough room in his sparsely furnished apartment for them, along with the Elric brothers. Falman and Fuery went to the dorms while Riza gave Roy, Havoc, and Breda rides home. Only Roy's place was a little out of the way, considering he made more money than they did, but sh

It really made no sense to do so since she lived closer to Havoc and Breda, but she dropped them off first and then took Roy home last. It was his car, after all. That was the excuse she came up with. The real reason was that she just liked the times that they spent driving like this. It was one of the few times they got to be alone.

"Since you'll have the car this weekend, would you mind taking a few things for more to the post office tomorrow?" Roy asked as she parked in front of his place. He smiled sheepishly. "I forgot to send Madam Christmas and the girls their presents and you know how she is about her holiday."

Of course he did. More likely, he waited until the last minute to get their gifts and then procrastinated on mailing them, as he was wont to do every year. Riza rolled her eyes, but nodded her head and turned off the car. As they walked up to the door, he dug around in his coat pocket for his keys, so that they were standing outside of his apartment by the time he found them. He stilled beside her instead of unlocking it though, so she turned to ask him what he was waiting for.

Except he was looking her in the face, something unreadable in his eyes that looked strangely like fear, and holding something in the air. Riza glanced up. In his hand was the mistletoe that he had thrown in the trash earlier that night. The blush returned to her cheeks. It had been…a long time since she and Roy had kissed. Not that she hadn't thought about it, especially after tonight, but she couldn't deny that they'd been gravitating towards each other more here recently, though for what reason, she had no clue.

Roy smiled at her, letting her know that she could say no if she wanted to.

She most definitely did not want to.

Stepping forward, so that there was little more than an inch between them, Riza closed the gap and kissed him. It should have been on the cheek, but she was unwilling to sacrifice the opportunity. She had wanted to kiss him and she wanted it to be a proper good kiss, even if it wasn't proper at all. His hand fell down to rest on her shoulder as he returned the kiss. To be honest, it went on a little longer than it should have and she really shouldn't have gripped the front of his jacket or opened her mouth to deepen the kiss. But it all just seemed to happen naturally without her even thinking about it.

By the time they parted, both much too soon and not quickly enough, Riza was a little out of breath and Roy was wearing a lopsided grin. They didn't pull away from one another just yet even though she should've been running to the car to put as much space between them as possible. It was dangerous staying like this, if only because it was so difficult to ignore the pull towards him. Her entire body seemed to ache with the urge to kiss him again.

But then they both took a step back away from each other at the same time, as if they came to the same conclusion at the same time. There was a slightly regretful look in Roy's eyes - not at having kissed her (he would never regret that), but that he couldn't do more and he felt guilty for putting her in such a painful position. He opened his mouth, most likely to apologize, but she put a hand over his mouth to cut him off and he went still.

"Merry Christmas," Riza told him, like she hadn't been close to making out with her superior officer moments ago. It was just a kiss. Just a silly Christmas tradition.

When she pulled her hand away, Roy chuckled. "You as well."

Honestly, it was one of the most unexpected yet best presents Riza could have received this year. She didn't care what anyone else thought and it wasn't like they would know.