Just One More Kiss (Wish of a Grandfather)

Author: MoonStarDutchess

Chapter 1: May 3rd Late Afternoon

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA and gain no profit from writing this fanfiction.

AN: This is an extended and altered version of my friend Riri's comic Wish of a Grandfather. I hope you like it. If you'd like to see the comic its on DA and is called Wish of a Grandfather ht tp : / / rinoaebastel . deviant art . com

This fic much different than my other works since it follows more of a diary/log timeline than a flowy story type deal. I wanted to do something different. Hope you enjoy it.


May 3rd Late Afternoon

Riza was used to the comments from the civilian personnel contracted to work within headquarters. It happened in every transfer she had since she came under Mustang's command, and she couldn't really blame the talk considering Roy's reputation with women. If the women weren't making up rumors about her, then the men were saying she had her rank because she screwed Mustang. She ignored the gossip and made no mention of the fact promotions were decided by a board, not the Colonel. If those men were military, they'd know that.

Even though she could take the gossip, and brush it off as easily as a speck of dust on her shoulder, her friend Rebecca had a more difficult time and would jump to her defense at a moment's notice.

Those events would always lead to a conversation about Mustang, which always started with. . .

"For the love of god I don't know how you stand working for him with all the talk that goes around. If talk isn't bad enough, he's such a bastard for not doing anything about it."

"I doubt he even knows there is such talk. And if he does, he probably doesn't care either."

Rebecca huffed. "Which makes him an idiot."

"Don't talk about your superior like that," Riza scolded. They walked out of the locker room and headed down the hallway."

"You should transfer."

Riza held back a chuckle. "You say that every time someone spreads a tiny rumor. If I don't care, then I don't see why you do."

"Because you're my friend. And there's more to it than just rumors. What if it gets you into trouble?"

Riza had thought of that when she first caught wind of the rumors years ago. Upon talking to other female officers in longstanding assignments, her mind eased. "These rumors have been flying for years Rebecca. They do with any officer that stays in the same position for a long time. Ask Maria Ross. She was rumored to be sleeping with Alex Armstrong."

Rebecca dry retched and covered her eyes with her hands. "Oh god. I got a visual."

Riza smirked. Revenge time. "There was even a rumor about Denny and—"

"Denny and Maria? Yeah, I heard that one." She lowered her hands and relaxed.

"No, Denny and Armstrong," Riza said.

Rebecca blanched and Riza bit the inside corner of her lip to keep from smiling.

"Riza! That's a sick joke. I mean being gay is fine, but those two gay in a gay relationship makes my imagination implode." She shuddered.

Riza looked over at her friend. "I wasn't joking. I actually did hear that."

Rebecca wrinkled her nose. "Ewww..."

"The higher ups don't give a shit about rumors. They come to expect them. Unless someone has evidence of an impropriety, they tend to do nothing."

"I suppose. I haven't ever heard of anyone getting court-martialed for fraternizat-Hey, where you going?" Rebecca asked when Riza turned up the right hallway. Riza stopped and turned around.

"I have to get some more paperwork for the Colonel."

Rebecca walked over and placed a hand on Riza's shoulder. "Riza, you should transfer."

"You said that already today and it makes about the hundredth time overall since I started working for Mustang."

"You are nothing but a babysitter and secretary! You should come work at the range. Put your skills to use."

Riza shook her head. Rebecca wasn't the first friend that tried to get her to transfer using that very line, and she was growing tired of it. She pulled away from her hold. "My skills are being put to use in the best way possible."

"Are you actually happy working for him?"

"I am."

"Really?"

"Yes."

The dark haired woman leaned in closer. "Is it because you're in love with him?"

Gah! There was the other issue. If Rebecca wasn't concerned about the rumors, she was concerned about her nonexistent personal relationship with her superior. Okay, well maybe nonexistent wasn't exactly the right word, they did grow up together, but their relationship was nowhere near the realm of romantic warm fuzzies. "Still trying to get a confession out of me too? Give it a rest."

Rebecca sighed. "Fine, I won't bother you about it anymore."

"You say that every time you bring these topics up."

"I mean it this time," she said and held up her right hand. "I Rebecca Catalina do solemnly swear I won't bring up a transfer or rumors, or your obvious love for Mustang, again." She spoke the love part in a barely audible whisper.

Riza shook her head and hid a chuckle with a cough before turning and walking away. She wasn't going to hold her breath on Rebecca keeping her vow.

When she walked in the office, she expected the Colonel to be facing the window and staring like a puppy that wanted to go outside. If she didn't have good control of her bearings, she would've toppled over with shock. He was looking down at the paperwork in front of him, his attention riveted on the document, and a finished pile of work was sitting in the outbox, ready to be dispersed to their proper offices.

Was he sick? Sure, he always ended up finishing his work every evening but it was usually at the last minute. Most of the time he was gazing into space or out taking care of "important business" aka flirting with the local female population or getting some fresh air. Basically he did anything that wasn't paperwork.

She walked over to him and sat another pile of papers on his right side. He looked up at her, then at the papers, then at her before sitting down the pen and leaning back in his chair. She hid a smile. There was the posture she'd grown accustomed to. He never took his gaze from hers and, as she was yet again accustomed to, her heartbeat increased and she had a hard time keeping a flush from spreading across the apples of her cheeks.

"That's all the work for today, Sir. And I also brought those files you asked me to retrieve from records."

"You know what?"

"What?"

"I hate this place." He wrinkled his nose and glared at his paperwork as if he could set it on fire by a mere stare. "And I didn't think I'd have to do so much paperwork here in East City. I thought I'd be outside a lot more." He straightened, grabbed his pen and pointed to the window. "Look out there. We are in the backwoods where nothing happens. That pricksucker Hakuro and the other polesmokers at Central called this a volatile region. I've seen baby kittens more volatile than this. "

She wouldn't admit to being amused at this rant (he usually gave it at least once a week but without the creative verbiage of pricksucker and polesmokers) and left out the fact she enjoyed the area. Since there was limited danger most of the time, it made her job easier and meant Mustang was safer.

"Well," Roy continued, "at least there was the small incident with Scar. That brought forth a bit of excitement around here."

Now she wondered if he was trying to push her temper to the extreme. He knew her feeling regarding the event. She glared at him. "You call what happened with Scar a small incident? You almost got your head blown up. If you consider that small then I dread to see the scale of a larger one!"

Roy inched a bit further away and held up a hand. "Fine, don't give yourself a hernia over it. I guess I used the wrong wording." He coughed to clear his throat and started back on his paperwork. "But as a whole this area doesn't live up to its reputation."

"That's thanks to the Elrics calming things down in the nearby cities."

Roy laughed and looked up at her. "You actually think they are calming things down?" He placed his hand on top of a large pile of finished paperwork. "The majority of this is in regards to their calming actions." He picked up a sheet and waved it at her. "Try reading through these and you'll change your mind. They are for property damage."

"Yes, I know, Sir. I pre-read all of your work."

His face crossed over with confusion, creating a befuddled look distinctive only to him. "You do?"

"If I didn't then you'd be signing all the useless duplicates they make."

"Duplicates? I didn't know they made duplicates before I sign them."

She shrugged. "I'm doing my job right then."

"There was never a doubt of that."

She ignored his compliment even though she wanted to say thank you. "They do it just in case one form gets lost, but then they made copies after your signature. It's rather useless."

"Then in that case you should know how dull the work is!"

Sometimes when he used that childish tone, she wanted to pistol whip him. "Of course I do. My work isn't exactly fun, but you should've expected more paperwork and less outdoor assignments. It's normal you would have more responsibilities like this with your promotion."

"And they should also give me more time! I'm a Colonel for god's sake and the difference between a Colonel and Lieutenant Colonel's paperwork is vast!"

Riza's eyebrow twitched. "It's one extra pile, two at the most, Sir. A pile consisting of forty, eight by eleven inch sheets each."

"Thank you for that intriguing fact," he muttered thinking she didn't hear him. "You know, I'm a single, incredibly handsome, fairly wealthy man and I have a lot of very beautiful women waiting for me out there. It's bad for my reputation if I just stay at the office with my simple Lieutenant."

That hurt worse than a punch to the face. In fact, she'd prefer a hit; the pain would leave quicker. While she never considered herself beautiful, was she really just simple? Plain? She took a deep breath and steeled her emotions. Or she thought she had. "I'm sorry I'm ruining your reputation Colonel, but as I recall you are here to make it to the top of the military, not fuck everything in sight."

He turned and looked at her, eyes wide. "Lieutenant?"

She swallowed the lump that formed in her throat. "If spending time with beautiful women is what's most important to you, tell me so, because that means that this simple lieutenant is supporting the wrong person." She couldn't keep the hurt and anger from seeping into every word she spoke.

His breath hitched. "Oh… Oh! Lieutenant, I didn't mean tha—"

"I'm going to the range, Sir. Do your job if you don't want to leave your beautiful women waiting. If you don't get everything done then you're going to be here all night." This time she made sure her voice carried the cold professional tone she honed long ago in Ishbal. She looked over at Hayate, who was watching them from beside her desk. "Let's go Hayate."

-/-/-

When she left the room, Roy covered his face with his hands, leaned back in his chair, and released a loud groan. How could he say something like that to her? He knew how to read Riza and the more he thought about her face, her voice tone, the worse he felt. To anyone else she'd seem unaffected, but he knew he hurt her. He hadn't been thinking clearly. She was his simple lieutenant but he didn't mean it as an insult. "I'm such an idiot sometimes," he muttered.

"Sometimes?" A voice in his head argued.

"I don't need you against me too," he said aloud. If someone walked in the room, they'd think he'd gone mad.

"You are an idiot all the time when it comes to her."

He dropped his hands to his lap and rested his right cheek flat against his desk, relishing the cool wood against his skin. His mind was right. When he spoke before thinking, he always ended up saying something idiotic. This was especially true in regards to Riza because she was both the one woman he wanted, and the one he couldn't have.


AN: If you read my current works you must be like OMFG she's staring a new fic so the old ones will take longer to update. I have this fiction completed and it will be updated once or twice a week. I want to get some of my already completed works posted as well as continue with my ongoing.