Disclaimer: I own nothing. The characters belong to Hiromu Arakawa.
Author's Note: This is a companion piece to my story "I Held Her First"; however this one is much more obvious about Falman being Maria Ross's father. I still have the hints of Maria/Denny and you don't need to read the first story to get this one. Flashbacks are in Italics. Read and Review if you want but Flames will be laughed at! Thanks!
Dancing With the Bride
The entire crowd hushed respectfully as the bride and her father stepped onto the dance floor. After a moment of this silence a waltz started to play from the record player in the corner of the room and Vato Falman led his daughter Maria Ross into the traditional dance that a bride always had with her father.
Vato's eyes, behind his almost closed lids, grew misty with years worth of memories. This hadn't been the first time they'd danced, it seemed that every important moment of their lives had been marked by a waltz…whether it was across a kitchen floor or the floor of the nursery.
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"Dad, I can't get this! Why is it so important that I learn this anyways?" Twelve year old Maria asked, her face creased with annoyance.
Vato straightened, a soft smile on his face, "Well you see Maria," he began patiently, "Learning how to dance is important because…well because…" Vato paused, unable to come up with a good reason for the lessons.
Maria smiled, "You don't know either do you Dad?" she asked, running a hand through her long black bangs, the rest of her hair pulled into a pony tale at the back of her head.
Raising an eyebrow Vato finally came up with a good reason, "Because this way we'll both have memories that we wouldn't have if we didn't do this together."
Maria finally nodded, seemingly satisfied with his answer. "Alright Dad, want to try it again?" she asked, holding out her hands.
Vato took them and began to count the rhythm of the dance, "Alight Maria…one…two… three…one…two…three."
Three days after their dance lessons across the living room floor, Vato received his official notification that he had been sent to the war in Ishbal.
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"Lookit Mommy! Daddy's dancing with me!" the six year old beamed proudly as she clutched her father's hands, trying to stay standing on top of his feet.
Vato stopped when he noticed his wife, Jeana, watching him and smiled sheepishly, "Hey, you're back from the store early honey."
Jeana smiled, placing the bag of groceries on the kitchen counter, "Don't mind me. I'd hate to interrupt the dance lesson."
Maria looked up at Vato, "You heard Mommy! Let's do some more!"
Smiling Vato started again, holding onto Maria's hands and singing an old waltz under his breath. After a few minutes he forgot that his wife was in the kitchen at all.
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Gently moving around the nursery with smooth rocking steps Vato sang the words of an old lullaby that his family had been singing to their babies for years.
"There is hope that leaves me never, all through the night." He whispered the last words of the song and gently placed a kiss of the sleeping baby's head.
Moving to the crib in the corner he laid the baby down and leaned his arms on the crib rail, watching her sleep.
"She loves it when you sing that song." Jeana came up next to him and looked down at the baby.
"Of course she does, she's a Falman." Vato replied, wrapping an arm around Jeana's shoulders and leading her out of the nursery. Closing the door behind them he looked in once more, "Night Maria." He whispered, leaving the door slightly ajar.
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"Dad, you okay?" Maria whispered worriedly, concerned that her dad seemed so…districted.
"What? Yes, I'm fine. I was…remembering." He said finally, smiling at her.
Maria smiled and glanced over his shoulder. Vato noted that it grew slightly brighter at the person she aw approaching and he released her hands, stepping back slightly as Denny Brosh approached.
"May I cut in Officer Falman?" Brosh, looking very formal in his military uniform, asked nervously.
Falman stepped back further, "Certainly." He smiled, watching with distant eyes as Brosh took his place and lead Maria back out onto the floor.
Moving to the sidelines he watched other couples moving onto the dance floor until it was full.
There would be other dances, both with Maria and with his grandchildren. His smile turned sad as a familiar song started to play. It was their song, their lullaby.
Humming the tune under his breath he finally started to sing the words softly, "There is hope that never leaves me, all through the night."
Fin.
Author's Note 2: I know that Maria and Falman have different last names and that he's single in the show, but explanations for all of those things will be given in a different back story that I'm going to write soon. Thanks for reading!