THE MAGAZINE

Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye stepped into the Military Headquarters' library and breathed a large sigh of relief. She took her overcoat off her shoulders and with it, the weight of the world. It had been a hard day and she figured she needed some peace and quiet. The library always seemed too still for Riza but today she found it brought her a calm serenity. She gazed around the large space before her, looking for a seat, but failed to find one. She began peering at the books on the shelves. Walking around the room, occasionally fingering the novels which she thought may capture her interest, only to throw them back in boredom.

Eventually, after an age of searching for a book, Riza saw someone she recognized. "Sciekzia!" she exclaimed joyously to the pile of books which she saw to be the military's official bookworm.

"Yeah hi." said the girl, obviously engrossed within one of her most treasured manuscripts.

"Catching up on some light reading, I see" Riza said jokingly as she leant down to inspect the shelf behind Sciezska.

"Watch out!" yelled Sciezska, raising her hand to try stop Riza's butt knocking over a pile books. But it was too late. The stack crashed to the ground with a thud and Sciezska's hand merely patting her superior's buttocks.

"I'm terribly sorry!" exclaimed a blushing Riza. She crouched and began to pick up the closest books. When she grabbed a large, leather bound hardback, she saw something fall out of the cover. She bent down and touched it before she even realized what it was. Sciezska's blood ran cold. It was a magazine, but it wasn't a normal magazine. It was different. She'd seen magazines like this before; they were the types of magazines that Jean Havoc had stowed under his bed, the ones which he read in private, in the dead of night. On its cover, above the obscene images of unmentionable acts, the magazine's title proclaimed:

PLAYGIRL

All the hottest girls just for you!

Riza gaped at the magazine in her hand in disbelief. What was Sciezska doing with a thing such as this? Was she holding this for someone, or was it hers? These thoughts were soon interrupted as Sciezska quickly snatched the publication from Riza's clutches, blushing all the way. "Uhh.. You can forget you just saw that, ok?" muttered Sciezska, avoiding eye contact.

"Uh, yeah. Sciezska I never knew," replied a quiet and sympathetic Riza, "I always thought you had a crush on Havoc..."

"Just leave!" yelled Sciezska, pointing a shaking finger at the door.

Riza hurried out of the room, leaving Sciezska with her face in a book in a feeble attempt to cover her feelings of anger, embarrassment and, most prevailingly, the sense that no-one understood her. In her mind's eye, she saw Riza Hawkeye. At first, she saw the young blonde woman smiling. Then the image changed to the look on Riza's face when she saw the magazine: a look of utter disgust. She had seen Sciezska for what she truly was; Sciezska had bared her soul to this woman and she had rejected her. Sciezska was crushed, she couldn't hold herself back any longer; she toppled to her knees and sobbed tears of loneliness into the carpet.

Riza had her shoulders back and her head held high. She walked briskly through the corridors of the headquarters, hoping to find sanctuary in her room. Though her body language gave no clue, inside, Riza was distraught. Her mind was racing. Had she reacted properly? Did she just terribly insult Sciezska? Would they ever be able to speak to each other again? Eventually, she made it to her quarters where she almost immediately shed her heavy uniform, let down and stepped into a boiling hot shower. Here, amongst all the steam and water, she could finally relax. As the droplets of water pelted her shoulders and trickled down her spine, she tried to focus on her surroundings. She could smell the shampoo in her hair and tried to focus on that and then she attempted to concentrate on the feeling of steam rising from her body, both forms of meditation were futile. Eventually thoughts of the mousy book lover infiltrated Riza's mind, causing her throat to run dry and butterflies to rise in her stomach. Cursing herself for her lack of willpower, she turned off the shower and made her way to bed.

She thought sleep would come quickly, but of course, it didn't. She even tried reading, which inevitably brought about the thoughts she was so desperately endeavoring to avoid. In the end, Riza admitted defeat to herself and let her thoughts flow in. At first, her conscience quizzed her with the same old issues, but then, to her surprise, it delved deeper. Why do I care so much about Sciezska's orientation? It's none of my business! She is who she is and that's that! But, the again, she does need to know that someone supports her, so she doesn't feel like an alien…

Suddenly, a snapshot of Sciezska's smiling face flashed before Riza. She never noticed before, but Sciezska could be considered quite…… cute. She certainly wasn't ugly, Riza was sure she'd seen Havoc flirting with her once or twice. She could have any of the guys if she wanted to. This whole business with the magazine answered a lot, supposed Riza.

Sleep did come to Riza that night, and with it, dreams. Dreams of Sciezska. Sciezska laughing, smiling and running, these dreams served for most of Riza's imaginings that night. That was until one particular vision. Sciezska, stark naked, using the magazine for what it was intended. This caused Riza to wake in a warm sweat. She could feel heat around her hips and cast it off as simply that time of the month. She had already decided what she had to do: she had to face Sciezska.

As she approached the library's entrance, Riza stopped dead. What was she going to say? Would Sciezska even listen to what she had to say? The mental torrent of thoughts began again, and all the while, Riza couldn't shake the image of Sciezskadoing…doing… that. Riza bit her lip, after being lost in concentration for what seemed like an age and clearing her head, she finally made a decision. As she entered the room, she made a silent bee-line for Sciezska. Careful to remain silent, Riza walked right up behind the young girl and lightly placed a hand on her shoulder. Sciezska jumped.

"Sciezska?" Riza asked in the quietest of whispers, "You know that magazine, I saw yesterday"

"Y-y-y-yes" Sciezska replied wit her voice an octave higher.

"Well…um…I was wondering…" I look of dread crossed Sciezska's face.

"I was wondering if you had any here." Riza blurted out, causing Sciezska to blush heavily and smile.

"No." she said softly.

Disheartened, Riza turned to leave only to have her hand clasped by Sciezska. She turned, their gazes met and Sciezska said in a tiny voice with the faintest smile, "If you want, we can make our own scene."

Riza put her hands in Sciezska's and smiled broadly. "I'd like that."

THE END

A/N: Is this the first fic with this pairing? If so, who hoo! Also, in your opinion, could I bump this down to a T rating?