A/N: I decided to step away from my comfort zone – angst – for a change and I wrote something fluffy. This story could be viewed as sort of a prequel/sequel to Let It All Go, but it can also stand on its own. So, there's no need to read both, unless you feel so inclined.
I'd love to hear what you think, so please do review. Thanks for reading.
I own nothing. Fullmetal Alchemist belongs to Hiromu Arakawa. Bow to the cow.
Fiddling with the goddamn zipper on the back of her dress Riza cursed under her breath. – "Dammit, these things never work." – She was about to give up when she heard a voice coming from the door behind her. – "Need any help?" – It was Winry. Riza froze – The image of her tattooed back immediately flashing before her eyes. Fuck. Although, a lot has been revealed about Roy and Riza in the aftermath of the Promised Day, her tattoo was still pretty much a tightly kept secret.
Before Riza even realized what was happening, and before she could stop the young woman from coming any closer, Winry's hands were already fixing the zipper and closing the white wedding dress over Riza's tattooed back. Riza braced herself for a slur of questions which – surprisingly enough – never came. Instead, the young woman offered her help with anything else Riza may need and started cleaning up the mess in the improvised dressing room.
Smiling to herself, Riza thanked Winry for her help. And, silently, for not asking. The young woman nodded in understanding.
They got ready in silence for a while until Winry spoke. – "Ms. Hawkeye." – The older woman interrupted her with a level stare. – "Riza. Please. Don't make me feel older than I already am." – Riza smiled, attempting to fix a lose strand of her neatly styled blond hair.
"Riza." – Winry continued. – "May I ask you a question?" – Winry noticed panic shoot inside Riza's hazel eyes and she quickly attempted to remedy the situation. – "I just… I wanted to ask you if you would tell me more about you and Roy. I realized I'm supposed to be a maid of honor at your wedding and yet I don't know the first thing about you two… as a couple, I mean. – Winry was stumbling over her words, which was not a common occurrence and Riza found it endearing. – "So, what I'm trying to say is… would you tell me a story about the two of you. Whatever. It can be your first kiss... if you want. If not, I'll totally understand." – Winry's cheeks turned red and she averted her eyes. Riza was just about to put the poor thing out of her misery when the young woman interjected. – "It's just that… You and Roy are so perfect for each other. For years, it was glaringly obvious that you love each other. It's the kind of love one doesn't see often. If ever. So… I guess I'm a bit curious about how it all happened." – Winry offered a shy smile and Riza replied in kind. This time it was her turn to blush. – "Well… when you put it that way." – Riza smiled. – "Guess there's no harm in telling you about our first kiss." – Is what Riza said, however, the truth was far more complicated than she ever cared to admit.
For years, she and Roy have been unable to agree on what their actual first kiss was. Clearly, this doesn't make any goddamn sense. After all, you can only truly have one first kiss with a person. Yet, they had six. Well, sort of.
But Riza really wanted to tell Winry the truth. She hated lying and most of all she despised lying to her friends. In order to make sure she told Winry the truth about her first kiss with a certain raven-haired Fuhrer, Riza carefully considered all six candidates for their first kiss in order to finally reach a decision on this important question the jury has been out on for way too long.
Starting with number one, Riza re-opened the case.
Alright, this one can be discarded right off the bat because it wasn't even a real kiss. It was more of a happy accident. A half-assed attempt at flirting on her part and an awkward and shy response on Roy's part – as unbelievable as that may sound.
After her father's funeral Riza had shown the young soldier the secrets to flame alchemy that were written on her back. Her father's apprentice spent day after day examining the intricacies of her tattoo in order to master flame alchemy and with its help make the world a better place. The thought of their naivety and foolishness left a bittersweet taste in Riza's mouth.
However, spending so much time together – cozied up on the couch under candle light – can entice feelings. And as much as she'd sometimes like to believe she's immune to the man's charms, she knew more than anyone that that wasn't nearly the case. When time came for Roy to leave, Riza went to the train station with him to say goodbye. Just as he was turning away, a distant relative of courage decided to pay Riza a sudden visit and she stood on her toes to press a half-innocent peck on the corner of Roy's lips. The young soldier smiled as his eyes widened with surprise. Before he could gather his thoughts and mount a response, she was hurriedly walking away without as much as sneaking a peak over her back.
Riza suppressed a chuckle at the memory of her inept flirtation with the handsome soldier. And she would have felt embarrassed had Roy not have been attempting the same on her the entirety of their stay together. It's a minor miracle she didn't cave in a lot earlier.
While Winry would probably find this story cute and endearing, the shy and awkward peck on the corner of a man's lips hardly counts as a kiss. So, Riza decided – this wasn't their first kiss.
Now, on to number two. When Riza first joined the military, she didn't have any friends. Well, not that she was ever the life of the party or the queen bee, but still not having one person to talk to about – well, just anything really, was difficult even for the stoic and solitary Riza Hawkeye. Enter, Rebecca Catalina. The woman was the complete opposite of Riza. Loud. Boisterous. Talkative. Flirtatious. Outgoing. Fun. And Riza loved her. Opposites apparently do attract and the two very different women became the best of friends.
However, while Riza loved her best friend and all of her quirks, she also hated that Becca had a knack for putting Riza in all kinds of uncomfortable situations. On one such occasion, Rebecca insisted their little group play spin the bottle. Hardly an appropriate game for a group of mildly intoxicated twenty-something soldiers cramped at a military base, but her friend was relentless.
Soldiers being soldiers, they played the game the only way they knew how. Under no circumstances were they allowed to lie in case they chose truth. That would be tantamount to committing perjury. And a dare had to be performed no matter what. Otherwise it would be considered disregarding a direct order from a superior officer. For Roy and Riza truth, of course, was off the table for obvious reasons, so they stuck with dares. Which, much to their dismay, backfired faster than they could have anticipated.
After an hour of some pretty hilarious dares and a couple of awkward thrust, Rebecca spun the bottle and when it finally stopped it was pointing straight at the dark-eyed Flame Alchemist. As expected Roy chose dare and a dare he got. Not taking a single second to think, indicating she had this planned from the very beginning, Rebecca dared Roy to kiss Riza, who happened to be sitting on his left.
Like a true soldier Roy obeyed, turning his head slightly to the left and pressed a soft, brief kiss on Riza's lips. As much as it pained her to admit it, that one short euphoric moment made Riza feel whole. Everyone cheered, while Roy and Riza attempted to maintain their unflinching façade. A futile attempt since they both turned about fifty different shades of red in a matter of seconds.
And while Riza knew Winry would love to hear this story, it still wasn't their first kiss. It was a stupid game, so it didn't count.
And that's why Riza moved on to number three.
This one shouldn't even be on the list, but whatever. Roy insists on including it for some reason. A little before Ed and Al entered their lives and shit got way too real way too fast, Roy and Riza dealt with less complex cases in hopes of returning at least some sense of normalcy to their messed-up lives. For one such case they had to organize an undercover operation. The situation called for a hot young couple and who better to pull it off than Mustang and his loyal subordinate, aka William and Elizabeth.
The two soldiers did their best to look and act the part, however, if they were going to sell it, at some point they had to show some real affection. While Riza would have settled for a hug and a couple of innocent pecks on the lips here and there, Roy went all out and crashed his lips against hers not giving Riza a fighting chance. If she were lying she'd say she returned the kiss to stay in character. However, if she's being honest with herself, she returned the kiss because she wanted to. And not as Elizabeth. No. She – Riza wanted to kiss him – Roy. So, she indulged herself this one time and gave into the feeling of Roy's warm lips on top of hers, to the touch of his right hand on the back of her neck, his left hands sliding down her back, and so she pressed even harder against his body, taking even the unflappable Colonel Mustang by surprise.
But while it was one hell of a kiss – and now that she thinks about it she understands why Roy insists on including it – it still doesn't count as their first kiss. Because at the end of the day, that couple kissing was Elizabeth and William. Not Riza and Roy.
With that out of the way, Riza made her way to the fourth first kiss. The one she knew very little of. Reason being – she was unconscious and Roy was a pervert. According to what Roy told her, he kissed her when she was laying on the hospital bed recovering from a bullet wound she earned protecting him.
Roy being Roy, couldn't forgive himself for what happened, even though she was his bodyguard and it was her duty to protect him. He had spent 24 hours by her side – with no sleep – firmly holding her hand in his and waiting for her to open her eyes. When his verbal pleadings yielded no fruit, he decided to kiss her – hoping against hope that somehow that will awake her – if for nothing else than to punch him in his stupid face. Needless to say, Riza didn't wake up until much later and it had nothing to do with him kissing her and everything to do with natural recovery process and the drugs the doctors gave her. Although, Roy still claims that his first-class kissing abilities played an important role in her healing process. In any case, it can hardly be their first kiss if one of them doesn't even remember it ever happening.
With that in mind, Riza crossed the fourth kiss off the list and moved on to the next one. The one she remembered a little too well.
Ever since Ishval, both Roy and Riza – as well as almost every other soldier that fought in the war – had some difficulties sleeping. To put it mildly. Nightmares and insomnia were commonplace. And while Riza decided to deal with her PTSD by reading a book until her mind finally decided to let her get some shuteye, Roy had other methods. It's no secret that the man was partial to alcohol. One night, Riza was rudely awakened from her peaceful slumber by a heavy knock on the door. Checking the clock on her nightstand – it was 3AM – she grabbed the gun placed under her pillow and made her way towards the front door. Sneaking a peak through the peephole she saw a slouched figure which she concluded was none other than her Colonel. Placing the gun on a nearby table, Riza unlocked the door to let the Colonel in.
As soon as the door opened, Roy stumbled forward – crashing against Riza. The blond soldier struggled to maintain balance and close the door. Let's face it – a drunken Colonel, her superior officer, coming drunk to her apartment in the middle of the fucking night wasn't something she wanted printed on the front pages of Amestris newspapers. So, Riza anchored herself against the wall with one hand wrapped around the visibly intoxicated Colonel Mustang while she closed and locked the front door with her other hand. With that daunting task out of the way, she gathered the Colonel back on his feet as much as she could and attempted to strike a conversation, to no avail. Suddenly, the man lifted his head to face her, fixing his intense gaze on her lips. Without thinking and without giving her time to think, Roy closed the already small distance between them and placed a soft kiss on her lips. Reluctantly, his Lieutenant returned the gesture. The Colonel had apparently taken this to mean he had the rite of passage so he leaned in a bit further turning the innocent peck into a passionate kiss shared by two lovers who haven't seen each other in a long time. And the fact was, they haven't. They've seen each other as Colonel and Lieutenant plenty, but not as Roy and Riza. No, Roy and Riza didn't get to spend time together. To exchange kisses. To hold hands. To go to dinner. To come home to each other. To be a couple. They had Amestris to think of – first. They had their sins to atone for – first. They had their military laws and codes – first. Everything else came second. Including what these two soldiers obviously felt for each other. Which is why, no matter how much she found herself enjoying the kiss, Riza had to break it off. And break it off she did.
The memory of this kiss still made Riza a bit weak in the knees, but regardless of how fondly she remembered it, it still didn't count as their first. Not surprisingly, the Colonel didn't remember anything the next morning and Riza hadn't told him until some years later. So, this definitely couldn't have been their first kiss, because, as previously established, if one party to the kiss doesn't even remember it ever happening, then it doesn't count.
Which brings her to kiss number six. The one they shared after Promised Day. The one that lead them to this very moment. The one that had upended their lives and the one that Riza cherishes the most. Nearly dying made both of them realize that time waits for no one. So, when Roy insisted on driving her home from the hospital she didn't fight him. And when he kissed her with passion and intensity she had never felt before she replied in kind. That was the moment everything changed between them. They knew there was no going back anymore. This wasn't some awkward attempt at a kiss by a shy teenage girl, who in a moment of hormone-induced courage, decided to kiss the handsome older boy she has had a crush on for years. This was not some stupid dare where two mildly tipsy soldiers brush lips while doing their best to remain stoic and keep the red form coming down their cheeks. This wasn't a game of pretend that they could just write off to staying in character – lying to themselves and everyone else that the couple in passionate embrace is not really them. This was definitely not an innocent kiss a sleep-deprived and desperate soldier gives to his subordinate in hopes of hastening her recovery. And no, this was most definitely not a kiss a drunken Colonel steals from his unassuming Lieutenant – who despite knowing better returns the kiss – only for the man to forget about it in the morning.
This kiss was different. It was anything but innocent. It wasn't Elizabeth and William kissing. They didn't have roles to play – not undercover ones or military ones. It wasn't the Colonel and his Lieutenant kissing. It was two people who have been in love with each other way too long for their first kiss to be anything but a senseless outpour of emotions. Being in love with the person who's by your side almost 24/7 on a job like theirs and not being able to act on it builds up a lot of unresolved sexual tension. It was naïve of either of them to ever think that their story could end any other way. Neither of them said anything that entire night.
Winry's voice brought Riza back to the present moment. – "Must have been some kiss." – The young woman giggled and Riza realized she hadn't said a word in a very long time. – "Sorry. I… I got distracted. Yes, indeed, it was." – Riza smiled and continued telling Winry the story about her first kiss with Roy. The kiss after the Promised Day. Although, she did spare some details. After all, she was a very private person.
After the wedding, Winry and Ed got into an argument about the happy couple's first kiss. Winry swore Riza and Roy kissed for the first time after the Promised Day in Riza's apartment, but Ed insisted that the first kiss Riza and Roy shared happened at the train station when they were very young. – "Well, one of them must have lied." – Ed yelled out, hoping to end the argument. They locked eyes, concluding in perfect sync. – "Mustang."