A/N: I wrote this a while back, and just remembered about it. I figured I could upload it.

I hope you enjoy, and I would love a review, if you feel like it :)

FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST BELONGS TO HIROMU ARAKAWA.

Riza had a bittersweet attitude about returning after a long break from work.

She thought on this as she walked down the hall of Eastern Headquarters on the Monday after winter holiday. She hated returning for countless reasons—getting up at that ungodly hour, the mountains of paperwork, and having to deal with idiots all day, to name a few. Of course, there was something that made it all worth her while, and she blushed a bit thinking of—

"Colonel Mustang!" she said, startled. He had just come from a door to her right, and she made a weird movement that was a cross between a salute and trying not to drop the papers in her arms. Why does it seem like he sneaks up at the most awkward times?

"Lieutenant!" He also looked a bit flustered. Their eyes met, and Riza had quite the time not blushing again. I forget how sexy those eyes are…

"At ease," he said, seeming to pull himself together. She put her arm to the side as he continued: "I, uh, forgot that you were coming back from holiday on the same day as I am."

"Well, I have to be here to baby-sit you, don't I?" she replied. "To make sure that you fill out all of that paper work, don't spend to much time in the break room, don't set too many things on fire, the like."

He had a faint smile on his lips. "Where would I be without you?"

"I shudder to think."

They began walking together down the hall to his office, and Riza kept steeling glances to the side. It always seemed to strike her- his black hair and eyes, the way he wore his shirt, how he was just slightly taller than herself—she knew that she didn't forget any of this when she didn't see him, but she could never help noticing such little details when they were together.

She was about to start up a conversation to break the silence (she really liked his voice, too), when the familiar sound of Jean Havoc came from behind them:

"Roy, Riza!" They turned to see him walking quickly towards them up the hall. "So how about that holiday?"

Roy looked halfway between amused and annoyed. "At least TRY to be a bit more formal, Havoc.

"And put that cigarette out! We're inside, dammit!"

"Sure, sure." He said, extinguishing it on the bottom of his shoe. "Anyway, I've got some amazing news! Guess what!"

Although she could assume what it was, Riza asked, "What?"

"I finally got a girlfriend!" He exclaimed, looking quite proud of himself. He went on, "We hooked up at the midwinter dance: we started talking, had a few drinks, and—"

Roy cut him off: "Havoc, I'm sorry, but I'm almost positive that no one wants to hear the rest of this story."

Before Jean could reply, Riza opened the door to Roy's office and said, "We're here, Sir."

"Ah, thanks, Lieutenant." He walked through the door that she held for him.

"I'll see you both later then," Havoc said, turning. "I have some, er, business, to attend to…"

"You're going to go brag to Falman, aren't you?" Roy said sarcastically, but Jean pretended not to hear and continued down the hall.

Riza entered the room and closed the door behind her. The Colonel had his back to her, and was staring at his desk.

"How does all of this paperwork build up when no one's even here to make it?" He complained. He walked around his desk with a sarcastic huff and sat down.

Riza added her own armful of paper to the top of the pile and sat down at a smaller desk that faced away from him, saying: "Well, I won't do itself, so get to it."

Roy groaned, but Riza could hear the amused smile behind it. She looked at her own pile of paperwork, and couldn't help but sigh at the sight of it. She would rather get it done sooner than later; she wanted to get some target practice in before the end of the day, seeing as she hadn't gotten any since before the break; but with a combination of the sheer amount of work and certain…distractions… that were present, she doubted that she would be done in time.

It wasn't as if this was the first time that she had been alone in a room with the Colonel—it had happened plenty of times over the years that she had been his subordinate. But she always seemed be more aware of his presence if she hadn't seen him in a couple of days; it even got like this after a normal weekend. She would find herself reading a sentence a few times without taking in a word of it, and using an outstanding effort to keep herself from turning around to stare at him. This didn't help her to get through her work. It would almost be better for Havoc to have come in with us… Even his bragging is less distracting…

After about a half an hour, Riza heard Roy behind her: "So, how was your holiday? As eventful as Jean's?"

Riza finally allowed herself to turn and look at him. He was leaning back nonchalantly, with his feet up on the desk and his paperwork untouched.

"It was alright," Riza replied. "I was alone most of the time, but I saw my friend Rebecca. You know her, don't you?"

He nodded. "She turned me down a few times."

"Ah." Riza tried very hard to keep a straight face. It was common knowledge that Roy Mustang was a lady's man, but it still annoyed her to no end. "And how was it for you, Colonel?"

"Hmm, not much happened. A certain someone wouldn't answer her phone, though," he said, and Riza knew exactly who that certain someone was. As much as she would have loved to see him, she didn't want people getting the wrong idea if they were out together. There was already enough gossip around Headquarters that they were "an item", and she didn't want to tarnish either of their reputations by making an opportunity for something to happen.

"I'm sorry, sir." Was all she could think to reply.

"I was kind of worried about you, Lieutenant," he said. She couldn't tell if he was joking or not. "Pick up next time, okay?"

But when she listened harder, she could hear the concern in his voice. She looked down so he couldn't see her small smile as she replied: "Yes, sir."

"I was going to offer to take you to dinner or something," he said. "There's a new restaurant that just opened up, it's owned by a family that just came here from Xing, so the food is bound to be good."

"It sounds it," she said. They were looking right at each other now.

"Then why don't we go together, test it out?" Roy asked.

"I'm not sure, sir," Riza replied. Her heart was beginning to beat faster, and she dearly hoped that he couldn't hear it.

"Why not?" He asked. "You don't do much after work, do you?"

Somehow, and looking back Riza would never know when this had happened, they were standing rather close together and looking right into each other's eyes.

"What if someone sees us together, sir? You already know what people say, and we don't need to give them more…" But her voice trailed off. She had just realized for the umpteenth exactly how much she loved the Colonel.

"I guess that would be a bit of a problem…" He said, not taking his eyes from hers for a second. "But if that's all you're worried about, the door is closed at the moment."

And before Riza could realize what was happening, the Colonel was kissing her. She didn't pull away, but slowly closed her eyes and put her arms around his shoulders as he put his around her waist and pulled her closer…

This has definitely been an interesting way to return from a long break. Riza thought, hours later, as she walked home through the January snow.