A/N: Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Kwanzaa… whatever you celebrate, I hope it's happy and you spend it with people you love. You've all been so supportive of my work, and you're so sweet. Have a happy holiday, everybody. I love you.

I want to apologize if this isn't maybe as good as some of my other work; I was writing something else to post for Christmas, and changed my mind at the last minute. So this is what a story written in a week in between long shifts at work looks like. ^^"

I do not own FMA.

A Merry Little Solstice

When he entered the room, she had the leg of her hospital-issue pants rolled up above the knee, the bandaging piled beside her on the bed. Blonde hair swung forward in a face-obscuring curtain as she closely studied the wound just above her knee, fingers delicately probing the healing edges.

"If you keep messing with it, it's going to heal even slower," Roy warned, closing the door behind himself. The only response was a distracted "Mmhm..." as she otherwise ignored him.

With an exasperated sigh, he came around to the other side of the bed, settling onto the mattress beside her foot. Reaching up, he gently pulled her hand away. "I'm serious, Riza, leave it alone. Obsessing over it isn't going to get you out of here any sooner. It's a bullet wound: they just take longer than other injuries to heal. You know that."

"I'm not obsessing." Shifting to sit straight, her free hand brushing her hair back over her shoulder, Riza gave him an unimpressed look. "I'm assessing. The nurse mentioned this morning that if the doctor thinks I've improved enough when he does his rounds, I could be discharged tomorrow."

"Ah. Solstice Eve."

"Yes. Leaving us just enough time to take the Elrics up on their offer and make it to Resembool for the holidays." She smiled ruefully. "After the week we've had, I think need a vacation."

Roy grinned, lifting her hand to press her palm against his cheek. "After the week we've had, I think I should insist that you take one. And sitting around in a hospital bed does not count." He let go, and picked up the bandages left on the stiff white sheets. "Here; let's get you wrapped up again before the doctor shows up. They generally don't like their patients screwing up dressings."

She settled back against the pillows to watch him work; he, on the other hand, tried to restrict his focus to getting the appropriate amount of tightness and making sure the gauze pad was directly over the healing hole, rather than give in to his weakness for this particular set of long, graceful legs.

"I heard from Rebecca last night," Riza said, mercifully interrupting his train of thought. "She's okay with babysitting Hayate for a few more days, but he's apparently developed a habit for sleeping under her bed at night."

Roy smirked, securing the end of the bandage and rolling her pantleg back down over her knee. "He won't have that luxury once you've got him back home; not with all the stuff you've got stored under your bed." He began ticking items off on his fingers. "Unfolded boxes from when you moved last, strongbox for your personal papers, gun locker for your rifle —"

Her foot nudged his hip. "You've made your point, thank you."

Shifting to settle in beside her at the head of the bed, he leaned over to press a kiss to the top of her head. "You know you'd be bored in here without me to annoy you. And if we're going to Resembool for Solstice, we'll have to keep things at least halfway professional if we don't want Winry and her grandmother catching on to us."

Her sly smile edged into her voice. "Lucky for us that we have ample practice at being sneaky. If you can smuggle Maria Ross out of the country, I'm sure you can find a way to get me alone for an hour."

"…Just an hour?"

A knock on the door sent him reflexively to his feet, putting a socially acceptable amount of distance between them an instant before the doctor entered. His clipboard tucked under one arm, he smiled in greeting. "Good morning, Lieutenant. Ah, Colonel; you're here as well. Good."

Reaching over the bed to shake hands, Roy offered a return smile. "I appreciate you taking good care of my subordinate. I just stopped by to check on her, but she tells me there's a chance she'll be released in the next day or so?"

The other's smile lessened somewhat. "Well, that's the plan, but I'm afraid it's not as cut-and-dry as you might think."

Riza's eyes flicked from the man to his his notes and back again in a pair of heartbeats. "I think I'm going to need a bit of clarification on that, sir," she said, her tone casual despite the sudden tension in her shoulders. "Either I'm being released, or I'm not. Isn't that the case?"

"Well, you're certainly being released. That's not the problem." The doctor consulted his notes briefly as he continued. "The problem is that, because of where you were shot, things have to be taken slowly and carefully. I'm not sure you're aware, Lieutenant, but if the bullet had entered a few inches lower or even an inch to your left, you would have wound up with either a shattered patella or an arterial bleed." He looked up, grey eyes serious behind his glasses. "Both very good at ending your career, one way or another.

"Because of this, I want you to take your recovery in stages." He moved to sit in the visitor's chair beside the bed, hands folded on the clipboard's edge. "You've nearly completed the first stage: supervised treatment and rest in a medical facility. The next stage is rest outside of the hospital. I'm prepared to release you tomorrow, but I'm afraid I can't allow you to travel farther than the city limits."

Silence hung over the room for a moment until Roy quietly cleared his throat. "We're expected out in the Eastern countryside by Solstice morning," he said, glancing once at Riza. Her expression gave away nothing, her hands folded neatly in her lap.

"I'm sorry if this cancels any plans you had," the doctor said firmly, "but either she stays in Central, or she stays here."

"One question." Riza's voice was soft and unperturbed, but her eyes followed the doctor in a way that suggested there were gears turning fluidly in her mind. "Exactly how long would I be under this travel ban of yours, sir?"

He considered that a moment. "Based on the healing your wound has displayed so far…a week and half, maybe two. You would need a check-in before I would feel safe sending you even as far as East City, but I'm sure that by that point, you would be well able to handle the trip."

She looked up Roy, still clearly thinking, then nodded. "All right. Central it is."

The doctor smiled, and got to his feet. "Excellent. If you'll excuse me, Lieutenant, I'll go prepare the discharge papers. You should be set to go by this time tomorrow."

Roy waited until the door closed behind him before letting his expression drop into a scowl. "Well, that's our plans shot straight to Hell," he muttered, moving around the bed toward the now-empty chair. "I guess Fernley gets one more dig at us with this."

"He most certainly does not." Riza's voice stopped him in his tracks. Brown eyes, bright with sudden irritation, stared him down as she sat forward. "Dead or not, I'm not giving him the satisfaction of thinking he's ruined my holidays. I said I needed a vacation, and I'm still getting one. Just maybe not the one I planned."

"…Point taken." Easing into the chair, he watched her ire fade somewhat. "I'll get in contact with the Madame; I'm sure she wouldn't mind having us stay with her for a while longer. And to have me at home for Solstice for once won't hurt her feelings either."

"Are you sure you want to stay?" Anger dissolved into concern as she watched him shrug out of his coat, leaving it draped along the back of the chair. "You don't have to; you could go home to East City, or even go see the Elrics like we planned. They won't begrudge you for going by yourself."

He snorted at that. "And face Fullmetal on my own? Not a chance. Besides, you're still going to need somebody around to keep an eye on you, and while the Madame won't mind you staying with her, she hasn't got time to play nursemaid. Not with the club to run and the girls to keep an eye on."

"Oh, I see." A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth, and was promptly smothered. "So you're offering to play doctor with me, are you?"

"…Well, you're not wrong..."

True to his word, Madame Christmas did not mind in the slightest either having her nephew home for Solstice, nor providing a place for his adjutant to recuperate. However, it was not without minor obstacles, the first becoming apparent as soon as they walked through the door.

Riza eyed the staircase warily, shifting her weight to lean more comfortably on her crutches. "This could prove interesting," she murmured, half to herself.

Rubbing awkwardly at the back of his neck, Roy tucked his free hand into his pocket. "Yeah... I asked if there was any way we could set up a place for you down on the main floor, but there wasn't. Not when the club is still open for business during the holidays." He gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry; I didn't think this through all the way when I suggested staying here."

She reached over and caught his hand just as he dropped it back to his side, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "That you suggested it at all was nice enough," she assured him. "Besides, I think maybe the obstacle courses at the Academy were harder than tackling stairs with crutches."

"No way. I did not save you from a psychopath, falling debris, and a burning building just so you could break your neck trying to climb a flight of stairs." Tugging his hand free, he turned toward her, motioning with one hand. "Come on, you're not that heavy."

Avoiding his hand, she gave him a doubtful look. "I don't see how you carrying me up there is any less dangerous than my doing it on my own."

"Because I'm not trying to balance on one leg and two wooden sticks."

"No, you would be balancing while carrying an entire person. And then you'd have to come back for those." She pointed toward the pair of suitcases just inside the front door.

"I'd let the girl do it her way, Roy-boy." Both of them half-turned to find Madame Christmas watching from behind the bar, her chin propped in one hand and red-painted lips set in a smirk. "In another minute she's going to take one of those crutches and knock you flat on your ass."

Before he could respond, Riza interjected, her voice just loud enough for him to hear. "I'm not trying to be difficult; I'm just trying to get back to doing things for myself again. And you —" She gave him a firm look. "— are not helping. It's like when the Fernley situation came to light; you're letting your overprotective streak get the better of you again." She edged closer, her volume dropping even farther. "I love that you're so willing to help, but please don't let it take over. This is supposed to be a vacation for you too, and you can't relax if you're worrying about my every move."

He studied her for a moment longer, before visibly giving his worrying tendencies a mental shove to the back of his mind. "All right, you win." His smile was grudging, but he gestured her toward the stairs as he turned to pick up the suitcases. "At least let me walk up behind you. Just in case."

Riza made it to the top unaided with no major difficulties. A hallway stretched out for about twenty feet before turning to the left to continue on. The last room on the left was not the one Roy had grown up in, but was the one he used whenever staying here. "At least we aren't forced to use separate rooms this time," she said, starting off along the hall. "I'd hate to have any of the girls give up their space, especially after what we did to Kate's room."

"After what I did, you mean." Passing the door in question, Roy winced. "I got half an earful for that. But from what I've been told, she's already cleaned up the soot and ash, and she's been looking at paint swatches between clients." He stepped up his pace to move ahead as they rounded the corner. "I'll warn you now, she'll probably ask for your opinion."

"I'm part of the reason it was burnt to a crisp. Seems only fair I should help her make it right again." Riza waited as he opened the door, then followed him through into the familiar space.

The bed stood in one corner, covered in a homey-looking quilt done in dark blue, burgundy, and beige, just big enough for two. A writing desk stood in front of the window, early afternoon sunlight slanting through onto the soft blue area rug that covered part of the hardwood floor.

Roy wasted no time in dropping the suitcases at the foot of the bed and collapsing backward onto it. Riza, on the other hand, made her way toward the window, looking out at the city streets below. For a long moment, neither spoke, until Roy turned his head to look at her.

"See anything interesting?"

"No. Just looking."

His eyebrows drew slowly down, and he cautiously sat up. Well-attuned as he was to her moods and body language, he could tell there was something off, no matter how well she tried to hold it in. That she'd kept it hidden until now was probably nothing short of miraculous. "Everything okay?" Worry clicked right back into place, and he shot to his feet. "What am I doing, laying down when you're the one that should be. Is your leg giving trouble after the stairs? I —"

"My leg is fine, Roy. Settle down." Her voice was flat, even the annoyance she usually showed at his hovering gone for the moment.

"…Okay." Trying a different approach, he stepped close behind her, arms reaching from behind to settle into a loose hug around her waist. "So what's the problem?"

"Nothing. I'm all right."

She sensed more than saw the roll of his eyes. "Sure. Nothing. I don't see your pants on fire for that lie, but if you'll give me a minute, I'm sure I can manage it." His lips pressed briefly against the back of her head, the next words muffled slightly against her hair. "Come on, out with it. What's going on?"

Riza hesitated, her fingers curling tightly around the handgrips of her crutches. Guilt filled her chest with pressure, beginning to ooze slowly down into the pit of her stomach. "I —" She stopped, started again. "Is it… it's selfish of me, but… I really was looking forward to spending Solstice out East," she murmured, eyes on the snowflakes drifting past the window.

When Roy didn't immediately answer, she pressed on. "I feel terrible for even saying it, especially after all the trouble I'm putting you through, putting the Madame through…. I should be happy that I'm getting to see Solstice at all, after what happened with Fernley. I should be happy to spend it with you no matter where I am." Her lip twisted in irritation, more at herself and these weak feelings than anything else. "But the thought won't leave me alone that there was a plan, and it wasn't…this."

"I know. I wanted to be there too." He tightened the hug, chin resting on her shoulder. "I'm sorry."

The guilt flared like gasoline thrown on a fire. "Don't get me wrong," she was quick to say, half-turning to look him in the eye. "I am glad to be out of the hospital, no matter where I am, and I'm glad that you stayed, that we're able to stay someplace together. I just —" She had to pause and find the right words. "The change in plan just threw me for a loop. Temporarily." She knew her smile wasn't of it's usual calibre, but she did it anyway. "I'll be all right."

Dark eyes studied her for a moment. Thoughts were racing through his mind a mile a minute, she could tell, but if any of them needed to be voiced, he said nothing. Nothing except "All right" as he moved to hug her closer.

Weak, wintry sunlight was streaming through the window when her eyes opened the next morning. Snow was thick on the window, frost making the glass shimmer in the light, but she was perfectly warm and comfortable in the blankets. Smiling to herself, she rolled over to face Roy's side of the bed. Solstice morning deserved a special wake-up call...

A moment later, she pushed upright, staring at the empty space where he should have been. The covers there were tossed back where he'd gotten up… had he actually managed to do it without waking her for once? Reaching under his pillow, she found his folded sleep pants, and the puzzlement grew. Up before her, leaving her to sleep, dressed and gone before she even woke up? The rarity was nigh unbelievable.

And even more so when she looked at the clock.

Cursing under her breath, Riza pushed the blankets aside, getting gingerly to her feet. She had slept until ten in the morning only a handful of times in her life, and it was not a feeling she liked. There were things she could be doing, and —

She froze, one hand on a pair of pants inside her suitcase. Ten a.m. on Solstice morning. There was nothing to do, nothing that needed her attention. But Roy should have woken her at least three hours ago, if not for breakfast, than like the overgrown man-child he was, excited for the holiday.

Resuming getting dressed, Riza considered the change in his behaviour. She supposed the only way find out was to find him and ask, but that was going to mean traversing that staircase…. Hopefully going down would be slightly easier than going up. She ran a brush quickly through her hair, gathered her crutches, and headed for the door.

Wonderful smells surrounded her the instant she left the room, drawing her farther down the hallway. Riza grimaced as her stomach growled audibly; another side effect of sleeping in — she was always hungry when she finally got herself out of bed. From the small sitting area around the corner, beside Kate's room, giggles sounded and were abruptly shushed. Curious, Riza turned the corner —

"Hey, there she is!" Getting up from his seat on the squashy old couch against the wall, Roy came around the coffee table to wrap her in a hug. "Happy Solstice, sleepyhead."

"Same to you." Looking past his shoulder, she freed one hand to wave at the girls seated either on the sofas or on cushions on the floor. "And all of you as well." Leaning back, she gave Roy a mildly scolding look. "Why didn't you wake me earlier?"

He grinned. "Believe me, I tried. I went in around eight to get you up. You sat up, said good morning, and when I turned around, you went right back to sleep." One hand lifted to tug playfully on a lock of hair draped over her shoulder. "I blame it on it being the first night of sleep outside a hospital in a few days. You never really sleep that well in places like that."

"You'd know about that, I suppose?" Vanessa asked impudently, watching the two of them closely, eyes alight with mischief. The other girls quickly smothered giggles and grins. "And just why doesn't she sleep well in hospital? Or is it only when you're there too?"

Roy shook his head in resignation. "Don't you have a family thing today you should be getting to?"

"Not until suppertime. Until then —" She drew her knees up to her chest on her cushion, still watching. "— the two of you are much more interesting."

"Not as interesting as the four men downstairs waiting on you lot," A new voice said from the stairs. Madame Christmas paused on the top stair, one hand on the banister, the other on her hip. "Go on, all of you; go share a little Solstice cheer and leave these two alone." A smirk pulled a the corner of her mouth. "If anyone's going to give my nephew a hard time, it's going to be me."

Riza took a step forward as the girls left. "I don't think I said it yesterday, but I appreciate you letting us stay here for the week," she said, offering a smile. "I thought we were out of your hair after the fight at the courthouse, but we seem to keep invading your space. I'm sorry; if I knew they weren't going to let me travel —"

"Then you would have gotten an invitation to stay, instead of having Roy-boy ask." The Madame's return smile was knowing. "Not that that's put a damper on things. You may just have to wait a while for the fun to start."

"The… I'm sorry, I don't follow..." Looking to Roy in her puzzlement, the feeling deepened as she caught sight of the far too innocent look on his face. "…Sir? Do you know something I don't?"

"Several things, most of them alchemic in nature." Straight-faced, he gave an enigmatic shrug. "Let's just say, I've got a little something planned that should make sure you don't spend Solstice bored out of your mind."

"From what you're refusing to tell me, I'm beginning to think I'll spend it confused instead." Looking back to the Madame, she indicated Roy with one hand. "What is he talking about?"

"Sorry, it's not my place to say. I just came up to get the girls." Turning, she started back down the stairs. "You've got the upstairs to yourself for the rest of the day, boy; make sure you don't waste it."

"Right. Thanks, Aunt Chris." Turning to his thoroughly bewildered subordinate, Roy grinned sheepishly. "Sorry; it was supposed to be all set up by the time you got up... I thought that, after seeing me for a few days already, the girls wouldn't mind leaving us alone for a while, especially if they had clients downstairs." He shook his head. "So, uh… I had kind of hoped that it might be a little more romantic, but..."

He turned away, ducking down behind the tree standing in the sitting room's corner. A moment later, it flared to life in a blaze of multicoloured lights, illuminating the dim room with spots of every colour. Riza broke into a smile, moving to sit on one of the overstuffed couches. "It's beautiful."

"Just like you." Roy grinned broadly at her unimpressed look as he straightened. "What? It's true. And of course, what's Solstice morning without —" He pulled his arm back from behind the tree, waggling a small box. "— presents?"

Setting the crutches to one side, Riza shifted uneasily against the cushions. "Roy, I — I'm sorry, I don't..." She could feel the blush rising in her cheeks. "Your gift is back at my apartment in East City, buried in my closet where you weren't likely to find it. I shouldn't open this in front of you, not when I don't have something for you in return."

"Normally, I'm all for equivalent exchange." He dropped to a seat beside her, steadfastly holding the gift out to her. "But in this case, I don't think it applies. Go ahead; open it."

"Roy —"

The present was unceremoniously dropped into her lap, and Roy scooted backward on the couch, hands raised in a 'don't-shoot' gesture. "Oh no, it's out of my hands! Guess you'll have to take over..."

Sighing once in resignation, Riza folded her legs into a comfortable position, beginning to tear aside the coloured paper to reveal a thin, flat box. "Hmmmmm… whatever could this be?" She hefted it in one hand with a smile; playing along with Roy's occasional childlike moods was easier than resisting, after a certain point. "Feels like… a pair of rifleman's gloves and enough handgun clips to supply me for about a week."

"Would that I were that original."

Tugging the box lid free, Riza's half-exasperated smile turned into a genuine. "Oh..." Lifting the book from the box, she turned it over in her hands, brown eyes wide and bright. "This is the best selling mystery novel on the shelves right now; I've been trying to find a copy of this for weeks! How did you find it?"

"You want the truth?" He shrugged sheepishly. "The hospital gift shop. I was planning to give it to you the other day, before I found out you were going to be discharged. But when you weren't able to travel, I thought it would help keep you occupied while recuperating here."

She looked up with a halfway sly smile. "I thought you were supposed to keep me occupied."

"I'm supposed to 'look after you,'" he corrected, shifting closer again, now that she'd actually accepted the gift. "That included making sure you have a way to entertain yourself. And besides…." His own smile was half again as sly as hers. "Your actual Solstice gift is in my closet in East City, so this is just something to tide you over until we get back."

"Well, thank you, nonetheless." Closing the last bit of distance, Riza pressed a kiss to his cheek. "It's perfect."

"Good." He lingered close a moment longer, dark eyes watching her face intently. "I know it's not the Solstice you wanted, but I thought, if I could make it even a little bit better, then —"

He stopped as her fingers curled around his. "I don't know why I said that." Gaze dropping to the book in her lap, Riza took a deep breath. "I've had more time to think about it now, and I think that… this is probably the best Solstice I've ever had. I told you, I was being selfish before." When her smile returned, it held a hint of uncertainty. "I think that as long as you're here, it's as good as it's going to get."

"…Oh, that's it."

The kiss was rough at the start, his lips nearly missing hers in his rush to get closer, but smoothed out after a few seconds to a more natural rhythm. Riza set the book aside in favour of curling both hands into his hair, the silken strands soft against her fingers. So many days without this kind of contact, this closeness, and after such heavy stress only added fuel to —

They instinctively broke apart at the sound of footsteps on the stairs; even surrounded by people who knew about the relationship, it was still deeply ingrained to hide it as much as possible. Pausing in the act of smoothing his ruffled hair, Roy's eyes narrowed.

"Wait a minute…." He tensed noticeably, hand dropping to his side. "I know that step..."

"Happy Solstice to you too, bastard," Edward shot back, appearing on the stairway. "Is that any way to talk to the guy that's nice enough to bring you presents? Maybe we'll just give the Lieutenant hers and keep yours for next year."

Winry pushed past the elder Elric, smiling apologetically. "Don't mind him; he's grouchy because we took the overnight train to get here in time." She set her bag on the floor, settling onto the couch opposite Riza. "But when you called and said you wouldn't be able to make it out to Resembool for Solstice, we decided to bring Solstice to the two of you."

Al was last up the stairs. "Don't let Winry fool you, Lieutenant: she wanted to hear about the Fernley case first-hand and check up on you herself."

Initially taken aback by the sudden appearance, Riza quickly collected herself. "Whatever the reason, I'm glad you came." She glanced once at Roy, found him beginning to relax back against the couch cushions. "It's a very sweet gesture."

"Hey, after the week you had, you deserve something nice," Edward settled to a cushion on the floor. "And I figured, the more the merrier, right?"

"I think you figured right."

It wasn't long before the bickering started between Ed and Roy, with Al either watching in amusement or trying to keep the peace. Knowing better than to try and interfere, Winry and Riza held their own conversation. Snow began to fall sometime around eleven-thirty, the sky clouding over but the light staying bright.

A perfect white Solstice, with light, and even love.