Title: Hair
Genre: General/Romance
Pairing: Roy x Riza
Summary: Roy asks Riza why she grows her hair long.
Warnings: Nothing at all. Perhaps I shall warn you about the fluffy madness ahead.
Disclaimer: I do not own FMA, nor Riza's beautiful blonde hair. I have black hair.

Hair

"Why do you let your hair grow long, Lieutenant?"

First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye looked up, her face blank. "You are at work, Colonel," she said sternly. "Please don't ask silly questions."

"This is not a silly question. Why don't you let your hair down?" Yet another strange question which Riza didn't want to answer.

"You often forget that you are working, sir, but I do not. Long hair is too troublesome for a soldier when let down," Riza said as-a-matter-of-factly.

"Then why don't you just get it short and rid the trouble once and for all?" Roy persisted, frustrated.

"Sir, just how much of the paperwork due this afternoon is completed at this moment?" Riza enquired suddenly.

Roy jumped at the unexpected query. "Uh, less than a quarter..." he said, glancing at the stack of paperwork in front of him uneasily.

"It's slightly more than an hour before the deadline, you do realize, sir." Riza made it very clear than she didn't want any more of Roy's madness.

Roy obliged and fell quiet.

---

The sun was setting in the far west. Colonel Mustang had successfully finished all of his paperwork, but unfortunately, it was two hours after the due time that he managed this task. The Lieutenant wasn't very happy about it, but she was used to the Colonel's procrastinating nature, and so was all of the military personnel in the headquarters responsible for the distrubution and management of paperwork, so they let him off for the millionth time or so.

And now, he was walking his female subordinate home, as usual.

"Riza, why do you grow your hair long? If I'm not mistaken, you haven't cut it since Ishbal." He repeated the unanswered question from this morning.

The Lieutenant noticed the use of her first name, but she didn't bother to correct the Colonel. After all, the Colonel had the right to do as he pleased, now they were not at work. But she wouldn't allow herself to use his first name. She had her own rules to go by. "Sir, you are not mistaken," she informed him.

"Then why? You said yourself that it bothers you as a soldier." Roy was confused.

"May I ask why are you asking all these questions? Does it bother you, sir? Do you like me better with short hair?" The Lieutenant fired a series of questions at her superior.

The last question caught Roy unprepared. "Um, no. I mean, yes. Wait, I mean... Well, you look great both ways." He gazed at the blonde for a while, and added, "You're always beautiful."

Riza raised an eyebrow, but there was a hint of amusement in her expression. "Haven't you heard, sir?"

"Heard what?" Roy frowned.

"That when women makes an important promise, she grows her hair long, and doesn't cut it until her promise is fulfilled." Riza smiled. "My mum told me that when I was young. I remember her words well. You do understand what I'm saying here, don't you, Roy?"

Roy, of course, noted with pleasure the switch of names Riza was using to call him by. He nodded, returning the smile. "I understand, Riza."

---

I made a promise.
I promised you to protect you and assist you until you become Fuhrer, or until the end.
The end for me or for you?
I do not know.
I only hope it will not be for either of us.

Until that day, I will let my hair grow long, and I shall never cut it.

It is a sign showing how important my promise is, and that I shall keep it till that day.

The End

A/N: Randomly inspired by something I saw on the Internet. Couldn't remember what or where. Hope you liked. Please read & review!