Roy takes care of Riza when she hits a milestone while her father is away.

Roy Mustang sat with his nose in a book. Berthold Hawkeye had taken a train to Central to serve on a trial jury and was expected to take quite some time, asking him to continue his studies in his absence. He had left his pupil in charge, charging him with the task of watching over his daughter, Riza. Roy thought the old man must have been joking. His daughter was thirteen, she did not need a babysitter. She was the one who knew how to clean and cook and took care of the daily chores without prompting. If anyone needed looking after, it was him. He was bright, but impatient. Resourceful, but wreckless. He'd been hoping to find something in these tomes about the secrets of flame alchemy his teacher refused to let him learn. It must be in one of these books, he has this huge library, the knowledge is somewhere.

"Has my father left for Central yet?" a voice behind him make him jump out of his seat. He never even heard the library door's hinges creak. He swore, she did this on purpose. She had a slight shy smile on her lips. He had a feeling that she enjoyed sneaking up on him in the old house.

"Riza, damn," he breathed, "You've got to stop doing that. Yeah, he caught the train this morning. Depending on how long the trial goes it could be a while."

"Oh," she looked toward the floor, "I need to go out for a little while, I need to go to the pharmacy. I'll be back in a few hours." She started to walk out but he caught her arm.

"Hey, hang on," he stood between her in the door, "The pharmacy is 3 miles each way and it's hot out. What do you need?" It wasn't that hot out, and he knew Riza walked nearly that distance to and from school each day. But he knew that money was a scarce resource in the Hawkeye household, and he didn't want her to have to spend what little she had if he could help it. And her needing to go to the pharmacy had him a little concerned.

"It's personal," she told him, trying to avoid his gaze as she walked around him.

"I promised your dad that I could take care of you," he mentally cursed himself. She called her late mother mom, but her father was never dad.

She moved to sit on the couch in the living room, but then stopped herself. She sighed in defeat, knowing she couldn't avoid the subject until her father returned, "I've started bleeding."

"What?" he ran to retrieve the first aid kit from the kitchen.

"Not that kind." she told him, "It's...it's a female problem."

"You got your first period?" he asked.

She stared at him, slightly surprised by the bluntness, but more shocked that a boy his age had any idea what that was. "Um, yes."

"I grew up with sisters, Riza," he assured her, "I know what it is. I won't go as far as to say I understand, because I don't really think I do, but I know what it means."

Riza had to admit she hadn't expected this. She didn't really want to talk to her father about this either, but at least Roy was understanding. He didn't laugh or act disgusted like she feared he would. She'd heard horror stories from other girls at school when their brothers or male friends found their supplies and ridiculed them for it. Roy was sixteen, three years older than her, but his maturity level sometimes changed day to day. On days like today he was serious and mature, but other days he would drive her insane with his immaturity.

"Look, I know you probably don't want me to know any of this. But I really do want to help. I can go to the pharmacy for you and get you what you need."

She paused, eying him skeptically before handing him a few wadded up notes, "This should cover it-"

"No, I can't take your money, Riza." he insisted. "I'm supposed to take care of you, remember? Just, let me be a gentleman for once?"

She shook her head, "For once? I suppose I should enjoy it while it lasts."

"Hi," Roy stammered, suddenly aware that he wasn't the only one in the pharmacy when he heard some school-aged boys giggling a few aisles over. "I...I need to buy some pads. They're for a friend." Before the words even finished leaving his mouth, he realized how ridiculously stupid that sounded.

The old woman behind the counter smiled softly at him, "Well I would hope so!" she chuckled. "Is it your friend's first time? Nevermind them, they'll be the ones who won't understand why girls won't talk to them in a few years!" The boys had quit paying attention once the shock value had worn off.

"Yeah," he nodded, looking at the various packages behind the counter, not knowing exactly what he needed. He never felt the need to ask his sisters about that kind of detail. If he had, he may not have lived to tell the tale. Everything was overwhelmingly and alarmingly pink. Even if it was exactly what she needed, Riza may take issue with the obnoxious nature of the packaging. "I, I don't know what kind she wants."

"Not to worry," she began pulling items off the shelves, revealing some open boxes. She took a paper bag and started putting a couple of each item in the bag, "This aught to be a good start. Every girl is a bit different, she'll figure out what works best for her. Is there anything else you need."

He handed the shopkeeper some money, "Thank you. And yeah, there's a couple other things."

When he returned to the house, he found Riza laying curled up in a ball in the center of her bed. He first thought she was sleeping but he knew better. He sat down on the edge of her bed, holding out a paper bag, "I got you a few things. The pharmacist gave you a little of everything they had."

She opened her eyes and offered a soft smile of thanks. She looked shocked as she looked through the bag, "Roy, this...this is really too much, you shouldn't have." She wanted to blame the tears threatening to fall on her hormones, but it was overwhelming how much he seemed to care about her. The bag was full of supplies as well as pain medicine, a hot water bottle, and some chocolates.

"It's good to have on hand," he insisted, "it should last you a little while. I don't want you to ever have to worry about not having what you need." He meant it. It broke his heart knowing how hard life had already been for her at such a young age. Roy had lost his parents young, but his aunt had taken him in, and she was a wonderful foster mother who made sure he was able to pursue his dream of becoming an alchemist. He wanted nothing to stand in the way of Riza's dreams either. She was ambitious enough, he knew great things lay ahead for her some day.

"I don't know what to say. Thank you." she gave him an unexpected hug. He paused for a moment before wrapping his arms around her shoulders.

"What's that?" she asked, gesturing to the plastic sack on the floor.

"Oh," he pulled out some take out containers, "I figured you wouldn't feel like cooking anything for dinner. And if I have to cook for us, we'll both starve. So I got take-out." He was exaggerating slightly. Since coming to live with the Hawkeyes, Riza had taught him how to cook some basic meals. He knew she didn't eat out often, it was a special treat.

"You're going to starve some day if you don't learn to cook," she teased, "I won't be around to cook for you forever." She told him, a hint of sadness in her voice. She'd had enough people leave her life already. She knew he was planning on leaving for the military after his training was complete. It would just be her and her father in the house again.

"Hey," he tilted her chin up to look at him, "I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."