Edward fumed. The colonel had been in rare form that day, and Edward was all too glad to go find Al, wherever his tincan brother had run off to in East Headquarters, and get the hell out of there and back on the road where he didn't have to hear any short jokes for awhile.

Al had headed off somewhere with Lieutenant Hawkeye, which probably meant down to the archives to file paperwork. Edward wandered in that general direction, hoping that his guess was right and he wouldn't spend all day running around Headquarters, looking for his brother.

As his luck would have it, he rounded a corner and almost walked right into them. The lieutenant had a fresh stack of paperwork in her arms, and Al was holding onto a wooden coin of some kind.

"There you are," he said as they stopped to keep from running into him. "Hi, Lieutenant."

"Hello, Edward," she greeted. Then she looked at Al. "It looks like this is where we part."

"Goodbye, Lieutenant," Al said. "Thank you again!"

Hawkeye smiled, a faint expression that didn't look entirely natural to her normally placid face. She bid them goodbye and passed on by, heading presumably back to the office to plague the colonel with that paperwork. Good, bastard deserved it.

"What's that?" Edward asked his brother as they started walking for the exit.

"What's what?" Al asked, and before Edward could say more or even do more than make a tired expression, he held up the coin. "Oh this? It's a meal voucher for the lieutenant's favorite restaurant here in town. It doesn't have an expiration date, so she gave it to me so I have somewhere to go try when I get my body back."

Edward smiled. "Yeah? That's nice of her. So that's what you were thanking her for?"

"Yeah. You know, I should get her something in return. But I don't know what. I don't know a lot about her."

"Does anyone?" Edward asked with a pained expression. "It's like the only person who might know her well enough to know what to get her for a present is the colonel, and I've had my fill of his bullshit today."

"Well, maybe someone else in the office knows?" Al reasoned. "Or at least has one idea we can use."

Edward stopped in his tracks, looking back in the direction of the office. "Yeah, but she's in there now, she'll overhear. Unless you saw one of the guys somewhere else."

Al looked around. "No, I think they were all in the office."

Edward huffed. "Oh, fuck it, come on, let's go back and see if we can't sneak an answer out of someone."

They hurried back to the office, glancing in around the corner for the lieutenant. She wasn't there, strangely, so they walked over to Havoc's desk. Havoc looked up. "Hey, boss, what's up?"

"Do you know what kind of things Lieutenant Hawkeye likes?" Edward asked while his brother looked around for the lieutenant in question.

Havoc scratched the side of his head with his pen as he thought about that. "Um, I know she likes tea? I dunno what kind, and she keeps to herself a lot. I just know we drink coffee and she drinks tea."

"That's it?" Edward asked, incredulous. "You work with her every Monday through Friday and that's all you know about her?"

Havoc shrugged. "She keeps to herself. She doesn't socialize with us outside of the office the way the colonel does."

Edward sighed in annoyance. "All right, tea. We'll start there, I guess. Thanks, Lieutenant."

"Sorry 'bout that, boss," Havoc said.

Edward waved it off, heading back out with Al in tow. "Okay, tea. We can buy her some tea, I guess. Maybe something flavored instead of regular black tea?"

"Okay," Al said. "I wish we knew more."

"I know," Edward said with a frown. "There's gotta be more she likes than just tea. Hey, doesn't she wear earrings? We could get her a pair."

Al brightened. "That's a good idea! Maybe some flowers, too? Or is that overdoing it?"

Edward glanced back at him. Even though the armor was incapable of making expressions, Edward never had a problem seeing exactly what kind of expression his brother was making at any given time, and he'd had a huge smile on his face when he said what that token was for. "Naw, I think that's about right. Some tea, earrings and some flowers."

Nothing was overdoing a thank you for making his brother smile so much. Score points for the lieutenant in Edward's book.

Much to their consternation, they realized they had no idea what color studs to get her for earrings, nor what kind of flowers. So they guessed. They picked up a small, decorative basket and filled it with the earrings, some nice blue studs to match her uniform, and a couple boxes of some wild berry black tea, and a bouquet of colorful carnations.

"There, that looks good, doesn't it?" Edward said after haphazardly arranging the basket.

Al sighed. "Your sense of design leaves something to be desired, Brother."

Edward scowled. "Fine, you arrange it. I picked out the things."

"Willingly." Al started fussing with the arrangement, finally satisfied a minute later. It looked infinitely better than what Edward had come up with. "There. Now, we take it to her."

As they started for her house, something occurred to Edward. "Al, it's Friday night. What if she's out on a date or something?"

Al paused, looking at him. "Well, I guess we can just leave the basket on her doorstep then. We always have paper, we can leave a note on it so she knows who it's from."

"Works for me," Edward said as he started walking again, hands in his pockets. Al carried the basket beside him, clanking along with each step. The lights were on at Riza's house as they approached. "Well, huh. Maybe she is home. Or maybe she left a light on for herself. I dunno, I guess we knock and find out. If she doesn't answer, we leave the basket with a note."

Edward walked up the steps to her door and knocked. He heard sounds of someone moving inside, then the door opened to reveal Hawkeye with her hair down in what looked like comfortable house clothes, soft sweats and house shoes. She blinked. "Edward? Alphonse? What're you doing here?

Al stepped forward. "We brought you something. We're sorry if we interrupted anything."

"No, no, you didn't," she said, looking at Al and the basket with another blink. "Come in." She stepped back. "What's this all about?"

Edward led his brother in, stepping in just far enough to let Al through. "We wanted to thank you for what you did for Al."

This seemed to cue more blinking as Hawkeye shut the door. "What I did..? What did I do? Are you talking about the voucher?" She looked at Al. "You said thank you for that, though. You didn't need to bring me anything for it."

"I wanted to," Al protested.

"And I like saying thank you to people who make my brother smile," Edward said. "So we both had to bring you something." Al held out the basket while Edward babbled on. "We didn't know what to get you. Lieutenant Havoc said you like tea, and girls like flowers, and you have earrings, so we just kinda got something of everything and hoped something was okay."

Hawkeye stared at the basket, then her expression softened into a smile. "Oh, boys, you didn't have to get all this. Just tea would've been fine." She took the basket, looking over it. "Come on, we'll go into the kitchen so I can unpack this. Thank you."

They followed her into her kitchen, where she set the basket down on the table and went to a cupboard, pulling out a flower vase. She filled it with water, and then rescued the flowers from the basket and put them in the vase. "They're very lovely, thank you."

"Do you have a favorite flower, Lieutenant?" Al asked. "We'd like to get you something you like next time."

She laughed a little, something Edward had never heard her do before, and he immediately decided he liked the sound of it. "Oh, Alphonse. My favorite flower is a wild violet that can't be really bought at a store, nor do they make good bouquets, they're so tiny. But if you must know, I prefer white flowers."

"We'll remember that," Al said with that same big smile Edward had seen on his face earlier.

Edward grinned as he took an uninvited seat. "What about the tea? We had no idea what kind you liked, so like I said, we kinda guessed."

She looked back into the basket, pulling out one of the containers of tea. "Wild berry. I've never tried that. It sounds good, though." She smiled. "Shall I make us a cup, to test it out?"

Edward shrugged with a smile. "Sure. I've never been big on tea, but that's because all I've ever had was plain old iced tea, and that's kinda bland."

"It can be, yes," Hawkeye agreed as she took the tea containers over to the counter next to the stove. She turned on the kettle and grabbed out two mugs from her cupboards. While the water heated, she came back to the table. "I heard you boys say something about earrings?" She went back to the basket, pulling out the small jewelry box. "This is far more than you should've done, boys. You should save jewelry for a girl you like."

Edward and his brother exchanged a look, before Edward shrugged it off and Al answered "oh, we buy earrings for Winry all the time, mostly as a bribe to keep from getting wrenched when we come in with Brother's broken automail. We like her. And we like you, so getting you earrings is okay." Then he looked at Edward. "Speaking of automail though, Brother, we need to clean your ports when we get back to the dorm."

Oh goddamnit. Edward made a whining noise. "Do we hafta?"

The stern look Al gave him told him he was going to lose this fight. "Yes, Brother, we do." Then Al looked back at Hawkeye. "Do you like the earrings, Lieutenant?"

Hawkeye did that confused blinking thing again, then smiled. "I haven't looked at them yet, I was busy listening to you two," she admitted, then opened the little box. "Oh, boys, they're beautiful. They'll go well with my uniform, thank you."

"That's why we picked them out for you," Al said proudly. "We couldn't remember if we ever saw you wear blue earrings, and that would match your uniform, so we picked those."

"Well, you picked well," she said, setting them down on the table and returning to the stove where the kettle was just starting to whistle. She poured the water over the tea bags and took the hot mugs to the table. "Let it steep a few minutes or you'll be drinking hot water," she told Edward.

"So how have you been?" Al asked. "Not getting too much grief from the colonel, are you?"

Hawkeye smiled in amusement. "No more than usual. He broke his record for balancing a pencil on his lips. I think he might've gone for a record of wadded paper into the wastebasket if I hadn't moved the wastebasket out of his reach."

Edward laughed. "Someone's gotta keep that jackass on his toes."

"Oh, he's not so bad, he just takes a firm hand sometimes," she said. "Although I admit, he does save some of his most childish behavior for you. If you didn't react so spectacularly to his cracks, he'd give up on it."

While his brother tried to smother a snicker, Edward frowned. "He's a jackass, that's all."

"You won't hear me deny that," Hawkeye said, testing her tea. "Oh, boys, this is delicious. Thank you for finding it for me."

Al lit up. "You're welcome, Lieutenant."

She smiled. "Just Riza. You can call me Lieutenant in the office."

"Riza? That's a nice name," Edward said idly over his tea. "Never knew your first name. Dunno anyone's first names except the colonel's in that office."

Riza set her cup down. "Lieutenant Havoc's name is Jean. Breda's is Heymans, but he prefers being called by his last name. And Sergeant Fuery is Kain. I think they'd all prefer if you two stuck to their ranks or last names, though. At work, we're our ranks. Out here, we're us again."

"Man, that must suck," Edward said. "It's bad enough having to play nice with the military, I'd hate to have to wear the uniform."

Riza gave him a considering look. "I hope for your sake that the call to war doesn't go out before you can turn in your watch. The uniform destroys people."

He looked down at his tea. "I'll do what I need to do before then, don't worry." He glanced at Al. "I made a promise, after all."

He could see Al smile. "We both made promises. So you don't need to worry, Miss Riza."

Riza smiled. "Good. I don't want to see that happen to either of you. So where are you two off to next?"

Edward made a vague motion with his hand. "That way."

"We have no current leads, so it's back to aimless wandering until we pick up something," Al explained.

"Maybe you two should stop here and research in the library for awhile before you go trampling the countryside," Riza suggested. "I promise I'll keep the colonel from driving you too buggy."

Edward smiled. "Maybe I will then. I usually avoid staying here because I get tired of his short jokes, but if you can make him behave, I may just have to plant my ass for awhile."

Riza chuckled. "Well, your mouth certain fits the uniform," she said.

He frowned. "I've always been a foul-mouthed brat. Learned most of it from Grandma Pinako. Automail mechanics swear better than soldiers."

"I wouldn't know," Riza said, taking a sip of her tea. "I've only heard soldiers, and they're bad enough."

"They are pretty bad, Brother," Al said. "They swear around me all the time. I think they forget I'm a kid and they should be censoring themselves around me."

"Yeah, but do they measure up to Grandma?" Edward asked.

Al seemed to consider that. "No, not really. Grandma's definitely the best."

Riza laughed outright. "And you learned from her? Good lord, I'd hate to see you get into a competition with Jean." Edward got a cocky smirk on his face and Riza wearily rubbed her forehead. "What did I just do?" she asked. "I just challenged Edward Elric. I should know better."

"Yes, you should, Miss Riza," Al said, trying and failing to sound sympathetic.

"Aw, I'll be nice and not do it," Edward said. He finished off his tea. "Hey, mind if we stop by again? Just to visit?"

Riza's face warmed with a smile. "Of course not. You're always welcome here. I take you have to go?"

"I'm getting a little tired," Edward confessed. "Thanks for the tea, glad you liked the gifts."

"They're lovely, thank you, both of you."

Edward got up and handed her his empty tea mug, then waved to her as he and Al left.

"She's a nice person," Al said as they walked back to the military dorm they were staying at.

"Yeah, she is," Edward agreed. "She really seemed to like the gifts. Good." Edward decided he'd have to give her gifts more often if they made her smile like that. He liked that smile, it made his insides flutter a bit. Not that he recognized that kind of feeling, but he liked it, so he'd keep making her smile.

Years passed, and Edward and his brother kept their promise, they visited Riza as often as they were in East City. They gave her white flowers every time. Whenever they saw some new type of tea, they'd buy it and send it back to her.

Then life got in the way. Riza and the colonel's team were transferred back to Central, then brought under charges for murdering the fuhrer. Mustang was sent who knew where, and the others were scattered to the four winds.

Edward had restored Al, at the cost of blood on his hands, and had promptly turned in his watch. He and Al settled back down in Rizenbul for a time, and lost track of where Riza or any of their old friends were.

The new parliament set up a new division for alchemists, one entirely civilian with no chance of getting stuffed in a uniform, and Edward, out of boredom and a need for income of some sort, joined. Al refrained, preferring to help Winry and Pinako with automail work, but the family did relocate with him to East City.

Edward was taking the long way home that day, passing through the shops downtown, debating about picking up dinner and saving Al the effort that evening, when he passed the flower shop they'd always gotten Riza flowers from. He stopped outside the window, staring in at the flowers. He wondered, not for the first time, whatever happened to her. He missed her, her smile, her laugh. Yet, he had no idea where she was now.

Her grandfather was still in town, though, so maybe he'd know. Pulling out some change from his pocket, Edward located a phone booth and looked up the general's number. The phone rang a few times before someone finally answered. "Grumman residence."

"Uh, yes, may I speak to the general?" he asked, wondering who the woman was that answered. "My name's Edward Elric, he knows me."

"One moment," the woman said.

A minute later, the old general's voice came onto the phone. "Edward? What do I owe the pleasure?"

Edward grinned at the laughter in the old man's voice. "I'm looking for your granddaughter," he said. "I lost track of her a few years ago, and decided she deserved some more flowers in her life."

Grumman was quiet. "Well, she's living here in East City. I can give you her address. Just be warned, Edward, she may not want to see you. She's cut out everyone from the old times except us. Too many bad memories."

Edward frowned as his heart took a plunge into his stomach. "Well, maybe some flowers will cheer her up. I won't take it personally if she kicks me out, though. Thank you for the warning. Can I have that address?"

The general gave him Riza's address, which he scribbled down in his travelogue, then thanked him and hung up. He had an idea where the neighborhood was, he passed it on occasion coming home. Grabbing the phone again, he called home and told Al he was going to be late coming home, so go ahead and start dinner without him, he'll eat out on the road. Al didn't react with any surprise, it wasn't the first time Edward had been late coming home, but usually it was work keeping him.

Edward backtracked to that flower store, catching them just before they closed and bought a bouquet of white carnations. He hesitated on the way to her house, wanting to get her more to apologize for losing track of her, but her grandfather had given him that warning, so he figured more might be pushing her too much. So flowers it was.

Her house was small, but probably about the right size for a single retired officer and her dog. After deciding she'd done well enough considering the mess with the fuhrer had earned them all dishonorable discharges, he walked up to the door and knocked. Inside, he heard Hayate barking, and then Riza's voice hushing him. The door cracked open, just enough for her to see out.

For a moment, she didn't react to seeing him, then she blinked, opening the door further. "Edward?"

He gave her a smile, holding out the flowers. "I know we lost touch, but that doesn't mean our presents should've stopped."

She looked stunned, then her expression crumpled a bit, her eyes growing wet. "Oh, Edward. Please, come in."

He followed her in, stepping out of the way for her to close and lock the door behind him. "I'm sorry we lost touch," he said. "I got a bit caught up with Al's recovery and lost track of everyone. But I passed the flower shop and thought of you, so I decided to find you."

Riza looked at him, a couple stray tears sliding down her face. "Oh, Edward. Thank you. I just- I suppose I expected you boys had outgrown the need to buy presents for a used up dog of the military."

He frowned as she led him to the kitchen to get a vase for the flowers. "It wasn't pity that had us giving you presents, you know," he said as she filled the vase with water. "You're our friend. I like you, that's why I buy things for you."

She put the flowers in the water, staring at them silently for a long minute that the clock on the wall ticked off. "We all drifted away," she said quietly. "I just figured you had too. It was nothing personal against your character, I just figured you'd outgrown needing the military in your life." She looked up at him, smiling, genuinely, through a few more tears. "Thank you."

He didn't like the tears. He knew things had gone horribly wrong all around in the end, the discharges and loss of Mustang, Edward's injury to his good shoulder at Envy's hand (he got lucky, it could've been his life if he hadn't dodged at the last second), Al's restoration leaving him in sensory shock and severely malnourished. But he hadn't realized how deeply their end of things had affected her, or any of his friends. He wondered if he'd get the same reactions from the others if he were to visit them.

Before he knew he'd made the decision, he'd stepped around the table and pulled her into a hug. She froze, then broke down and started crying against his flesh shoulder. He rubbed her back, resting his chin on her shoulder as he let her cry out however many years she'd been holding in.

She'd warned him once that the uniform destroyed people. And now he was seeing just how much it did.

Finally, she settled, pulling back but not away from his embrace, rubbing her eyes. "I'm so sorry," she apologized, red faced, although Edward couldn't tell if that was from embarrassment or from crying or both. "I suppose I've just been very lonely since... since the discharge."

"Your grandfather warned me that you'd cut everyone out," he said quietly. "If I'm upsetting you, you can tell me to go, but I felt you deserved flowers at least one more time."

She looked up at him, tears clearly threatening again. "No, you're not upsetting me. Thank you, they're lovely. I missed you and your brother. Your gifts were bright points for me."

He smiled, still holding her. He liked holding her, the way she felt in his arms, and that old fluttery feeling he used to get when she smiled at their gifts came back. "You deserved them. Hey, have you eaten yet?"

The subject change made her blink away any threatening meltdowns. "What? I- no, I haven't. Why?"

"Why don't you get changed out of your housecoat and come with me to dinner? I told Al and the others to eat without me, so I'm stuck eating out anyway. We can make a date of it."

She turned red again, stammering. "A d- a date, Edward, I'm much too old for you."

"Old my ass," he retorted. "I'm twenty, so I'm not a kid anymore, and there's less than a decade between us." At least he had a word for that fluttery feeling now. How many years had he pined for her without realizing it? He'd grown up for years without knowing how to handle either gender in that way, and it was only now catching up. "Come on, if you don't like it, we don't have to do it again and I'll start bringing Al with me to bring you presents, because you're not getting out of that."

Riza just stared at him, her face a war of hope and worry. "Edward, I- How- is that was the flowers were for?"

He shook his head. "No, the flowers are just a gift, the way we used to give. The date was a spur of the moment idea, but hell, I've liked you for a long time, I just had to grow up first." He smiled nervously. "Your lack of answer is nervewracking, Riza."

"Oh!" She pulled out of his grip, looking at the flowers, then smiled, looking up at him again. "All right. Wait here, I'll go get dressed."

He smiled as she hurried back to her bedroom to change. He wandered out into the living room to wait, looking at the bookcases while Hayate rubbed against this legs and wagged his tail in expectation of pettings. Edward crouched to give him a belly rub, studying the types of books that she read. Mostly romance books. Another gift idea, even though he'd have no clue what she'd read or not. He'd just have to guess and hope.

She walked out from the back rooms a few minutes later, her hair down around her shoulders, wearing a soft blue blouse and a knee-length brown skirt. He glanced down at himself, making sure he wasn't under dressed compared to her, but his nice shirt and slacks required for his job were still nice and not completely rumpled, so he figured he was fine.

He stood up. "You look nice," he told her. "I think I've only seen you with your hair down once."

She fidgeted with it a bit. "It's more practical to keep it up," she said. "But I thought maybe it'd look better this way."

He smiled. "It does. Come on, I know just the place." He glanced down at Hayate. "Sorry, muttly, but you're stuck guarding the house." Hayate cocked his head to the side at him, then happily escorted his person and her date to the door.

"Stay, Hayate," she told him as they left. "Keep an eye on the place." She locked up behind them, then took his arm when he offered it. "So where are you taking us?"

"There's a diner I like to go to when I have to work late," he said. "Good food, good prices, good atmosphere. It's no fancy five star restaurant, but it's a good place."

She smiled. "I'd prefer a place like that than a five star restaurant anyway," she confessed. "I don't have anything dressier than this anyway and this is hardly appropriate for a place like that. Your diner sounds fine."

"So, in the interest of trying to make conversation without making things too hard, what are you up to these days? I haven't seen you since Al was restored."

She looked down at the ground, watching their footsteps. "I'm a bank teller now, and East City First. Been working there for the last three years."

That left one year unaccounted for, the year immediately following the assassination. Edward left that question alone.

"What about you?" she asked. "What has you in East City instead of Rizenbul?"

Edward shrugged. "I work here. And live here. Al and I stayed in Rizenbul the first year, rehabbing my shoulder and stuff, then I got a job with the government in their civilian alchemist division and we relocated to East City. Winry and Grandma get better business up here anyway."

She looked confused, looking at him. "Did something happen to your automail port?" she asked.

"No, while you and Mustang were surface-side making chaos with the fuhrer, I was in an underground city, trying to cut the weed that fed the government. I got stabbed in my flesh shoulder. Could've been worse, Envy was aiming for my chest."

She frowned. "Edward, I'm so sorry. We should've gone with you. I wonder if things would've turned out better for everyone if we had, then all of us handled Bradley together."

"Don't let yourself go down that path, Riza," he told her. "What ifs and could've, should've, would'ves will kill you if you let them."

For a moment, she looked like a scolded child, ducking her head and studying their footsteps. Then she looked back up at him. "I'm sorry. I've been living those for the last four years. I'm sure you can sympathize."

"I do," he said, "which is why I'm trying to stop you from doing it. It's hard to avoid, but you can't let it consume you."

She leaned her head against his automail shoulder, apparently not minding the hard steel. "I'm trying," she said quietly. "So," she said, brightening up a bit again, "you work for the government again?"

He made a face. "I know, I know, back to government work, but it's better than being a State Alchemist was. I'm stationary for the most part, although I have to pack up and go on the road sometimes. I get to boss Russell Tringham around, he works under me in the Eastern Region. So that's a plus."

She laughed. "Wasn't Mister Tringham the one pretending to be you in Xenotime?"

"Yes, he was," Edward said. "And now I get to boss him around. Sweet sweet karma."

"Edward," she said in a mock-stern tone. "Be nice."

"I am nice. I'm so nice, he hates it," he said with a laugh. "And of course, Al insists on coming with me when I go to inspect his work, because he and Fletcher team up to keep us in line. Not that they really need to, we verbally jerk each other around, but we're friends, we're not about to beat each other up. Again."

"Again."

"Well, there was those few times right at first, but that's because the jackass was pretending to be me and I was getting treated like a liar by the townspeople because of it. So there may have been some minor irritation, yes."

She laughed. "Minor irritation, you say. See, this is why we'd scold you when you came into the office, you caused so much collateral damage over your 'minor irritations' that we ended up with huge stacks of paperwork to file."

He made a properly contrite expression as they reached the diner and he let go of her arm to hold open the door for her. "Well, the colonel deserved it. You, I apologize to."

"Apology accepted," she said as he followed her into the diner.

When Edward returned home that evening, Al greeted him from the living room. "Winry and Grandma have already gone to bed," he said. "Where were you? Did work really take you that long?"

Edward shook his head, hanging up his coat. "No, I stopped at Riza's."

Al blinked. "Riza? You found her? What prompted this?" Then he looked at the somewhat doofy grin his brother was sporting. "... what happened? Talk now, or I get Winry to make you talk."

Edward held his hands up defensively. "No need to pull out the wench's wrenches, Al. I passed that old flower shop, made me think of her, so I looked her up, brought her some carnations. Took her out to dinner."

Al opened his mouth to ask more, then stopped. Stared at Edward. Opened his mouth again, then once again closed it. Then he busted out into a huge grin. "You finally asked her out?"

"Whaddya mean, 'finally'?" Edward snapped. "We haven't even known where she was the last few years."

"Yeah, but I knew you were falling for her way back when we first started visiting her," Al said.

Edward gave him a dirty look. "I had to grow up, Al. I was a kid, she was an adult. I couldn't do anything until I was older anyway."

"Yeah, but you've been pining."

Edward ignored that statement, heading back to their bedroom. Al followed. "Come on, Brother, admit it, you've been pining. I'm surprised you didn't look her up sooner."

Edward let his brother close the door behind them as he started unbuttoning his shirt. "I got caught up in our recoveries," he said, shrugging out of the shirt and rolling his left shoulder for emphasis. "I never stopped falling for her, life just got in the way, I guess."

Al directed Edward to sit on their bed, and settled behind him, massaging that bad shoulder area. "But now you're dating her," Al said.

"Yes, Al, I'm dating her," he confirmed, closing his eyes at the feel of Al's hands working over the old injury. "And if you dare tell Winry before I do, I will borrow her wrenches and bean you."

Al laughed. "Don't worry, Brother, my lips are sealed."

"They'd better be," Edward grumbled, wincing as Al his a sore spot. "Okay, that's enough, it's starting to hurt."

Al backed off, moving to grab his sleeping pants and shirt to change while his brother finished undressing. "So how'd it come up?" he asked.

Edward shimmied out of his pants and grabbed his sleep pants to pull on. "Kinda randomly. I gave her the flowers, she cried a little, then I asked her to dinner. She tried to argue that she was too old for me, but I blew that one out of the water."

"Where did you eat?"

"Just that diner on the corner of Fifth and Avgardo I go to on late nights."

Al gave him a disapproving look as he crawled into bed, scooting back to make room for his brother. "You couldn't think of anywhere nicer?"

"She didn't want nicer," Edward protested. "And there's nothing wrong with that diner for an impromptu date."

"Did she dress up?" Al asked as Edward got into bed.

Edward grinned. "Yeah. Pretty blue blouse and a brown skirt. I've never see her in a skirt. She looked good that way."

"I'll bet," Al said, half-burying himself under the covers against the night chill. "Did you go anywhere else?"

Edward shook his head, pulling the blankets up to his chin and curling up on his side to face his brother. They'd been sharing a bed ever since they'd gotten out of the hospital from their respective injuries, to stave off nightmares. But, with the way Al and Winry were going, Al would probably end up moving to her room sooner or later. Edward would just have to figure out something else to keep away nightmares.

"No, just dinner. We were both tired after eating and getting back to her place, plus, Hayate needed fed and walked, so we called it a night."

Al had a wicked smile on his face at his next question. "Did you kiss her?"

Edward slugged his shoulder. "Of course not, you dolt. It was the first date, for gods sakes. Why haven't you kissed Winry yet?"

Al looked offended. "For your information, I have. And I didn't even get wrenched for it."

"When was this?"

"The first time was a week ago," Al said with a shit-eating grin. "I'm surprised you didn't know, we haven't exactly been discreet about it."

Edward huffed in annoyance. "Like I'm not completely oblivious to that kind of thing. You're lucky I had a date tonight."

Al laughed, hugging his brother. "Oh, Brother, you're a funny one. Well, now I don't have to worry so much about what you'll do when Winry and I do more than play kissy face at each other and temporarily abandon you."

Edward made a face. "This guarantees nothing, Al. She may decide she has no interest."

"I doubt it," Al said. "I know how you are and how people react to you. And I doubt Riza would've said yes if she weren't interested."

"You have too much faith in me, Al," Edward said with a lopsided smile. He reached out and ruffled Al's hair. "Enough, sleep."

Al grinned, kissed his brother's cheek, then settled in to sleep.

Edward spent the next month showering Riza with gifts and attention. She flushed at all of it, continually telling him he didn't have to, and was always shut down with a "I want to and you deserve it. If you don't like the gift, say so, but don't say you don't deserve it." That usually shut her up.

He would come over after they both got off work, make them something to eat and some hot tea, usually whatever new blend he'd found for her, and they'd sit at the kitchen table and talk.

"So what do you think of that new book?" he asked as he sipped his tea.

She smiled at him. "It's very good, thank you. The author is familiar, do you know her?"

Edward shrugged, a bit uncomfortably. "I admit, that's my mother's pen name. Grandma said she wrote because she enjoyed it. Just. If there's any sex scenes, don't tell me. I like to pretend my mother had a case of immaculate conception twice over with us."

Riza laughed. "Oh, Edward. I suppose as much of a saint as you paint her out to be, it'd be hard to think of her hav-"

"Shush. We do not break my happy illusions," he interrupted.

That just made her laugh harder and shake her head. "Well, she's a very good writer, at any rate. How'd you know your mother did this?"

"Grandma told me," he said. "She overheard me asking Winry for suggestions on books to get you, and stepped in and suggested Mom's works. I'd never known she wrote until then."

"So you've only known in the last month," she said.

He nodded. "Yup. It was kind of a shock. I don't remember ever seeing her write, just working on the house and in the garden, but then, we were out and about a lot and I think she wrote in her room for more privacy. I don't remember ever seeing a typewriter, anyway."

"Maybe she wrote by hand?" Riza suggested.

Edward cringed. "She wrote three whole books by hand? And still baked and gardened and cleaned? Her poor, poor hands. I need to go back into time and tell her she's a goddess among women for all that."

Riza smiled softly. "You'd tell her that anyway, Edward. You don't talk about her often, but when you do, it's obvious how much you adored that woman."

He sat back, smiling as he looked off into the distance in his tea mug. "She was everything to us. Our whole world revolved around making her smile."

"And now your whole world revolves around each other," she said, sounding confident of that.

He looked up at her. "Yeah, for awhile. We're still binary stars to each other, but we got our own orbits. Al's got Winry, they're finally forming a relationship, and I've got you to make smile now."

She looked taken aback, surprised, then blushed and looked at her mug. "Edward, you can't surround your life around me. I'm not anybody to-"

"Riza," he interrupted before she could even get started. "Look at me. Please. Don't keep doing this to yourself. Whatever you think the uniform's done to you, it's not beyond repair. I've seen the woman past the guns, and I like her. I'll go out on a limb and say I've fallen in love with her. I'm not putting you on a pedestal you can't live up to or anything like that, I'm just being flat honest. You may not think much of Riza Hawkeye, but I do."

Usually, she looked like a scolded child when he had to stop her from being self-deprecating, but this time, she just sat and stared at him. "You've- you've fallen ... in love? With me?"

"You act like you can't believe that," he said, frowning.

"I just- I don't see why, I mean, you've never said it before," she stammered.

He pushed aside his tea mug and got up; for a moment she tensed up as if he were leaving. He walked around the table and crouched down to her side, reaching up and putting a hand under her chin and turning her head to face him. "Not in so many words, no, but haven't I said it in other ways?" He reached up and kissed her lightly. The kiss felt like electricity, sparked against his lips.

He'd been falling for her for so long, and dating her a month, and yet he realized he'd never kissed her, never said 'I love you.' No wonder she was taken by surprised by his admission. Well, he'd have to change that.

She shuddered against the kiss, breathing quickly like she'd never been kissed before, and he deepened the kiss, parting his lips against hers until it stole his breath away. He felt flush and trembly.

She slipped her arms around his neck and shoulders, hands tangling in his hair as she returned the kiss, like a fire building higher between them. He could've kissed her forever, but his body demanded breath eventually and he pulled back, watching her with a growing sense of wonder. It was one thing to fall in love with her, it was another to get to kiss her, to touch her, to feel her. He'd been caught in the fantasy so long, that reality had jolted him when it came smacking into his face.

She was a delicious shade of red, still holding onto him for dear life. He wanted more, so much more, right then and there, to really show her just how far he'd fallen, to make her understand what he offered with his love, his life dedicated to her and her happiness, but the more logical side of his brain stepped in and told him to slow down before they ended up on the floor in the kitchen. She deserved better for their first time, satin sheets and a slow, explorative foreplay to lovemaking.

Besides, he had a feeling her grandfather might have words for him if he didn't make an honest woman of her first. Easily done, in his mind, but she might want him to move slower.

Riza gripped his hair tightly, not letting go. "I've wondered why you chose me," she said in a whisper.

He smiled, reaching up and kissing her again, hard and demanding, but brief, as he broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers. "Because everything you've shown to my brother and I, I've loved," he said, just as quietly.

She lifted a hand to the side of his face, cupping his cheek gently. "Don't let me fall. Please don't let me fall if this isn't for you."

"Trust me?" he said, running his flesh hand through her hair. "I love you, I won't let you get hurt."

She wrapped her arms around his neck, letting go of his hair, clinging for dear life. He held her for a minute, before she pulled back, tears in her eyes. "I never thought I'd hear anyone tell me those words."

He smiled. "Well, now you have. And I intend on saying them often, so get used to them." He rose, letting go of her, but holding her hands. He glanced at the clock. "Now, it's time for you to get to bed. You work in the morning. I'll see you tomorrow evening." He kissed her one more time before helping her to her feet.

She stood, then grabbed hold of him, clinging to him. "I don't want you to go."

He smiled wistfully. "I don't want to either," he said. "But we don't have to be like this forever."

"Stay the night?" she asked, looking up at him.

How he wanted to. "I can't," he said. "If nothing else, my family is expecting me for dinner. We won't have to stay separated for long, I promise you that, but tonight, I need to go." He wanted to stay, desperately, to stay and never leave her side again, but he would much rather make an honest woman of her and pull her into their bed rather than stay in hers.

She looked disappointed, but nodded. "Forgive me, that was forward of me."

He smiled, kissed her lips one last time. "I want to, believe me. But not tonight."

She smiled. "Some other night, then. I love you, Edward."

The smile he felt on his face started somewhere in his heart and lit up his whole face. "I love you too, Riza. I'll see you soon."

He left the kitchen, grabbed his coat and headed out the door. They'd only been dating a month, but it'd been a wonderful month, full of conversations he wasn't comfortable having even with his brother, full of companionship, and tonight tipped the scales entirely into romance territory, something he hadn't realized how ready he was for. He was ready for more, wanted more than simple kisses and open embraces. He wanted her to come home with him, to stay, for keeps. He wondered if it was perhaps too early to give her a ring and move her in with him and Al and Winry and Grandma.

Probably. Most people didn't move at breakneck paces like that. But then, Edward Elric had never been like most people. He always moved at breakneck speeds. Hopefully, Riza was up for the ride.

Edward left a message at the office for Riza that he was going to be out for a few days, and that Al would be visiting her in his stead for that time. With assurances to his brother that he'd be fine for a few days, Edward hopped a train bound for Youswell.

Once there, he looked for the inn that had been run by Halling. It wasn't hard to find, it hadn't exactly moved since Edward reconstructed it years ago. He hopped Halling was also still the mine's foreman, he had a favor to ask.

He entered the inn, looking around. Many faces were familiar, but they'd gotten older, and some of the generation that was younger when Edward was last there had aged into miners themselves.

Halling looked up from behind the counter and brightened. "Edward!" he greeted, coming around the counter to intercept Edward. Edward grinned. "If it's isn't the Fullmetal Alchemist. Come to inspect the mine?"

Edward shook his head. "I'm here on pleasure," Edward told him. "I have an exchange to make."

"Well, here, come sit and eat, and tell me what you need," Halling said as he directed Edward to a table. His wife came bustling out a moment later, a tray with a hot bowl of stew, some bread and a glass of hot honey mead. "You're old enough now, no turning down a good drink," Halling told him.

Halling's wife smiled. "Welcome back, Edward, you've been missed. I'd stay to chat longer, but I have hungry mouths to feed." She hurried off, but not before Halling gave her rump a light swat as she went. She gave him a grin as she moved out of range.

Halling looked back to Edward. "So, what's this exchange? Anything and it's yours."

"I don't want that much," Edward said, taking a bite of his stew. "Tell your wife this is good. Anyway, I need some ores from the mine. In exchange, I'll use some of them to make jewelry for you to give your wife as a bribe."

Halling blinked, sitting back. "What do you need the ores for? And which ones?"

"Well, if I could have some real silver, I'd be happier," Edward admitted. "But I can transmute anything into what I need."

Halling cocked his head to the side. "Well, I'll never turn down an opportunity to surprise the missus with a nice gift, and I sure wouldn't turn down you needin' our help, but my curiosity is going to kill me if I don't ask what this is all for."

Edward grinned. "I got a girl back home to impress. I want to make her some jewelry. Some silver, some coal, a few other minor ores, I should be able to come up with something suitably impressive for her."

Halling threw his head back in a laugh. "Boy, you sure did grow up on us, Edward. Tell me about her? What's her name? And where is back home that she's waiting?"

"I live in East City now," Edward explained. "I'm still working for the government, in a civilian capacity, since Parliament took the State Alchemist division out of military hands. And her name is Riza Hawkeye. She's a bank teller currently, but she'd been my commanding officer's adjutant when I first met her. I grew up with a hopeless crush on her, and now I'm old enough to actually date her. She's sweet. I've been buying her gifts for years, kept her spirits up that I was out there and still cared about the woman behind the uniform, you know?"

"She sounds like a good woman," Halling said, grinning. "And you are completely lovestruck."

Edward opened his mouth to protest, then ducked his head. "I can't deny that," he said, tearing off a chunk of bread and dipping it in the stew.

"Good," Halling said. "After everything you've done for the people of this country, you deserve a good woman to love you. What's she think of this trip of yours?"

"I think she thinks I'm out of town on business," he said. "I do have to leave East City from time to time. I have my brother and eventual sister-in-law keeping her company in the meantime. Al likes to give her gifts, too. She's a big tea fan, so we've sent different kinds from all over the country to her. I'll be surprised if he doesn't bring her at least one box, maybe another book. We love spoiling our family."

"If your brother's busy giving your woman books and teas, what's he busy giving his woman?" Halling asked.

"Same thing as me. Tools and earrings. She's an automail mechanic, and we grew up with her. After my brother, she's my best friend. She's always been part of our family. It's just now she and Al are making moon eyes at each other."

Halling shook his head. "So you just give gifts without concern? Now that's a family. All right, you got your ores. We got silver for you, and whatever else you need. Now, about that jewelry you promised me... the wife likes red stones."

Edward blanched at the verbiage, then forced himself to breath. "You mean like rubies?"

"Rubies, anything red," he said. "I figure a nice necklace would be good payment."

"I'll pay you more than double what I'm going to need. I'll transmute her a red diamond."

Halling blinked. "I've never heard of that stone. I didn't know diamonds could be red."

Edward grinned. "It's the rarest gemstone on the planet. If she doesn't like, it she can sell it and the whole town can retire for the next three generations."

Halling wheezed, stared and wheezed again. "Good lord, Edward, nobody needs something like that."

"Your wife does," Edward said. "And I need this silver and coal and quartz to give my girl something she deserves. Do we have a deal?"

"I feel like I'm cheating you out of something," Halling said, then held out his hand. "Deal."

Edward shook it, then went back to pulling his bread apart into smaller chunks. "After I eat, you can show me where you keep what's been mined."

"So coal, silver and quartz is what you need?" Halling asked. "We can arrange that. What exactly are you making?"

"A ring, a necklace and a set of earrings," Edward replied. "Her favorite flower is a dog violet, the white ones. They're impossible to cultivate and make shitty bouquets, so I'm going to fashion some jewelry with its shape."

"Nice," Halling congratulated him. "That's smart thinking."

"What shape would your wife like her diamond to be?" Edward asked, taking a drink of his mead. It was surprisingly good. Not enough that he'd have it again, but he could get through a mug.

"Think you can pull off a star?" Halling asked. "She loves looking at the night stars."

"I can do that," Edward said. "Five point?"

Halling shrugged. "I guess? What's the standard?"

"The five point," Edward said. "That's the usual one people think of when they picture a star. All right, as soon as I'm done eating, I'll attack the mine."

"We'd rather you didn't," Halling said with a smart-assed smirk. "But you're welcome to raid it a little."

Edward gave him a tired look and flipped him off, his spoon dangling from his other fingers. "Smart ass," he said.

Halling laughed. "My wife calls me the same thing," he said.

"I can see why."

As soon as he finished, he thanked them for the meal, then went to the mine, raiding what he needed. Transmuting the red diamond into a star shaped stone in a gold setting with a gold chain was easy, and the first thing he did. He collected the ores he needed for his own project, then went back to the tavern and presented Halling with the gift for his wife.

Halling whistled. "That's some fancy jewelry, Ed. She hasn't seen anything this shiny since her wedding ring, and I think this outdoes that."

"Sorry?" Edward shrugged apologetically.

"Don't be," Halling told him. "It's what I asked for. Send a letter, tell me how your girl liked her gifts."

"I will," Edward promised as he bid goodbye to his friend and hopped back on the train headed for East City.

Edward sat in his office, carefully crafting the earrings he planned with alchemy. He was limiting himself to small transmutations to get it perfect, little dog violet studs in a shade of white with just a bit of purple streaks along the base.

Al walked into the office behind him. "Brother, what're you doing?"

"Making some jewelry for Riza," he answered in a vague tone.

Edward paused only because he could hear the smart ass smirk in Al's tone. "Ooh, what kind of jewelry?"

"A pair of earrings and a necklace," he said, leaving out the ring. That would come last, when he was sure she'd say yes.

Al stepped over beside Edward, looking at his work. "Dog violets. Her favorite." He smiled. "So what're you doing with the necklace?"

"Same thing, basically," Edward said, leaning back against the back of his chair, taking a break for the moment. "Silver chain with a crystal on the end, and I'm going to put a silver dog violet in the crystal."

Al smiled. "Now that's a gift you get for your significant other."

"What, I wasn't giving her good enough gifts before?" he asked incredulously. "Besides, what have you gotten Winry that's so good for a significant other that I haven't already given her?"

That brought a smirk to Al's face. "None of your business, is what."

Edward glared at him. "Oh, just propose already," he snapped.

"I will," Al promised. "I just want your help crafting a ring, with a little wrench for the diamond."

Edward looked at him. "Al, you're just as good as I am with alchemy, why don't you make it? Besides, I thought you hated my designs."

"Yeah, but for some stupid reason, you're good with jewelry," Al said brightly. "Where'd you get the material for this?"

"I raided the Youswell mine," Edward said, going back to work.

"Think they'd let me raid?" Al asked.

"Offer them equivalent exchange," Edward said. "I made a necklace for Halling's wife as a bribe."

Al frowned. "Hm, maybe I'll just buy a generic ring and have you alter it."

"Thanks for volunteering me to make your engagement ring." He looked over at Al. "Just know I'm taking credit for that fucker if Winry asks." Al gave him a wounded look. "Sorry, Al," Edward said. "If I make it, I take credit. Do it yourself if you don't want her to know."

"Some brother you are," Al said, sticking his tongue out. "Anyway, it's not important just yet, I figure another month and then I'll ask."

"You're moving slower than I am," Edward admitted. "I have enough to make a ring, too. She's already asked me to stay the night a couple times, I'm hoping that means she'll say yes. I want to make an honest woman out of her, and not earn her grandfather's ire."

"What?" Al sounded extremely surprised. "She's already invited you to say the night and you haven't done it?"

Edward scowled. "I told you, I want to wait. I want things to be perfect for her, not just a ruckus under the covers. Is that so wrong?"

"Well, no, but she's going to think you don't want her if you're not careful, Brother," Al pointed out. "You know how her self-esteem is."

He hadn't considered that. "Maybe I'll propose sooner rather than later."

"I would," Al said. "That or really explain to her why you're waiting. Winry and I haven't but we're different people from you two."

Edward looked at his brother. "So that's where you've been disappearing to at night." He shook his head. "Al, just move in with her to her room. I don't mind."

Al made a concerned face. "But you still have nightmares."

"I'll learn to live with them."

"You shouldn't have to."

"Al, if I have my way, it won't last long. So settle down, go move into her room. I mean it."

Al looked torn. Finally, he kissed his brother on the cheek. "Okay, Brother, you win. For once. Revel in it."

Edward rolled his eyes. "Go on, go away and let me concentrate here."

"All right. I'll go talk to Winry. Dinner's in an hour."

"Don't worry, I don't miss food for the world," Edward assured him, returning to work on the earrings.

Edward returned to his usual visits a week later. "Sorry I was away so long," he said as she opened the door for him. "I had a lot of work on a personal project that kept me busy."

Riza smiled and shook her head. "That's all right," she said, looking relieved.

Edward smiled. "What, you didn't think I'd forgotten about you, did you?" he asked.

She looked down at her hands, twisting them. "It had crossed my mind, yes. I'm so much older than you, and I can't return any of the giftings you're doing for me."

Edward sighed and pulled her into a hug, kissing her lightly. "No, Riza. I don't think you're too old for me and I don't care if you can't shower me with gifts the way I do you. Come on, let's go sit down, I have a couple things for you."

Riza didn't protest as Edward herded her to the nearest chair. She looked at him curiously, a smile that was tempered by a confused frown as he knelt on the ground in front of her.

"I was going to save this for a little later," he confessed, digging into his pants pocket. "But something tells me it'll go over well now." He presented the ring to her. "I made it myself, with the hopes that you'd say 'yes'."

She blinked, stared, blinked some more. "Say- Edward, what-"

Understanding that as Riza-speak for being shell-shocked and need clarification before her head exploded, he smiled. "I'm asking you to marry me."

She stared at him for a long moment, then tears filled her eyes and she smiled, a trembling little gesture as she flung her arms around his neck and sobbed. "Yes," she whispered. "Yes, oh yes."

He felt giddy, like his heart had taken flight without him, leaving him lightheaded and laughing. He drew back and offered her the ring. She took it with shaking hands and put it on, admiring it. "Edward, it's beautiful. You said you made it?"

He nodded. "That's a real diamond, and that's real silver. I made it as part of a set." He dug into his pants pocket again and produced the necklace and earrings. "Here. These are for you, too."

She started, looking stunned as she took the necklace from him, staring at the small dog violet in the crystal. "Oh, Edward. This is beautiful. You put too much into this for just me."

"No, Riza," he said firmly. "I give you exactly what you deserve. You deserve to have someone dote on you."

She teared up again, looking younger than she had since they started dating as her face lit up with a smile that shone like the sun, warm and full of life. She kissed him, sending electric shocks down his nerves. "I suppose you want to wait until we're married to stay the night?" she said. "Is that why you've been turning me down?"

Edward laughed, shrugging a bit awkwardly. "I wanted to make an honest woman out of you. Besides, I didn't want your grandfather to stick my head on a pike outside of Headquarters as a warning."

That made her laugh. "He might," she admitted. "All right. So I have a question for you, then. You didn't want a big wedding, did you?"

He shrugged. "I never thought much about it, honestly. We'll go with whatever you want."

"Would you mind a small, backyard ceremony this weekend?"

That sent him reeling a second. "This weekend? Already?"

She gave him a nervous look. "I want to come home to you, Edward. I've been wanting to lay in bed and curl up against you and just breathe forever now. I have no friends to call to travel in, just you and my family."

Edward was quiet a moment. "What about Mustang? You sure you want to get married without him present?"

She looked down at the ground. "He doesn't need the reminder of the old days, Edward. He's living with his parents on their ranch right now, and it'd be best if he were just left alone there."

"I don't believe that," Edward said. "If I were to call him right now, I'm wiling to bet he'd want to come see you get married. He probably misses you."

Riza looked fearful, carefully setting the necklace and earrings down on the coffee table before clenching her hands together. "It'd be a waste of time to call him," she insisted.

"Tell you what," Edward said. "Since I know you hate how I'm always the one to pay for our dates, I'll make a bet with you. You call him, invite him. If he says yes, he'll come, I continue to pay for our dates. He says no, and you get to dictate who pays for the next few dates. Deal?"

She bit her lip, head held in her hands. "All right," she said. "I'll call him. But please don't expect much."

"I'll even get on the other extension to help you," Edward said. "Come on." He took her hands and pulled her to her feet, then led her to the phone. "Go on," he said gently before heading into the kitchen where the other extension was. He listened as she got through the operator and finally rang into the Mustang residence.

"Hello?" The voice was familiar, but it sounded older, like perhaps Mustang's father.

"I- Um. I'm sorry, is Roy there?" she asked nervously.

There was a pause. "Who is this?"

Riza didn't answer for a moment. "Riza Hawkeye."

"Riza?" The voice suddenly sounded younger with its confusion, and Edward could hear clearly that it was Roy.

"Roy?" She squeaked a moment and Edward had to resist the urge to laugh at that sound before she continued. "I'm - I'm sorry if I'm disturbing you..."

"No, it's okay," Roy said, sounding wearily hopeful. "I didn't think I'd ever hear from you again."

She hesitated. "You might not have, but my fiance is insisting you'd want to come to our wedding."

"Wedding? Fiance? You're getting married?" He audibly perked up. "That's wonderful to hear. Who's your fiance?"

"I am," Edward spoke up. "I just asked her, and the silly woman wants it this weekend. I told her she had friends that may wanna come."

"Edward?" A pause. "Well, I must say that's a pairing I didn't see coming. Are you treating her right, Edward?"

"Doing my best, Mustang. Now, did you want to come to the wedding or not?"

"Of course. Where are you guys living now so I can be there by the weekend?"

"We're in East City," Riza said, finally finding her voice in the conversation again.

Mustang swore. "Can you delay your wedding one week? I can't make it there that fast. And I think you might want to call the other men and invite them, too. They'd be hurt if you didn't and you can probably get Breda to make the cake for free."

"I haven't talked to any of them in years, they probably don't even remember-"

"Don't start that, Riza," both Ed and Roy snapped at the same time.

"... you two don't have to be of one mind in this, you know," she grumbled.

Edward laughed while Roy chuckled, then continued. "Honestly, Riza, contact them if you can. We'll be there, just give us another week to prepare. We'll be there."

Edward could hear Riza's voice grow thick. "Yes, sir. I'll call them tomorrow, if I can find them."

"Take care of her, Edward," Roy said. "I'll see you in two weeks."

Goodbyes were exchanged, and Edward went back out to the living room to where Riza was still holding the phone, shaking. He took the phone from her and hung it up, then pulled her into a hug. "See? I told you."

She was crying hard, trembling and clinging to Edward like a life line. "He doesn't hate me," she said in barely more than a whisper. "I was so afraid he'd hate me because of what happened." Edward soothed her quietly, rubbing her back as she cried out her relief.

"I don't think it's possible for Mustang to hate you, Riza," Edward said quietly. "Now, come on, we have plans to make. Would you rather come to my place for a home cooked meal, or go out so we can talk over dinner?"

Riza looked at him blankly for a moment, then smiled slightly. "I assume I'll be moving in with you and your family, so maybe it's time I went to meet them."

He grinned. "Damn straight. I want my whole family together now. Come on, get out of your uniform, I'll call ahead and make sure there's enough food."

Like Roy promised, all their friends from the old office had shown up, Breda with a cake and catering in tow from his restaurant he now owned in Central. Both Breda and Fuery brought wives and children, and Havoc, normally dateless, showed up with a lady friend as his escort.

Edward milled about out in the back yard, trying to quash feelings of nervousness when he spotted Roy and Riza's grandfather speaking to each other. He wandered over, hoping to find some conversation that would quell the cold feet he was getting. Not that he was having second thoughts about marrying Riza, there were just a lot of people in attendance and that made his nerves act up.

"Are you sure, General?" Roy asked.

"Sure about what?" Edward interrupted.

Grumman looked at Edward. "I want Roy to be the one to give Riza away," he said. "She's been living in the past too long, you're her future. It makes sense to me that the man that represented her past give her away to her future."

Edward looked at Roy. "Just accept it, Mustang," he said. "You're her best friend anyway."

"Edward, we haven't talked in four years."

"And that's because you all scattered after the mess with Bradley. You're still her best friend."

Roy looked wounded at Bradley's name, looking down at the ground with his one good eye, the other hidden by an ugly eyepatch. "I don't know, Edward. It's a nice sentiment, but-"

"But nothing," Grumman said. "I know my girl, you're her best friend, always have been since she met you. Now, stop arguing, you won't win against us."

Roy frowned, but sighed. "Very well. Someone should tell her, though."

"We'll both go," Grumman said. Then he looked at Edward. "And you will stay right here. You're not to see her until the wedding."

Edward blinked a few times. "It's not like this is a formal wedding, General," he started to protest.

"It's bad luck," Grumman said. "You won't win this argument with me, so stop now and save yourself the trouble."

"Frustrating old man," Edward said, throwing up his arms. "Fine, I'll stay here." He wandered away while the two men went off to intercept Riza.

Al came up to him, watching Roy and Grumman walk away. "What was that about, Brother?"

Edward shook his head. "Oh, they want Roy to give Riza away instead of her grandfather. I agree with the general's reasoning. But they said I'm not allowed to go help talk Riza into it."

Al smiled. "It's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding," he said.

"Don't you start," Edward said. "It's a silly superstition."

"Oh, just humor people," Al said. "We only get to see you get married once."

"Shouldn't I have a say in this, since it's my wedding?" Edward grumbled.

"Not in this case, you don't."

Edward cuffed his brother with his flesh hand. "Brat."

Al grinned. "Come on, Brother, your wedding's about to start." Al dragged him over to the government official overseeing the ceremony. Edward went reluctantly, glancing at all the guests. Overall, there weren't that many, a few friends of Edward and his family, and the men from Riza's old office, but it was enough to make his nerves wind up in tight knots.

Then Riza and Roy appeared at the end of the guest chairs. Edward's nerves departed when he saw Riza and he smiled while Roy walked her down the aisle, giving her away from her past to her future.