Author's note: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or its characters. I know there's technically not a Valentine's Day in the FMA universe, but I couldn't help myself. This is AU.

How Sweet It Is to be Loved By You

Riza sighed, surveying the neat little packages in front of her. She was not fond of Valentine's Day. Still, there were traditions to be observed, and it was easier to follow them than explain why she hadn't. High school was bad enough as it was. She had already put together the little packets of giri chocolate for her guy friends and teammates on the fencing team. The tomo chocolate for Gracia, Winry, and her other girlfriends was cooling in the fridge. That just the honmei chocolate to make. That was if she was going to go through with this.

It had been Gracia's idea, and Riza still wasn't sure how the older girl had talked her into making lover's chocolate for Roy Mustang. Normally, she just gave him the same stuff she made for the rest of the guys, just perhaps more of it. And it wasn't like Roy was her boyfriend. Her best friend, maybe. They had known each other since he was nine and she was six. Despite being three years older than her, they had always been close, in part because he was her father's alchemy student and in part because she was academically only a year behind him.

Riza would admit to herself that she was in love with him. However, Roy had never really acted like he was interested in her. At least, not as anything more than a good friend. He'd had girlfriends a plenty, typically they didn't last long, but if something was important he either went to her or his best friend, Maes Hughes. Unfortunately, that had not made her very popular with a large segment of the female population at school. She sighed again. None of this was getting the chocolate made.

Amestris Central High School was chaos in the morning. Riza fought her way through the throng of students towards her locker. Normally, she would have been here before the rush, but oversleeping her alarm had disrupted that. She probably shouldn't have stayed up to two making chocolate. Still, she was here on time, and that was the important thing. The chocolate was safely tucked on the top shelf of her locker ready to be given out during the break between morning classes and at lunch.

"Hey, Hawkeye." She was glomped from behind by one of her classmates. "Did you bring me chocolate?"

"Havoc, you have one minute to get off me before chocolate is going to be the least of your worries."

The blond grinned at her. "Someone is grumpily. Did you make me chocolate?"

Riza elbowed him the stomach. "At this rate, your chocolate is going to end up going to someone nicer."

"Like who?"

"Riza, here." A tall paper cup was lowered into her field of vision. "One peppermint white hot chocolate."

She took the warm cup from Roy.

"I didn't see you at the coffee shop this morning, so I figured you'd want your usual."

"Thank you." She fished a packet of chocolate out of her bag and tossed it to Havoc. "There you are. Now shoo, I'll see you in trig. And what are you doing?"

Roy had crept behind her and was nearly cowering between her and the locker.

"Hiding. These girls keep coming up to me and giving me chocolate. And they want to date me. Protect me scary fencing lady!"

She laughed. "If you want the scary fencing lady to protect you, why don't you ask Olivier? She is the captain of the fencing team."

"Thank you, no." Roy shuddered. "You know she hates me."

The bell rang. Roy kissed her cheek. "I'll see you in chemistry."

With that, he took off down the hall. Riza gently touched her cheek. The kiss was a familiar gesture, but one that had become more frequent lately. She shook her head; she needed to be getting to class. First period was Health is Ms. Curtis, and she did not take any excuses for tardiness.

That was followed by history with Mr. Grumman, who incidentally was also her grandfather. Riza left a small packet of chocolates on his desk before taking his seat. Neither of them had ever made much of a fuss over their relation, but Riza would admit she enjoyed having him close by. And she would admit to spoiling her grandfather at the holidays as well.

The ten minute break allowed her to hand out chocolate to most of her classmates, the juniors and sophomores at least. She probably wouldn't see the seniors she spent time with until lunch. Still, she passed out her chocolates for Fuery, Edward, Alphonse, and Winry and crossed that off her mental list.

However, when the bell finally rang for lunch, Riza found herself boxed in at her desk by a group of junior and senior girls she vaguely recognized as part of the popular crowd. She frowned.

"Can I help you all with something?"

Clara, one of the seniors she recognized, smirked. "We hear you have chocolate to give to Roy."

"I always give chocolate to Roy." She was not seeing the issue here.

"Not this year. It's time to give someone else a chance at him."

"I'm afraid I don't understand."

Rose smirked. "He's never been serious about anyone. At least, not while you've been around, so we decided to even up the playing field. After all, it's about time he settles on a permanent girlfriend."

"And it would be a shame should something happen if you did decide that you wanted to give our Roy chocolate after all." Clara smiled again. "We'll be watching you."

Great, so now she had a group of hormonal, paranoid teenage girls watching her in case she did give the chocolate to Roy. Just what she needed. And now she was running late for lunch. Thankfully, her regular seat had been saved, and she didn't need to go through the lunch line since she had made hers at home. Riza slipped into her regular seat, next to Gracia and across from Roy, with sigh and dropped the parcels of chocolate onto the table.

"There are tags on those. I'm sure you all can figure out who they go to."

"Long morning?" Gracia retrieved her own chocolate from the pile.

"Let's just say it hasn't gone the way I planned."

"Tell me about it." Gracia gestured towards the lavender package in front of Maes. "My cousins ate my original Valentine gift for Maes and then ran off with my second batch of chocolate, so I was up until midnight to make a third batch for today."

Roy pouted. "There isn't any for me. I thought you liked me, Riza."

"Actually--"

"Hawkeye." Olivier Armstrong, the captain of the school fencing team, loomed over their table. "A word please."

She shot Roy a smile and followed Olivier to the table where most of the fencing team was assembled. By the time Olivier was done going over the scheduling changes for the upcoming fencing tournament, lunch was almost over, and the only chocolate she had left to distribute was for the fencing team, she could do that at practice tonight, and Maria and Denny, who would be in trig with her next period. And of course, there was Roy's chocolate.

Gracia gave her a sympathetic smile when she slumped back into her seat. "Here. Chocolate makes everything better."

Gratefully accepting the proffered chocolate, Riza sighed. "I'm just giving up for the day. Nothing is going my way."

Roy reached over to tousle her hair. "You could always just skip school the rest of the day."

"Thank you, no. With my luck right now, I'd probably end up with detention for a week."

The bell rang, and she sighed once again. "I'm off to trig."

"I'll walk you to class." Roy levered himself out of the seat.

"Are you free after school today?"

She frowned. "I have fencing practice at four, but I'm free until then. Or after practice at seven if that would be better."

"After school should be fine." He hesitated by her classroom door. "I'll meet you at the coffee shop across the street."

Riza nodded and slipped into her class. Havoc had saved her regular seat for her, and at least the teacher was one she like even if math was not her favorite subject. She managed to get rid of the last of her chocolates for her friends, and maybe pass the pop quiz. The rest of the school day wasn't that much better. Of course, it didn't help that everywhere she went there seemed to a be a group of girls glaring at her. It was ridiculous, but apparently she was stuck with her non-fan club for the day. She literally couldn't go to the bathroom without being followed. Chemistry was the worst as she was Roy's lab partner, mostly to keep him from blowing the classroom up.

It did not make for a particularly enjoyable day. It was an incredible relief to be done with classes. She dumped her books in her locker, excluding the history book she'd need for her homework tonight, and headed for the coffee shop, feeling in dire need of both coffee and chocolate. Riza found Roy waiting for her, tucked away on the loveseat in the back corner of the shop. He waved to her and held up a large coffee cup.

With a smile she dropped into the seat beside him.

"Did your day get any better?" He pressed the cup into her hands. "I got you a peppermint mocha."

"Thank you." She sighed, savoring the warm drink. "Not really, no."

"And was it just me or did you seem to acquire an all female fan club of your own today?" He grinned. "Not that I mind given that most of the time it's me those girls are following around."

"They're not exactly a fan club." She dropped her head onto his shoulder.

"Riza?"

"I rather not talk about it."

"All right." He sighed, running his fingers through her hair. "I have a question for you. Well, a couple actually."

"Sure."

"Did you really not make me chocolate this year?" It was almost a pout.

Riza sighed again; he would ask. She reached into her bag and pulled out the slightly battered package of chocolate.

"Here."

Roy grinned, nearly snatching the gift from her hands. "You always make the best chocolate. I didn't want to have to steal Maes' to get some."

She smiled at the compliment. "And the other question?"

Roy sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I was wondering if you might--"

"Roy," Clara insinuated herself into their corner of the coffee shop, "I thought you said you had plans for the afternoon."

"I do," came the curt reply. "You're interrupting."

Clara's smile faltered. "But Roy--"

To Riza's surprise, Roy slipped an arm around her shoulders. "I can't tutor you today. I told you that earlier. The calculus test isn't until next week. You'll be fine."

There wasn't much Clara could say in response. She glared at Riza and stalked off. Roy just sighed.

"Sorry about that."

She shook her head. "It's not your fault. She's been nasty all day. You had a question."

"You're not going to let that go, are you?"

"Not when you've made me curious."

He twined his fingers with hers. "Would you be interested in dinner and a movie on Saturday, Riza?"

She blinked. "As in a date?"

"Yes."

Riza kissed his cheek. "Yes. What time?"

"Five-ish? That way we could catch the seven o'clock movie."

"It's a date."

He beamed at her and pressed a quick kiss to her lips.

A month later, White Day found Riza competing in the qualifying fencing meet for the state championship. She and Olivier were the only ones from the high school team to make it this far. She liked this holiday little better than Valentine's Day. It simply gave the male population of the school an excuse to hit on her. Of course, being annoyed was useful during her matches. She finished second in the tournament only to find herself lifted off the podium and pulled into Roy's arms. He whirled her around, laughing.

"Congratulations, sweetheart!"

He set her down, only to produce a little silver box. She opened it to find a pair of white chocolate truffles flanking a silver saber pendant strung on a delicate chain. Roy removed the necklace from the box and fastened it around her neck before kissing her cheek.

"Happy White Day, Riza."

She pulled him down for a real kiss. Maybe she could learn to like Valentine's and White Day after all.