Author's Note: I'm sure with the plot as it is, there's little room for doubt that I'm stretching the timeline a bit thin, but bear with me, people. Since I have only one chapter idea left at this point, I will now be doing my Valentine's Day chapter. Enjoy!

Lt. Marshall leaned back in her chair, gazing contentedly at her chart.

"… It is Valentine's Day, isn't it?"

The startled woman shrieked, toppling from her seat and onto the floor.

"Kimblee!" she snapped, shoving her hair out of her face to glare up at him.

"It just seems like this is the least romantic place to be on a holiday all about love and romance and everything…" he shrugged, smirking.

"Oh, I was just thinking of posting this in the break room," Liana bit back, dusting herself off and righting her chair.

"You're worse than me sometimes," the Crimson Alchemist muttered, shaking his head.

Liana squared her shoulders and looked sharply away from him.

"Hah… You're the one going around… Pulling ridiculous stunts, messing up my chart-!"

She didn't give the alchemist any time to speak in his defense, and stormed out of the room. As the door slammed shut, Kimblee sighed loudly, scowling. Shaking his head and muttering, he sat down in a chair, pulling off his white hat and setting it on the table.

"… Women."

Incidentally, the bomb-happy Crimson Alchemist wasn't the only one having troubles on Valentine's Day. Despite the obvious answer of Lt. Havoc's troubles (which were magnified drastically, as Sheska had given up the ghost and told Falman about their affair), Roy Mustang, of all people, was having a difficult day.

He had gone to the trouble of buying a bouquet of flowers from the flower woman who worked for the Armstrong family, but now did not possess the courage to give them to Lt. Hawkeye. He was fiddling with the bundle of roses on his desk when Riza herself came in carting another load of paperwork. She didn't seem to notice the flowers, and brusquely set down the papers before attempting to leave the room quickly.

"Lieutenant," Roy called. "I was wondering… Are you busy tonight?"

He was missing a great deal of his confidence and charisma, but Riza had to smile gently, still facing the door.

"… Sorry, Colonel. … I have… Plans tonight," she told him, sighing to herself.

Of course, she really didn't, but Riza knew how reckless her Colonel was. Besides it being bad for them to have a public relationship anyways, Lt. Hawkeye was also aware of the Colonel's many female 'friends'. She bustled out the door after speaking, and left Roy sitting at his desk, completely at a loss.

"… Plans…?"

As it turns out, Miss Dawson was having a very eventful Valentine's Day as well. As she plucked petals dreamily off of a daisy, two men stormed up. One hardly needs to speculate to figure out that it was, once again, Colonel Archer and General Hakuro. The former carried a large bouquet of yellow roses, while the latter was holding a large box of dark chocolate.

"Gentlemen, I'm flattered," Alice intercepted dully, reaching out to grab the gifts.

"They're not for you!" Archer hissed snootily, pulling the bouquet out of reach.

"And you're not getting in to see the Fuhrer, so deal with it!" Alice snapped, eyes narrowed.

General Hakuro smirked at that, and went to take another step forward.

"You either," the secretary ordered, scowling.

"You- You just want him all to yourself!" Archer accused, puffing up in anger.

"Yeah, so?" Alice shrugged, grinning lazily. "By the way, King Bradley doesn't like the color yellow, and he likes tulips better than roses anyways. … And getting him dark chocolates? That's all wrong for his tastes!"

Archer burst into tears, but Hakuro had more composure and just twisted his mouth into a frown. Just then, Mrs. Bradley breezed by with a bundle of lavender tulips and a Snickers bar. Alice wordlessly stepped aside, gaze following the First Lady fondly.

"W-what? Why did you let her past?" Hakuro demanded.

"Uh, she's the First Lady, duh!" Alice explained slowly, rolling her eyes. "… Besides… She's so… Dreamy…"

"WHAT? You can't have them both!" the general shouted.

"Why not? That's what you're trying to do," Miss Dawson smirked knowingly. "Don't think I don't know what you and my darling Rosaline Bradley have going on…"

Hakuro paled.

"H-how do you know about that…?"

"… I have my sources," Alice grinned.

To tell the truth, Alice Dawson was one of the few people who knew about Liana Marshall's 'Affair Chart'. The two hadn't talked much, since Alice had been hired recently, but they both shared a penchant for relationship gossip, and Central was a goldmine.

"Anyway, you'd both better leave if you don't want me spreading your little secrets around," Alice warned, shaking her finger at them.

Defeated, the two men slunk away, leaving the roses and chocolates on Alice's desk.

"… Now, what to do with these…?" she mumbled, eyes sparkling with mischief.

At that exact moment, Roy Mustang was… Er, 'stealthily' following his subordinate, Riza Hawkeye, in an attempt to find out who exactly her Valentine's Day plans revolved around. No luck. She had visited a few people, grabbed a coffee from the break room, and taken over babysitting Selim when Mrs. Bradley went to take some Valentine's Day gifts to her husband. The Flame alchemist was interrupted in his spying (excuse me, 'investigating') by none other than a more-cheerful-than-usual Alex Louise Armstrong.

"WHY, ROY MUSTANG! WHATEVER IS IT YOU'RE DOING? SHOULDN'T YOU BE OUT WOOING YOUR DARLING MISS HAWKEYE?"

Roy flinched at how unnecessarily loud the major's voice was, especially concerning such a delicate topic. Riza, all the way down the hall, heard it, but ignored the comment completely, still trying to keep herself from thinking about what a lovely time she would have been having, had she only accepted Roy's proposal for a date…

Unluckily for her, Selim Bradley had also heard Armstrong's loud remark.

"Oh, did Mr. Mustang ask you to go on a date, Miss Hawkeye?" he asked innocently, grinning up at the blonde woman.

"Eh… Er, Selim, I don't think-"

"I saw him bring in a big bouquet of pretty roses. I bet they're for you!" he grinned.

Riza paused, startled. Roses…? He had even… She sighed, running a hand through her bangs.

"… I'll be right back, ok, Selim?"

He nodded, waving as she rushed down the hall and turned the corner. Then a creepy smile lit up his young face.

"I'll be waiting… Right… Here," he smirked, letting the tiniest sliver of his homunculus personality slip through.

Unfortunately, his shadows had run off without his permission, and one of the eyes saw exactly what his parents were doing in the Fuhrer's office.

"Oh," he muttered, making a face. "… OH. …EWWWWWWWWWW!"

Meanwhile, Riza ran straight into Roy in her haste. He caught her before either of them could topple over, and, being tactful for once in his muscular life, Armstrong slipped silently from the scene.

"I-I lied!" Riza choked out. "I… I didn't have any plans… I was just… Worried for you! With the military… I could put you in danger… Be a liability… I'm sorry!"

Roy smiled, then, and ruffled Riza's blonde locks.

"I would rather be in more danger with you, than be a little bit safer but having to worry about where you are and if you could get hurt when I'm not there," he told her. "Now, come on. We need to find something to wipe those tears off your face, Lieutenant."

Alice was grinning widely when Liana stormed up to her desk sulking.

"… Oh. … Nice gifts," Liana smiled, upon seeing the yellow roses and dark chocolate. "Who did you get them from?"

Alice shrugged coolly.

"Oh, they're not for me," she smiled, winking. "They're for you. … From a certain psycho alchemist; apparently, he is very good at picking out gifts."

"S-stop joking, Alice," Liana mumbled, though stepping towards the gifts all the same. "Who are they really from? And for, for that matter?"

Alice shook her head.

"I'm not joking," she said seriously. "But you know, he looked a little upset when he showed up a few minutes ago. I wouldn't put it past him to be exploding little office supplies when he gets moody, and that at the very least. You might want to go find him."

Liana bit her lip and hurried from the room. Alice smirked, thinking about the small confrontation she had had earlier with Kimblee. Also, Liana had forgotten the flowers and chocolate.

"Ah, well," Alice chuckled. "She'll get them eventually."

Then, the secretary leaned her ear carefully against the door, eavesdropping on the Fuhrer and his wife with a grin on her face.

When Liana reached her secret room, she heard small explosions through the door. Bursting in, she found a mostly-composed Zolf Kimblee in the process of blowing up a desk. As she entered the doorway, it glowed, and then exploded.

"W-wow…" the Lieutenant muttered, awed.

The alchemist whipped around in surprise, but immediately regained his composure.

"Oh, you liked it?" he grinned sadistically.

Liana rolled her eyes, blushing and looking away.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. … And… And thank you."

That seemed to startle him, and send him back to his usual cool and collected demeanor.

"For the flowers, and stuff," Liana continued reluctantly.

"… You're welcome."

They both leaned closer slowly, slowly-!

"OH. …EWWWWWWWWWW!"

Startled, they both jumped back and slammed open the door, peering down the hall. Standing in the middle of the hallway, covering his eyes and screaming bloody murder was Selim Bradley.

"Dammit, Pride…" Kimblee growled under his breath.

"Hm?" Liana mumbled, looking up questioningly at the alchemist. "What? Did you say something?"

"... No. Nothing."

He walked off down the hallway, leaving Liana standing questioningly in the doorway.

"Ok…? … ! Oh, he left his hat…"