Authors Note: Okay, I thought chapter 5 was long, chapter 6 was a monster! I'm sorry. I didn't even realize, I just kept on typing….oops. Well, hope it's good so far.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or any of its characters….Hiromu Arakawa does….but I do own this story plot! YAY!

Chapter 7: Christmas Eve

Edward woke up to the ringing of a phone. Trudging across his apartment he answered the phone, "Hello?" He answered groggily.

"Still not a morning person, Ed?" Al laughed into the receiver.

"Yeah." Ed would've given anything to see his brother's smile right then.

"Tonight's the big night, Ed?"

"Yep….looking forward to it."

"Good, I thought you would've gotten cold feet and backed out of it." Al said sadly, 'Just like I scared you away.'

"Nah, I've still got some spunk left. I'm not old and decrepit like Granny-Pinako." Ed said jokingly, but he could've sworn he heard someone sneeze in the background.

"Oh, Winry wants to talk to you, before I forget." Al handed over the phone before Ed got a chance to respond.

"Ed, is that really you?!" She seemed nearly in tears as she screamed into the phone.

"Yeah, it's really me, Winry." Ed had to hold in a sigh.

"Oh my God, Ed. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, Winry. I'm not a fragile doll." He tried laughing to lift her spirits, but even more hysterics came from the other side of the phone.

"Are you coming home soon, Ed?" It sounded more like begging than asking.

"I…," Ed struggled for words, "I don't think I'm ready to come home yet, Winry. You understand that, right?"

"Yes." She sniffled into the phone.

"Don't cry, Winry. You know we hate that. I'll come home eventually, so cheer up. It's Christmas after all."

"Sure, Ed, I'll see you."

"Yep."

"Bye, Ed. Have a great time!" Al and Winry said simultaneously into the phone. It was a bit corny, but he figured that he needed to smile for stupid reasons to calm his nerves. Ed hung up the phone, and got to work ironing his breakfast.

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Roy had awoken to a phone call that morning, too, but Roy being Roy pretended he was still asleep and let it ring. And ring…and ring. Wait, it stopped. No, it started again.

This time he decided to answer the persistent person, "Hello?" Roy, like Ed, was not a morning person.

"Get up you lazy bum!" Maes screamed into the phone.

"Jesus, Maes. Do you have any idea what time it is?" Roy yelled back at him, fully awake.

"Yeah, Roy, it's 10:00. Get your lazy ass up and shower."

"How do you know I wasn't in the shower when you were calling me?" Roy asked as innocently as he could.

"I know you Roy. You don't wake up until after 2:00 on days off." Maes countered slyly, and Roy cursed the man for knowing him so well.

"Whatever, Maes. Why are you calling anyway?"

"To get your lazy ass up, I thought we'd already been through this?"

Roy sighed, offered a meek goodbye and hung up the phone. Sometimes that man was so infuriating. He stared at the green box that was sitting on his nightstand. He wondered if he should put a gold ribbon, but quickly decided against it as he hopped in the shower. He had a lot of kinks in his back to work out before he did anything.

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Riza had actually come over to Ed's apartment, outfit, make-up, accessories, and all, so they could get ready together. Ed was rather happy to see this uptight lieutenant let her hair down and fix it. He sat admiring her dress as she fixed her hair, he could never imagine her wearing a little red dress.

"Don't go spacing off, you're next," she said to him, only looking briefly at him before turning her full attention to her side bangs. He sat there, nervously. He had never let anyone touch his hair except his mother, and now Riza had wanted to help him fix it.

"Hmmm. Go take a shower, Ed. Don't be too rough with the towel on your hair. Then come back and let me fix it." Ed obliged, showering and coming back with his hair still damp, "Alright, sit down."

"Uhm, what're you doing?" Ed asked before her hands had made it to his head.

"Well, I'm going to brush it straight, and trim your bangs a little. You're definitely leaving it down for the ball." Riza smiled at him as she grabbed scissors from her bag. Ed closed his eyes, he didn't even want to look at what she was doing until it was all over. He was more nervous than he let on about this ball tonight.

"We're done, Ed," Riza patted his shoulder. He had to admit that she did a great job. His bangs were even, and the rest was straight and shiny.

"Thanks a lot, Hawkeye," Ed said graciously as he moved to let Riza sit at the mirror. He looked over at the clock, which read 4, and sighed, deciding to polish his boots rather than thinking about how nervous he was.

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Roy was out of the shower, and had fixed his hair, feeling great about himself. He put his dress pants on that he was going to wear and a black tee-shirt, and laid down on the couch to think. He thought about how great this was, what Edward was probably doing right now, and about Maes' advice, which was actually good despite the "I thought I knew you" moments. He decided to take a nap, he had two hours after all.

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Ed was sitting on a chair in the kitchen, nervously tapping his fingers on the table. It was about half an hour till 6, the time the ball was supposed to start, and he was really nervous.

"You doing okay, Ed?" Riza asked as she walked into the kitchen to sit with him. She looked really nice in her red dress that came up to her knees, and showed some cleavage. She had her hair down, and her side bangs were just perfect looking. The make-up really brought out her eyes, as if they didn't stand out enough. They're a pretty honey color.

There was a honk of a horn outside and Riza slipped her shoes on, which were a pretty red high-heels to match her dress, "Let's go, Ed, that's Havoc. Mustang doesn't drive and I don't want you walking." She tugged on his hand and dragged him out and into the backseat. He watched the two in the front share a short and sweet kiss, and they were off to the ball.

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6:30. Maes was pissed, where was Roy? He left his wife at the ball with reliable friends and drove to the man's house. After nearly knocking the door down, Roy finally came running out, still buttoning his shirt, Maes ran after him, and started driving back.

"Well?" Maes said irritated.

"Sorry, I feel asleep." Mustang tried apologizing, but it didn't look as apologetic as it should with his hand down his pants trying to tuck his white dress shirt in to look decent.

"You should be, I didn't see Ed, but Riza confirmed that she took him there."

"I said I was sorry, Maes." Roy apologized again as he was fixing a red rose into his chest pocket. Red was the season's color after all, and Maes would've killed him if he didn't do it anyway.

"Did you at least remember Ed's gift?" He made a hard left, since he loved tormenting Roy.

"Yeah, I have it. Pants pocket. And would you please not do that. I didn't even have the safety belt on, damn it."

"Shoulda thought about that before," Luckily the parking spot Maes had before was still open, "Now go find him."

Roy walked as fast as he could, and pushed past many people. He really couldn't care who they were, officers, superiors, hell he'd even bypass the Fuhrer if he'd gotten in the way. Soon enough he found Ed looking out of the balcony outside, not facing him. Mustang approached him from behind and held him in a bear hug.

"Sorry I'm late, Ed," he smiled, "I guess I was just nervous." It was a good fib.

Ed loosened up a bit, "It's okay, glad you could make it."

Mustang looked at his watch, 7:00, which meant that dinner would be served soon, and at 8:00 there would be dancing, "Let's go inside, I don't want you catching a cold. By the way, Ed, you look gorgeous." 'Drop dead sexy more like it.' Roy thought to himself, smirking.

Ed blushed, and allowed himself to be lead in by Roy, and which they had just missed the end of the Fuhrer's speak, and dinner was then served, which was surprisingly delicious, though Roy thought about it with hate, 'if the same chefs that serve that nasty food at the cafeteria cooked this, why couldn't they cook like this everyday?!" Definitely hate.

Roy glanced over at Edward, who was picking at his food while talking to Gracia, Maes' wife. He wore a smile the whole time, but I found it hard to believe that Ed was actually interested about the flowers' different meanings. 7:45, it was almost time to dance, and Roy wondered momentarily if Ed would actually dance with him, and if Ed actually knew how. Roy glanced over at Maes who was already glancing back apologetically.

Ed had stopped picking at his food and laid his hands in his lap, knowing that Gracia was out of things to talk about at the moment. Boldly, Roy grasped his hand under the table, turned and smiled at him, and Ed was smiling back. Roy gave his hand a tight squeeze before letting go.

It was time for the Christmas songs. It was time for the dancing.