This chapter is dedicated to everyone who reads this story because reviews motivate me to write this chapter during school. Thank you for your nice reviews.
Disclaimer: As usual. But I would rent Charlotte and her dad. Anyone interested?
And yes: It's still just something I came up with after thinking about Hawkeye's family on her mother's side.


Roy was sitting in the mess hall and ate when a pretty young woman decided to make her appearance. She walked across the room and her dark hair fell down to her waist before she bent down to hug him tightly. "It has been too long, Roy-Boy," she said amused before she sat down. "I cannot believe that you really became a colonel."

"And I still try to understand how my little girl became a lieutenant colonel," he replied and shot her a grin which didn't impress her. He looked down at his soup. "Phil already told me that you have a boyfriend, Jadelina…" he continued. "Is it something serious or are you just fooling around since you are young and beautiful?"

She frowned at him before she showed him her left hand where a small platinum band glittered before she smiled again. "Does this answer your question, Roy?" she asked. "Bendix asked me when we went out for dinner yesterday. I love him and I just said yes."

"You are much too young to marry!" Roy said and glared at the innocent ring.

"And you are much too old to be still bachelor," she hissed. "Really, Roy, I thought you were a man and asked your beautiful lieutenant out! You are staring at her since-I-don't-remember! Even when you were still her father's apprentice, you used to stare at her. I really wonder why she never noticed it – since you are as subtle as an elephant, Roy!"

He reached out and his hand covered her mouth. "Be quiet, Jade!" he hissed. "You don't have to inform everyone here at HQ about it. If you stay silent about this affair, I'll buy you another ring."

She glared at him before she removed his hand from her mouth. "Really, Roy, there is no need to attack me in front of everyone!" she said and sounded slightly aggressive. "If you keep that up, I will loose my reputation as a strong woman – and I will kill you if that will ever happen!"

"No need to be that aggressive, darling," he smiled.

"You are playing with fire right now, Roy," she said and leaned forward. "You of all people should know what I can do if I really get angry. I bet that you have still some scars on your back and on your shoulder. And don't forget that I am never far away. I can always come back to punch you."

"Nowadays I could call it 'insubordination'…" he said. "You could get in serious trouble for it."

"I doubt that … I guess that my superior would always say that you asked for it," she said and leaned back. "Well, dearest cousin, let's make another bet. I won't break your nose if you ask her out. I get annoyed since I wait for it since almost eight years. I will visit your office later that day. I heard fromLynnthat Riza is really interested in jewellery … and since you don't like my new ring, I will show it someone you actually knows something about diamonds!"

"Wait a second – this huge stone is a real diamond?" Roy gasped.

She grinned at him. "Of course it is," she said. "Ben loves me – and this ring was in his family for many decades. It was the ring his grandfather gave his grandmother than they got engaged."

"And you … ehm … really love that guy?" Roy bit his lower lip.

"Yes," she said. "I love him with all my heart. I could never imagine living without him. He is very nice and caring, but he can be very strict when the situation requests it. He is a little bit like Riza – if Riza would be a man, that's it is…"

"And how did you know that he is the right one for you?" he asked and frowned slightly at her.

She smiled as she sat down again. "Well, I feel comfortable whenever he is around. Did you know that Phil and I barely escaped Scar last month? I was downright terrified after that encounter. I didn't want to leave the safety of my house but Ben told me that it would be pointless to stay in my house. He told me that this Scar-guy broke into Tucker's house and that my house is not safe. And that terrorists want that we start to fear our own shadows…" She smiled and tilted her head a little bit. "So we went out like before and nothing happened. It's much better that way, I guess. I would be still under my bed if he hadn't invited me to go to the Opera."

"You hate the Opera," Roy stated. "Did this guy brainwash you?"

She glared at him. "No, he didn't," she said, "and even if I never liked the Opera, I started to like it. In case that Phil didn't told you: I am a grownup-girl now, Roy. You can stop to worry about me. I am fine. I will not die, I promise."

Roy sighed before he held out his hand. "Show me your arm," he demanded and suddenly there was fire in his eyes as he grabbed her left arm before he stared at the pale skin on her forearm. Some fine and even paler lines ran across the soft skin but all of them there quiet old. Roy let go off her arm and smiled genuinely at her. "It seems like you really became an adult, Jade," he said before a single finger touched the deepest scar. "I am glad that you stopped hurting yourself."

She lowered her head. "It was hard to stop," she admitted. "It became kinda addiction over the years. But when I entered the academy I wanted to change who I used to be. I wanted to be strong – and I wanted to prove myself that I am strong enough to live without this pain."

He sighed. "You destroyed this arm beyond repair," he said before he stroked her arm. "You had such beautiful arms when we were children. Why did you do something like that?"

"My psycho doc said that I had too much pressure I put on myself when I was thirteen," she shrugged before she looked at her scars. "I bet you can remember me. I was an insecure little brat who was afraid to loose her father's attention. I was terrible back then!"

He grinned at her. "Were you always that honest when it came to yourself?" he asked.

She laughed as she got up again. "No … but like I said, I became an adult. Well, I would love to stay and talk with you, but I need to talk with Riza. Maybe she will tell me how beautiful my new ring is," she said amused before she rushed away like a flash.

"Did she just dump you?" a blonde woman asked grinning. She had sharp features and her eyes were huge – and one of them was coloured crimson. She sat down in front of Roy and frowned at his meal. "My name is Major Serena Hamilton. But … may I ask how you can eat something like that, Colonel Mustang?" she shuddered. "I can see the fat from over here…"

Roy raised his head to frown at her. "I am fine, thank you," he said. "And I love this meal."

She tilted her head. "You know that too much fat isn't good for your shape?"

"Why are you that obsessed with your shape nowadays, Serena?" Olivier asked while she put a hand on the girls shoulder before she sat down. "Last time I checked, you were pretty slim."

"She's right," Buccaneer agreed with his commanding officer. "You don't need to become slimmer like you already are. I love you the way you are."

The woman called Serena smiled brightly at him before she leaned over her salad to kiss him. "You are really the best boyfriend ever, Hakon!" she said grinning. "Let's go out for dinner after work, alright? Riza told me that there is a pretty good restaurant in the city."

"You still take advices from her?" a disgruntled voice asked and Lynn sat down right beside Roy. She looked tired like hell and her voice lacked all the charm she usually had. She massaged her head before she glared at her mug of coffee. "Really, this whole pregnancy-affair is killing me!" she said annoyed. "I slept in last night when I was reading an old report Kay wrote for me. Did I ever mention that I hate her way to write a report? I always have to search the key information since she always hands in at least nineteen pages…"

"I didn't sleep well either," Olivier admitted. "Jewel called me at midnight to ask me if I would join her meeting with the other generals."

"Like I can see, you decided against it," Serena stated smiling. "I can understand it. I had dinner with Charlotte and my father yesterday and most of the time they were bitching against our dearest Fuhrer and his best friend Hakuro. I have to admit that Charlotte is pretty good at imitating Hakuro. I never laughed that hard in a long time…"

"That's my official commander to you," Lynn said before she downed her coffee. "Well, it's time for me to get back to work. The reports need to be signed before the deadline which is a little bit too close for my liking. I will see you later, Serena. Tell Kay that I need my notes back before the next evaluation. It wouldn't kill her to be a little bit more reliable."

Serena hit herself before she disappeared under the table. When she came back to the surface, she held out a black notebook. "She told me to give it back to you when I met her earlier this morning," she said and smiled apologetic. "I am sorry but I totally forgot that I had it."

Lynn smiled at her before she bent down and ruffled her hair. "Don't worry," she said. "I won't tell Kay that I thought that she was holding back some important information."

Roy got up and smiled weakly. "Well, I need to get back to work," he sighed.

Serena grinned at him. "And don't even dare to treat my cousin like you treat your paperwork," she laughed as he left. "I am a water alchemist and I would make you wet if you ever hurt her."

Roy turned around and saluted. "I will try my best to avoid a fight with you," he said.

She kissed Buccaneer's cheek. "I hope so," she said.


When Roy got back to his office, he knew that Jade was already there. When he opened the door, he saw his cousin and smiled a little bit. She sat on Riza's desk and let her ring sparkle in the sunlight. It was even more amazing than Armstrong's sparkles.

"…it's really a beautiful ring," Riza agreed and looked at the huge diamond. "But isn't the stone a little bit huge? Doesn't it get in your way when you use a gun, Lieutenant Colonel?"

"Don't worry!" Jade laughed. "I almost never use guns and when I should need a gun, I can turn the gem around. It won't get in my way, First Lieutenant. But I need you to meet my fiancé. He is such a nice and bright man – much nicer and brighter than my stupid brother or my mean cousin. He told me actually that I am too young to marry! Isn't that mean?"

Riza smiled at the young woman. "I am sure that he didn't mean it that way," she said. "He would never judge another person's decisions."

Roy coughed as he entered the room and both women snapped into attention and gave him both a perfect salute which he waved away. "Really, you should know better than to salute in front of your own cousin," he said annoyed as he grabbed Jade's hand again before he held it right into Riza's face. "Isn't that a beautiful diamond?" he asked amused.

"Very beautiful," she said and sighed deeply. "Sir, you should be signing reports right now."

"Are you ordering me around, Hawkeye?" he asked grinning.

She looked at him without any signs of fear. "No, sir," she said. "I am just suggesting that you should do your work since you may want to leave earlier today in order to go out with you cousins. I was simply assuming that it would be better if you would get started now."

"Your conversation with my cousin seems to be more interesting than the stupid reports," he said and sat down beside Jade who looked suddenly very annoyed and growled a little bit before she glared at Roy. "You know that I don't want to talk with you right now," she said. "I want to talk with someone who actually really likes my ring."

"I like it," Roy started to defend himself, "but I don't like the idea of you being married soon."

She didn't miss the beat. "And I don't like the idea of you being still a bachelor," she hissed.

Riza sighed. "I am not sure if I need to take part in that discussion," she muttered.

"No – stay, please!" Jade grabbed her arm. "You do agree with me, don't you? Your job would be much easier if this idiot would become a true man and ask his one and only love out, wouldn't it? But since Roywas an idiot for the most part of his life … that's not likely."

"You can't know if I was an idiot for all my life!" Roy said laughing.

"I said for the most part of your life," Jade said annoyed, "and if someone would give me money if I would make a statement about your carrier as a complete idiot, I would always assume that you always were an idiot – even before I was born…"

"I am not!" Roy said and glared angrily at her. Most other woman would have run for cover but his aide and his assistant just looked at him like he had just loose his mind – which was likely.


I thank everyone who reviewed and all the people who put this story as a favourite. You are wonderful people and I hope that you still like the story.
I am really grateful for this great feedback.

AvaEobane