A/N: Long time no see. To be honest, I was busy with some other idea that hit my mind… It's "Because you're his son", as well as the sequel to that one. Read it if you like. Guess it's not that bad after all.

And what do we have here? Well, we have the long-awaited tenth chapter! Enjoy :)

The next morning

Riza shifted in her bed, trying to settle herself comfortably. But it proved to be useless. She wasn't to be granted any more sleep, since the bright light of the day seemed to break through the barrier of her eyelids. She hummed quietly and turned to the other side, just to be faced with someone's apparently bare arm. Riza frowned and opened her eyes lazily. In a flash she opened them as wide as it was possible, staring in shock at the man sleeping peacefully beside her. Her mind rushed at full speed and it suddenly recalled all of the events of the previous day. The quarrel, Jean's visit, Roy's call, the kiss, a stray glimpse of Love…oh…and everything after that too…

"Shit!" she cursed under her breath and pulled away from Havoc as far as she could without falling off of the bed. The truth, whole truth dawned on her.

She had just lost the bet with Love. And now she could experience all the consequences.

For example, why wasn't she glad that Jean Havoc was sleeping in her bed right now, but instead her thoughts seemed to focus on someone else, Roy Mustang to be precise? Actually, quite much had changed since the previous day.

"What do I do now?" she thought in pure panic. He'd wake up soon, what should she tell him? How should she explain herself? And how to say…she gulped nervously…that she didn't love him anymore? That it was just a game, a mere bet, that she'd never taken this seriously?

No, wait. That wasn't quite true. She had considered filling the vacant place in her life with Havoc instead of Mustang. He would make a far better boyfriend actually. And on top of that, that was the reason that she decided to surrender to him last night. So, after all, it was her own decision. She was driven by her own common sense, not by the stupid feeling that Love had imposed on her. Maybe even now she was thinking about Roy just because that was the punishment for losing the bet. Maybe Love had intervened about that one. Maybe if it was just up to Riza, she would choose Havoc by her own decision and forget about the man that had ignored her for so long?

"Who knows…" she thought, watching Havoc's chest raise as he breathed. Another condition of the bet was that even if Riza regained her feelings for the colonel, the chosen guy would still love her. That basically meant that Havoc's love hadn't changed at all since the previous night. So…

But she didn't finish the thought because at the very moment the second lieutenant turned to her side. Not sensing her presence, he frowned just like she had done before, and then opened his eyes in confusion. He lifted his gaze to see Riza sitting at the edge of the bed and smiled at her softly.

"Hey."

She blinked, not knowing what to say, but eventually decided to answer his greeting.

"Hi," she smiled too. "How did you sleep?"

"Quite well," he sat up, rubbing his blonde hair, already messy from the sleep. He glanced at her and asked: "Is something wrong?"

She shook her head, but it didn't convince him.

"C'mon, tell me. I can see that something's bothering you." He suddenly stopped and then asked quietly: "You're wondering if this was a mistake, right? You think that we shouldn't have…"

"No," she denied quickly, but he didn't fall for that. She sighed and dropped her shoulders. "I just…I don't know…"

"Don't worry," he smiled at her, but she could tell that he felt somewhat hurt. "We don't have to tell anyone. Hey, it's not like we got married yesterday," he tried to cheer her up.

"I know, but…" she looked up at him, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have…"

"It's OK," he assured her, caressing her cheek. "Still, I want you to know that I don't regret it. I don't regret any bit of the previous night. But I can see that you do. Why?"

"I don't want to hurt you," she said honestly. He nodded in understanding.

"You still have some feelings for the colonel, don't you?"

"Maybe…I don't know myself."

"I understand. Don't bother about that. It's not that simple to throw away from your heart the man that you've loved for so long. You know," he added unexpectedly as if he had just recalled something. "We used to bet on the date you two would get together… Heh, guess we've all lost shamelessly," he smiled.

"Yeah," she agreed. Bets are a vague thing indeed.

"Riza."

"Yes?"

"You need some time to reorganize the things. Let's just stay friends till you're ready for something more."

She looked at him in disbelief. It hurt him, but he still put her sake first.

Hell, how could she dump him? And…did she really want to?

They came to work slightly late. As they rushed together through the corridors of Central Headquarters, people were stealing glances at them. They didn't pay attention to that though and still panting a little made it to the office. They walked in, surprising all of the men already sitting there.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye…" began Fuery reluctantly. "You're…you're late."

"I'm sorry," she said, taking her seat. "That won't happen again."

"It has never happened before," he looked as if he didn't believe his own eyes.

"So it's the first time I've been late. I guess you can forgive me then."

"Oh, of course, lieutenant… I apologize."

"Don't worry about that."

She tried not to look at Roy, when she handed him the reports that he had asked her to take care of. He just said casually:

"Thank you, lieutenant."

That was all. As if nothing happened.

One hour later a rumor had spread throughout the Headquarters.

First lieutenant Riza Hawkeye and second lieutenant Jean Havoc were sleeping together.

"Are…are you sure?"

"Why absolutely! The delicate bud of love is blooming between them! I can see it clearly! We, the Armstrong family, could always tell the true love from the fake one!"

"Is that the ability which has been passed down in your family for generations?" in spite of the huge ice cube in his stomach, he couldn't stop himself from saying this.

"Um…well yes. How did you know that?" Alex asked, somewhat confused.

"Just a wild guess."

Soon after Armstrong walked away to spread the news further. Roy paled a little more. So that's how it was. Damn it all to hell… Damn it!

"I was late," he thought, feeling worse with every second. "I was so fuckin' late, they were already…"

He slammed his fist against the wall.

"What's even worse, I can't do anything about this. I can't interfere, I promised her that. But…"

"Hey, what about that plan of yours? You know, the one with jumping out of the office window?"

"Why hello, I haven't heard from you for ages," Roy thought sarcastically. He really wasn't in the mood to argue with that Voice.

"Oh, pardon my manners. Hello."

"Listen…leave me alone. NOW."

"Hey, I'm not here to mock you. I want to help you," the Voice sounded sympathetically. "Just tell me how."

He thought that he must've been really pathetic since even the Voice felt sorry for him.

"I need to think alone. Leave. Just for once do as I say."

Suddenly he was really alone. He sighed and leaned his forehead against the wall.

He knew perfectly that this was his own fault. If only he hadn't waited for so long, he could easily be in Havoc's place now. And truth to be said, he couldn't blame his second lieutenant either. He understood what it was like to fall in love with that one particular woman. It was just so hard to put up with it all.

Nonetheless, he knew what he should do. And he was going to do it, even if it meant sacrificing himself for her sake. If she preferred to be with Havoc…

"I'll let you go," he thought, closing his eyes. It really did hurt. "But I still love you. I love you so much, Riza…"

"Hi, Sheska."

"Oh… Good morning, lieutenant Hawkeye."

Riza took her lunch and attempted to walk away, but the librarian spoke again.

"I've heard about you and second lieutenant Havoc. I wish you luck."

Something in her smile told Riza that she wasn't quite honest there.

"Sheska, is everything OK?" she asked worriedly.

Sheska shook her head nervously and then hung it down. "No, it's nothing…"

"Hey, tell me," she encouraged her.

Not lifting her gaze, the librarian said: "I just…about the second lieutenant…"

"…You like him, don't you?"

"Um…well…yes, kind of…"

"Sheska, I'm so sorry," said Riza quietly, truly feeling sorry. And extremely guilty. Just how many people were going to get hurt because of this?

"Don't be. I'm glad that you're happy together," she managed a sad smile.

When she left, Riza bit her lip, deep in thoughts. She had been feeling uneasy the whole morning, the same goes for the colonel, and now Sheska. Havoc had been eerily friendly, not to mention the previous night at all. He acted as if nothing had happened between them, just as he promised. So what was that bitter sensation in her stomach?

How she managed to survive the day, she didn't know. When she was finally home, she dropped onto the bed and lay there limply. She had already felt guilty when she watched Roy, sitting in the office and desperately trying to look as if he didn't care. Maybe he really didn't… She pushed the thought aside. She wouldn't be able to bear with that. Not now, after all this.

On top of that all, the talk with Sheska was more than she could take. Why did she have to cause pain and suffering to innocent people just because of a stupid bet?

"I'm hopeless," she muttered to the ceiling.

"I would disagree with this statement if you asked me."

Riza sat up rapidly. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, we have some matters to discuss, don't we?" Love raised her eyebrow.

"You think I have lost the bet, don't you?" Riza leaned back on the bed.

"Isn't that obvious?"

"And what if I wanted this? If I made the decision myself, that I want to be with Havoc?"

"You mean that you haven't lost to me, because your strong will hasn't actually been broken…since you wanted to lose?" Love asked tentatively, not sure if she got the point.

"Yeah." Riza looked at her daringly. "What if that's the case?"

Love gazed at her seriously. "Do you really believe in that?" she frowned.

Riza's mouth opened, but she didn't answer. Love continued:

"Strong will isn't about sticking to what you want, but about not changing your decisions that you've made at the beginning. And you have altered your original aim. Do you call that 'strong will'?"

Riza was silent.

"You try to believe that this is what you wanted, but you know just as well as I do that it's pure bullshit. You don't follow your will, but adjust it to the current situation. That's quite incorrect, you know. I'm right, aren't I?"

Riza hung her head down. "What are you going to do now?" she asked quietly.

"Well," stated Love matter-of-factly, "I guess you already know that I've restored your feelings for the colonel. The real ones," she stressed. "You love him, even if you don't want to admit it. I forced you to love Havoc, that's true, but even then you couldn't forget about Roy. Don't try to deny it."

"But what about Jean? I don't want to see him suffer."

"I told you that I'd take care of him. And I'm going to keep my promise."

"Don't hurt him. Please."

"I won't. Don't worry," Love smiled unexpectedly.

"What do you mean?" Riza was confused.

"You'll see. But I can promise you that everything will be alright. For the time being focus on your relationship with Roy. I believe that you two have quite a lot to talk over."

"I…I think he's given up," she gulped uneasily. The thought made her sick. What if he's not interested in her anymore?

"We shall see about that."

Without any word of explanation, Love was gone.

A/N: OK, so that is how it turned out. Disappointed? Relieved? Tell me.

The next chapter will be the last one. Well, there has to be some ending eventually, ne:) I hope that you will like it…