A/N Sooo hello! It's Friday, and that means update! *cheers* I'll try not to ramble too much, but I just wanted to say that this chapter is actually the reason this fic exists...I just had this mental picture in my mind and I went from there, and tada! This fic was born ;P

Chapter 10

When Roy awoke the next morning he somehow knew it wasn't early morning anymore. Whether it was the hot temperature or the grumbling of his stomach he didn't know, but what he did know was that he had probably slept through all day. Cracking his eyes open grudgingly, he yawned and sat up, only pausing a few seconds for the dizziness to subside.

Memories of the day before assaulted him once again, but this time it didn't seem so overwhelming.

Today he had set a task for himself. He'd give Ed the rose, since he had promised that young girl he would do so. He thought about all the possible reactions with a foreign feeling of strong alacrity, and already he felt much more energetic.

Wang had most likely visited the tent while he had been asleep, because there was a bowl of rice and a glass of water set on the table for him. Grateful, he grabbed the bowl and began eating even before he had seated himself in one of the chairs.

Time passed rather fast for him, and soon he found himself exiting the tent with the rose in his hand, his destination being the tent adjacent to his. From the sunlight attacking his eyes he figured it was noon – so the rice he had eaten had been lunch, not breakfast. They had let him sleep, probably believing that he needed it, but he couldn't really imagine Ed managing to stay sane while bored. He had thought she'd come jumping on him so he could wake up and entertain her somehow. Maybe she had slept in as well? That would've made sense actually, considering all the strain she had been subjecting her body to after only just having gotten better.

Shaking his head slightly to clear his head, he took a deep breath and placed the rose behind his back, just in case she was awake. He didn't want her to see what was coming; he wanted a fresh reaction.

As he neared the entrance of the tent he heard a rather squeal-ish giggle, which caught him by surprise. That certainly hadn't been Ed.

Biting his lip and bracing himself for the sight he would find, he flipped open the tent and casually walked in, consciously reminding himself to keep his left arm behind his back. Of all the things he had expected, the sight currently presented to him was not one of them. Roy found himself standing there like an idiot as his mind tried comprehending just what exactly was going on.

Edeline was sitting on her mattress, the sheet folded neatly at the end, probably done by Taa, while four children surrounded her, one of which he recognised as Shima. The girl was currently babbling on about something and Ed was apparently paying close attention to her – the young girl had been the one to squeal like that. However, none of that was really what caught his attention or what took him completely aback.

Out of the four children, two young girls were expertly braiding Ed's hair, adding their own touches as well as a few flowers. Roy had never thought Ed to be a person to let other people mess around with her hair, let alone children, but here the two girls were, one carefully adding flower after flower while the other braided them all in place. It was the first time he was seeing Ed's head look so colourful. He figured he should find it amusing and come up with a teasing comment, but right now he couldn't think anything other than how much the different coloured flowers in her blonde hair suited her.

He watched as the girls, seemingly finishing up their work, tied the hair at the end and placed one last flower behind Ed's ear, the blonde helping them balance it with an almost demure smile. He could tell she was feeling a tad uncomfortable, but all he could think of was that he had actually never seen her act so...friendly towards anyone before, save Alphonse of course, but even with him there was always some irritation since Roy tended to be present.

"Mr. Roy!" The childlike happiness that was carried with the voice snapped him out of his reverie and he tore his gaze away from Edeline, realising at last that he had been staring for far too long.

His eyes rested on Shima, who had been the first one to notice him. Her cheerful exclamation was followed by Ed's golden stare and by several others coming from the rest of the kids. Suddenly, Roy felt like he was in the spotlight, which, in a way, he was.

"Um, good morning," he greeted uncomfortably with a slight wave of his hand. He kept his other one firmly behind his back.

Ed raised an eyebrow and sat back on the mattress, colourful braid coming to rest over her shoulder. "It's not morning, idiot." She smirked and ushered him further in the tent with a wave of her hand. "We just ate lunch."

Roy walked over to her but was stopped halfway by Shima, who looked up at him with wide eyes and whispered, "Did you bring it?" She had cupped her hands around her mouth as if to prevent the others from lip reading.

Immediately catching on, Roy crouched to be eye-level with her, cautiously so as not to accidentally show Ed the flower, and leaned in to whisper in the girl's ear. Shima seemed satisfied after he had pulled back and one look at Ed told him she was very suspicious.

"What are you two whispering about over there?" she questioned curiously, a slight accusation hiding behind her words. She eyed them warily as Roy stood back up and smirked, while Shima giggled and grinned. She skipped over to her friends and watched as everything unfolded in front of them.

As he walked over to Ed, Roy suddenly grew nervous. He didn't know what to anticipate – for all he knew Ed might be offended he'd treat her like his ex-dates (which wasn't the case at all) and throw the flower back at his face. Not to mention that he had no clue how she would react afterwards when he told her that the flower was actually from Shima...The blonde was bound to think that it was from him – well, it kind of was – but it had actually been the young girl who had picked and given it to him. She just told him to give it to her because she was too shy to do it herself. Roy was certain that had the girl not handed it to him he wouldn't have thought about going and picking one himself. He was sure Ed would catch that when he told her the truth...

Oh yes, he hated not knowing things.

Despite his sudden uncharacteristic nervousness, he made sure not to show it as he strode towards the mattress Ed was occupying. She was staring at him with an odd expression, a mixture of confusion, apprehension and intense curiosity. That brought a brief smile to his face before it faltered as he took a discrete but deep breath. He had done this many times, so why was he so anxious now? He had brought dates of his not one but a dozen of cheap flowers just to mesmerise them – he honestly couldn't care less if they liked them or not. There had only been a few exceptions where Roy was actually a bit fond of the girl and wanted her to at least appreciate the flowers. But he hadn't felt nervous.

It was most likely because he knew how they would react, he concluded after giving it a quick thought. He knew those dates of his would respond positively to the flowers whereas, in spite of knowing Ed so many years, Roy couldn't even begin to consider the most probable reaction. It unnerved him, but he wouldn't show it.

Kneeling in front of her, he felt his face become hot but ignored it, hoping she wouldn't notice, and extended his arm, presenting the bright red rose to her. He instinctively averted his gaze and stared stubbornly at the floor while trying to seem like he wasn't. He somehow knew it wasn't working.

Ed was painfully silent and he started feeling awkward having his arm extended like that gripping the flower. He raised his head to catch a glimpse of her expression and nearly burst out laughing. The blonde's face had turned a red colour that could rival the one of the rose and would put her coat to shame. Her eyes were wide and staring at the flower in complete disbelief while her hands fiddled uncomfortably with each other.

Roy watched as she hesitantly and cautiously raised her eyes to look at him, giving him the same expression. He chuckled faintly, reading the question in those golden orbs perfectly.

"Well?" he said, regaining a bit of his confidence and smirking. "What do you have to say?"

As soon as the words had escaped him Ed gaped openly at him and his smirk grew. She seemed so flustered it was amusing. Then, her mouth snapped shut and formed an 'o' shape before she opened and closed it, apparently speechless.

Roy's arm started to tire so he moved closer to her so he could bend it while still keeping it in front of her. Ed turned redder, if that was even possible, and seemed to misinterpret his reason – not that Roy minded; it just made things more amusing. She didn't object or push him away though, so he remained planted where he was. He could faintly hear the children snickering but paid them no heed, his eyes focusing on Ed's.

After what seemed like ages, the blonde seemed to regain her voice and spluttered incredulously, "Are you serious?"

Roy smiled and playfully tapped the petals on her jaw. "As serious as I could be."

The blonde blinked and pursed her lips. Then, she tentatively raised her hand, slender fingers wrapping around the stem and making Roy relinquish his hold. "O-oh," she mumbled embarrassedly, avoiding eye contact. "Al...Alright then."

Roy couldn't hold back a smug smirk. This had gone better then he thought. Ed being embarrassed and uncomfortable was highly entertaining. Step one was a success; now onto step two.

He watched as Ed played around with the petals, stroking them and brushing the scarlet flower with her fingers as he debated the best way to tell her that it had not actually been a gift from him – not entirely anyway.

Sitting on the mattress next to her, he made sure his expression was relaxed and his words casual as he said, "This girl here picked it out and really wanted me to give it to you. I was more than happy to oblige." He flashed a toothy grin, while his insides twisted in apprehension. He truly hoped she wouldn't lash out – because it had seemed different and she was bound to think it had been all his idea...

Edeline still seemed to be a bit out of it; too shocked by the gesture to speak, and seemed rather torn between feeling flattered, offended, suspicious, confused and angry. Her expression made Roy chuckle but then he felt a shuffle from next to him and looked at the young girl that was looking at them shyly. Shima stared at Ed with a demure smile playing on her lips. "You like it?"

Ed shifted uncomfortably and smiled awkwardly, glancing at Roy before her gaze focused solely on the girl in front of her. "Y-Yes, it's really nice...Thanks, I guess." She grimaced at the way the words came out; they left a foreign taste in her mouth. She wasn't used to being so...polite.

Roy smirked at her obvious discomfort and she shot him a glare, which only made the smirk widen. He found it inexplicably satisfactory to rile her up in any way possible. The way she would inadvertently focus all her attention on him only to scowl and glare at him always sent a spark of excitement and exhilaration in his veins. The intensity of those golden eyes made him feel alive whatever the circumstances and after some time he had found himself craving the thrill like a drug.

Shaking his head good-naturedly, he looked back at her and his eyes softened as he took in her colourful appearance. The flowers adorning her hair lightened up her whole face somehow and made her look healthier than what she was.

"I never thought you'd do something so...girly," he commented, his intention half being to irritate her. He fingered a loose strand of her hair to make his point and a crooked smile made its way onto his lips when she blushed.

She shot him a half hearted glare and went to cross her arms, only to decided against it when she remembered the rose in her hands. "Yeah, well, it's not my fault I was bored out of my freaking skull. If only someone wasn't such a lazy butt and woke up at a normal hour then maybe he could've made my life easier."

Roy smothered a smile at her evident attempt to censor the curse words as much as she could in front of the children, and he wondered whether Al was the reason behind such behaviour or she had simply been around Elysia a lot and had gotten used to Gracia's gentle reprimands.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly, not looking it at all though. "I hadn't intended to sleep that much."

Ed rolled her eyes and huffed a muffled 'whatever' before turning her gaze to the braid slung over her shoulder. With her free hand she brought the hair to her face, tracing blonde strands with her eyes. Roy cocked his head to the side and narrowed his eyes thoughtfully as he tried analysing her blank expression. Then, she glanced at the kids, who were now too engrossed in their discussion to pay attention to them. "It's too girly, isn't it?" she asked with a grimace.

Leaning back on his hands, Roy got himself comfortable and followed her gaze to the playing children. "It suits you though."

He thought she'd blush again but he was taken by surprise when she scowled. "Are you mocking me now?"

He blinked, looking at her blankly for a moment before smiling. "Not at all."

"Bastard," she huffed, averting her gaze. The red flush on her cheeks this time made it all worth it.

A/N Yay for more RoyEd cuteness! *^* I just want to write endless fluff for these two I swear. I could do it. I bet you I could.

I can't BELIEVE we're on Chapter 10 guys *cries* This fic has only got 14 chapters! *cries more* I've been trying to come up with an epilogue(or more like an extra), but I can't for the life of me think something up. In the meanwhile, I've been writing another long fic, which, with any luck, will be longer than 100,000 words!

So, anyway, tell me your opinion on this, it'll make me really happy! Thanks! :D