Aqua's POV
I was sleeping on the couch while everyone else was doing their own thing. Flannery, Griffon, Alex and Megan were playing in the backyard and Mommy and Daddy went to go get some groceries. I would have loved to do either but sadly because of that crazy person who's name will not be mentioned in this house ever tried to kill me I have to stay put and not over extert myself. I may not even get to dance at the military ball!

I was resting so peacefully before a knock came to the door. I really didn't feel like getting up so I just said come in and Marth walked through the door.

"Hey Aq how are you?" Marth asked kneeling down in front of me.

"Better but the doctor told me to stay put for a bit but I feel fine" I said sitting up.

"Well you look better to me too. The swelling went down and the color in your eyes are coming back" Marth said.

"Well at least someone believes me." I said. "So you want to go for a walk?" I said standing up.

"Sure" Marth walked around the neighborhood and Marth was really quiet so I decieded to break the ice.

"Marth is something wrong?" I asked.

"I can't help but think that you getting hurt is somehow my fault" Marth said.

"What do you mean? You didn't know she was going to do that to me you weren't even't there that day" I said.

"I know but you rememeber when I started dating her? I hung out with you way more than I hung out with her and then she got tired of it so she was all 'either her or me'" Marth said.

"And you picked me" Aqua said.

"Yea and she's hated you ever since. Then the face that she's always trying to get me back and now this I should have never dated her in the first place." Marth said.

"Marth you had no idea what kind of person she was. She didn't like me for her own stupid reason and I'm still here so that's all that matters" I said with a shrug.

"You're right. Thank you" Marth said giving me a small kiss. "So are you still going to the military ball?"

"Of course! This year I took I white dress and painted all over it. I just have tp find a pair of good shoes and I'll be ready to go!" I said.

"There's the Aqua I know and love" Marth said pulling me to a warm embrace and giving me a very passionate kiss. If I kept doing this I had a feeling my recovery would go very well.

Roy's POV
I sat in front of the letter & stared at it. "She's really that smart?" I asked Riza.

She nodded. "To get a ninety-five percent on a fourth grade test is pretty rare for a girl two grades younger."

"But to have her skip three grades? I don't know if she could put up with the pressure of it all." I stated.

"She would go into the fifth grade. If she can't handle the work than she will go into whatever grade she thinks will be better for her." Riza explained. "It was all explained in the letter."

"I think we should get everyone else's opinions before we give them an answer." I told her. I stood up & we went to the backyard.

Megan stopped short of running after Alex. "Hey, Uncle Roy."

"We need to talk to you all." Riza announced.

The kids all gathered around us. "Not you, Alex." I told him.

"Mrs. Mustang said all of us. That means me." Alex answered.

I sighed, "Fine. Look, this is about the letter Megan's teacher sent home. How would you feel if she skipped a few grades & went straight to fifth?" I asked.

"Fifth grade?" Megan gasped. "Where all the big kids are? I don't know."

"Baby girl, just think about it. You've done work that proves you know more than theirs. Heck, you can cuss them out in the words papa taught us & they would be completely in the dark." Griffon stated, picking her sister up & making crazy motions with her free arm. "Not to mention what a great opportunity this is for you."

"Nu-uh." Megan argued. "What if I get moved to an even higher grade? What if they make me go to middle school next?"

"They won't do that, honey. It's only for a week." Riza informed her. "If you don't want to stay, then you can pick the grade you think would best suit you."

"Okay, I wanna try it." Megan yelled. Griffon set her down & Megan punched Alex. "You're it." Then she ran off.

I sighed & watched as Alex tagged Flannery & the kids chased after each other. Griffon was slower than the others, but she still didn't give up. Finally, Griffon turned away from the others & ran inside.

I cast a worried look towards Riza & ran in after her. "Griffon?"

I could hear her coughing in the kitchen, so I went there as quick as possible. "Uncle Roy?" she answered.

"What's wrong?" I asked her as she searched through the cabinets.

"My throat is on fire." she called, followed by another fit of coughs. "I had some medicine in one of the cabinets, but I can't find it."

I remember that, Riza said she had moved the bottles to the bathroom. I went to grab them. The red bottles with the purple caps were the ones Riza had found, so I grabbed them & went back into the kitchen, handing them to Griffon.

"Thanks. Can you get me some water?" She asked. She twisted the bottle open with her hands trembling.

I pulled a glass out, filled it up & handed it to her. She popped two pills in her mouth & took a drink of water. I could tell she was in pain, her eyes were watering. "What was that?" I asked in shock.

"Part of my condition." Griffon answered in a raspy voice. "It really hurts."

"As long as you're okay." I told her.

Flannery's POV
I was working on my dress for the military ball. Aqua and I were painting on our dresses. They were simply strapless white dress that stopped mid thigh. I was going to paint it my three favorite colors red, orange, and yellow.

"There finished" I said to myself. It was pefect piece of art. The top half was yellow and the bottom half was orange with red designs like a little sun some flowers, some hearts, and some smiley faces. Now for the accessories I needed some help with this though. "Megan!" I called out to my cousin.

"Yes Flannery?" Megan said running in.

"I need your help with something sit down" I said patting next to me and quickly sat down. "This is the dress I'm wearing to the military I painted it myself"

"The paint is really pretty" Megan said.

"Thank you. Is Alex still here?" I asked.

"No he said he had to go to work why?" Megan asked

"Because young one Alexander is my date to the military ball and he can't see my dress until he escorts me" I explained.

"But it's not like you're getting married" Megan said. I quickly covered her mouth.

"Shh! When you're older you'll understand. When you live in the Mustang household never say the 'm' word" I said removing my hand.

"Okay?" Megan said confused. "So what do you need me for?"

"I have a dress but I need a second opnion on my accessories. I'm going to wear my hair in a single braided ponytail with a rose at the end." I stood up and opened a drawer and pulled out a few things. I pulled out three roses, three bracelets, three rings, three beaded necklaces, three bottles of nail polish and three clutch bags all colored red, orange, and yellow. "See these are the colors I want to wear with my dress I need to pick the colors will you help me?" I asked.

"Sure!" Megan said. "You should wear the yellow rose in your hair it will make your hair look pretty" Megan said holding up the yellow rose.

"Okay what about everything else?" I asked.

"You should wear all three bracelets, the red ring, the orange necklace, paint your nails all three colors stripe it, and take the yellow handbag" Megan said.

"Thank you Megan. There's a future fashion diva in you yet" I said rubbing her head.

"Griffon says I'm turning into a little you. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Megan asked.

"That's a good thing Meg a very good thing" I said rubbing her head.

Roy's POV
Someone knocked on the front door. Griffon left to get it, clearing her throat. "Hey Thatch. Yeah, I'm fine. Okay, I'll get her, just wait here."

"What was that?" I asked when Griffon came back.

"I have to take Megan to get her weekly check-up." Griffon answered. "Thatch came to remind me since I forgot last week."

"Alright. Megan!" I called.

The girl came in with a big smile. "Hey, did you remember my appointment?" she asked Griffon.

"Uh, kinda." Griffon answered. "Thatch came to remind us."

Megan laughed, "I knew you would forget. Let's go. Bye, Uncle Roy."

"Yeah, what she said." Griffon yelled as they left.

"I really believe there should be another boy in this house." I commented.

Griffon's POV
Megan skipped along in front of me & Thatch. "So, I heard Aqua & Flannery are making their own dresses. Is that true?" Thatch asked.

I smiled at him. "Yeah, I saw them & they are so cool. Little Flannery over there helped the big Flannery with the -oh, crap."

"What?" Megan asked, turning to walk backwards.

I groaned, "I haven't got a dress yet."

"The ball is tomorrow." Thatch commented. "Go find one, I'll take Megan to her appointment."

"I owe you one Thatch, thanks." I told him, giving him a kiss on the cheek before heading towards the shops.

When they were out of view, I turned again & headed in the direction of my old cottage. My mom told me that when I got to go to my first Military Ball, she would let me wear the dress she had worn. It was beautiful, I loved it when I was little.

I walked in & up to my parents' room, pulling open their closet. There was one thing I knew was hidden there. I pushed past the first row of clothes to where they hid their good clothes.

I picked up my mom's dress & pulled a duffel bag off the top shelf to hide it in. No one was going to see it until tomorrow, I hoped. I was going to work all night to fix it up a little. The fabric was a little faded & one of the seams had split, I could handle that with a little work.

The dress was a hunter green sequined drop waist dress with a skirt that fell to the floor. I had to be careful not to ruin it beyond repair. I reached back into the closet & pulled out a pair of matching Espadrilles. My mom wore the same sizes as me when she had worn the outfit, so I didn't worry about if it wouldn't fit.

I closed the doors & went over to my mom's vanity, sitting down & looking at the dusty mirror. I opened her jewelry box & picked out what mama said she had worn. A pair of emerald drop earrings, emerald choker necklace, & emerald bracelet. She didn't wear make-up, not even when she went somewhere fancy.

I stood up & walked to the door. "Mama, papa, I love you." I whispered.

"Hey, I thought you were at the doctor's with Meg." Flannery called when I came through the front door.

"I had to get my dress. I'm such an idiot, I forgot about it until Thatch asked about yours." I confessed. "I'll be in my room."

Flannery peeked in from the living room. "Do you need any help with it?"

"No, I'm good. I want my dress to be a surprise." I told her.

"You better not upstage me & Aqua. We work hard to attract attention." Flannery called. She came in & jogged up to me. "You got a package, by the way. No return address, just this weird symbol. We put it in your room."

"Thanks, you want a hint about my dress?" I asked her. She nodded. "It's really vintage. From when our parents were in diapers. It's worth a lot nowadays."

"Cool, I can't wait to see it." Flannery told me.

I walked to the room & said bye to Flannery. The package was on my bed, so I set the duffel bag down & opened it up. There was a letter that came out first. It read:

Dear Griffon,
I know how much you want to have fun at the ball. Here's something to make sure the spell doesn't wear off at midnight, Cinderella. Built make you strong as you were before you got sick. Have fun doing what you love almost as much as mechanics, Dancing Queen.
With love, Freddie.

I opened it up. A pair of leg braces? Mama said they were too expensive to get. I had to give up jazz & classical dancing classes because I couldn't get them. How did Freddie get the money? For that matter, where was he, anyway?

"Thank you, Freddie." I said aloud.

Later, when Megan came home, I showed her the letter. "He bought you the leg braces? Mama & papa said they were expensive."

"I know. How amazing is it that he found the money to get them?" I asked her.

Uncle Roy called us down for dinner. "I don't know, but now you can dance with Thatch." Megan said as we walked out. She stopped. "I gotta use the bathroom, tell them I'll be right there."

"Okay." I agreed, climbing onto the banister. I held on & slid down.

Megan's POV
I watched my sister slid down the banister & chuckled softly. I slid back into her room & pulled mama's dress out of the duffel bag. I snuck it into Flannery's room & pulled my pocket notepad & a pencil out of my jeans pocket.

"Dear Flannery, Griffon's dress needs fixing up, as you can obviously see. Please fix it for her. It was our mama's & Griffon has always wanted to wear it to her first military ball, just like mama. Please & thank you, Meg." I said as I wrote a little note to her.

Then I bolted out & slid down the banister to join everyone else. I really hoped Flannery would fix the dress & not rat me out to Gigi. I just knew that Flannery could make it look better.

Flannery's POV
Alex, Aqua and I walked back into my room and there was a mystery garment bagon my bed.

"Hey Flan is this yours?" Alex asked.

"No my garment bag is red" I said with a shrug. I picked up the garment bagand put it on my work bench I unzipped to reveal a green dress.

"Ugh this looks like a zombie dress" Alex said.

"No it has character there's a difference" I said. I pulled out a magnefyingglass and examined the thread work. It was really good but I had seen thisonly once before and a lot of the thread work was damaged.

"Well?" Aqua said

"The thread work is amazing, the fabric type is really nice and the over allexcution is awesome. This dress could be worth a lot" I said folding my arms across my chest.

"I wonder where it came from" Alex said.

"Hey Flan I think Li'l bit left you a note" Aqua said. We had so many nicknames for Meg we couldn't count. She handed me a note and I scanned over it.

"Oh Meg" I said smiling at the note.

"So Flannery do you think you can fix it?" Alex said.

"Please don't doubt me" I said. "It may be very old but I've done a dress like this before so I know what I'm doing" I said standing up and pulling out my manniquin from my closet. I carefully slipped the dress on to it.

"Flannery don't tell me you're going to spend all night on it?" Alex said.

"Of course I am. Megan called for my help" I said. "Like I said I've worked on a dress like this won't take that long" I said digging through my drawers for some thread to match the took about 3 hours to fix the dress but if looked good as new and Alex was there the whole time. He kept Sampson company

"You know you didn't have to stay" I said putting the dress back in the garment bag.

"Nah it's okay. I like spending time with you" Alex said sitting up because he was lying on my bed.

"Aww thank you. Do you think Griffon will look nice in the dress I fixed for her?" I said picking up the bag.

"Yea I guess but not half as good as you" Alex said.

"Aww so sweet I'm going to put this back in Griffon's room" I said. I gave him a small kiss. I walked out into the hallway and looked around to make sure Griffon wasn't around. The Megan came upstairs.

"Hey Meg where's your sister?" I asked.

"She went to take a walk with Thatch why?" Meg asked.

"Because I finished her dress and I don't want her to see it" I said.

"Wow! You work fast!" Meg said. "Can I see it?"

"Not right now Meg I'll show to you later" I said.

"Aww" Meg said disapointed.

"I just need you to look out while I put this away okay?" I said.

"Okay" Meg said.

I quickly went to Griffon's room and the garment bag in her closet...mission accomplished. Griffon was going to look amazing tomorrow night all thanks to me!

Griffon got a little mad at Megan when she got home. Only because Anxo had an accident on her favourite jacket, but she didn't bother wondering about who had fixed her dress.

"I thought you wanted to fix it yourself." I stated as we talked in Megan's room. We were taking her to Anya's house for a sleepover with her & Frida.

"I'm just happy they took good care of it. That dress is really important to me, & my mother loved it as well." She told me.

"Griffon, do you have everything set out for tomorrow?" Megan asked, standing up & handing her sister a notebook. "Here you go."

"Yes, I do. Thanks Meggie." Griffon answered. She stood up & took her hand. "Let's go, it's getting late."

"Wait. Put them on, Gigi." Megan ordered. I had no clue what she was talking about.

"I already did." Griffon informed.

I stood up & took Megan's bag. "I won't ask."

"It's better if you don't." The sisters answered together.

Thatch's POV
I waited in the living room with Alex & Marth for the girls. I would've been fine, but Col. Mustang kept giving us death glares. Mrs. Mustang was upstairs with the girls. I never could remember her rank.

"Don't let him intimidate you." Alex whispered.

"Too late." I told him. "I'm intimidated."

"Roy, could you come up here please?" Mrs. Mustang called.

The Colonel went up the stairs just as the girls came down. The twins were very flashy, but Griffon…Wow! Her dress fit like a glove, it was a very classy dress, like a few of the ones I saw at Aunt B's dress shop. She looked amazing in it.

"Well, how do we look?" The twins asked.

"Beautiful." Marth answered.

Griffon didn't say anything but walked over to me. Together we sighed & shook our heads. "Forever wanting the spotlight." We joked. Was it rehearsed? No, but we knew it was what we were going to do.

"Ya got that right." Aqua stated.

"What do you think of Griffon?" Flannery asked.

"She's gorgeous." I answered softly.

"Hey, do you know anything about the dress?" Aqua asked.

I walked around Griffon, looking at the dress from all sides. "It's very expensive. In its time, it would've only been worth a few hundred." I informed them. "But they don't make dresses like these anymore without specially ordering them. They're made to last decades, their colours don't fade easily. Nowadays, a dress like this would fetch about ten grand." Everyone stared at me. "What? My aunt Brier owns a dress shop, I work there on some of my days off at the hospital. I have to know this stuff. People sell her their old dresses to her all the time, so we have to know how to estimate prices."

"Whatever you say, sissy boy." Alex told me.

The Colonel & Mrs. Mustang came down the stairs. "Are we ready to go?" Mrs. Mustang wondered.

"Yes ma'am." Griffon answered, nodding her head.

"Well, let's go." We walked out & climbed into Alex's car.

Griffon stood at the door. "I'm going to ride with Uncle Roy. That way there's more room for you guys."

I grabbed her waist & pulled her onto my lap, fastening the seatbelt over her. "Not if I can help it." I called.

"Okay, fine. You win." She laughed, pulling the door closed. "Let's go."

Aqua's POV
I smirked as Marth escorted me in. I had the best dress ever. It was based off my favorite painting ever The Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh. I hand painted on of this short white dress Flannery gave me. It took me about two weeks because I did it by hand but it came out great. I put my hair in a side ponytail on my left shoulder with a crescent barette, a blue bracelet on my left wrist and my shoes with blue with a single opened toe that showed off my neon blue nail polish. As my sister and I walked in we got stares from everyone. We were known for our crazy outfits so it was really nothing out of the ordinary.

"Wow I can't everyone from the military's here" I said as I held on to Marth's arm.

"Yes they all stopped what they were doing to watch such a beautiful angel walk into the room" Marth said close to my ear

I quickly let out a happy blush "Marth Bennet you're just a big flatter" I said giggling slightly.

"I can't help myself" Marth said.

I wrapped my arm tightly around his again and started to giggle. I could feel my dad's glare on my back but I quickly ignored it.

We sat down at the table marked 'Colonel Mustang and Lieutenant Hawkeye' They always called her Hawkeye at work for some reason even though her last name was Mustang. There was a big fondue in the middle of the table which made mevery happy.

"How cool is that? They put a fondue pot here so we have something to eat while we wait for the food" Flannery said. I quickly picked a skewer and stated putting things on it.

"Aqua it's a fondue skewer not a shiskabob. You're only suppose to put one thing on it" Griffon said.

"Says you. You gotta be the free thinker Griff" I said sticking the skewer in the pot and swirling it. I slowly pulled it out and took a big bite. "Hmm cheesy" I said fluttering my eyelashes

"Aquanette are you sure you want to fill up before you start dancing?" Mommy said.

"Mom you can't expect me to dance on an empty stomach! I might fall over and pass out or something! Geez!" I said taking another bite. Everyone except Marth of course shook their heads but I was use to it.

For some reason, when Griffon caught sight of the Statelys, she stood up & excused herself. I had a bad feeling about her talking to them alone, but so did Thatch. He stood up & went after her.

Griffon's POV
I didn't want to, but I felt I had to. There were so many unanswered questions left.

"Hello, Mr. & Mrs. Stately." I said as I walked up to them. "I'm Griffon Heights, you know my uncle, Roy Mustang."

"Oh, yes. Weren't you Ulysses's daughter?" Mr. Stately wondered. I nodded. "I'm terribly sorry for your loss."

"Yes, well, so am I." I told him, a little confused by his words. My dad died a long time ago. I looked around to make sure we weren't at a funeral; no, we weren't. "I just wanted to ask you a few things."

"Fire away, young lady." Mr. Stately turned & told his wife to go ahead to their table. "What do you want to know?"

"Where Robin got those brass knuckles." I told him to begin with. "I'm sorry if this upsets you, but there are too many unanswered question to suit my curiosity."

"Well, you see. I never got rid of the brass knuckles I used to use a long time ago." He answered. "Tell you what, how about you wait 'til the end of the night. Enjoy tonight while it is young."

I headed back to the table, immediately running into Thatch, who lead me back to the table. "What was that about?" Uncle Roy asked.

"All I did was ask if I could talk to him about something & we agreed to talk later." I informed him. "No big deal."

I got really nervous after a little bit, reaching down to check my braces every five minutes. They were still in perfect condition. No need to worry, right? So why do I still feel nervous?

Food came, food went, most of my food went to Aqua. "Are you sure? You haven't been eating much lately." Auntie R told me, a little concerned.

"I'm fine. Small stomach is all. I never eat much, you know that." I insisted.

"If you insist." Aqua interrupted, taking my food.

"I think I need some fresh air." I said, standing up. "Excuse me."

I walked out & leaned against the wall. It would've been perfect, but I knew there was something missing about tonight.

"I know why you're so down." Someone whispered in my ear. I jumped away & turned around.

I smiled. "Thatch, what the hell? Are you trying to give me a heart attack or something?"

Thatch rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, but I know why you're feeling so blue. It's written on your face."

"What?" I asked him, leaning against the wall again. He stood next to me.

"It's the special events waiting at the end of the night." He informed me, as if I was a little girl.

I looked at him. "Huh?"

Thatch laughed softly. "The first: The father-daughter dance. The second: Your talk with Mr. Stately."

"How do you know about the Father-Daughter dance?" I wondered quietly.

"When Aunt B was just a few years older than us, her boyfriend invited her to the military ball with his parents & his little sister, who was also Aunt B's best friend." Thatch began. "Well, when the Father-Daughter dance came & went, her friend said it was the greatest thing to happen that night. Said it was even better than when her boyfriend proposed to her just a few minutes later." Thatch put his arm around me.

"What about Brier?" I wiped a few tears from my eyes.

"She married her boyfriend, had a little girl, & got to watch it happen all over again." Thatch told me. "What about you?"

I started crying quietly. "When I was real little, I always would dance around & took classes to make sure I would be ready when I finally got to go to the Military Ball. Freddie said he would dance with me all night, then papa promised me the last dance of the night." I hugged Thatch tightly, shaking. "That was just a few weeks before he left. And then he didn't come back for so long. When he finally did, it was to bury him."

I sank to the ground, even with the braces. "Shh. There, there." Thatch whispered, bending down next to me. "It's okay. I'm here for you."

I took a few minutes to cry & another to calm down. I really wanted to just stay out there & not worry about anyone or anything going on inside. Then Flannery ruined it by coming to check on us. "Hey, you guys have been out here for a while. Are you okay?"

I stood up & dried my face on the back of my hand. "Yeah. Just getting some air, like I said."

Thatch stood up, too. "No need to worry, Flannery." He assured her.

"Well, come on back in. It's time to dance." Flannery told us.

"Um, alright." I agreed. "Just let me check one thing." I lifted my dress skirt & adjusting the braces.

"What were those?" Thatch asked.

I chuckled, "Leg braces. Freddie sent them."

"Let's try them out. You've been waiting all these years, it's time you got to dance." Thatch insisted, taking my hand & kissing the back of it. "May I?"

"Of course. Let's go." I stated, starting back inside.