A tearful goodbye with Mom and Dad and Uncle Alphonse and a more rested Aunt Mei would always be the hardest part about leaving home. But seing Xiao-Mei snuggled up with Mirielle in her cradle was a precious note to leave on. Maes and I needed to get back to Central anyway. It had almost been a month since we were last there. It was nothing short of a miracle that we didn't have anyone from the military up our asses yet.

But of course, as soon as we got into Central, Maes and I hightailed it to Headquarters to check in. Even though we had learned our lesson from Ishval. It could've been a whole hell of a lot worse, though. The reoccurring nightmare of Aunt Riza finding out and kicking my ass sideways, for one. But that was usually followed by Maes settling me down, assuring me that her hand to hand sucks something awful. That wasn't very surprising. Aunt Riza was a sniper. She'd never be on the ground.

"Hey, guys!" Havoc was our welcoming committee, "Welcome home."

"Thanks, Havoc," I squeaked, "Does this count as us checking in? Can we go now?"

"You two are supposed to go check in with the Brigadier General," he directed us, "Besides, I'm sure she'd love to see you anyway. She's in her office."

"Yes, sir," Maes and I headed up the stairs and toward Aunt Riza's office.

"Knock, knock," I chimed, "Hi, Aunt Riza."

"Hello, Tricia," she smiled, "You did bring my baby back, too, didn't you?"

"Hi, Mom," Maes rolled his eyes.

"Welcome back," Aunt Riza went back to work, "What's the occasion you're back in town again? I thought Winry owned you two."

"She did," I confirmed, "But the job's all done. We got all of our parts done. She still needs to get a new welder."

"In that case," she suggested, "Go down to the treasury department, have them take some money out of your research grants, and send her a new welder."

"But she's got us," I shrugged, "And it's an excuse to go home. Besides, as of yesterday, the Elric family has expanded by one."

"Al and Mei had their baby?" Aunt Riza assumed.

"Mirielle," I nodded, "And Maes helped deliver her."

"Maes?" she gasped, looking at her son in sheer disbelief, "Some other Maes?"

"No," I beamed, "We're very proud."

"You delivered a baby?" Aunt Riza was still skeptical, "Maes, you're one of the most squeamish people I've ever met in my entire life and I still have to kill Kain's spiders for him."

"I really did," Maes clarified, "I got over my squeamishness on an island in the middle of a lake in Dublith."

"So, how's Mei?" she brought the conversation back.

"She's good," I told, "Tired, but she'll pull through."

"And Al?"

"Him, too."

"Good!" she chimed, "Next time you see either one of them, tell them I wish them all the best and there's a fruit basket in the mail."

"Hey, Mom?" Maes stepped in, "Is Dad in his office?"

"That's where I left him," she said, "Why?"

"Well," he wrung his hands, "I thought that since Tricia and I are back in Central and that doesn't happen too often anymore, you think we could come home for dinner?"

"Of course," Aunt Riza nodded, "You don't have to ask about that, Maes. You should know better. Now, go see your father. Spread the good news."

"Yes, sir," we both bowed out and ran off to the Fuhrer's office. All this running around Headquarters was getting exhausting.

Maes pushed the doors open like he owned the place, "Hi, Dad."

"You couldn't have bothered to knock?" Uncle Roy jabbed, "What if it were just your mother and me in here? Both you and Tricia would've been scarred and we don't have it in the budget to pay for therapy."

"If I can see Mei Chang-Elric give birth," Maes sat down, "I can handle just about anything."

"Al and Mei had their baby?" he perked up a little, "Congratulations, Tricia. You have your first cousin."

"Never thought I'd have any cousins, to tell you the truth," I smiled, "Dark hair, gold eyes, cute as can be."

"Of course," Uncle Roy said, "You two couldn't have come at a better time. The new leader of Drachma is coming today and he should be here any minute."

"Joy," Maes groaned, "Hello, traumatic childhood."

"New leader, Maes," he scolded, "And yes. You had such a horrible childhood with a silver spoon in your mouth and cutting your teeth on diamond. You weren't in and out of foster homes like a revolving door. Don't give me that traumatic childhood crap."

"If you really want a traumatic childhood," I sat with Maes, "I suggest having a little talk with my mom, because my dad still had nightmares to this day about it. He was only fifteen when the Promised Day happened. And he lost his arm and his leg when he was eleven. Not to mention Uncle Alphonse, too. Don't mean to one-up you, Uncle Roy, but I'm pretty sure Dad had it worse."

"Oh, he did," he shivered, "I saw that aftermath. I saw all the blood in the house. The hollow suit of armor. The little boy with the fire in his eyes. Not for the fainthearted. That's for sure. As stupid as his mistake was, I had nothing but the utmost respect for your father on that day."

"And then, he ends up saving the world," I chuckled a bit.

"Sir," a knock echoed at the door.

"What is it, Breda?" Uncle Roy asked.

"The new leader of Drachma is here."

"Let him in," he ordered.

"Yes, sir."

A large man with such a commanding presence walked into Uncle Roy's office, extending his hand to him, "Fuhrer Mustang, I presume."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Prime Minister Morales," he greeted him. I had never seen Uncle Roy deal with foreign dignitaries on such a formal level before. I mean, I had seen him and Ling do dealings, but then again, Maes and I were those dealings, "Can I get you anything?"

"Is this your secretary?" he looked over at me, "Cute little thing, isn't she? I'll take a black coffee, two sugars. Thank you, sweetheart."

I did all I could to keep myself from choking this guy here and now, not caring about the political repercussions of it. He had it coming, "Excuse me?"

"Isn't that your job?" Prime Minister Morales assumed.

"Tricia," Uncle Roy settled me, noticing the bright blue vein sticking out of my forehead. And I had every right to be that way, "Prime Minister, please allow me to introduce my two best State Alchemists, Maes Mustang, the Phoenix, and the Titanium Alchemist, Lieutenant Colonel Tricia Elric."

"Not his secretary," I growled.

"It's nice to meet you, Prime Minister," Maes kept a hold on the leash, speaking for both of us.

"Forgive me, Lieutenant Colonel Elric," he apologized. Not happening, buddy. You made an enemy today, "Elric...You wouldn't happen to be any relation to Edward Elric, would you?"

"He's my father, sir," I swallowed my pride, still wanting to spit on his shoes.

"And there was your in," Morales figured, turning his attention to Maes, "And yours is pretty obvious. There's no mistaking who your father is."

"Neither one of them had an in," Uncle Roy defended us, "They earned their positions. They got certified on their own merit. I wouldn't have given them my seal of approval if I didn't think they couldn't handle it. And I couldn't be prouder. Now, you're both dismissed. We'll continue this later."

"Yes, sir," Maes took me out before I could tear this guy's heart out of his chest and show it to him still beating while watching the life drain from his eyes.

"What a dick!" I screeched as soon as we were out of the building, "I don't care who he is or who he thinks he is. He had no right to talk to me that way! Two of our generals are women and he thinks I'm a damn secretary? I'm one of the best State Alchemists in Amestrian history and I'm demoted to a secretary! Can you believe him? Sexist pig..."

"Tricia," Maes wrapped his arms around me, "You need to go somewhere and destress. It'd take way too long to get to Xing, so I'm going to take you to the next best place."

"Library?"

"Unless you'd rather we go somewhere else."

"I can think of somewhere that jackass can go," I grumbled to myself.

"It's done, Halfmetal," he held me a little tighter, "It's over with."

"It still pisses me off to no end."

"But it's done," Maes covered my eyes, "Relax."

He took my hand and we walked over to the library. The sweet smell of leather and old paper and parchment was overwhelming, but there was nothing else in the world like it. Absolutely intoxicating. And immediately, it got me to settle down. I'm sure Maes would've told me that it was because of some childhood thing and being in my dad's study when I was first learning alchemy to gain his approval or some hooey like that.

Instead, I decided to drown myself in the comfort of books and research. And I loved it. This library really had become a second home to me. While Maes and I were confined to the walls of Central, it was nothing for us to spend twelve to eighteen hours in this building, expanding our knowledge. I'm almost surprised we never hid in here after it closed for the day and spent a night in here. I'm sure Sheska wouldn't have minded at all.

"Hey, Tricia," Maes took a leather bound journal out of my hand, "Can I show you something?"

"What is it, Maes?" I took it back, "It was getting good!"

"This is better," he promised, kissing my cheek, "How about I show you the restricted section?"

"Ooh," I chimed, "Maes Mustang, you know how to charm your way into a girl's heart, don't you?"

"I try."

"So much back there," I sighed dreamily, "Accounts of the Promised Day, Ishval, Xerxes…I'm swooning."

"Hey, Sheska," Maes called out, "Can you do me a favor?"

"Sure, Maes," she obliged, "What is it?"

"I need the keys to the restricted section," he demanded, "And I want you to make sure no one else goes back there."

"Do you have authorization to go into the restricted section?" Sheska drilled him.

"Have you just met me?" Maes teased, "Do you not know who my father is? I'm pretty sure I have access to the restricted section."

"And what about Tricia?" she pointed out, "I'm almost positive she doesn't have that kind of clearance."

"She's my plus one," he took the keys, "Not a soul, got it?"

"Ok," Sheska shook in her shoes as Maes unlocked the door to the restricted section. Oh yeah. I wanted to spend a good, solid month in here. I'm pretty sure Grandpa Hohenheim wrote the entire collection on Xerxes. Unless those texts were found in the ruins, but I doubt it. When we had someone who was actually there when Xerxes was wiped off the map, who needs any of the texts found in the ruins?

"Tricia," Maes pulled me down to the floor, "You do know why I brought you into the restricted section, right?"

"Because I've been wanting to go to the restricted section since I first stepped foot in this place?" I figured.

Maes pulled my face closer to his, kissing me deeply, "Not exactly."

"Maes…" I was thoroughly confused, "What are we doing?"

His lips moved from my mouth to my cheek to my neck, "Making up for the last time we were here. For my dad being in our hotel room. For you breaking your hand. Is that ok with you?"

"Um…" I didn't know what to say. I knew exactly what Maes was trying to get at, but I wasn't a hundred percent sure if this was the time and place for it.

"It's quiet," he held me in his lap, "It's secluded. It's just you and me. No one else is going to be back here."

"It's just that…" I felt the heat in my face. Good thing it's dark back here, "Maes, I've never done this before."

"That's why I'm not going to pressure you," he assured, "If you don't want to do this, I understand."

"But I do," my impulses took over.

"What?"

"Shut up and kiss me some more."

Maes pinned me down on the floor with my hands over my head and a dirty little smirk on his face, "Is that an order, Colonel?"

"That's an order, Phoenix," I mirrored him.

"Yes, ma'am," he gave me a half salute like he always did and followed orders.

And that is the story of how Maes Mustang took my horrible day and turned it into me losing my virginity in the one place in Central I held most sacred. Some people had church. I had the Central library. Although, I'm pretty sure Maes made me see God a time or two…

A/N: So, a few updates ago (about ten of them), I had a formal smut request. Well, I didn't want to completely turn this story to smut. I save that for Black Butler (and soon enough, Dramatical Murder). But I like the thought of Maes making Tricia feel better after her day had completely turn to shit because of the Prime Minister of Drachma being a sexist douche. I like this chapter. Good for me. Four for you, Lumi. You go, Lumi. AND IN THE CENTRAL LIBRARY OF ALL PLACES! It's a weird fantasy of mine, but it is the restricted section…And I know I said I'd be ending it this week, but I LIED! HA, HA! YOU WERE FOOLED! I'm going to end it next week, but there's going to be an epilogue after that, so in TWO WEEKS, we'll be putting this one to bed. Maybe. I don't know. I'm supposed to be making a trip back to see the family in Michigan sometime next month. I'm not exactly sure when that is, but I'll be sure to keep you posted. See you next chapter! xx