The Wants of the Few

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Author's note: I know that FMA's world probably doesn't have Christmas, but it just sounded so good I couldn't help it. Riza's maternal Grandfather is in the military. I think he's currently a general. I rewrote this chapter like 10 times, so I hope it turned out alright.

Sees summery for movie Ah! I need resolution! (If you're wondering what the heck I'm going on about and don't mind spoilers, email me)

Chapter 11 – Funny Little Surprises

With their masks securely back in place Roy drove her home. The masks suffocated any chance of conversation so both were silent. Finally, Roy forced a little dialogue. 'Anything is better than this silence…' "Hawkeye, we need to call Gracia and tell her what happened."

Riza nodded, her brain still on autosoldier. "You're right." After a moment she cautiously added, "While I call her, you can get some sleep in my room."

It was an unexpected offer, but something in Roy couldn't help but accept. "Sounds like a plan." He replied staring straight ahead. It was a strange feeling, but he was actually looking forward to getting back to her quarters. Something about this whole situation made him feel like he was playing house. A small smile played about his lips as he reminisced back to his dream…thoughts of her skin and her lips played out in his mind.

Riza could feel his shift in mood and found it contagious. She smiled slightly as well. She wouldn't have normally suggested he sleep at her house, much more, her bed, but logic put it as the only place for him. She'd originally thought that he'd drop her off and head home to get some sleep, but his house of three blocks away and he didn't have a car. Even if she were to let him take her car, he'd still have to come back to pick her up when they started the search again. Naturally her mind wandered to where he'd sleep if he stayed and she would have been more than happy to make him rest on the couch, but from the couch he'd be able to hear her phone call to Gracia and admitting she'd messed up wasn't something she wanted the Colonel to hear…even if he already knew the circumstances. So eventually, all that was left was her room. Of course the guest room was still open, but Riza couldn't help but feel strange about letting Roy take Elysia's place. Somehow, she felt that if she did that, it would be like admitting that they might not find her…and that wasn't something she wanted to think about.

Riza began to dread getting back home. 'What am I supposed to tell Gracia? Hi! It's nice to talk to you again…why am I calling you in the middle of the night? Oh, that's simple, because I lost your daughter and we have no idea where she is. Nice talking to you, I'll see you later!' Riza's spirits dropped with the thought. There wasn't a good way to tell her. 'There's no good way to tell someone that someone they love is gone…'

Roy pulled the car into the driveway and the two got out and made their way into the house. As they were coming up the walkway, Riza noticed a light was on in the bathroom, 'Did I leave that on?' she thought, confused. 'I don't think I've been in the bathroom for hours…'

Once inside Roy stood around uncomfortably as Riza put away her keys and took his coat and shoes. He waited for her to give him some sort of direction, but she didn't. It seemed as if she'd momentarily forgotten he was there. Roy studied to the room. There was a couch against one wall with a coffee table in front of it. Also in the room there was a fireplace and bookshelf. Off to his right was a hallway with what looked to be a bedroom at the end of it and a few doors off to the sides of it. The only thing that divided the living room area and the kitchen was a counter. As Riza busied herself with something in the kitchen, Roy observed how small her quarters were on the inside. 'Well…I suppose she doesn't really need a large house…its not like she has a family…' he thought sadly; he wanted desperately to remedy that. Roy took a deep breath and sighed. Something caught him off guard as he did so, 'mmm…' he thought, 'the house smells like lilies.'

The sigh got Hawkeye's attention and she remembered he didn't know his way around her house. "Sir, here…let me direct you to my bedroom." She said as she walked past him down the narrow hallway. He followed at a short distance and she walked into the room and turned on the light. The room wasn't what he'd expected at all. The rest of the house was fairly Spartan. White walls, tan carpets had covered the other rooms. This room however was painted a very light blue and had white lace curtains over the windows. As he looked closer he could see that tiny blue flowers were stitched into the lace. There wasn't much in the room, but he could tell this was where she spent her time. There were a few books and magazines in a basket next to the bed and even a little knitting sticking up out of the basket. 'Never thought Hawkeye could be so feminine.' Roy thought. Just being in her room made his body tingle. The smell of lilies enveloped him as he wandered his way into the room. Riza stood behind him, nervous. 'Why doesn't he say something?' she thought. She was a little afraid that he thought her room looked ridiculous. She often admitted to herself that to anyone else it probably did look silly. She'd only recently added more color to it a few weeks ago and Elysia had been the only one to see it so far. Roy continued to wander around the room and he came to a stop in front of something on her dresser. It was a snow globe with a ballerina inside. Roy squinted at the tiny dancer with fascination. "I would have never pegged you as a figurine collector." He said.

"I'm not." She said as she walked over to stand beside him. "When I was eight, my father got this snow globe and gave it to me for Christmas." She explained.

"It doesn't really seem like something you'd like." Roy observed.

Carefully she lifted it off the dresser and cradled it in her hands. "My mother used to dance ballet. It was in my blood, I loved it. Not only was it beautiful, but it required enormous self discipline."

"You sound like you speak from experience."

"I do." She replied. "When I was eight I wanted to be a professional ballet dancer just like my mother. I practiced every day. I loved feeling myself getting stronger, watching my moves get smoother…having my mother compliment me when I got something right…or hearing my father cheer me on when I put on little recitals for him. My mother, taught me everything she knew. We even had a mirrored room in our house and every afternoon I'd go there and my mother and I would practice at the bar until it was too dark to see. My father brought this back for me when he came back from one of his trips to the north. He made and sold guns and had to travel sometimes to get certain parts." Riza said. She was revealing so much to him, she desperately wanted to stop herself, but she couldn't. It was like a faucet had been turned on and she felt compelled to pour her heart out to him…she couldn't stop herself anymore. "I didn't spend much time with him when I was younger because the guns scared me. He was always trying to get me to let him teach me to shoot, but I was too afraid. I was soft spoken back then and I didn't like the noise. When he did go on his trips, he always brought me something. A doll from the south, a hair barrette from the east, a snow globe from the north." She said as she stared longingly at her little trinket.

"So, if you wanted to be a ballerina…why did you join the military?" Roy asked.

"This was the last thing he brought me." She said. She seemed to be in a trance. "He came home for Christmas and gave this to me. He was only able to stay one night but he wanted to make sure that his baby girl got something for Christmas. While he mainly sold his guns and rifles to the military, he did get some private collectors. One of his collectors in the East had called him and wanted to buy several of his new guns. He left Christmas morning before we were awake. He usually called when he had a chance, or sent us money, but when we didn't hear from him in a few days we called my grandfather and had him look into it. At the time he was working in the military's investigations department. He called us back later to tell us that my father had died in an accident. While my father was teaching the collector's son to shoot a rifle, the child didn't know the gun was loaded and accidentally shot my father. He was killed instantly.

"Hawkeye…I'm sorry." He said, he hadn't meant to bring up painful memories.

"It's all right." She said as she gently tipped the globe to the side and let the fake snow rustle around the dancer. "You asked why I never became a ballerina—why I decided to join the military instead. After my Grandfather found out about my father he came by to check on us. He found me in my father's shop sitting behind a crate of rifles. I didn't like sitting so close to the very things that killed him…but it was the closest I could be to my father. My grandfather had always known that I was uncomfortable around the guns, and he decided that it was time for that to end. He took me outside, loaded a rifle and began to shoot at a target. After a little while of watching, he let me try. I was a little scared at first…but after the first shot, I was hooked. It was like ballet…it was an exact. It required practice, hard work, self-discipline…everything I loved about ballet. While I was shooting I could forget everything else." Riza explained to him. She couldn't understand why she was telling Roy all this…it seemed so pointless. It wasn't something that he needed to know about her…as much as she didn't think he needed to know, something in her wanted him to know. Remembering her father made her heart ache, but somehow telling Mustang about it, it made her feel better. It was almost as if telling him was helping her carry the weight. "I guess I finally realized why my father loved it. The more I shot, the closer I felt to him. I was addicted.

Roy couldn't help but be fascinated. Her story was sad, but hearing her talk about shooting the gun for the first time…she sounded so passionate. Suddenly he realized why she so often went to the shooting range after a long day. She wanted to be close to someone she loved, doing something she loved. It was a whole other Hawkeye he was seeing tonight…

"My grandfather started coaching me and at the age of 10 I could put an entire clip into a target's bull's eye. By that time though, my mother couldn't keep the business afloat anymore because she didn't know enough about the equipment to be able to sale it properly. So she had to sell the shop, after it was sold…the only option I had left for my talents were in the military."

Roy didn't know what to say. He'd never thought to ask about her family. He'd always assumed that she didn't get along with them or something and that's why she never said anything. This was definitely unexpected. Roy swallowed audibly. "I'm so sorry Hawkeye." She looked so sad…he would have given anything to be able to take her in his arms and hold her…he wanted to hold her for all the times she had to face things like this alone…

"Its all right…I still have my memories…I still have my ballerina." She said as she finally looked him in the eyes. Tears scratched behind her eyes trying to escape, but she held them back. "Do you want to see her dance?" she asked with child like innocence in her voice. Roy didn't make a response but she went ahead anyway. Carefully she turned the globe over and turned a key on the bottom. She tenderly turned the trinket back over and watched as the snow fell around the ballerina. Suddenly music began to emanate from the globe's base and the dancer began to turn in a circle. The two watched the little ballerina as she danced to the slow rhythmic tune of "Hush Little Baby".

'It's funny,' he thought, 'how you think you can know someone, and then they surprise you like this.'

The ballerina finally wound down and stopped. The two stood in the silence for a moment and Riza turned to Roy, "Colonel, I'm going to call Gracia. Please, make yourself at home. I'll wake you in an hour and a half."

Roy's heart broke again, 'Damn, back to autosoldier.' Instead of voicing his annoyances, he only nodded. The two parted ways and Riza closed the door behind her. Roy studied her room some more as he unbuttoned the top of his uniform. The bed was queen size and he sat down as he started to unbutton his dress shirt. As he laid his dress shirt beside him on the bed the two frames on the bed side table caught his eye. Delicately he picked up the framed picture of the entire unit to study it. It was the same one that he had sitting on his desk at work. He smiled at the familiar portrait. At the bottom of the picture Roy recognized his Lieutenant's familiar handwriting. The words read, "My Family". Roy's eyes soften and his heart fell. 'Some family we are.' He thought sadly, 'No one really knows you Riza…we all wear our masks. Me, the shallow Colonel. You, the strict Lieutenant…and the rest, faithful subordinates ready to die for the cause. The men couldn't be more true…but you and I are still only actors trying to play our parts. Just faceless puppets reading the script of life. Hughes was the only one of us that could see us all for what we truly were…'

"There are some days I wish I wouldn't have told him to mind his own business…maybe if I hadn't, you'd have more than just your unit to call your family…" Roy said out loud to the Hawkeye in the portrait.

Roy gently replaced the photograph and picked up the one next to it. It was a bit of a surprise to him to find himself looking into his own face. It was a much younger version of himself, but it was him nonetheless.

Note: Okay, before you start whining and saying that she'd never have her room that color, or have lace curtains because she's not like that, I'd like to tell you to shut up. If you know the character well…and I have done my homework, then you'll know that not only can Hawkeye be girlie, but she's also described as a "romantic", believe it or not, she even reads romance novels. I made the room more feminine than most people would think because if you ever seen any art of her outside a uniform, or just her on her days off, she's always dressed feminine, most of the time wearing a skirt. It only makes sense that she'd spend a little time making her space reflect herself. If you're wondering why only her room is girlie it's because she just recently remodeled the room and she's going to do the whole house, but she hasn't had time. So don't complain to me that I'm changing her character to fit my little fantasies, cause I'm not…Roy's character on the other hand…feel free to bash it. I'm totally massacring his character. Sorry if I sound like a royal btch here, but I'm really pissed off because they removed one of my stories and it was really good. If you would like to read the story the removed, check out - http/ for her love of ballet, dancing requires a lot more discipline than most people realize. I just think it would be something that she'd like.