Dedicated to my best friend Diana Cummiskey: a freak among freaks.

Also dedicated to Bloodline: He's cooler than you all.

Roy couldn't get that night out of his head. He knocked on it with his knuckles, but that only hurt. He knew it was Starrla's fault, and it was an accident. But he just couldn't shake that guilty feeling off. It even followed him into his dreams, which freaked him out, because who knew feelings could follow you into la-la land?

He sat down on a bench, staring at the sky. He was in Central Park, a small preserved land where rangers let the animals run around freely. There was also a trail for people to follow, which wound deep back into the woods. Everybody at work thought it was a 'Roy and Riza special day,' because Riza was sick and had to stay home. Roy suspected food poisoning from the club. No further comments.

He sighed and drummed his fingers on the armrest. The soft ding of metal fluttered into his ears as he did so. There was one point when he thought he heard something, but thought nothing of it. Where would one hear a noise like that in the middle of the forest?

Roy adjusted his eye patch. He shifted his feet. He sighed and threw rocks into a puddle. But nothing would take his mind off the annoying feeling of sheer guilt. It was just a kiss, he told himself repeated. Just a kiss. Friends kiss their friends all the time when they're married, at parties and such. This is no different.

What he hated was the fluttery feeling in his chest when Starrla made her mistake. It felt just like it did whenever he kissed a woman, when he was younger and still colonel, that is, before he was married to the woman he loved the most. He leaned back so far that his head banged against the back of the bench. It was a pretty tall bench, you know.

There it was again, and it WASN'T his imagination. The same noise! What was it? A drum of some sort? No. It was too soft, too controlled. Was it on a small CD player? Roy stood up. Hmm… It sounded like a song Riza played a lot when she was cooking, or reading. Yes. His wife played music while she was reading. But no time to discuss it now.

Slinking off the trail into the rough forest, Roy tried hard not to snag his coat on the trees and thorns. The sound was getting louder, and was accompanied by a voice. But not just a voice. A familiar voice.

"On that day you left, I just waved good bye as usual

As if we were to meet again in this city…"

The melody was soft and sad. The voice was so familiar it hurt his head to try and guess who it was. Roy shivered at the sad words and nimbly skipped over the brush to where he thought the sound originated.

"To believe in love is to not lose to myself

Until my wish comes true, I'll remain with a smile

And look at the stars, praying, and will be here…"

Of course! He snapped his fingers without thinking. Luckily, his gloves were in his pocket and not on his hands. The song was called "Motherland", and a new artist called "Crystal Kay" wrote it. And she had a wonderful voice, if he did say so himself. But why would Crystal Kay be out in the woods?

Stupid Roy. It was someone else. There was a slight difference in the tone of Crystal Kay and whoever was singing this. However, Roy still didn't recognize the voice. You know when you put down a pen and the next minute you forget where you put it? Well, that's how Roy felt about the voice.

"I want to be the sky for you

Even enveloping all of your pains

Whenever I look up, I want to feel

That I'm not alone even if I'm far away

Let there be a place I can return to…"

Finally emerging in the clearing, Roy saw who it was: Starrla Manson Elric. He slipped back behind a tree, poking his head around just enough so his single eye could see perfectly.

Starrla was dressed in a simple orange leotard and black tights. There was a small CD player (A/N: I don't care what year it is. I WANT CDS! LET THERE BE CDS!) sitting at the base of a tree, snug between two roots, blaring out the music to "Motherland." Starrla spun around gracefully, singing in secure tune with the music, hitting the words exactly. Her eyes were closed with quiet bliss.

Roy turned his eyes away. A voice in the back of his mind was just exploding with words of description about the woman leaping around in the clearing, but he shoved it away. He was married now, and the only person who could say otherwise was Riza.

But something caught his eye. Starrla's leotard, which was carelessly shrugged off one shoulder, revealed the tattoo of a star on her shoulder. It was outlined in black and was orange-gold in color, so bold it looked brand new. He began to stare. He didn't see that when he admitted her into the military! And what was she doing out of work anyway?

"I'm still living happily in this city without you

Because I feel that that's the one thing I can do now…"

Her words stopped abruptly. She spun around and spotted Roy, who was now leaning against the tree, a blank look on his face. Starrla blinked, blushed, and saluted. "Fuhrer, sir, I…"

"I didn't know you could dance, Colonel."

"I…"

"What excuse did you use to get out of work, anyway?"

Starrla shuddered. Would she get fired for this?

"Uh… My grandmother is sick… I'm scheduled to be out of work all week." Starrla sank back against a tree. "I'm fired, huh." Starrla stared at her feet, and a small bug crawling along her toes. She was going to get the boot for this…

She glanced up as a shadow was cast over her. The Fuhrer—Roy Mustang, her superior—knelt down in front of her. "Could I just talk to you for a minute?"

Her heart fluttered, and she hated the feeling. She burned the image of Edward into her mind to kill it off, but it remained like the feeling of rancid sushi in her stomach. "S…Sure… Sir…"

"Do you remember last night, when… You know…"

Starrla shivered. What was her superior getting at? "…Yes… What about it?"

"Did you feel…"

Starrla choked, and thought of the best strategy to get out of this; Lie blindly with a straight face with no guilt or remorse. "No! No, of course not, sir. You're married, and I'm engaged. I'm not the type of woman to have an affair."

"And I'm not the type of man." Roy said hastily. Starrla was the worst liar in the military, and he knew it all too well. "But I did feel something. It kind of… You know…" He hooked his thumbs together and fluttered his fingers to indicate a butterfly.

"I know. I'm sorry. That was a lie. I felt… I felt even happier than when I kiss Edward. Last night I couldn't sleep because it was driving me insane." Starrla looked into her superior's eye. "I'm sure you felt the same way, sir."

Roy's heart pounded. He cursed himself for even BEGINNING to think about an affair. "…Yes. I just want to confirm that it was all a mistake…"

He watched as Starrla's face fell. "Something tells me something his horribly wrong…"

"It… Wasn't a mistake. Edward left for Resembool a week ago. In the back of my mind, I knew it wasn't him, but part of me just believed it was."

Roy didn't know what to say. He was utterly speechless. If this had been someone else, Roy would have fired her on the spot, but something kept the words 'You're fired' from coming out. But wait…

"I saw Edward just two days ago!"

Starrla stared at him. For a while. "Edward left a week ago. I remember, I saw him get on the train. It must have been someone else."

"No! Edward was the one who gave me the ticket to Club Orange because he couldn't go."

"So you WERE there!" She blinked. "I thought it was just the light. I didn't think Fuhrer Roy Mustang would show up at my concert."

"Well, I, um, Edward looked all desperate, and… I sorta just took the ticket for him… Old friends, y'know, I guess since Edward joined the military when he was twelve."

"Ah…" Starrla smiled. "Well, thank you, sir. I'm so glad I'm not fired..."

She stared blankly when a piece of paper was shoved into her face. Once she read it, she twitched and said crossly, "You're giving me… Detention?"

Roy's face was all smiles. It annoyed Starrla to no end.

"Yup! For skipping work! You'll have two weeks of cleaning my house. Give's the maid some time off, and saves me one hundred dollars a month. Now, you'd better hurry up and get your uniform on and get to work, or I'll extend your detention time!"

He stood up and lifted a hand in acknowledgement. "Just think of it as an extra non-paying job!"

Starrla stood up and grabbed her CD player and Roy jumped out of the clearing, leaping over the thorns. He felt so happy; the feeling of guilt was gone.

But what will happen in the days to come when Starrla cleans his house?