A/N: I'm kinda crest fallen at the moment. I had a major ego deflate since I didn't get as many reviews on the last chapter… Oh well the people that remain loyal to the story you guys are really appreciated.

Returning the Favor

She sat quietly with the book in her hands her dog sitting leisurely in her lap. Her eyes followed the page with her eyes as she turned it.

It was after hours and she was sitting on her couch with a book at hand. She was wearing a long sleeved black shirt and a rather bland (A/N: fish) pair of jeans. Her apartment was quiet; sometimes it got really lonely to live here all by herself. Unconsciously she reached up a hand to rub at a burning eye to realize she was crying. Sometimes she really did get that lonely.

She sat her book aside and rubbed her eyes with both hands. Black Hayate stared up at her with an almost questioning look in his little eyes. He loved Riza very much and hated it when she got like this. He laid his head on her knees urging her to find comfort in him.

Finally giving up she buried her eyes in both of her hands. Sometimes she got so lonely at night that she began to yearn for the familiar feeling of Edward's hair.

Yes she did have quite a soft spot for the boy, it had started out innocent enough, on her part merely thinking of it as a mother son sort of relationship, only she came to realize she really didn't feel that way at all. The past few days she had been sorting through her emotions to realize that she may think of him as more than just a friend.

Somehow her arms cradling her head had found their way to the armrest of her couch. She never sobbed. That was below her, making noise to ease pain was something she never dared to do.

Black Hayate jumped out of her lap to search the kitchen for food. So she was left alone at the moment. Her years had stopped and she was just lying there waiting for the aftershock of her pain to subside.

She looked up… morning? That was odd. While waiting she had actually fallen asleep. Her head hurt greatly and her vision was blurry.

She looked up at her clock, she was late for work, and she couldn't go like this.

She sat up and reached for the phone and dialed her work number. Mustang answered, she guessed it was a reason to stop working. "Sir, this is Hawkeye. I can't come in today I don't feel well," she said just as he was about to ask who it was.

She heard him sigh. "You know it won't look good on you to be out today," he explained. "I know I really don't feel well though, actually I can barely see at the moment," she explained. She could almost hear the gears in his brain ticking. "Alright but I expect you here tomorrow," he said. "Thank you sir."

With that she hang up her phone and collapsed on the couch. She feel asleep for a while before a knock on the door woke her up.

She stood up quickly and stumbled to the door opening it quickly.

To her surprise Edward stood outside her door slightly pink, from embarrassment or the walk up here she didn't know. "Fullmetal? What are you doing her… and how did you get my address?" she asked. His face turned a little darker. "Well the Colonel said you were sick… and as for the address I kinda… chocked it outta Havoc…," he explained looking pretty flushed.

She smiled before it hit her to let him in. She motioned for him to enter and he had to say her house was exactly what he had expected. Sharp, bland, and spotless. She drove him into the kitchen where she brewed them some tea.

Black Hayate jumped into his lap and curled up making Edward glare softly.

Riza smiled a bit as she sat a mug down in front of him. "Funny thing is… you don't look sick," Edward said studying her closely. She smirked. "I had a migraine when I woke up this morning," she explained sitting across from him.

He swirled his finger around the mouth of the mug trying to distract himself. "So Fullmetal, why did you come up here?" she asked crossing her hands below her chin. HE immediately turned red. "Well I um, just wanted to see how you were, and…" he trailed off swirling a few strands of his hair that she realized wasn't braided.

"Braid your hair," she stated. Amazingly he turned even darker red.

"Well, yeah…" he said looking at the floor.

She smiled gently and motioned for him to stand up.

She moved to stand behind him and began to run her hands through his hair. He relaxed into the familiar feeling of her hands running through his hair.

She divided his hair into three separate sections and began to comb them individually.

Edward sighed. A warm feeling pitted in his stomach when he thought about her. That was odd. He was pretty familiar with this by now but had he felt this way before? Or was he just ignoring it?

Sharp tugs on his hair signaled that she had began to weave his hair. One sharp tug after the other. Over and under… over and under, had he always been this aware of her motions? He didn't think he had ever really paid attention.

She snapped the braid into place with the elastic band. "There," she said smiling slightly. He didn't know what took over him… but Edward suddenly pushed Riza to sit down in the chair and stared at her: an unasked question.

She looked at him slightly surprised, before she nodded. He began to clumsily thread his fingers through her messy hair. A few times he felt her wince. Her hair was a mess… yet, it was so soft... He soon realized he had been combing the same spot.

He moved on. Her hair was much longer than his… this would take some time.

He continued to manipulate her hair until he felt satisfied that it was combed enough to braid. Of course he had never done this before… but if he could mimic her motions right, it may not look too bad.

He separated her hair into three sections like she did with him. Then he began to thread his fingers into each individual part. She winced again and he stopped. "You alright?" he asked not bothering to move his hands. She nodded a little as not to mess up his progress.

He soon finished with combing her hair and then with shaky hands he began to weave the silky golden tresses. He started over twice before he got the hang of it. And even then his technique was clumsy and forced.

He tapped her on the shoulder. Her shoulders seemed to lose some stress as she reached back and handed him a hair tie. He snapped the tie into place and stood back. All in all it wasn't a bad attempt, nor was it a good one… but it could have been worse.

She smiled as she turned to face him. "Thank you Fullmetal," she said smiling gently.

He shrugged his face tinged pink. "Just returning the favor," he said. She suddenly leaned down so that she was equal to his height. Her face was unnaturally close to his… but he didn't want to pull away.

"You're getting taller," she said suddenly. He felt pride swell within him. "Really?" he asked sounding desperate. She laughed gently and nodded pulling away. Edward immediately noted the lack of warmth. "Thanks for thinking of me Fullmetal," she said. But her smile faded when she noticed he was scowling.

"Fullme…"

"Please don't call me that," he said anger and discontent welling inside him. She stared at him for a moment. "Alright then Edward," she said surprising him.

Strangely he felt a smile stretch his features. "Thank you," he said referring to the braiding and her calling him by his real name. He felt warmth pit in his stomach and he looked down feeling rather uncomfortable with the situation.

Normally he didn't feel so giddy around women. So what is it about this situation that is driving him insane? He looked up at her as she situated herself back in her seat and began to drink her cold tea.

She sighed. Tea wasn't really all that good when it was cold… "Edward…" she stopped there, what was she supposed to say? He looked up at her with eyes that were begging her to say something… but she just looked down.

How he could make her go from an upstanding well disciplined woman, to a mass of jelly so quickly. He was actually thinking along the same lines at the moment.

Silently she stood up and poured the cold tea into the sink. She set the mugs on the counter to be washed later. "Why were you at HQ today?" Riza asked. Edward was thankful for the break in the momentary silence. "I actually came up to chew out the Colonel for burning my report the other day, found out you weren't at work, freaked out, came up here…" he wanted to slap himself.

"You were worried about me?" she asked sounding mildly surprised. He nodded almost nervously and began to fiddle his thumbs.

"I'm very flattered Edward, thank you," she said smiling beautifully. He shifted his feet uncomfortably that smile was something he was willing to die for.

"Well I best be going actually, Al will be wondering where I am," Edward said. She nodded the smile never fading. She got up from the chair and walked to the door.

As she opened the door, something in Edward finally cracked. "I'll see you later Edward," she said standing back to let him out, but he stayed in place.

Looking concerned she walked up to him. "Edward… are you alright?" she asked placing a hand on his forehead. He looked up at her and nodded. She removed her hand and motioned to the door. But he still remained rooted to the spot. "Edwar…" but before she could even finish his name he grabbed her crushing her form against his and kissed her madly.

A/N: Pathetic ain't it! Fourth chapter... FOURTH CHAPTER AND THEY HAVE ALREADY KISSED!