I'm feeling kinda blah right now, so I hope this chapter is okay. Thank you to all the people who reviewed! It made me so happy:D

Colonel Mustang sat at his desk, impatiently tapping his fingers on his desk as he finished the last of his paperwork. The whole office was empty and dark, the only visible light was that of the streetlamp outside shinning through his office window. Instead of doing his paper work as he was supposed to however, Roy was busy thinking of his conversation with Hughes a few hours back.

"You should have seen her Roy," Hughes cooed as he held up a picture of his young daughter in her swimsuit last summer, " She was just the cutest thing ever!" he squirmed as he cuddled with the photograph. Roy had sighed and rolled his eyes, not that he didn't enjoy being with his friend, but the pictures were a pain in the butt to deal with.

"Daddy! Daddy!" Hughes young daughter Elysia came running up to the two men, " Guess what!" her young face was bright with excitement as she spoke.

"Hughes has point," Roy caught himself thinking, " She is a cute little kid."

"What?" Hughes leaned over so he was at eye level with her.

She grinned from ear to ear as she spoke, "Mommy and I just finished the cookies for Santa!"

"Really!" Hughes scooped her up into his arms, " Is that so? Do you think he'll like 'em?" he patted her head affectionately.

Elysia jumped out of her father's lap, "Yeah!" she squealed in pure, childish delight.

"So Elysia, what do you want for Christmas?" Roy bent down now to speak with her.

" A puppy!" She said, responding right away to his question, " What do you want!"

Roy stopped and thought a moment… what did he want? " I don't know," He finally confessed, " I guess I'll just have to see what Santa brings me."

Now back in his office, Roy pondered the innocent question once more. What did he want for Christmas?

"Just let me know when you're done, okay?" Riza called into the steamy bathroom where Lindsey was bathing.

"Okay." Came the faint yet assuring reply. As soon as they had gotten to the house, Riza had started the water in the tub for the dirt covered little girl. While the young girl bathed, Riza rummaged through her cabinets to find something nice and warm to eat for dinner. She had just started a pot of chicken noodle soup, when a soft voice called from the bathroom:

"I'm done."

Riza turned down the burner and walked back to the small bathroom to retrieve the girl. On her way past the linen closet, Riza made sure to grab the fluffiest towel she could find before entering the warm, humid bathroom. Lindsey was standing on the bathmat, as naked as the day she was born waiting for a towel to dry herself off with. Careful to avert her eyes as best she could, Riza bent down and wrapped the girl in the towel. Even though the soft, white towel was of a regular size, it still managed to touch the floor while being wrapped around her tiny shoulders.

"Now," Riza said, her voice echoing in the small room, "You wait here while I see what I can find for you to wear."

It had been such a long time since she had been a child, Riza really didn't have any clothing that would possibly fit the girl. She dug through the drawers of her cherry wood dresser, pulling out almost all of her clothing before giving up. Next, she tore into her closet with similar results. She slammed the closet door with a bang, and had planned to walk away, when a crashing sound from with the closet stopped her. Carefully, Riza pulled the door open once more hoping that nothing fell out as a result from the crashing a moment ago. Much to her relief, it was only a single cardboard box that had fallen; spewing its various contents around on the floor of the closet. Riza slapped her forehead: of course! This was the box of childhood things her mother had sent a few months ago.. how could she forget so soon! Several photo albums now lay open on the floor sporting pictures of Riza's childhood and family, an fair assortment of dolls were scattered about as well; each one a bit different than the next. One was a giraffe in a sailors suit of pale pink, another an elephant the color of Sunflowers, and finally a snow-white bunny dressed in a velvet red dress with white fur trim. Still stuffed into the bottom of the box however were a few items of clothing: some so hideous Riza couldn't even imagine having worn them such as the pink shirt leather vest combo. Digging deep into the pile of clothes in the box, Riza finally withdrew a small plaid dress with overall like straps and a pair of white tights. It wasn't the greatest outfit ever, but it would have to do.

"Sorry it too me so long! I had to find something small enough for you!" Riza smiled as she stepped back into the cooling bathroom. Not surprisingly Lindsey hadn't moved from where she had been before the frantic clothing search. Riza set the outfit on a dry spot on the counter and stepped out of the room.

"Just come into the kitchen when you're all dressed." She closed the door behind her with a soft click as she stepped back out into the carpeted hallway. Leaving the girl to dress, Riza walked back into the kitchen just in time to save her soup; which was on the brink of boiling over. By the time Lindsey walked into the kitchen, the soup had been poured into two bowls and saltines laid out on a plate between the two.

"You ready for some din…" she trailed off as she caught sight of Lindsey, the straps of the dress each buttoned to the opposite side. Riza tried not to laugh, as she kneeled down to fix the straps. When all the clothing issues had been resolved, the two sat down to their meal of soup and crackers.

"Riza," Lindsey looked up from the broth, " Do you believe in magic?" the question was so innocent, yet so.. unexpected that it caught Riza off guard.

"Well, what kind of magic?" Even the able minded first lieutenant was slightly stumped as to what to say. If she said no, she might discourage the girl, but if she said yes she would have to back it up some how.

" I dunno, Christmas magic.." she looked back down sheepishly into the soup as if it would hide her from the rest of the world. No time like the present for honesty, Riza took a deep breath and replied, " I don't know, I guess so. It's hard to say."

" I believe," For the second time she looked up, this time with a new look of boldness showing through. Not sure about how to respond, Riza just changed the subject,

" So.. Lindsey, what do you want for Christmas?" she realized the error in asking the question as soon as it came out of her mouth: she didn't have anything for the girl.

" I don't know," her new found boldness seemed to melt, " I've never gotten anything before."

"You've never gotten anything… ever?" Riza asked in astonishment, as Lindsey shook her small, blond head.

"Oh" was all Riza said out loud, but in her head she thought " We're going to have to fix this."

Okay, there it was.. I hope it wasn't too bad! Happy Holidays everybody!