In no way, shape or form do I take credit for creation or ownership of the Hagane no Renkinjutsushi (Fullmetal Alchemist) series. The original manga is the property of Hiromu Arakawa and the anime is the property of Bones animation studio.

Roy looked around his borrowed room and frowned. He really should find somewhere else to stay, but Gracia had assured him that it was no problem to stay in their guest room and space was one thing not in abundance in Central at the moment. His official transfer was still going through the system at the moment, and he had yet to receive word of when his belongings would arrive from the north. In the meantime, that left him with no way of furnishing an apartment, and thusly he was staying with his best friend's widow.

Gracia and Elysia had moved to this house shortly after he received his injuries two years ago and in the time since, had become quite friendly with Riza, according to Gracia. It seemed that their close living proximity had led to Riza spending more and more time with the Hughes women, as they lived only a ten minute walk away from her apartment.

The thought of them becoming better friends warmed his heart; Riza's presence would have helped ease the pain of losing Maes; she'd certainly had enough practice on him in the days and weeks following the funeral. She had been a valuable crutch for him after his best friend had been murdered; looking after him as he tried to drink himself into oblivion and simply letting him know that she was watching over him still. Even then, he'd recognized through his self-destructive haze of bitterness and alcohol that he'd have been truly lost without her. Gracia was lucky to have Riza befriend her and open up to her as a person, fortunate to have her help fill the void her husband had left and give assistance in raising Elysia as she grew older.

Elysia, who was actually his and Riza's goddaughter thanks to Maes's insistence, had grown like a weed since he'd left and was becoming as talkative and lively as her father had been, keeping him and her mother entertained all through dinner that evening before he'd excused himself to start getting ready for bed. His lack of sleep the night before had finally caught up with him, and he was about to pass out on his feet.

Roy was toweling dry his hair after his shower when a knock came at the door. Glancing down to make sure his night clothes were on straight, he called out "Come on in," and continued drying his hair.

"I was just wondering how you were doing," Gracia said softly as she entered the room. "You seemed subdued at dinner. Even Elysia noticed."

"I'm just tired. You know I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, and of course, I had to stay late today finishing the paperwork that absolutely had to be ready for tomorrow that I didn't get done in time. No real surprise there, huh?"

Chuckling, Gracia leaned against the doorframe. "I'm sure you had help this evening, so it couldn't have been all bad."

"Hm?"

The smile Gracia sent him was exactly the one Maes wore when he was about to heckle Roy, and he couldn't tell if he should fear it as he usually did, or just be touched that his friend was still around in so many little ways. "What? Did you think that I didn't know that Riza always keeps you company and helps out when you have to work late? Maes and I always suspected that was at least half of the reason that you didn't work during the day, so that you could have time with her all to yourself in the evenings."

"It didn't really start out that way," Roy protested weakly, running his fingers through his damp hair. "I do have to admit though; it's always been a plus. It became about the only way I could safely get time alone with her without putting our careers in danger."

Sighing, Gracia shook her head at him and gathered up the wet towels that Roy had left heaped on the floor. "Honestly, Roy, forget the stupid military. When are you going to just get it over with and tell that woman that you love her?" She looked at him imploringly. He could almost tangibly see the ghost of his best friend in her gaze as she stared him down, and he could feel the color drain from his face as she so bluntly stated his feelings that for so long had been too abstract for him to put to words. "The entire time I've known you, Maes was trying to get you to admit to her that you needed to be with her, hasn't it been long enough?"

Rubbing unconsciously at the scars running over the left side of his face, Roy stared at Gracia for a few long moments before answering. "Hawkeye already knows that I need her-"

"Then tell her that you love her! Knowing that you need her as your subordinate and bodyguard isn't good enough!" Gracia suddenly yelled at him, cutting Roy off. "Riza's more than a warm body that keeps you from getting shot and a set of guns! You know it and I know it, but she needs to know it too."

Roy was shocked, and it was evident on his face as he gaped at Gracia. He'd only heard her raise her voice maybe one or two other times in his life and here she was, yelling at him and lecturing him like she was his mother. With a painful twinge in his gut, he noticed that she was absentmindedly twisting her wedding band around her finger as she spoke.

Settling back down, Gracia spoke again, this time at a quieter level. "I know you Roy, and I know you've never told her in words what she truly means to you. Too often, the pair of you communicates wordlessly, just assuming that everything you're trying to say gets across. Most of the time, you both are in perfect sync and total understanding, but this one… I don't think this one came through all the way. You need to tell her, either in actions or words. Don't make her have to assume it on her own. Stop staying silent, and stop letting the military force you into pretending you don't care.

"Roy, Maes and I have always wanted you to be happy, and you're just making yourself miserable by pushing her away. Yes, he was eccentric at times, but I loved Maes with all my heart and sharing my life completely with him, for the time that we had, was the most satisfying and wonderful feeling in the world. I know that you and Riza could have that joy, that completion, too, if you'd just take it for yourselves. You've already made her wait this long, Roy, don't make her suffer for too much longer." Grabbing the door handle, she began to close the door behind her and then stopped midway to depart one last bit of advice. "She loves you Roy, but even she can't wait forever. Don't make her try." Closing the door with a quiet click, Gracia left Roy to his thoughts.

Tugging on his hair in frustration after she left, Roy found himself looking in the mirror and began examining his reflection, eager for a distraction. The scars marring the left side of his face had faded over the past years and were now much less obvious, though his eye was still as useless as ever. The lid had difficulty lifting correctly anymore, and the eye itself couldn't really see, aside from barely detecting light.

Considering how badly his plan had gone, making it out with just an eye lost was a low price to pay, in Roy's opinion. Sure, it had been awkward getting used to it, and he still didn't have much depth perception any more, but yesterday proved that he was still quite proficient with his alchemy. Through years of practice and use; he could still feel his way through situations, making the ability to judge the distance of the objects he was transmuting the air near almost unnecessary.

Staring at his scars, he admitted again that things could have been much worse that night, a line of thinking he didn't enjoy going down at all.

He could have lost Riza. After all, she had been shot; thankfully just in her shoulder. Only a few scant inches to the side though, and it could have been one of her lungs, her heart, her head…

Yes, he was quite thankful that she had been able to survive that ordeal relatively unscathed.

Her own injuries had healed quickly and for weeks, she had stayed by his side while he was a pitiful invalid, never leaving him alone. The memories of their days together had helped keep him warm in the icy north, images of her smiling as she helped him walk or made him dinner staying with him despite all else.

The Riza he had healed along-side had been completely different from the one in the office; she had been opening up to him like she had in the last months before he finished his studies with her father and joined the military, so long ago. The strict barriers between each other that they kept up to protect themselves from the ax of the military had dissolved and the woman watching over him had been warm and caring, tenderly helping him just as a quiet young girl had once shyly kept him company as he was thrust into a world without his family for the first time.

Those had been some of the happiest weeks of his life, before he had begun losing confidence in himself, questioning over and over again if he'd done the right things for himself, for the Elrics, for his team of subordinates, for her. Wondering what had ever happened to Edward Elric, having supposedly disappeared from Amestris completely, wondering where Riza's life would have taken her if he'd never studied alchemy with Hawkeye-Sensei, never lived with her and her father.

He would have given anything for those joyous days with Riza and Black Hayate to have continued indefinitely. It wasn't until later, freezing alone, that he realized the implications of his selfish desires for their future. The realization of losing her brought just what she was to him into stark definition and many pitiful nights had been spent recollecting how long he had unknowingly been in love and denying it.

Perhaps Gracia was right. After all, if what she said was true, Riza loved him, a thought that warmed his insides in way no fire ever could. Hearing it, even from someone that wasn't Riza, made it more real somehow. Long had he felt the pull between them, but only in recent years had he finally discovered what it meant; that it was so much more than the loyalty to him and his dreams that Riza carried within her and the respect he held for her. Surely, between the two of them, they could make it work, the military be damned; right?

Smiling at himself in the mirror, once again feeling the confidence in himself that had made him the effective State Alchemist that he was, Roy decided that enough was enough, and that dammit, he and Riza deserved to be happy, and he would do everything in his power to make it so. With pleased thoughts still in his head, Roy climbed into his borrowed bed, nearly asleep by the time his head hit the pillow.

Not a terribly large amount is known about Gracia, in comparrison to other characters, but as a woman, I can easily see a devoted wife and loving mother like her being very protective of one of her friends, especially in the kind of relationships that the Hughes have in connection with Roy and in this story, Riza. Having once known the great joy that is love, and having had it taken away from her, she's passionate about the fact that they could share it with one another and aren't for reasons that she sees as foolish. Basically, I don't see Gracia as having moved out of character in going-off on Roy, and I'm explaining why. -K (ugh, I'm getting into the habit of adding comments to each chapter, not good.)