Title: The taste of chocolate

Style: Drabble
Genre: General, Romance
Rating: PG

Thanks goes to Lina (of BlackMercifulFaerie) to betaing this. Love also goes out to all AlRiza fans.

In Belgium, in that other world, they had visited a small shop. It had been filled with a heavy, sweet scent and when Edward had ordered two bowls of a similar smelling thing, Alphonse hadn't known what to make of it.

"What is this brother?" He had looked apprehensively at the steaming bowls filled with indugently brown and creamy liquid.

"Hot chocolate. Drink it, it's good." With that his brother had lifted the bowl to his lips and blown on it before sipping.

Al had hesitantly lifted the bowl to his lips and did the same thing as his brother just had, the hot concotion luxurious as it nearly burnt his tongue.

He was surprised that it would be so creamy and thick; sweet and milky.

"It's good isn't it?" Edward had politely wiped his lips on a napkin. "They make good chocolate here, all around this countryside in fact. No one else can copy the Belgians in how they blend the cream, sugar and bitter cocoa." His brother sat back contently, his hands around the bowl.

"It starts out bitter?" He had looked down at his bowl, at the contents he had fallen in love with.

"Yeah, they add sugar, milk and cream to it. Just shows what else milk can transform, eh?" Edward had munched on the little cookies that had come with the chocolate as Alphonse looked at his chocolate.

Who knew it started out bitter, only to be mellowed by cream and sugar? Yet it didn't suffer from being toned down; it only grew richer and deeper.

He was at first enthralled and then delighted with that first opulent taste, that delight turning into appreciation.

-

Alphonse loved the taste of chocolate.

When they had managed to come back home, he had tried to find it, his only success a poor, expensive substitute found far past the Southern border.

"Did I ever tell you of the time brother took me to a chocolate shop?" Al inhaled apprieciatively.

"No, why?" a voice thrummed with contentment.

"We had hot chocolate there, a drink that was sweet and milky though it started in it's simplest form as bitter." A gasp interrupted halfway, not deterring Al's reminiscing.
"I could never find a replacement once we came back. Nothing quite like it." He softly kissed, no, sucked at smooth, creamy skin.
"Instead I found-" He stopped, instead worrying at her shoulder, inhaling and tasting her.

"Instead you found what?" Her gentle voice and hands lifted his attention from those two senses and brought his hazel eyes to her darker, melted chocolate ones.

-

Those same, hazel eyes shimmered, glimmered in happiness before they came closer.

"I found you."

Al's mouth closed over her's; him enjoying Riza's better-than-chocolate taste and she . . . she thought she could smell a bittersweet, rich and smooth flavour as they kissed and tasted; shared and explored.