Hello everyone! Another chapter, hopefully half decent ^^ I've been in a bit of a pinch, stressful days, stressful plans for the future, that sort of thing, hope everything works out okay. :)

Alternate title: Surrender Sometimes

Flame vs Fullmetal: I Can do it Better

"Huehuehuehue," Ed grinned broadly, feeling his confidence skyrocketing, "What's wrong Mustang? Can't keep it up?" he snickered, grinning like a madman as he laughed at Roy's shaking body.

"Shut up you brat! I'm doing just fine!" the flame alchemist snarled right back at the youth, concentrating back on trying to keep his balance.

They were both respectable adults.

Really...they were.

They just decided to enter in friendly contests every now and then and sadly Mustang was losing.

"Give it up old man! You're no match for me!" Ed laughed, triumphantly raising his head as he managed to keep himself perfectly balanced on his one arm, in a sit-up position, "Don't try to keep up with me or you'll break a bone or two!" he stuck his tongue out at the other man and Roy grimaced.

"Why you little-" Roy was about to say a very colorful word until his girlfriend deadpanned with a straight face.

"You're falling behind," she held up a board and Winy held the other board, each of them showing their points respectively.

So far...

Edward – 15, Roy – 9

Roy hollered out, "I'M TRYING, OKAY?!" his stance shook once again and he reluctantly moved the arm that had rested on his back to use it as extra balance on the ground.

Who was he kidding, he may not be old, but it has been a while since he last did something like this, much less do over a hundred pushups one handed.

He had been confused how Edward didn't seem to mind the strain too much, but it suddenly clicked when Winry looked on confidently at her boyfriend's antics.

He used to have an automail arm nearly his whole life before, surely whenever he came here, Winry would perform maintenance checks on it or repair it completely, knowing Edward's... adventurous journeys. That would have left him without the second arm, but he still trained with Alphonse.

That meant also, at one point or another, doing sit ups with only one arm!

"Why did I agree to this again?" Roy's earlier confidence deflated like a balloon and he sighed heavily, slowly standing up from his position.

Everyone looked at him quizzically, before Roy held up a hand, "Timeout for me, okay?" he waved at a confused Edward, who fell face first into the dirt, no longer concentrating on keeping his balance.

"W-What?! No way! Ya can't just- just LEAVE!" Edward hollered after the walking male, waving his fist, "COME AT ME MUSTANG! I DARE YOU!" meanwhile Winry was trying to calm her furious boyfriend down, only to start a mutual shouting match between the couple.

Riza rose an eyebrow when Roy sat down next to her on the chair, resting his forearm against the table, "I'm surprised you decided to break the competition. You usually don't back out of a challenge,"

Roy smiled, it was a small, almost sad smile and that made Riza worry. He looked up at the blue sky suddenly, watching how grey clouds were beginning to close in on what was left of the blue sky and the shining sun, "Sometimes, it's better to surrender than keep on going." Riza only listened but Roy could sense her curiosity and confusion, "The same applies to battles, but also everyday situations." The hand that had been slack on the table suddenly curled into a fist, "Had I listened to such words earlier, maybe I could have stopped many things from happening,"

And then, Riza knew what he was talking about.

His blind rage when he had tried to kill Envy, when he had finally found out who killed his best friend.

The dark abyss Riza never wanted to see him in again, for the rest of her life.

She looked towards the darkening sky, wondering what he was thinking, "...How would things change?" she waited patiently for his answer and after several seconds of silence, he spoke calmly.

"Hm...I'm not sure myself," his gaze traveled to his boots, "Getting scolded by a child and my enemy, for example," he let out a small, humorless chuckle, "Or having to see the look of fear in your eyes, on that day..." Riza sensed his gaze was on her and she turned her head to look at him, his expression was serious, "I've never seen you show fear, Riza. Not in the Ishval war, save for what Kimblee had put you through, not in the military program and all the missions we were forced to carry out, not when the whole world was frightened to be destroyed...and not when you were about to die...because of my foolishness," the fist on the table began to shake, "What drove me to pursue Hughes' killer were my own insecurities, my own...fears,"

He inhaled sharply, "When Hughes died...I'd felt like a big part of me died that day as well...together with my hopes, dreams and plans." His bangs covered his eyes, his lips set in a thin line, "It was you that gave me courage and brought me back. With the help of Edward and Scar, it was you that brought me out of my blind rage back then as well..." he looked into her eyes again, "It was always you..." his face was contorted into a mask of pain and remorse.

Riza's own echoed his emotions, "Roy..."

"Had I simply abandoned my hatred and sick obsession to kill Hughes' killer...to kill Envy ...maybe you would have been spared the sight of seeing what a monster I truly am," he averted his gaze once again, fist shaking.

Riza placed a soothing but firm hand on his shaking fist, gently but firmly prying it open and snaking her hand into his to hold onto tightly, "Don't be silly," Roy's eyes met hers, "Everyone has a side they don't want to show to their friends or family...I've known you long enough to not be afraid of that side, no matter what happens. I know you'd never harm your friends if you were like that again, you'd be reckless and stupid, and you would harm yourself, but never your friends." She paused to collect her thoughts, still holding his hand, "You may have threatened to burn Edward's hand off back then, but I knew you wouldn't have done it, even in your blind rage. Despite being reigned by emotions, a person still identifies their allies and in most cases, would refrain from attacking or harming them."

She rubbed her thumb on the sharp bone on his hand, "We've been through a lot Roy, we've seen each-others weaknesses and were there during our worst moments." She smiled then, "You've witnessed my bloodlust and blind rage back then too..." Roy's eyes widened, "When I thought Lust had killed you...I had used up all my ammo on her, trying to kill her, but in my rage I didn't care that she was healing herself with the stone, I only wanted to inflict some type of damage to her for harming you," her voice quivered, "...If Alphonse hadn't been there, she would have easily killed me, just like I thought she did you."

Tears were pricking at the corners of her eyes and Riza smiled warmly at her stunned boyfriend, "You see, even in our darkest moments, we still manage to find the right path again if we are guided by people whom we love," she squeezed his hand, "As long as you have me and Edward and Alphonse and everyone else, you will never stray too far from the right path. Not any of us,"

Roy smiled, squeezing her hand back tightly, feeling his heart swell at her words, "Riza-"

"OHHH being lovey-dovey here, HUH?!" the braided blond haired demon grinned devilishly at them, rubbing his chin suggestively.

Roy's voice was low and threatening, "Fullmetal..." until it broke into a full blown roar, "WE WERE NOT BEING LOVEY DOVEY!"

The battle between the Tyrannosaurus Roy and Alligator Ed commenced, each party throwing insults back and forth and making childish expressions and gestures as both thought-to-be adult men argued and bickered.

Winry sighed heavily, plopping down onto the chair which had previously been occupied by Roy.

She rested her chin on top of her hand, watching the bickering duo with disinterest, "I'm sorry, I tried to stop him..."

Riza smiled, "I don't think you would have been successful even if you tried," she giggled.

Winry giggled back. Silence enveloped the two women until Winry suddenly said, "Granny made cookies,"

Riza smiled, "Are there enough for those two?"

Winry grinned, "Nope!"

Riza smiled brilliantly, "Then let's go,"

Both blondes stood up and entered the Rockbell home, leaving the men outside to resolve their disputes in the only way they knew how.

Children fights.

Hope everyone enjoyed it! :)