A/N: I figured out that the beginning could not have been so interesting, so I update now. Maybe this will encourage you to leave reviews. People, let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: I forgot about in in the first chapter. So I hereby declare, that I do not own FMA. (Though I love it). I only own the idea of this fic and some other weird thoughts.

This chapter is dedicated to my first reviewers of this fic, whom I absolutely adore! They are: Renneh and causmicfire. Thank you very much, I really appreciate your comments! They made me so happy!

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The chosen one

Since she got rid of her feelings, Riza was much more cheerful. But right now she literally beamed with happines.

To be honest, the bet with Love was a good thing, after all. It probably won't last long until Riza wins it. Oh, she was pretty sure she would win. Why not? She was strong and always well organized, why would such a thing cause her any problems? She was perfectly able to control her feelings. There was no chance of her getting caught off guard, losing control over herself or having her strong will weakened. She wasn't afraid. She was excited and impatient.

She knew that winning the bet would make her dreams come true. When this moment comes, she'll ask for Roy to return her feelings. She wouldn't be alone or depressed anymore, but she will be extremely happy instead. Sounds great.

Now all she had to do was to resist the temptation. She had no plans for the time being. She didn't know how she would act and what she would do. She decided that she needed to get to know the chosen guy first. Riza sighed. She had no idea who the one would be, but she had also no intention of hurting him. This wouldn't be fair… But then again, these were the requirements of winning the bet. Oh well, the unlucky guy would just have to get over it somehow.

The very next day after the dream Riza stayed on guard. Who knew when The One would appear in front of her? It was best to pay attention to every single guy that happened to be in her vision. Obviously, it didn't mean that she could slack off in the office, explaining it to herself with the bet. She worked as always, scrupulously and restlessly, at the same time however being occupied with something else.

But when a whole day passed and nothing happened, Riza felt quite disappointed. She knew that the actual deadline was in two days time, but still she thought that maybe… Oh, it was so annoying. She was getting more impatient by the second. When will she get to know the guy who is going to help her grant her greatest wish???

While working, she observed the colonel from the corner of her eye. As always, he was just complaining about paperwork and so on. Nothing new. But Riza's lips formed a small, almost invisible smile when she thought about it. Because from now on, everything is going to be new and completely different. Sure, there was the "turn a guy down" thing, but after that… Riza closed her eyes for a moment, shamelessly letting herself sink into her beautiful dreams.

"Lieutenant, is something wrong?", asked the colonel, seeing her in that very unusual state.

Riza snapped out of her thoughts and slightly shook her head. She began scribbling again.

"No, nothing's wrong, sir", she replied.

Indeed, nothing was wrong. Everything was just perfect.

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The D-day came.

Riza dressed and washed herself with twice as much attention as usual. She wanted to look perfectly and… maybe slightly differently too. So on that day she gave up on her trademark bun and let her hair loose instead. She was much more pretty this way, though she didn't quite realize it. But when her golden hair for once covered her shoulders and back, she looked at herself in the mirror approvingly, satisfied with her appearance.

Before she left, she patted Black Hayate on the head. It was an everyday thing, but the dog sensed that something was different. He looked up at his mistress, kind of bewildered. But her sincere smile calmed Hayate down. If the mistress was happy, he could be so too.

As she walked to the Headquarters, Riza wondered how it would feel like: suddenly falling in love with… well, let's just say that straight… with a completely random person. The feeling may be interesting. She chuckled to herself. Though she approved of the bet, she still found it really stupid. How the hell had she gotten herself into this?

She reached the office earlier than most of the gang, just as always. When she walked in, she saw only Breda and Fuery, both leaning on their chairs, with Breda yawning widely. They stood up lazily and saluted when they noticed her. She gave a small smile, which earned her their confused glances, but she didn't care. Fallman arrived not so long after her. Then appeared the colonel, sleepy and unhappy because he had to get up this early again. The last to come was Havoc.

Riza was surprised to find that none of them was late. It must be some special day or something…

"Well of course it is a special day", she reminded herself. "You just wait".

The next few hours were nothing special. Just a boring morning in the office. Finally Breda stood up and excused to the toilet. The rest took it for a sign to have a break and each one of them stretched lazily.

"Someone go and get some coffee", said Mustang while rubbing his eyes. "Or else I'm going to fall face first onto this desk and sleep the whole day".

Everyone understood his point. But no one moved to grant his wish.

"Hey, someone gooooo…", repeated Roy pleadingly.

Still no movement. Finally the colonel decided upon his victim.

"Havoc, you go".

"Why me?", whined the second lieutenant.

"Because I say so", reasoned Roy. "If you disobey, I'll make you do all of my paperwork".

"OK I'll go", said Havoc quickly. Everything but paperwork.

As he walked past Riza's desk, he asked her casually:

"Do you want some coffee too?"

She lifted her head.

"Yeah, I'll have…" She stopped and looked to the left. Was it her imagination or did she just see the red-brown haired head?

"…?"

Nevermind. Riza shrugged and turned her look back to Havoc.

"I'll have some", she replied.

And then it hit her.

How could she be so stupid? The choice was almost purely obvious from the very beginning. It couldn't be the colonel, so who was the second in row? Who was the second closest guy to her? When Riza looked into Havoc's blue orbs, she knew he was The One.

The second lieutenant looked at her warmly and smiled a little.

"Fine, I'll bring you a cup", he said.

So he was already in the game too.

Fuck.

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The rest of the day was one hell. Riza couldn't resist but to steal stray glances at Havoc now and then, and she was perfectly aware that he was doing the same thing to her. Luckily, no one noticed their behaviour.

Riza thought intensively. Great. It was supposed to be fun, and now she was going to hurt one of her best friends because of a stupid challenge. She knew that Love would be merciless and that she would keep the passion between the two on a level satisfactory to her. This meant: very high. She wouldn't want to lose the bet, obviously.

Man, what to do??? Riza didn't know. On the one hand, there was this glorious future that she had already got used to take for granted. All of her dreams finally coming true… And then on the other hand was Havoc, who got involved without even knowing about it, and definitely not on his own account. How could she be so cruel as to turn him down in such a manner? He was innocent; yet it was him who was going to be hurt the most. Riza's own situation was little better. Even if her feelings for the second lieutenant disappeared, his would still be present. How was she going to deal with this? She would see him everyday, hurt and depressed. Love WAS cruel, beyond any doubt. How will she be able to look into his sincere, blue eyes again, just like she did it today?

"Think, think, think…"

Hell, WHAT TO DO???

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All things come to an end. And so did the work time. Finally, the torment was over.

Or at least she thought so.

Just when she was to walk home, she heard a voice behind her.

"You always go home on foot. I can drive you if you want."

She turned around to see Havoc, smiling at her through his cigarette. She sighed, but couldn't resist him. Still, she knew that this was wrong.

"Ok, if you want to", she smiled back.

They walked to his car. Havoc had always been a good driver. And a handsome guy, Riza thought. The only thing he had problem with was his constatnt smoking, which was surely going to seriously damage his poor lungs. Oh well, it was his own choice.

They didn't talk much during the ride. Just some insignificant comments…

"That's the way it always begins", Riza almost panicked. "You talk about everything and nothing at the same time, then you start picking up some more serious topics, finally it comes to confessions." She looked at the blonde beside her. Love had done her job perfectly, beyond doubt. Riza almost completely forgot about the colonel (the love of her life, mind you) and studied the second lieutenant's appearance.

"He's really handsome. I wonder why he always has problems with girls. That's unbelievable", Riza thought as she observed him carefully watching the road.

"Riza…", he suddenly said. She snapped out of her thoughts. "What is it?"

He grinned. "I'm really happy that you joined me today. You know, it's no problem for me to drive you home every day. You don't have to go all the way on foot. It's quite a long way. I mean, I think that since you work so hard in the office, you shouldn't overstrain yourself even more."

"You're very nice", she replied.

"Wow!", he suddenly shouted. "A woman told me a compliment! This is the first day of the rest of my life!"

Riza couldn't help but to chuckle at his comment.

Since it was only the first day, nothing really big happened between the two. Both had to get used to the new situation, consciously or not. They parted at the doorstep of Riza's apartment. She thanked Havoc and he left, reassuring her that it was no problem. Riza sighed and opened the door.

Just as she entered her apartment, Black Hayate jumped onto her, demanding some attention. She picked him up from the floor and went to her bedroom to change her clothes. She almost screamed when she saw someone standing beside her bed. But after looking closely she recognized the person.

"How nice of you that you came. I wanted to talk to you", Riza said as she put Black Hayate on the bed.

"I told you I'd come", Love replied. "And I kinda expected you to want to talk with me."

"I thought I could only see you in my dreams", Riza opened her closet searching for something to change herself.

"Not necessarily, as you can see. So, straight to the point. How do you like my choice?"

"It sucks" Riza stated firmly.

"But why?" Love looked sort of disappointed. "Something's wrong? Whom should I have chosen then?"

"Someone not close to me. I don't want to hurt my friend."

"Well, it's a part of the game, isn't it. I thought you would expect such a choice." Love cocked her head to one side.

Riza heaved a sigh. "I should've, but I didn't. My BIG mistake."

"Are you going to withdraw then?" This questioned echoed oddly in the room. There was silence for a long while.

"I don't know", answered Riza eventually.

"You know that this cannot be turned back. I mean, I can cancell your feelings, but as for the second lieutenant's…"

"You wouldn't do this to him" Riza looked at her seriously.

"You bet I would. You know me."

"If I continue this, he would get badly hurt. And he hasn't done anything, he's innocent. I don't want to see him suffer."

Love stared at her and finally announced: "Fine. I'll tell you something. I know that this can be hard for you both, but trust me. If you do, I promise it will turn out good for you."

"Do you mean 'me' or 'us'?"

"I mean only you."

"What about Havoc?"

"I'll take proper care of him", Love assured her.

"What kind of care?"

"I cannot tell you."

"So I'm supposed to trust you… blindly?" Riza said straight.

"Well, yes. If it's not a problem, of course."

The lieutenant looked at Love suspiciously. But, surprisingly to her, all of her doubts slowly subsided as she continued to stare at the woman in front of her. She felt that she can trust her… but not entirely. Definitely not. Well, she never trusted anyone fully, even the colonel.

"You better keep your promise", she threatened after a while. Love smirked a little.

"I certainly will." With this, she blurred and faded away.

Riza sat on the bed and cupped her face with her hands. She sighed heavily.

"I'm doing a lot of stupid things, Black Hayate", she adressed the dog beside her. "But you know, I think I can play this game. I… I've fallen in love with Havoc…" She chuckled. „I guess then there's nothing wrong if we hang aroung together, is there?"

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A/N: Ok, that's the second chapter. Starting to get interesting now? If not, flame me. Do as you wish. Also, if you have some suggestions how to lead the plot further, I'm open. It's not like I don't know what I want to write. Because I do have a plan. Still, I can include some of your ideas too, my dear readers. I may not use each one of them, but EVERY ONE will be taken into consideration. So if you want me to write some certain scenes or something, just let me know. I'll really think about it.

As always: review please! I'm not updating unless I get 10 more reviews, which is the total of 12 reviews. Only then will I post the next chapter. So now you have a purpose to leave comments :P

See you later!