((Greetings! Here's the sixth and second-to-last chapter of "Broken Bliss". I was rather distracted while composing this, so there may be a few errors. Beyond that, I hope you enjoy it and please review.))

It had been two weeks. Riza, still registered as Liza, had moved into her old apartment. She figured that after six years, even someone as stubborn as the Colonel would have dropped his investigations there.

But he wasn't the Colonel, she reminded herself for the thousandth time as she cooked dinner for Maes. He was the Furher now.

Maes was, as had been established as a usual routine, playing with Elysia in the snow outside Gracia's flower shop. It was December now, and the two were bundled up almost beyond recognition as they traced whimsical pictures in the frost that had gathered on the front window. Dusk was falling, and most were at home with their families. The streets were deserted in the district, and the snow that had piled about seemed to muffle the sounds of the city farther away. Gracia watched the two through the window as she arranged poinsettias.

A cheerful little bell sounded as the door opened. A customer had come from the opposite side of the street. "Elysia has a new boyfriend, I see," came the familiar voice of the new Furher. Gracia almost dropped one of the flamboyantly colored plants, startled not because of his sudden appearance but because of his appearance at such a time. She smiled at him warmly, though.

"That sounds like something Maes would worry about," the woman said, looking back at the duo. Little Maes was covered in a hood, and despite the scarf that hid his pale face from the chill, she could see a pillar of steam slip from the slits in the fabric as he laughed with her daughter. The little boy was tracing a sailboat on the window with a gloved finger.

"He's only six, though. There's nothing to worry about. I'm going to have to close up soon and take him to his mother. She works here now, by the way." Gracia spoke.

Roy hadn't learned of Riza's return yet. No one had, really, but Gracia herself. His mind discarded the information. He had stopped dating women when Hawkeye left.

"Oh. Is she a friend of yours?" He was just making conversation.

"Yes, she's a friend of yours," Gracia almost dropped the pot again. Poor plants.

"Oh! I mean, a friend of mine, yes. She is," Gracia thought it best Riza should be the one to meet Roy. She didn't want to rudely shove them back together again when Riza wasn't quite adjusted yet. She put the poinsettia down and raised a hand to her flustered face. "I'm sorry, Roy. I'm really rather tired."

"No, I'm sorry for intruding. I was just dropping by," the man responded, looking rather concerned.

"Can you keep an eye on those two for a minute while I lock up the back?" She asked, hesitantly. Roy wasn't an idiot, she knew, but if he hadn't caught on to Maes yet, she wasn't sure he was going to. The boy was wrapped in almost five layers of clothing, after all.

On his own, Maes looked at the clock in the window of the neighboring antique store window. "Byeee, Elysia!" the kid started walking slowly off down the street himself. With the confidence of the innocent, he began the journey home himself. Roy figured Gracia would just be out in a minute, but moved to stand just outside the door.

"Hey, kid! Wait!" he called after the little boy, who had just past an alley but hadn't crossed the street yet.

Maes complied, turning. Roy couldn't fully discern the kid's facial features; the sun's dying rays off the pearly snow around him was too bright. But he did see the kid's gloved hands give little tremors of surprise. Roy was going to call out to him again, walking just out to the border of the shop window. The man now stood next to Elysia. He still couldn't see the kid's face, though. It was turned in to face the alley. He was talking to somebody. Roy strained his ears to hear, registering at the same time that Gracia was locking up the shop door behind him.

"Hi," he heard the little boy talk into the shadows.

"Yes, I am," a husky, dazed voice replied. "Would you like some?"

Dear God, Roy thought. Gracia had seemed tired enough.

The Furher commenced a hardly dignified sprint. "Gracia!" he cried out behind him, "I think I'll walk this kid home myself."

Gracia blankly stared after him, unsure of what to do. "Okay," she called, "he lives on Burke Street, in the apartments there. He knows which one. Thank you, Roy."

Having successfully saved the child from the rather shady character, Roy fell into an easy pace. The little boy stayed by his side. Roy was curious as to the child's reaction earlier. His fists had shaken before he seemed to notice the bum. But that meant the child had practically shaken them at him, and he couldn't think of any reason why. He opened his mouth, but the kid, to his great surprise, spoke first.

"You know, as Furher, you might've tried to pass off some sort of valuable life lesson, like 'say no to drugs' or something…"

Roy was startled. How old was this kid? Gracia had said six, but he couldn't remember if he had known what drugs were at this age. And the kid's speech, it was even and confident. That made him more of a speaker than some of the officials in the army. The kid might've even followed politics, judging by his knowledge of Roy's position.

"You're very smart," the Furher commented dryly. He was rather amused by this child. "What's your name?"

"Maes."

Mustang could've tripped over his own foot. "Really?" he responded, not as incredulously as he felt but just to keep the kid talking. He was rather suspicious of this kid now. He wasn't sure what it was about the kid, but he knew there was a certain something.

"No, I lied." What was that? Sarcasm?! Who were this kid's parents? "My real name is Roy."

"Where'd you get that name from?" Roy asked. They were three blocks away from Burke Street. That was where Riza had lived, he noticed absently, far too caught up with this kid. 'Maes' reminded him of her, in a way. The child was rather blunt, and didn't chatter like other kids his age.

"I dunno. My mom says it a lot to Auntie Gracia. They talk about him when they think me and Elysia aren't listening." There was silence between them for a minute. Roy was contemplating whether or not he should make a mad dash away. He had never denied his former promiscuity with the female population of Central. Now that he was Furher, there were even more women crazed about him, not that he gave any of them so much as a passing glance any more. Well, he was civil, of course. He needed the public's support. But beyond that, he was rather cold and aloof nowadays. Since she had left…

But if this kid's mom talked of him, he was placing himself in danger, and possibly jeopardizing this kid's parents' marriage. Crap.

"What about your father? Is he in the military?" The real question were 'does he have a firearms license? Is his aim good?' but he didn't ask.

"I think so," said Maes. "He doesn't know about me though. Mommy loves him too much…"

Roy was puzzled by this response. But they were climbing the stairs in the apartment building now. It was too late to escape. If he tried, he'd make such a clamor in the stairwell that he'd probably be captured. Captured…Ok, maybe he was over-thinking this a little bit. Walking a child home to his mother should never be viewed as a sort of campaign. On the other hand, if he slowed down and thought through what the boy had told him…'Maes' under Gracia's care was too much a coincidence. He held firm to that hope, and at the same time tried to crush it. The Furher was afraid that if he held to that hope too tightly, if he tried to embrace it and force it to become his reality, well, that's why asylums are around when life hands you one of its unlimited disappointments.