Author's Note: First off, I am really sorry this took forever and a day to get out to you guys. I got side-tracked with finals, KH2, and AnimeNEXT sewing. BUT, now that it's all out of the way, I will try to update more frequently.

Winter Night Dance

Chapter Five
Changes

Central's military base had become a complete state of chaos within a mere few hours. Thru the day, large trucks had come and gone through the gates of the large area, each carrying different things for the party that night. A decorating service had been put to work to transform not only the main ballroom, but the parade grounds as well. Large red carpets were placed on the outside of the area in which cars would pull up to let the guests out. Trays and heat pans filled with the buffet foods were being ushered in as people ran about franticly, giving orders or yelling at how there were things that did not belong.

As night began to settle upon the city, Al sat quietly in the room at the desk. He had agreed to watch Elisa for the night at the Hughes' so that she would have someone familiar to play with for the night. Because the younger brother did not want to attend the ball, he thought it would be a nice alternative for the evening while he let his brother do his duty as a state alchemist.

Looking over at the bathroom door, the suit of armor couldn't help but let an echoed sigh escape him. His brother had laid out the coat on the bed along with the gloves folded neatly on the bed beside it. He had disappeared into the bathroom to change into his uniform for almost twenty minutes, making the armor start to worry. Ed had always told him how he would never be caught dead in one of those uniforms no matter what they would do. But was he really that embarrassed about it? Or was he just trying to get rid of the annoyed feeling that was probably running through him from his toes to the tips of his hair.

"Brother!" he finally called, pushing the chair back so as to let him stand. "Come on! You're going to be late meeting Winry!" While Al came to his feet, the soft click of the bathroom door was heard, causing him to avert his stare to the opening door. If the younger brother Elric were able to let his jaw drop, it would have been on the floor from shock.

Standing in the doorway was Ed, his face somewhat pink with either frustration or embarrassment. Al could not tell which. He wore a white button down dress shirt with silver cufflings. Around his waist was the military dress skirt and pants that they had always seen the Colonel and all the other soldiers wearing. He had the standard black boots on his feet which had a slight heel to them, making Ed just a little bit taller. His hair was pulled back into a ponytail that sat right in the middle of the back of his head.

Moving into the room, Ed placed his regular clothes onto the bed neatly; each item folded individually and put one thing on top of the other. He tried to not make eye contact with his younger sibling, fearing what his comments might be. Moving around the bed quickly, he picked up the jacket into his hands slowly. In that very moment, Ed couldn't help but let his golden eyes wander over all the bars over the chest pocket and the stars on the shoulders.

Al watched in silence as his brother paused with the jacket in his hands, as if staring down a tiger that was about to pounce. He quickly shook the stare away and turned to face the mirror. Placing the coat on slowly, Ed adjusted the weight slightly. He quickly snapped the front over and once again adjusted to the new clothing.

"Brother?" Al questioned quietly. "You okay?"

Not turning from the mirror, Ed sighed as he finished adjusting the coat to some sort of comfort level. "I feel like punching myself." He finally growled; a look of displeasure in his reflection.

Chuckling lightly, Al let go of the small about of tension that had built up. "You don't look that bad. The uniform is kinda-"

"I'm dressed like Mustang, Al!" Ed shouted in frustration, spinning on his heels. Facing his brother, Ed threw his arms out, trying to prove his point. "All I need is a pompous attitude and some stupid spark gloves!" Letting his arms drop to his sides, the young alchemist hung his head, "Just watch. Mustang is probably the one who made that stupid 'All alchemists must attend' rule. It's all part of his plot to completely ruin me."

Letting a nervous laugh escape him, Al just waved away the comment, "You're overacting brother. Mustang wouldn't do that to you." He explained, trying to lighten the mood.

Raising his head up, Ed moved over towards the bed once more, "Yeah right Al. He probably told me to wear this because he wanted to see me look like a moron in front of Winry." He told as grabbed the gloves off the bed.

"Uh," Al paused, watching his brother put his gloves on slowly, adjusting to the new feel of them. He knew it was time to change the subject off of Mustang before his brother decided to kill the man at the door for this 'embarrassment'. "We…we better head out. Winry should be waiting in the lobby for you. And my ride should be here soon too." He told, moving towards the door.

Pulling the second white glove on, Ed gave a small nod. "Yeah. Let's go." As he moved to the door, Ed took one more look in the mirror at himself. Taking in a deep breath, he let it out slowly. While he was overreacting over looking like his least favorite person in the world, deep down it was all nerves. Not about having his fellow military comrades seeing him like this, but it was of a certain girl that would be waiting for him in the lobby. He adjusted his collar slightly and ran his hands over his hair slightly, making sure it was all nice and neat. Smiling slightly, he took in one more deep breath. 'Alright. This is it.' And with that, he moved to pick up a black coat and the hat for the complete uniform look. Then, he shut the door quietly as he followed his brother down to the lobby.

The elevator ride to the base floor was silent between the two. Ed placed the long black winter coat over his uniform. Then, he put the military hat upon his head. The hat stopped right above his ponytail, making it a perfect fit. He looked into Al's armor briefly, making sure that he looked alright. For the first time in his entire military career, he looked like what he hated: a soldier.
Once the doors opened, Al stepped out first, with Ed lagging somewhat behind. As they headed towards the center dome area of the lobby, loud chatter could be heard echoing throughout. Walking up next to Al's side, Ed caught sight of the scene. The area was filled every soldier and alchemist in the dorms. All the men were in uniform, all with their hats either on their heads on tucked under their arms. The women were in elegant evenings gowns of every style and make. Some were covered in sparkles, while some were trimmed in different jewels of all shapes. They stood laughing and smiling, talking excitedly as they waited for their dates to arrive.

Looking about slightly, Ed saw no sight of the young mechanic girl he was waiting to meet up with. He noticed Al was looking as well, almost as if excited by the scene.

"Brother, I don't see Winry anywhere." Al said, looking above the crowds.

Before Ed could answer him, a loud familiar voice called over the people, "Edward! Al!" Looking over from the source of the voice, the two brothers smiled as they watched Hughes and his wife start over towards them, waving happily. Hughes was dressed in his uniform as always while Gracia was in a lovely deep blue dress that trailed down to the floor. And in one arm, she held Elisa, who looked half asleep resting on her mother's shoulder.

Stopping in front of the brothers, Hughes gave Ed a look over with a small look of shock and surprise, "Well Ed. I never thought I would see the day," he began, brushing the boy's shoulder slightly, "I have to admit it. That looks pretty good on you."

Smirking slightly, Ed removed his hat from his head and tucked it under his arm. "I don't see how you wear these things all the time. The collar is kinda annoying." He admitted, tugging at it slightly.

"You get used to it," Hughes laughed, patting the boy on the back. Looking past the Elrics, Hughes let his smile grow even more. Straightening up, Hughes took up his wife's arm and looked Ed in the eyes. "Might I suggest you turn around? You might miss something pretty amazing." He winked slightly and looked back over Ed's shoulder.

Ed gave Hughes a look of utter confusion. He didn't understand what exactly he was trying to say. 'Why?' he thought, 'Everyone is in front of me. What's interesting about an empty---'

"Hi Ed." A voice spoke quietly, breaking his thoughts suddenly. Slowly, Ed found himself turning on his heels, trying to keep himself from blushing again. As he faced behind him, he felt his heart go into throat and his eyes widen slightly.

She didn't look like the girl he remembered seeing the day before or ever for that matter. There was no light purple jumpsuit with the messy hair under that red bandanna and no large work gloves or grease on her face. This was a girl that Ed had never seen before. Her dress was a long red gown that fell to just above the floor. Thin straps ran over her shoulders as long red gloves covered her arms. Her blond hair was up in an assortment of curls, two of which framed her face, with what looked like small roses mixed into the style. Fine hints of light red eye shadow and lipstick could be seen against her pale skin. She held in her hands a small fur shawl and a small silver purse as she looked at Ed with a small smile.

"Wow Winry!" Al exclaimed happily, "You look-"

"Beautiful," Ed muttered quietly, cutting him off. Taking a step towards her, Ed remembered back to what Hughes had taught him. He bowed slightly to her, making Winry giggle while her face grew a tad more pinkish than before, and he held out his arm to her.

Taking his arm, Winry moved up to Ed's side. Her face was slightly flustered from the sudden act of gentlemen-like actions from the guy who was throwing snowballs at the back of her head yesterday. And now, there he was beside her. He looked so mature with the uniform on. The two could only stare at each other for a moment, taking in how much they had changed over just a mere few hours.

Lost in their moment, they didn't notice that Al had left with the Hughes' little girl. It took a tap onto Ed's shoulder by Maes to break his stare with the girl. Looking up at the man, Ed tried to keep himself composed and not show a sign of his nervousness to the whole situation he had placed himself into. There he was, dressed in a military uniform, going to a ball with his childhood friend that he was still in shock over how she looked. How could he not be nervous?

"You two ready to go?" Hughes asked, taking his wife's arm in his own.

Winry clung to Ed's arm a bit tighter, smiling widely as she leaned forward slightly to look at the man. "This is going to be so much fun!" she exclaimed happily, causing Ed and the couple to chuckle slightly.

Looking over at Winry once more, Ed kept the smile on his face. Removing his hat from under his arm, he placed back upon his head. "Then let's get going." He said, feeling his stomach starting to do flips at his own words.

Removing his arm from Winry's, the young man took the shawl from girl and placed it about her shoulders. She blushed slightly as Ed asked if she was going to be warm enough in that. Her only response she could get out was a small nod as he took up her arm once more.

Hughes and Gracia led the way towards the doors to the parade ground. Stepping outside, both Ed and Winry let their eyes widen at the sight. The once bare parade grounds had become nothing short of a beautiful winter wonderland. Strings of what must have been thousands of soft glowing white lights hung from the buildings and had been draped across to large poles. They encased the newly placed poles throughout the ground, giving the whole area a calming and beautiful look to it. Garland with what looked like small silver decorations decorated the poles as well. It too spread out to the buildings, making the area look like it was ready for Christmas.

The four walked along a long red carpet that had been laid out onto the ground to make the walk across the grounds a bit more elegant. While every other couple around them were chit-chatting amongst themselves, Ed and Winry stayed silent. Both were too busy looking around at the parade grounds to try and start up a conversation. It was as if the two were unsure of what to say to one another. Ed continued to look at the lights along the buildings as an attempt to keep his composer. He watched as his breath continued to pant out as he walked, showing that he was walking a little fast for the occasion.

As they approached the building where the ballroom was located, Ed felt a small tug on his arm. Looking over, his eyes locked with Winry's soft and sweet gaze. She gave me a small pat on the arm, "You look so nervous Ed." She said softly, coming in a little closer to him.

The feeling of his heart in his throat felt like it was about to grace him once more. He did not know what to tell her as they came closer and closer to their point of destination. Looking up, Ed bit his lip slightly. "I'm…I'm not looking forward to hearing Mustang's taunts about the uniform. He's probably been looking forward to this humiliating experience for me all week." He groaned a bit, hanging his head in shame.

And yet, he felt the hand pat his arm once again. "Why do you care what the Colonel thinks?" she asked, but received no answer from the alchemist. Sighing slightly, she clung to his arm a bit tighter. "I think you look handsome." She muttered, causing Ed to look over at her with surprise.

"And," she continued not letting him say anything, "I'm glad you kept the ponytail."

Ed couldn't help but smile. He had spent a good twenty minutes after he was in the uniform debating whether or not to keep the braid or do the ponytail. After remembering Winry's comment about his hair the day before, the choice was quickly settled. But, Ed would never admit that to the girl. He may have liked her, but he didn't want to raise her ego anymore than it was already inflated at times.

The center building where the ball was being held was aglow with bright lights and the sounds of conversation. While the alchemists and soldiers who lived on the base walked across the beautiful parade grounds, the higher ups were pulling up in large lavish cars with drivers and doormen to assist them. People of high power and social class were all there, looking dressed to the nines in beautiful designer dresses and custom-made tuxedos. It was like a fairy tale come to life.

Ed and Winry followed the rest of the guests up the red carpeted steps into a large lobby that looked like the one back in the dorms. The room was buzzing with friends meeting friends and whatnot as coats were taken. Echoing through the room were the faint sounds of an orchestra playing as people were being announced and descended down a set of stairs at the far end of the room. A young man took the coats of the guests as they entered, making the crowd move somewhat faster.

Once the coats had been taken, Hughes turned to the two with Gracia, the same happy grins on their faces as before. They waited as they watched Ed and Winry gave their coats to the young man with a small 'thank you' being muttered between them. Winry brushed off Ed's sleeve slightly, as if trying to make him look more presentable than before. Ed managed to do the same to the other arm, looking as if he was in the most uncomfortable thing he had ever worn.

"You look fine," Winry muttered with one more brush of his sleeve.

But Ed scrunched his nose in disapproval, "I hate these uniforms. The whole thing is annoying." He growled, continuing to adjust the cuffs on the coat as if they had moved from their secured spot.

Winry raised an eyebrow, "It's just for tonight Ed. Then you can turn it into a lampshade or something after." She grinned.

Ed chuckled at the thought of transmuting his uniform into a lampshade then sending it to Mustang as a thank you for the god awful outfit. Glancing over at Winry, he took up her arm once again, "Thanks for the idea. I might just have to write that one down." He laughed, holding onto her arm tightly.

Raising an eyebrow to the awkward conversation, Hughes cleared his throat slightly, gaining the attention of the two. "Come on. We need to head inside." He explained, casting his eyes over to the staircase.

As the moved towards the small line awaiting to be announced, the young man quickly took hold of Hughes' arm tightly. "Wait, do I have to do that too?" he questioned, giving Hughes a look of utter fright and slight embarrassment.

"Of course," the man smiled happily. "All state alchemists and higher officials are announced formally as a sign of repeat. It's an old tradition, dating back to when the military was first established." Grinning at his wife, Hughes started away from Edward and his date, "We'll see you inside Ed!" And with that, the Hughes' disappeared into the crowd, leaving Edward with a hand stretched out and looking very confused.

Author's Notes: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I'm gonna try to get the next one up ASAP. And don't' forget to read and review.