A/N: If I were to draw this, make into something like a mini-doujinshi, I think the best part would be the on; you'll see what I mean. : P

I do not own FMA.

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Sinking into the water, her head resting on the flat slabs of slate that surrounded the pool, Riza let her eyes fall closed. At last: no phone calls to be taken, no itinerary to go over, no Colonel to keep out of trouble . . . . Not even Black Hayate, much as she loved him, was here to get underfoot. This moment belonged to her.

How long had it been since she had been to a hot spring like this? If memory served, not since her time at the Academy. Rebecca had dragged her out late one night for what she called 'girl time.' All it had consisted of was her talking for hours on end, and Riza listening, occasionally commenting like the good friend she was, and finding excuses to keep her tattoo covered.

It was good to have a chance like this again. The springs at the hotel were open all night, but the rest of their entourage had retired for the evening, along with the majority of the other guests. Riza had the entire female side of the pools to herself.

Behind her by ten metres, the sliding door to the change rooms opened, footsteps padding out onto the flagstones of the terrace that surrounded the springs. Riza didn't turn, but watched the reflective surface of the water as the newcomer approached. "I thought you were asleep hours ago," she said quietly, upon seeing who it was.

"I went to bed, but I couldn't fall asleep." Winry smiled sheepishly, coming to a stop at the edge of the pools. "I thought maybe the warm water would help make me sleepy. I'm not bothering you, am I?"

"Of course not." Turning her head, Riza smiled up at the girl. "I don't answer to you as a subordinate, and you're certainly not as unpredictable as that blond whirlwind you seem so fond of. Therefore, there's not much you could do that would bother me."

Winry giggled, slipping into the water a few metres away. "Whirlwind," she repeated, settling herself comfortably against the rocks. "That's about as accurate a description of Ed as I've ever heard. And . . . by 'as a subordinate,' I guess you're referring to the Colonel?"

Moving one shoulder in a half-shrug, Riza leaned her head back against the rocks, closing her eyes again. "Don't get me wrong: I don't mind acting as a babysitter when I have to. It's just that every so often, a break is a good idea, or else it might drive me insane."

Curious, Winry settled a little deeper into the water. "What sort of things does the Colonel do that means you have to babysit him? I mean . . . Ed's ranted about him a couple times, but never about anything specific."

That drew a smirk from the blonde sharpshooter. "Pick any possible infringement of office policies, and the Colonel's probably done it," she said, opening one eye to give her companion a knowing look. "Anything from using a military line for personal calls, to falling asleep face-down on his work, to repeatedly avoiding said work . . . ." She shook her head slowly. "I can thank my lucky stars that he's not like that all the time. Nothing would ever get done."

Winry gave a soft 'tsch' under her breath. "I think the worst thing Ed ever does is wreck his automail." She folded her arms, scowling. "How would you like it if you put time, imagination and your heart into building something, only to see it destroyed not once but multiple times?"

Riza lifted her head. "To be fair, he's shown a very . . . 'strong concern' over what your reaction to broken automail would be."

"Because he's afraid of what I'll do to him," the younger woman muttered darkly.

"That's true, but consider this." One hand lifted from the water, her index finger pointed skyward for emphasis. "If Edward is so afraid of whatever pounding you might give him for breaking his automail, why does he keep coming to you when he needs it fixed? He's not exactly what you'd call a sentimental person, and it's not like he doesn't know where to find another pair of limbs and an engineer."

She smiled. "He comes back because even though you'll probably give him a concussion, he trusts you. When his automail breaks, you're the first person he thinks of: he doesn't think of how to hide it from you, or how he might be able to fix it himself. He finds you because you're the one person in the world that he trusts with the instruments of his success."

Perhaps it was the heat of the water, but a tinge of red appeared in Winry's cheeks as she looked away, staring at her own reflection in the pool's surface. "I never thought about it that way," she said softly. "Another engineer can't ever service his arm and leg like I can; it's my own design, and only I know its idiosyncrasies. But with the money from his research grants, Ed could easily get another set of limbs from any other engineer in the country. Despite that, he still comes back to me . . . ."

"Because he trusts you explicitly." Settling back once again, Riza let her eyes fall closed. "You know, I asked him what he thought of you, once."

"You did?" Winry's tone was surprised. "What did he say?"

"Not much of anything, really." The older woman's mouth twitched in private humour. "Mostly, he was just so shocked by the question that he spat an entire mouthful of tea in my dog's face."

Winry giggled. "I shouldn't be surprised by that, I guess. Ed's never been any good at talking about his feelings. He just keeps it all inside unless he absolutely has to tell someone. Even then, he gets all flustered and can barely put a sentence together."

"Men are like that," Riza commented wryly. "I've seen Colonel Mustang act the exact same way, for the exact same reason."

"Really?" Winry's eyebrows shot upward. "That's surprising. Any time I've ever seen him, he's always really . . . I don't know. Together, I guess. Confident. Both he and you are like that."

Riza's eyes opened as she looked over at her companion. "Thanks for the compliment, but it's not always that way. At the basic level, we're both just ordinary people; we have our off days."

"Well, for what it's worth . . . I think of you a lot differently than I did when we first met." Once again, Riza couldn't be sure if the pink tinge in Winry's cheeks was embarrassment or just the heat of the water. "I've learned that not all soldiers are bad. Ones like Bradley and the military high command he'd corrupted: they are. But after what you and Colonel Mustang and the others did to help save Amestris . . . I think we'd all be better off if the entire military was like you. I wouldn't call that 'ordinary.'"

Taken slightly aback by the younger woman's honesty, Riza simply looked at her for a moment before breaking into a small smile. "Thank you. I appreciate the sentiment." The smile became a smirk, one that closely resembled that of her commanding officer. "Though if the entire military were made up of people like us, it might be disastrous. I'm not sure Amestris can handle more than one Roy Mustang."

Winry's laughter echoed around the quiet area, carrying over the tall dividing wall and falling on several ears of the male persuasion.

For several men in the same area, at least half of them known for being boisterous, the male side of the baths was quiet. Havoc was slouched in the water up to just under his nose, Breda sitting beside him with his head against the shale edge. His mouth was open slightly, quiet snoring issuing from it, lulled to sleep as he was by the heat. Fuery's glasses were steamed up to the point of zero visibility; Falman appeared to be trying to leech every bit of warmth he could from the water after so long in the north. Ed was submerged much the same as Havoc, though only up to his chin; beside him, Al sat wrapped self-consciously in a towel, the water uncomfortably hot for his still-regenerating muscle structure. Detesting full submersion in the water, Roy was content to sit with his towel around his waist, dangling his feet over the edge into the heated pool.

This rest was deserved, after the chaos of the Promised Day. The boys had gone home to Resembool long enough to reunite with Winry, only to be called back to Central so that Edward's retirement from being a State Alchemist could be finalized. It could have been a sad affair, if the suggestion hadn't been made by Alphonse for the group to join them at the hotel to use the hot springs.

Al abruptly twisted to look behind himself, at the wall separating the men's side from the females'. Turning his head to glance at his brother, Ed frowned. "What's up?"

"I can hear Winry talking," the younger boy answered, eyes still on the wall. "It . . . sounds like she's with Lieutenant Hawkeye."

Roy's eyebrows lifted slightly. "You can tell that with a wall in the way?"

"After so long in the void, with nothing to listen to, his ears have gotten a bit hypersensitive," Edward explained, reaching for his towel on the shale behind him. Hoisting himself out of the water, he wrapped it around his waist, moving to crouch beside the wall timbers. "But he's right." A grin curved his lips and exposed his teeth. "Anyone interested in what the ladies have to say?"

For a long moment, nobody moved, their eyes darting around the pool at each other . . . then, in a mass scrambling for towels, they all scooted close to the wall, each pressing an ear against it. Breda woke with a quiet snort as Havoc bumped against him; he followed the others with more than a little confusion.

"I don't answer to you as a subordinate, and you're certainly not as unpredictable as that blond whirlwind you seem so fond of," Riza said, eliciting a snicker from all the men, save Edward. He scowled.

"'Blond whirlwind?'" he repeated under his breath. "Just because a guy's got a healthy amount of energy, she labels him a whirlwind?"

"You've got to admit, it's an accurate analogy," Roy muttered back. "Seems like everywhere you go, you leave a path of destruction. Hawkeye's the one that usually deals with paperwork from the fallout, so I think she would know."

"I thought you were supposed to deal with those reports."

"I sign them once Hawkeye finishes with them. As long as my name is on the dotted line, Administration doesn't care who filled out the form."

Their banter hit a lull just long enough for Riza's voice to be audible again. "It's just that every so often, a break is a good idea, or else it might drive me insane."

Havoc snickered. "Pretty sure she's talking about you, Chief," he said, nudging his commanding officer in the ribs. Roy merely flashed a grin, before going back to listening as Riza listed off the things he did that annoyed her. He felt a little guilty, particularly in avoiding his work, but falling asleep was usually only after he'd been up all night with more work or his research.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Edward twitch as Winry mentioned his name. "How would you like it if you put time, imagination and your heart into building something, only to see it destroyed not once but multiple times?"

Roy turned his head to look at the boy, in time to see the colour drain from his face. Apparently, just the thought of receiving one of Winry's famous tirades was terrifying in and of itself. Beside his brother, Alphonse was grinning like a cat with a canary, amused by Ed's reaction.

That reaction promptly reversed itself, his face turning an alarming shade of red, as Riza spoke up again. "If Edward is so afraid of whatever pounding you might give him for breaking his automail, why does he keep coming to you when he needs it fixed? He's not exactly what you'd call a sentimental person, and it's not like he doesn't know where to find another pair of limbs and an engineer."

Breda whistled softly under his breath. "She's got you there, Boss. If there's anyone that knows how to read people, it's Hawkeye."

"Sounds to me like she read him like a large-print book," Fuery murmured.

"You know, I asked him what he thought of you, once."

Heads turned to stare first at the fence, at Riza's comment, and then swung slowly toward Edward again. His eyes were wide in his face, his expression frozen in something akin to horror. "Oh no," he breathed, eyes locked on the wall. "Oh no, no no . . . . Don't tell her, don't tell her, don't tell her . . . ." The men pressed closer to the fence, eager to hear.

Havoc slouched in disappointment. "Dangit. Trust her to keep tight-lipped about something." His gaze slid sideways to Ed. "Unless you want to —" He stopped at the glare he received. "Never mind."

Talk was apparently changing to the greatest female topic: feelings. Right in the middle of rolling their eyes, Roy's men promptly tensed, slowly gaining an air like that of hungry wolves. Roy, for his part, suddenly became very still as Riza said, "I've seen Colonel Mustang act the exact same way, for the exact same reason."

Smirking, Havoc wiggled his eyebrows at his superior. "You getting soft on us, Chief?" he teased. "Thinking of dropping your womanizing ways, settling down with some girl in the house with a white picket fence?"

"Not at all." Roy's tone was cool and composed, his eyes flat as he stared back at his sarcastic friend. "I'm thinking of pushing you underwater until the bubbles stop." The blond man grinned in response, knowing the threat was empty, the result of jest.

"Shut it," Ed hissed, listening intently at the wall. "I'm trying to hear what Winry's saying."

The others quieted. "I've learned that not all soldiers are bad. Ones like Bradley and the military high command he'd corrupted: they are. But after what you and Colonel Mustang and the others did to help save Amestris . . . I think we'd all be better off if the entire military was like you. I wouldn't call that 'ordinary.'"

Surprised at the girl's honesty, the men were quiet, before beginning to smile to themselves. Falman cleared his throat, beginning to edge away from the wall. "Maybe we should leave the ladies to their privacy," he muttered, inching back toward the hot spring. Giving quiet agreement, the others followed suit.

Roy hung back slightly. "Hey; Fullmetal." Those golden eyes looked up expectantly, even though their owner no longer went by that official title. "Make sure you keep her around."

Smirking, Ed got to his feet and sauntered toward the change rooms. "Don't give me advice on girls, Bastard. You've got your own to worry about."