A/N: Sorry about the late posting; new projects at work have thrown my schedule for a loop. Here's a lighthearted chapter for you all. As always, thank you to the awesome people who favorite, follow, and review.

Chapter Nine: Kids Will be Kids

The sunlight peeked from behind the heavy curtains, the only light in the room. As was his luck, Roy's face managed to catch the sunbeam, and he threw an arm up over his face to stop it. The movement he made was enough to wake him, and he grabbed his blanket before attempting to roll onto his back. He was stopped by an unusual weight on his side, which he attempted to push away. It fought back, shooing away his hand. Becoming frustrated, Roy grabbed the blanket tightly and rolled over with force, sending him and the weight tumbling off the couch and onto the floor. He groaned, looking up at the ceiling and lamenting the bump that was sure to grow on the back of his head. Something moved to his left, and he finally looked over.

Riza was sitting cross-legged on the floor, rubbing the back of her neck. "There's something so wrong with you," she grumbled, not bothering to look in his direction.

As his senses came back to him, Roy realized that he had never left the sitting room. He had no memory of Riza coming back or even of falling asleep in the first place. He propped himself up on his elbows. Instead of offering an apology, he stated "You were gone a long time."

"Yeah." Riza grabbed the blanket from him and climbed back on the couch, cocooning herself into it. She scooted to the edge and held the blanket open, indicating that he should join her. When he took his place beside her, she continued, "General Grumman and Aunt Chris talked to me about a lot of things. I still don't really know how to process everything. They told me that the general is my grandfather. He went off to war a long time ago, and his wife left him while he was gone. She was pregnant with my mother." She tucked herself into the arm of the couch. "He tried to reach out to her, but my mother didn't want any contact with him. Supposedly her mother told her that her stepfather was her real father. She never believed the general. He said that the last time he tried to speak to her was before I was born. My father didn't take kindly to him at all." She frowned pensively. "My father threatened him, and he stepped away. He never knew that I existed. They admitted that he was the one to send you to us, not only because you could study alchemy, but also to see how my mother was faring. But you found me instead."

Roy wrapped his arm around her shoulders and waited for her to continue. To his surprise, she rested her head on his shoulder. "He wanted to know everything about me and my life. He asked me so many questions and treated me as if he had always known me. It was too much. That was when Bea pulled me aside and gave me a cup of tea. The general and Aunt Chris were still talking, and I don't know what she said, but she made him angry. He slammed his fists on the table and stood up. He startled me, and I spilled my tea. He looked over at me, and I just froze. I don't know why, but I did. I thought he was going to yell at me, but he didn't. He just sat back down and kept talking to Aunt Chris. Bea helped me clean the table, and she decided that I should go to bed. She walked me to the door, and when I saw you on the couch, well, I just sat down. I was going to wake you, but I guess I fell asleep too."

Silence fell over the two, Riza's breath falling into time with Roy's. Just when Roy suspected that she had drifted off, Riza admitted "He asked me if I wanted to live with him." Roy made a noise of curiosity in the back of his throat. "Aunt Chris said it would be a good idea, too. I don't understand. It's like no one wants me at home. I mean, it's nice here, but I don't want to move."

"You don't have to," Roy assured her. "No one is going to make you do anything. You can trust me on that."

"I do." Riza lifted her head off his shoulder. "Everyone seems to think that I'm not safe, that I'm too fragile. But I feel safe there, especially with you living with us."

"I'm not going anywhere, and neither are you " Roy pulled her in for a hug. When he let her go, he got to his feet and offered her his hand. "Now come on. There's a fair in town, and Aunt Chris Is taking us."

Riza gave a soft smile. "I'd like that. Will it be just us?"

"Dunno. But don't worry; we'll stick together."

"Thank you." It wasn't that she felt threatened, but her newly discovered grandfather made her a bit uneasy. With Roy there, the chance that he might show up was less daunting. She took his outstretched hand and let him help her up, taking the blanket along with her.

Rather than let go, Roy asked "So what do you think of Grumps? If you leave out the surprise and wariness."

"He's rather strange," Riza admitted. "I don't like unpredictable people."

At the same moment, Roy and Riza harmonized "But I'm not predictable." Riza grinned mischievously at the crease between Roy's brows. He let it go, thinking that getting her in a good mood again was worth a slightly bruised ego. He watched as she turned on her heel, headed for the stairs. "Hey!" Roy shouted after her. She paused to look back on the first step. "Happy birthday."

Just as she was about to thank him, he cut her off. "But you don't get your present now. I'm going to save it for when you least expect it."

Her amber eyes softened, and her lips turned upward. "Should I be worried?" An unexpected squeak came from her as she bolted up the stairs, Roy hot on her heels.

"I'll show you worried!" He called playfully, but by the time he reached the top of the stairs, she had closed and locked the door to her room.

Chris stood at the far end of the hall, chuckling to herself. "Kids..." she murmured, shaking her head. It was good to see Roy in such high spirits. The girl, too. In the short time Riza had been in her home, she had seen the highs and lows of the girl's personality. Without Roy, Chris had no idea where the girl would be. She had saved many a young woman from a desperate situation, but none of them had as much trauma. Her home had long since become a haven for young women to escape their husbands, their families, their lives. She just hoped that the girl would find a bit of comfort inside these walls. Her age wasn't a factor in Chris's eyes; she firmly believed that anyone who walked through her door had to have the courage to save herself. Chris merely provided the resources. For now, Roy seemed to be her saving grace, and perhaps that was enough.

Aside from their arrival at Central Station, Riza had never seen so many people gathered in one place. She stuck close to Roy, who at least seemed to know where he was going; Chris had wandered off to break a moderately large bill into petty cens for them. Riza had to raise her voice over the crowd to ask Roy where they were going. He didn't answer her, and she wasn't sure if he had even heard her. He reached back and grabbed her hand, pulling her along as he weaved through the crowd. Riza almost ran into him when he stopped abruptly. Above them towered a massive wheel, so tall that it seemed to touch the sky. It rotated slowly, cars dangling from the contraption.

"Wanna go for a ride?" Roy asked, looking over at her.

A blur of motion caught her attention, and she looked past Roy at a rickety wooden structure, not quite as tall as the wheel. Once more, the car sped past, thundering its presence. "I want to go on that." Riza nodded in the ride's direction.

"Are you sure? That's kind of something you work your way up to."

"Come on," Riza insisted, sliding past him to join the line. The man who was taking cens looked at her and motioned to the board marked with lines. Seeing that her height was satisfactory, she was ushered through the gate. Roy had never felt so happy to have a growth spurt, which in the span of a few weeks put his height back over Riza's. The two were strapped into their seats, and Roy began his warning.

"If you want to get off at any time, just tell me so I can tell the operator, okay? The ride is going to shake, but we're perfectly safe, even on the drops."

"Yeah," Riza responded, grabbing onto the bar in front of her with both hands. "Got it."

The car lurched forward, clacking along the rails as it built up momentum. Roy felt the gravity pull his head back toward the ground, pressing his back into the uncomfortably rigid seat. There was the ominous stall at the top of the hill, and the car lurched downward at high speed. The wind stung his face and made it difficult to keep his eyes open. He gripped the bar until his knuckles were white as the world flew past.

Riza involuntarily let out a scream of excitement as they shot downward. The bottom of her stomach dropped, and she imagined this was what flying felt like. A sharp turn sent her sliding into Roy, who was shocked to see the smile on her face. As their speed lessened, he asked "Are you alright?"

"Of course!" She shouted. "This is great!"

Roy was taken aback by her uncharacteristic outburst, but he considered it anything but bad. She was genuinely enjoying herself. He bit back a groan as the car tilted up once more, an unwilling participant. Maybe if he closed his eyes this time... As soon as he felt the drop, his eyes shot open. There was no way he was doing this blindly. Beside him, Riza had raised both her hands in the air and was screaming once more. When the turn took them, she crashed into him, fumbling for the bar. She grinned and offered a "Sorry" before inching back to her side of the car. Roy grinned back at her, mentally and physically bracing himself for the rest of the ride. The nausea was worth seeing her enjoy herself in such a simple way. All the same, he couldn't conceal his relief when the ride was over. he climbed out on unsteady legs while Riza ran out in front of him. "Let's go again!"

"I think Roy-boy may need a minute." Chris' gruff voice signalled her approach. She placed a hand on Riza's shoulder as she said "He doesn't have the best constitution when it comes to rollercoasters." Not wanting to prove her point, Roy made a brave attempt at finding his footing. "Riza, I invited your grandfather to join us, but he wants to make sure you are okay with it first."

In good spirits after the adrenaline rush she just had, Riza felt as though she could take on the world. "Sure," she said without hesitation.

Chris smiled, pleased with her answer. "I'll go tell him. You two go try your hands at some of the games. Make Roy win you a prize." Smirking at herself, the woman turned and disappeared back into the crowd.

"Why do I need to make you win me a prize?" Riza asked in confusion, looking down at the cens in her palm.

"Don't worry about it," Roy insisted, taking the lead by beginning to walk. "You sure you're okay with Grumps being here?"

Riza shrugged. "I won't know until he is."

"You seem more okay with him than you did earlier."

"I don't know him yet. Maybe he's nice like Aunt Chris." For some reason, she was inclined to give her grandfather the benefit of the doubt. This puzzled her far less than it did Roy.

"Hey there, little lady!" A man in a brightly colored shirt called from within a booth. Her attention caught, Riza looked in his direction. "Wanna try your hand? First go's free."

Riza and Roy exchanged a look before approaching the game, which consisted of several bird-shaped targets on a series of tiered rails. A pellet gun lay on the counter, secured to the booth with a long rope. "All you gotta do is knock down the birds. The more you knock down, the bigger the prize." The man's wide grin was almost off putting.

Riza hesitantly placed her hand on the gun and nodded. "Okay, I guess I can try." The man stepped to the side and pulled a lever, setting the targets into motion. Riza's first shot missed spectacularly. Her second was closer, but still wide off the mark. As she set up for her third, the rails abruptly stopped.

"Oh, sorry, little lady. Better luck next time." The man consoled almost condescendingly.

Roy stepped forward and pulled a coin out of his pocket. "My turn." He picked up the gun and weighed it in his hands like an old pro. The man in the booth chuckled at the sight, stepping back to the side.

"Let's see what you got, sharpshooter." The man pulled the lever once more, urging the targets into motion. Roy's approach was to fire rapidly and indiscriminately at the game. Riza and the man watched him with interest as he knocked down a single target. When he pulled the trigger again, a faint clicking was all that could be heard.

"Oh, too bad. You used all your shots." The man took the gun from him and reloaded it.

"What?! There's a limit on it? That's crap!" Roy protested. He was cut off when the man shoved a lollipop in his face.

"Here ya go, kid."

With a frown, Roy begrudgingly snatched the lollipop from his hand. "Let's go, Riza."

Instead of following him as he stalked off, Riza walked back up to the booth. "I want one more try," she decided as she placed her money on the counter.

"Come on, Riza, this guy's a con artist!" Roy protested, shooting the man a very ugly look.

"One more," Riza repeated, picking up the gun. The man swept her cens into his pocket before pulling the lever. As the targets began to dart about, Riza drew in a deep breath, drawing the gun to her shoulder. She fired her eight shots in rapid succession, running out of tries before her time was up. She set the gun down on the counter and looked at her handiwork before looking at the man. "What does eight targets get me?"

"Holy shit!" Roy exclaimed as he rushed to her side. "In your face!" he hooted at the man as Riza was handed a large, stuffed dog. He jumped up and down a few times, laughing loudly and hollering. "Hell yeah!" As they walked away from the booth, his excitement remained. "That was awesome! The look on his face! He looked like a total dumbass!"

"Watch your mouth, boy," Chris scolded, having seemingly appeared from nowhere. "I could hear you cursing from across the fair. I didn't bring you here so that you could embarrass me."

"But you should have seen it!" Roy continued at the same volume.

Before Chris could scold him more severely, the general appeared by her side. He was holding a large plastic cup filled with something vibrantly red and half-frozen. "Seen what?" he inquired.

"Riza just conned a con artist!"

"I won a prize at a booth," Riza explained, not seeing what all the excitement was about. "I failed the first time, then I watched you fail, and I tried it a different way than both of us. Trial and error."

"No one ever beats those guys! The games are rigged to make you lose."

"He has a point," Grumman chimed in. "I can't remember the last time I won anything from a fair. Fantastic job."

Riza returned his smile. She was starting to feel a little anxious from all the attention, though. She tightened her grip on the large stuffed animal for security she didn't know she needed. Taking it upon herself to change the subject, she asked Roy "Do you want to go on the rollercoaster again?"

Roy made a noise of hesitancy, and Grumman sprang to his rescue. At least, one could call it that. "Roy, you haven't even won the girl a prize yet. Aren't you going to be gentlemanly?"

"I don't need him to. I already won myself a prize." Riza had no idea why everyone else saw it as such a big deal.

Grumman guffawed. "That's my girl!"

Riza was slightly taken aback at the use of the possessive, but it didn't bother her like she thought it should have. She looked at Roy, knowing exactly how she was playing her cards when she said, "But it's my birthday..."

"Oh, you cheeky little-" Roy couldn't get out the rest of the sentence before he caught her smirk. "Not funny!"

"Come on, you know I wouldn't do that. If you don't want to go, we won't go." Riza bumped him with her shoulder. "Wuss."

Roy whipped around and made a grab for her. Riza lept aside with a yelp, nearly bumping into another fairgoer. "Quit it, you two." Chris placed a hand on each of their shoulders. "I've already had to search for you too many times today."

"Oh, let them be kids, Chris." Grumman smiled. "We need to be on our way soon, anyway."

"How come?" Roy asked, forgetting his pursuit.

"Bea stayed home to cook Riza an extravagant birthday dinner," Grumman explained, beaming at his granddaughter. "The girls are quite taken with you."

Riza looked up at Chris. "She didn't need to do that, really."

"She wanted to," Chris insisted. "She thinks of you as a little sister; she's told me so several times in the last few days. Now let her do something for you without protesting. I swear the two of you would just go in circles unless someone told one of you to accept a kindness." Her 'hmph' at the end of her statement betrayed her amusement. "You have time for one more ride."

Roy's eyes lit up mischievously, and he took Riza's stuffed dog, handing it to Grumman. "Hold onto this. We'll be back." He grabbed Riza's hand and darted off, leaving the puzzled adults behind. There was no line, and Roy placed a few cens in the hand of the attendant. Still holding Riza's hand, he helped her into a flat-bottomed boat which sat in a shallow river of water.

"What is this?" Riza asked, looking around her.

"You'll see," Roy said vaguely.

The attendant used his foot to push the boat into motion, and the current took them slowly around a bend. As they rounded the corner, Riza saw a steep drop off in their path. "Roy..." she said cautiously, looking over at him. When she met his gaze, he smirked in his infuriating way.

"Hold on," he warned, taking his own advice. The current swept them over the edge, and they fell at a steep angle. Riza hardly had time to react before they came crashing into the large pool at the bottom. Waves splashed over them, the water slowing their momentum. When the boat was pulled to the edge with a long rope by another attendant, Riza was still trying to get water out of her eyes.

Both children climbed out of the boat, soaking wet. Roy took off his shirt and rung it out, splashing water all over the ground. Riza raised her hands to her hair and moved them rapidly back and forth, dislodging water droplets as she did so. When she finally stopped water from trailing down into her eyes, she wiped them with the backs of her hands and turned to look at Roy. Her eyes caught sight of Chris and Grumman standing a few meters behind him. Grumman was chuckling, the stuffed dog under one arm. Chris was staring at them, mouth agape and eyes wide in disbelief. They were going to get an earful about this one.

She felt a tap on her shoulder, and she looked back at Roy. He was standing in front of her, his shirt slung over one shoulder. His arm was extended, and his hand was closed into a fist. He opened it to reveal a small, thin bracelet. It was a very simple band, and it wasn't exactly perfect, but he was incredibly proud of his handmade gift. He waited for Riza to take it from him before saying "Happy birthday."