A/N My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone that was affected in the Connetitcut massacre. My prayers are with you.

"Your shoes, my lady."

She really was an idiot sometimes. Most of the time she could apologize and make the most of her innocence that came from being the teenage daughter of a highborn noble but this time was different. Her silver shoes that she'd left outside of the library were now in possession of a very, very tired looking Knight of Fullmetal, along with his scarlet red cloak. Her stomach boiled with surprised butterflies and hidden anger.

After seeing him asleep in the library, most of the anger and determination she had towards him and leaving had dissipated. Along with the building storm clouds just over the horizon, she knew tonight was not in her favor. The lack of anger had thrown her into emotional turmoil, leaving her to crumble on the balcony and break down into tears. The fat rain drops fell in sync with her tears as the thunder growled, the trees waving in the wind, bending with the force of the gales. The storm whipped at her clothes like she was one of them, a tree in the wind, forming to the gusts that wanted to toss her around like she was nothing in the world.

As the lightning that lit up the night sky with a thousand different colors reaching for the ground with electric fingers she stood. The wind grew stronger, lashing at her hair and untangling it from its bun. Everything in her life was unraveling as the storm grew stronger, a dark cloud of depression moving over her and swirling around her until she was choked to death by the black. She was about to let the light cling to her like a gown and drown in the rain when there was a loud knock on her bedroom door.

She couldn't move fast enough, couldn't struggle out of her soaking wet dress and into a nightgown. She couldn't blow out all of the candles except for one to put on the false appearance of her feigned sleep. Her hair couldn't dry by the time she reached the door and her eyes wouldn't whiten up from lack of tears until she fell asleep for honest. "Coming!" She shouted, her voice nothing but a croak. Whoever her guest was happened to be patient, much to her delight. Most likely it was Jon or her father, or maybe even Alphonse checking on her with concerned eyes.

She didn't expect him.

And here he was, rubbing his eyes like a child just waking from a long night of sleep. His golden gaze was narrowed at the light she held in her hands. Though it was late and everyone else had long settled down for the night, there were faint traces of light behind him, down the corridor he'd traveled to reach her room. In his hands was the pair of shoes that made her look like an idiot for leaving them behind in her blind fury. The lack of emotions made her rub her arm subtly in confusion. Why couldn't he give them to her in the morning? Was this his desperate attempt to make a better apology? Or was he just going to be another idiot who tried to bed her when she felt most vulnerable?

"Thank you." She whispered, unable to meet his gaze as she took them. As she went to shut the door, his hand caught it and wouldn't let it shut fully. Surprised, Alyvia's eyes met his face as he openly struggled with his words. "What is it?" She grumbled softly, her brows pinching into her forehead almost angrily. Almost. The last of her emotion was hardly registering as fury towards him. Her shoulders slowly began to slump, from exhaustion or depression or whatever. She didn't care anymore.

Edward's frown deepened. "I didn't mean to harm you this morning." He explained, his long blonde bangs falling in the way of his eyes, the most expressive part of his body hidden from her view. His voice was stern but not harsh, concerned but not sympathetic. Alyvia watched his shift uncomfortably before he moved his hair out of his face. "I just… I wanted a sip of water. And that was the first thing I saw. I didn't even see you there, nor did I even know you were asleep. Had I known I probably wouldn't have been so…so…."

"Loud? Annoying? Inconsiderate?" She blurted, putting a hand on her hip. Thunder crackled just outside of the castle walls, making the both of them jump. After her nerves unsettled, she was surprised to watch him sigh in defeat as he walked past her, towards the balcony doors and shutting them softly. She huffed as he turned to face her. "Why did you come here? I am not ready to marry yet."

His eyes widened before he full out laughed, throwing his head back. Alyvia frowned uncontrollably, her fists balling up tightly. He was laughing at her? A man shouldn't laugh at a woman unless she intended it to be so! "You think…you think that's why I'm here?" He said as he tried to recover himself, straightening out his shirt collar with a smile. The laughter in his eyes slowly faded before he cleared his throat. "I can assure you I didn't come here to marry you."

"Then why did you bother coming here?" She snapped, confused and surprised.

"Why I bothered? I needed to learn what my next plan was going to be. I needed to study your father's battle techniques from the Ishval war." His words were finally reaching her supposedly impermeable shell. Her frown slowly lifted as it began making sense. The library. The cut on his cheek. Why he had pitched in the dinner conversation when she had mentioned the fault in the government. He was here plainly on business.

Her thoughts turned to Alphonse. "What about your brother?" She asked, crossing her arms, her shoes falling to the floor with a loud clank. His brows rose in hesitation before he faded into his own thoughts, the expression on his face that of recalling his brother's utter infatuation with her. Finally, he chuckled again and shook his head.

"My brother is as innocent as yours." He shoved his hands into his pockets, his eyes shutting softly. "He thinks every girl deserves to be treated as if she were a queen."

"And you?"

"An equal." From underneath his golden bangs she saw his eyes focusing on her. A twitch of his lips brought the butterflies she had first felt when she'd seen him riding towards her home rushing back. "Take you for an example. You're a young woman trapped in a castle when the men are away and you hate it enough to sneak away searching for adventure." He deadpanned, sending shivers down her spine. Gods be damned, he was right on. Unable to comprehend she tugged at the fabric of her gown, wondering why in the world he was that accurate.

Unwilling to let him when that easily, she spoke, "I'm not searching for adventure." She said, feeling confident about her answer.

He had an uncanny ability to prove her wrong. "Yes you are. You're searching for it by wearing a man's tunic and riding your horse into the woods. You sneak out of the castle when no one is watching. You hide in the trees until sunset and then you pretend nothing has happened all day while the boys return. What do you expect someone to believe when you have pricks from berry thorns instead of needles, or when your best boots are covered in mud instead of polished clean?"

"I am not!"

He rolled his eyes, making her grow more flustered by the minute. "As many times as you deny it, you're denying your dreams for adventure. My advice is to wait for it to come to you. Otherwise your chances will pass you by as you search in the wrong place." The Knight of Fullmetal dipped his head to her as he brushed past her and started towards the door. She glanced at him, shell shocked and surprised as he opened the door and readily walked out, leaving her behind in a faze.

"Wait!"

His golden eyes met hers.

Still flustered, she blurted what was on her mind. "How did you gain knighthood?" She asked, staring at her feet in embarrassment. It wasn't something a lady wasn't supposed to ask directly to the knight, an insult almost. She felt her cheeks grow hotter the more she thought about it, focusing so much on her growing embarrassment to miss his footsteps getting closer. The tips of his black boots met her line of vision and she glanced up, surprised.

His head was slightly tilted, a pout on his face. The lack of anger was something she never thought she would feel towards him, but then again neither were the jumping butterflies in her stomach. His gaze held hers for a long moment of silence, the thunder still crackling outside. The only space in between them was the candle that made his face and eyes darken with shadows and colors of many variety. He inhaled softly and she thought he would lean in and close the distance between them with his lips, but he did no such thing. Instead, he spoke, words that left her so shocked that she couldn't breathe afterwards.

"I waited for my adventure to take me."