Disclaimer: I don't own FMA. As a matter of fact, from this point on I don't even have a script. I'm making this up as I go. I own Adrian.

Chapter 5

Ed was nervous. He was confident he could win… but he was still nervous. He stood amidst what looked like a battle dome. Across from him stood Adrian with an equally confident grin. Seated comfortably above them were high ranking members of the military. Somewhere among them were the fuhrer, and Roy Mustang to watch the two fight.

Roy was up there. That made Ed a little nervous—the whole thing with the kiss had made him happy, but he was still confused.

Adrian was nervous. She really didn't know if she could win this one, but she hoped she would. Still it was not about winning. In reality the test was just a method to show off their skills. She doubted Ed would take it that way. She never had.

Havoc was not going to witness the whole thing. This gave her a bit of a sense of relief.

Roy was nervous. The two people he cared most about were down there, and about to battle. How could he not be nervous?

"Move forward," a voice from above commanded. "Shake hands." Roy watched them both sigh, and step forwards. Ed stuck out his left hand to her, and said something so softly that Roy couldn't hear it from where he sat. Adrian's reply was a smile, and a nod.

"You too," he clearly heard, and Roy sighed with relief. Ed must have said something like "good luck". Then again, that didn't seem like a very Ed-like thing to do.

The voice sounded again over them. "Alright, back to your places. And you may begin… Now."

Roy watched in amazement. Both Fullmetal and Night moved as one to get chalk out of their pockets. Each was oblivious to the actions of their opponent, because they were taking the time to draw out transmutation circles. Some of the officers around him murmured their confusion. Roy couldn't help but agree—he knew better than anyone that neither alchemist needed to take this much time.

Ed looked up briefly from his circle, expecting to see Adrian staring at him in shock. The joke was on him, it seemed, because Adrian was happily doing exactly the same thing. He gritted his teeth, and put his hand to his automail arm to form the blade. "Is that all you are, Night?" He scrambled to his feet, then started forwards. "I expected better than that."

Adrian grinned. It was exactly what she wanted.

Roy leaned forwards in his seat. 'No Ed,' he thought, wondering why he even bothered. 'No, you're going to fall right into her trap.'

She moved so fast with the chalk that Ed couldn't even see the circle after she'd touched the glove. Suddenly, it all made sense to the teenager. Her gloves were black, because she needed to see the white lines of the chalk. They were fingerless, because she needed to get a good grip on the chalk. And there was an empty circle drawn on the back for impromptu transmutations. But his train of thought did not get much father than that. His world was engulfed in black, and his head spun. What was going on? Where did everything go?

He heard three consecutive clap… slam-ing noises, and in the dark, three small balls of light appeared before him. Their brightness made him squint, protecting sensitive gold eyes in the black abyss.

"Edward Elric. An angry soldier fights blind. Hasn't anyone ever taught you that?"

Seated safely above them, Roy's heart was pounding. 'I taught you that Edward. Snap out of her illusion!'

Adrian's voice echoed through the darkness, nearly unnerving Ed. The lights remained, flickering in and out of focus. They showed him glimpses of her—around him, near him. But she seemed to move so quickly. How could he know which one was really her, and which was part of her trick?

The words still echoed. Someone else had told him that… It was Roy. Roy Mustang had told him that in their alchemy battle. What else had he said? '"A soldier who strikes fast, strikes first." ' Well, Adrian pretty much had that one all wrapped up. Anything else..? '"A soldier should keep deception in arsenal." ' She'd done that too, but then—so had he.

Ed clapped his hands together and slammed them to the ground.

"So it's true," he heard the woman ask in surprise as her illusion fall apart. "You really can do transmutation without circles!" It seemed that as she spoke, she lost control of her fast falling illusion. When he was able to see her again, she was getting to her feet across the room.

"What is this really about?" He couldn't help but ask. "You wanted to know about my skill?"

"Hardly, Edward," she replied with a grin. "This is a test for two… but neither is for you."

"Then who—"

"Can't tell," she said cheerfully.

Roy furrowed his eyebrows. What was she planning? A test for two. One was herself, obviously enough, but who was the second?

But the real battle had already begun between them. Ed was shocked by Adrian's reflexes, and she was surprised by his skill. They'd underestimated each other, contrary to Roy's statement that she wouldn't do that.

The blonde lunged forwards with his blade, and she jumped back with ease. But by no means was she graceful. On the contrary—Ed found that when she fought she often stumbled or tripped. But that damn grin never left her face. Was that how people felt when they fought with him? It explained a lot—he sure wanted to punch her hard in the face.

They closed in on each other, circling the way wild animals did when they fought. Ed was banged up and bruised from her hits, and Adrian had a rather nasty-looking black eye on the right, and several cuts from his blade that had nicked her skin. The most obvious was a small cut just below her left eye.

The woman was currently holding a staff she'd pulled from the ground, similar to the one that Ed had made long ago—but the style was far different. She and Edward struck at the same time, and the staff held up against his arm. "You're very good," she complimented.

"Thanks. I wish I could say the same for you." He pushed forward harder, only to find her laughing under her breath. A feat which did impress him, considering how hard both of them were breathing from the battle.

"Oh, I got burned," she said in a tone of sarcasm. Adrian's grin grew dangerous at that. "Guess the metal is as hot as the flame that burns him."

The Mustang that sat above widened his eyes. 'What the hell does that girl thing she's doing?'

"Nothing burns me," Ed growled.

"Something does boy. Whether you've taken the time to realize it or not. I see how you watch him."

"What is that supposed to mean?" She lashed forward, and he pushed his flesh hand up to block.

"You've got the brand of flame on you boy. You belong to him, but he's yours just as much."

Suddenly, Ed understood. "You're talking about—" he began, but his eyes flickered up. He didn't want Roy to get in trouble for anything.

She smiled. "Catch on quick, don't you?"

"Whatever." This time, Ed took his superior's words to heart, and made the quicker strike. He changed his automail back to normal, and slapped the ground. Adrian was sent flying backwards as the world flew up from beneath her.

"Aaah—"

And then everything stopped…

X—X—X

"Their fight is over," the Fuhrer noted.

Roy got to his feet. "Are they both alright?"

The man next to him smiled. "They'll be fine. We had to stop Fullmetal because he was so full of adrenaline. No telling what he might have done to Night—not saying anything against either, of course. Just regulation."

Someone else nodded, and laughed. "That was quite a good fight. So who's still a state alchemist?"

The Fuhrer smiled. "Both of them, of course. Now get them to the infirmary. Brigadier General, I'll leave you to tell them their results."

Mustang saluted. "Yes sir. Thank you." He ran out of the room to meet the soldiers pulling his sister and subordinate out of the little arena.

The first man whistled, looking at the wreckage. "Those two really did some damage."

"Nothing we can't fix," the second replied.

X—X—X

Voices.

He even recognized some.

The smell of smoke gave Ed the incentive to open his eyes. He groggily lifted his head, catching sight of Havoc. With a cigarette. Go figure.

"Didn't anyone tell you not to smoke in a hospital?" That was Roy.

"Yes."

"So why are you?"

Ed could hear the smile in Havoc's voice. "Because they're not dead."

A snort of laughter. Adrian was nearby.

He pushed himself into a sitting position. "What happened? Did I pass?"

All three of them looked at him, and Roy sighed in relief. "You're awake."

"Yeah. I'm awake. Did I pass?"

"One track mind, much?"

"Shut up Havoc," Edward said with an accompanying glare.

The elder Mustang rolled his eyes. "You passed, Ed. Both of you did."

The young blonde nodded, and settled back into the pillows. Making eye contact with Roy, he hesitantly asked his question. "Did… Did I prove what you wanted me to prove?"

Adrian answered for her brother. "You did Ed. You proved yourself very well. Thanks." She looked at her brother. "You know, I don't think he'll mind."

"Huh?"

Roy glared at the woman. "I hardly need you to tell me that.

"What?"

"Never mind Ed. Later."

Ed looked from the brother, over to the sister. "And what of the other test? Did you pass that?"

Adrian's fingers were laced together with Havoc's bigger hand. Quite sweet. "I'm alive," she pointed out.

And Havoc grinned. "She passed."

X—X—X

It was just Ed and Roy now. Adrian had been moved to another room shortly after Ed's awakening.

"You're all bruised up, Ed."

The teen squirmed. "I don't get it! I won, but she totally handed me my ass. How'd she get off so easy?"

Mustang frowned. "Edward, you broke one of her ribs."

"I did, didn't I?" He grinned, then sobered. "She was fast, but she was having trouble keeping up with me."

"Her teacher wasn't like yours. You've told me about Izumi." Roy slipped his gloves into his pocket. "She was even slower when she left, you know. She's gotten much faster."

Ed turned to glance out the window. "I wonder what happened to her," he said pensively. He felt he'd been in the infirmary too long—he wanted to get out, and he needed to get part of his arm fixed anyhow.

The older man nodded. "I'd like to know that myself." There was an awkward moment of silence, before Roy spoke again. "You did very well out there."

"You expected less of me?" Edward felt suddenly nervous, and he clenched a metal fist.

"No, no…" Mustang seemed to be fighting for words. "Just saying, that you held your own well. I didn't expect less, but I was still worried for both of you…"

Ed blinked in surprise. "You were worried about me?"

The black haired man grinned at him. "You expected less of me," he asked, repeating Ed's previous words.

"Shut up," Ed said sourly.

Roy smiled. "Sorry."

"No you're not," the blonde accused. He paused, then pushed on to a different topic. "So… what did that kiss mean?"

"What kiss?"

"You kissed my forehead. Any reason for that?"

Mustang sighed. "Well, at the moment it meant good luck."

"And now?"

"And now it would mean, 'I'd like to take you out to dinner some time'. How does that sound?"

Ed fought a laugh. "The womanizer is asking me out?"

Roy turned his head, so that Ed couldn't see the blush. "Yes."

"Alright, then."

He turned back at Edward, shock written all over his face. "You… You're agreeing?"

Ed smirked, this time. "Yes."

Roy leaned over, and kissed Ed's cheek once. "That's settled then. I… I guess I'll see you tomorrow." He pulled away, and walked out to the door.

Ed was pleased to see that Roy looked back at him once before scurrying away in embarrassment.

Ah, sorry this chapter took so long. There's only one more chapter. Thanks to everyone who been reading. Much love from Sam.