Hey guys. So this chapter is kindda slow after our crazy busy last chapter. Think of it as the lull before the storm since things are really going to start heating up after this.

Enjoy and on with the show!

Chapter 7

Roy hadn't gotten a wink of sleep the night before. After dropping, Ed off at her apartment he'd gone home and drunk a fifth of whiskey.

What was wrong with him!?

This wasn't just some pretty face. This was Edward Elric! The man turned woman. His ex-subordinate who was half his age and barely nineteen-years-old.

But her body, her charisma, her voice, everything had sung to him. He felt like a sailor being pulled in by the call of a siren, helpless to deny. He really shouldn't have asked for a second dance. That had been a mistake. He had felt her body humming with the same anxiety and before he'd known it he was rambling and leaning down. Then he'd seen the sheer panic in her eyes and had yanked away just in time.

After all it was EDWARD ELRIC he'd almost kissed. Oh and he'd wanted to kiss her. His body had been completely gun-ho until his brain had finally kicked in and told him to abort.

"You look like hell," Riza said in her usual monotone as she dropped the usual stack of papers and cup of coffee on his desk that morning. "So how did it go with Edward. You guys disappeared after the officers' dance and I was worried."

"We just ran into Olan Harbring whom said some pretty sexist things," Roy told her. "I brought Ed home shortly after since she seemed so upset."

"That still doesn't explain why you look like hell," Riza reiterated and pressed her hand to his forehead and leaned down to look into his eyes. "No fever."

Roy furrowed his brow at her. Riza was a beautiful woman after all and he'd known her for longer than Edward. Before Ishval, he'd entertained the idea of them getting married someday. But her closeness, the hand on his forehead, he didn't feel anything. It was just Ed he reacted to.

"Riza why did you insist I take Ed to the dance last night?" Roy asked her as she straightened back up.

"I already told you. Me and Gracia thought a night out would help Ed start to feel more like a woman," Riza explained. "She always dresses like a man, talks like a man, acts like a man. I know it sounds wrong but she needs to be forced into situations specific to her new gender. I of all people know what it's like to work a man's job, but that doesn't mean I'm not a girl." She huffed. "It'd be too hard to explain to a guy."

"I think I understand a little," Roy said. "A formal dance party forces her to dress and act like a woman. Correct?"

"Right," Riza said.

"And being with a man had nothing to do with it?" Roy wondered.

Riza stared at him a moment and then slowly reached for her gun. "Roy what did you do?"

Roy jumped from his chair and took a few steps back. "Riza don't misunderstand. I didn't do anything."

"Roy," Riza warned as she pulled her gun from her holster. "I trusted you with her and god help you if you touched her. What did you do?"

"I…I almost kissed her," Roy admitted. He heard the click of the gun being cocked. "But I stopped. I didn't do anything. We just danced and then talked and I dropped her off and went home." He let his hands fall in defeat. "And then I drank myself into a coma."

Riza had half a mind to shoot the asshole, but seeing the guilt and confusion she relented and holstered her weapon. "When I said she needed to learn how to be woman I didn't mean THAT. For god's sake Roy, I don't think she even did that as a man."

"I know… I know." Roy sunk into his chair. "I just don't know what to do Riza. She was just…I don't even know how to describe it. I couldn't help myself."

Riza sighed and sat down on the couch in the office. "And here I thought you'd be the last person…" She glanced at Roy and felt a small twang of pity. She'd never seen him so strung out before, and over a woman at that. "Well I'll ask you this. When Ed was a boy, did you ever think like this?"

"No," Roy said with certainty. "I saw Edward as a subordinate."

"You pulled a lot of strings to get him into the military at that age. Kept his and Al's secret. Sent them on specific missions you thought would aid them," Riza reminded him. "Why?"

Roy thought back to the first he'd seen Ed, a child, having just lost two limbs and his brother's body. He remembered the empty stare that had glanced up at him. It was the exact same face he'd worn for two years after Ishval until Hughes had finally dragged his ass out of the darkness and set him on his current path. Roy had been simply paying it forward. Ed had been too young to wear that face, and Roy had done everything he could to put life back into it.

He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his gloved fingers through his hair. "I saw potential in him. He'd done the impossible at a very young age, and he'd continued to do the impossible no matter what was thrown at him."

"And now?" Riza probed.

"I still see the same potential."

"And something else," Riza sighed. "Well at least you didn't do anything." She stood up from the couch and handed him one last folder in her possession. "In any case sir we have larger issues to worry about," she said, professionalism slipping back into her demeanor.

Roy opened the folder and his eyes widened in surprise. "They can't be serious." He flipped through the papers and his hands clenched. "Of all the divisions that they would shut down, I thought the state alchemists would be the last."

After scrubbing herself clean and changing into a comfy pair of flannels, Ed had crawled into bed and stared at the ceiling until the wee hours of the morning when she finally fell into an exhausted sleep.

She'd gotten up that afternoon and stared at her reflection angrily in the bathroom. Her hair had flattened into her face, her eyes glazed over, and the white t-shirt she had on was wrinkled and bunched around her chest. What was so beautiful? She'd grown a pair of boobs and exchanged her penis for a vagina. What was the big deal? She was still the same person.

So then why wouldn't her brain shut up? His scent, his hands, his voice. It was driving her crazy. She was going to go insane.

Ed had finally given up trying to figure it out and gotten dressed before heading downstairs to the shop. The last few weeks she'd been renovating in hopes of opening before autumn. She'd painted the walls a nice light green that reminded her of the hills in Risembol, and reorganized most of the shelving. The basement had been the hardest part. It seemed the previous owner had left a lot of boxes and Ed had been going through them, dusting as she went. Most was junk but she'd found an old cash register, some glass display cases, vases, and a stock of candles labeled Lemon Surprise.

The phone had rung halfway through dumping an old box of receipts and Edward was ecstatic to hear Alphonse voice.

"So how are things going?" Al asked after their initial hellos.

"Good. Just getting everything organized. I'm still not sure about what to sell. I've been going around to other alchemy stores to see how they have them set up, and most have a specialty. Like one works on cars and another does home repair," Edward said. "I just haven't figured out what my draw is going to be. Anyway, how are things back in Risembol?"

"Well I have my shop all set up. I'm just promoting I'm-an-alchemist-and-can-fix-your-things," Alphonse said. "Of course I'm the only alchemist here so I don't have any competition."

"Yeah well I guess alchemy is a hard field to break into if you're a girl. Most of the people I talk to think I'm kidding," Ed said not bothering to hide the disdain in her voice. "They won't be laughing when I put them out of business."

"How is that all going by the way? You said Riza and Gracia started helping you."

"Yeah and you wouldn't believe what I did last night," Ed said trying to keep her voice light.

"What?"

"I went to the Military Ball…in a dress…with Colonel Bastard." He tensed for the laughter he was sure he would hear on the other end of the phone. But when none came he added, "Funny right?"

"Uh…yeah. That's a little weird," Alphonse answered awkwardly. "How did it go?"

"Okay," Ed said. "I met a new friend. Her name is Tachi. She works in the Xingian embassy here and we exchanged information last night. She's gonna come see the shop when I got it fully up and running."

"That's great," Al commented. "And how did things go with Colonel Mustang."

"Okay," Ed said softly.

After a few moments of silence Al encouraged, "And…"

Ed sighed. "I don't know," Ed admitted. "It was Mustang. We danced, we talked, and then we went home."

"If that's all you did then why are you skirting the issue," Al pressed. Edward winced. Damn her brother for being able to read her like a book. "Did he do something weird?" She could hear the worry tones in his voice.

"No nothing weird…he uh…he said I looked beautiful," Ed admitted. "And said a lot of other stuff about me being smart and strong."

"He WHAT?!" Ed yanked the phone away from her head at the outburst. Alphonse continued, "Ed it sounds like he likes you."

"Well of course he likes me," Ed reasoned. "We're friends."

"I mean likes you like how I like Winry," Alphonse confirmed.

"How's that going by the way?" Ed asked desperate to deviate the attention away from her.

"Don't change the subject," Al scolded. "And good. We went on a date to a restaurant, and she seemed pretty happy about it."

"Alphonse that's great," Ed said.

"Yeah I'm really happy about it," his brother said and you could hear the shy smile in his voice. "Do you think about the Colonel like that at all?"

"NO! No. Absolutely not," Ed told him, although, a little voice in the back of his head whispered 'liar.'

"Well just be careful Ed. The Colonel is a good person, but I don't want you getting hurt," Alphonse cautioned. "Maybe I'll come visit you soon and we can talk about it more." She heard him chuckle. "Gotta protect my sister after all. Man that sounds weird."

"Yeah," Ed agreed. "But then we've always specialized in weird."