A/N: Hola everyone! Salut! Ca va? And how art thoust today? We're actually publishing this before one in the morning! Yay! I really like this chapter. It's fluffy. I usually don't like fluff, but it's Roy so it's amusing. ^^ I actually helped with the fluff this time! And I didn't even kill it! :D This is an accomplishment! Okay, I'm done ranting... For now. Oh wait! I always wonder when Lex and I write together if our work flows. We have very different writing styles, so I was wondering if anyone could tell when the other would start writing. Could anyone tell us?
Special thanks to our lovely reviewers: chocolvr69 (Chocolate is quite delicious...As is Roy Mustang. :P I can see why it's a good combo. And she didn't kill anyone with an oven, by the way. ;)), Fire and Ice (Hi! I hope we don't mess Roy up... We've been trying to not make him so womanizing, and make him a tad more...what's the word...sweet, I guess? But if you have any other critiques, please let us know! ^^)
Disclaimer: We do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. Though Lex is now the proud owner of the complete anime series! :D But we don't own it in a legal sense...
Alice was absolutely petrified. She had a small creature in her house, alone with nothing more than she herself and Staccato. Never had she thought that she would say, "Roy Mustang has given me a child!" but here she was, in that exact situation. The military man had brought her a small (albeit adorable) child, and asked Alice to watch her for the day.
Alice, being Alice, could hardly say no. There were so many excuses she could have used; "I have students." "I'm not comfortable with this." Instead, the woman had said, "Sure, I can watch her for the day!"
So far, Elicia Hughes had been really, really well-behaved, but the thought of something bad happening to the girl while in Alice's care was eating away at her psyche, making her twitch with nervousness. When the little girl smiled, though, Alice couldn't help softly grinning back. Besides, Elicia seemed very content to just play with Staccato, who was thoroughly enjoying all the attention he was getting from the child.
"Miss Alice?"
"Please, Elicia, just call me Miss A."
"Um, Staccato seems hungry. Do you have anything for him to eat?"
The tiny girl with pigtails looked concernedly from the cat to her owner, and Alice nodded, whisking Elicia into the kitchen to get her darling feline something to eat. The look of irritation on Roy's face that morning had been rather amusing.
A man showed up on Alice's doorstep, and she let him in, recognizing him as Roy Mustang.
"Can you watch her today? Hughes is, apparently, under the impression that I can just take off work to watch his kid... His wife's away with some family, and he's on an investigation somewhere. I'll come get her as soon as I'm done at work... Can you please do me this favor, Alice?"
The woman nodded, and smiled, kneeling down to be on Elicia's level. "What's your name, dear?"
Alice couldn't have asked for an easier first babysitting job; Elicia was a darling. She was quiet during the piano lessons, she didn't complain about her lunch of a cold meat sandwich, and she was just so darn cute...
"Whoa, Miss A, were you aware that there's a small child in your house?" Liz exclaimed as she walked through the door.
Alice sighed. "Yes, Liz. Thank you. This is Elicia Hughes; I'm watching her for the day. Elicia, this is Liz."
"Hi, Miss Liz," the little girl said shyly.
"AWWW! She is so precious! I wish my little sister were this cute!" Liz practically tackled the little girl in a hug.
Elicia didn't seem fazed by this at all. "Miss A? Why is Miss Liz acting like Daddy?"
"Um, I, um..." Alice began. "Liz, it's time to start the lesson."
"Aww..." Liz pouted. The lesson went by rather well. After tackling Elicia one last time, Liz left.
Alice and Elicia played with Staccato until her next student showed up. "Miss A, are you aware that there's a little girl here?" Benji asked quietly as he walked in. Alice introduced the two before starting Benji's lesson.
"Wow, Mr. Benji, you play really pretty," Elicia proclaimed, tugging on the boy's sleeve.
Benji smiled lightly. "It's all because of Miss A. If you ever want to learn, she's the one to go to." Alice blushed slightly at the praise, nodding thankfully. Benji was a sweet boy, second only to Liz as the woman's favorite; he was much more reserved than the other girl, and far less enthusiastic, but it was almost as though he was Alice's child more than her student.
Benji left soon after, and Elicia pulled herself up to the piano once the boy was gone. "Aunty A? Can you teach me to play?"
The sound of the word 'aunty' caused Alice's inhibitions regarding Elicia's safety to subside, and her heart melted. Sitting next to the child, then thinking better of it and standing up behind her, Alice acted as though she were going to press middle C, E, and G. "Can you copy that, Elicia, just pressing down harder?"
Elicia did so, having to use her left hand because of her lack of hand length. The girl jumped at the sound, squeeing with joy. "It's pretty, Aunty! What did I do? What's it called?"
Alice grinned softly; had this girl not already had parents, the attachment that she had to Elicia was growing so large that the pianist almost wanted to adopt the child herself. "It's called a chord, Elicia. You can make those anywhere on a piano, and in my opinion, they are absolutely beautiful." Elicia nodded in appreciation and there was a knock at the door.
"Hello, Roy," Alice said with a smile as she opened the door.
"Uncle Roy, guess what?" Elicia raced to the door with a big smile on her face.
Roy bent down to the little girl's level. "What, Elicia?"
"Aunty Alice taught me a chord!" She giggled with pride. "And I met Miss Liz and Mr. Benji. Mr. Benji plays really pretty and Miss Liz acts like Daddy." Roy smirked slightly. This was the most talkative he'd ever seen the little girl. She was always a bit stand-offish towards him.
"Miss Liz does act a lot like your dad, now that I think about it," Roy smirked at his private joke.
"Aunty Alice? Can we take Skakatoo on a walk?" the little girl asked.
Alice laughed lightly at the little girl's pronunciation. "I don't see why we can't take Staccato on a walk. Well, as long as it's okay with Uncle Roy, that is..."
The little girl picked up the kitten and looked pleadingly at the colonel. The kitten yawned before hissing. "Let's go then," he said as Elicia's face lit up with excitement. Soon enough, Alice had arranged the kitten in a little basket for Elicia to carry and they were out the door.
They walked around the market and into a small park. Elicia was situated in between Alice and Roy and held two of Roy's fingers in one tiny hand while Alice grasped onto the other. To unknowing passers-by, they looked like the perfect little family, except, of course, Elicia looked nothing like either of her "parents." The conversation was light as they walked until Elicia let go of the adults' hands and turned to face them.
"Aunty Alice? Uncle Roy? Why don't you act like my Mommy and Daddy do?"
"Well, sweetheart, Uncle Roy and I aren't married like your Mommy and Daddy are..." The little girl cocked her head to the side in confusion. Alice fumbled to try to explain to the little girl the situation. "Well, um, uh..."
"But Daddy said that Uncle Roy found a nice, pretty girl... And that's you, Aunty Alice!" Alice blushed slightly at the little girl's compliment.
"Thank you, sweetie, but uh..." Alice stood there, trying to figure out how to explain everything.
"Daddy was right, Elicia." Alice felt a warm hand cup the side of her face, and she blushed instantly when she saw that the hand belonged to Roy. Roy moved his face closer to hers and gave her a very tender kiss on the lips before glancing back at the little girl.
Elicia smiled widely at the display. "Wh-what?" Alice mumbled, beet red.
"I figured that it'd be quicker and easier than trying to explain. Besides, it seemed appropriate," Roy replied with a wink and a smirk, which Alice couldn't see because she had suddenly become extremely interested in a nearby light post.
"Roy!" Roy cringed instinctively, looking to the ground and suddenly mumbling profane things under his breath while Elicia's eyes lit up.
"Daddy! Daddy, Daddy, can I come play with Aunty Alice and Uncle Roy more often?"
Alice's eyes shot up toward where Elicia was directing her voice, making eye contact with another man in blue military uniform. "Roy, you and that girlfriend of yours look so cute with Elicia that you almost rival her, me, and Gracia!"
The man skidded to a stop, picking up his daughter and greeting her mushily before introducing himself. "Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes. You must be the Alice Ackerman that Havoc speaks so fondly of. It's a pleasure to meet you, and I'm so happy you took care of my darling today!"
"Um, uh, nice to meet you, sir."
"She's perfect, Roy! See, Alice has all the qualities that I was talking to you about-"
"Hughes. Goddamnit, I can make my own decisions regarding that aspect of my life."
The man gave a light smack to the side of the colonel's head, saying, "Don't you dare say that when my daughter is in earshot!"
Alice chuckled lightly, noticing that the sun was beginning to go down on the horizon. "Gentlemen, I beg your pardon, but I must be going home now. Elicia, darling," Alice leaned in, keeping her voice low, as if she was sharing a secret with the child, "You can't tell anyone, but if you come over and visit me again, I'll give you lessons for free."
Elicia's eyes lit up, and she said, "R-really, Aunty?"
"Of course; but it's our secret, so don't go around telling everyone!" Elicia's eyes widened, and Alice pressed a finger to the girl's lips, whispering, "Shhh."
"Thank you for the privilege of watching your daughter. And Roy... try not to be quite so forward next time." The last sentence was said with a chuckle, but just thinking about the kiss he had given her made Alice tremble. Roy smirked kindly at the woman. Alice began to walk homeward with Staccato in her basket when she heard Hughes' voice behind her.
"Roy! You are awful! How could you let such a lovely young woman walk home alone at night? You are a terrible boyfriend!"
"Shut up, Hughes! No one asked you!" Roy fired back. Alice couldn't help but giggle at the two men arguing.
"It's a wonder that she's even keeping you if you act like that. Right, Elicia?" Hughes tickled his little girl and hoisted her up onto his shoulders. "And here I thought you were a gentleman."
Needless to say, Roy caught up to Alice. "You really don't have to walk me home if you don't want to, you know," Alice informed the man as he came up beside her.
"It's no trouble. Beside, Hughes is right. It's not safe for a woman like you to be out alone at night." Alice raised her eyebrow. "I'm in the military. I know what horrors are out there. And I can assure you that you wouldn't want to face them."
"And you're going to protect me from these 'horrors?'" Alice asked in a quiet, joking tone.
Roy straightened up a bit and gave his best smile. "That's the plan, Alice. That's the plan..."
"That's sweet, Roy, but I think my horrors are the kind I have to get through myself."