I don't own FMA or the characters.


When the ballroom doors opened, it was bursting with life. Everybody who was anybody was there. All these anybodies knew everybody as well. There was a lively murmur about, mixing with the orchestra sounds. Heels clicking on the wooden floors, people dancing, and champagne glasses clinking. There was laughing, and gossiping, and hugging, and flirting everywhere.

Edward and Alphonse came in. Edward's usually golden mess for hair was pulled back, but his bangs still partially covered his eyes. He wore a crimson colored suit with a matching silk bow tie. Alphonse wore the exact same suit, though there were a few minor details that depicted them apart. Edward's cufflinks were made of gold, and had a Flamel engraved on each of them. Alphonse's cufflinks on the other hand were made of silver and had a knight's helmet engraved on it. They both stood in a corner, just watching everyone.

"Isn't this great, brother?" Alphonse was watching the band and people dancing in the middle. Waiters kept passing them with tasty looking treats on their trays. "And look at all the food!"

Edward smirked and kept watching the crowd. He recognized a good number of the people in the room. "Almost everybody here has been to our house at least once," he said, quite distracted.

"Oh, really?" Alphonse looked at his brother and scanned the crowd for familiar faces. "I guess some of them do look like I've seen them before. But then again, we always go to parties like these."

"I know," Ed replied. His golden eyes hardened a bit. "Once you get used to it, you see the fakeness of most."

Alphonse frowned and looked at his brother sadly, "some of them are really nice, though."

"Well, we all have to be nice to each other," Edward replied. "We all have some sort of connection with them and at some point, we will need them. But that doesn't mean I have to like them."

Before Alphonse could say anything, Winry approached them. "Hi!"

"Hi, Winry," Alphonse smiled. Edward said nothing and pretended she wasn't there.

"You look really nice," Alphonse complimented her.

Winry was wearing a fuchsia colored off shoulder dress. Her hair was also tied in a half pony-tail. Her blond hair fell with soft curls past her shoulders. It reminded Edward of the princess in that story book that librarian was offering to him.

She looks like that Aurora girl from Sleeping Beauty. Edward thought as he glanced at her. She looks… kinda cute, I guess. WAIT WHAT. He blushed at his thoughts.

"Ed, are you okay? You're red," Winry said. Alphonse looked at his brother.

"She's right, are you okay, brother? Do you have a fever?" Alphonse looked worried. "We should look for miss Riza."

"I'm okay!" Edward pouted and crossed his arms stubbornly. "It's just the reflection of my suit!" He defended.

Winry raised her eyebrow and crossed her arms as well. "How come Al isn't looking red, then?" She challenged.

Edward had steam coming out of his ears. He was really upset. Winry was pouting as well.

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND YOU STUPID GIRL," Edward stormed off.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING STUPID, SHORTY?" Winry bit back and stormed off as well.

Alphonse was left alone.

(((-)))

Maes, Gracia and Elicia were out socializing with the rest of the people. Social events like these are where big business partnerships and deals happen. Usually, Micha would also do some PR for her father and various foundations but not tonight.

She was slumped on a loveseat in a far corner of the ballroom with a champagne glass in one hand. She's been sitting there long enough for her champagne to go warm. She lazily watched everyone and didn't bother to even greet the people she knew who passed by. Daniel finally found her and took a seat next to her on the loveseat and watched her for a while. A bunch of people their age stopped by to say hello, but only Daniel greeted them back. They seemed quite offended that Micha didn't even bother to look their way. Daniel noticed and made something up he thought might work.

"Don't mind her, she's depressed they don't have the champagne she wanted," Daniel whispered.

The two teenagers were shocked and one of them was very sympathetic.

"How sad," the girl said and patted Micha's shoulder.

"Really, the least the organizer could have done was look at the list and see what drinks people like."

"I know! The other girl gushed as they both walked away. "Sometimes people just don't understand."

"I can't believe that worked," Johnny came over to them with Jadine in tow.

"Oh, please," Jadine giggled. "Those two are one of the spoildest people in here. They would throw a fit if the cheese they used in the quiche wasn't imported from Creta."

Daniel looked like a great revelation hit him. "So that's why they don't serve quiche anymore."

"How can you even tell if it was from Creta or not?" Johnny asked, incredulously.

Jadine shrugged and looked at Micha. "It's really not that bad, you know. I bet Jean and Maria are already consulting your PR team about it," she tried to coax her friend.

Micha looked at them miserably. "Dad isn't happy about it."

"He knows?" Daniel asked. Micha looked over to the balcony and the three of them followed suit. Roy was outside, looking quite stressed and talking to someone on the phone.

Micha looked away and spotted Riza sitting alone in a table. She had some food on her plate, but she wasn't eating any of it. One could say that she was watching the orchestra but Micha knew she was just spacing out. Something weird happened and she wasn't even sure what it was about. She didn't even know why it was bothering her so much. If this happened a few weeks ago, she wouldn't even care.

The orchestra changed the song and played something slow and romantic. Johnny and Jadine left them to go for a dance and so Daniel and Micha were left sitting together.

He stood up and extended his hand to her, "would you like to dance?" He smiled a small smile. In this light, his eyes were gleaming and the shade of green was absolutely mesmerizing.

Micha looked at him. Her small eyes drifted to his hand. "Come on, you know you want to. You love this song," Daniel grinned.

Micha saw her father come in and run his fingers through his hair. He didn't look very happy and she didn't want to be in the same area he was right now. So, she took Daniel's hand and followed him to the dance floor.

Black locks were falling out of place as Roy ran his fingers through his hair. He let out an exasperated sigh. "Jean, you better fix this," he muttered.

"Hey, Roy!" A man his age approached him with a wine glass on his left. Roy looked and mustered a smile. It was one of his college friends. He was a little bit taller than Roy, he had messy brownish-red hair and blue eyes.

"Hey, how're you?" Roy asked and shook his hand.

"I'm doing great!" His friend replied with a big smile. He put one hand in his pocket, "I'm uh… I'm actually getting married soon."

Roy was shocked and it was clear in his dark eyes. "Congratulations!" He pulled his friend into a quick hug and tapped his shoulder. "Wow. I never thought you would get married," he laughed.

"Oh come on, man. It's nothing like that," his friend replied and took a sip of his wine.

"We could never get you to date someone for more than a month!" Roy smirked. "You were a bigger player than I was in college."

"No one can beat the master, come on!" His friend had a sly grin on his face and asked him, "so, what about you? I heard you're dating someone now and it looks pretty serious."

Roy smirked, "serious enough to let the cameras get us." His friend laughed.

"Yeah, isn't that her?" He pointed over across the room. Riza was sitting on the table, talking to Gracia. There was a sudden pang of guilt that hit Roy hard in the chest. "Man, she is hot," his friend said looking at her. He put his arm around Roy's shoulder and pointed at Riza again. "She's a damn keeper, Roy. She seems great."

They were still watching her as Ed and Al ran over to Riza. Alphonse gave Riza a slice of cake and Edward took a tart from her plate. Riza laughed when Edward coughed it out.

"Yeah," Roy couldn't help but smile.

"Well," his friend let go of Roy as he saw Hughes coming toward them. "I would love to stay and chat but Maes is coming over and I do not want another photograph of his wife up my face even if she is a looker. I've had enough of that for the past 20 minutes. She you around, Roy." His friend left and met up with a girl that Roy was assuming was his fiancée. She was hot.

Maes approached Roy, "hey, was that Roger?" He looked over Roy's shoulder, trying to catch a glimpse of his old friend.

"Yeah, it was." Roy felt lighter now, and he couldn't take his eyes off Riza. She looked beautiful in that crimson gown. Her hair was tied in a loose bun, too. Micha let her borrow her diamond dangling earrings. It made Roy think that he should buy Riza a pair of her own.

Maes looked at where his buddy's gaze was fixed and a smug smile grew on his face. He put his arm around his friend and told him, "you should go and ask her to dance with you."

"Yeah, you think?" Roy wasn't even paying full attention to his best friend anymore. He couldn't help but notice how perfect Riza's teeth were. Or how the light hits her earrings and how it casts some light on her slender neck and shoulders.

"Yeah, you should," Maes knew that look. It was Roy's googly eyes look. But he didn't look like some love struck high school boy. He looked like he was mentally undressing her or sizing her up. People started looking at them cautiously.

Maes whispered to Roy, "you should stop looking at her like that. People think you're mentally raping her."

Roy snapped out of it and glared at Maes. He put his hands up, "I'm just saying. I've been talking to people how much of a good guy you are and you come in here, looking like you've got some perverted plans or something, geez."

"MAES." Roy looked angry, and the edge in his voice was telling his best friend to stop it.

Maes laughed a bit but looked at him sincerely, "let's not lie to each other, Roy. You love her."

Roy's facial expression changed from anger to shock and took a deep breath. "I don't know if I'm ready for that," He whispered. "I don't even think she feels the same."

"You could try," Maes smiled at him warmly. "Gracia told me she says nice things about you."

"She does?" Roy seemed genuinely shocked but pleased.

Maes nodded and said, "she thinks you're a great father. She was really impressed when you came straight home when Alphonse called you because Edward fell out of a tree," he chuckled a bit and put a hand on his best friend's shoulder. "She's a keeper and you know it. Don't let her slip out of your fingers, Roy. You'll never find someone like her." Maes looked over to their table and saw Riza tickling Edward. Roy saw it too. The boys looked at her with such affection. He couldn't even remember why he doesn't do the same.

Roy gave his best friend a quick hug before they both headed over to the table.

(((-)))

Gracia was holding Elicia on her lap while talking to Riza. She appreciated someone who was down to earth to talk to during events like these. "I usually dread these things," Gracia admitted quietly. "It's nice to have someone to talk to that isn't about the latest fur coat in the middle of summer."

Riza laughed and took a sip of her drink. "I'm still not used to these events," Riza sheepishly admitted. It felt just right to say something about it too since it seemed like Gracia was being completely honest. And she liked talking to Gracia. For someone who could afford the latest fur coat, she was glad that Gracia still appreciated sales in the local market and comfortable clothes for her children that weren't worth a minimum wage earner's monthly salary.

"Where's Maes?" Riza asked.

"Oh, he's probably getting more investors or sealing deals out there," Gracia laughed. "These events are the place to be if you're opening up a new business or if you want more funds for your foundation. It makes them feel better to give money to charity."

"Oh," was the only reply Riza could give. She didn't know if what Gracia said was a good thing or a bad thing. She didn't walk around the ballroom at all the whole night. She just sat herself down at the table and let the waiters put food and drinks in front of her. There were some people who approached her to talk to her. She was a new face. But people knew she was here with the Mustangs so no one dared to be rude to her.

Maes came up to his wife from behind and gave her cheek a quick kiss. "My love, will you dance with me?" He looked at her eyes so tenderly and gave her the softest smile.

Gracia chuckled for a bit, "okay, but… I don't want to leave Riza all alone here." Maes held her hand and kissed it. He looked at Riza and smiled.

"It's okay!" Riza said hastily, "please, go ahead. I'll take care of Elicia." Riza took Elicia from Gracia.

"Actually, I think Roy wants to dance with you too," Maes said, looking at Roy.

Riza stiffened and looked at Roy. She could feel the heat crawling to her cheeks.

"Yeah, you should!" Alphonse exclaimed happily. "We'll take care of Elica," he took Elicia from Riza, carefully. It was so cute. Elicia was covering most of Al's tiny body so he had to tilt his head to the side to be seen. "You can go," he grinned. "Brother, go dance with Winry," he pushed his brother off his chair, making Ed bump into Winry.

Before Edward could complain, Maes was already dragging him, his wife and daughter to the dance floor. He looked back at Roy and winked.

"I need to go potty," Elicia said.

"Okay, I'll take you," Alphonse said and hopped off the chair. He let Elicia down and held her hand while they made their way to the washroom.

So it was just Roy and Riza.


Thank you for reading and continuing to support this story. :) This chapter was originally 10+ pages long, so I decided to cut it into two chapters. I am currently working on the next one now! :) If you want to have a chat with my about my story, PM me on tumblr (azulish) or ask me anything! :)

Do leave a review my way. I believe your opinion is important for me to improve my writing and story. :)