Author's Notes: Thanks everybody for being so very patient with me! I didn't get any death threats or angry messages, so I guess you held up alright! I'll save the rest of my blabbering for the end though. But first; A big thank you to my sweet beta reader Yoky! –air glomp- This story would be nothing without your mad skills!

-oo00oo-

Mustang began to panic. What could he say? Riza would kill him if he didn't have a good reason for making her stay. He'd only asked her in an attempt to get the old Riza back, to try and close the gap that had settled between them. But something like that couldn't be put into words easily at the best of times, and at the moment his mind was clouded with painkillers forced down his throat by hospital staff.

"I – ah…" He glanced up at Riza, who sat with perfect posture, looking ahead at the glittering Christmas tree. Even in the bleak hospital lighting the ornaments sparkled, catching the dim light and reflecting it on the whitewashed ceiling and beige walls.

Riza shifted in her chair and checked her watch. "Four minutes and thirty seconds, sir." She said, sounding as if it was taking every once of her strength not to shoot something.

"I just wanted to…say thanks." Mustang said meekly. The words sounded more pathetic out loud then they did in his head.

"You're welcome." Riza looked like she didn't mean it one bit. "If that's all, sir?" She began to stand, seeming relieved that she could leave.

"No." Mustang's abruptness startled even himself. Riza looked slightly taken aback, but settled again in her chair. "Yes?" She asked curtly, beginning to examine the cuff of her sleeve

Mustang cleared his throat, half regretting speaking up at all. He was desperate to a start a conversation, anything to get her talking, so that he could at least try and get things back to normal, now matter how much he doubted that it could be done.

"…About what happened tonight Hawkeye," It was the only subject that came to mind, he was too tired to come up with anything else.

"Good, I've been meaning to talk to you about that." Riza said, with the hint of an anxious tone to her voice.

Mustang felt a lurch of excitement. Finally Hawkeye was going to say something, something she obviously had been waiting all night to bring up.

Riza crossed her arms and fixed him with a stern look. "What exactly were you doing sleeping in the graveyard on Christmas Eve? It looks a little suicidal, if you'll allow me to be so blunt."

Her words left Roy speechless. What exactly had he been hoping for? Confessions of undying love? Whatever it was, it hadn't been what she'd said. "I just…fell asleep." He muttered, as if that explained it.

"That was very foolish of you, sir. Anything could have happened. Don't the attacks on state alchemists worry you? You could have been kil-"

Before Hawkeye could finish her lecture, the door swung open and a platinum blond nurse in a uniform two sizes too small stepped in. She smiled widely, revealing perfect white teeth framed by large ruby red lips. Completely ignoring Riza, the woman slinked past her and settled on the edge of Mustang's bed.

"You need some medicine on that of adorable face of yours, colonel; it got a little frozen out there." She giggled in a playful voice, squirting a thick blob of cream from a small tube onto her finger tip.

Mustang's eyes swept over the woman's figure instinctively before he caught himself and looked away. She was certainly attractive, but he was too distracted by Riza to pay very much notice. The nurse picked up on his inattention and responded by scooting a little closer next to him. She leaned in so close to Mustang that they were much less then a foot apart, and her face was just inches from his. He looked down his nose cross-eyed at her as she began to massage the cream in, but jerked back quickly as one of her long red fingernails narrowly avoided his eye.

"You like my manicure?" She twittered gleefully, wiggling her fingers with a flourish.

"You could put an eye out." Mustang smirked. "Then all your good looks would go to waste…"

The nurse giggled with delight. "We wouldn't want that. I'll just be very, very careful…" She raised her hand, but Roy caught her wrist and lowered her arm gently back to her side. "No, don't trouble yourself with this, why don't you come back a little later…?" He tilted his head to the side to indicate Riza, who had begun polishing her handgun in her lap. "Let her finish up with this stuff."

The nurse smiled again. "I'll be back soon." She said with a wide grin, tossing the topical medicine at Riza carelessly on her way out the door.

Hawkeye caught the tube and looked questioningly at Roy, who forced what he hoped was a sheepish smile. At last he had her alone, he could try to talk to her again – even if he still wasn't sure what he wanted to say or how he could say it.

Wordlessly, Riza leaned in and began rubbing the cream onto his nose with more force then was necessary, keeping her eyes adverted from his.

"Look, lieutenant," Roy began, his throat suddenly drying up.

Riza's eyes darted up instinctively before she looked down again. She nodded once to acknowledge that she heard him.

"There's something that I've wanted to say to your for a very long time, and tonight I realized that if I don't say it soon, then I might never be able to."

She looked up again, meeting his gaze and holding it. "What is it, sir?" She asked, pausing in the middle of working the cream onto his left cheek.

Mustang took a minute to survey her, unsure of what he was about to do. She'd be mad - she'd probably shoot him and then chew him out for not finishing his paper work as he lay bleeding to death. But it will be worth it. He decided, and before he could change his mind again, he closed the distance between them and pulled Riza into a kiss.

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her warm, sweet smelling body close to his, taking in the soft scent of strawberries and the light flavor of vanilla on her lips. It was more wonderful then he had ever imagined it to be, more perfect and satisfying then any kiss before.

From somewhere far off came a shrill wolf whistle. Mustang snapped back to reality and looked over Riza's shoulder to see Jean Havoc leaning casually on the door frame, a wide grin on his face. "Kissing colonels. Oo-la-la." He snickered, stepping into the room. "Nice one chief! I was wondering if you two would ever hook up!"

Riza whipped her head around so quickly that her hair clip collided with Mustang's nose.

Roy ignored the shooting pain and began mentally preparing himself for the fireworks that were undoubtedly about to follow. Havoc would be lucky if he only got off with a round of bullets in the foot.

Riza stood calmly and tugged at the hem of her jacket to straighten it. "I'll be leaving now sir, Gracia is waiting." The hint of a smile danced in her eyes, though her lips were as straight and thin as ever. "I'll see you tomorrow for Christmas dinner." She nodded a goodbye to Havoc and turned out the door. The sound of her heavy boots on the tile floor echoed as she walked away down the hall, until they at last faded into nothing.

"Did you want something, lieutenant? Or did you just drop in to enforce the fraternization laws?" Roy asked dryly. Half of him was singing a victory song for at last kissing his first lieutenant. The other half had begun plotting violent ways for Jean Havoc to suffer a long and painful death.

Havoc snorted and took up Riza's chair, sitting on it backwards so that his chest rested where his back normally would have. "Nah, I was on my way to a date and decided to stop by." He said smugly, putting extra emphasis on the word 'date'.

Mustang wasn't really listening, the kiss had begun to reply in his head and he had lost himself in it. He could almost feel Riza's arms around him again and the smell of strawberries still lingered in the air, a sweet escape from the harsh aroma of the hospital disinfectants and cleaners.

"-and so I was thinking Susie and I would probably go back to her apartment and -" Havoc droned on, blissfully unaware that his audience of one wasn't paying him any attention.

Mustang smiled faintly. Maybe his dream hadn't been a compete waste - even if it was unrealistic. The guilt of Ishbal and the death of Hughes still lingered, he knew it always would. But now, with Riza; the shadows of his past might be a little more bearable.

"Are you going to eat those cookies?" Havoc had stopped bragging about his plans for the evening and was pointing to a plate of frosted sugar cookies that Gracia had left on the bedside table.

Roy glanced over and shrugged. Havoc picked up the plate and a piece of paper fluttered to the tiled floor. He set the plate down again and leaned over to pick it up. Mustang craned his neck to see as Havoc straightened up again to examine his find.

"You shouldn't leave your girly pictures lying around where Hawkeye can find them." Havoc scolded teasingly, smirking at the photograph.

Mustang groaned and snatched it from him. It took him a minute to register who the occupants of the picture were. As he'd suspected, Havoc had been joking about the nature of the image. Three people stood at the foot of a staircase that had been decorated in garlands. Gracia Hughes held a beaming Elicia in her arms, and in the back…

Roy held the picture closer to get a better look. The person standing slightly behind Gracia was unmistakably himself, dressed in street clothes that weren't his own and half smiling.

He blinked his eyes several times to make sure that he wasn't hallucinating. "Havoc, look at that and tell me what you see." He asked blankly, handing the picture to him.

Havoc took it and looked at it again. "It's you and Mrs. Hughes and her kid." Shrugging, he handed it back.

Mustang looked down once more. It wasn't possible, it didn't make any sense – it even went against the laws of science – and yet there it was, he was holding it in his hands. He felt a chill run up his spine. Maybe it was best not to question it.

Havoc took a cookie from the plate and bit into it. "Where'b it comeb fromb?" He asked with his mouth full, sending crumbs flying down his uniform front.

"It's just…" Roy paused for a minute before answering. He thought he had an idea where the picture had come from, as crazy and impossible as it was. "…A Christmas present." He finished, feeling himself smile. "A Christmas present from an old friend."

The. End.

-oo00oo-

A farewell rant from the author:

I hope everybody is at least satisfied with the end of the story. If you're more then satisfied then that's just an added bonus, and if you're not satisfied at all - then take it up with my publisher. (a.k.a. my alter ego and invisible goth twin Shaina.))

I'd like to add the following to my disclaimer:

Riza's strawberry perfume was –cough- borrowed from a oneshot by Pickles The Great. Hope you don't mind Pickles, I added it in on a whim and I ended up keeping it because it just seemed to fit so well! Havoc's moment wrecking line about 'kissing colonels' I stole and altered from the movie 'Just Visiting'. It probably seemed random, but that's because it was yet another inside joke with myself.
Anyway; Hope you've enjoyed this fan fiction! I'm so very grateful for everyone who reviewed or added it to their lists or just plain old read it! Thanks guys!! –airs hugs- See you around I hope!

-Naideana

PS. Wait! Don't go yet! If you were gonna write a final review, could you tell me what your favorite chapter was and why? Just for fun? And then mention if there was anything that you think I could improve on? (not like rewriting this story, just in general) If you could it'd be great, but you certainly don't have to!