"Lieutenant; I've been looking everywhere for you."

Turning at the voice behind her, Riza smiled. "You can't have been looking for long, sir; it's not so large a house that I could disappear for hours."

"Hey, I heard that! Don't insult my house, Hawkeye!" Maes' quipped as he passed by, Elicia firmly on his shoulders. Five minutes to midnight and still going strong, she giggled and waved at the two officers before reaching up toward the chandelier. Maes ducked just in time for her little fingers to miss their target.

Roy leaned forward, peering into the glass in Riza's hand. ". . . The hell are you drinking?"

"Orange juice, sir," she answered evenly, brown eyes going to the equally brown liquid in his glass. "I took the chance that you might need a ride home; nice to see that I still have good instincts."

"As long as they don't detract from your aim." Roy raised his glass to her, then took a sip. Riza did the same from hers, the two of them falling into silence, looking out over the room.

Havoc and Breda sat at the dining room table, hunched over the latter's portable chess set. Lieutenant General Grumman stood behind Havoc's chair, occasionally pointing to a piece and suggesting a move. Maes was in the midst of a group of his co-workers, laughing as Gracia tried to coax their daughter down from his shoulders. Elicia, however, was now too busy staring almost eye to eye with a smiling Major Armstrong to heed her mother. Falman and Fuery were in discussion with two others from Maes' command, sitting on chairs to one side of the refreshments table.

Roy's gaze settled on Grumman, and he frowned. "Hawkeye? What's the Lieutenant General doing here?"

The blonde Lieutenant paused thoughtfully. "I believe he mentioned that Lieutenant Colonel Hughes has been helping him with his will; they've become friends because of it."

"His will? He's not sick, is he?"

Smiling again, Riza took another sip of her drink. "No, sir. Just getting on in years." Her eyes roamed the room again, lighting briefly on the other members of their office. "Not to sound rude, sir, but perhaps you can tell me why the others in your command were invited, sir? I wasn't aware they had a connection to the Lieutenant Colonel."

Roy shrugged. "It's more that they have a connection to me, and I have a connection to Maes," he said. "He knows them through me, and vice versa. Besides, it's not really the same if they're not here."

"I suppose the more, the merrier," Riza agreed.

"Your attention, everyone!" Armstrong's voice boomed out over the room. Elicia jerked backward, startled, and immediately went to her mother. "It is now thirty seconds to midnight. If you could all gather around the nearest timepiece, we will begin the final countdown to the new year!"

There was a flurry of movement as people moved to clocks scattered around the room on practically every available surface. Roy pulled Riza to one side, fishing in his pocket and producing his alchemist's pocketwatch. Grinning at his lieutenant, he popped the cover open. "I think this is the closest one for you and I."

She took the glass from his hand, setting it and hers on a low table beside them. "Very considerate of you, sir. Twenty seconds, I believe."

For ten seconds, there was complete silence, before thirty-someodd voices spoke in unison. "Ten . . . nine . . . eight . . . seven . . . ."

"Pity that Fullmetal and his brother couldn't make it," Roy commented off-handedly, dark eyes watching every stoke of the second hand. "They missed a perfectly good party."

"Three . . . two . . . one . . . Happy New Year!"

Maes seized his wife and daughter and yelled, above the cheering, "Kiss 'em if you got 'em!" Embracing them both, he lapsed into a bout of kissing that left his men and little girl laughing.

Closing the watch with a snap, Roy tucked it back in his pocket. "Well, that's that. 1915 is here."

"Let's hope it goes a little more smoothly than 1914," Riza said drily, folding her hands behind her back. She looked up at him . . . and paused. ". . . Something wrong, sir?"

"Lieutenant, you've been closer and stayed closer to me than anyone else I know," Roy said abruptly, speaking quietly and quickly. "And I do believe the Lieutenant Colonel said to 'kiss 'em if you got 'em.' You've got my back . . . ergo, me."

Riza lifted an eyebrow. "Taking orders from lower-ranking officers, are you, sir? Especially one that suggests fraternization?"

"It's New Year's, Lieutenant." He smirked. "It doesn't count for that. Now, before anyone notices and doesn't share that point of view?"

At an agreeing nod, he leaned down, and pressed his lips against hers. For the briefest of moments, her hand touched his, and then all contact was broken as Roy stood straight once again . . . to complete silence.

Riza looked at the room of people. ". . . You took too long, sir," she murmured, just loud enough for him to hear. "They noticed."