Military Ball

OneShot. EdWin & RoyRiza.

"Aw, C'mon. Don't tell me Fullmetal here isn't manly enough to go to a national holiday ball with a date."

"Haha. I think he's too scared since he knows that he'll never find a date shorter than him."

Ed couldn't help but twitch and turn at that last comment. "What did you just say?!" He demanded, his tone deadly. Everyone knew he didn't like being mentioned with his height.

"Big brother..." Al, besides him warned. He knew Ed's temper when it came to that "sensitive topic". Ed drew out a deep breath and frowned. You'd think fighting for survival in battles was enough, but he also had to suffer the taunts his co-workers constantly cooked up. He sighed and glared up at the ceiling. It was just another ordinary day in the military.

Around him, the usual group sat in Roy Mustang's office, chatting about a huge upcoming ball. With things being so serious, the head group decided to slightly loosen that tense atmosphere and was willing to throw a party to celebrate another "successful" year in the military. All who worked for the military were required to go, but with a date of their choosing. Challenges and friendly rumors began spreading, and the hallways of the huge military building were crowded with excitement.

"What? Are you saying that you're a man? Men actually have a woman they love and protect!" Roy Mustang muttered. He looked at his stack of papers, wondering where Lieutenant Risa was to help him.

"Oh? You're one to talk, Mustang." One of the officers remarked. A couple of other officers that surrounded the desk chuckled. Coyly, the fire alchemist shot the officer, who had made the keen joke, a sharp glare and the officer immediately quieted his own laughter.

"I..I do love someone! And she's...She's drop dead beautiful." The blonde haired boy hurried to finish his bold declaration. The last words were a bit slurred, but everyone caught them. A blush formed onto the young alchemist's face. He was mentally cursing at himself for just admitted something so secret.

"Oh yeah?" The whole room quieted for the short alchemist.

"Yeah." He countered back. He knew he couldn't afford stuttering.

"Why don't you prove it, you little bean?" The flame alchemist sneered.

"Is that a challenge?" Ed started, his head tilting to get a better angle of Mustang within the crowd of militia.

"Yesh it ish, yu wittle 'man'." Roy teased in a funny voice; the voice that you'd used when you were talking to an infant or an adorable pet.

A throbbing vein was immediately visible in Ed's left temple and Ed clenched his fist, his right eye twitching.

"You won't be talking like that when I wipe that smirk off your face, you dateless colonel. And where's your woman?" Ed snapped.

"You'll see," Roy Mustang continued to smirk.

But in reality, he was sweating inside. Both of the arguing alchemists soon settled down, but when turned away from each other, their faces were a wreck.

'Shit,' They both thought. What were they going to do? The ball was in a week. How were they supposed to gather up their "manly" guts and ask out the love of their lives?

--

And that's why Ed was here. Al besides him was restraining not to chuckle at his older brother's decision. His metal armor clanked beside's his older brother as they stopped in front of the path to the Rockbell house.

'Haha. How did I know? Of course he'd choose Winry,' Al thought. He had always known that his older brother was in love with Winry. But who knew that a simple egoistic challenge would make him admit it? And actually finally DO something about it?

But besides him, his older brother was thinking along different lines. 'This is probably a waste of time; we should be looking for that stone.'

Ed suddenly twitched as he suddenly heard Roy Mustang interrupt his thoughts with that annoying voice again: "Is the wittle 'man' going to back down?"

Shaking in newfound anger, the young alchemist glared determinedly at the path before him. It was now or never.

"C'mon. Lets go Al."

--

And that was three days ago. Winry sat down idly at one of the chairs in the ballroom. Her hands folded around each other as she waited for Ed to come back. Al wasn't in the ballroom since he had decided to stay at the Rockbell house to do more studying on alchemy. He had laughed and said that ballroom dancing wasn't really his "thing" and told the two blondes to enjoy their time.

But Winry was dressed up and nervous. She had decided to accept Ed's offer and here she was: dazzling and beautiful. Though it wasn't her style to put so much effort into her looks, she told herself that she could willingly opposed her nature just for one night. With her strapless and long dress wrapped around her, the young teenager had also applied a bit of makeup to match the dim black clothing that had befitted her curves so perfectly.

She stared at the empty chair next to her and began to daze out; remembering Ed's proposal to her that had occurred three short days ago. She slightly smiled as she remembered her reaction:

'WHAT?! You're asking me to go with you to a formal military celebration?!' The young girl screeched in amazement. The two brothers would usually never have her involved with the military; they usually even tried limiting her from her visits with them while traveling.

"Y-yeah," The young alchemist in front of her couldn't help but stutter. His eyeballs lit in alarm when Winry picked up her wrench again. She had dropped it when he had suddenly asked her. She turned her attention away the uncomfortable short teen and began tinkling with the automail she was working on again.

"This is some sort of joke, right?" She muttered, focusing on the piece of metal in front of her. With her back toward him, Ed couldn't see the frown she was omitting.

"N-no! This is a required thing. I have to bring...someone with me to the holiday celebration," Ed explained.

"...You mean like a date?" The blonde mechanic asked in curiosity. When she turned around and discovered the huge blush that had formed on Ed's face, she couldn't help but redden also. There was her answer.

"Haha. Yes, Winry. Exactly the idea," An older women's voice answered behind the suddenly startled Ed. The two blonde's flushed even more as Granny coyly looked at Ed and then to Winry. Ed only meekly nodded.

"S-so. Uh, will you go?"

"Yeah, I guess," Winry gave out a slight smile. It was awkward, but after that brief answer, Granny Pinako soon left the room cackling in approval and Ed quietly said, "Great. Then I'll pick you up in three days." '

--

Winry's memory was interrupted when a group of military men in formal suits came around and greeted her. One asked her for a dance, but politely, the dressed up mechanic timidly refused. And that's when someone piped up in the group:

"Hey- Where's Fullmetal? I wanna see his date."

Before Winry could register and reply to that statement, other men in the group continued and answered.

"I can't believe he's actually interested in a girl, much less love one."

"Haha! Yeah! Man, when he claimed that the woman he loved was drop dead beautiful, I was pretty shocked."

" So was everyone. My god, I can't wait to see Colonel's date too! Alchemist these days are so damn prideful."

"Heh. That's what makes them so fun to screw around with."

"…Hey look over there. Another hot girl."

The group continued their way, chuckling and chatting as they reached the punch ball and stayed there, leaving a confused Winry staring at the tiled floor spot they had just left in front of her. Ed loved a "drop dead beautiful" woman? Her heart suddenly sunk. Not knowing what to do, the poor blonde continued to wait, hoping for Ed to come back soon and explain everything to her. But the more she thought on and on about Ed with some mysterious well-toned, well-endowed "drop-dead beautiful" woman, she began to frown and grow depressed. She looked to the doorway Ed had escaped to; telling her to wait as he claimed to go into the restroom.

'Maybe...maybe this was a joke.' The confused mechanic thought. It did seem a bit too good to be true when the love of her life asked her to go with him to a important celebration ball. It now seemed silly to think the blond teenager boy would have any feelings for her. Slowly, after that thought occurred, Winry stood up. She suddenly couldn't stand all the happy couples and waltzing music around her. Picking up her long black dress, she calmly walked out into the far off end of the ballroom and quickly entered the deserted, but beautiful garden.

She walked to the center of the large and blooming garden; a water-sprouting cherub fountain awaited her. She stopped and gripped the side walls of the water filled cement wonder. Her eyes lowered as she stared at herself through the fountain's reflection. She glared at herself; feeling stupid that she had dressed up for no reason.

--

Ed pushed open the large wooden door and stepped back out into the ballroom. He had told Winry to wait for him as he quickly ran to the restroom. The young alchemist slid close to the wall next to him and looked around. Where was Winry? He glanced around the area in which Winry had promised to stay seated at, but all he could see were the group of military men that had heard his declaration of challenge a week earlier ago. They were joking around at the punch bowl and chuckling at each other's lame jokes.

Ed turned his sight elsewhere and could see Roy with Lieutenant Hawkeye. His eyebrows rose as he noticed that the Colonel didn't have his date near him. Smirking in acknowledgement, the teenage boy walked over to tease the annoying flame alchemist.

"Oi! Where's your love-of-your-life date, Colonel?" Ed grinned. His grin widened when he saw surprise in the colonel's eyes.

The flame alchemist looked up and glanced at the alchemist boy in front of him.

"Ah, if it isn't the shrimp. Watch and learn, kid."

Feeling confident, he beckoned for Lt. Hawkeye to come over.

In wonder, both Ed and Lt. Hawkeye stared as Roy stood up from his chair. Turning to his left, where Lt. Hawkeye stood, he quickly lowered his head and tenderly lowered his lips to hers, gave her a long and sensual kiss. Ed stood there in shock as he witnessed Mustang's scene.

As the two broke apart after the kiss, Lt. Hawkeye immediately mumbled in confusion, "S-Sir?"

Smirking, the flame alchemist stated, "This is an order. You must answer this question fully and honestly, Lt.!"

Once hearing the command, by reaction, the elegant woman clicked her heels together and saluted.

"On my military honor, Sir!" Lt. Hawkeye looked up at Colonel with a serious face, but her expression faltered when she saw him chuckle.

"Do you love me more than just a Colonel you have to guard..Riza?" Immediately the woman stiffened. Her face was speechless as her mouth unusually hung open a bit.

Ed continued to stand there, watching as the two gazed at each other. Finally, after a few moments of silence, he tore away from the "dramatic" scene and began to search for Winry again. But before he was entirely out of hearing range, from behind, he heard Mustang's booming voice again.

"Good. 'Cause I love you too, Riza."

--

"Winry?"

The blond mechanic turned to the direction where her name was called. But as quickly as she turned her head, she regretted it. Standing there, was the main source of her constant worries, Ed. His dark outfit seemed not so different from his usual clothes, but still, seeing him in a tux made Winry intake a breath. She watched as he approached her, unsure.

"Winry?" He repeated. Her baby blue eyes met his golden eyes and slowly, his arm reached for hers. Their fingers intertwined as they both stared up meaningful at each other.

Winry was amazingly beautiful. In his eyes, Ed couldn't have imagined a better dress for her. Her pale skin reflected the round moon above them and her eyes were dazzling into his. The soft and silk fabric dress that wrapped around her curves showed and complimented her long strands of blonde hair. Sighing, Ed stopped his thoughts and asked, "Winry, what's wrong?"

Winry shuddered in her alluring dress as she felt his breath so close to her delicate skin. Her thoughts of replying were blocked by her resisting to just close the spaces between them and kiss. But as much as she wanted to do that, she snapped out of her dreamy daze and tried to focus away. Her thoughts earlier when she was alone returned and her expression turned sour.

"I- I can't believe you." Winry glared at the nearest flowers in the garden; the blue violets to her far left, hoping the scene would calm her. No matter what, she couldn't find it in her heart to believe that the love of her life was attracted to some other woman. What if he went...far with this woman? Her being "drop dead beautiful" image didn't help things. Winry had never even experienced a first kiss before. She had always wanted to share it with Ed. How was she supposed to handle knowing that Ed was having some sort of romance in his day to day work in the military?

The thoughts were driving Winry insane. She knew she was a bit jealous, but she knew the most pain in her came from doubt. Why, at least, didn't Ed and Al ever tell her about this woman during their return trips back? Was that why they rarely came to visit her? It hurt her to know that they truly did block out their lives from her.

"Huh? Can't believe me in what?" Ed asked back confused. His eyes showed that he was even more curious when Winry turned her attention away from the violets to him.

"Why didn't you ask out the woman you like in the military?" She demanded.

Ed's eyes widened and Winry took that as a bad sign. She suddenly felt cold all over. Her vision became blurry and she could feel tears swimming in the brim of her eyes, close to releasing themselves into tiny droplets. The tip of her nose was starting to sting, and she knew she was close to breaking down. She couldn't help herself as she buried her face into the front of his tux. Ed frowned as he felt her grip to his suit.

"What woman?" He could feel Winry shuddering. With a worried expression, he wrapped his arms tightly around her and pulled her close to him.

Winry let loose the waterworks. Was Ed so cold to her that he couldn't even admit it to her?

"This woman that those group of military men were talking about. This-this "drop-dead beautiful" woman," the poor mechanic hiccupped as she emphasized her words. She felt so..heartbroken.

But Ed in turn, blushed. Oh dear god.

"W-Winry. I..," Ed stopped to stare down at her. He lightly brought her chin up so she could face him. Her tear stained eyes poured into him and he stuttered again.

"I...you..Win-, the woman they were t-talking about was you," the young alchemist quickly glanced away as soon as his bold words left his mouth. Dammit, he had his pride.

But as fate would let him, Winry gasped at his confirmination and a rush of held back emotions overwhelmed her.

Seeing his face redden, the blond haired girl brought up her slender fingers to his cheek and began lightly stroking his soft skin. The moonlight above them lightened up the atmosphere but Winry couldn't help but mutter out his name.

"Ed..."

"Y-yeah?"

"So you weren't...having a affair with another woman?"

"No! Why would I do that? I-I...I love you too much to even look at another girl."

Suddenly taking in his bright red face, Winry shyly smiled. She leaned in and gave him a peck on the cheek. But to her shock, before she could pull away, the young alchemist grabbed her wrists and planted his own gentle kiss on her. Her cheeks were tinted pink as she made a surprised noise; Winry felt his emotions as he firmly pressed his lips against hers. Their tongues overlapped and their lips collided again and again. But soon a strong breeze whipped past the two and Winry shuddered.

Taking the hint, Ed gave a soft grin as he kissed her fully one last time before leading her back into the ballroom. The loud splashes of the sprouting streams of the water fountain were slowly dying as they exited the large and inspiring garden.

Confident, Ed cleared his throat and asked Winry for her arm when they entered back into the warm and cheerful celebration room. Smiling, she gladly took accepted his arm, glad that she loved him, and so did he.

Couples waltzed around them, but the two slowly forgot their surroundings as they lost themselves into each other's eyes. Step by step, the young lovers glided on the smooth, marble floor and through the happy cheering, Roy Mustang's loud and arrogant voice echoed through the room.

"Miss, try not to step on him!"

The crowded room gave out a round of laughter, but before the short "man" could retort back, Winry leaned in kissed him, silencing the rude words that were about to spill. As their feet below them swept in sync with the calming music around them, the whole ballroom military whistled, whooped, and cheered as their kiss went deeper and deeper, showing the love of a woman and her man.

THE END

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