Soldier Keep On Marching On

A Ball Of A Time

"I still can't believe they gave us two weeks. Just two! Do they know how long it takes for women to decide on even the smallest thing? Too long! And they think two weeks is enough time to find a dress, matching heels, and date while also living a militaristic lifestyle?"

Winry, Riza, and Gracia shared amused expressions as Aiden paced and rambled back and forth across the room. As the one's who knew her the longest, Riza and Gracia knew she was being overdramatic. The three had faced shorter deadlines with less to work with. They all remembered the Winter Solstice celebration of 1912. Winry, being the youngest of the women and still a teenager respectively, felt a lot of pressure attending a military event. But seeing Aiden grumble about this or that oddly relaxed and entertained her mind (ironically) from the ball only hours away.

The women were seated in the Hughes' house as they waited for the men to pick them up. Little Elicia had been around early enough for Gracia to allow a small amount of blush on the toddler's cheeks before she was picked up by one of her florist friends for the evening.

As they waited Aiden paused and took the chance to look herself over in the mirror. She wore a simple black dress resting at her knees and shawl to cover her shoulders. Her feet were covered in black flats. The long black hair that she'd grown while on the run and in the hospital had been cut to inches below her shoulders and pulled into a neat bun atop her head. She wore very little makeup aside from lip gloss and eyeshadow. 

Riza had decided upon an almost floor-length red dress, a slit near her left leg that Aiden didn't doubt Riza would use for easy access to the gun strapped to her thigh. Her long blonde hair was pulled up with two red flowery chopsticks. She'd forgone makeup and honestly, it worked for her. Her heels were red with a two-inch boost. Another concealable weapon choice.

Gracia found one of her old dresses that she hadn't worn in a while. Periwinkle with only one strap, it reached her shins. It was hard to find shoes that matched in color, as the old ones had been worn too much and had to be thrown out, but they did it. An almost periwinkle color with a small heel to them. The girls all gushed on how the pink shade complimented Gracia's eyes. There was nothing they could do with her short hair.

Newest to the idea of military functions and balls, Winry needed help. Through a combined effort the three women managed to wrangle the tomboy into a light blue knee-length dress. The color was chosen to match her eyes. From there they tied her hair into a ponytail and went over the most basic makeup they could by just enhancing her natural features. Winry followed Riza's lead and went with a two-inch gain on her black heels.

The bell rung and Winry squeaked. Gracia smiled and answered the door as the other three gathered their coats, or in Aiden's case her shawl, and followed her.

"My! Don't you men look dashing!" Garcia exclaimed.

Out in the hallway were their dates dressed in their finest military attire meant only for events such as this. Aiden grinned and followed Gracia out the door, stepping up to Roy. His hair was slicked back, a hat in the crook of his elbow, and his signature black coat over his military wear. 

"I haven't seen you look this formal in a while," Aiden teased.

Roy smiled and raised a single eyebrow. "And it's been even longer since you last decided to wear a dress this lovely. Gracia's doing?"

Aiden almost felt the need to be offended at the accusation that she couldn't find and put on a decent dress alone. "Nope! Did this all by myself. Gracia did do the eyeshadow, which I will admit to."

Their eyes were drawn to the others and the two watched as Gracia blushed under Maes's praises and Riza smiled at Jean's attempts at flirting. Aiden blinked. What did that happen? A shine of golden hair caught her attention and she watched as Edward awkwardly interacted with Winry, who was just as bashful. Al seemed to be having no problems watching them with an amused expression. Unlike the rest of the enlisted men, Edward wasn't in a uniform. Understandable, given how Aiden learned from Roy that he never gave his measurements to the military for fitting.