The Flowing Alchemist [FMAB Fanfic]

1} Apple Pie <edited>

"Look at my little Alicia! Isn't she so cute!" Once again Maes Hughes is fawning over his daughter in the middle of our lunch break. She is very cute. You think to yourself, grinning at Hughes as the other soldiers at the table all groaned and looked bored.

"You've shown us that picture so many times!"

"Do you talk about anything other than your daughter?"

"Yeah she's cute we get it!"

Maes Hughes looks around at all the complaining soldiers.

"Well if my beautiful Alicia isn't appreciated here then I'll go talk to Mustang! He always loves hearing about my darling girl."

"That's probably not the best idea, Hughes," you say, patting him on the shoulder and smiling at him.

"How many times do I have to tell you? You can just call me daddy!" He says and pulls you in for a hug, rubbing his stubbly chin on your forehead as he does with Alicia.

"Is this really appropriate? I'm your second in command, not a lost puppy!" You growl, pushing him off and causing the others to laugh at you two.

"It's not like you already have parents waiting for you elsewhere!" One of the men at the table chuckles, not realising quite how harsh the comment is. The woman sitting next to him smacks his arm and frowns at him.

"Yeah I guess not," you say, head tilted downwards." Well, I have paperwork to fill in so I'd better get going now."

Everyone mumbled their goodbyes as you left the room, closing the oak door and resting on it. You hear everyone scolding the soldier who brought up your parents.

"Can you be and less sensitive?"

"Why bring up her parents?"

"You know she gets funny about mentioning her family!"

You sigh and walk down the hall to your workspace. Yay, paperwork... You think dully as you sit down and make a start at filling in the mountain of papers I front of you. You get to work and barely notice as the afternoon goes by.

~~~~~*le time skip!*~~~~~

"Still here?" Hughes asks you as you finish off the last document and begin to carry the stack to the administration office to be filed.

"Yes Lt. Colonel, just finished up!" You reply excitedly, noticing how kind his small smile is.

"Leave that for the morning, I'm sure you're hungry and tired." He takes the papers out of your hands and places them back on your desk, grabbing your shoulders and steering you out the door.

"Hey, here's an idea! Why don't you come and have dinner with us! Gracie is an amazing cook and Alicia sure does miss you!" You laugh at his enthusiasm and nod your head quickly.

"Sure, I'd love that!" The two of you head downstairs and get in Hughes car.

The journey is pretty uneventful and all you talk about is work until the driver opens the door and you both leave the car. As soon as the door opens, Alicia jumps up into Hughes' arms and he hugs her, they giggle together and your heart pangs. I remember having parents like this, being loved and feeling safe. If only I still had that.

The dinner was one of the best things you have ever tasted and just as you are about to leave, Gracie comes out the kitchen with a hot, homemade apple pie.

"Would you stay for some apple pie, (Y/N)?" She asks kindly, setting the hot dish on the table and cutting it into large wedges. You would decline but the aromas coming from the pie make your mouth water.

"Yes please...thank you!" You say picking up a spoon, scooping up some of the apple filling and sticking it in your mouth. You burn your tongue slightly but keep on eating nonetheless.

After you have all finished eating the delicious pie, Alicia lets out a big yawn.

"I think it's bedtime for you, come on." Gracie stands and takes Alicia's hand, leading her over to her bedroom. Before they exit the dining room, Alicia turns and runs back towards you, jumping on you and giving you a big hug and a peck on the cheek.

"Goodnight big sister (Y/N)!" She calls sleepily, you feel your heart warm and a smile graces your lips.

"Goodnight Alicia." You softly call to her as she disappeared into her bedroom.

"She has taken quite a liking to you (Y/N)!" Maes Hughes says happily, giving you the biggest grin possible.

"She is a lovely girl, takes after her father." You suddenly remember the times you used to have with your own father.

~~~~~flashback~~~~~
You aged 7:

"Daddy!" You run and jump into your fathers arms. He wraps his arms around you in a warm, safe bear hug.

"My my, look how you've grown!" He lifts you up and spins you around, you giggle and so does he.

"You were gone for so long daddy! I thought you would never come home!"

"I'd always come home to you my darling, how is your alchemy going?"

"It's going great! Look what I can do!" He sets you down and you rush over to the draws to get your chalk. You then drop to the floor and draw a complex transmutation circle on the wooden floor. You put your hands on the circle and it shines blue, illuminating the room. From the wooden floor sprouts a beautiful statue of a tiger.

"Ha! Amazing. You have improved so much since I last saw you."

"Can you teach me more? I want to be able to do more than make Figures out of the floor!" You run over to his desk and pull from it a book of his alchemic research.

"I read the first half of this which is how I made the tiger just now but I didn't understand the second half. Can you teach me it before you go back to Central?" You plead, puppy dog eyes at the ready.

"Yes, (Y/N). I'll teach you everything and then you can join me when I go to central." He sits on his desk chair and lifts you onto his lap. He gets his notebook to draw diagrams to explain the complicated alchemy.

"Ok so..."

The two of you sit there like that and he teaches you for hours. It was like this almost every time he came back from Central to see you. You lived with your grandma for most of the year in a village to the north, in a town not far from Briggs. Your father was in central most of the time but came to visit you whenever he could get away. You were a little lonely since there weren't many children in your village. Because of this you learnt to read as soon as you could talk and spent every possible second in your fathers office reading his alchemy notes.

"I want to become an alchemist like you daddy! I want to learn how you do your water alchemy!"