Hi guys! Thought it was about time that I posted a fanfiction since I love reading and writing. And since I got really attached to FMA, why not write a fanfiction about it? I don't know the episode number, but I think you guys already know which episode this is. I thought this was one of the most horrible and disturbing episodes of FMA (still great though). I felt sorry for Nina, she was so young:( FYI (so you won't be confused) I've decided to make Ed older. He's fifteen in this story. I don't remember how old Nina is supposed to be, but in this, she's six years old. Hope you guys are okay with that. After all, this is a fanfiction. Since English isn't my native language, there might be spelling and grammatical errors. This won't be a long story and therefore there won't be any filler chapters. This mostly contains the part of the transmutation process.

Hope you enjoy the story:) I appreciate constructive criticism, but not flames.

He was sitting there by the table and staring blankly in front of him, his head leaning against his hand. The other hand was slowly tapping an open book he had been reading intensely for hours. He had wandered away in thoughts, analyzing the information he recently had received from the book.

He had to have a chimera created in two days. A perfect chimera. Either that or lose everything. Lose his title as the life sewing alchemist, which also meant losing every privilege that came with it. He couldn't have that title taken away from him. There was so much more to it than anyone could understand. It meant he was smart and creative. It was a part of his personality and the thought of other stripping him of that was unbearable.

He stopped tapping the book and fisted his hand. His eyes felt moist.

His researches had confirmed what he already knew. The main key to create a perfect chimera was a human. It meant, to remain as the life sewing alchemist, he would have to use a human.

Again.

A heavy sigh left his lips. He really didn't want to do it again, commit such a taboo. The protests, cries and pleadings were still fresh in his mind. They had belonged to someone he had known for years. He had been married to her. It had been his wife and he had made her last time in life miserable.

She had been a nagging wench the last year in her life. Shou was normally a very patient man. However, that evening he had lost it. It was the evening before he was supposed to show the military his improvement on creating chimeras. Her quarreling and the pressure had been too much. A punch in her face was all that it had taken to send her into unconsciousness. Shou had looked at her still form and it was in that moment the idea had sprang to his head.

He had dragged her down to his laboratory in the basement and tied her to a chair. He hadn't felt the slightest guilty while drawing the transmutation circle and tying a dog to the chair. Creating a masterpiece and thus keep his title was more important than spending the rest of his life stripped of everything and, furthermore, with a person he almost hated.

At that time, Shou had almost wanted to smack himself for not thinking of using a human earlier. To create a chimera as smart as a human, he would of course have to use one as the main ingredient.

But it all had been so much harder as soon as his wife had come back to consciousness and realized what he was going to do. Guilt and hesitation had hit him when she started to cry and plead with him to stop. It had been so easy to keep distance from any feelings when she had been unconscious. But at that time, he couldn't let his feelings get in the way. And besides, it was too late to turn back. With no doubt, he would have been turned in to the police if he had released her. His life would have ended.

So he had decided to fulfill his spontaneous plan and in the next moment there was this dog before him. If it hadn't been for the dark hair running along its back and its ability to form a word, he would have thought that a transmutation never had occurred. The transmutation had been less dramatic than he had expected. Or, to be more correct, it hadn't been dramatic at all. The screams of his wife had died out as soon as his hands had touched the transmutation circle.

The chimera before him had been far from perfect. The vocabulary was unimpressive and so were its movements. It could only say his name and the word 'help'. Yet he had never been so proud over himself. The improvement had been incredible. He had actually managed to create a chimera that could form words. He was convinced that this would be enough to keep his title safe.

And he had been right.

The military had been impressed and praised him as a genius, unaware of the true story behind his creation. The chimeras lacking vocabulary and inability to form a coherent sentence kept it from telling the truth. And in a couple of days, it had died due to starvation since it had refused to eat. He had been questioned about this, but convinced the military that experiments meant trial and error. Nothing could ever be perfect the first times you tried it, so he had told them to be patient and promised that the next creation would be even better.

The next creation had to be ready in two days. He had to use a human. He had this mixed feeling when he thought back to that day. Pride and regret. It was contradictory. But one side had to win. It was obvious which. He was a scientist. Regret would have to step out of the way. Sometimes sacrifices had to be made to make this world a better place.

There was only one question remaining now. Who would be the one to be a part of his creation?

He suddenly became aware of the laughter outside the window. It was his daughter. He walked over to the window and saw her sitting on the back of this huge suit of armor. He had been so deep in thought that he had forgotten that the Elric brothers were here on visit.

His eyes landed on his daughter. A thought passed through his mind. Nina as a chimera. It was a disgusting and a horrible thought, but that wasn't the main reason to why he quickly dismissed it. Tucker didn't want to create something with the mind of a six year old. He needed someone older, someone that was smart and talented. Someone who could would give him good conditions.

As a sign, if he actually believed in such things, the older Elric brother suddenly appeared from seemingly nowhere.

"Al, I think we'd better head back to our hotel room," Ed said discretely while Nina was busy petting Alexander.

Al nodded in agreement, though he wanted to stay a little bit longer and play with the girl. This was one of the few times he had felt like a human kid. He wanted to stay in this moment. Even though he was an empty suit of armor and unable to show expressions, Ed knew. He could feel it. It was like it was radiating from the soul trapped inside the armor. No matter what Al said, Ed would still blame himself for putting his younger brother in such a cruel situation. Therefore he was determined to keep walking straight forward and find a way to restore his body.

Nina became sad and clung to Alphonse's leg when he told her that they had to go home. He quickly added that they would be coming back soon, maybe tomorrow, to play with her.

"You promise?" she asked.

"Promise," Alphonse affirmed. She seemed satisfied enough with the answer to let go off his leg. The two brothers led Nina and her dog into the house. Tucker was sitting in the library reading and got up to say bye before they left.

"You're welcome back boys. Just give me a call before you visit and I'll prepare a dinner," Tucker said and added a warm smile.

"Thank you so much Mr. Tucker. We're really grateful for your hospitality and for letting us use your library," Al said.

"It's nothing really. I hope you make some progress in your researches soon."

They waved bye to the Tucker family and headed back to their hotel.

"Tucker is such a nice man," Al said.

"Yeah," Ed agreed. He tried du suppress a yawn, but failed. Trying to find some clue on the philosopher's stone by reading books for hours was really exhausting. And frustrating. They hadn't found out much of use about it. They didn't know if it actually did exist, or if it was just a myth. Ed, however, didn't have much of a choice but to believe it did. If he didn't, he could as well give up on getting his brother's body back. Giving up was no option for Ed.

As soon as they got back to their hotel room, Ed threw himself on the bed.

"Nii-san, take off your shoes first," Al said with a sigh.

"Yeah yeah," Ed said and kicked them off.

"And your coat too."

"Seriously Al!" He protested.

"You can't sleep like that!"

"Watch me," Ed said and pulled the blanket over himself. He turned over so he was facing the wall.

"I'm gonna pull that off when you're sleeping."

"No, you're not," Ed mumbled.

Just a few minutes of silence and Ed was already deep in sleep. Al wasn't planning on letting his brother sleep with his outerwear on, so he walked over to the bed and carefully pulled down the blanket so he could take the coat off. Fortunately, Ed didn't wake up.

He hung the red coat up on a hook before he sat down on his own bed. Since he was a soul trapped inside an armor, he could never feel tired. He hadn't slept for years. It was no wonder he felt lonely and restless during the nights.

Al spent a few hours in their hotel room, until he felt too bored and restless. He left e note on the nightstand and went out for a long walk in the night.

So, first chapter is up. I would really appreciate reviews so I know what you guys think about it :)