V.E.: Hello there Fullmetal Alchemist fans! Wow, I am really getting around when it comes to oneshots these days. Last two were in RWBY and now I'm doing one in another fandom I'd never written in before. I must be utterly crazy sometimes.

I guess you could say I have a tendency in oneshots to examine characters that really don't get a lot of screen time in the actual shows. Case in point, Elysia Hughes and before any of you ask, I'm pretty sure I changed my name from Valkyrie Elyon to Valkyrie Elysia before I was a fan of Fullmetal Alchemist.

You have to love this kid and you just have to wonder how she grows up. Well, this is my take.

NOTE: I wrote and abandoned this a while ago so the things in the author's note may be a little out of date.

Quote: "The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life."- Richard Bach

When Elysia Hughes' father died when she was three years old, she didn't fully understand what had happened and what that meant.

Given how young she was, it was understandable. Most children don't develop an understanding of what death was until the age of five. She remembered the funeral vaguely, people standing around (a lot of them in military uniforms) looking respectful and solemn. She didn't remember doing it, but her mother had told her that when they started to bury the casket, she had told them to stop throwing dirt on her daddy because he needed to go back to work. She did remember her mother crying as she held her though.

As time went by, the young girl understood the permanence of the situation. Her father would never again come back home with a great big smile on his face after a long day at work. He wouldn't be there anymore to take pictures of her or her mother, calling them his precious angels. And there wouldn't be a time when the mention of her father would not bring some amount of pain to her mother, her Uncle Roy, the Elric brothers, and so many other friends of her father.

But life moves on and while there would always be a part of Elysia that would love and miss her father, as time went on she missed him less and less. Being so young when he died, her memories of him faded as she got older. If she had to be honest, she missed the idea of her father more than the actual man himself.

She never told her mother this though. She had seen her mother cry enough; she didn't want to give her another reason to.

As she got older, she saw the things that her classmates took for granted that were impossible for her. Her father would never come to open house and chat with her teachers, would never cheer her on when she was representing her class on sports day, would never dance with her at the father daughter dance. In a way, she felt a little bit isolated from her class despite probably being one of the most popular girls. She would just watch on as she saw her friends and their fathers interact, not saying how uncomfortable it made her. It wasn't their fault and she didn't want them to feel bad about it.

But the one thing that made her feel utterly jealous of her peers was when she would see them with their siblings; talking, fighting, playing around. After her father died, her mother went to work at one of the newspapers as a typist (apparently Gracia had worked at the newspaper in her hometown before she got married) and as Elysia got older she tended to work a lot later. When she was often by herself at home, she couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to have a younger sibling or two to break up the oppressive silence that seemed to dominate her home. The Elric brothers were one of the main examples that would spring to her mind then, looking back she could see the exasperated yet loving way the two would look at each other.

But it was something she knew she could never have and so Elysia had accepted the fact she would remain a lonely only child.

At least, that's what she had thought.

It started when her mother and her went to visit Resembool when she was almost seven. It was the first time in a long while that she had seen Edward and Winry, but what had really caught her attention was the little crib set off to the side. While the adults had been talking (congratulating the couple on their first child), Elysia creeped over to the crib and looked down.

Even as a baby, it was clear to say which parent the baby took after looks wise. Golden eyes that matched the baby's wisp golden hair stared right up back at her. She cocked her head, the baby mimicking her movement as it made baby babble.

For some reason, it prompted her to smile down at the baby which the baby answered with his own huge grin. She reached one of her arms down to him, his own tiny little arms stretching to touch hers.

She had no idea how long she stayed like that until she felt a little tap on her right shoulder. She looked up to find Ed smiling down softly at her. Winry was right at his side smiling just as warmly.

Her face flushed with embarrassment, but before she could say anything Ed beat her to it. "Well, it seems Van has taken quite the shine to you Elysia. And as the person who has to try to get him back to sleep at night, that's saying something"

She turned her head back to the baby. "Van."

Winry nodded as she patted the young girl on the head. "Yep, Van Elric. Do you want to hold him?"

It took only a moment for Elysia to think about it before she nodded in affirmation. "Uh huh!"

The two led her over to the big chair and seated her there, with Edward carefully lifting baby Van out of his playpen and into her lap. Van seemed to delight in the attention as he was placed to Elysia's arms. And while Winry showed her the correct way to hold a baby, her mother (in a manner that seemed to be channeling her deceased husband) took out a camera and snapped a photo.

The rest of the visit went rather smoothly as she was left alone with the golden baby boy with her parents and her mother talking more. And yet, something had changed. But the only hint of that was the smile on the young girl's face in that picture.

After the two returned home, the Elrics would send letters to the Hughes, enclosing letters of baby Van. After Gracia would look at them, Elysia would take them (along with the one her mother had taken that visit) and put them in an empty little album that her father had left behind. She would take it out everyone now and then when she was lonely. It never failed to make her feel better.

The next time she would see Van Elric was when his little sister was born. The house had a lot more people this time with Alphonse and his wife Mei as well as some of Winry's friends from Rush Valley.

Elysia was pretty sure Van wouldn't remember her, but upon seeing the almost eight-year-old, the little boy brightened up and toddled right over to her. He grabbed her hand and led her over to the playpen where this time there was a baby Winry there with her lighter blonde hair and blue eyes. Van seemed to smile proudly, eager to show off his baby sister.

The young girl looked down at the baby girl only to be treated to a smile as well. Elysia felt a smile come to her own lips, but this was not to be captured by her mother. This time she had brought her own little camera and the looks of the two siblings at the little contraption in that shot was priceless. Years later, and she would still laugh when she saw it.

The letters with the pictures continued as did the visits, but that was not to say those two were the only children she would be looking after.

Less than a year later, Alphonse and Mei's daughter Trisha Elric had been born in Xing. For the young family, it was the perfect reason to move back to Amestris though they would still make trips to Xing. Elysia had been right there when the Elric cousins had been introduced, young as they were, but the three seemed to instinctively know they were supposed to love each other and smiled wider than she thought toddlers and babies were capable of.

She only managed to get a few pictures of the three Elrics before she was dragged over to play. Her mother took pictures of the four for the rest of the visit.

After that, her mother and her had moved away from the city due to a transfer at her mother's. While it meant leaving her old house and all her old friends, it had the benefit of being much closer Resembool. From there, she and her mother would visit the Elrics every other weekend.

Whatever the three cousins would ask of her, she would provide. It was through these visits she saw the personalities of the three emerge (as well capture with her camera).

Van, the eldest, was bright, loud, and loved auto mail as much as his mother did. He had an unfortunate habit of taking things apart, as even her camera was not safe. Winry apologized profusely (as well as successful resist the urge to throw her wrench at her son, this would break when he became a teenager), but Elysia didn't mind. In fact, it was surprising it didn't happen sooner. He always dragged her over to show her his latest project and she had gotten more than a few of his little mechanical do dads for her shelf in her room.

Sarah was more quiet, though she could get just loud and angry as her father if she was called short. She loved to read, of far off places to books on science with big words that gave Elysia some trouble. Nonetheless, Elysia would always try her best whenever Sarah pulled her over to read her something or try to explain things as best she could. She was also the artist of the family and never failed to give Elysia a drawing to take home though occasionally her young cousin would add something as well.

Trisha was the baby and perhaps the most desiring of Elysia's attention. She would toddle after the older girl like a little duck, imitating her to the slightest gesture. With thick black hair, a tiny stature, and golden eyes that matched her cousin, she looked just like a little doll. True enough, dress up and tea parties were the main activities she and Trisha did. At least until Trisha started practicing alchemy and after her parents the ones she made things the most for was her 'favoritest person' Elysia.

Before she knew it, her shelf had been crowded with things and her desk drawer stuffed with childrens' artwork. Her first album had been filled and she began getting new albums as gifts for either her birthday or Christmas. Whether she wanted it or not, she had become entrenched within those threes' lives to the point she couldn't imagine her life without them.

And then came the last of the kids.

Her Uncle Roy and Aunt Riza were the ones who visited her and her mother after returning from Ishval for almost eight years. They had gotten married there (one of Fuhrer Grumman's first acts was to repeal the fraternization laws, Fuery ended up winning the Mustang Squad's betting pool) and had been looking forward to meeting up with the Hughes. Her mother had smiled the widest Elysia had seen her as she chatted with the two.

It did not escape Elysia's notice, however, the tiny figure hiding behind Riza's legs. A small little boy that had his father's hair and his mother's eyes, he caught Elysia's eyes and seemed to dive back behind his mother. The young girl simply smiled, used to the little bit of shyness Trisha had shown upon first meeting her.

She simply stood there, waiting for him to get comfortable and make the first move. The little boy still seemed pretty shy, though his parents seemed to have noticed what the children were doing.

Riza crouched down and turned, showing the little boy fully and giving him a pat on the back. "It's okay. Say hello."

The boy turned his head to his father for advice. Roy simply smiled and nodded his head in encouragement. That seemed to be what the little boy needed as he walked over to the older girl.

She was almost twelve, he was almost four. There was eight years between them, but that wouldn't matter for many years.

Finally, the young boy was right next to her, though his eyes still showed nervousness. "Hello…"

She answered cheerfully, crunching down to his level. "Hi, I'm Elysia Hughes! What's your name?"

The boy's face reddened, still nervous as he answered. "M…Maes. Maes Mustang."

Elysia didn't see the look in her mother's eyes as she turned to Riza and Roy. She didn't know about the solemn talk the three would have that shed quite a few tears. She had no idea that whenever her Uncle Roy and Aunt Riza would travel in the future they would leave their son with the Hughes and the two would get to know each other much better. Nor did she know that Maes would become just as tightly bound to the Elric cousins as she was after some initial jealousy at having Big Sis' attention being taken away from them (they would also be joined occasionally by Trisha's half-cousin Jun from Xing, the only one of her many half-cousins that would actually matter to her in the future).

She just offered her hand and smiled brightly. "Nice to meet you Maes. Want to play up in my room?"

Maes seemed to hesitate only for a minute before returning her smile. "Uh huh!"

He took her hand and she sat up, leading him all the way to her room.

He was the fourth of her little siblings, the ones she never thought she would have. He would also give her gifts (wooden carvings, little potted plants, and the occasional piece of jewelry) and take up a significant amount of space in her photo albums. And there would be a time in the future that his feelings for her would not be like that of a brother.

But she didn't know that and for now, she was happy to be a big sister.

V.E.: Wow. Talk about getting my head cannons out in the open. I really do hope to write more about the next generation of the Elrics and the others, but I'm coming up short on ideas. If you have ideas, please leave it in the review. I'm kind of roads blocked with my other stories right now.

Anyway, I hope you guys will review and I hope to be adding more to this category in the future.

Thanks and keep reading!