Alchemy Runs in the Family

Summary: Edward's been through a lot of scary situations. He's lost an arm and a leg, joined the military, fought powerful foes, both human and inhuman, and much more. But the fear that he feels when his daughter asks him to teach her Alchemy is…unbelievable. A short story.

She doesn't realize the damage she does whenever she tries to ask that of him.

Because of the bull-headed persistence that she inherited from both he and her mother, Edward finds himself cowering from his own daughter. Upon seeing him, her eyes-a rich, dark shade of emerald-ignite like fireworks in the evening sky. If he has the chance, he would duck away into his study, and lock the door once he made his entrance. However, he would not do this for long, for reason that he didn't want to appear to be as introverted as his father did. That old bastard, his mind hisses, although fondly.

His silly daughter, Lisbell, has her head wrapped around the notion that Alchemy could help her be less vertically endowed. The kids around Risembool tease her about her height, and the teens-slightly older, male teens, much to his horror-are attracted to his daughter's slender legs and athletic build. He makes sure that her older brother is with her to shoo them off; Edward is sure that a bit of murder would occur should he catch one of those smarmy brats eye his daughter.

Suddenly, his mind slips, and presents the image of his mother. Her bright smile, and healthy appearance. Her calm, yet stern voice calling out to him and his brother. Lisbell resembles her-hauntingly so. Seeing what Alchemy had done to his mother, his brother, and himself-it is all the more reason to not let his daughter have her way. There is no doubt that Alchemy can benefit those who seek to use it, but he wishes that she has no part of it. It's too dangerous.

A ray of sunlight shines on the smooth oak of his desk, and hits his right arm. Normally, he isn't one to dwell on the past, but he thought it was strange that there was a time where he couldn't experience warmth or any sensation with this arm. He knows that the long, arduous, and painful journey that he and Alphonse went through is a part of who he is now. There are some moments where he misses the advantages of having automail limbs, then scolds himself for such petulant thoughts. Missing his prosthetics meant that he misses the suffering his brother had to go through. Not having a body at all must've been the worst experience ever, and he didn't even pretend to know what it felt like.

A knock on his door jolts him from his thoughts. Consulting the wristwatch his wife got him for his birthday last year, Edward comes to the realization that he has spent forty-five minutes in his study doing absolutely nothing. Well, he was avoiding his daughter. I suppose that's no excuse for being inactive, he muses mentally, pulling his arms back to give his joints release from idleness.

"Who is it?" the blond asks, fixing his golden gaze on the sky outside of the window on his right. The weather looks clear enough for him to run that errand for Mrs. Lowell today, so he didn't have to worry about getting soaked through like the last time he attempted to fix her roof.

"It's me, Dad," answers a low voice, and Edward is grateful that it is his son that has come to check on him. "Got some lunch for you."

"Great! Come on in."

Van is sixteen years old, and has more facial hair than Edward himself. His sister often teased him, saying that the hair aggressively engulfing his chin and jaw line is compensating for his lack of height. Unlike his father, he doesn't get absolutely incensed should she mention his vertical challenge. He chooses to passively insult Lisbell by constantly joking about how she should get an ice cube for a head if she plans to acquaint herself with the Sun by her astronomical height.

Edward is about to thank his son for the meal he has set next to him, but in the midst of turning his head, he catches a brunette clutching to Van's arm in his peripheral. Seeing his father's reluctant frown, Van smiles bashfully and starts rubbing the back of his head. It is Lisbell attached to his arm, and she is aiming her own viciously beaming grin brightly at her father's back.

"Sorry, Dad. Her Tallness here kind of forced me to-" Van begins to explain, him being interrupted due to his father's curt nod. Lisbell is only fourteen years old, and is already tapping into the manipulative talents only people her gender is able to access. Her chestnut hair bounces along her cheekbones as she assaults her sibling using her elbow and he winces theatrically while rubbing his side.

"Van?"

His voice is unusually even; in it, there is a timbre that demanded authority.

"Yes, sir?" the younger blond answers, retraining the urge to gulp. Lisbell stops prodding his side.

"Thanks for the food. Go help your mother."

Van nods his head, then leaves the room. When Lisbell goes to follow, Edward exclaims, "Ah, ah!" and points to the chair next to his. "You stay."

Lisbell acquiesces silently, taking her time in pulling out the chair. The chair's legs scooting as she lugs it toward her is the only sound in the scantily decorated room. Anything to buy her time to think. This is what she wants, right? Time to discuss her reasoning for wanting to learn Alchemy? It isn't because she wants to be shorter, like her father is likely to think. Even though it is her fault for mentioning her stature and Alchemy in the same sentence at any time she manages to get with him.

She finally sits in the chair, and faces her father, who is looking intensely at the sky. As the moments pass, her hands clench and unclench in her pale violet dress. She watches as he crosses his arms and works his jaw furiously. What is it that he wants from her? The suspense allows her no room to speak or move freely. Lisbell is infuriated with herself. How can she relentlessly force herself upon her father-who has been avoiding her up until now-for all of this time, then be reduced to a meek silence when he is the one who initiates this meeting? If "meeting" is the appropriate word here…

"Bell?" Her father's voice breaks through the near tangible silence.

"Yes, sir?"

"Why is it do you want to learn Alchemy?"

"I want to learn Alchemy because…"

Lisbell doesn't know why the answer isn't coming to her as easily as she thought it would. Maybe it is she doesn't want to be ridiculed anymore. She wants to be known as someone great, not that girl who's way too tall or "only fourteen!?" Selfish reasons that she knows her father will most likely reject her for. Her father…the person she idolizes and is ignorant of. She has to hear from her schoolmates how great of a person he is. He achieved a feat that no one else did, and felt no need to share it with her. She is aware that her father is the type that doesn't like to be celebrated for accomplishing a feat that is only deemed praiseworthy just because of its impossibility.

But does that mean she has to relinquish the right to be proud of him and what he's done?

Her father earned his State Alchemist title when he was twelve, two years younger than she is now. When she was that age, the single thing she "earned" was puberty, and that hit her like a stone wall.

Now, with certainty, she says, "I want to learn because I want to be known for something great. Like you, Dad."

"No."

Hearing that must be like being submerged in a vat of ice water for Lisbell, Edward supposes. Performing Alchemy for the sake of greatness or recognition is not a valid reason.

Then, his mind whispers, what is one?

"Why, Dad?" his little girl pushes, further muddling the thoughts in his mind. "What happened to you that made you hate Alchemy so much?"

Oh.

She thinks he hates Alchemy.

There were many occasions where Alchemy saved his life; he knows that it isn't Alchemy he fears. There are two parts of him: the dominant part that loves it as much as he loves life itself, and the paranoid part that is sure that something bad is bound to happen due to his experience so long ago. This part believes that Alchemy is a curse, and it is going to ruin everything that is right and normal in his daughter's life. But then, the alchemy-loving part battles back, saying how useful Alchemy is when it is used by the right person. The suspicious part wastes no time in debating that his daughter may be too good of an alchemist for the military to ignore and-

A dull throbbing harasses Edward's skull. Those two parts are contradicting themselves, and it makes him all the more frustrated. So he decides to tell her everything. About her grandmother, the grave mistake he made when he was a stupid kid, how he lost his limbs, his brother's body, and how it was all of his fault. The Philosopher's Stone, the Homunculi, the Promised Day. The harrowing journey to get everything back to normal. He finally turns away from the afternoon sky to see his daughter's face.

Her dark, emerald eyes are dancing with all sorts of emotions, her skin pallid. Her lithe body trembles like a leaf in the clutches of a cold, merciless wind. Edward feels guilty, as if he robbed his daughter of her urge to obtain knowledge by telling of his past. He wanted to wait two more years, like he had done for Van. Did he ruin her spirit? Does she think he is a selfish monster who should be punished for his sin?

"Lisbell? Are you all right, honey?" he questions her softly. He reaches out to touch her, but she shies away. His heart drops into oblivion at the gesture. In silence, she gets up and leaves the room.

The next day, Lisbell is nowhere to be seen.

That fact is the reason for Edward's panic. Winry is out-of-town to accommodate an older automail patient, and Van is acting as her assistant, so he couldn't consult them to ask for the whereabouts of his daughter. So he leaves the house to interrogate the townspeople about her. He asks Mrs. Lowell, the lady whose house he constantly repairs. She hasn't seen her. He goes to the local bar, where she would often pass on her way to school. No luck there. His final stop is the school itself, but he remembers that it closes during the weekends. He turns around to go to the farm, where those disgusting boys usually hang out.

"Oh, you mean Lovely Lissy?" a disheveled boy with red hair says, not realizing who he is talking to. "Yeah, I haven't seen her. Too bad, cuz I was gonna ask her out somewhere…"

The punk's friends guffaw as Edward punches the boy unconscious using his right fist, wishing he had his automail back for this one occasion prior to heading back home. Thunder rumbles as storm clouds start to roll in. The frigid rain comes down in sheets, soaking through his clothes and the earth beneath his feet as he runs inside the house. Where is Lisbell? Where on Earth is his little girl?

He is in the middle of shaking the rain from his hair when a shriek shatters the quiet atmosphere of the house. He doesn't even need to think before his body acts. He runs towards the stairs that lead to the basement of the house, his mind accelerating through all the scenarios that are way too dangerous and unlikely, but he cannot help himself as images of that night play out before him. Did she try and experiment with something way out of her league? Did the reaction rebound and cause her to hurt herself? Did she-

His heart is almost brought to a stop once he sees a brunette lying down in the center of the floor, a numerous amount of books splayed around her. Seeing no reason to hesitate, Edward speeds over and hefts her into his shaky arms, burying his nose in her hair. He lets out a sob, tears springing forth from his eyes.

"Dad? Dad, what's wrong?" his daughter demands, trying her hardest to console her father even without access to her arms. They are crushed to her sides by his unbreakable embrace. His eyes are red and raw by the time she gets a response from him.

"Because I love you too much," he whispers next to her ear.

"What?" Lisbell is confused. "I don't understand, I only fell-"

"I'm sorry, Lisbell, for being so selfish," he continues. "But I don't want you to get involved with Alchemy because I love you too much. Seeing what happened to me…doesn't that scare you?"

"No, you scare me, Dad. And you underestimate me, too."

Edward releases her, and looks into her scared eyes. She must be wondering what has gotten into her father. She is so used to seeing her father so strong and unwavering, and in this moment of weakness, she probably doesn't know what to do or say. But then he takes another look in those eyes, so much like his mother's, and sees hurt. It makes him come to the realization that he's been a horrible father. All this worrying and crying has done nothing, but show her that he hasn't an inch of faith in his daughter's abilities. A father doesn't do that. He doesn't fill his child with insecurity to the point that it scares her. A father doesn't doubt his child.

What reason does he truly have to worry about Lisbell? Alchemy is simply a tool, and its potential of destruction is only reflected in whomever's utilizing it. His daughter-who is annoyingly persistent and possesses childlike eagerness-is a very good person and he shouldn't be letting his past experience get in the way of her enthusiasm to learn. Edward chuckles at his own feebleness, and he takes his daughter's hand.

"You're right, Bell. I'm sorry for all of this," he replies, gesturing loosely at his appearance. "I'm just trying to look out for my little girl."

He punctuates this with a kiss to her forehead, at which she promptly frowns at.

"Dad!" she groans. "Does that mean you're going to teach me?"

The hope in her eyes is absolutely too bright to snuff. "…Yes." She gets up from the floor to let out a exuberant cheer, but ends her little celebration when she is interrupted by, "But this stays between you and me. Your uncle will never let me hear the end of it."

"Okay, okay! I was gonna ask him if you refused, anyway!"

Edward only smiles at his daughter. I guess Alchemy runs in the family.

I hope you enjoyed.