Fullmetal Alchemist 1. Summer

I sat in the train station with my parents and sister, engrossed in one of my dad's books, as usual. My sister was having a rather heated debate with my mom on the merits of using chrome in automail and my father was examining the train schedule with extreme interest. We had been waiting for quite a long time. My aunt and uncle were supposed to come in from Xing today, on the five A.M. train. My sister and I weren't so happy to be waking up so early on the first day of summer vacation, but it was worth it in my eyes. It was always a lot of fun to see Uncle Al and Aunt Mei. They told the coolest stories about Xing, and sometimes Aunt Mei would try to teach me Alkahestry...which usually ended in my failing epically, but it was still cool. They were going to stay for the entire summer, and I couldn't wait. Hearing a train pull in, I put a bookmark on the page I was at and closed my book. The train from Xing was finally here. My sister yawned and got up with my mother. "Come on, Nina, stop reading already," she said. "I don't see how you can be such a bookworm."

"I don't see how you can be such a gearhead, Trisha!" I retorted. If I was a bookworm, then my younger sister was definitely a gearhead.

"Stop fighting, you two!" my mom said good-naturedly. Trisha yawned again. "And Nina, did you clean your room like I told you to?" The question made me think of the mess of books and bits of chalk that had been my room.

"Yes," I sighed, thinking of all the books just waiting to be read. I scanned the platform my aunt and uncle, eager to see them. Two figures, loaded with baggage, emerged from the steam of the train. Uncle Al and Aunt Mei were walking towards us. Smiles lit up all of our faces as everyone took turns hugging each other. I grabbed one of Aunt Mei's suitcases and slung it over my shoulder. Uncle Al noticed the book under my arm and smiled at me.

"Have you been raiding your dad's study again?" he asked, sarcastically wagging a finger at me. I nodded in mock guilt and held up the book, a fat one on alchemy.

Dad put an arm around me and smiled even wider. "Our own personal bookworm!" he declared proudly. I rolled my eyes.

As we walked home, the family seemed to split into two distinct groups: me, Dad, and Uncle Al, and Mom, Aunt Mei, and Trisha. Mom, Aunt Mei, and Trisha fell behind us as Dad, Uncle Al, and I walked ahead, talking about mostly alchemy.

Okay, I guess I should explain the science nerd thing. Ever since I was a little kid, there were books in the house. Lots and lots of books, mostly on alchemy and stuff relating to it. Mom and Dad have pictures of me at the age of three trying to reach shelves in Dad's study to get to the books, because of the "pretty pictures." I learned at the age of six that the "pretty pictures" were actually transmutation circles, and then proceeded to "play" with the bits of metal Mom had left over from her automail projects. Yeah, I've been a geek from the beginning, and I'm proud of it.

We stamped into the house, happy and slightly tired. Plopping the suitcases on the couch for now, we gathered around the breakfast table and ate heartily, all of us hungry. As the adults ate, they talked about how big of a pain in the butt train travel was (this I could agree with-last year, we went to Xing, and it literally was a pain in the butt). Trisha occasionally joined in to the conversation, but mostly busied herself with attacking the pancakes. As for me, I had my book open in my lap and was reading intently. I felt a hand on my head and saw Dad ruffling my bangs. He smiled at me, and I smiled back.

_This is going to be a great summer, _I thought.


	2. Goodbyes and First Kisses

_Clink. Clink. Clink._ The noise distracted me from the delicate lines of the transmutation circle I was drawing. I looked at the source of the sound, my window, and waited. A stone hit the window, making that sound again. Of course, it HAD to be him. I went over to the window and opened it, and there he was—Aaron Renford. "What the heck are you doing here?" I hissed at him. He just smiled and I swung my leg over the windowsill, climbing down the trellis that's been there since I was born. "You know my dad's going to kill you if he sees you." It was something like ninety percent chance that that would actually happen—Dad was probably the most protective person ever, when it came to me and Trisha. I looked up at the darkened house and made sure all the windows were closed and the lights were off. Slowly, ever so slowly, I eased myself down the trellis, not wanting to risk the sound of a fall.

"I wanted to see you," he said, and even in the darkness of the night, I could tell he was smiling. Aaron was one of my best friends, other than Trisha.

"You could have come up to me at the bookseller's stall today. I was there," I said and he rolled his eyes.

"Of course Miss Science Teacher's Daughter doesn't take her nose out of a book, not even in summer," he laughed a little and I pinched him, shooting him a deafening "SHUT THE HECK UP!" look. Even though my dad was off for the summer, I was still the Science Teacher's Daughter, Little Miss Nerd to Aaron. It was one of those funny quirks of his, the ones that made me laugh.

"Don't be so loud! Someone's bound to wake up and find us!" I hissed and he grabbed my wrist, smiling even wider. He started running, dragging me along with him so that I had no choice but to go with him. "Where are we going?" I asked, not having been in this direction before. He just looked back at me and laughed again, now that we were away from my house we could be a little louder. "Seriously, tell me!" I was starting to laugh a little too. We had run through countless yards, in a direction we hadn't gone before. We had ended up on a small hill, looking out at Risembool from the direction of the mountains. The moonlight, unobstructed here by the homes and buildings, illuminated Aaron's profile as I looked at it, making him seem even more beautiful than usual. He really was someone to look at. His dark hair, not quite brown, not quite black, was windblown from running, chocolate eyes glistening happily. His slightly sunburned nose was smooth, unbroken by street fights. His teeth were a perfect while, like pearls in his smile.

"I found this place today," he said, flopping down into the soft grass, then propping himself up on his elbows and staring up at the grass. "It's beautiful, isn't it? I wanted to show it to you," he had a knack for finding those gasp-inducing, stop-and-stare things in life. Like this. This view was breathtaking.

"It is," I said and fell into the grass next to him, yanking my skirt down to keep him from making perverted boy comments. "Hey, I have to tell you something," I said, my voice a little heavy.

Mom and Dad had long been talking about it, thinking I couldn't hear past the thin wall between my room and theirs. They had been planning to ask me about staying with Izumi-sensei for a few months, even though Uncle Al and Aunt Mei were in town. Mom always said something about it being "time," and that "she'd love it." I would love it. Izumi-sensei was a….friend of Dad's; she had been his and Uncle Al's alchemy teacher. We visited her every spring break, just so Dad could put the figurative checkmark in the figurative box. They usually were not on good terms, him and Izumi. She always had a reason to beat him up, so I understood why he was hesitant to send me. I always knew Mom would win the debate over sending me, and Dad eventually said that Izumi knew some things that he said he didn't consider himself capable of teaching (he said he didn't want to have to spar with his own kid.). And today, over dinner, they asked me. And they had been right, I would love it. What I wouldn't love was telling Aaron that I had to go.

"What?" he said, unsuspecting of the news bomb I was about to drop on his head.

"I'm leaving," I said. His smile drooped and gradually turned itself upside-down. "I'm going to study alchemy in Dublith until December," my voice had also lost its happy tone.

"Well when are you going?" he asked, scowling a little like I'd messed up some kind of plan of his.

"Three days from today," I said, brushing back my bangs and trying to hide the small tear that had spilled onto my cheek. I really did want to study with Izumi-sensei, but I just wished that Aaron and Trisha could come with me.

"Can't wait to leave, can you?" he said sourly.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," I said, trying to brush off his guilt trip. "And I'll be back on December 10th; it's only a few months." only about half a year.

"Crud, Nina, I don't even have a going-away present for you," he joked weakly. Then, before I knew it, he was leaning into me, our faces coming closer and closer until our foreheads were touching.

"You never had to get me anything," I whispered, my heart skipping a few beats.

He closed the distance between us, his lips meeting mine in a gentle kiss that made me feel warm and tingly head to toe. His hand tucked a stray hand behind my ear and I reached up to hold it, feeling that that was the right thing to do. His thumb brushed away the tiny teardrop on my cheek, and any sadness I had went with it. He pulled away and I saw the tiniest hint of a blush on his face, and I'm sure mine was as red as a tomato. "Would that work?" he asked with a tiny hint of a smile on his face.

I just nodded breathlessly and accepted his outstretched hand, holding it the whole way home. It was rough, calloused with the work of many harvest seasons, but warm, comforting, and soft all the same.


End file.

Fullmetal Alchemist