Disclaimer: I do not own FMA (thought I wish I did) this is my first time trying to write an FMA fic, so It might not be brilliant,I would seriously appreciate all critique and comments because I wrote this has a birthday request from a friend whom is a HUGE Fullmetal Alchemist Fan, and I don't want to let her down. To make things more interesting, I'll accept any challenge or request made by the first person to send me a review with all the typos he or she finds( I don't feel like using a BETA ;P)
A few years have passed since the war against "Father" and his homunculus finally came to an end. Colonel Mustang is now the Fürher and the Elric brothers continued to study alchemy; though now they had to balance their thirst for knowledge with the responsibilities of having a family, specially Edward, who didn't mind at all in fact, he often said he was as happy as any person that had fulfilled all the goals in his life could be and maybe even more.
If you were able to see things from his point of view you would agree with him, after all the pain and suffering he had been through he had finally been able to get his beloved brother's body back and recovered his arm, even though that was a bonus he wasn't really expecting. He had accomplished one of his dreams. Alphonse was able to show his emotions on his face, he could eat all those things he had listed in his notebook, he could grow, he could cry, and he could laugh, this alone made Ed so happy that every time he remembered he felt like crying, not caring about those lies saying men shouldn't be weak. If to that, you added Winry whom he loved dearly, and the two beautiful children they had together then you didn't have any option but to agree: Edward was one of the few people on earth that had a peaceful happy life without regrets. But that didn't make his daily routine much less interesting, on the contrary, thanks to his involvement in the Government when he was a State Alchemist, and to his joined research with Al after that, many Traveling scientists and aspiring alchemists came to him seeking knowledge; much to Ed's continuous dismay.
"Seriously" He exploded one day after sending off his most recent visitor "Why can't Führer Mustang stop sending visitors to our house every day, I am not even a proper alchemist anymore" he was ranting to Winry, but she was too busy fixing his automail leg to listen, so he just kept fuming quietly in his head.
When he was done Winry spoke up, showing that she WAS listening, the reason she didn't answer before was because she knew Ed, and in this kind of unimportant situation letting him rant solved the problem without her having to interfere.
"Well, instead of getting mad at him you should think that maybe he's praising you in his own freakish way" she finished adjusting the last screw from his automail, inspecting her job with a critical eye. When she was satisfied she stood up, yawned and sat at the chair next to Edward's, amused because he still pouted like a little child.
"Yeah right! Mr. Führer will praise me the day hell freezes over, he's just too lazy to do the job of teaching those kids himself, even though he knows I can only help them in theory, not in practice.
Winry saw that, when he said this, a bit of sadness touched his eyes and she knew why, no matter how many times he said he didn't miss doing alchemy, she knew it was a lie. He did. Very much so, he did not regret his decision, but that did not make it any easier.
"Is this all about what you said before?" asked Winry, hoping to cheer him up "About you not being a proper alchemist anymore?"
Ed looked away from her questioning gaze. He felt ashamed, he always though he needed nothing more but what he already had to be happy, but, the sad truth was that Winry was right: he missed alchemy more that he could put into words.
"Well I think you are mistaken" Winry said in a teasing tone- you often are actually.
"What?" Replied Edward shocked "If you want to get into a fight, that's a game for 2 Mrs. I need to check this automail often because I didn't get it quite right when I made it"
After that, they got into one of their short little arguments, which was rapidly interrupted by one of their children.
"Mom, Dad, there Ith a stwange man at the door" said the little girl whom they had named Trisha in memory of Ed an Al's mother. She was now 3 and was the spitting image of her father, but then again, both kids resembled Edward so much that sometimes Winry found herself staring intently at them, hoping to find a feature like her own.
"A strange man?" Asked Edward with little interest. He most likely already knew what the strange visitor would want.
"Yeth" replied Trisha smiling hugely "He said he wanted to talk with Daddy, Van nii-chan stayed with him"
Edward sighed tiredly, took the little girl up and rested her in his shoulders has if she were a sack of potatoes; which made her burst into laughter, and walked to the door, smiling brightly at Winry. When he got there he saw his eldest child standing by the side of a man whom he couldn't see clearly, but instantly recognized.
"Hey Nii-san! Long time no see" said Alphonse, who allowed the light to hit his face and smiled at his brother.
"Al! I'm glad to see you!" Ed was surprised with Alphonse's visit, but he was truly happy, all the tiredness and annoyance from the morning had vanished by now allowing him to greet his brother properly before calling his wife over to join them.
"I'm sorry" apologized Alphonse once Winry had finished screaming in joy "I asked Trisha-chan to tell you I was a stranger because I wanted to surprise you".
"Don't worry Al it doesn't matter" replied Edward nonchalantly "I actually though you were one of those researchers Mustang keeps throwing at me for advice"
Alphonse laughed hysterically, willing to conceal from his brother the fact that, thanks to his constant wanderings with Mei Chang researching Alkhaestry and the child they were expecting, he had ridden himself of his share of admirers, who Mustang instantly sent to Resembool to pay Ed a visit.
The three of them talked for a while to catch up with each other's lives. Alphonse had been busy in Xing, and all those other places he had been researching and he told his brother all the things the marvelous foreign alchemy had to offer, by this point Winry had gotten the children back to their room, hoping they would fall asleep, but she knew it was impossible by now. As good Elric children they had gotten over excited when they heard Ed and Al talk about alchemy and they wouldn't stop asking questions, no matter how many times she told them the only think she understood about alchemy was that it was powerful, dangerous and that it required something they called "Law of equivalent exchange".
"But we knew that much already Mom" whined Van sitting up from his bed- Don't forget I have been reading father's books, and by explaining them to Trisha I understand even more.
"Then why don't you ask your father your questions tomorrow" Pleaded Winry panicking, it always took her by surprise how clever both of her children were, Van was 5 and he could already read and understand most things other kids his age would never even imagine (Alchemy among them).Trisha was 3 and even though she still had problems pronouncing the letter "s" and sometimes "r", she could already read a few sentences and she understood most of the things Van explained to her (Again, Alchemy was one of them) not to mention both children already had the vocabulary and speaking ability of very studious adults!
"We HAVE asked father" said Van pouting (It was like watching Edward as a child all over again) "But he says what we know right now is more than enough because he won't teach anything to us until Trisha turns 8!"
"And I agree with him" Replied Winry with authority "No matter how smart both of you are, it's still too early to worry about alchemy"
"Thath not fair" cried Trisha lisping "I'm only twee years old, there ith a long way to go before I turn 8!"
Both children yawned at the same time, which made their mother laugh, she kissed them in their foreheads and wished them sweet dreams, by the time she closed the door the kids were already in dreamland.
"So how did it go?" Asked Edward quietly, Winry hadn't seen him by the door so she gave a startled little jump before answering.
"They wouldn't go to sleep" Has she said this she threw ED a dirty look which made it clear for him that he had something to do with it.
"You know both of them are really smart, they were really agitated because of the conversation you had with Alphonse about alchemy, they want you to teach them"
Edward looked surprised and a bit confused "But they already know alchemy, or at least the basics anyway"
"Yes, I know that, and they know that, but they say that you still have a lot to teach them, and they are not willing to wait five years, and let me tell you this, if they are both half as stubborn as you and I were back at that age, you will give in before the week is out"
"Well they had to turn out like me; smart, stubborn and good-looking-said Edward with a broad grin on his face" I am their father after all.
Winry just snorted "Well some the charm they possess is thanks to me, after all I'm the most beautiful and brilliant woman of Resembool"
"Then again, this is a very small town" Edward laughed at his own joke but quickly stopped after seeing how Winry seemed about to hit him with whatever thing she could find.
"I was just kidding" said he in a calming voice, he got close and give her a small mischievous kiss in the lips, this made Winry blush and rapidly turn to face the door to their room.
"What if Al wakes up suddenly" she seemed embarrassed by this idea so she just hurried herself into the room and shot Ed a look that prompted him to do the same".
"No worries he said he couldn't stay, he was in quite a hurry, you see it seems we are going to have a nephew or maybe a niece very soon, so he told me to pass my goodbyes to you and the kids because he needed to go back to Xing"
"Woow! So Mei-chan is due t any moment now isn't she?" Winry was a bit worried about that, after all she knew the first child was the one that made woman the most afraid.
"Yeah, I hope I can get to see my nephew soon, he will be like another son to me"
"I know what you mean, now let's get to sleep, because thanks to you, a pair of monsters is sure to attack us early in the morning"
Has she had predicted both Van and Trisha entered their parents room as soon as the sun had appeared in the sky, they sneaked quietly into their bed and when they were ready, started jumping and yelling to wake their parents (Actually just Edward) up.
"Daddy, wake up" yelled Trisha laughing
"Yeah, you need to teach us that alchemic theory you were discussing with uncle Alphonse yesterday".
"Ugh" mumbled Edward half asleep "The only think I NEED to do is sleep a couple more hours kids, so get out of here".
"Not a chance" The both of them said together.
"If you don't get out of bed and teach us we will start yelling loud enough to wake Grandma Pinako next door" Van smiled and knew his father was defeated, he feared Grandma Pinako more than they Did (Pinako was very doting with them in her own way).
"Fine then" He yawned, got out of bed and made sure Winry was still asleep before he headed out of the room with both little monsters following close by. He took them to the kitchen and fixed them a quick breakfast with a Huge glass of milk (Both of them had inherited their father's apprehension for milk).
"What is it kiddos" Said Edward mocking them "You can't even drink a single glass of milk? If so, then how do you expect to manage an art as complex as alchemy" He laughed like a maniac, happy that his little revenge had worked, which only proved that he still had some of his childish behavior with him.
The Kids eyed the milk has if it were some kind of evil villain they had to defeat, they looked at each other to gain courage , plugged their noses so that they wouldn't taste the milk's flavor so much and gulped down the glass has fast as they could.
"There, we did it!" They both said happily, looking as if they had won a war.
Edward smiled at them, he had enjoyed himself with the little show, he helped the children clean up the table and took them to his private study, were he kept all of his research, they talked for a long time about The Vital energy all living things had, how every being no matter how big or small was connected to each other ( Edward got quite a shock when the kids understood "one is all. All is one" without going through special training) every now and then they would ask a question, and by the time Winry woke up they had already passed hours talking excitedly about alchemy.
"Dad can you give us a demonstration" pleaded Van excited
"Yeth! A demothtration, like what Uncle Alphonth alwayth doeth!" Trisha wanted to see Alchemy in action so badly that she jumped in her spot like a small yellow bouncing-ball.
"Sorry kids, but that's not possible" Replied Edward, and Winry who had been listening while she worked in a corner of the room, turned around to look at him, surely, there it was again, That small sadness on Ed's face.
"Why not?" They asked together.
Edward explained to them, In a way they could understand what "equivalent exchange" meant, and how and alchemist ability came from his "Gate" and how he had to give his up in order to recover something very important to him, when he was done the kids looked at each other and spoke up has if they were only one person instead of two.
"I don't think that means you lost your ability to do alchemy" said Van
"Right, I agwee" Said Trisha, her lisp making it hard for her to say agree.
"Come again?" Edward was very surprised and shocked, and so was Winry.
It was Van who explained their theory and that only made both parents even more shocked that they already were, he was only five!
"Well you explained this Macro cosmos and Micro cosmos theory didn't you?" Edward nodded "That means all the energy held in the universe is the same a human holds within his body though in a smaller proportion isn't it?" Again Edward nodded "And what if the source of a person's Alchemy is their ability to control this energy within them and use it together with scientific knowledge to bend matter to their will, always using the law of equivalent exchange".
By now Edward followed their kids thoughts and found himself recognizing that the theory made sense, but when he was about to talk Trisha cut him off.
"This would mean, that the thing "God" "the truth" or whatever it is took from you was not your Gate but your Gate Key".
"That's right" said Van "No one can take away a human's potential to do alchemy, because alchemy is what links "One" with "All", or a human to the universe. As long as you have the knowledge and you understand how everything connects to each other you won't lose your Gate, actually any person capable to understand this can do alchemy, but not everyone holds the potential to understand it, right?"
Father and children were grinning together, and talking about this new theory they had conceived, Winry only shrugged and walked away thinking "Living among geniuses sure is a pain in the neck"