Author's Notes: I don't know where this is coming from. I don't know where it's going. But somewhere in my mind, I feel like it won't be a short one. Enjoy?
Equivalency
He had learned, quite a long time ago, that to gain anything, something had to be lost. It was a simple fact, something he had acknowledged and even accepted long before he even began to delve deep into his study of alchemy. It was the first law of equivalent exchange. It was simple scientific fact; matter could not be created nor destroyed no matter how dutifully one tried to go about the process. He could manipulate the hydrogen and oxygen in the air to create flames, but he couldn't create the air he needed for such a reaction. Alchemy depended wholly on the understanding of such a concept.
His gaze shifted from the files atop his desk to her form, bent slightly over the work she was absorbed in, pen flitting across the page as she worked diligently. His mind wandered, obsidian eyes taking in the fair-haired woman. How was it that she had no respect for the law of equivalent exchange? A person would give, but only to get something in return. She had lost much of her personal life the moment she entered the military academy, and had thrown whatever outside life she held when she stalked into his office on her first day of work. And yet, she never seemed to gain much from what she lost.
How could one woman so easily defy such a simple law? Equivalency. No person could give forever. At some point, the favor had to be returned.
