Hey this is my first story so please be nice and tell me what can be improved.
I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. If i did then i would be dating/marrying Edward Fullmetal Alchemist: Story of the Griffin
Prologue
It seemed like such a peaceful dream. Natalie and Nellie were happy children with Maria and Joseph Griffin. The twin sisters always woke up in the morning with a smile on their faces, knowing that they will have another happy day with their mother and father. Every morning, Joseph would get up and head off to Eastern Headquarters, for his job as a State Alchemist. Then Maria would make breakfast for her lovely daughters. The twins would always run downstairs to breakfast as if it were a race. Nellie was always the reckless sister, as for Natalie, she's always cautious about whatever Nellie tries to do. One day, Nellie and Natalie took a short cut to get home from the store. While they were walking on the bridge, Nellie climbs up the edge and walks like it was a balance beam.
"Nellie, you shouldn't do that." said Natalie anxiously.
"Nah, I'll be fine sis!" says Nellie, completely relaxed. "You shouldn't worry so much. Come on up here, its fun!"
"But, you'll fall!"
"No I won't! It takes more than that to knock me down!"
Suddenly a gust of wind hits Nellie in the face. She loses her balance and falls right into the river. Nellie comes up the surface, gasping for air.
"Nellie!" cried Natalie. She runs to the edge of the river and quickly runs under the bridge. She reaches her hand out to her sister. "Come over here!"
Nellie tries the paddle and fight against the water as best as she could, but she doesn't move any closer. "Natalie! I can't swim!"
Natalie began to panic. She looks around for someone who can help. She quickly ran up the top of the bridge, screaming "Help! My sister needs help! She's going to drown!" She continues to yell for help until a strange man quickly walks up to her. Natalie stared up at the man with tears in her eyes. His hair was long, and blonde. His beard practically covered his jaw, and his glasses lay on the bridge of his nose perfectly. When the man spoke, it seemed as though she was not that much afraid anymore.
"Where is your sister?" said the man. "Maybe I can help."
Natalie felt more tears coming out and when she spoke, her voice was shaky.
"She's in the river!"
She grabs the man by the hand and quickly leads him to the river under the bridge. Nellie is still at the surface of the water, kicking her legs to try and stay above. The man walked calmly to the edge of the water and got down on his knees. He clapped his hands, and placed them on the soil. A spark of lightning surrounds him, and a portion of the ground rose below Nellie. It rose above the water and she quickly ran to her sister, panting.
"Nellie, I told you that was dangerous!" Natalie said.
"I know, I know, I'll be more careful sis." Nellie said, still panting.
The ground sunk back under the water, and the man stood up. The twins looked up at the man about ready to walk away.
"Wait!" says Natalie.
The man stopped and turned around to face Natalie.
"Um, thank you for saving my sister." She said.
The man smiled. "You're welcome little one." He said. "You two should head home. A storm is on its way. If you like, I help you get home to your family."
The twins said they could make it on their own. So they bid the man farewell, and hurried home. When their mother found Nellie soaked, Natalie told her the whole story. Then because Nellie got so reckless that day, she ended up getting a cold. Ever since then, Natalie became more responsible on taking care of her older sister.
A couple years later the family was going to have a new member of the family; a baby girl! Natalie and Nellie were both very excited and couldn't wait to see their new younger sister. However, one day Joseph and Nellie were out shopping while Natalie was helping Maria with the cooking and housework. Little did they know that the Father and the eldest child in the family ended up in a car accident. Joseph Griffin died, and Nellie Griffin was reported missing. Roy Mustang, who was one of Joseph's superiors, didn't report the news to the rest of the Griffin family until later that evening. Maria and Natalie would pray every day for Nellie to be found alive so they would be happy that she is safe.
After that, every day was a bit risky. Maria would not let Natalie go out to the store because she fears her daughter would be killed or kidnapped. And Maria was not always in a good mood to go get goods from the store herself, so there were days she had to send Natalie out on her own.
Natalie always found Alchemy interesting as she passed her father's old bookshelf every day. Maria planned to sell the books since they were going to be of no use to the family anymore, but Natalie stopped her.
"I want to learn alchemy mom!" Natalie announced.
Natalie's mother couldn't help but allow her to learn. Every day Natalie would study and perform alchemy. Eventually she studied every tiny detail of the alchemy books her father had and was already full of knowledge. Natalie would sometimes make tiny trinkets for her mother to enjoy. Every time Natalie created something out of alchemy, her mother would say,
"I'm sure your father is proud to have such a talented young alchemist. Who knows, maybe you'll take your father's place in the military."
And that became Natalie's dream. Someday when she gets old enough, she will join the military and become a State Alchemist. She wished to carry on her father's name, "The Green Lion" Alchemist.
When the day came for the baby to be born, Natalie would stay with her mother until the doctor came to help Maria give birth. Maria then named her newborn daughter Kimberly, and was mostly watched by her older sister, Natalie.
Since Maria was the only parent in the family, she was the one who had to get a job. Natalie, who is now ten years old, would watch over her sister as their mother works her hardest to bring food to the table.
Throughout the next year, Mustang and Hawkeye would often visit the family for a short amount of time. Every time Mustang came for a visit, he would bring an old Alchemy book from the library, and Natalie was soon filled with more knowledge. She chose the safe path of not taking any risks of trying to become like God. In other words, she chose to never perform human transmutation, no matter how convincing it seems to her. Later on that year, Maria ended up with a serious illness, and had to rest in bed every day. Natalie was almost eleven, and was soon given the job to cook, clean, and do laundry. For a girl as small as she was, she always managed to get the job done. However, by the time Natalie's birthday came and went, and when Kimberly soon turned two years old, Maria passed away. Natalie began to worry about how they were going to live. Roy and Hawkeye stayed at their house after the funeral and began to think how the girls would be able to live. Natalie, with determination in her eyes, stood up and announced,
"I'll become a dog of the military to help my sister!"
Mustang and Hawkeye were surprised of her enthusiasm, but they refused.
"We're glad you wish to become a State Alchemist like your father, Natalie," Roy said.
"But we can't let a young girl at age eleven work to keep food on the table for her two year old sister." Hawkeye finished.
Natalie realized that they were right, and she sat down, feeling helpless.
"But…" Roy said.
Hawkeye and Natalie looked at him curiously.
"We could take you girls to Risembool…There is a woman there named Pinako Rockbell…she might be able to take care of you two."
"Sir, with all due respect," Hawkeye said, "I don't think Miss Rockbell would be able to take care of two more children. She already has three to take care of."
"And we have a young boy there who wishes to become a State Alchemist to restore what he and his brother have lost. If Natalie here joins them, Miss Rockbell would only have to take care of her granddaughter and Kimberly. It is worth a try."
"…I guess you are right. We can try to ask her to care for these girls."
The next day Mustang, Hawkeye, and the two orphaned sisters took a train to a small town named Risembool. When they arrived at a small yellow house, a young girl with long blonde hair tied up in a ponytail greeted them.
"Oh Mr. Mustang, Miss Hawkeye!" the young girl said surprised. "What brings you here?"
"Winry, is your grandmother home?" Hawkeye asked with a smile. "We need to speak to her."
"Sure she is." Winry replied. "But she's busy taking care of Edward…" she looks back at the front door with a slightly concerned look on her face.
"I see…Well, can she spare a minute?"
"Uhm I can ask, why don't you come in?" she jogs back into the house.
Mustang, Hawkeye and the sisters entered the Rockbell household and waited in the living room. Ten minutes passed and Pinako walked out of the room wearing a white lab coat and gloves all stained with blood. Natalie looked at Pinako's blood stained coat and gloves and remembered what Winry said earlier. She was busy taking care of a boy named Edward? What on earth was wrong with him? Was he sick? Was he seriously injured? Was it really okay for us to barge in at a time like this!
"Sorry for the long wait." Pinako said.
"It's all right madam." Roy said calmly. "How is he doing?"
"Much better, he should be almost finished. He's been coughing out blood and has been in a lot of pain, but he really knows what he signed up for, so he's hanging in there."
"I see…"
Pinako looked at Natalie and Kimberly sitting on the couch next to Hawkeye with slight fear in their eyes. She looked back at Mustang and spoke with a curious, yet serious tone of a voice.
"I guess I have to ask. What's your purpose of being here?" She said. As she took off her lab coat and removed her gloves to grab her smoking pipe.
"It's quite a long story…" Hawkeye explained.
Pinako blew out a puff of smoke from her pipe. "I'm sure I have plenty of time. Winry is busy taking care of Ed for me and she knows what she's doing. So you can explain."
Mustang and Hawkeye explained the whole story to Pinako and the more she listened about the sisters' tragedy, the more she felt sorry for them. When they finished explaining the situation, Pinako blew out another puff of smoke and looked at the girls with pity.
"I was going to ask why these girls came here with you…" She remained silent for a while to think it over then she looked at the girls with a comforting smile. "It will be a shame for you girls to remain homeless. You two shall fit in fine here. Everyone here is family, and there's plenty of room for you two to stay in."
Natalie smiled shyly, while her sister jumped off the couch and jumped around laughing. Pinako smiled at how much energy she has and blew out another puff of smoke.
"You two can call me granny if you wish. That's what the kids call me, of course." She puts on her lab coat and grabs out a clean pair of gloves. "You'll get to meet Winry and Alphonse, but as for Ed, it will take a bit for you to meet him."
"Uhm…g-granny…?" Natalie said quietly, "What's wrong with Ed…?"
Pinako stopped walking towards the hallway door and turned back around to face everyone.
"Well, Ed and his brother Alphonse lost their mother at a young age. They tried to bring her back by using alchemy."
"….Human transmutation…?"
Pinako paused. "Yes…How do you know that?"
"Natalie has been studying her father's research for about a year now." Roy said, "Unlike the Elric brothers, she chooses to follow the rules of whatever she learns from alchemy books instead of choosing to roll the dice."
"I see…Well, because they tried to bring the dead back to life, Al lost his entire body, and Ed lost his leg. Ed then gave up his arm to bring his brother back to life, but instead of trying to bring his whole body back, he brought back his soul and bound it to a suit of armor. Now at this moment we're giving Ed an automail arm and leg so he can become a State Alchemist. Good news is we're almost finished."
"Oh wow…" Natalie said unable to think of anything else to say. "That's awful…"
"Yes it is…well, Ed should have his automail arm finished by the end of this month. So when his automail is finished you can talk to him."
Just like that, Natalie and Kimberly were taken in by the Rockbell family, and now stay with Winry, Edward, and Alphonse. Someday, Natalie will repay them when she becomes a State Alchemist.
~And thats it! Tell me what you think and hope you like it!~