*rewatches FMA:B* I need to wRITE ABOUT MY HEADCANONS!
(If enough people like this than I'll write more, so tell me what you think!)
Nina Elric had always been a fighter.
She had fought for her life when she was born, almost dying from pneumonia, almost losing any chance of living at all. She fought with her older brother Ben all the time ("Go play with mom's automail and leave me alone!" "Why don't you just go transmute yourself into something more useful!" "That's not how it works!"), even though they would always make up and laugh about it at the end of the day. But her biggest fight was with herself.
"You can't do this. You're not good enough for this. Your dad was so much better at this age than you are. How can you possibly think you'll get in?"
Ever since she saw her first transmutation circle, Nina had wanted to be an alchemist. Her father, the one and only Edward Elric, couldn't transmute anymore. He'd sat her down one day, after he'd found her reading his old books with a look of determination he knew too well, and told Nina what he'd gone through. How alchemy could help people, yes, but was also very dangerous. Nina was twelve then, and the thought of losing her parents and almost losing her brother made her feel sick. Her father made her pinky promise that when she began training, she'd never attempt what he did.
"I promise dad! I'll make you proud!"
Nina began training with her dad, but there was only so much he could teach without being able to transmute. When Nina was fourteen, her parents sent her off to train with her "stand-in grandma" Izumi (and no, she did not cry, shut up Ben!), who was so much more terrifying when she was drilling alchemic formulas into her head. After a bit, they both discovered she was best at transmuting the elements. Eventually, Nina got to a point that she could take moisture from the air, and even manipulate the air around her. A year later, Izumi proudly said that she had learned all she could, gave her a pair of gloves with her transmutation circle on them (a gift that she'd always cherish), and Nina went back home. This time, she could admit she cried a bit when her mom and dad tripped over each other to hug her.
Another year passed. Ben trained with her mom in the trade of automail, and Nina knew he'd make it big in the business. Rockbell was already a known name, and the second that someone found out that Ben's mom was Winry Elric, Nina knew they'd freak out and demand his work. Her brother's short golden hair was always a mess, and Nina would tease him and say that no girls would want him with all that oil and grease on him. He'd then proceed to tell Nina that no girls would want her either, considering how short she was. Nina would shriek at him and sputter excuses, and Ben's golden eyes would light up in amusement.
During that year, the Elric family had decided to go to Xing, to see Elric family number two. Nina loved her aunt and uncle. Uncle Al was kind and calm, and Aunt Mei balanced him out well. Their eldest daughter Trisha was a year younger than Nina, and she was a sweetheart. She cared about others more than herself, and looked just like her mother. Li and Azumi Elric were twins, and they were trouble. Nina loved to get in on their schemes, and they'd always end up slightly hurt, but laughing hysterically. Azumi had shiny black hair and golden eyes (like Ben, her father, and Uncle Al, and Nina was kind of jealous that her eyes were just a deep blue), and was usually the brains of their endeavors. Li was the charmer, and Nina was the muscle.
The other great thing about going to Xing was Janya. Janya was a year older than Nina, and she was Lan Fan's daughter. Everyone knew that Emperor Ling was her father, but considering Lan Fan was just a bodyguard, that was only talked about when doors were closed. Janya was still treated well, and it was obvious that she was Ling's favorite child out of the many he had.
Although Xingese ceremonies were god awful, Nina still enjoyed being there. The second that every guard but Lan Fan left, Ling would groan dramatically and flop onto Janya, who would complain about her father being too heavy. Lan Fan would take her mask off, and they would all be able to talk as equals. Nina and the twins even pulled a prank or two on Ling, who would pretend to be angry and chase the three of them around. Nina also trained with Uncle Al, and alkahestry proved to be pretty useful to her.
When her family got back to Amestris, Nina knew what she wanted to do with her life. She had seen what kind of wonders that alchemy and alkahestry could produce, but she needed more information for her research into it. She needed to become a state alchemist. She told her parents what she wanted to do, and they told her that it was a big decision on her part.
"Maybe you should wait to see, Nina."
But Nina wasn't having any of that. She needed to do this, because her research could help people. She learned a lot from her studies, a lot about the elements that she could work with. She might be able to predict weather patterns, and maybe, with more people, even stop a natural disaster from happening. After showing her dad the notes she had gathered, he agreed to her choice. Her mom took a bit more convincing, remembering all too well what the military had done, but eventually caved when she was reminded that things weren't like that anymore, especially with Fuhrer Mustang.
This led her to right now, at age sixteen, standing outside the doors of the testing room.
"Ready?" An arm wrapped around her shoulders, and Nina jumped. The girl next to her laughed, and she scowled.
"What do you want, Mae?" Nina groaned, not in the mood to deal with the raven haired girl. Mae Mustang grinned wickedly, her brown eyes (so much like her mother's) sparkling.
"Aw, c'mon Neen! I'm just here to see my favorite gal off!" She said, and Nina glared at her.
"No, you're here to annoy me and throw me off. I'm trying to focus."
"Calm down. It's just my dad and a few officials in there, and my dad knows how good you are. You're gonna get this. You'll be the second youngest state alchemist ever, and then you can start researching." Mae's face had gone serious, and Nina was taken aback. Mae and Nina were always at each other's throats, and now the eighteen year old was actually rooting for her?
"...thank you, Mae." Nina said uncertainly, feeling a blush creeping up her neck. It only got worse, however, when Mae kissed her cheek as the doors opened.
"Knock 'em dead, Neen." She whispered, and Nina shakily walked into the room.
Nina walked out fifteen minutes later, panting and sweaty, but beaming.
"Welcome to the military, Nina. You will now be known as the Elemental Alchemist."
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