Hey! Here's my contribution to Almei week 2014 day 5. The prompt is supposed to be Abstinence, but because the only ideas I came up with for that prompt were dealing with things I don't feel comfortable writing about at this point in my life, I decided to write something different. I'm not even sure it would really be considered Almei, but oh well.
Now, the premise of this short story is based on one of my headcannons. I believe that Ed found that there wasn't much Alchemy to be learned west of Amestris, but instead he ended up meeting several kids who wanted to learn Alchemy. While he taught them, Ed discovered he enjoyed sharing his Alchemic knowledge with the younger generation, and decided to start a school in Amestris. This school eventually grows to include other fields of learning, and becomes the equivalent of Amestris's first university.
Also, the ending is based on a fact that I was recently reminded of, but which makes me sad. There is a very small percentage of females in the Math, Science, and Engineering fields. This isn't due to a lack of ability or general interest, but rather because these fields are usually perceived as male-dominated disciplines. As a girl working on her Mechanical Engineering degree, this makes me sad. I usually don't consider myself to be the kind of person who shoves feminism issues in people's faces, but I do think that needs changing.
Ok, now that my rant is done, please enjoy the story!
Disclaimer : I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist.
Teacher (Almei week day 5)
"Alphonse, why did I agree to do this again?"
"Uh, because it would be great for the kids?"
May Chang glared at Al. "That can't have been the only reason. I'm really not that great with kids."
Al thought for a second. "Well, they aren't exactly kids per say. Most of them are in their teens, so they're not that much younger than I was when you started teaching me Alkahestry."
"Yes, but that was you. You already had some knowledge from your Alchemy training, not to mention are a genius and would have picked it up anyway. That isn't true for these kids!"
Al sighed. "Look, I already promised brother that we would do this. And besides, I'm the one who came up with the lesson plan, I'll do most of the talking, you just need to be here to help in demonstrations and in case they want to know any high-level stuff I still haven't perfected yet. So stop worrying."
May considered protesting some more, decided it was useless. Somehow, during an innocent trip to Amestris to visit all their friends over there, she and Al had gotten coerced into giving a lecture on Alkahestry to at the so-called "Elric School of Alchemy and Related Sciences." May thought the name itself was stupid, but Al thought his brother's plan to create a place where kids and young adults could come and learn Alchemy was a really great idea. And when Ed mentioned that he would like to include some classes in Alkahestry, Alphonse had jumped at the opportunity to help his brother, while May had no choice but to come along.
Unfortunately, it soon became obvious that Ed's description of his school bore more resemblance to what Ed imagined it would be in a few years than to what it actually was at this point in time. There wasn't a proper schoolhouse yet, since Ed was still building it on the plot of land his and Al's childhood home had been. Instead, the students were taking classes mostly outside when the weather was nice, and crowded into one of Granny's spare rooms when it didn't. There weren't any chalkboards or other teaching aids, and there wasn't any reading material other than introductory texts since Ed was still in the process of writing a textbook "devoid of government censorship." kind of ironic, since he was trying to get the government to help with funding and getting more students interested. There weren't that many students, and the ones that did come either lived close to Resembool, or Ed had met them during his travels in the West.
Nevertheless, Al still wanted to teach the basics of Alkahestry to his brother's students. And now here they were, waiting for the students to arrive to start their first "special seminar" on Alkahestry.
The students started coming in from the town, and May stiffened. Most of them were teenage boys, teasing and play-fighting with each other before they sat down. One teenage girl wandered in with the others, and took her seat at the front, though a little to the side. She didn't socialize with the boys, but instead read one of her textbooks.
Alphonse clapped his hands. "Alright class! Welcome to the first Special Seminar for the Elric School of Alchemy and Related Sciences: Intro to Alkahestry! I'm Alphonse Elric, Edward's little brother. And this lovely woman," he gestured to May, "is Princess May Chang. She was the one who taught me everything I know about Alkahestry, so feel free to turn to her for expert advice on the subject."
May blushed at Al's words. Sure, everything he said was true, but the way he said it made her sound like some kind of superhero. And on top of that, the only girl in the class was looking at her with some kind of... hero-worship admiration.
Al started the lesson. He covered mostly the basics: what Alkahestry is, the similarities and differences between it and Amestrian Alchemy, what the dragon's pulse is, things like that. He used some potted plants he had brought to show the healing ability of Alkahestry. He asked May to demonstrate the remote transmutations she could do, since she was so much better at them than he was.
Overall, it turned out much better than May had feared. The students were attentive and asked appropriate questions. They gasped "ohhh" and "ahhh" when Al and May did the demonstrations, and actually clapped when May created a replica of Xiao-mei several feet away from where she drew her circle. Definitely a successful first class.
When the class was officially over, some of the students left to go home. Others came up to Al and asked some more questions about Alkahestry. But the lone girl in the class was the only one who came up and talked with May.
"Were you really the one who taught Mr. Alphonse Alkahestry?" she asked.
May nodded. "I met him several years ago, when I was visiting Amestris and he and his brother were traveling around the country. He was interested in Alkahestry's medical purposes, and I told him a little bit of the basics, like what you learned today. We parted ways for a while, but he promised to come learn more from me, and showed up at my doorstep two years later."
The girl fidgeted, and finally asked another question, though she looked guiltily at the ground. "Did you... Did anyone try to get you to follow more 'womanly' pursuits?"
May blinked. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're asking."
"I mean, did anybody try to tell you that Alkahestry was just for boys?"
May cocked her head. "In what universe are guys able to perform Alkahestry and girls can't?"
The girl looked down at the ground. "In my village, there aren't that many Alchemists, and it's considered to be a very prestigious discipline. I think that part is true for all of Amestris, actually. But in my village, because it's a type of science, it is considered to be something only men do."
May's eyes grew wide in surprise.
"The village itself is getting a little better, and they actually let women be doctors, but my family is a little old-fashioned. They are constantly trying to get me away from the Alchemy books and into things like sewing and gardening, even though I have no sense of aesthetics and kill everything I touch. I'm pretty sure that the only reason they let me come to Mr. Edward's school was to get me out of their hair."
May gasped. This concept was completely foreign to her. Sure, she had been pressured to learn certain things so she could stay in the running for the throne, but she had always been allowed to follow the pursuits she enjoyed, including Alkahestry.
"I was actually really surprised that Mr. Edward accepted me as a student," the girl continued, "but I was more surprised when I met Mrs. Winry. She did Automail engineering, another type of science, and nobody tried to put her down for it. In fact, her Grandmother was an Automail Engineer as well, and both her parents had been doctors. So I was wondering, was your situation like Mrs. Winry's, or was it more like mine?"
May sighed. "I'll be honest with you, my situation was more like Winry's than yours. My family didn't try to stop me from learning Alkahestry, in fact, they encouraged it, since it is a very prestigious discipline and my learning it would help improve my clan's status."
"But," May looked the girl in the eye and continued, "I firmly believe that you can do almost anything if you set your mind to it. If you want to be an Alchemist, go for it! If you want to be a doctor, go for it! If you want to be an automail engineer, go for it! It doesn't matter what anybody else thinks, since this is your life we're talking about here. And if it helps, you should know that I believe you can do it."
The girl looked like she was about to cry and had the biggest smile on her face. "Miss Chang, you are my hero! Thank you!" She gave May a giant hug, then went skipping down the road into town.
Al came up to May's side. "See, it wasn't as bad as you thought it was going to be, now was it?"
May smiled. "No, I guess it wasn't. It was actually pretty cool. Oh, please help me remember to talk to your brother about making an effort to get more girls in his school?"
Al blinked. "Uh, sure I guess."
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