Disclaimer: I don't own FMA.
There were three fundamental stages that needed to be understood in order to perform the art of alchemy. Analysis, deconstruction, and reconstruction.
First, you had to analyze, and understand the item or element you're transmuting. Then you deconstruct the molecular bonds in a certain item and reconstruct it into an item of your choosing. Equivalent exchange at it's finest.
Lola understood that about alchemy, she understood the fundamentals. She just… wasn't talented at it.
Winry sat across from her staring at her notes intensely.
"Lola, what's this?" the blonde asked curiously, moving closer to the redhead. Lola ruffled her hair affectionately.
"This, little sis, is alchemy," Lola explained excitedly "Want me to teach you?"
Winry scrunched her nose cutely and shook her head.
"Granny doesn't like it when you do that," Winry started off causing Lola to scowl.
"Well… what granny doesn't know won't hurt her," Lola replied as she looked over her remaining notes. She had attempted to have a few more lessons with Hohenheim whenever possible, but it wasn't easy.
The blonde man seemed incredibly distant lately, even more so than usual. It made Lola slightly uncomfortable.
"I wanna play outside!" Winry exclaimed pulling on Lola's skirt "Please,"
Lola wanted to say no. She really did.
But… Winry Rockbell had the worst case of puppy eyes she had ever seen. In this life and the last.
"Oh, alright," she answered with a defeated sigh "Only for a little bit,"
Winry raised her hands in childish excitement at that, and Lola couldn't help but chuckle at the pure innocence of it.
The redhead sighed as her younger sister clenched her skirt and dragged her out of the house. She quickly put her long hair into a ponytail, and discreetly tucked her alchemy notes, and a book on anatomy underneath her arm.
Once she made sure her sister was behind her, Winry raised her hands and ran full speed ahead. Lola called after her.
"Winry! Don't run too fast, or you'll-"
Surely enough the energetic blonde fell face forward, causing Lola to sigh in exasperation.
"You'll fall. Win, I told you-"
"You're so lame Winry!" An obnoxious voice called out. Lola gritted her teeth at that and sighed as a certain blonde annoyance came their way.
Watery blue eyes stared up at the voice and immediately narrowed into a petulant glare.
"Shut up, Ed! I didn't laugh when you fell down the hill-"
"Yes, you did!"
Golden eyes clashed against blue, as Alphonse Elric made his way towards the commotion.
Lola stared down at the younger boy and immediately felt her features soften into a kind smile.
Al stared up at her and returned her smile immediately.
"Hey Al," she started walking closer to him "How are you this fine morning?"
"I'm alright, how about you Lo-" Before he could even finish the sentence, Lola captured him in a strong hug.
"Now that you're here Al, all my troubles have been washed away," She starts with the utmost seriousness, placing her cheek on top of his two-year-old head "Whatever you do Al. Don't become like Edward. Don't become an annoying midget-"
Golden eyes snap up at that and turn to glare at Lola.
"Who are you calling so small he couldn't be seen with a microscope!?"
"You, shorty. What are you gonna do about it?"
Lola swore she could see smoke exiting Edward's ears, and she couldn't help but cackle. He was so easy to tease.
Alphonse-being the gentle angel he was- took Lola's hand and looked at Ed and her sternly.
"Guys, stop it. Mom said friends shouldn't fight,"
Lola wrinkled her nose at the word 'friend'. Edward was more of an… acquaintance that she tolerated.
Even so… seeing the look in Alphonse's eyes made her fold almost immediately.
"Whatever you say, Al!" She gushed, glomping Al once more. After making sure he couldn't see however, Lola stuck her tongue out at Edward causing the boy to cry out in anger.
All in all, it was a pretty normal day.
The four of them sat at the top of the hill closest to their houses. Al and Ed were enraptured in their own separate conversation, and Lola had ditched her alchemy book in favor of the one that centered around anatomy. Winry rolled her eyes at that with all the sassiness a three-year-old could muster.
"You're always studying Lola!" She accused, attempting to take the book from the older girl's hands "You said you'd play with me,"
Lola closed her book slowly and sighed. She sent Winry a bright smile.
"I'm sorry Win, that was rude of me. What do you want to play?" Lola questioned as she watched Edward and Al do… whatever the hell it was they were doing.
"I don't mean to pry," she stated wryly "But… would you guys mind sharing with the class why you're… inspecting the dirt," She was sure Al had a good reason, but she didn't completely trust Edward's motives.
Al blushed slightly, but Edward mirrored her earlier action and stuck his tongue out at her.
"None of your business," Ed replied brattily causing Lola to raise an eyebrow. So that's how he wanted to play it?
"Well… since it's 'none of my business'," Lola quoted "I guess I should tell Mama that you guys don't need any apple pie for dessert," That caught both of their attention.
It was common knowledge that Sarah Rockbell baked the best apple pie in all of Resembool. Lola stared at them challengingly.
Al was the first one to break.
"We were just researching," he explained hurriedly "We found some books in dad's study and-"
"Al!" Ed stated accusingly. Al stared at his brother apologetically but just shrugged.
"Sorry, brother! But, we haven't had apple pie in a really long time,"
Lola snorted at that. Sarah had made apple pie just last week.
"Thanks, Al," Lola replied, ruffling his hair. Edward rolled his eyes at that, and Lola ruffled his hair too. Just to spite him.
After running around with Winry for a bit(she didn't understand how the young girl had so much energy), Lola sat back down near the tree they had started off at. She allowed Winry to play with her hair.
"You guys are so girly," Edward had said as if it was some great crime. Lola rolled her eyes at him, but Winry just stared at him in triumph.
"You're just mad that I can play with Lola's hair, and you can't!" the blonde replied, causing Edward to sputter.
"Why would I want to play with her hair?"
Lola listened in bemusement, as the two got into yet another argument. As she watched the clouds, however, something broke her out of her musings. She shot up immediately.
"Sorry guys," she stated as she collected her books "I promised Mama and Papa to help them out at the clinic. See you at dinner!" After pressing a kiss to Winry's forehead, she took her time getting down the hill and then ran as fast as her legs would carry her.
As she made her way to the clinic, she waved at various passerby. Kathy the florist, Matt the butcher, Andy the mailman. Resembool was a small town.
It was the kind of town where everyone knew each other, and everyone knew about each other. It was pretty hard to keep secrets.
Even so, Lola loved it there. Resembool was family and home compiled into one tiny town.
The moment she made it into the clinic, Lola discarded her books and disinfected her hands immediately.
Ross-one of the nurses- nodded at her, and told her where help would be needed.
Sara and Yuriy were apparently deep in surgery, and wouldn't make it out for at least a few more hours.
Lola frowned at that and kissed her apple pie goodbye.
Due to the fact she was physically five, it took awhile for Sara and Yuriy to actually allow her to help out.
She wasn't given huge jobs, like performing surgery for example(no matter how much she wanted to). She mostly just helped take care of the numerous patients the clinic inhabited, and made sure they were all given the correct medicine.
Due to her childish appearance, she helped the patients feel at ease.
Sara and Yuriy were the only certified doctors around for miles, and the clinic was incredibly short handed when it came to nurses.
Therefore, the clinic was always packed.
Lola maneuvered her way through the crowded room and made it into her first stop. Joanne Schiller beamed at her as she made her presence known.
Joanne was an elderly woman, who had no living relatives left. Her husband -who had been a part of the military-died years ago and her daughter died in childhood.
Therefore, the woman held a soft spot for Lola and would always ask for her.
Lola beamed at the woman, before frowning slightly.
"Mrs. Schiller," she had started off slowly "Did you take your medicine?"
On cue, the elderly woman started to pout.
"C'mon Lola! It tastes awful! Do I have to take it?" she questioned petulantly causing Lola to sigh. She loved Joanne, but the woman could be so childish at times.
"Yes Mrs. Schiller, if you want to get better than you need to take all of it," Lola replied pouring the woman's medicine and handing it to her.
The woman glared at the cup as if it was her greatest enemy, before sipping it little by little. Lola kept her company as she did so, telling her about all the happenings in her life.
"You started school?" the elderly woman questioned with interest. Lola nodded excitedly at that.
"Yup! I get everything right too!" Lola replied attempting to act extra childish, so the woman in front of her could be comforted. Mrs. Schiller nodded at that.
"I'm not surprised. You are a little genius after all," She stated with a knowing look in her eye "You probably have all the little boys chasing after you,"
Lola's face scrunched up in disgust at that. Honestly, she did her best to avoid the kids in her grade whenever she could. She had people that she 'played' with(meaning she listened to them complain about their 'problems' and pretended to be interested), but she mostly kept to herself. The kids were just so… immature.
"Thankfully no," she stated "Boys are icky,"
Mrs. Schiller chuckled at that, and after a few more moments of keeping her company, Lola finally made her exit.
"Have a good rest Mrs. Schiller! I'll be back soon," Lola stated as she made to leave the room.
Mrs. Schiller just gave her a thumbs up.
With nighttime, came an exhausted Sara and Yuriy. Even so, they still found the energy to smile at their semi adopted daughter.
"I heard you did really well today Lola!" Sara stated, taking her daughter's hand in hers "Ross said that you visited twenty patients!"
"Did you expect anything less, Sara?" Yuriy replied taking Lola's other hand.
Lola just giggled at that and nodded along.
Even though she was exhausted, Sara still somehow found the time to get the ingredients ready for a quick batch of apple pie. She even gave Lola instructions on how to make it as she did so.
Yuriy played with Winry and talked to Pinako as Sara and Lola brought out dinner.
Winry looked at the vegetables on her plate menacingly and tried to sneak them to Den, the family dog.
Lola just laughed when Den also looked up at her and sniffed the food on her plate. She discreetly shuffled him a piece of a lamb chop.
When the apple pie came out, Winry looked at Lola pleadingly. With a sigh, Lola took some of her apple pie and handed it to Winry.
Yuriy smiled at her knowingly, which caused the young redhead to roll her eyes. He knew as well as she did how hard it was to turn Winry down.
After dinner, Sara gave a few servings of apple pie for Lola to deliver to the Elric household.
As she walked down the path that led to their home, Lola couldn't help but feel a bit unsettled.
When she got to the Elric house, Trisha met her with a stiff smile. That was her first clue.
The young redhead smiled up brightly at her neighbor and handed the pie to her, taking into account the bags starting to appear under her eyes.
"Hello, Auntie Trisha!" Lola stated sweetly "Where's uncle Elric? He hasn't been able to give me any alchemy lessons lately,"
Trisha tensed slightly at that, and if Lola had been a real child she might not have noticed it.
"He's in his study," Trisha replied "He's been really busy lately,"
"Oh well, I'll try and come by soon!" Lola called out as waved excitedly at the brunette and ran back towards her house "Good night!"
Trisha smiled at her and waved back calmly.
Lola would spend the night wondering what exactly it was that had been going on with Trisha, and she wouldn't get her answer until the next morning.
By the time Lola made it to the clinic, it was already the talk of the town on how Van Hohenheim had left his family to go on some journey.
Along with the sadness she had felt for the remaining Elrics in Resembool, there was also a nagging sensation in the back of her mind.
She… somehow deep down she had known this would happen.
Author's Note: Here's chapter 3 of Kairos! As of right now, Kairos has 36 favorites 51 followers and 12 reviews. I can't thank you guys enough! As you can see by the end of this chapter, we're finally starting to get into somewhat canon territory. Hohenheim has left, and pretty soon the Elrics will start to gain their interests in alchemy. How will Lola fit into all this? You'll just have to wait and see.
Current ages:
Lola-5
Ed and Winry-3
Al-2
Questions I have for you Guys:
What type of alchemy do you think Lola will specialize in?
What did you think of Lola's interactions with the Resembool Trio?
P.S. I hope you guys have enjoyed this chapter.
