Chapter 7

"How did you know, Brother?"

"... Eh?"

You and Al are both lying on your backs in your beds, staring at the ceiling. You're holding your automail hand up in front of your face and playing with it, absently.

"The baby. You were acting so weird tonight, like you knew Gracia was going to have her baby tonight. And she did. How did you know?"

You shrug. "Lucky guess?"

"Brother..." He sounds disappointed, but doesn't push the issue. "They seem like a nice family, don't they?"

"The Hughes?" You wonder, mildly surprised. "Yeah, they do."

"I hope we get a chance to get to know them better."

"Yeah. I hope so too."

"So you're sure you don't want to tell me what's been bothering you lately?"

"I dunno what you're talking about."

"Ever since Mustang first mentioned Tucker, you've been acting weird. I'm not blind, Brother."

"Yeah, well. I'm sorting it out." You brush it off.

There's another stretch of silence before he speaks again. "And the State Exam? Are you still going through with it?"

You sit up in surprise and look over at him. "Yeah! Of course I am! I know I'm distracted, but it's not like I've forgotten! I have to pass that exam!"

"You haven't been studying."

"... Huh?"

"We've been staying with Tucker to prepare for the exam, but you've spent hardly any time studying. We spend almost all the time outside with Nina. Not that that's a bad thing!" He quickly lifts his hands up as he defends himself against no one. "But even the time I have spent reading has mostly been alone. It's like you don't even care about the exam anymore... are you sure that you're ready for it?"

"Yeah, yeah." You wave your automail hand absently. "I've got it covered."

"How can you be so sure of yourself?" He asks suddenly, finally sitting up himself. You can see his eyes glowing at you through the darkness, and slowly smirk.

"I'll show you!" You announce cheerfully, happy to finally have something positive to talk about. You hop out of bed and hurry over to the wall, throwing the lights on. You wince briefly as your eyes adjust, but then grin once again as you let your natural showmanship take over.

"Watch and be amazed, brother." You clap your hands together and drop to the floor, warping the floorboards into the most gaudy, embellished spear you have created in recent memory – a truly significant feat in and of itself. It has a skull on one end surrounded by decorative laurel wreaths, and has a crown of what looks like sharpened teeth. You toss it over to Al to inspect for himself, with a slight bow to the left and to the right. "Thank you, thank you."

He turns the spear over in his hands a few times before finally looking back at you. "How did you- it's circleless alchemy!"

"Wake up, Brother! We've got a big day ahead of us! Rise and shine, lazy bones!"

"Hnnng." It's the day of your exam. You're going to Tucker's house first to pick up Nina – she insisted she come with you, even though most of her time would be spent waiting outside. It takes Al a few more minutes to get you up, and in the end he has to resort to pulling the sheets out from under you and dumping you on the floor. He laughs at your misfortune while you curse loudly.

Finally, you're dressed and the two of you are out the door. Most of the day is fairly routine, without much difference from the first time you went through it. You pick Nina up and drive to Military HQ, where you and Al disappear inside for hours while Havoc keeps Nina busy outside. You already told Al not to bother with the exam – for all the same reasons as before, with the additional reason that only one State Alchemist is accepted each year, and you already know it'll be you. He told you to check your ego and he was coming with you and that was that.

The process is just as long as the first time through. The written exam is long and tedious and boring, and you both come out if tired and annoyed. You both pass, but with slightly lower grades then last time. Understandable, considering you didn't bother cramming for it this time around. You're also a bit smug to find out that you beat Al this time, but you can't seem to count it as fair, considering you have a few months experience up on him.

The next day is just the same. You and Mustang together convince Al to sit the second half out, which he reluctantly does. He seems more irritated then resigned this time. Ah well. You stand to the side and wait for your opportunity in the practical. It all happens just like you knew it would. The whole day runs 'according to schedule', and by the end of it, you're too tired out to worry about much else. You pass – no surprise there – and Havoc drives you all back to Tucker's house. You'll get your watch tomorrow morning.

The whole day goes by in a blur, and you're happy when it's finally over and you can go to sleep.

You barge in through the front door like you own the place and wander around, looking for Al and Nina. You hear their voices coming from the yard, so you quickly run outside to find them.

"Hey everyone! Look!" You hear two gasps of astonishment – really, there's nothing to be astounded about, but hey. And two sets of footsteps coming towards you. One inordinately heavy, and one inordinately light.

Before either of them reach you, a happy bark sounds and the weight of your watch disappears. You snap your eyes back open and a vein appears on your forehead as you spot the big blond oaf prancing around the yard with your watch in his mouth.

"Get back here you you mangy mutt!" Al and Nina laugh as you run off to catch the dumb dog. Nina runs after you calling "Alexander! Alexander!" With how smoothly everything's been going, you can almost forget the danger looming in the near future. Almost - but not quite.

The three of you are lying on your backs in the wet grass - there are still some snowbanks along the edges of the lawn, but most of it has melted away by now – when Al sits up and announces that he's going to go find you guys something to eat for lunch. You nod absently as he walks back in the house, then look over at Nina, who's smiling up at the sky with her eyes closed and arms outstretched. It ignites a sudden pain of desperation in your heart to see her lying there in the grass like that.

You sit up abruptly and glance back at the door. How long ago did Al go in? You know Tucker has been in his basement all morning preparing for his assessment. His assessment. When is it. Tomorrow? The day after? How much time do you even have left? You look over at Nina again, biting your bottom lip. Your best bet might be just getting her as far away from the house as you can and keeping her away 'til after his assessment. Risky, but if you pull it off, it's by far the best way to absolutely guarantee her safety...

To run off with Nina while you still have the chance, go to chapter 10

You've still got some time left. This seems like a bad idea. To wait just a bit longer, go to chapter 11