A/N: Next chapter and it actually has plot development! Story's finally moving along at a nice pace.


She knew that she was allowed to be here simply because she had guilted those around her and so did everyone else but that didn't stop the whispers. Questions of whether someone else can pass the test before the legal age began to float around and soon enough Mustang began to receive regular visits from enlisted men and women that he had never met before simply for the sake of catching a glimpse of the toddler that claimed to be an alchemist. There had been talks of revoking her right to sit at the exam because of how big the news had gotten and the negative press the military was receiving due to 'enrolling children for war' however the Fuhrer refused to revoke his decision, citing that a leader, once a decision has been made, should stick to it until the end. For the better part of the three weeks her father and Mustang had tried prodding her brain, trying to figure out where the idea had come from, and to see if she truly knew any alchemy at all. She played dumb for all of it though, claiming she just wanted 'to help her daddy catch bad guys' and left it at that. The Fuhrer wouldn't revoke his ruling but her father could and she didn't want to chance giving him an inkling that maybe, just maybe, she had a shot.

The day arrived with press just outside the military gates and a group of men and women aging from 18 to 62 standing outside the entrance to the exam hall. Some of them eyed her and whispered amongst themselves but she would play her part well. She sat down in the dirt while she waited the doors to open and pulled out a small pony and a cowboy doll and began to play with them. This caused most around her to smile and dismiss her. She played her part for about half an hour with her father gushing to her the whole time about how proud he was to see her strive for things that were important to her. How proud he was to be the father of a child who strived for such lofty goals at such a young age and going on and on about how he was going to get her the biggest banana split he could find in central once it was all done.

The doors opened and Elicia got up and began to enter the cavernous room with her father close behind. She took a seat in the back and made herself comfortable. A uniformed man came up and escorted her father out five minutes before testing; he waved at her and told her he'd be just outside whenever she was ready to leave. The last five minutes was spent with a majority in the room either cramming as much as they could or listening to the higher-ups before them drone on about the prestige the title of state alchemist came with and the responsibility they each had to their country.

A soldier came around passing out the workbooks they'd be working, an older man with graying hair who's rank displayed him as a Colonel. She thanked the man as he placed the test before her and he gave her a curious look then smiled and patted her head. With the last of the books distributed they were instructed to begin and the timer was set for an hour and a half. She only hoped she could pretend to be writing for that long, if the questions were similar to the first time she took the test she could be out of there in forty-five minutes.

An hour went by before she stood up to turn her test in, the man that handed out the tests smiled at her and kneeled before her to take it from her wishing her luck. She smiled at the man then ran up the stairs before he had a chance to look it over. He was expecting scribbles and she didn't want to see his face when he realized that she had answered all the questions and aside from a few she couldn't quite remember she was sure that they were all correct. A guard at the door opened it for her and let her out where she could see her father sitting on the stairs to the building talking to Mustang. She waved at them and jumped into her father's arms giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you for letting me do this Daddy." Her father smiled down at her as she looked up at Mustang. "Is it ok if I report to you Uncle Mustang?" Her green eyes flashed with a playful glint. She knew she couldn't be assigned to her father's unit so her Uncle was the next best thing. "Well, we have to see how you do but if you pass the exam," he placed his hand over his heart breaking out the famous Mustang charm, "I promise to not only be your superior officer but I'll look out for you and protect as best I can." He winked at her making her giggle as she turned back to her father. "Well Elicia are you ready for ice cream? Uncle Roy said he'd join." Elicia grimaced at that. "Can we wait till the results are in. When they call me I don't want to miss it." Her father frowned at this but nodded. He worried what failing would do to her self-esteem but if that's what his little girl wanted he would abide by it.

They waited on the steps for two more hours as the last of the examinees trickled out and they graded the papers as they came in. Elicia sat there playing with her toys and her Uncle and her father chatted about some case they had had back in their early days together. It was around 1:30 when a soldier appeared in front of the doors announcing that the results were in for the tests and everyone began to trickle back in. She took her seat in the back again this time joined by Roy and her father as they patiently waited. One by one starting at the front a soldier would sit down next to an examinee, bring his workbook out and discuss the results. Some shook hands with broad grins and other's walked out with dejected looks on their faces. Elicia could feel the stares from the other higher-ups as they watched. They knew she passed and they were wondering how but thankfully her father and Uncle hadn't noticed yet. She wasn't ready to have that argument just yet. It's why she chose the back because she knew she'd be the last one to be evaluated.

Finally the soldier approached her but his face held apprehension. Her father misinterpreted this though and gave her a pat on the back while addressing the officer. "Now be nice to her, if you make my daughter cry…" He got a dangerous glint in his eye at that moment and motioned to a small knife he was fingering in the pouch on his waste. The soldier nodded as he sat down in front of her. "I don't…this is a first for me…" Her father gave him an encouraging look trying to get him to wrap it up. If she didn't know better she'd say he wanted ice cream more than anyone there. The soldier kept stuttering a little and glancing nervously at her father until she couldn't take it anymore. "Just say it already." She said annoyed prompting a surprised look from her father and from Roy. "I passed." The soldier stuttered again then she could hear a very quiet whisper. "Speak up. No one can hear you." Her father looked troubled at how she was acting and gave her a stern look. "That's not how you speak to people sweetie." Elicia didn't care anymore, the man was beating around the bush and the faster she pushed through this and was accepted the better. "It's how a superior talks to their subordinate, when I'm accepted as a state alchemist I'll be acknowledged as a major, he's a lieutenant. Beating around the bush not only wastes my time but his and every person outside waiting for the examination to proceed as well." Her father and Uncle were shocked. They had never heard her speak like this before and especially so eloquently but at least they would be too stunned to say anything. "Well?" She prompted the soldier again. "You passed." Her father's eyes widened staring at the soldier before him. "Surely…surely your mistaken." He stuttered. Mustang put a hand on his shoulder trying to ground the man. The soldier shook his head. "I'm afraid not, we went over the test 6 times over. Elicia has been requested to go to the next step. The interview." Her father just laid back a look of disbelief painting his features. The information hadn't sunk in yet and when it did things might get…explosive. "The interview will be in an hour. Please don't be late…" The soldier trailed off as he went to rejoin his fellows at the bottom of the exam room, casting glances back at them occasionally.

They sat there for half an hour, Mustang had regained his composure slightly but her father was out of it. He had been mumbling under his breath wondering what he had done. How he had missed it. What was he going to tell Gracia. For Mustang's credit he still looked shocked but he had accepted the situation. She could see the gears turning in his head as he tried to think of a way out of it. Elicia spoke up then, she had to start making her way to the interview room. "I should get going, they're going to be waiting for me." Her father jumped, having forgotten she was there. "You're not going." His voice was colored with disbelief but he had to protect his daughter. "I've taken the written examination, by Amestrian Law I am required to continue on now. By tonight I'll be a state alchemist." She got up and tried to maneuver around her father who grabbed her arm suddenly. "You can't do this." He was almost pleading. Mustang stepped in then and grabbed his dear friends arm removing it from her. "She's right about the law. We can't stop it now. We have to see it through. Elicia," He said turning to her. "I don't know what your doing or how you managed this, but I hope to god for your sake and your family's that you know what your doing." Maes sputtered at this as she made her way down the stairs leading to the room, he tried to get up but Mustang pulled him down trying to bring his friend back to reality. What had they done?

Elicia stepped into the room; it was dimly lit with an alchemical circle carved into the floor. A golden three-legged seat sat in the center and before it was a long table with five officers ranging from lieutenant to Fuhrer. "Take a seat," the dim light reflected off the stars on his shoulders signifying him as a general. Elicia nodded and grabbed onto the edge of the seat. She was too small just plop down on it so she struggled for a minute before she finally crawled onto it; the whole while the seat did not lose its balance or even move for that matter. The company of men made surprised noises but continued, "Why are you here?" Elicia took a moment reflecting on all that was to come. She clenched her fist then looked the Fuhrer in the eyes as she spoke, "I have someone I need to protect and I can't do that as I am now;" the men before her conversed lightly amongst each other. "What can you do in the military that you can not do as a civilian?" Elicia thought carefully. It was the same question but they wanted more and she couldn't tell them everything. "My father works in the military. He works in investigations. I want to protect him as he does me and I can't do that from home. I want to work along side him. To make him proud." The men before conversed amongst themselves again. She began to fidget as she waited. "Proceed to the testing grounds." One of them said and relief flooded her features. She hopped out of the chair and began to make her way there.

Only two others had passed to the point she was at. She nodded happily at this. The less competition the more likely she was to be accepted not that she had any doubts but she didn't want to showcase too much. She risked having to explain a lot already and somehow explaining she was a Colonel in the future and worked under Brigadier General Elric and the future Fuhrer Mustang wouldn't sit well with anyone as of yet. The men from the examination lined up in order of rank to watch the proceedings. The lieutenant from earlier stood before the potential state alchemists as he addressed them. "Before you I have all the elements you need to perform your alchemic prowess," he gestured to a mock ecosystem behind him, half of it was ice and water while a quarter of it was solid rock; a miniature mountain. The last quarter of it was a mock forest. "We expect you to conduct yourself with the utmost professionalism and pride that any Amestrian officer would possess. Please begin." The Lieutenant made his way to the other uniformed officers as the first applicant stepped forward a young women no older than twenty-five. She approached the river and bent down and began to draw in the sands of the banks. With a glow the circle she had drawn lit up and the air was filled with the sound of electricity as the water began to move and form a sphere. The woman stepped back spreading her arms wide as the circle began to glow brighter and the sphere began to change shapes, shifting through the air like an exotic dancer and ending in the shape of a dragon who lunged for the higher ranking officers. They jumped back a little just as the dragon dispersed into a thick mist and began to form icicles around the men. They took on intricate forms until they finally formed a frozen garden of roses. The alchemic light died down and the men before her chatted animatedly amongst themselves obviously approving of the display.

Next Elicia stepped up; she could here the chatter behind her die down as her small legs carried her over to the mock forest. She bent down and drew a circle; the one she had learned from Alphonse all those years ago. It was the Xingese circle for transferring energy. She walked over to the other end of the display area and made another circle then she began to walk over to the uniformed men. She tugged on the Fuhrer's leg trying to get his attention. He bent down to her, "is everything ok Elicia?" She nodded then pulled a folder out of her backpack and handed it to the man. "My research I'm presenting." She turned around then and drew another circle right before the men and she stepped on it. The circle began to glow and with a pop she wasn't standing there anymore. There was an exclamation of excitement as each person on the grounds looked around in fear, fearing the worst until the woman who had performed before her shouted "she's over there now!" Elicia stood on the other circle she had drawn almost 100 yards away. There was an exclamation from some of the higher ups and soon a loud chatter filled the grounds. As it died Elicia looked at the Fuhrer as the light began to glow again. She disappeared again and reappeared in front of the glacier but now there was also a tree directly in front of the Fuhrer's now amused face. "Alright Elicia you've proved your point." Elicia began to walk forward ignoring the excited exclamations and the looks of disbelief before her. All she cared about was if she'd pass.


A/N: Ok so I might be having a little too much fun with the three year old alchemist thing but it leads up to something. I promise. Also I kinda wanted a cliffhanger though not a super big one. I'll probably have the next chapter out later today anyways so... xP