This is my favorite little "fun" story to write and is a lovely break from the angst I ususally indulge in. So, enjoy some adorableness!
The days turned into weeks and the weeks into a few months. The boys continued to go to school, though every now and then they would suggest that they not have to go anymore, but Roy was quick to turn them down. Having the boys in school had been great because he was able to get more work done, the house was cleaner, and he had the peace of mind that the boys were interacting with individuals other than themselves. Oh, and not having things randomly set on fire all the time was a lovely bonus.
Riza couldn't convince Roy to send the boys to a better, more equipped school. What she could do, though, was try to mitigate the boredom the boys experienced while she kept the other kids engaged with age-appropriate materials. While they still had to suffer through lessons, she would give them extra activity worksheets borrowed from the local high school and also brought over some books from their library. They, in turn, were much better behaved and less likely to interrupt the class. After Riza gave them the extra work, they stopped complaining about school so much.
It was mid fall, and the air still held warmth, though the creeping cool of winter was making its way in. The boys had been in school for around two months and everyone was settling into a routine. On this particular day, Edward and Alphonse were finishing up the periodic table worksheet Riza had given them and were ready to start solving chemical equations. It was a little far from Riza's own understanding, but she'd taken out some books on the subject and talked to some teachers for older students and had enough of a grasp between correct and incorrect. Besides, the boys didn't need her help in figuring anything out.
The class had just been dismissed for recess, but the boys still sat at their desks. They turned over their papers and pulled out some of the books Riza had gotten for them from the high school. Riza watched them for a moment, wondering if they would join the other kids today. But, as usual, they didn't. They were so smart and had come so far in their learning, but they were still way behind in the one area that Roy sent them to school for.
"Wouldn't you rather go outside?" asked the teacher as she stood and made her way over to their desks. She leaned her hands down on the desks opposite them and shifted some weight onto them. "It's probably one of the last nice days before winter really starts."
Edward didn't even look up, but Alphonse was polite enough to glance at the teacher and shrug. "No thank you, Miss Hawkeye," he said. "Brother and I like reading. It makes you smarter. Besides, wouldn't most adults say we should always be reading instead of playing?" He asked the question innocently, and Riza knew he meant no malice or sarcasm by it.
"Well, yes, but playing is also important," She reasoned. "You know your uncle really wants you to make friends."
Edward shrugged, still not looking up from the book. "We already are friends. My brother and I. And I think we're doing pretty good. Uncle Roy just likes to be a pain."
"I think he's only a pain because he cares," Riza replied knowingly. She stood and turned, glancing out at the yard where the kids were playing. "It looks like there's a lovely game of tag going on. Why don't you both go play?"
"But if we go play now, we won't finish our books as quickly as we could if we stayed here," Alphonse reasoned. Riza sighed. So, she was going to have to do this the hard way.
"Alright, guys here's the deal." She said, placing her hands on her hips. Hearing the edge in her voice, both boys instantly looked up, their books forgotten as they wondered why they were in trouble for reading of all things! "You two need to play with your classmates. So, let's make a deal. Two days a week, you can stay in and read or work on chemical equations, or schoolwork, or whatever you want to do. But three days a week, you have to go and play with the kids at recess. Your lunches are your choice, but three days for recess, got it?"
Both kids frowned. Edward looked like he wanted to negotiate or argue, but there was a glint in her eye that made him feel like anything other than a 'yes' would end up with him getting shot. The brothers looked at each other, both realizing there was no way they couldn't agree to this offer. It was also rather generous as it stood. At least they got to have some days inside with their books.
"Fine," they mumbled and placed a bookmark in their books. Riza smirked. Sometimes she wondered if being a teacher was right for her. She had such a diverse skillset that it seemed teaching was a little below her. But, she was good at negotiating with kids, even when they were difficult.
The boys made their way out to the school yard and then just stood there. Children played around them, so wrapped up in their games that they didn't even notice their classmates come outside. Edward and Alphonse exchanged a glance, and Alphonse shrugged.
"I don't think we're doing this right, brother," He said and then curiously looked around. It didn't seem to be what Miss Hawkeye meant when she told them to go outside and play.
"Whatever," Edward rolled his eyes. "She told us to go outside, we're outside."
They both knew that wasn't what she meant, but Alphonse didn't feel like arguing and was also too shy to go up to anyone. He was about to go sit down by the wall when Winry came over and tapped Edward on the shoulder. He turned around to yell at her, but she blurted in his face, "Tag! You're it!" and ran off.
The older brother stopped and stared. He'd never played tag before and didn't know what to do. From what he could gather, he needed to go touch someone else and then they would be 'it.' Alphonse looked over at his brother, wondering what he would do.
"Hey, shrimpy, are you gonna chase us or what?" A kid called out and Alphonse watched as his brother went red with rage. There was one thing you could never mention to Ed, and that was his height. He was very self-conscious about how small he was, especially compared to his little brother.
"Who are you calling shrimpy?" Edward roared and jumped forward. The kids scattered and laughed and Ed ran after them. Alphonse decided to start running too because he really did want to play now that his brother had joined in.
Edward couldn't catch any of the kids. They were simply running too fast, and he also couldn't focus on going after one particular kid. He was frustrated and wanted to make the one kid who called him shrimpy pay! So, he stopped, and a few kids noticed and stopped too. Before they could ask what was going on, he drew a circle on the pavement with chalk he always carried in his pant pocket and pressed his palms to the ground.
The kids watched in awe as the ground started to shake and a bridge formed out of the ground. Edward ran over the bridge to the child who had called him short. With a smug look on his face, he tapped him on the shoulder and then ran back over the bridge. "Tag, you're it!" He called over his shoulder.
But, the kid didn't move; he was too stunned. The other kids looked around at each other and then back to the bridge, wondering if they'd actually seen that happen. Alphonse watched too, worried that his brother had done something wrong. They probably weren't supposed to do their Alchemy at school.
"What is going on here?!"
The kids snapped their attention to their teacher, who was hurrying out to the playground. She came up to the bridge and touched it, unable to believe that she had watched a child create something like this.
"Edward did it!" A few kids said at the same time and pointed to the boy, who looked a little shocked and a little guilty. He knew he messed up, but was also surprised the other children had never seen some Alchemy before. What was the big deal?"
"Edward?" Miss Hawkeye spun around to look at him. She regarded him oddly, as though she wouldn't see a young boy standing there, but an experienced Alchemist. She had never known a single child of his age who was able to perform Alchemy, at least not of this scale.
"I'm sorry, Miss Hawkeye," he said bashfully. "I was just trying to win. I was careful, no one got hurt."
"So, you did do this?" She asked. "You can do Alchemy?"
"Alphonse can too."
"Brother!" Alphonse's face went red and he glared over at Edward. He hadn't wanted to get dragged into all of this. Miss Hawkeye turned her gaze on Alphonse, surprised that an even younger child could also perform Alchemy. She had been working with kids for a little while and almost nothing surprised her, but this revelation was so shocking, she didn't know how to regroup herself.
"Well, that's okay," she said slowly. Was it okay? Was it really? No, of course not! One of her students just built a bridge out of Alchemy in the school yard! Internally, the woman was freaking out, but she had to remain calm for her students. "But please, both of you, no Alchemy on the school grounds." The words were strange rolling off her tongue. It was as though she'd said "no driving a car on school grounds." The kids were just seven and eight, and she was already having to warn them against using Alchemy!
"Sorry, Miss Hawkeye," the boys said sincerely. Edward looked up at her. "Are you going to call Uncle Roy?" He knew their uncle would not be thrilled with them for this stunt, especially if they were in big trouble.
The woman studied them for a moment, knowing why he'd asked. She didn't want them to get in trouble and was stuck in a difficult position where she would have to explain that this was just the wrong time to use Alchemy. But, she didn't want to stifle them later on or make them feel like they were bad for learning something. Then again, the boys were so strong willed, she doubted they would stop using Alchemy just because of this.
"I do have to let him know," she said and their faces fell. "But I will explain that I'm not mad, just that this isn't the best place to be using Alchemy." The boys took some comfort in that and, since there was a little more time left for recess, Miss Hawkeye turned and left the kids. As she walked to the classroom, she saw the other kids crowd around the boys. They certainly thought the little demonstration was cool. At least, she figured, this was helping them make friends.
"Hello, may I please speak to Colonel Mustang? This is Miss Hawkeye, his nephews' teacher." She stood by her desk, the phone that was connected to the wall pressed to her ear. There was a brief pause and some shuffling before someone picked up the line.
"Colonel Mustang," answered a new, gruff voice.
"Hello, Colonel, this is Miss Hawkeye from the school. I was just calling because-"
"What shit did they pull this time?" Roy groaned and Riza was surprised to have been cut off like that. It was as though he'd expected for a while that he would get a call like this.
"Well, sir, I actually don't know how to tell you this," she replied after a moment of stunned silence. "I've never seen this before from my students…"
"My nephews are a very special case," Roy replied evenly. "There's little you could say that I would actually be surprised about."
Riza wasn't too sure about that. "Well, then sir, here it is… Edward performed… Alchemy. In the school yard, while playing tag."
There was a long silence before she heard Roy curse. "Goddamn brat." He mumbled to himself, probably figuring Riza couldn't hear. He returned to a normal speaking volume, "I'm sorry, Miss Hawkeye. Were there any damages? I'll be sure to have a stern conversation with him when he gets home today."
Riza was stunned. That was not the voice of a surprised man. In fact, he seemed very calm about this, as though he'd been expecting this very call for a while. "I'm sorry, sir, but did you hear what I said?"
"Yes, Edward performed Alchemy in the school yard," he replied, not sounding the least bit fazed. "Alphonse didn't, did he? He's pretty good about it, but sometimes his brother ropes him into things."
"Uh, no. No, sir, he didn't." Riza paused. "I'm sorry, but you know your nephews can perform Alchemy?"
"Yes, of course I know! But I told them not to use it anywhere else but at home." Roy replied simply.
"Wow." was all Riza could think of to say. "Those boys are something else."
"You're telling me," the man breathed out. "Anyway, I'm really sorry. I'll be sure to talk to them about this."
"No problem, sir," Riza said and then smirked. "I'm assuming this isn't the best time to tell you about how well they'd fit in at a gifted school in Central?" A joking tone was evident in her words, and she heard Roy blow into the phone in amusement.
"No, no," he said with a laugh in his voice. "Remember, normal. I need them to learn to be normal."
"With all due respect, sir, this is hardly normal."
"And that's why they're in school; to learn!" Now a full-fledged chuckle escaped his lips. "Thank you again, Miss Hawkeye. I assure you, it won't happen again. I must go now, though."
They said their goodbyes and Riza called the kids in from recess. As they filed back into the classroom, she looked over at the Elric boys as though she was looking at them for the first time. They really were special, and Riza suddenly felt very small. She could teach many kids, but she wasn't quite sure how to teach those particular two.
But maybe, Roy was onto something. She didn't need to teach them math and science and reading. She didn't have to drill formulas into their heads or be sure their test scores were up. As far as actual learning went, she could ride on their backs all the way to evaluations which, unfortunately, were all based on test scores. However, she did have something she could teach them: How to be a kid. Those boys traded their childhoods for the ability to create amazing things from Alchemy. Now, she had the chance to help give them a little piece back.