(Age 5)

Elizabeth stomped angrily away from the school, her brother deep in thought beside her as she fumed. That mud-faced, snot-munching Bradly. What a meaner. I hate him. She thought with a vengeance. She looked up at her brother, willing him to notice. She didn't dare say a word as they walked. He had to feel that she needed him to look at her. Bradly Jones can go get worms! She screamed in her thoughts, My twin brother always knows when I'm lookin' at him!

Edward broke his thoughtful stare out towards the road to roll his head to face Elizabeth. "What Liz?" He asked, grinning at his sister. He probably could tell what she had been trying to do, it was obvious how Bradly's words had affected her. After all, what 5 year old wouldn't be upset when the validity of her being a twin was brought into question?

"Well," She huffed, "You got anything on how to show that butter-fingers that we're real twins?" She grumbled, hoping that he could fix it. She always did rely a bit too much on Edward for her mother's liking, but everyone was convinced that she would grow out of it and come into her own eventually.

Edward wrinkled his nose. Whether it was because of her or Bradly she'd never know. Though she was pretty sure it was definitely because of Bradly. The thought of him made her wrinkle her nose. "Yeah, kinda." He answered, anticlimactically.

With a stomp of her foot, a huff of her chest, and her arms crossed tightly, Elizabeth promptly stopped walking to pout about his uninteresting and unhelpful response. "What do you mean, "kinda"?"

"Hey!" Edward exclaimed, "We gotta get home before we can even try it!" He huffed back, stopping just slightly ahead of his sister and swinging his short arms for good measure.

Elizabeth continued to pout for a split second before realizing she was wasting precious time, even if he wasn't explaining fully. "Okay!" She piped happily, starting to make a run for their house, which was already in sight, "Last one home's a butthead!" She cried, already several paces ahead of him.

"Hey! Hey!" Edward hollered, chasing after her.

Huffing and puffing, the two siblings were greeted by their energetic little brother. "Brother! Sister!" Alphonse cried, crashing into them like an excited puppy that hadn't been played with all day. At only four years old, he was easily envious of his older siblings. His most recent fixation was the very nature of his older brother and sister. When confronted about how he wanted a twin, too, Trisha Elric had to explain that she didn't really have control over that.

Ever understanding, Al never questioned his mother further about the issue. His siblings, however, made every effort to ensure that he never felt left out due to their twin shenanigans. When it came to school and some other things, though, it just couldn't be helped.

As Trisha began making a few snacks for the kids, and Alphonse was drawing and coloring a picture for her, Elizabeth and Edward snuck into their father's old office. Inside, there were shelves of alchemic books, transmutation circles all over the desk, and information enough to keep them captivated for years. Already, the three Elric children could transmute small things that amused and amazed their mother. It absolutely delighted her that they took so much after their father.

Currently, however, Edward and Elizabeth were on a mission. Well, Edward was. His sister wasn't sure what he was looking for exactly, but it wasn't long before he set down an open book in front of her. There was a small, detailed circle on one side and a page full of words that made no sense to Elizabeth on the other. It was titled Blood Transmutation.

Elizabeth struggled for a moment while sounding out the letters before Ed finally traced over it, speaking, "Bl-u-d, Tr-ans-mu-tay-shun." Elizabeth gave him a curt nod, embarrassed that his reading ability was much better than hers. She tried not to dwell on it too long, because she knew that he wouldn't tease her for it. Plus she was better at drawing the circles, anyway.

"Ed, what's this gonna do?" She asked, disregarding her embarrassment and pointing to the circle itself. Though she understood each word separately, she hadn't read this part of the book and wasn't sure what a blood transmutation was. Surely he wouldn't be trying to make something out of their blood, that's just gross.

Edward grinned playfully at his sister, "Liz, this is gonna make us closer than twins! We'll be..." he looked at the page, tracing a sentence in the description, "Blood connected!"

Elizabeth's face scrunched up in confusion. "I thought we already were, since we're related. Doesn't that mean we have a blood connection?" she asked, a bit unimpressed with the whole ordeal. Was this a way to become blood-related if you weren't already?

"Well, yeah, we are" he started, "but we'll be able to do more than just being twins if we do this! Like, if you get hurt, I'll know and come and save you!"

Elizabeth's face contorted in disgust, "I want some prince to save me, not my brother! Or I'll save myself!" She exclaimed, her disgust dissolving into a pout.

"Fine, but if I get hurt, I want your help. Anyone else would go and make fun of me for gettin' hurt!" he informed her seriously, pointing at her to emphasize it.

She nodded and started reading the parts of the instructions that were easier to understand and read. Ed read some of the others, and Al was sent to ask their mom the words that none of them understood. Al was much less conspicuous, and Trisha didn't think a thing of him asking about what things meant. He was the least conniving of her children, plus he was always around their mom, even when she was talking with adults. So he was more likely to hear bigger words anyway.

It took two days before the twins were able to start the actual transmutation. Although Elizabeth was able to draw the circle nearly perfectly from the book easily with the materials in their father's study, Edward wasn't able to get the other important part immediately. Getting ahold of a knife took a bit of planning and a decent distraction, as their mother normally would never let them near anything sharp without her close supervision.

When all was done and they were able to sneak away from their mother and little brother, to their father's office, the twins began their transmutation. With the circle drawn out on paper and laid on the floor, Edward pulled the small paring knife out from the drawer. He was relieved to find it there, as he wasn't sure of how good of a hiding place it actually was.

"Now remember," He explained briefly, and in a whisper, "You only got to make a little cut. Mom would find out if we did any more than that."

Elizabeth nodded, "Right. Just enough to bleed."

And with a final nod, Edward began the transmutation. He made a small cut on his thumb, as instructed in the book, and quickly handed the knife to Elizabeth, who repeated. Though it hurt, neither wanted to be the first one to cry.

They pressed their nicked thumbs together, wincing a bit at the pressure. Just as their free hands touched the circle, a soft blue glow filled the space between them, and coursed through their veins before dissipating at the connection between their thumbs.

In their haste to prove their classmate wrong, the two failed to fully complete the transmutation, for better or for worse. Though there was nothing noticeably different, or anything explicitly there, the two felt a shift. It's like they had gained a sixth sense, just for danger and strong emotions. The connection proved useful in a few ways, from comforting one another to convincing Bradly that they were magic.

Edited.