Nina and Amy were forced to share a room. That night Amy had gushed for hours about Fuhrer Mustang until she had exhausted herself and fallen asleep. Nina had tried the entire time to study. She even begged Armstrong to let her go to the library or anywhere else that was quiet than here but he had refused. How was she ever going to get ready like this? Finally giving up, Nina had gone to bed as well.
The next morning a military officer came to get them. “Good morning ladies, I’m Sergeant Darius and I’ll be your escort for the day,” he said with a smile.
Nina and Amy quickly got ready and got their things together and headed with the sergeant to the car waiting outside for them. Edward had left about an hour before them. When they arrived there were people filing into the building in waves.
“No wonder they asked Daddy to come today,” Nina said as she got out of the car.
Sergeant Darius walked with them inside. The main hall was crowded with people as they checked the sign boards for which room they were assigned to. When the girls made it up there Amy shrieked.
“What is it?! What’s the matter Ms. Elric?” the sergeant asked reaching for his gun, at least until he saw the look on Nina’s face then he relaxed.
Nina just laughed. “It serves you right that you have to sit in the same room with Daddy for your exam.”
Amy shot Nina a look. “Why couldn’t they have assigned you to his room instead?” she said pouting.
“Who knows,” Nina said shrugging. She then looked at the board to see her room. Her face instantly lit up. “Dr. Rothstein! Yay!” she said jumping up and down a bit.
“Alright ladies, now that you have your room assignments let’s get moving. I’ll be staying with Miss Nina since you’ll be safe with your father Miss Amy. Don’t leave unless you’re with your father or I, is that understood?”
Amy sighed and nodded. “I promise I’ll behave…” she muttered as they made their way out of the main hall and to the hallway. When they got to Amy’s room, Edward was sitting at the desk with his feet up on it relaxing. Seeing his daughters he waved and smiled. He knew better than to make a big deal of the fact that they were his though anyone could have easily guessed it. Amy didn’t make eye contact as she quickly went to the back of the room and sat down. She wanted to put as much distance as she could between her and her father.
With Amy safely delivered to her room, the sergeant and Nina moved on down the hall to her room. When they arrived Nina went in and the sergeant stayed outside the door. Dr. Rothstein had yet to arrive so Nina sat right in the front and waited, taking out her pencil and scratch paper while she waited.
“Hello,” the young man sitting beside her said with a smile.
Nina turned to look at him and smiled back. He was pretty good looking, long white hair pulled back into a braid, soft features and a gentle look in his crystal blue eyes. Nina’s breath almost caught in her chest when she saw him. “H… Hello,” she said blushing a little.
The young man chuckled seeing her cheeks turn pink. “I’m Adrienne,” he said extending his hand to her.
“I’m Nina,” she said taking it and shaking his hand, her voice sounding mousy and shy. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Nina huh? You wouldn’t happen to be Nina Elric would you?”
Her eyes widened. “That’s right, how did you know?”
Adrienne chuckled. “My father mentioned that you’d be here today. He’s actually looking forward to meeting you.”
Nina looked at him confused. “Why would your father be looking forward to meeting me?”
As she asked, Dr. Rothstein entered the room. “I see you’ve already met my son,” he said with a laugh as he came up next to her.
Nina wheeled around and saw the doctor standing there smiling at her. She blushed and quickly got to her feet. “Dr. Rothstein sir, I… um… It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said bowing her head. “I’m Nina Elric.”
“I know young lady; your father has shown me pictures of you and your sister before. I’m pleased that you’re here, he’s told me quite a bit about your plans to become an alchemic doctor. I can’t wait to see what you can do.”
Nina lifted her head and smiled brightly. “I won’t let you down sir!”
Dr. Rothstein chuckled. “I hope so,” he said with a smile as he walked away and sat down at the desk.
Adrienne just laughed as she sat back down. Nina looked over at him. “What’s so funny?”
“I didn’t expect you to act that way that’s all. I mean your father is a lot more famous than mine. Heck, he’s one of the saviours of Amestris that exposed the experiments that nearly killed everyone. I wouldn’t figure you to get awe struck like that.”
Nina huffed a bit. “Well you could have at least told me he was your dad. And letting him sneak up on me like that? You’re just mean,” she said blushing. “I’ve looked up to Dr. Rothstein since I was old enough to read his books.”
Adrienne sighed and his face turned a bit sad. Nina looked at him curiously. When he noticed the look on her face he instantly changed his expression turning a bit happier. “So what makes you idolize him so much?”
Nina smiled almost wistfully. “It’s going to sound stupid but it’s actually because of my uncle.”
“Alphonse Elric?”
Nina nodded. “He’s an alchemic doctor with my Aunt May back in Resembool and I want to be just like him. I want to help people and your dad is one of the leading experts in the field of alchemic medicine. I know I could learn so much from him and have been looking forward to the possibility of being able to study with him for awhile now.”
Hearing her talk, hearing her genuine passion, made him smile. “That’s not stupid at all. I think it’s noble and admirable that you want to help people. It’s good to have a dream and a plan to get there.”
Nina blushed. “Really?”
Adrienne smiled and nodded. “Yup.”
The clock on the wall struck nine and Dr. Rothstein stood calling the room to order. Nina would have to wait until later to talk to Adrienne more. She had to focus now though. For the next two hours Nina sat with her head down answering question after question. Her thoughts drifted every now and then though and she caught herself looking over at Adrienne. This was nonsense; she had to focus on the test. She had worked too long and hard to let even Dr. Rothstein’s son distract her from her goal.
Once the exam was over Nina sat back and took a deep breath. She had answered every question and she was pretty sure that she had nearly perfect. There had only been a couple of questions that she wasn’t sure about. She then looked over to where Adrienne had been sitting to say something to him but he was already gone. She hadn’t even seen him get up and leave. In his spot there was a piece of folded paper and it had Nina’s name on it. Reaching over she grabbed it and opened it.
“When you’re back in Central, look me up,” she read and there was an address and phone number written there with it. Nina felt like a school girl with a crush, passing notes in class and her cheeks flushed pink. Standing to leave, she tucked the paper into her pocket and got her things.
Sergeant Darius was standing at the door waiting for her. “Everything go alright Ms. Elric?” he asked.
Nina smiled softly and nodded. “Yeah, everything went perfectly actually.”
The sergeant nodded and they started walking down the hallway to the room where Amy and Edward were so they could pick her up. Nina seemed to be lost in thought the entire time. When they arrived at the room she had a distant look on her face. Amy poked her square in the middle of her forehead. “Hey space case,” she said.
Nina shook her head and swatted at her sister’s hand. “Quit it.”
“Well then get your head out of the clouds and pay attention. What’s wrong with you anyway? You never look that spacey.”
“Nothing,” she said softly and looked away from Amy.
Edward came up behind Amy and smiled at Nina. “Hey, how’d it go?”
Nina looked back and smiled at her father. “It went well. I even got to meet Dr. Rothstein and his son Adrienne.” When she said Adrienne’s name her cheeks flushing involuntarily. Edward and Amy both noticed it.
Edward just grinned at her. “So what did you think? Everything you were expecting?”
Nina bit her lower lip alittle. “Yeah, he was really nice. I really hope I get into his classes now.”
Edward smiled and put his arms around the shoulders of both his daughters and started walking them out of the building followed closely by the sergeant. Edward would go back to Central Command with them as he wasn’t required to stay after the exam like the regular Central Academy instructors. When they returned, Edward went to his room to pack up and the girls went to theirs. Nina didn’t say anything.
“You’re awfully quiet Nina,” Amy said as she packed thing into her bag. “I’d figured you’d be gushing about getting to meet the doctor or how incredibly easy the exam was or something.”
Nina just stayed lost in her own thoughts as she put her things back in her bag. She didn’t want to tell Amy about Adrienne. She wanted him to be her little secret and stay that way as long as possible.
“Come on Nina, what’s bugging you?” Amy said now going over and putting her hand on her sister’s shoulder.
Nina shook her head and turned to smile at her sister. “I’m fine, really. I’m just tired because someone kept me up last night gushing over Fuhrer Mustang,” she replied sticking her tongue out.
Amy laughed and shrugged. “Sorry about that,” she said as someone knocked on the door. “Come in.”
Edward opened the door. “Come on girls, let’s get moving or we’ll miss our train home.”
Nina and Amy hurried to put the last of their things into their bags. Once everything was in order they made their way to the train station and ultimately home.
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