Fullmetal Alchemist: Ed's Unexpected Encouragement

'Van... Hohenheim,' he started, using his full name to emphasize what he was about to say. 'Listen carefully. You're not pathetic. You're not a horrible student. In fact, I'd say it's exactly the opposite. You're learning really fast, faster than I thought you would.'

He paused, letting those words sink in. Van was bewildered. This didn't sound like his teacher at all. Usually Ed would tease him, use the hard treatment, giving much more punishments than rewards and never complimenting him without a sarcastic remark. Apparently, something had changed his mind.

'You had no education whatsoever, you were never taught to write, or read, you've never been given a chance to learn,' Ed stated firmly. 'They wouldn't even let you so much as to think for yourself. Hell, you've been a slave since your birth for crying out loud! I'm proud that you're willing to try, that you want to become an alchemist, in spite of all the crap you've been through. Do you understand?'

'You're… proud of me?'

Edward tightened his jaw and nodded stiffly. He seemed a bit conflicted, like there were many different thoughts going through his head right now.

'I am. Now, quit whining and drink your freaking water!' A small smirk appeared on his lips. He appeared to be back to normal… well, almost.

Van looked at the ice cubes in his glass a bit sadly. He was thirsty, very much, but he loved the way the cubes danced on the surface…

'I'll make you more ice with alchemy later,' Ed said gruffly, effortlessly reading his expression. 'Just drink already, before you drop out of dehydration.'

'Really?' Van should probably be embarrassed how childishly he sounded. He didn't know what 'dehydration' was – Ed was using a lot of big words he didn't know – but it was hard to care about that right now, he couldn't hide the excitement in his voice.

'Yeah, yeah,' Ed waved his hand like it was no problem. Van was seriously starting to ponder if there was something Edward couldn't do with alchemy. He didn't use it very often, but whenever it was needed, he could always find a solution.

Van smiled and drank the cool refreshing liquid in delight. He decided then and there that he would become an alchemist, at any cost. Now matter how hard it would get, no matter how many bruises, no matter how many failures… Ed believed he could do it and because of it, Van believed it too. The Fullmetal Alchemist was never wrong, was he?

It may have been silly, but… yeah… if he were to ever inspire 'to be like someone when he grows up', Van would say, he'd want to be just like Ed (even though there was only a one-year difference between them).

Well, except for Ed's height, of course.