A/N: First FMA fic for me. This plot bunny has been floating around my brain for ages after reading several other similar fics. But for some reason, I never could find one that went the way I want this fic to go. Please, be nice. I'M BEGGING YOU!

Disclaimer: I can't draw. Even if you threatened my life, I still wouldn't be able to draw anything that looks remotely good. So obviously, I'm not Hiromu Arakawa.

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Promise: (verb) to tell someone that a certain thing will definitely happen.

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Prologue: In which a promise is remembered and broken

One of his earliest memories is of white feathers.

They weren't very big, but they were very fluffly and soft, rather like dove's feathers.

He remembered reaching out to them, his chubby fingers brushing the whiteness.

Then gentle hands, his mother's hands, grasped his small ones.

(Those gentle hands easily dwarfed infinitely more clumsy ones. Ones that will make such mistakes.)

"Oh, Ed." She had whispered. "Promise me."

"Promise what, Mama?" He had absently whispered back, his attention only partly on his mother. What would those feel like?

To this day, he still couldn't recall what Trisha Elric made him promise.

To this day, he still wonders if he had said yes.

Maybe he'll never know. The person whom he made the promise to is long dead, so he can't ask.

(After all, the dead don't come back. He of all people should understand that.)

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"BROTHER! NO! RUN!"

"GET AWAY ED!"

"FULLMETAL!"

This is bad. This is very bad. His thoughts were basically a mess of must get away notgoodnotgoodshit arm is stuck can't die can't die-

"Give...me...your Philosopher's Stone!"

The abomination was right in front of him. Blond hair flying, disgusting veins bulging all over its pasty white skin. It shared his face, except he didn't have crazed blood-red eyes.

No way. Nuh-uh. He hadn't gotten Al's body back yet. He hadn't fufilled his promises, his oaths, he hadn't made peace with his ghosts.

Life wants to screw me over? Well, fuck you too.

And suddenly, his vision goes white and a hoarse, agonized scream met his ears.

Ha. I got that bastard good. Serves him right.

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'Oh, Ed." She had whispered. "Promise me."

"Promise what, Mama?" He had absently whispered back.

"Promise me that you'll never show these to anyone else. Not even Papa. Not even Al."

"Why, Mama? Are they bad?" Shock. They were so pretty though. Not that he'll say it out loud. Big boys don't say things like that.

"Promise me, Ed."

"Okay Mama. I promise."

She had looked at him, her brown eyes proud and extremely worried at the same time.

Then the gentle hand that had dwarfed his covered his eyes, leaving him in darkness.

"Mama?" He reached up to her, only for her other hand to hold his wrist and keep his arm in place.

"It's best for you to not remember this. It's for your own good, but... I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Just forget. Forget. Forget."

The world went white.

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He screamed.

A/N: Argh curse you ff . net for screwing up my formatting!

Review!