Author's Note:

- I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or any of the characters, but I do own Kerria Vagans and Kashi Murasakiiro. They belong entirely to ME.

- This is my first FMA story and my first fanfiction. So please go easy on me.

-It seems that some people have been a bit confused about the timeline of this story so I have decided to add some info about that here.

I based the timeline on the Fan-made chinese FMA game, Bluebird's Illusion. For those of you who haven't played the game: Ed (17) and Al (16) are both living in central, Al has his full body back, but Ed still has automail. Also, I decided to make it so that Ed is now a Colonel in the military and Roy is Fuhrer...just because it was fun. XD So yes, that means no more homunculi. But don't worry, I still have my ways of making it intersting. grins (ooooo, teaser! XP) Oh, and the OCs Kerria and Kashi are 16 and 15.

Hopefully I can avoid as many flames as possible. Thank you and enjoy!


It was just another day in Central City. The people of the town could be seen hurriedly bustling about the place; shopping for groceries, cleaning their houses, and talking amongst their friends over a drink or a meal. One particular young girl carried a few bags filled with groceries in her arms on her way back home from the market. The bags were heavy, and she could barely see where she was going from behind them. But she was already late, so she hurried as fast as she could. Her shoulder-length mahogany hair with highlights of light blue at the ends flew behind her as she walked swiftly through the streets.

"Kerria! Working hard as usual I see." One of the shop owners called out to her as she passed. She stopped momentarily to turn and give him a bright smile. Her gentle, gray-blue eyes lit up with joy.

"Yes," she nodded. "I do my best!" then she bowed slightly and continued walking. Suddenly, something on the side of the road caught her eye and made her pause to look at it. A light gray kitten was napping on a nearby brick ledge. It curled up in the sun and yawned sleepily. Kerria blinked, staring at the small, fluffy feline. Anything cute or furry never failed in catching her attention. After a moment of staring, she couldn't resist any longer. She set her grocery bags down near the ledge and hopped up next to the kitten. The kitten lazily opened one eye and gazed at Kerria. She smiled brightly and gently tucked a few strands of her blue-streaked hair behind her ear. "Hey kitty, kitty." She sang softly, reaching out to pet it. Just as her hand got close enough to touch it, the cat leapt up from its position, jumped from the ledge, and ran off. Kerria looked after it sadly.

"Ah! Come back!" A voice called from beneath her. Kerria looked to where the sound had come from. Crouched down and peeking out from behind the ledge was a teenage boy, about the same age as she was. His short, sandy brown hair wafted slightly in the wind as he looked solemnly in the direction the cat had run. "Aw…it's gone." he said in disappointment. He suddenly felt Kerria's gaze, and looked up at her; his gloomy expression quickly brightened into a smile. "Hi," he said to her happily.

"Uh…hi." Kerria blinked.

"You like cats?" The boy asked her.

"Um…yes." she blushed slightly. "I was just on my way home from shopping and I…couldn't resist stopping…"

The boy laughed slightly as he stood up and brushed himself off. "Same here. I'm Alphonse Elric." he bowed slightly.

Kerria smiled. "My name's…Kerria. Nice to meet you." Al glanced over at the giant bags of groceries Kerria had been carrying.

"Do you live nearby?" He questioned, thinking that those bags would be hard to carry for a long way.

"I…live sort of close by." Kerria replied. "Well…I live with the people who took me in…but I've never really had a real home." She stared at the ground, not sure why she was telling this to a complete stranger. But she never had anyone to talk to before, so it actually felt good to speak her mind. Al stared at her for a moment, then picked up his own small bag and put it over his shoulder before walking over to Kerria's bags and picking up one of them.

"I'll help you carry these." He smiled, turning to her. "They look heavy."

"Ah! No I can get them myself!" Kerria protested as she jumped down from the ledge. "You don't have to help."

"No, I want to help." Al shook his head. "Please, let me." Kerria looked at his big, dark green eyes and his hopeful expression. She suddenly felt as if she couldn't say "no" to him, and sighed.

"Oh…okay." She said in a defeated tone. Al smiled.

Kerria and Al walked up the path to the house where Kerria was staying. The house was relatively small, but still homey. It was a light yellow color with a gray roof and white windows. "Pretty house," Al remarked.

"Heh…it's alright." Kerria chuckled.

"Who do you live with here?"

"They're…they took me in when I had no where else to go. But they have a very large family so…I try not to bother them too much. They give me a home and in return I do work for them." Kerria explained. She tried not to show it but Al could still hear a hint of sadness in her voice. He could tell somehow that she didn't really enjoy living here. As they got closer to the house, two small boys came running around from the backyard, playing tag with one another. They stopped when they noticed Kerria and Al, and then ran in through the front door. "Um…You want to come inside?" Kerria asked Al when they reached the door. Al nodded, so Kerria opened the front door and the two of them carried the bags of groceries into the house. "I'm home!" Kerria called as she led Al into the kitchen. She set her bags down on the table, and Al did the same. Just then, a woman came into the kitchen and glared at Kerria.

"You're late!" she scolded. "It's been past dinner time for a while now, and we're all starving."

"I'm sorry." Kerria apologized. "I'll get on it right away." The woman glanced over at Al for a moment, then scowled and stomped out of the room. Kerria turned to him. "I'm sorry, Alphonse but I really have to get to work. Thanks again for helping me."

"No problem." Al smiled slightly. Kerria walked with him to the door where they said their goodbyes. Neither of them said it out loud, but they could tell that they were thinking the same thing. They both hoped to see each other again.


A few days passed since Kerria and Al's first meeting. Kerria's hopes of seeing him again seemed foolish at the moment, so she decided to simply focus on doing her chores and trying to keep from getting yelled at by her foster family. The time came once again for Kerria to run an errand for them, so the woman from before gave her some money and a list of things to buy, and Kerria set out to complete her task. She walked around the market doing her shopping, and noticed that this time there was a little less to carry. Which was a good thing since Al seemed to be nowhere in sight. She chuckled slightly at that thought, but then her expression slowly began to sadden. She had half hoped to see him again today.

Suddenly, she heard a large commotion coming from nearby in the street. She turned to see a big and very noisy crowd gathered nearby; they all seemed to be watching something. Curious as to what was happening, Kerria walked over to the crowd and tried to see what was going on, but she was too short to see much. She did, however, catch a glimpse of what seemed to be two people fighting. One of them she figured was a shop owner, as he had an apron tied around his waist. The other she couldn't see too well, but he seemed pretty worked up; although she couldn't hear what they were saying over the noise of the crowd. Wanting to get a better look, she squeezed through the crowd until she finally made it to the front, and gasped at what she saw.


A/N: Okay well there's my short chapter 1! And a cliffie too...meheheh...Please review!