A/N: Heylo, people! I'm back! No, I am not dead! Anyways, this is something I created long time ago and I spent about five to six years perfecting and further developing the characters and the plot.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist, just my characters.

Note: This story follows the 2003 series, you know, the series where Ed and Al end up stuck in our world in the finale of the series. This is an AU sequel, where Ed and Al find a way home somehow and finally stay in Amestris for good.

But you could also tie this Brotherhood if you really wanted to. It would be a major AU if you did and it would all be confusing, but you could.

Either way it's your choice.

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Never Forget

Chapter One: Graduation Day

February 16, 1932

Risembool, Amestris

"When I grow up, Daddy, I'll be just like you!" The little-four-year old girl said enthusiastically.

Unfortunately, she never got the chance…

Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange.

April 18, 1941

Central City, Amestris

"Congratulations, Lucia Elric, you have officially graduated from Central School for the Blind," the principal told the thirteen-year-old girl in front of his desk. He wasn't blind, but he still cared for those were.

"Thank you, Mr. Hawkeye. I am honored by your compliment, sir," Lucia said.

He was Morris Hawkeye, the Principal of the Central Blind School, the younger brother to the famous sharp shooter Lieutenant Colonel Riza Hawkeye. The two were nothing alike. She had joined the military, but he had set up this school for all the blind children in Amestris. He liked to help rather than hurt. Yet despite their differences, they still got along just fine.

"And it only took what? Four years?"

"Three and a half, I believe," Lucia politely corrected.

Lucia Elric, the daughter of the famous Fullmetal Alchemist, the Hero of the People. The two looked exactly alike. If you didn't know any better, you could say that Lucia was her father.

He had seen Major Edward Elric once, when Fullmetal was still only fifteen and he had seen him again when he was eighteen and then again when he was twenty. He had met him at his age of fifteen. Fullmetal was rude yet polite at the same time, had a very quick temper, and hated to be called short, as he himself found out the hard way. Luckily, his suit-of-armor for a younger brother was there to hold him back. However, when Fullmetal was twenty, he was tall, nearly as tall as Fuhrer Mustang was, yet about two inches shorter and was more mature and calm, although he still had the horrible temper, but had found it difficult to channel his anger now, yet the Fuhrer promoted him to Colonel.

Fullmetal, at age fifteen, was traveling constantly and thus, would be Central more often than not, but now that he had settled down in his hometown of Risembool, they saw less of him. Fuhrer Mustang only called him out on emergency duties and top-ranked missions, in short, only when they needed him.

However, as much as Lucia may look like her father, her personality was nothing like his. She was actually polite. She had manners. She was usually calm and she made friends at average speed. She spent most of her time practicing her music or reading a book, in Braille, of course, but reading nonetheless. She also relied on her friends and family more than Fullmetal had. She usually had no trouble confessing her feelings or anything like that. To add to that, she was a major klutz on some days. Actually, she was more like her uncle, Alphonse, rather than her father, Edward.

Morris, however, saw some similarities too. She had his temper and his stubbornness, not to mention his lack of height. When something was really troubling her, and he meant really troubling her, she usually kept to herself, taking on the challenge to stand up on her own two legs.

What really surprised him was that she was a really fast learner. To graduate from the Blind School, it usually took about five years or so, but Lucia here had finished in only three and a half. That really caught him off guard.

But those eyes…

"You have your father's eyes, Miss Elric," he softly said.

That had caught her off guard. It was obvious that she had never heard that before. Her face became a bit red. "I-I do?"

"Yes," he replied, gently. "When I look into your eyes, Miss Elric, I see your father's same golden eyes looking back at me. They're the exact same color. They have the exact same fire in them, the same determination. It's the same with your hair as well."

She softly smiled before replying, "Thank you, sir."

A knock came to the door. Morris straightened up and called, "Come in."

The door opened and in stepped his older sister, Riza. She gave a small smile. "Hello, Morris."

"Riza. How are you this morning?"

"Excellent. I came here as fast as I could," she gave a quick salute.

"You did tell me to call you to notify you of her graduation date, right?"

Riza nodded and turned her blonde head in Lucia's direction. "Hello, Lucia."

Lucia turned her head and then her entire body in Riza's direction. Much to the two siblings' surprise, she was almost accurate, just a couple of degrees off. "Good morning, Ms. Hawkeye."

"Please, Lucia, just call me Riza."

Just call me Riza…that sounded too casual for Lucia's taste. "Of course, Miss Riza."

She heard Riza laugh lightly. "That works too. Come with me, Lucia. The Fuhrer wants to see you."

Lucia's heart began to get a bit jumpy. What business did the Fuhrer have with her? She heard her principal's voice to her left.

"Go on, Lucia," Mr. Hawkeye said. "We'll talk a bit more later."

Lucia nodded and followed Riza out of the room, using her hands against the walls as guide rails. Once at what she presumed was the front door, Riza took her by the hand and led her outside.

"Woah, when Ryan said she looked like Fullmetal, he really wasn't kidding!"

"Calm down, Fuery, I believe you're scaring her," Havoc told his fellow officer.

"But look at her, Havoc. Fuery's right," Breda said. "She looks exactly like Edward."

"Except she's a girl, and she in her early teens, not in her early forties," Falman pointed.

"Stop it, all of you," Riza's voice rang clear, but the male voices did not stop.

Lucia was getting uncomfortable. She wasn't used to this kind of attention. Edmund…he would've loved this if these people were very attractive girls just a couple of years older than him. Attention was his thing, not hers.

Edmund…she missed her older brother…how was he now? Was he as good an automail mechanic as their mother?

Speaking of automail, how was Almonzo? The last time she heard from him, he was in so much pain from his automail surgery. Shortly after she had gone blind, her cousin Almonzo had an unfortunate accident involving his arm and a sharp axe. When the wound had finally closed, he was missing his left arm from his forearm down to his fingers.

His surgery had been painful, not just for him, but for his parents, his two siblings, and the rest of his family. But it had been terribly painful for Lucia, not physically, mind you, but emotionally. To her, it was a reminder of her new disability and her age. She was the youngest, and always would be. She was blind and her great-grandmother had said that she may never regain her sight again.

Nevertheless, Almonzo's mechanic was her own brother, Edmund.

1934. That was the year things began to go very wrong with the entire Elric family. Lucia's illness in January had hit them, not terribly hard, but still pretty hard. Lucia's friend, Momo, was also sick with the same illness, not to mention a few other people they knew (successfully turning it into an epidemic that swept the entire country), but in mid-July, Momo's illness had gone from not-too-bad to terrible and died before she got to see August. Many others died, about thirty-three in Risembool alone, but there were about nineteen in Amestris altogether who had survived. Lucia was one of them. It was originally thought that Lucia wouldn't survive to celebrate Christmas, but she had successfully passed New Year's before she was completely cured, even though she would be scarred for the rest of her life and may show a couple signs of it from time to time.

In 1935, things started to look a little better at first. But in late-march, Pinako had fallen and broken her hip. She had healed successfully, even if it took her all summer, but was forced to give up automail mechanizing for the rest of her life because of it. Now, she just supervised Winry and Edmund, unable to do much. Also that same year, Lucia's mother had gotten pregnant again, but she had a miscarriage. Yet another emotional impact that had hit Lucia hard. She would've been the older sister to a baby brother too…

1936 wasn't necessarily any better. It looked good to everyone else, but to Lucia, her world was getting darker. She didn't know why and that's why she panicked. She didn't show it openly, but the feeling was still there. The others first noticed it when she accidentally knocked down a glass that she was directly starring at. Edward, her father, took her to Central to see a more experienced doctor after Pinako was convinced that something was wrong with her, but was unable to find proof that she was right. This doctor, Dr. Knox, had checked up on her, but told only her father what he had found. Edward would not tell his daughter until the two were finally home after a week in Central: his daughter was going blind.

Sure enough, in mid-November, one morning Lucia woke and opened her eyes only to find…absolutely nothing but darkness. She was sure her scream of terror woke the entire countryside up.

And it happened on the day her father had promised to teach her alchemy, the real kind, from page one…

Then it was in 1937 that Almonzo had his axe incident. It was only until 1938 that Lucia was sent to the Central Blind School.

She was snapped back to reality by a sharp, clear voice ringing throughout the room. The voice was filled with authority, the annoyed tone, yet kindness too, as if he didn't want to hurt anyone, but he would if he had to.

"Sorry, Sir," said the voice named Fuery.

"Sir, here is Lucia Elric, as you requested," Riza's voice hovered over her head. That meant that Riza was standing right behind her.

"Of course." By the sound of his voice, the Fuhrer was…happy. He didn't sound mad or evil. His voice was gentle, yet it still held many forms of authority in it. The next time he spoke, Lucia could tell that he was speaking to her alone. "Don't worry, Lucia. You won't stay for long. I just wanted to get a gook look at you." A rustle of clothing and tight compression of air in front of her indicated that the Fuhrer had kneeled in front of her or something. "Pardon me," he said, before places a hand under her chin and gently lifting her head up. "Those eyes get me every time…" he whispered.

"Just like Fullmetal's?" the man named Falman said.

"Exactly like her father's…" the Fuhrer calmly said back.

"Then she really is the daughter of Fullmetal…" Fuery said.

"I think we already established that, Sergeant," Havoc replied calmly, yet with a tone of awe in voice, which meant that he was the same as Sergeant Fuery.

"Wait…" Breda's voice stopped them all. "Have any of you noticed that she hasn't looked at any of us once since she got here?" The looks of the others' faces and the dead silence in the air indicated that they were all pondering on that one detail that Breda has brought up all of a sudden.

"Either she's not observant or she has a really strong composure," Fuery wondered aloud.

"Or it's because of the fact that she's blind," the Fuhrer interrupted. Judging by the tone of his voice, he already knew about Lucia's one disability.

Another dead silence hung in the air. Only Havoc dared the break it.

"Blind?"

"Yes, Havoc. She's blind."

"As in can't see a thing?"

"Yes, Fuery." Lucia could tell that he starting to get angry.

"How did she go blind?"

"I don't know, Breda. You don't you ask her?"

"How long as she been blind?"

"Again, Falman, I don't know. All the facts I know are just the ones saying she's blind and she's been insecure ever since she became blind."

"An illness," Lucia broke her own personal silence, getting startles from everyone the room. It was the first time she has spoken since she arrived. "You know…the one that swept the entire country a few years ago…I had gotten it and was one of the lucky few that had survived but two years later, the rods and cones in my eyes or something like that started to get weak, until my world finally…became black…" she fell silent. She had said way too much that she normally did. Was it because that these men were friends of her father? Or was it because the Fuhrer actually had a nice and friendly personality? Maybe it was both. Either way, she felt herself starting to open up to them.

"Wow…" the Fuhrer said. He sounded like he was smiling. Not like a maniac, but was a friend. "Never thought that someone so small would be so strong…"

Lucia growled just as Havoc said, "Just like her father."

Breda laughed aloud. "She acts just like her father too! Did anyone else just hear her growl?"

"I did," Fuery said, smiling.

"I am aware that I am a bit…small…for my age, but unlike boys, girls tend to grow to a certain height and stay there for a certain period of time," Lucia politely retorted.

Hawkeye, still behind Lucia, laughed lightly. "That's true."

"Anyways, I'm sure we all have to get back to work. Lucia, it was nice meeting you," the two shook hands, "and I hope you get back home safe and sound. And if you could, give this folder to your father when you see him." Lucia held out her hand and the Fuhrer placed a thick folder in it.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, too, sir," Lucia said. "If you don't mind me asking, what is your name?"

"Roy Mustang. And Ryan says hello, by the way."

Lucia smiled. "And tell him I said hello, too."

"Of course."

Lucia waved goodbye to the others before Hawkeye ushered her out into the hall.

Morris Hawkeye gave her the news when she got back. Lucia could finally go home to Risembool, but she was invited to come back and visit from time to time. She had also been told that her teacher, Lisa Campbell, who was not blind either, to be her guard and guide until she got home.

Morris was one of the few that had seen her and Lisa off from Central Station. He was also there to see her off. Lucia smiled when she heard his voice.

"Goodbye, Ryan! Don't forget to write!" Lucia called.

"I won't! Don't forget to reply!" Ryan called back.

Lucia merely smiled as she felt the train move faster and faster. She sighed.

She wanted to see his face so badly...

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A/N: Well? How was it? Did I do alright? Review, please, and tell me. Or favorite or something.