I've looked at the Ishavalan AU a few times now, and always thought of how interesting it would be, but I never thought to write it until now. I'm glad I started this, and I'm aiming to finish it.

When Trisha Elric was eighteen years old, Juliette Douglas shot an Ishvalan child.

It was labelled both an accident and the cause of the war, which placed the guilt on Ms Douglas while simultaneously removing the blame. Perhaps some had debated the incident's accidental status, but the official story that had been released said it was, and so that's what the public believed.

In reality, the cause of an entire civil war couldn't have been such a small thing as this incident. Strife had been brewing since Ishval was added into the state; the old-fashioned, religion-based culture of Ishval clashed with the scientific and industrialized main body of Amestris. The first offense occurred just a few months after the annexation, when an alchemist tried to "introduce" his science to the Ishavlan people. What this alchemist didn't know was that the people of Ishval's religion rejected alchemy for going against their god. The alchemist was chased away with a few harsh words.

If the Amestrian government had then realized these two different ways of life could coexist within the borders of the state, the seven years war might have been avoided in the first place — if only. People fear what they don't see in themselves, and so the Ishvalans were seen as something removed from the rest of the Amestrian population. That was why the fighting had begun — the Ishvalans were to be feared.

Regardless, after this incident the fighting broke out within a year. The military explained its rash show of force by publicizing the idea that the war had been the main fault of the Ishvalans. Since they had reacted violently, the occupation was necessary to put down the unrest.

The war escalated rapidly. What began with a disagreement of ways turned into an unrest, then to a full blown civil uprising. Though no one expected it to become so violent, everyone knew from the start that no good would come from the differences of the conflicting peoples.

This was why Trisha only spent the first fifteen or so years of her life in Ishval. After tensions began to grow in the newly annexed state, her mother and father thought it best that the family leave. They lived on the western edge of the Ishval territory, and would be hit first if fighting did break out. However, the suspicions spreading about the Amestrian military against the Ishvalans made it so leaving for the west would be difficult for any of them, much less for all three. Despite this, the fact still remained that Trisha's parents did not want their daughter mixed up in anything that was to come in the following years.

The most logical conclusion was for Trisha to leave on her own.

But where would she go?

Though they were far removed from the central city of Ishval, there were several perks to living on the western edge. Firstly: there was peace and quiet that came from the lack of a city's population. Second: though it was rare, sometimes people would wander through the western towns as they traveled through East Amestris. Many were friendly — some weren't, but that's besides the point.

A few years ago, a young doctor-in-training and his mother had visited the Elric family's town. The mother was a free-spirited woman who had spent her earlier days exploring the country; she settled down some time ago and didn't travel as much anymore, due to her age. Now her son was twenty-four, and taking a break after his first two years of medical school. The duo was using this break to traverse the east and use their combined knowledge to help wherever they could. The majority of the jobs they took suited the young doctor's expertise. There wasn't a town they visited, though, where the doctor introduced himself and someone leapt at the chance to employ the mother's services. After all, her adventuring mixed with her talent and skill for automail mechanics had made her famous in her youth.

It was only by chance that these two met the Elrics. No one remembered exactly how it happened, only that Trisha had managed to inflict some mild injury upon herself the day they visited, and the doctor had sprung at the oppurtunity to help. He introduced himself as Urey Rockbell, and his mother as Pinako Rockbell. They were from a small town not too far west from here, named Resembool. The two families hit it off quickly, the Rockbells ended up extending their time in the town by several days, and when they did leave, the two families kept in contact by letters and sporadic visits over two years.

When Trisha Elric was fifteen, her parents made the most difficult, yet obvious, decision of their lives.

The young girl packed a small suitcase of things and bid her parents a long and tearful goodbye. Trisha would have to find her way across the recently-dissolved (yet very much still existent) border of the Ishval territory; somewhere past there Urey Rockbell would be waiting to take her back to Resembool. Nothing had happened between Amestris and Ishval - yet - but tensions were already high even so soon after the joining of the two territories. The plan held many risks, but it was the best option the Elrics seemed to have. Trisha was mature beyond her years, but she did not realize that she would never see her parents again. Perhaps that was why her mother has broken into sobs, clutching her only daughter with arms that threatened to never let go. Maybe that was why her dad thought it appropriate to give her that small momento of a ring, the one with no decorations other than the etched words of Ishvala on the inside face, a gesture that confused Trisha at the time. It wouldn't be for many years that she realized it meant, "Remember where you come from."

When Trisha Elric lost sight of her childhood home, she had already taken the last glimpse of it she would ever get to have.

Her first three days in Resembool were the hardest. They seemed to last forever, yet they passed in a blur and she didn't remember much of them at all. Pinako was always a room away, leaving the girl ago herself but never too far if Trisha needed her.

Even after she'd mostly adjusted to her new life, she rarely went outside. Resembool was small, the Rockbells well known and trusted, and the people friendly. Regardless, the unfortunate fact remained that Trisha's physical differences elicited the stares of the townsfolk. Some were only curious. Others were mildly suspicious. It wasn't that Trisha especially stood out in the population of Resembool. Her dark complexioned skin was on the lighter side of Ishvalan genetics, and the east boasted a wide range of olive-toned peoples. She didn't have the stereotypical white hair many associated with Ishvalans, either - her hair was a dark, chocolately color.

Her deep red eyes gave her away as an outsider, and others latched onto that. People, uninformed about cultures other than their own, saw those red eyes, their brains dug up what nternalized thoughts and prejudices they had, and they responded with various emotions.

And so as the result of the collection of these factors, Trisha became shy and removed from the world outside her new home. She preferred not to spend much time around Resembool, and anything besides that was out of the question — the talk of the whole state was the happenings of the war, and hearing about that made her sick.

Over time, Pinako became something like another mother to Trisha, one who never took the place of her own, who she still remembered and loved very much. Pinako almost seemed like a mother who existed in a separate reality from Trisha's old life. Urey changed to something between a best friend and a brother.

When Trisha Elric was eighteen, Urey introduced her to Sarah, his new girlfriend. The two girls quickly grew to be close friends. A little over a year later, Trisha was one of the most important guests at their wedding.

She worried it might be weird for her to continue living in the house of her newlywed best friends. The concern didn't plague her for long, though.

When Trisha Elric was nineteen, she met Pinako's old drinking buddy, a man named Van Hoenheim.

Though both Hoenheim and Trisha each had an extraodinary life, their story together was simple. The best description may be to only call it "fate".

When Trisha Elric was twenty-one, Edward Elric was born.

He would grow up as a scientific mind who denounced fate, especially since the so-called "fateful" meeting of his parents would end bitterly.

But, without his parents, he and his younger brother, Alphonse, would not have been born. Their tale would be an ironic tragedy, one to make them question all that they knew and believed (or did not believe) in.

Including fate.

This is my first published fic, so I apologize for any formatting errors.

Like I said, I aim to finish this. Right now I'm just trying to figure out exactly where I want to go with this. It won't be exactly like the events of the anime, don't worry. I just need to think about how much I want to change and how I want it to change.

This is a difficult fic. Race was already so prevalent in fma, but here it is even more so. I'm trying to use to expand upon the theme and what was said regarding it in the narrative. I'm trying my best, but I appreciate any feedback !

Thanks for reading ~