A/N:

Well, this is my first FMA fan-fic. It's going to be a long one…me and my friend have bunches of ideas lined up for it. I really hope you like it, and don't forget to review! Nyah! (-.-)

Disclaimer: FullMetal Alchemist characters, references, and other related indicia © Hiromu Arakawa. Only Alexandra, Jonathan, Alan, Sophie, and Yuki belong to me.

FullMetal Alchemist

Chapter 1: Consequences

Alchemy. The science of understanding the structure of matter, breaking it down, then reconstructing it as something else. It can even make gold from lead. But alchemy is a science, and so it must follow the natural laws. To create, something of equal value must be lost. This is the principle of equivalent exchange.

Edward Elric and his brother, Alphonse, knew the laws. They understood the principle of equivalent exchange; they understood they had to sacrifice something. But they thought that they had nothing more to lose.

They were wrong.

The type of alchemy that the brothers attempted to use was called human transmutation. All they wanted was to see their mother's face one more time; they wanted to bring her back from the dead. It didn't work they way they planned. Alphonse lost his entire body, and Edward lost his left leg. Soon after, he lost his right arm to preserve Alphonse's body in a suit of armor. He now had two limbs made of auto-mail.

It was their punishment for setting foot on holy ground, where mortals were forbidden. They made a mistake, and they were paying for it.

xxXxx

The Yuuzai twins were known as troublemakers in their town. If they weren't thinking up another practical joke to pull on someone, they were running away from one of their victims. Of course, their parents didn't mind, because at home, they were angels.

Alexandra Yuuzai, the younger of the two (by about 3 minutes) was basically what you would expect a girl to look like. She had wavy brown hair that was usually pulled up into a ponytail and clear blue eyes that would sparkle every time she was happy. She wore skirts most of the time, like proper little girls did, but she loved to wear combat boots and baggy pants like her dad. She was always seen with some sort of candy in her mouth and a smile on her face.

Alan Yuuzai was the mirror image of his sister, only he was a boy. Yes, they were fraternal twins. He had the same messy brown hair, only it was shorter, and the same blue eyes. His cheeks were almost always pink because of excitement when he broke the rules. He dressed similarly to his father, either in shorts or straight pants. He always had a collared shirt on because it made him feel more like a grown-up.

The brother and sister were images of sweetness. They were polite and adorable, and at first glance, they were the perfect children.

But nobody is perfect.

Their father, Jonathan Yuuzai, was a State Alchemist, and a great one, at that. He had always wanted his children to be State Alchemists as well, and with their determination and keen minds, he was sure they would succeed. So, when they were 9 years old, he took them outside and said, "Kids, today I'm going to teach you alchemy."

Of course, the very first thing he did was teach them the laws of the science and the principle of equivalent exchange. Excited to be following in the footsteps of their father, they put the pranks on hold and concentrated on their studies. When they had learned the basics, their father decided they were ready for the real stuff.

He led them outside to a little lot by their house. He took out two paintbrushes and told them, "Draw your transmutation circles. We're going to do the real stuff today." The glanced at each other and grinned, then took a paintbrush each and got to work. A few minutes later, they each had three transmutation circles on the grass. "Now," their father dictated, "I want you to turn the grass into bread. Go on, you know how."

So, they worked on it. Neither could change the grass on their first try. On the second try, Alan managed to create a half bread half grass loaf. Alexandra did not. On the third try, Alan had practically perfected his bread, but Alexandra still could not make anything. The siblings were naturally competitive so of course, Alexandra started working harder and harder to be able to do what her brother did.

After a month she was able to turn grass into a perfect load of bread. Her brother was already able to change glass into sand and back. She studied harder to catch up with him. They had fun using alchemy to change ordinary pieces of wood and metal into toys, and they often held contests to see who could make the neatest thing out of something ordinary. Her father was extremely proud that she had worked so hard and never doubted her skills.

Then, one day, something horrible happened.

One day, Alexandra was trying to turn sand into glass because Alan said she couldn't. She was busy drawing a transmutation circle on the ground in front of their house when Alan popped out of nowhere and put his hand on her shoulder. She didn't notice her hand had moved and one of the runes on the circle was incomplete.

"Hey sis, what are you doing?" he asked.

"Nothing much, brother, I'm just going to prove that I do know how to change sand into glass," she answered with a smile.

"Well then," he said, "good luck." He turned on his heel and walked off. In the meantime, their mother, Sophie, had come outside to hang the laundry and was standing on the porch, her back to her daughter.

Alexandra took a deep breath and put her hands together, then put them down on the transmutation circle. Everything seemed to be going according to the plan, until the blue light emanating from the circle went out and reappeared as a blood red. Alexandra gasped. Suddenly she was thrown away from the circle and into the wall of the house. She sat up just in time to see a beam of the crimson light fly towards her mom. She screamed, but she was seconds too late. Her mom let out a surprised 'oh' and crumpled to the ground. Alexandra jumped up.

"Mom!" she screamed. "Mom, get up! Mom! Please, mom!" She ran over and dropped to her knees next to the limp body of her mother. "Mom," she yelled. "Mom! Please, say something!" The little girl started shaking the woman, but nothing happened. "Mom," she pleaded, sobbing, "mom, please…please, wake up, please…" She hiccupped as tears flowed freely down her face and onto the apron her mom wore. She doubled over and rested her head on her mother's shoulder, crying and shaking. There was a thumping sound as Alan came closer and closer, his footsteps on the wooden floor of the porch sounding like a heartbeat. Alexandra looked up at her brother, her eyes red and shining with tears, and ran over to hug him. Alan eyes widened as he looked from their mother to the transmutation circle that was half smudged.

"What did you do?" he asked, tears springing up in his own eyes. He pushed her away and looked her in the eye. "What did you do?!" he yelled, shaking her.

"Nothing!" she lied. "She fell…she just fell, Alan! She won't answer me!" she screamed, her sobs making her entire body shake. "She won't wake up," she whispered.

xxXxx

Five years later, the rest of the Yuuzai family was huddled together in the old lot by their house, bracing themselves against the cold night air. Their mother's body lay in the middle of a large transmutation circle. Alexandra was extremely nervous. She hadn't attempted alchemy after the accident and was scared to even think about what would happen if she did. Unfortunately, tonight, her family was going to try and revive their mom.

Bad idea.

Jonathan and Alan were ready. Alexandra wasn't. They went through the normal process and put their hands down on the transmutation circle. Each one of the felt the rush of wind as the circle began to glow and light surrounded Sophie. Everything seemed to be going right. Even Alexandra thought she would see her mom again. She refused to remind her family of the laws of alchemy.

Everything went wrong again.

Suddenly the yellow light that had been giving off a pleasant glow died down and was replaced by the same crimson light Alexandra had witnessed years before. She screamed in fear and tore her hands off the circle and fell backwards. She yelled to her dad and brother to move away, but they didn't hear her over their own screams. Alexandra felt tears flow down her cheeks as she yelled herself hoarse, watching her father being ripped to shreds before her eyes; her brother, only a few feet away, was yelling in agony as a hole formed in his chest. The last thing her father said was to take his pocket watch, to take it and keep it as a reminder of following the rules. He threw it weakly and she grabbed it, clutching it to her heart and letting tears fall onto its smooth surface. Soon after, her father was a mass of torn, bloody, pulpy flesh and her brother was moaning and dying in front of her. Alexandra screamed to her dad, she screamed to her brother, she screamed to God and pleaded to him for this to be nothing but a horrible, horrible nightmare, and that she could wake up any second now and her mother would hug her and comfort her and tell her it was all right.

Her screams echoed throughout the still night. She was blood spattered and shaken, and sobbed and shook uncontrollably, her eyes wide with fear. She looked to her brother.

"Alexandra," he whispered weakly and painfully, trying to sit up. His chest wound was enormous; it had practically ripped through him.

"Alan!" Alexandra shouted, running to her brother's side and kneeling next to him. "Alan! I'm so sorry, I'm sorry…I'm sorry this happened! I didn't mean for this to happen!" She pressed her bloody hands to her face. "I'm sorry!" she screamed to the sky, tears staining her cheeks and dropping on her brother's face. She looked back down at him, at his pulsing organs. Then she quickly realized something.

His wound was about the size of her arm.

"Alan," she whispered. "Alan, I'm going to get you out of this. You hear me? Stay with me Alan! Stay with me!" After hearing a soft moan from her brother's mouth she groped around in the dark for her dad's knife. She found It quickly when she ran her hand down its steely blade and tore her hand apart. She didn't wince.

She grabbed the knife by the handle and quickly drew another transmutation circle, placing her brother in the middle.

The only thing to do now was to follow the principle of equivalent exchange.

To sacrifice something.

To give her arm.

Her hand shook a bit, but she took a deep breath to steady her nerves. She raised her arm up and held the knife a foot above her shoulder. The moon showed itself, mocking her, forcing her too see what she had done…or rather, what she hadn't.

She hadn't warned them, she hadn't reminded them of the law. Now one was dead and the other dying.

Alexandra squeezed her eyes shut and thrust the blade down, piercing skin and tissue, muscle and bone, plunging it through and sawing through her own flesh. The blood was everywhere, staining the grass, staining her skin, staining her clothes. It hit her face and left eerie droplet of red, making her look sick.

But her flesh would do. Even though human transmutation was taboo, even though it was unspeakable to tread in the territory of God and God alone, she did it. She pressed her one hand against the circle and the last thing she heard was a gasp from Alan.

Then she blacked out.

xxXxx

Alexandra woke up with a start two days later and found herself in a bed with red sheets. She did a double take when she saw that the sheets were white; the red was just the stain from her blood. She gagged at the sight of her mangled stump of an arm and wondered where she was.

"Sister, I see you're awake," said Alan evenly. He was sitting in an armchair next to her bed, with nothing but a pair of boxers on. She was used to seeing her brother naked, so it didn't bother her. She looked at the scar on his chest and was delighted to see he was alive.

"Brother, you're alive!" she exclaimed, feeling a burden lift off her heart.

"Yes, I am," he answered with a smile. "I'm guessing you saved me?"

"Yes…" her voice cracked as the memories of that night flooded into her head. The screaming, the blood, her mother's dead body, her dad's mutilated pile of flesh. She gagged again and pressed her fingers to her eyes, trying to block the scene.

"Well, Jeroh drugged you so that you wouldn't feel the pain. That is painful, isn't it?" he asked, pointing to her non-existent arm. She shook her head dumbly.

"I don't remember the pain from my arm…I only remember the pain of seeing dad die…and seeing you dying. I'm so glad that you're alive, Alan," she whispered, tears showing in her eyes as she reopened them. "I'm so glad."

"I…" Alan was obviously at a loss for words, because he opened and closed his mouth a few times. His eyes glazed over and a single tear rolled down his cheek. "Alexandra, what happened to mom?" he asked, getting up and standing over her.

"I – I told you, she fell," Alexandra stuttered, looking up at him with fear.

"Bullshit!" he yelled, bearing down on her and looking straight into her eyes. "You know that's not what happened! Now tell me!"

"I…oh, Alan, it was my fault!" she wailed, breaking down completely, waves of nausea and pain and emotion rolling over her. "It was the transmutation circle," she whispered shakily. "When you put your hand on my shoulder I messed up on a rune…the power recoiled and I flew into the wall…it hit mom…" She broke off, taking a deep, racking breath. "I killed her, Alan…I killed her!" she screamed, throwing her one arm around her legs and tucking them into her chest, burying her face in her knees. "I killed her," she repeated, over and over. Alan obviously had a change of heart and hugged his sister. He held her tightly and allowed her to cry, feeling twice as bad for yelling at her.

"What's going on here?" asked a high-pitched voice from the doorway. Alan looked up and so did Alexandra. They looked at the short and stumpy figure of a woman with a mole on her chin. She had a sharp face and cold eyes.

"W-who are you?" Alexandra asked, wiping her tears.

"Who are you?" the woman mimicked cruelly. "I'm the one that's going to fix your arm, that's who I am. And I thought I told you to leave her alone!" she directed at Alan.

"She's my sister!" Alan protested.

"She's my sister!" the woman repeated annoyingly. "I don't care if she's God! Shoo! I have to fix her arm!"

"Give me a second, you fucking hag," Alan hissed. He looked at Alexandra. "Look, she's going to fix your arm…all I know is that she may be mean, fat, annoying, and cruel, and it's going to hurt like hell, but she's one of the best in the business."

"Wait…what business?" Alexandra asked nervously. Alan got up and walked to the door. He put his hand on the frame and looked back at his vulnerable sister.

"Auto-mail."