Chapter 1: Innocence And Soldiers

"Well, I guess we're off…"

A young boy and a suit of armor were walking through Central, heading for the train station. The young boy had golden hair and golden eyes.The sun was shining brilliantly, and the sky was clear. Nothing demanded their attention-

"Oohh… Shiny!"

Ed was startled to hear the young female voice so close to him. He looked down to see a young girl right beside him, purplish eyes focused on his pocketwatch, silverish hair a bit of a mess. Her skin was white, but not deathly pale. She was wearing a simple black shirt and blue jeans, with black flip-flops.

"Stop it! It's not yours!" Ed scolded, lightly smacking her hand and pulling the object in question away. She looked up at him, eyes glistening.

"Aww… But I just wanted to look at it… I wasn't gonna take it…" She sniffled. Ed looked down at her.

"Brother, I think it's okay to let her look at it if you supervise." Alphonse said. Ed sighed.

"Alright, fine..." He relented.

"Yay!" She cheered as the trio went and sat down on a bench. Ed pulled out his pocketwatch, and handed it to her. She began tracing the elaborate design on the front, clearly fascinated.

"Do you know what that is?" Ed asked.

"Ummm... it's silver... and it's shiny... and this is the symbol of Amestris, right?" She replied, pointing to the symbol on the cover. Ed nodded.

"That's right! It's a silver pocketwatch, given to me by the military because I'm a State Alchemist!" He said.

"Oh... so you're a soldier... then how come you don't wear a uniform?" She asked.

"I've never really been comfortable in one. It's just not my thing."

"I see. Well, it's just fancy clothes. It's okay if you don't like fancy clothes."

She continued to trace the pocketwatch, fascinated by its appearance. Eventually, after a few minutes, she gave it back.

"So, anyways, what's your name? And where are you from?" Ed asked.

"Oh, me? My name is Sonata Dusk, and I'm from Sidon. What about you?" Sonata asked in turn, still cheerful, smiling.

"My name is Edward Elric, and this is my younger brother, Alphonse Elric." Ed introduced. She then cocked her head to the left in confusion. Ed raised an eyebrow.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"I don't get it. If you're the older brother, why are you the shorter one?" She asked innocently. Ed instantly got a tic.

She's a kid… She doesn't know any better… She's a kid… Stay calm…. Stay calm… He mentally chanted, forcing the boiling rage back.

"Height doesn't always prove age, Sonata. It's not a factor-Sonata!"

Suddenly, she fell on her side, right into Ed's lap… only to immediately close her eyes and slow her breathing to a slow, steady rate. The brothers smiled softly.

"She was just tired…" Al trailed.

"I think we should bring her to the Colonel. He'll know what to do about her." He added. Ed nodded.

"That's right… I've never heard of Sidon before in my life. Al, could you carry her for me?"

"Alright."

Alphonse gently scooped up Sonata in his arms. The two brothers walked back towards Mustang's office.


The brothers barged right on in, as usual. He glanced up for a second, and seeing Ed's familiar golden eyes, he let out an exasperated sigh.

"You're going to miss your train if you stay here-"

THUNK.

"Owww…"

Mustang blinked. Alphonse had just dropped this kid onto his desk-literally-sending his papers everywhere and waking her up, evidently. She sat up, and looked at Mustang.

"Who are you?" She asked.

"U-Um… Colonel Roy Mustang. You?" He asked in turn.

"I'm Sonata Dusk! It's nice to meet you!" She replied cheerfully. Roy ducked his head around towards Ed.

"Umm… Fullmetal… Who is she?" He asked quietly. She turned her head, but only out of curiosity.

"I don't know. We literally found her outside five minutes ago, where she was attracted to my pocketwatch because it was shiny." Ed explained. Roy hung his head.

"Are you serious-"

"Colonel, you'd better not be slacking off again-huh?"

"Hey, chief, wanna go out tonight-what the?"

It wasn't long before Mustang's whole team had piled their way into the office. Not even someone as innocent and naive as Kain could resist the appearance of Sonata, who was currently quite confused at it all.

"Huh? Where'd all the soldiers come from? I don't get it." She asked. Roy chuckled.

"You're in Central Headquarters, Sonata. You're in the place where a lot of soldiers work." He explained. She got off his desk, and walked up to the small group. They stared at each other for a good few moments…

"You look like a puppy! Do you like puppies?"

Kain blinked, as did everyone else.

"D-Did she… Did she just seriously ask if I like puppies because she thinks I look like one?!" He stammered.

"S-She did…" Alphonse muttered.

"W-Well, she's a kid… She's just trying to be friendly…" Roy guessed. Riza chuckled.

"You like dogs, right?" She asked. Sonata nodded.

"Well, I have a dog named Black Hayate. Would you like to play with him?"

"Yea!"

Riza led the young girl out of the office to meet the adorable puppy, and instantly, she was distracted, happily chasing the dog around, petting him, and laughing. It wasn't long before somehow, Riza produced a hawk stuffed animal from seemingly nowhere, and Sonata took it gladly. Roy let out an exasperated sigh.

"Now the question becomes… what do we do with her?" He mused, leaning on his desk.