Welcome to the next chapter! I told you I'd have it up soon. I took extra time to write this chapter so it'll be longer than the last…I think I may have failed that big test because I used my study time to write, but oh well. I really don't care. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter (where the AU part becomes really obvious, please read the note in the 1st chapter if you haven't already cuz I don't want to get flamed on this chapter) and thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter! On with the show!

Please read this before reading: I'll warn you ahead of time that there is a female OC in this chapter, but she isn't what you think. I can't tell you why cuz it'll ruin the story, but she is not a please-fall-in-love-with-me-cuz-I'm-a-perfect-and-wonderful-and-beautiful-Mary-Sue. You'll see.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist. Yep, that's it, nothing witty today.

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1905 – Older brother, 6 – Younger brother, 5

"When will Dad be back?" Alphonse Elric asked his older brother.

"He's not coming back!" Edward shouted causing the younger one to shake in fear.

"Not coming back?" Al repeated.

"No! He ditched us!"

Edward punched the tree that Al was playing in causing a few red leaves to fall around him. Al watched with a worried expression as Ed continued punching. Ed was trying so hard not to cry. Every time the tears formed, again he would punch the poor tree.

"Stop it, Brother!" Al yelled when he saw the first drops of blood. He quickly scrambled out of the tree and grabbed Ed's arm. "You're hurting yourself!"

Ed stopped. Glancing at his fist, his eyes went wide. He touched the raw skin and winced. Had he really not noticed the state of his own hand? Sure he was angry but not noticing his own pain? Now that he thought about it, it still didn't hurt. Taking several deep breaths to calm himself down, he started to feel the pain in his hand. Only then did he notice Al's tears.

"I'm sorry, Al," Edward said placing his non-bloody hand on Al's shoulder. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"He's not coming back?" Al asked, ignoring Ed's attempts to stop his tears.

"…No."

"But he has to! I know he'll come back."

"Yeah, well, you didn't hear him!"

The only sound was Al's sobs. It was a horrible sound to Ed.

"I'm gonna go take a walk," Ed said after a moment.

"But your hand! Mom needs to look at that!"

"No, it's fine. We don't need to worry her."

"But…"

"I said no! Don't tell her!"

With that, he was gone leaving a stunned, crying Al behind.

"Brother…"

The same as Alphonse had always been closer to his mother, Edward was closer to his father. The boy would follow Hohenheim anywhere. He was his greatest role-model. The man had taught the boys alchemy and was always happy when Ed would ask for more lessons. The two went fishing together, and Ed always went with him on business trips despite his mother's protests. He loved his father more than anyone else in the world. But now, there would be no more alchemy lessons, no more fishing, and he hadn't been invited on this trip. The man he had loved so dear had left them, and Ed knew that he would never come back. His mother's heart was irreparably damaged, Al was sad and crying, and Ed…He wanted nothing more than to fall to his knees and cry…cry until he couldn't cry anymore. He wanted to yell and scream and throw an all-out tantrum…but he was the older brother. It was his job to be strong for Al. He'd been told that many times. He couldn't cry. He wouldn't cry.

After awhile, Ed stopped running. He hadn't even realized he'd been running. Years of exploring Resembool told him exactly where he was though. The water was just down the path if you made a turn at the house with the 'For Sale' sign, and just beyond that was Winry's.

"Something's different," Ed muttered softly to himself.

It was a moment before he realized just what was different. The 'For Sale' sign was missing, and he could see the silhouette of a person beyond the new curtains.

"Hi!"

Ed nearly jumped out of his skin as the voice broke through his thoughts. Turning around quickly, he nearly knocked over the young brunette girl standing behind him. She took a step back and tilted her head like a curious puppy.

"Uh, hi…" Ed said after regaining his composure. "Who are you? Are you the one that moved into this house?"

"Yeah," the girl replied with a smile. "We just moved here yesterday. My name is Kayt. What's your name?"

"Oh, uh, I'm Edward."

"How cute! That's my dog's name!"

Ed didn't have a response for that except to lower his head slightly.

"So, hey," the girl continued not seeming to notice, "is something the matter? You looked kinda upset. Did something happen?"

Edward lowered his head more losing eye contact. "I don't really wanna talk about it."

"Oh, okay then!"

Edward tilted his head slightly, confused about this strange girl. Did nothing bother her?

"Are there any other kids around here?" Kayt asked again ignoring Ed's expression.

"Yeah. There's Winry Rockbell who lives just down the road that way," Ed answered pointing in the direction of Winry's house. "And there's my little brother Alphonse. And the guy's at school, but a lot of them are mean."

"Mean? How?"

"They pick on Al during recess just cause they're older."

"Oh…Well, you think you can introduce me to Al and Winry tomorrow?"

"Why not now?" Ed asked wanting some kind of company that wasn't crying.

"I've still got unpacking to do!"

"Oh, well then, me and Al will come by around ten tomorrow, and then we can all go to Winry's. How's that?"

"Perfect!"

"Kayt!" a woman's voice called from the door. A woman that Ed assumed to be Kayt's mother stepped outside.

"Look!" Kayt said happily. "It's my new friend Edward!" She pointed to Ed with that same overly enthusiastic smile still plastered on her face.

"Yes, that's nice," the woman said glancing at Ed, not seeming thrilled in the least. "But you were supposed to be helping me in the kitchen, remember?"

"Oh yeah, I was…Bye, Edward!" she said, still happy, waving right in his face. Without waiting for Edward to respond, she followed her mother back inside the house.

Ed could only stare dumbfounded at the closed door. She was a very strange little girl, but she had accomplished one thing in the short meeting. The news of his father had been pushed to the back of his mind.

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Sorry if that chapter was sucky. Half of it I wrote during Spanish while trying to take notes, and the other half I wrote while trying to IM a friend (you know who you are, Ashley!). I do promise that the next chapter will be much more interesting and should be up within a day or two or whenever I get 10 reviews, whichever comes first. And in case you hadn't noticed from this chapter, it's gone back in the past from the prologue and will work it's way back up to then so you'll get your answers in due time. Then, it'll continue on past the prologue. I've got most of it planned out so updating should be fast. Hope you enjoy it! (And yes, I do plan on redoing this suckish, rushed chapter soon.)

Equivalent Exchange: I write, you review.