Hi. I don't know what in the world made me think of this, but I'm going to write it!

Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist.

Loosing the Sight

Chapter 1: Eyes of Amber, Heart of Gold

A young boy groped his way down the street. His dark, black sunglasses hid his light, pupil-less amber eyes. His light blond hair had long since fallen out of its usual braid and was falling over his ragged clothes and over his eyes, even though that didn't matter. His clothes, a combination of semi-loose black pants and a black sleeveless shirt with black combat boots, had a rip or a tear here and there, and a small silver chain dangled out of one of his pant pockets.

Seventeen-year-old Edward Elric had seen better days…and he only remembered his name. He didn't remember how he had gotten into this position; he didn't know where he was. His eyesight had failed him, but he somehow knew that he was once able to see perfectly. He didn't know what he was doing in there…wherever 'there' was…

He tripped on what seemed to be a can of some sorts, and when he hit the ground, he felt his metal limbs jerk as gravity used its power to an advantage to keep him from getting up. All he could bring himself to do was pull himself blindly over to a wall to lean weakly against it. His throat was parched and his stomach gave a weak growl. He'd been trying to find a place to stay, but whenever he did catch someone, and ask them where he could find an inn or something, he would just hear them sneer and walk away.

Ed had finally realized that he was really going to die. "Me? Die like this?" Ed whispered. He pulled his knees up to his chest as he wrapped his arms around them, as he felt tears start to fall down his cheeks. The place smelled of rotting food, so he assumed he was in an alley. He was just about to fall asleep when he heard a girl speak.

"Yes, I'll see you sometime soon." The girl said, then giggled. "Bye!" He heard the shutting of a door, the shuffling of feet, the rustling of a paper grocery bag. He heard footsteps almost pass the alley, then stop and take a few steps back. He heard the girl speak again. "Excuse me? Sir?"

Ed assumed the girl wasn't talking to him, so he just stayed where he was, sitting still, the tears still running down his cheeks. Ever since he remembered himself walking around like this, blind that is, his other senses (hearing, touching, smelling) had greatly increased…a way of helping himself survive. He must have been in his own little world for a moment because he didn't know that the girl had moved next to him until she spoke.

"Sir?" The girl said, then reached a hand over to shake his shoulder. He looked…well, faced her, in point of fact.

"Huh?" He croaked out.

"Sir, do you need any help?" The girl asked. Ed didn't know what to say…and even if he did, he wouldn't have been able to say anything because of his parched throat. "Do you…do you need a place to stay?" He heard the girl ask. He nodded weakly. "All right, come on. I'll help you up." He felt a soft hand grab his own and slowly, yet gently and smoothly, pull to his own feet. He felt his arm being put around a pair of small shoulders, and an arm was put on his back, grabbing his side to keep him upright. He assumed that the bag of groceries was forgotten.

"Are you hungry?" The girl asked him kindly as they started to move forward. He nodded weakly again. "Okay, my sister and I will get you something to eat once we get back home." Ed nodded again, yet focused on putting one foot in front of the other, careful not to trip the girl.

"We're almost there." He heard the girl say after a few minutes of slow walking.

A few moments later, he heard a door open and another voice say, "Hey Sis, I-who's that?" He felt the girl helping him shrug as they kept on walking. He felt himself take a step up onto a cement step, then felt the warmth of the sun go off of his face as he assumed he had walked inside of somewhere.

"Just a moment, I'll be back." The girl said, leading him over to a soft, velvety feeling chair and helped him sit down in it.

"All right…" He croaked out.

As he heard the footsteps recede into another room, he heard the voice of the second girl hiss out angrily, "Who is that? Why did you bring him here?" He wouldn't have been able to hear them if his hearing hadn't improved.

"Shikou…please let him stay!"

"Kararu, why?"

"I was leaving the grocery store and I passed an alley to see him. Will you allow him to stay? Please Shikou?"

"Kararu, who is he? You know better than to let complete strangers into the house! You remember what happened to Mom?"

"Yes, I remember! But something's different him! Please…let him stay! Please Shikou? If you don't let him, then I'm leaving to take care of him somewhere else!"

"Well…I guess…"

"Thank you so much Shikou!"

"Your welcome…I guess…"

"Could we get him something to eat? He looks starved to death…"

"All right, I'll fix him a sandwich for now."

At the mention of the word 'sandwich', his stomach growled. Apparently, it had been listening in on the conversation as well. He sat there for a few minutes, hearing sounds that indicated that the second girl (Shikou was her name?) making a sandwich. A minute later, he heard footsteps enter into the room and he heard the voice of the first girl speak.

"My sister Shikou made you a sandwich. You can stay here, if you like." She said, placing what felt like a plate onto his lap. His hands reached for the sandwich, and once he had it in his hands, quickly took a bite.

"Would you mind getting me drink of water please?" Ed asked in his parched voice after he had swallowed.

"Not at all." The girl said, then he heard her walk out only to have her walk back in a moment later. "Here." She said gently. He reached up and amazingly grabbed the glass on the first try.

"Man…water is a wonderful drink!" Ed thought as he gulped down the glass, then finished off his sandwich. "Thank you."

"No problem. Why don't you take off your sunglasses? It's kind of dark in here." The girl said, then another pair of footsteps walked through the door, then stopped and Ed heard the creaking of wood as he assumed Shikou leaned against the doorframe.

"I…uh…" Ed stuttered. So…she didn't know he was blind. He knew that both girls' gazes were on him, even though he couldn't see. "All right…" Ed said, finally giving in to the stares he felt. He reached up and pulled off his sunglasses, expecting to hear a cry of 'oh my gosh, your blind! Out, out!' but didn't hear anything. It seemed the girl didn't even seem to notice.

"Come along now. Take my hand, I'll show you around the house." The girl said.

"I…I cannot." Ed said, lowering his head.

"Why not?" The girl asked.

"I cannot see your hand." Ed was surprised when he felt a hand lift up his chin.

"Open your eyes." The girl said. Ed did as he was told, but he still could not see. "Ah…so your blind. I should have guessed as much. Oh my, I'm sorry, I've forgotten my manners. My name is Kararu Rinamino. You would be…?"

"My…my name is…Edward Elric…You can call me Ed…"

"Well, Ed, it's a pleasure to meet you. Shikou, come say hello." Kararu said, and Ed heard a sigh come from the girl in the doorway. He heard footsteps come from the door to stand next to him.

"I'm Shikou Rinamino. I'm Kararu's twin sister, even though you can't see that." Ed heard Shikou's body shift to face Kararu. "I'll be getting back to supper. All three of us will be having stew tonight."

"Okay." Kararu said. Ed heard Shikou walk out of the room. Then, a silly idea popped into his head, and he blushed.

"What is it?" Kararu asked him. She must have seen his blush.

"Since I can't see you, can I…um…feel you? Not in a perverted way…just your face…" Ed said.

"I…I don't see why not…" Kararu said, Ed noticing the embarrassment in her voice. She gently grabbed one of his hands and brought it up to her face. He felt that her skin was soft, very soft. He carefully ran his hand over her face, feeling her normal sized nose, her perfect feeling eye brows, her semi-long eye lashes, the soft feel of her cheeks, the soft breathing from her mouth…then, bringing up his other hand to put on the other side of her face, he just couldn't resist. He had to feel her lips by some means other than just feeling them with his hand…

He pulled her into a kiss. And for Kararu…he somehow knew that this was the only 'thank you' that she needed, even though he knew she would appreciate the action more often. He pulled away, immediately feeling embarrassed at what he had just done.

"I'm terribly sorry…" Ed said. "I couldn't contain myself…"

"It's quite all right. I rather enjoyed it, actually." Kararu said. Ed sensed her smile. "And…just so you know…I don't exactly look like a real human…"

"What do you mean?"

"I was taken by the state when I was eight to be tested on and the result were dog ears. They're actually quite cute, really. I'd bet you'd love to see them but…"

"It's all right. I'd just like to feel them."

"All right." Kararu took his hand into hers again and brought it up to her ear. Ed chuckled as he felt how soft it was. "See? Even men can't keep from laughing when they touch these little ears of mine…"

"What city is this?" Ed asked, taking his hands off of her ears.

"This is actually a town. It's called Ileki."

"I've never heard of that before…"

"Well, you wouldn't have, would you? We're a town on the outskirts of a mountain range. The nearest town is Risembool, which is still about thirty miles away…"

"Risembool…that sounds familiar…though I can't seem to put my finger on it…" Ed said. "So, would you mind showing me around the house now?"

"But you can't see." Kararu protested.

"So? I've found that I can memorize a place easily." Ed said. He heard her giggle.

"All right…just when you do manage to memorize the place, don't fall on the stairs…I'd hate to wake up in the middle of the night to see you at the bottom of the stairs with a broken neck."

"Don't worry, I won't."

"All right." Kararu said, then he felt her grab his hand. "Right now, we're in the living room. Now, we'll go into the kitchen slash dining room, and the room after that is the miniature library…"

XxXxXxXxXxXx

"Do we have any idea of where he is?"

"No…none at all…"

"Damn it!"

"Mustang, just calm down!"

"How can I calm down Hughes? Edward made a Philosopher's Stone, he brought Al's body back, the Homunculi are still alive except for Pride, and Edward's gone missing! Al's still unconscious and it's been a week, I killed the Fuhrer and taken his position, and I'm under too much stress right now! Tell me how I can calm down!" Mustang yelled.

"Mustang," Hughes said, "If you're going to be able to think straight, you need to release some of that stress. Come on, have dinner with Alicia, Gracia and I."

"No thanks…I think I'll pass…"

"Roy, old friend, you've got to learn when to calm down! Come on, Gracia's making brisket tonight." Hughes said, then he and Mustang both heard Mustang's stomach growl. "See? Your stomach agrees with me. When was the last time you ate something?"

"When Hawkeye forced me to…"

"Which was?"

"Two days ago…"

"See what I mean? Come on, I'll phone Gracia to tell her to set two extra places. I'll go tell Hawkeye we're eating at my place. And you better not skip, because I know that you don't have anything planned, got that?"

"Fine…"

"And guess what!"

"What…"

"Today is Alicia's birthday! She's turning five!" Mustang rolled his eyes, then almost fell out of his high backed red velvet chair when Hughes shoved a picture of a four-year-old Alicia in his face. "Isn't she just adorable?"

"Hughes…" Mustang said warningly.

"All right. I'll go call Gracia, and tell her to wrap Alicia's presents."

"Fine…wait…"

"Yes?"

"Could you…stay a while? I haven't talked to anyone since Edward went missing, and knowing that it's his birthday…just makes things worse…"

"I understand. I'll phone Gracia and be right back."

"All right…thanks Maes…"

"No problem."

XxXxXxXxXxXx

"Wow, Shikou, that was great!" Ed complemented as he set down his spoon.

"Thanks." He heard her say. Kararu had to tell him where everything was in front of him, such as the bowl, the spoon, napkin…the only thing he hadn't asked for was a drink.

"Kararu, show Ed where his drink is. I don't think he knows where it is." He heard Shikou say.

"Here." Kararu said, taking his hand and guided it over to the glass. Ed thanked her, and was about to put it to his lips when he pulled it away. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not drinking that." Ed said quietly as he set it back down on the table.

"Why not?" Shikou asked, then Ed heard Kararu laugh. "What's so funny?"

"It seems Ed and I have something in common."

"What's that?" Ed asked.

"We both hate milk with a burning passion!" Kararu said, still laughing. Ed could tell she was smiling. If only he could see that smile…

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Me: That was chapter 1! I deeply hope that you all enjoyed it!

Ed: WHAT THE HELL? I'M BLIND?

Al: And I have my body back?

Me: Yes and yes. Both questions are correct!

Ed: (-sob-) Why me?

Me: I don't know. Ask my imagination.

Ed: All right…HEY, KARARU'S IMAGINATION! WHY DID YOU THINK OF THAT?

Me: Oww! That hurt you big jerk! (-hits Ed over the head with an anonymously placed frying pain-)

Al: Kararu, please try not to beat him up to bad again like last time…

Me: (-sends a menacing glare at Al-)

Al: Uh…heh heh…please, click that little button and leave a review on your way out!

Me: Yeah! Please do!

Al: Also, she doesn't own Fullmetal Alchemist, but she does own Kararu Rinamino, but Shikou Rinamino belongs to a friend!

Ed: Oww…

Me: Oh, shut up, you big baby!

Join me next time for:

Chapter 2: We've Got a Location!