FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST, GOLDEN EYES

By Born of Starlight

See...? I didn't forget you people existed. Though, currently, I myself do NOT exist... (Feel free to inquire further, it's worth the story.)

:Bangs head on keyboard: I. Can't. Believe. I. Lost. My. Notebook. GGGAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! Yeah. I completely lost the notebook I have this story written in. That's why it took so long for me to get this chapter up. I really need some sort of system for my notebooks. I grabbed about three of them, thinking that it just HAD to be one of those three, only it wasn't. So, while Ed searches for the Philosopher's Stone every Saturday at 11:00 PM, Eastern Standard Time, I search for THE notebook. I only just succeeded in my quest today. Hah, Ed! I win!

Yeah, sorry. I'm feeling insanely random right now. One of my friends just came up with this "catch phrase" of sorts. You know how people will exlaim "Jesus Christ!" when something happens. Well, Joi told me that, rather than exclaim that, it came out as "Holy Kakashi!" (Can you tell her favorite anime...?) Actually, unless I'm very much mistaken, she's got a fic in the Naruto section... Yeah. Okay then.

Disclaimer: Well, this is very depressing, but...I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist. I know! Just ghastly isn't it! The things they force you to admit when writing fanfiction...! Yes, alas, it's true! I don't own it! There. My secret's out. :sobs:

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Chapter 7

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Roy Mustang quietly crept away from the cell door. What he had just heard left him with strange feelings stirrin in his chest, and just one thought in his mind.

He had misjudged her.

He had guessed what she had attempted to do…and when Fullmetal had come to him after his private sojourn to that ruined building seething, he had realized that he was probably correct.

Not surprising, really…

But even watching her secretly after that, he hadn't seen the truth: she was hurting. There was an empty place inside her.

Maybe that was why she always looked so sad. But why would Edward change that? Riza was right. On the trip back he'd had a chance to observe the two of them together, though Korin had been half-unconscious most of the time. And then there was that smile she had given to Edward. Literally given to him, like it was a gift just for him. He'd felt it - knew everyone else in the room had felt it too - that they were not included in the receiving of that precious smile.

But why Edward?

The colonel shook his head, slightly bemused. He closed his eyes at the irony of the situation ---

---And nearly fell over a young boy who had just come around the corner.

"What the--!" Roy just barely managed to keep his balance. "Who are you? What are you doing here? You can't possibly have authorization --"

"But, you told Brother I could go wherever he went…" said the boy in a very familiar voice.

"…Al…?"

The bronze-eyed boy beamed at Mustang. "Yes, Colonel! I'm me again!"

Roy noticed, with no small amount of amusement, that Al was head-and-shoulders taller than his temperamental brother. "I believe some congratulations are in order then." said Mustang, and promptly shook the boy's hand. A smile kept threatening to peek around the corners of his stoic expression.

"Thanks, Colonel. I passed out after Ed changed me, so he doesn't know I'm awake yet." Al looked hesitant. "If you could just…?"

Roy gave him a small smile. "He's down that hall, Al. Korin's in the second cell on the left. He was questioning her for us."

Al's smile was every bit as dazzling as his older brother's, but without the sardonic twist Edward usually displayed before Mustang.

Watching the younger - though taller - Elric run down the hall, Roy Mustang finally let loose one of his own, rare, true-smiles.

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Rainbows played across the two pale faces. Edward Elric, alchemic prodigy, and a girl with as-of-yet unknown powers. Both children (though the term hardly applied) were grim faced.

"So this stupid rock you made doesn't work on either of us! Why not?"

"Irony. It's simply for the situational irony." Korin's voice was bitter. "IT doesn't work for me, because I made it. Also, if someone tried to use it on me it wouldn't work." Korin was looking at her automail arm as she said the last part.

Dreading the answer, Ed asked his question anyway.

"What about me? Why give it to me?"

"Not everybody can use a philosopher's stone…you can. Unfortunately, it has no effect on you, either."

Ed leaned his head back against the cold wall. His metal fingers slowly clentched into a fist. "So I'm stuck with this," he whispered.

"Brother?"

Ed's head jerked up.

"AL! You're awake! How do you feel?" Ed had practically thrown himself across the tiny room to get to his little - well, younger - brother.

"I feel great! But… Brother, is it true? What I just heard?" Ed didn't quite understand what his brother was getting at. Al gently tapped his older brother's automail arm.

"Oh…yeah, Al, I guess it is."

"It's not fair, is it, Brother."

"What's not fair is your height! AL!" Ed glared up at him. AL tried to hold back his giggling, but didn't quite manage.

Korin just sat in the shadows. She could feel a prickling feeling at the back of her eyes. She bit down hard, and refused to let the tears out.

Al looked past his brother. "I owe you a thank-you as well. If you hadn't made the Stone, I wouldn't be like I am now!" Quiet gratitude was in his eyes.

Korin gave him a small smile, but there was no real happiness behind it. "It's not as if I had much say in the matter," she said. "Destiny has a plan for me, and it's a plan I'm forced to follow."

Korin reached down and picked up the discarded Stone.

"Do me a favor, Ed?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't lose this? I've only got one soul to give."

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Okay. Several things that I think were probably confusing.

1: "When Fullmetal had come to him after his private sojourn to that ruined building seething," refers to the building where Korin was found, not where Ed fought Scar. Two different buildings. Korin was found in an old, two-story building, whereas they fought Scar in a one-floored warehouse thing, long since abandoned. Scar had been using it as a hideout between the killing of State Alchemists.

2: "On the trip back he'd had a chance to observe the two of them together." The "trip" referenced here is the reason this story even exists. I had just seen my first episode of FMA, and I was about to go to sleep for the night, when suddenly this image of a severely injured girl popped into my head. While the scene never actually made it into writing, it did happen. Korin obviously was unable to walk, so the military had cars to carry them all back to Central. (The fight was fairly close to Central in the first place, but whatever...) Ed, Al, Roy, Riza, and Korin all rode in one truck, Korin on a pad of blankets on the floor. Ed was still semi- in shock at that point, so conversation was minimal. They did talk a little bit though, which is how Roy saw their interaction.

3: "I passed out after Ed changed me, so he doesn't know I'm awake yet." Yeah... I am very, very bad at characterizing Alphonse. That's why he's hardly been in this story. Also, I realize Ed wouldn't willingly leave his little brother to wake up alone after just being returned to his own body. Duty calls, or whatever. No one else knew about Al, so it never occured to Roy to give Ed a few hours to himself. He didn't even listen to Ed's protests, and ordered him down to the prison cells to interrogate Korin.

Reader Worship! Here it goes...!

Delightfully Wicked: You were one of my only reviews last chapter, so -- as a thank you -- I'm giving you Pocky! The supersize pack! (Please tell me you've eaten pocky before...?) Honestly, it doesn't take a whole lot of effort to be an exchange student. You get interviewed a lot, and have to have good grades (at least a 3.5 GPA), and you have to pay about $750. Other than that...? Not much. It helps that I've been learning Japanese for three years. It means I've got a better chance of going there. But it's not in the bag yet. I know I'm going SOMEWHERE (I got my passport photo taken on Saturday), but I don't know where to yet. My top three choices were Japan, Finland, and Taiwan. They made me list thirty choices though, in order of preferance. So... Yeah. Right now I'm still just HOPING that I get to go to Japan. I could easily go to Finland. On the plus side, they drink coffee 24/7 in Finland, so... :goes to attend her Coffee Addicts Annonymous meeting:

Johanna-wind: Yay! Thanks for the review! No, seriously, thanks. My reviews dropped from seven in one day to just two, lonely, reviews for an entire chapter.

Okay. I am really going to stress this, people. REVIEW FOR ME! Honestly. I really need the encouragement. My English grade has been dropping, which severely depresses me because that should be my best and easiest grade! It was, until I misunderstood an assignment (completely and totally) and got a terrible grade. I actually should have gotten a zero but my teacher thought my story (we had to write epilogues for one of the short stories we'd read, using our vocab words -- I forgot the vocab, thinking it was just a free-write.) was so good she still gave me half-credit. Which was incrediably kind of her, don't you agree?

:holds up cardboard sign that says Will Write For Reviews: