Disclaimer: I don't own Full Metal Alchemist. If I did, the ending to that dumb movie would have never, I repeat, NEVER existed in a million centuries.

A/N: I sort of organized this chappie a bit more...you know, put the dividers in-between and stuff. Don't flame!...please ;)

Chapter 1: Introductions

The birds chirping their sweet morning serenades were drowned out by the woman's loud sobbing as she pleaded for her life. Alas, it was to no avail as the young sultan affixed her with a gaze that held no remorse for what was happening at the moment.

Surrounded by executioners, the woman cried loudly in vain from her bound position on the wooden table. Her head was forced down upon the deep red bloodstains that ornamented its wood. One of the executioners nearest her head slowly raised his axe high above him. He hesitantly looked over to the sultan, remorse apparent in his eyes instead.

Face propped upon his chin, he slightly nodded with a faint hint of malice growing in his eyes. "Do it," he said coldly.

Taking a deep breath, the executioner looked down at the woman sadly for the last time. He then shut his eyes and quickly brought the axe down as the sultan steadfastly watched.

The room was no longer filled with dreadful screams.

One of the executioners, sickened, turned and looked away.

The blond-haired woman stood up and dusted her hands off after a long night of hard work.

"Winry!" a voice cried.

Turning around in response, the blonde looked to see a young female her age running towards her on strongly-built metallic legs. She smiled upon recognizing her best friend.

"Paninya! How's everything going? Did you get some money off that new job today?" She walked away from her worktable and stood out from under the shade in the blaring sun, hands on her hips.

Paninya grinned. "Well of course, you know that everyone loves our flowers," she replied semi-cockily. "They're the rarest in the whole region!" She held up a fistful of coins. "I think this should cover our food expenses for the next two weeks."

"Really? That's great!" Food had become a bit more expensive lately, and Winry was starting to worry that the two of them wouldn't have anything to eat for a couple of days, though her business itself wasn't too slow. She walked back to her worktable and bent over it. Turning around, she held up a finely-designed metal leg, its bright sheen sparkling in the bit of light that had slipped through the thin cloth overhead. She smiled with utmost glee. "I finally finished that order that came in last week. I've been working all night to get this thing done. Looks like we're both getting money this week. Lucky break, huh?"

"You bet it is, Win!" Paninya enthusiastically replied. Her smile, however, soon faltered as Winry turned back to clean up the mess she had made while working. "Win...?"

She looked up. "Yeah?"

"Don't you think we should just...leave? He killed his most recent bride today."

Winry stiffened, then eased her face into one of calm. "Pan, you know I can't do that. There are other people depending on me. If I leave, then they wouldn't be able to," she said softly.

Paninya frowned slightly at this, but then grinned yet again. "Yeah, that's true. You're always thinking of other people, Winry."

Winry simply grinned and went back to cleaning off her worktable. The twenty-one-year old soon began frowning herself as she contemplated over what she had just said.

Yes, she remembered that day. The day everything had changed.

It was about one-and-a-half years ago. The sultan had found himself a beautiful sultana the previous year, which was good for him, seeing as how his mother had died two years before that. Winry remembered sympathizing with his deep grief over her death, seeing as how she knew what it was like to lose her parents; his father had died when he was eight. Yes, it was good that he had found himself a wife to cherish and cherish him in return, and to help him get rid of the sadness that still lingered in his heart after his mother's death. However, it was not really his first wife- his previous wife had been executed for horrifying infidelity a couple of months after his mother passed away. Everyone was hoping that his new wife would be able to heal both of these gaping wounds that had filled his heart.

But life has her own little plans for those that she sees fit. And sometimes, they're not the good kind either.

It all started when his brother Alphonse from the neighboring kingdom came for a surprise visit. The sultan was extremely delighted with this, as their bond as brothers was stronger than steel. He pompously welcomed him and enthusiastically invited him to stay for as long as possible. His brother readily agreed, and his visit was prolonged to about three weeks.

During that time, however, he accidentally came across something quite troubling in his brother's palace. While walking past a garden hedge one day, he thought he saw something questionable through one of the peepholes that dotted the bush. Not believing what he had just glimpsed, he looked through the peephole more carefully to check.

There, in the garden, was his brother's wife, cheating with one of the menservants...and in the disgusting way, too.

Revolted, he had hesitated to tell his brother what he had seen, but eventually revealed it to him in private. Needless to say, his brother was furious. He demanded that they keep watch where this took place, and went there himself the next day to see if this information could actually be confirmed. When the sultan saw his wife there with one of his menservants...

He had an execution ordered. No, two. Both his wife and the manservant were beheaded for their disgracefulness. It was from there that he had made his dreadful statement.

"There is no woman left in this world that is to be trusted. Therefore, I will not be married long enough to be betrayed ever again."

Alphonse had said nothing. His brother's heart was completely shattered from his wounds, and there was nothing that he could say. However, he soon saw the true meaning behind his brother's words.

"The sultan has decreed that every morning, he shall marry a new virgin. By next morning, he shall behead her and marry anew," the sultan's messengers proclaimed through the streets.

Most people were pretty much confused by all this, and therefore paid no heed to what they didn't understand. The few smart ones, however, got their virgin daughters and escaped in whatever way they could.

The next day, the sultan sent out his soldiers to find him a suitable virgin to marry. True to his word, when they found one, he married her that very day. The next day she was beheaded. This continued day after day, even after Alphonse left to his own kingdom with the words, "Brother, don't lose yourself."

The people, now fully realizing the horrors of the sultan's new order, started to develop ways of thwarting him. For example, mothers would maim their daughter's legs or arms, making them unfit for marriage; this is where Winry's business came in. Though the sultan held no exception for women with automail parts, it usually took years for them to recuperate from the surgery. By that time, their families would have helped them escape the kingdom, never to return. Winry was one of the few automail dealers in the city, and though this would have meant profitable business, there were many more desperate women, especially those among the poor, that decided to take a much sadder route- the brothels. It is quite obvious that not everyone was able to sacrifie their limbs for freedom. Usually, she just got enough to put food on her plate plus materials for her business.

Paninya had lost both of her legs in an accident seven years ago. Winry wasn't the one who had put those automail legs on her, but after Paninya's mechanic mysteriously disappeared three years afterwards, she was the one who did her regular checkups, becoming her best friend in the meantime. Since she was also an orphan with nowhere to go, they started to live together and support each other instead.

Though many of the people cursed their sultan daily for their troubles, everyone knew that it was because of him that their land was flourishing. He and his brother were especially gifted in alchemy, a science developed by their ancestors decades ago. It was through this science that they revolutionized their kingdoms' economy and kept their lands in peace, as it was also taught to a select few of their soldiers as well. Not only that, but the brothers were both geniuses, possessing well-crafted minds far beyond their age level. It was only in his current decree that the sultan had erred.

What if his heart was restored to him again...? Though Winry hated him just like the rest of the kingdom, she still remembered how emotionally wounded he was said to be after his precious mother had left this world.

Nowadays, the lack of virgins had gotten so bad that it took up to a month at the least to find one. Paninya and Winry were only able to escape the scrutiny of the soldiers because their shelter was situated at a far, deserted corner of the city, and much too rundown to even think of searching. However, Paninya had a point- the way things were going now, the soldiers may be desperate enough to look in a place like this.

She shook her head. No, running away now just isn't an option. Not when there were people depending on her to escape. And though she had insisted over and over for Paninya to leave for her own safety, she had stoutly refused due to her loyalty.

Finished with her cleaning, she straightened up and stretched with her arms behind her back. "So, Paninya," she said, "what do you want for dinner?"

The fire that they had built flared warmly as they ate the rest of their dinner. Their faces were filled with contentment- Winry had done her cooking perfect as usual, even with the sorely limited amount of cooking ingredients. It was another perfect, secluded night.

Then why did she feel so...apprehensive?

"Something wrong, Paninya?" Winry slightly frowned. "You keep looking behind you as if someone's going to appear any minute now."

Paninya quickly shook her head. "No, it's nothing. Must be a rat."

Winry sighed. "Yeah, they just keep coming and coming." She stood up and yawned. "Oh well, I guess I'll be getting some sleep then. 'Night."

"Good night." Paninya's smile, though, faded as Winry walked towards her cot underneath the makeshift shelter. Was she just imagining things? Yeah, maybe she was.

Dismissing her thoughts, she simply looked around the place she and Winry called home. They had erected a large cloth over a piece of a crumbling hut for a roof; they were still trying to find more wood pieces long enough to place on top of that. In the shelter were two cots for Winry and herself, along with a worktable for Winry's business.

And growing to the far left, in the part that opened this part of the city to the desert that surrounded it all, were the moonbuds. They were extremely rare; they only grew in desert sand and opened during a full moon. After that, they just closed up and looked like thin, withering pods of ugliness. However, they were unbelievably picky about the sort of place they bloomed in, thus the reason for their rarity. It was these flowers that she sold at the markets during the day.

Paninya stifled a yawn. Maybe she should go to bed too. Throwing sand over the fire, she slowly walked over to her own cot. Right before she disappeared into the shelter, she looked over her shoulder once more.

There was nothing, nothing at all.