Hello Darlings. I am here. I am back. And this one will be better. This particular story of mine will follow that of the original, Skeptical. All of the same rules apply as they did before:

1.) No A.U. person's soul entering their counterpart's body nonsense. Meaning that two of the same people can be in the same dimension at a time. (But only a few. Or bad things will happen undoubtably.)

2.) Alter!Alfonse and Alter!Winry (known in this story as Heide (Hi-die) (formerly Emry)) are twins. And Alter!Edward is the only-child of the trio.

3.) Alter!Edward will be referred to as Eduard. So we don't get ol' Ed and his counterpart mixed up.

4.) Some of the main/suggested pairings: Ed/Winry, Roy/Riza, and (possibly/hinted) Al/Mei

Everything will basically be the same...Only written in a more profesional, less...spasmatic (or some other suiting adjective) sort of way.

Anywho, here is chapter one; enjoy.

Chapter One: Enter the fair boy and his friend

Two young men of about the age of seventeen were racing each other merrily through the streets of a less-than-well known town located not far from the capital Berlin. It was a smaller town; one that, even though it was located so close to some place so busy, was cozy and the people were well aquainted. They were a quiet bunch, knowing only peace (save for the radio broadcasts they heard about the possibility of yet another war), who wanted nothing more than to live their lives and not think about what sort of dangers the world had to offer. World War One had been a tiring affair, and they were all ready for a break and some peace.

The boys running through the small town's streets were quite the pair, both blonde-haired and fair skinned. One was tall in an awkward sort of way; he had yet to grow into his height all the way which caused him to look extremely thin. Which he was. He could almost be considered unhealthy, but a lifetime of pickiness about different foods would do that to a person. He had very fair, cornsilk hair that was cut short; his bangs only just brushing past his thin eyebrows, and eyes that reflected the country sky on a cloudless day: bright and as blue as can be.

The other was quite the contrast to his fair friend. He was on the shorter side (don't tell him though) with a thicker build. If he wasn't sprinting to his part-time job each day, he would stand a good chance of becoming much rounder than what was considered acceptable by most swooning girls. But he sprinted, and therefore was not. He had blonde hair as well, but instead of the light, whispy color of his friend, he had deep golden hair cropped short and a set of sharp amber eyes to match.

If the fair one represented the moon; calm, quiet, and maybe a bit cautious, then the other would undoubtabley represent the sun; firey, anxious, and only just held back. They were their own foils and best friends.

Currently they were heading to the part time job they had. The boys had to clean up after the mechanics working at a small factory located towards the outside of the town. Though the factory was a small one, it made anything from automobile parts to ammunition, one pilot airplanes and small rockets. One could say that it gave many of the townspeople jobs and was the a main source of income for the small town. It was one that was well known for its top-of-the-line products and good service.

The boy with golden hair and eyes ran slightly ahead of the other. He would turn back every now and again to jeer at the other boy for being slower despite his long legs or encourage him to keep up. The fair one would make a face that said he heard this every day and that he was not impressed by the over used taunts or the encouragment. The pair ran past a small flower and gift shop and waved at the owner, a pretty, green eyed young woman with light brown hair. The golden boy made a silly face at the fair one, who blushed and ducked his head. As they continued, they cut through traffic and recieved plenty of angery honks from drivers. A police officer wearing glasses gave a shout at them and they laughed. He sighed and wondered what his life would be like without the pair in his morning routine.

By the time they got to the factory, they were almost perfectly on time. Almost. They had missed the mark by only two minutes, which could be considered a fairly good record seeing that they had sprinted the whole way there. The boys quickly ran to a small locker room in the back of the factory to hang up their coats and grab the supplies they would need. The golden boy reached up to the top shelf of a small broom closet after grabbing a mop for each of them, trying to find the two sets of protective goggles they would need to wear in the welding room they were paid to tidy up. He stood on his tip-toes, shoes sqeaking at the strain, and felt around for the goggles. His friend tapped his shoulder patiently and reached up once his frustrated friend had stepped aside. He easily pulled the two pairs from the shelf. His friend had flailed round with his one free arm just enough to push the goggles too far back out of his reach. His face turned red and he snached the goggles angrily with a huff.

"Quit sulking. We've got a lot of work to do." the fair boy laughed. His friend snorted.

"Don't act so high and mighty. I've still got a chance to grow." the other snapped. "One of those medical books your parents keep lying around said that boys don't stop growing 'till their twenties in some cases."

"Eduard, the only reason they're lying around is because you pull them out." said the first. "My parents keep them on the shelving in the study. And the key words of your sentence there are 'in some cases'. I think you'd be at least a bit taller if you were one."

The golden one, now Eduard, rolled his eyes.

"You're just jealous because I've got more girls on my tail than you."

"Very mature thing for you to say." The first sighed. He really couldn't deny that though. The young ladies of the town absolutely loved his friend's rare and stunning eyes. Eduard smirked.

"Quit sulking. We've got a lot of work to do." he chirped. This earned him a good smack with the pole of a mop.

"Damn it all Alfonse, it was a joke." Eduard grumbled, rubbing the side of his head. Alfonse just laughed triumphantly.

"Serves you right. Now come on. We actually do have quite a bit of work ahead of us today." Eduard just nodded and followed him out of the locker room, a bucket and protective goggles in one hand, an old mop in the other.

And so ends chapter one.

This was just a bit of an introduction, with a better discription of the setting and the boys' relationship. Or something. Don't worry though, there will be less boring paragraphs and more action in the next few chapters.

If anyone has any ideas or critiques for me, please be my guest! I need both.

~Maddy