A/N: Welcome all readers of the lightning strike trilogy and new readers! As recently promised on my profile, I am doing a full rewrite of Lightning Strike, the first book in the trilogy, in order to bring it up to the quality of the other two books. Some edits may also be made to book 2, Ashes, in the future, depending on how I feel when this trilogy is done.

I am not changing the story. Most of the original plot is staying the same, it is based off of the original anime after all, so I can only change so much. But I am improving the overall writing and developing the characters and relationships more smoothly. I was young when I started writing this series.

So hopefully you enjoy the first chapter of the rewrite. If you are new and you want more, you can certainly feel free to read the first version but I warn you, there is an immediate downgrade in quality. I will be updating this rewrite weekly, every Tuesday (Or at least I'll try to do so)

Without further ado, let's dive into the first chapter.

Chapter 1: A Long Awaited Meeting

I'd like to say I don't go looking for trouble, but strictly speaking that wouldn't be true.

I mean, I don't actively go out walking, searching for something to attack me. I don't ask to be put in dangerous situations. But once dangerous situations befall me, I see them through.

Trouble finds me first, and when it turns tail and runs, I follow it with a glint in my eye and a vengeance in my heart.

This is really all a fancy way of saying I have bad luck and I don't know when to quit when I'm ahead.

Usually this is a bad combination, but these traits came in handy the day I checked into a hotel in a small town not far from Central with a single, small suitcase, the clothes on my back, and a pair of very important gloves tucked into the pocket of my black jacket.

I was hoping the person I had come to see would be able to offer me the assistance I needed, as my ever fluctuating supply of money had begun to run low again. Renting the hotel room alone had nearly cleaned me out and if I couldn't find some way to earn money, I would be renting a nice abandoned alleyway in a few nights, with a complimentary bed and breakfast of rooting through the garbage.

Stealing was an option too, but I made a rule of trying to avoid that. Not that I had a particularly strong set of morals but I had really bad luck the last few times I had to pick pockets. Being a danger magnet, it was just best to avoid breaking the law.

After slipping my suitcase safely under my bed, I pulled out my gloves and slipped them onto my hands, flexing my fingers. They were white, or they used to be before they started picking up dirt stains, and black stitching lined the palm, forming a transmutation circle for each glove. The source of my alchemy and my offensive capabilities. I never went anywhere without them, partially because I liked to keep them close and partially because the few times I forgot them, I was always jumped by some crooks on the street.

Lesson learned. Always take your weapons with you, or bad luck will curse you with thugs.

"Elizabeth Parker?" a voice called softly from outside my door.

"Just Liz. Come in." I said.

"Is everything alright in here?" The wife of the keeper of the inn asked, poking her head in. "The room is suitable?"

"Yeah, it's great." I said, turning to face her, adjusting my gloves. "A lot nicer than some of the places out East I've stayed in."

"Well, we're near Central. We often have customers with higher expectations." The woman smiled. "So you're from the East?"

"Sort of." I shrugged. "But I mostly travel around. I'm a drifter."

"A little young to be a drifter." She said, looking me up and down.

I gave a puff of irritation. "I get that a lot. I promise, I'm not as young as I look. I'm sixteen."

"That's still young." She said. "Young to be a drifter and to be an alchemist." She nodded at my gloves. "I only just noticed. Your gloves."

"Right." I placed my hands behind my back. I had naturally bad luck but my alchemy seemed to amplify the amount of trouble that found me. "I've been studying it since I was very young. You know, skipped right over picture books and took to alchemy. It's a little weird, I know."

"That is… quite amazing." She said slowly and I resisted the urge to sigh again. An early interest in alchemy was often met with skepticism, especially by people who didn't understand it. But I loved alchemy. My skill set wasn't particularly wide and I specialized in a very specific type of alchemy. But the lifelong passion was still foreign to people. Back home, when I had a home, I was considered the odd ball of the town.

But social stigmatism was well worth the joy of drawing a new transmutation circle.

"You don't mind, do you? Me being an alchemist?" I asked. "Back East, some people are a little funny around alchemy."

"Well, like I said, you're in the central part of the country now. We love alchemists." The woman said. "In fact we have a very prominent alchemist who lives here. Brigadier General George Raiven. The Shock Alchemist."

"I know." I grinned. "That's why I'm here."

"Really?" her eyebrows rose. "You came to see the General?"

"Yes. I'm looking for work. More specifically, I'm looking for a recommendation for a job that I'm not necessarily old enough for." I replied. "And a higher up like the General is just the way to get one."

"Well, I hope your meeting goes well. Best of luck to you Elizabeth." The woman nodded.

"I told you, it's Liz." I said, giving a short salute. "But thanks for the luck. I need it."

I was always in need of some kind of luck. But in my experiences, luck came in various forms. Sometimes the best luck came disguised as misfortune that turned itself around at just the right moment.

But in the case of my meeting with Brigadier General George Raiven, I was hoping luck would be straightforward. If things went well, I could get a recommendation.

Then, despite my age, I might be able to take the test to become a state alchemist.

"This will be simple enough for you." Roy Mustang said, sliding a folder across the table to the boy sitting across from him. "After all your recent failures, I thought it would be safe to give you not such a… tall order."

"Tell me colonel, am I about to be insulted or has it already happened?" Edward Elric asked, his eyebrow twitching irritably. His hands clenched into fists.

"Oh, it's already happened, but a few more insults are soon to come." Mustang smirked. "Really, Edward, I thought you would be better at recognizing jabs at your height by now. They're so frequent and easy to make. You must get them all the time."

"I didn't come here for your clever little jokes." Ed snapped, slamming his fist on the desk between them. The wood shuddered on contact but he could have done worse. Ed could have slammed his fist against the colonel's face. "I'm already pissed off from our last mission and I don't need your busy work. I want another lead."

"Your position isn't just for your own personal research, Fullmetal." Mustang said. "You work for the military. Not yourself. Or have you forgotten that?"

Ed crossed him arms, grumbling under his breath, "No."

"What was that?"

"I said, no. I haven't forgotten." Ed glared up at him.

"Good." Mustang said. "At any rate, this job shouldn't take long. It's an investigation so to speak. An investigation of suspicious activity of a high ranking military official."

"High ranking?" Ed's eyebrows shot up. "But sir, if it's an investigation, isn't that better left to people like Major Hughes?"

"Not if the suspicious activity is related to alchemy." Mustang said. "Brigadier General George Raiven, also known as the Shock Alchemist, is one of the most skilled alchemists in the field of energy alchemy. But his type of alchemy is very volatile. He's endangered his own life several times trying to improve upon the capabilities in energy alchemy. And his lack of progress lately has made the military reconsider his worthiness of his state title. He may be high ranking but he's old and nearing retirement. Old or not, he's getting rather desperate for progress. And we know what that can do to people." Mustang looked at Edward pointedly.

Edward winced. Yes, he knew exactly what that could do to people. When searching for a way to make progress, Shou Tucker had transmuted his dog and daughter into a chimera. The memory of Nina, such an innocent little girl, turned into such a mutation, still tugged painfully at his heart even two years later. "So you think he might be using unethical methods for his research?"

"Yes, specifically human subjects. We've never been to pin down the evidence for it, possibly because he has a lot of connections in the military and most officers did not find this topic worth investigating. I do not share their sentiment." Mustang sat back in his chair. "And as I know you are still new to the military, I know you do not either. The closer the exam draws, the more desperate Raiven will become and the more likely he will be to get sloppy. Visit him, covertly if you must, gather information and report back with your findings. Simple as that."

"Alright, I will." Edward said, standing. "Then I can get back to the important stuff."

"Right, a wild goose chase. The very important stuff."

Edward rolled his eyes and started toward the door but he stopped before he left. "So, energy alchemy? I'm unfamiliar with it. Or at least I've never seen it in action before. Anything I should worry about?"

"Well, in this case your brash style of fighting might work in your favor." Mustang said. "If it comes to a fight, the longer an energy alchemist has to plan their move, the more energy they can observe and the more deadly they can be. So punch first, fight later."

"Now that," Ed smirked. "Is something I can do."

He stepped out into the hallway where his brother waited patiently, sitting on a bench. He rose with a clink of armor when Ed appeared. "So?"

"So… we don't have a lead." Ed said. "But we do have a job. Let's get it over with quickly, right Al?"

"As long as we're careful, brother." Alphonse Elric said, standing.

"Tch," Ed rolled his eyes. "We're always careful."

General Raiven lived in quite the large house, with a daughter and granddaughter. It was the daughter who met me at the door, running from a flustered looking maid.

"Hello visitor! Welcome to our home!" the little girl crowed with a smile that almost split her face.

"Hey there." I said.

"I'm so sorry, ma'am." The maid said, catching the little girl around the waist. "She's a handful."

"It's alright, I don't mind." I gave the girl a smile and her grin, if possible, spread even wider.

"Ella, go back into the dining room and finish your lunch. Your mother will come looking for you if you don't." The maid gave the girl a little push in the other direction.

"Fine." Ella pouted and obeyed but not before giving me a wave.

I waved back. "She's adorable."

"An adorable mess." The maid sighed. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, I'm Liz Parker." I said. "I sent a letter to the General awhile back and he said—"

"Oh yes, Ms. Parker, we've been expecting you to come." The maid stepped back, allowing me entrance. "Come in. The General is in his study. I'll take you to meet him."

"Thanks." I said, almost surprised at the warm welcome. I'd expected some sort of question or jab at my height or short stature. Usually I experienced at least some resistance but the lack there of was welcome. Perhaps my luck wouldn't be so bad today after all.

Just to be safe, I knocked on the wooden banister of the stairs as the maid led me to the second floor. Every time I thought things were going well, they usually ended up not going well.

The General was an older man, nearing his seventies, with an impressive grey beard that made up for the lack of hair on his shiny bald head. He had the eyes of a friendly grandfather and the wrinkles at their corners crinkled when the maid announced me.

"Ah, Elizabeth Parker. I've been waiting for your arrival." He said, standing. He nodded at the maid. "Thank you Maggie. You may leave us."

"Yes sir," the maid, Maggie, curtsied and left quickly, closing the door behind her.

"Thank you for agreeing to see me." I said. "I was actually surprise you did. Most people don't give me the time of day."

"Well, your age is a surprise. You're…" he looked me up and down. "What did you say? Fourteen?"

"Sixteen." I muttered, fighting down a bout of irritation. If it was anyone else, I might have yelled, but this guy was my chance for a recommendation and I was not going to blow it.

"Ah yes." Raiven waved his hand dismissively. "Your height throws me off. It works against you."

I gritted my teeth. "Maybe sir, but it can also work for me."

"How so?" Raiven raised one bushy eyebrow.

"An opponent's underestimation is their weakness and my strength." I said, quoting my aunt. She was my teacher in both alchemy and combat and I made a habit of quoting her whenever I couldn't think of anything cool to say. My aunt had a natural talent for coolness. I liked to think I had inherited at least an ounce of her awe inspiring attitude.

"A good point." Raiven said. He shifted some paper's aside and sat again, gesturing for me to take the seat in front of his desk. "To be honest, I never considered ignoring you because of your age. What caught my attention was your letter. I know you only included the basis of your theories on energy alchemy, but they had promise. I hope you brought more detailed papers for our meeting, I would very much like to take a look at them."

"I brought my theories, all written down as you suggested." I patted my suitcase. "But I'd like to explain the principal myself first. I think better when I'm talking out loud."

"Explain away." Raiven said.

"Well, I read your theories on energy alchemy a long time ago when I was a kid, especially the section on the limits of energy alchemy." I said.

In fact, I'd read his theories many times. I'd like to say it was soley out of respect for the science but, when I was kid, it was the prospect of shooting energy bolts at my enemies that captured my imagination. Honestly that facet of energy alchemy still captured me imagination. I had a weakness for bright, shiny things with the ability to cause pain.

Though George Raiven was the top mind on energy alchemy a few years ago, the field had made little progress in recent years. Raiven had been the one to create a circle that allowed him to absorb energy from his surroundings into his very body rather than just manipulate the energy in the air. This allowed for much more controlled attacks. It was an incredible breakthrough. But he hit a block. Because the absorption of energy, while possible, was hard to control and the pressure could build up in the body, severely damaging the heart or other organs. The circle Raiven created left nowhere for excess energy to be eliminated. Many people had died in the study of Energy alchemy and George Raiven himself had almost died on many occasions.

"The limits of energy alchemy are unfortunate, yes. Though by your letter, it seems you have a theory with which to beat them." Raiven nodded.

"A theory I've tested." I said. "The main problem with your circle was that it didn't allow a proper release of energy. It absorbed faster than it expelled and that was dangerous for the body. But I did some reading on some papers on Alkahestry, the science they study in the east and Xing."

"Alkahestry, really?" Raiven said. "I've heard of it but never done any reading in the area. There are not many translations of their material into our language."

"It is complicated and I don't have a good handle on it," I admitted. "But I understood some of the translated materials. It focuses largely on the flow of alchemy through chi in the body." I placed a hand on my chest. "I figured if a better flow could be established, energy alchemy could be less volatile. So I drew a second circle." I showed him my left glove. "I modified your circle, creating a reflection. So while yours is designed to absorb, this one is designed to expel. I absorb energy through my right glove and store it, allowing it to build up. During this time, harmful pressure is expelled through this glove. When the energy is at its highest concentration, a second transmutation releases the energy through the left glove. So you see, it works like a circle." I traced my finger from glove to glove, making a circle in the air.

"That is quite an interesting theory. Yes… it seems so simple, I can't imagine why I didn't see it be for." Raiven's eyes flitted back and forth between my gloves. Pride swelled up within me. He saw the promise in my theories. He didn't dismiss them as ridiculous. He could see good science when he saw it. "You designed a new circle. That's very risky at your age and experience level. If you had gotten anything wrong, you very well could have gotten killed."

"Yeah." I rubbed a hand behind my head with a nervous smile. "At the time I was pretty wrapped up in the study of alchemy. I didn't think much about what I might do to myself if I failed." I shrugged. "I didn't fail though. It was a rare stroke of good luck."

"I'd love a demonstration." Raiven said. "If you'll accompany me outside. I make it a rule to do such destructive alchemy. Or at least my wife makes it a rule." He chuckled.

"Of course," I said, standing and following him. I tugged my gloves on as I walked. I could hardly contain my excitement. I could give him a demonstration alright. And when he saw proof, he'd have to give me a recommendation. I would get to take the test for sure.

Things were really looking up.

We stood outside on the backyard lawn, surrounded by a lovely garden of violet and white flowers. The scent was pleasant and the colors beautiful. I wondered how much effort it took to maintain such a garden.

Inside the house I was aware of Ella, his little daughter, watching us, her face pressed against the glass, her smile stretching her rosy cheeks. A woman with blonde hair tied up in a bun stood behind her. I guessed that was his daughter. I gave them both a smile before I turned to face General Raiven.

"Alright, I'm going to shoot a shock your way, and you'll demonstrate," he said. "It will be a powerful one, but if your theory works, it shouldn't be a problem."

"It won't be." I said, holding my right hand out in front of me and my left ready at my side.

"Good." Raiven clapped his gloved hands together, pausing to allow the energy in his body to build and concentrate. Then he threw out his hands and sent a bolt of energy my way.

I clapped my hands together and threw my right hand out to catch the bolt. The energy flowed into my body, stirring like an adrenalin rush in my blood. Briefly, my heart rate accelerated, and it would have kept doing so, at a dangerous rate, if the second circle didn't kick in, alleviating some of the pressure. The bad energy was released into the air as the purer current tightened and coiled within my arms and chest. Then, when the concentration seemed to reach an acceptable level, I raised my left hand to point above my head. "Here we go!"

A powerful bolt of energy flashed into the air, reaching above the roof of the house until it dissipated into the sky. A loud crack, like that of fireworks, echoed throughout the yard. I heard a screech and a giggle and looked over to see Ella clapping and jumping up and down.

"Impressive." Raiven said, joining into the clapping. "Very impressive. Elizabeth, would you like to join us for dinner? We'd love to have you."

"Yes." I said. "But only if you just call me Liz."

"So you've been doing alchemy since you were six?" General Raiven's daughter, Hannah, asked at dinner. She was a very pretty woman and I couldn't imagine what kind of schmuck had left her alone with a daughter to take care of. But then again, maybe she had left the schmuck herself.

"Yes." I said. "I took to it pretty quickly. I've just always had a head for science. It's a passion of mine."

"That's amazing. I don't have a head for that kind of thing at all." Hannah sighed. "I suppose I was a disappointment to my father in that way."

"Not at all, dear. It's a complicated science. Not for everyone." Raiven said, taking a bite of his steak.

"So when you were my age, you were reading complicated books like the ones granddaddy writes?" Ella asked.

"I started a little more basic, but yes." I told her.

"Wow. I don't get that stuff at all." Ella said mournfully.

"It's okay, kiddo. I bet you're great at lots of other things." I said.

"I play the piano."

"Exactly, see?"

Ella giggled and Hannah smiled.

"I do appreciate you sharing your findings with me, Liz, though I'm curious why you did." The General said.

"Well, it wasn't selflessly motivated." I admitted, setting down my fork. "You see sir, I want to become a state alchemist but I'm too young to take the test without recommendation. I heard the Fullmetal Alchemist took the test when he was younger than me with recommendation. I'd like the same."

"Hmm." Reiner paused mid bite and his brow furrowed. For a minute a sinking feeling settled in the pit of my stomach. Maybe he would say no after all. But after a pause, he smiled again and I was left wondering if I had imagined the pause in my paranoia. "You're worthy of a recommendation." He said. "But I'll tell you what. You leave your reports with me and let me look them over. Once I've got my head around your research, then we'll talk again. Can you stay in town a few days?"

"Yes sir." I nodded, smiling. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

His eyes crinkled when he smiled. "No. Thank you."

I thanked the family for having me to dinner and left the mansion with a skip in my step. I was actually going to get a recommendation. In a few days I could be on my way to taking the test. I couldn't contain my joy. I wanted to shoot lightning bolts in the air in celebration.

But before I could consider possible property damage, I heard a rustle in the bushes and a muffled voice.

"Shit."

My brow furrowed and I looked in the direction of the sound, my hand pausing at the gate. It was probably just a gardener… but it was night time, not the best time for trimming hedges.

"Brother, are you sure is the best way?"

"Of course I'm sure, shut up."

My eyes narrowed. Okay, that didn't sound like friendly gardeners to me. I tugged on my gloves and strode around the house, moving quietly so as not to be heard. I came across two forms kneeling in the grass next to a basement window. One was huge, a suit of armor that stood almost my height while kneeling (annoyingly enough). The other was much smaller and lying across the grass to get a good look through the window. They didn't look like they were supposed to be there, so I did the thing any sensible, non-danger seeking girl would do.

I aimed my glove at them. "Alright boys. I don't know if you're thieves, murderers or overzealous basement enthusiasts, but I'd step away from the building and go about your merry business."

The smaller figure whirled around, jumping to his feet. He had blonde hair and stood only a few inches taller than me, impressively short for a guy. He had blazing golden eyes that narrowed when he saw me.

"This is none of your business, little girl. Get lost."

My eyebrow twitched. "Little, huh? I think you just made a big mistake."

I restrained my temper around important generals, but short trespassers, not a chance. He was going to get a 'little girl' flavored taste of fury.

Cliffhanger! Because some things never change.

I decided to develop Liz's alchemy a bit more an make it an extension on the research of others to make it more believable. I also am changing the way her and Edward meet and how they eventually end up together as partners. The intro is slower and designed to develop the characters more before diving into the meat of the story.

Hope you enjoyed. If you're new, comment and tell me what you think. If you're an old reader, tell me if you like the changes.

Enjoy your week, my dear readers and REVIEW!