So I just want to say, no, I am not abandoning my other story in favour of this one. Honestly, this one is a whole lot better, since I actually had a plan in mind for it, unlike Foretold. So, this will be relatively short, only six chapters long, and be prepared for major tears. Don't worry, though, it has a happy ending! Also, there is some EdWin, but not too much more than what is canon. Enjoy!

Chapter I: Golden Tears

Alphonse Elric sat alone on a park bench, staring off into space as if trying to remember something. A small bird landed on his shoulder and he started, causing it to fly away again. That was strange. He hadn't seen a bird try to perch on him since he had been a suit of armour. He supposed that was one of the perks of that body, but all the same, he was glad to have his original body back.

"Hey, Al." Winry's voice cut into his thoughts. He smiled up at her tiredly. "Have you progressed much?"

"Yeah… Physically, at least." Al sighed. "But no matter how hard I try, everything that happened before the Promised Day is still fuzzy. I can remember some things, like being a suit of armour, and trying to bring back mom…"

"But you're still missing that one piece of the puzzle," finished Winry. "We all are. The other day, I was talking to Colonel Mustang, and I started teasing him a little, about Riza, and he whirled around, red as a tomato, and said 'What would you know, Fullmetal?!' I was a little shocked, but when I asked him what he meant, he said it just slipped out… he wasn't sure, exactly… but all of us have moments like that. You're not the only one, Al."

"But you still have most of your memories! I feel like half of my life has been just cut out of my mind!" Alphonse hid his face in his hands.

Sympathetically, Winry sat down on the bench beside him and placed a hand on his back. Hearing someone approaching, she looked up. A boy of about seventeen looked back at her. He had long, golden hair pulled back into a braid and eyes of the same colour. Overall, he looked a little bit like Al.

"You dropped this," he said, holding out a screw. Winry took it and thanked him. As he turned to leave, an expression of immeasurable sorrow flashed across his features. But before the blond mechanic could say anything, he was gone, walking away with both hands shoved into his pockets, one footstep sounding subtly heavier than the other.

"Who was that?" asked Al.

"Not sure," Winry replied, "but I know I didn't drop any screws―" She cut off abruptly, gazing wide-eyed at the screw in her hand.

"What is it?"

"This― this is one of my screws!" She turned it over. "It's unmistakably made by the Resembool blacksmith… but I didn't even bring any of my parts with me to Central!"

"Then how did he get it?"

"I don't know." Winry leaned back against the wooden bench. "But something about that guy felt strange."

"Nevermind. C'mon, Winry. Let's get back to the hotel."

The golden-haired boy continued walking, going nowhere in particular. People and cars blurred around him as he he strode past. He kept his sun-coloured eyes downcast, and his hands shoved in the pockets of his crimson coat.

"Why wasn't it enough?" he whispered to himself. "Why couldn't I make it an equivalent exchange?"

Slam.

"Oh― I'm sorry!" The boy had been so absorbed in his own thoughts that he had failed to pay attention to where he was going, and consequently walked right into another person. He looked up at the other's face, and his mouth fell open in surprise.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye―?" The boy clapped a hand over his mouth instantly.

"Huh? Who're you?" Riza asked suspiciously. "I don't believe we've met before."

The lieutenant blinked in shock when, without a word, the boy took off. She stared after him a moment, then shrugged and continued on.

The boy didn't stop running until he had gone so far that he no longer knew where he was. Reaching the crest of a hill, he stopped and looked out over the river spread before him.

"Who knew such a beautiful place existed here in Central?" he breathed. Slowly, he descended the far side of the hill and seated himself in the grass near the riverbank. "Al, you were always the one who disappeared down to the river… I guess now it's my turn."

Up above, the sun was beginning to sink behind the horizon. As its dying rays of light reached out and shattered upon the surface of the water, the sky turned an unusual shade of bright gold. Back at the hotel, Winry was commenting how much the sky's hue resembled that of Alphonse's hair and eyes. But there was one who resembled the sky that day even more closely, and yet he never saw the pure golden heavens; for his eyes were once again cast downward, and tears spilled down his cheeks and splashed in the river, reflecting the gold of the sky.

Just as the sun surrendered to night and fell into the shadows, the boy with golden hair and eyes finally lifted his face to the sky, and yet saw nothing, for his eyes were shut tight.

He screamed his sorrow to the fading golden sky that his eyes of the same hue had yet to glimpse.