A New Beginning

A Chapter by Emunah June.

Never in my life had I been so scared in my entire life. That day, when they had shown up on Winry's doorstep, bloodied and beaten. He was pleading for help wasn't he?

"Help him...please! Help him!" was what Alphonse had said.

I was only a child then. Just like Winry. We held on tight to each other's hands and Grandma ran him into the other room and began immediatley giving him First Aid type of treatments. Blood was all over the floor, and to Winry and I's discovery, we'd have to clean it up later.

Never had I been so scared.

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I had just moved into the neighborhood. It was a clear sunny day. My mother and father unpacked their bags into the house, while I sat on the front lawn, staring. What a strange town it was. Hardly any kids, but loads of grass and country-side. It was an ideal location, but I was only 6, too little to enjoy the view at all. My first priority came into view the minute my mother took me to the car and said "We're moving. Come on Koda. Hurry..."

Who will I play with?

Moving to a new neighborhood was scary for me, and due to an illness, I couldn't get too worked up. The illness is called Tailor's Child disorder. This means that I am always stressed, sometimes to the point of throwing up for no reason. That night, when mother scurried my little body to the car, I began to worry. "Mommy, where are we going? We're coming back right? Kirrah's going to be waiting for me..."

As the days went by in my new home, my Tailor's Child calmed down a little. The winds caressed my hair and blew my dress into the wind. Every thought but one was relaxing:

Seriously, who was I going to play with?

A month after living in our new home, this problem became too large to ignore any longer. While my mother was cooking, I slapped on my hat, slipped on some good sandals, and ran far away from the house, looking desperetly for someone to play with. Finally, I had hit the marketplace, where I saw my adults and children. I ran up to some kids, always saying "I'm new here. Wanna be my friend?", but they'd always turn their heads. I became so lonely that I didn't even bother to look for a playmate any longer. I simply stomped home, dissapaointment obvious.

I believe it was a Tuesday afternoon when somebody knocked on our door. It had been 3 months since our arrival, so my mother was startled by knock. I was sitting at the table colouring when the door made such an unfamiliar noise."Father?" I asked mother, but she shook her head and answered the door.

My little heart soared when I saw that it was an old woman and a girl about my age standing there.

I raced to my mother's side to get a good view of the other little girl. She had blonde hair, blue eyes, and a friendly smile. "Koda," mom had said, "go outside and play. I'd like to talk with our neighbors."

I was ecstatic when the little girl followed me.

"My name is Winry. Nice to meet you!" she had said. I was so unsure how to react to this brand new friend of mine. So I shook her hand. "I'm Koda. I moved here a long time ago," was all I was able to say back. She laughed, and I knew that we'd be friends.

As we sat on the lawn, talking about things, I sighed. "I wish there were more kids around here like you Winry," I had said. She looked at me and smiled. "Oh, but Koda, there are! I have two friends that I bet would love to meet you!" she assured me. I gulped. Oh God...here came the vomit. I tried to hold it in. "Really?" I asked. Winry nodded. "Yeah! They're real friendly, and I bet they wouldn't mind the extra friend!" she told me as she pat my shoulder. Finally, I couldn't hold it back anymore. "Sorry Winry!" I was able to choke out before I hobbled to a grass patch and threw up.

I had gotten too excited.

Winry was always there. She never left my side. Everyday, she'd come to my house and play, and most of the time I didn't throw up. Everything went fine.

Until one day.

At 3:00, as usual, there was the ever famliar knock at my door. "It's Winry!" I called to mother, and as usual, she nodded. I ran to the door, a big smile on my face as I threw it open.

"Win--!" was all I was able to say.

Two boys were standing with Winry. Winry was smiling. "Hey Koda! Remember those friends I was talking about? They wanted to meet you!" she said. All at once, I felt betrayed, but at the same time, happy. I was a smart enough girl to give people the benefit of the doubt. "Who are they?" I asked. The boys, who may have been intimidated, answered for me. "My name is Alphonse!" one browned hair boy had said. Then, the other, who was blonde with yellow eyes, said "I'm Edward! Nice to meet 'cha!"

I felt my stomach twist into knots, and I hobbled over to show Winry. Winry then backed up, taking Ed and Al with her. "She has this thing wrong with her, so I suggest you stay back!" she said. Al said "Why?" but then he soon found out.

I was so embarrased.

As mother wiped my mouth, I apologized to Ed and Al. "Sorry. I have Tailor's Child," I said. Ed and Al smiled. "That's okay," Al said, "Winry explained everything after you got sick. We promise to behave, right Big Brother?" he asked Ed. Ed nodded.

After that, Ed and Al were regulars at my house.

All four of us had the best of times together. Ed, Al, Winry, and I. Nothing could get any better. The four of us were best friends, and if you saw one they were usually with another.

Then, a year later, it happened.

I had gotten up enough courage to visit Winry's house. Allthough I had never been to her house before, Winry's grandmother (we call her Grandma) knew me quite well. When I had gotten to Winry's house, Grandma had hugged me. "Well hello there Koda. My, aren't you the pretty one? No wonder Winry loves to hang with you. Come on in, Winry's in her room..."

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The urgent knock on the door was what caught our attention. As soon as Grandma opened the door, we saw the most horrible thing. A large body of armor was covered in blood, and in his arms lay the body of a small boy. Who was it...?

It was Ed.

Winry gasped. "Help him....please! Help him!" it had said. I looked closer to see that Ed was missing an arm and a leg, and he was dripping blood. Grandma wasted no time in getting Ed to one of the rooms and helping him recover. In my shock, I ran to the bathroom to get sick. After I was finished, Grandma had told Winry to clean up the blood on the floor. I had helped, and as soon as we were finished, Grandma had said Ed was going to be okay. Winry and I sat at Ed's bedside for hours without saying anything. The armor, however, I did sit with and talk to. "Who are you?" I asked. "It's me, Koda....Alphonse!" he had said. At first, I had laughed. "Why are you hiding in there, Al? Come on out! You're brother is in big trouble!" I had said. Al had lifted the helmet to show me that there was nothing underneath. "I'll explain later..."

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That night, Grandma had taken Ed and Al out of the house. After that, I didn't see them ever again. Winry kept crying, so I hobbled back home in the rain, against all her calls of me to get in the house. When I had walked in, Mother and Father were shocked at my appearance.

"Mommy.....Edward's dead.....Edward's dead!!" I had screamed. The tears and vomit trailed all the way to the bathroom, where I had fallen asleep, cheek pressed against marble toilet.

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I'm 15 now. My parents left town, but I refused to leave, so Grandma took me in. Winry now looked much different. Her beautiful blonde hair was much longer, and her eyes seemed to get even bluer. She looked like a model, what with her slim and skinny figure, but all she ever talked about was Auto-Mail.

Because I lived with her, I soon was caught up in the study of mechanics and Auto-Mail.

One crisp autumn day was were I'll begin my story.

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