Nothing Gold Can Stay

Van's answering smile was soft, almost pitying. "The world changes quickly," he murmured. "And there always need to be brave souls who step forward to try new things, or otherwise progress stagnates.""But it shouldn't have to be children who take that step forward," Trisha said, wrapping an arm around her belly."No, it shouldn't be," Van said softly. "But they get caught up in the change whether we adults like it or not. Think about it, Trisha, that girl is going to grow up in a world where automail is seen as ordinary, commonplace. And that will affect how others see her, whether she has automail or not. Just existing in the world means bearing the weight of the change, even when one is too young to understand it.""Everything is changing so fast," Trisha murmured, wrapping her other arm around her belly and doing her best to curl around it, as if she could be some sort of living shield for the tiny life inside. "When I was little, hardly anyone had automail, and now even animals and babies can have automail. Everything is changing and I don't know how to figure out what's the right choice when it's changing so fast and I don't know how to protect him!"