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ickaimpEarlier Chapters:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/ickaimp/180577.html
http://www.livejournal.com/users/ickaimp/181049.html
http://www.livejournal.com/users/ickaimp/182007.html
http://www.livejournal.com/users/ickaimp/182867.html
http://www.livejournal.com/users/ickaimp/185354.html
http://www.livejournal.com/users/ickaimp/189972.html
http://www.livejournal.com/users/ickaimp/187785.html
http://www.livejournal.com/users/ickaimp/192243.html
Any non-english text has the translation right there in the conversation.
IT'S DONE!!! IT'S DONE!!! MWUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!!
And MOrgan is a Prat. So's Mati. FMA-only sequal to follow, eventually. So neener neener neener. Blow me.
++++
+++ Alphonse +++
While Al didn't mind learning new things, such as Kitty teaching him how to juggle, he generally preferred if the clean up from learning new things was fairly simple and not so messy.
Unfortunately, this was not the case. It was a lot of fun however.
Kitty had introduced them to something he called 'Shibori' and Al knew as 'Tie-dye'.
Elysica called it 'fun splashing in the many colours'.
Gracia called it 'colourful' and let them pattern and dye just about everything they could get their hands on. Kitty had some interesting ideas with thread and pressing leaves or blocks of wood against the fabric so that the dye didn't colour it, resulting in new drapes for the windows with geometric shapes on them. Gracia said that it brought new colour and life into the house and Al was hard pressed to argue.
Saguru and Brother had found it amusing, when they had had finally returned from the libraries. Brother had a particularly wicked smirk on his face as he made a comment about waiting until Winry saw him with the tie-dyed loincloth, especially with the spiral right in the middle of it.
There were times he was grateful he couldn't blush. Especially around Brother. On the other hand, Brother turned many different shades of red, usually when Colonel Mustang was around.
He had long ago decided not to inquire too deeply as to Brother and Colonel Mustang's relationship, despite the... frisson between them. As long as Mustang didn't hurt Brother, he didn't have to hurt the Colonel.
But the Colonel was protective of Brother, something Al could understand. And as much as he liked Kitty and Saguru, he missed the company of his brother. Kitty wasn't very good conversationalist, although he was learning.
A knock at the door drew his attention as Gracia answered the door. A large booming voice informed them that Kitty's escort was here.
Elysica poked her head into the doorway to see what was going on and Al followed her as well, just in time to see Kitty bounce down stairs.
Suddenly, he understood the purpose behind the tie-dyeing.
And once again, Al was slightly grateful for the fact that he still couldn't blush, nor could his jaw drop.
Oh, dear...
+++ Saguru +++
"I don't need to walk around in circles, walk around in circles, walk around in circles, walk around...." Saguru hummed to himself as he sat on the steps to the Central Library. It was true, he didn't need to walk around in circles, even if that was what they did frequently. Ever shrinking circles that focused around the Shrine to Books, known as the Library. And an impressive library it was too, even if he wasn't allowed inside.
No, he didn't need to walk around in circles.
He just needed to draw circles.
Lots and lots of circles.
Alchemy reminded him a lot of chemistry, mixed with geometry. Instead of writing out the formula and the processes out with formulas and equations, you did it with symbols. He was still a little vague on the power source bit of it. The Elrics had walked him through a few transmutations, most noticeably changing the lens in the glasses for Kid, which he had goofed on by changing the colour of the glass, but he had noticed that he was drained afterwards. He had eaten like Edward as well, much to his embarrassment.
But it was interesting, and addicting.
Which made it a wonderful distraction for while they cooled their heels while Edward researched a way for them to go back home.
Hakuba flipped the paper over to draw on the blank side as he started humming a camp song from when he was younger. "Gee Mom I wanna go, but they won't let me go, Gee Mom I wanna go home..."
This place was nice, but it wasn't home. It wasn't Japan or his other home, England. And if he was homesick, it must be even worse for the Japanese thief.
A familiar voice caught his attention. A dark haired person wearing an EXTREMELY vibrant and colour shirt was walking past, followed by a mountain of a man with a curl on his forehead. The giant seemed to be a bit on the frazzled side.
... or he could be adapting himself just fine...
A second commotion behind him caught his attention and he glanced back to see a group of military men marching down the steps. The one in the middle, a man with a proud bearing, moustache and eye patch noticed him. The man slowed as the group passed by his seat on the stairs.
"Waiting for Edward, are we?" The man asked, looking amused.
Hakuba blinked stupidly for a moment. "Yes, sir." He held up the board with the papers he was drawing circles on. "Practicing, sir."
"Very good." The man patted him on the head and continued walking, a faint chuckling sound coming from him. "Carry on."
Hakuba watched the man and the group of people until they disappeared into a car at the base of the library. He ran a hand across the top of his head, verifying that yes, he had just been patted on the top of the head like a good boy, or a dog.
That had been strange.
Shrugging, he went back to drawing circles and waiting for Edward to finish in the library.
"People are strange when you're a stranger, faces look ugly when you're alone ..."
+++ Edward +++
"So..." Mustang gave him a grin that was one part mischief, one part smug bastard add a dash of malice and stir. "Hear the latest about your guest?"
Ed gave him a thoughtful look as he sprawled out on the couch. Since Saguru had been with him all day, that left "Kitty?"
Mustang nodded. Ed frowned. What had the thief been up to now?
The Colonel folded his fingers, leaning forward in the manner of someone who had some very very good news and was all too smug about it. "Our dear thief got cabin fever and expressed is wishes to explore the city. With the understanding he'd keep a low profile and someone was to accompany him at all times."
"I'd heard about that." Saguru had been the go between for that and had mentioned it during one of their walks. While Ed didn't mind the other boy, he just... wasn't Al. And he missed Al's calming presence around him.
"Did you happen to hear who the escort was?"
"No."
Mustang's grin turn lazy. "Armstrong."
Ed blinked. Oh... dear.
"It appears 'low profile' got lost somewhere in translation." Mustang leaned back in the chair, committing himself to the telling of the story. "Between the strangely coloured glasses, the brightly coloured shirt with clovers on it and him bouncing around asking 'Vas ist das?' he caught a number of people's attention. Quite the talk of the town."
"I'm sure that Armstrong did nothing to attract attention either." Ed smirked. "After all, he's very low profile himself."
An eyebrow rose. Touché. "I recommended he take the next couple of days off." Mustang drawled. "After a comment about 'herding cats', I suspect he'll spend them recovering."
"I'm sure." He chuckled.
"In other news." Mustang's face went serious again, not that he'd showed much amusement before. "How are things on your end."
Ed ran a gloved hand across the top of his head and tugged on the hairs. It helped distract him form the minor headache. "I think I may have found how to send them back." He said cautiously.
Mustang smiled. "Excellent."
"I'm not positive, however." He tugged on scalp again. The older books were harder to read, partly because of the archaic language and partly because of the faded or in some cases, invisible, text.
"And if it does?" The eyebrow rose again, this time questioning.
He sighed. "Then we all go back." Kitty and Saguru to their world, he and Al back to the Rockwell's. And from there... he wasn't sure. They'd figure out something.
But that was IF the array worked, IF the combined Pandora/Philosopher's stone worked the way he hoped, IF things didn't screw up. If, if, if, if, if.
Ed was starting to hate 'if'.
Mustang chuckled at him, not unkindly, but he felt his hackles rise anyway. "Go get some rest. And keep me informed on your progress."
He shot him a dark glare, but rose to his feet. "Yeah, yeah." He grumbled. "Later."
Mustang waved him out. Ed rolled his eyes and staggered to his feet.
He'd follow Armstrong's example. Sleep first, eat, then deal with creating the frikkin' huge array.
+++ Kaitou Kid ++
He nearly fell out of the tree. "You're kidding."
Hakuba shook his head. "Rarely. You should know that by now."
Kaito grinned, hanging by the tree branch by his knees so he could look the detective eye to upside down eye. "Edward's figured out how to send us home!?"
"He thinks so." Hakuba said cautiously.
"Wahoo!" He cheered, straightening his legs and allowing gravity to pull him down. He caught the ground with his hands, using his momentum to roll back up onto his feet. He gave Hakuba a big grin before running into the house. "Edward-kun! Alphonse-kun!"
The brothers looked up from the papers they had scattered around the living room. He gave Alphonse a huge bear hug, or at least as much of one as he could being the diminutive size he was and considering the giant armour boy's bulk, then grabbed Edward and tried to swing him around in a circle. Edward was a lot heavier than he looked, so he settled for a happy glomp and rubbing his knuckles into the blonde's hair.
Alphonse looked pleased by the reaction, although sometimes it was hard to tell. Edward elbowed him in response, but had a happy look in his eyes as he grumbled something good-naturedly in that harsh language of his.
"Kid." Hakuba chided from the doorway. "Let them study. They still need time."
Alphonse protested, saying something about morning. He patted him on the head and skipped out anyway. Better to let the brains do what they were best at and study rather than end up some place strange.
Correction, stranger.
"You're really happy to be heading home, aren't you?" Hakuba commented dryly, following him as he bounced back outside. Gracia's house was nice and all, but he preferred the openness of the backyard.
"They're nice people and all, but yes." He nodded. "I'd really rather prefer if my retirement started at home instead of here."
The detective frowned. "You're serious about that, retiring?"
"Oh, yes." Yes, yes, yes. A thousand times yes. While he enjoyed being the Kid, sometimes he thought he enjoyed it a bit too much. The thief was taking over his life, leaving Kuroba Kaito floating around unfettered.
He knew what Kid could do. It was time to focus and see what he could do as himself, not his father's shadow.
And if nothing else, this trip had proved he really didn't care to live with the shadow of suspicion laying over all of his actions for the rest of his life. He liked the freedom that came with no one constantly looking at his every move. And Pandora was safe enough with Alphonse and Edward, if their actions and his gut instinct was any indication. He liked the brothers.
Hakuba didn't look so pleased by it. In fact, he looked downright depressed by the thought. "I'll miss you." He said cryptically, patting Kaito on the upper arm companionably before turning to head back into the house. "You might want to head to sleep a little early tonight. We're going to be busy tomorrow, saying goodbye and drawing the array."
Kaito watched him go, then turned to watch the sun set and wait for the stars to come out.
Even the stars were unfamiliar...
+++ Alphonse +++
"I think we're ready." Brother looked a little tired, but determined. The array was huge, over twice as long as Al was tall, but finally complete. And it looked similar to what he could remember of the flash of light that brought their guests to them.
It was amazing what a little bit of hard work and a lot of research could accomplish.
"Where's Kitty?" He asked, looking around. Saguru grumbled something by his position by the door, keeping an eye on the entrance.
"He'd better be here." Brother snapped.
Saguru cleared his throat. "He will be."
On cue, the door opened and a white shadow slipped in, a huge grin on the thief's face. Saguru glared at him. Kitty whispered something in the detective's ear, Al making out the words 'Mustang' and 'Whoopie Cushion'. Saguru's eyebrows rose, then he closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose in a pained expression. "I think we'd better leave as expediently as possible."
Brother chuckled. "Oh, I don't know... It's kind of nice to see someone else in trouble with him other than me."
Kitty made a twisting motion with one hand and a fist size red stone appeared. The thief waggled his eyebrows at them. "Okay then," Brother punched a fist into the palm of one hand. "Ready to go?"
Their tearful goodbyes to the Hughes family had already been said, Elysica hadn't wanted to let them go and Gracia had fretted over them. Their thanks and farewells to Mustang and Armstrong had already been passed on, it was just them that needed to say goodbye.
Kitty handed the stone over to Brother. "Doo arigatou."
Brother blinked. "Uh?"
"Thank you." Saguru translated, pushing himself off the wall. "That goes for me too. The stone is yours."
Brother smiled, taking the stone. "You're welcome." He and Kitty shook hands, grinning like madmen.
Saguru held his hand out to Al, smiling. Al shook it, making a pleased sound. "Good luck."
"Same to you."
He found himself with a Kitty plastered against his back. "Thank you." Kitty said sincerely, patting his head. "Safe."
"You're most welcome." It wasn't often that he invoked a sense of safety for someone instead of terror. Kitty beamed at him. Behind them, Brother and Saguru made their goodbyes.
Kitty slipped off his back with one last friendly pat, the others straightening as well. "Stand in the middle." Brother instructed, placing the stone in a circle at one edge of the array. The two foreigners carefully made their way to the centre, not touching any of the lines as he and Brother took their positions at the other two circles.
"Ready?" Brother yelled.
Saguru grabbed Kitty's arm. "As we're going to be." Kitty nodded, grabbing Saguru in return.
"Okay. Al?"
He nodded. He and Brother placed their hands on the array, the lines glowing blue, then purple and finally red as the stone began to glow as well. It grew brighter, then with a flash of light, they were gone.
Brother slumped backwards, taking a deep breath. "Whew." They had done it. Hopefully the others were where they belonged.
Al rose. "Brother, the stone is still here."
"What?" In a heartbeat, Brother was next to him, examining the still large glimmering stone. "Yes!" Brother began a happy dance that involved much wiggling and throwing of fists into the air. Al laughed, picking up the stone.
The door opened, Colonel Mustang entering, holding a large pink cushion with a sour expression. "They're gone, Colonel." Al informed him. The Colonel nodded, distracted by Brother's gyrations.
Brother tapped his shoulder with the automail arm, making a gong sound. "Ready, Al?" He grinned, the promise of the end of their quest glowing in his eyes.
Al could practically feel a heart beating in his chest again.
"Yes."
---+++ Epilogue +++---
+++ Hakuba +++
"Stop!" Hakuba commanded as he chased a robber down the alleyway. The robber ignored him and he swore he could hear the sound of snicker.
Honestly, chasing after the Kaitou Kid had spoilt him. There was honour in the phantom thief, as much as it pained him to admit it. And the heists had been a hell of a lot more fun then chasing after some random purse-snatcher or figuring out why someone would commit the unpardonable sin of killing other people for petty reasons. The Kid was a challenging paradox.
But true to his word, the Kid had retired after their return from... wherever that glowing portal had landed them. He had never learned the name of the country they had been in. The lack of intellectual challenge was wearing.
And in a completely unrelated train of thought, Kuroba Kaito had taken to wearing a pair of yellow tinted glasses with square lenses during his free time. Nothing that could be proven, of course, but an interesting coincidence.
Kuroba was also taking lessons in Deutsch.
Hakuba kept his opinions, no matter how amused, to himself. He wished the other boy luck in his now legal ventures.
"Last warning!" He warned the running bandit. Yes, that was definitely a snicker from the other end of the alley.
He sighed, slowing his pace to a trot then stopped, pulling a piece of chalk out of his pocket.
Honestly, when were people going to learn that 'stop' meant 'cease motion' instead of 'run faster'?
Hakuba placed his hands against the quickly sketched array and watched with some not so small satisfaction as it lit up, blue energy crackling along the wall, by passing the running man. A second later, a huge stone fist grew out of the wall, the robber running into it and knocking himself silly.
Oops. He'd meant to try to grab the man, not knock him out. He grimaced, drawing a second array and triggered it, the fist melting back into the form it had been before. He winced, feeling the energy drain as he moved to grab the fallen robber before he regained his senses.
But then, such were the perils of being this world's only practicing alchemist.
And he was still learning.
+++ Edward +++
Ed hesitated before knocking on the familiar door of the Rockbell household, suddenly awkward. They shouldn't have come here, it was too soon. But the military would be bound to show up sooner or later, wanting to know what happened to the Philosopher's stone. And it was probably best to tell Winry and Pinko in person. They owed them that much.
"Ready, Al?" He whispered. Al shifted and made a hesitant noise that he took as agreement.
He knocked.
A second later, Den's barking echoed through the house and he heard Winry's voice scold the dog as footsteps moved towards the door. Ed felt a split second inclination to flee again, but stopped when Al patted him in a reassuring manner.
"Ed!" Winry's face lit up as she opened the door. "I'm so glad to see you! And... Al?!"
"Hi, Winry." He smiled weakly. Al grinned at her, waving a hand.
"Alphonse... he's human again!" She squeaked. She looked between the two of them for a moment, eyes sparkling. "You did it! Can I... would you mind a hug?"
Al's grin grew bigger as he held his arms out. Winry squeaked in delight, hugging the younger brother.
Ed found himself relaxing, a genuine smile crossing his face as she ushered both of them in and shut the door behind them.
It was good to be home again.
-+Fin+-
Songs Hakuba's singing:
"Walk around in Circles" by Soul Coughing
"People are Strange" Lyrics by the Doors.
http://www.livejournal.com/users/ickaimp/180577.html
http://www.livejournal.com/users/ickaimp/181049.html
http://www.livejournal.com/users/ickaimp/182007.html
http://www.livejournal.com/users/ickaimp/182867.html
http://www.livejournal.com/users/ickaimp/185354.html
http://www.livejournal.com/users/ickaimp/189972.html
http://www.livejournal.com/users/ickaimp/187785.html
http://www.livejournal.com/users/ickaimp/192243.html
Any non-english text has the translation right there in the conversation.
IT'S DONE!!! IT'S DONE!!! MWUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!!
And MOrgan is a Prat. So's Mati. FMA-only sequal to follow, eventually. So neener neener neener. Blow me.
++++
+++ Alphonse +++
While Al didn't mind learning new things, such as Kitty teaching him how to juggle, he generally preferred if the clean up from learning new things was fairly simple and not so messy.
Unfortunately, this was not the case. It was a lot of fun however.
Kitty had introduced them to something he called 'Shibori' and Al knew as 'Tie-dye'.
Elysica called it 'fun splashing in the many colours'.
Gracia called it 'colourful' and let them pattern and dye just about everything they could get their hands on. Kitty had some interesting ideas with thread and pressing leaves or blocks of wood against the fabric so that the dye didn't colour it, resulting in new drapes for the windows with geometric shapes on them. Gracia said that it brought new colour and life into the house and Al was hard pressed to argue.
Saguru and Brother had found it amusing, when they had had finally returned from the libraries. Brother had a particularly wicked smirk on his face as he made a comment about waiting until Winry saw him with the tie-dyed loincloth, especially with the spiral right in the middle of it.
There were times he was grateful he couldn't blush. Especially around Brother. On the other hand, Brother turned many different shades of red, usually when Colonel Mustang was around.
He had long ago decided not to inquire too deeply as to Brother and Colonel Mustang's relationship, despite the... frisson between them. As long as Mustang didn't hurt Brother, he didn't have to hurt the Colonel.
But the Colonel was protective of Brother, something Al could understand. And as much as he liked Kitty and Saguru, he missed the company of his brother. Kitty wasn't very good conversationalist, although he was learning.
A knock at the door drew his attention as Gracia answered the door. A large booming voice informed them that Kitty's escort was here.
Elysica poked her head into the doorway to see what was going on and Al followed her as well, just in time to see Kitty bounce down stairs.
Suddenly, he understood the purpose behind the tie-dyeing.
And once again, Al was slightly grateful for the fact that he still couldn't blush, nor could his jaw drop.
Oh, dear...
+++ Saguru +++
"I don't need to walk around in circles, walk around in circles, walk around in circles, walk around...." Saguru hummed to himself as he sat on the steps to the Central Library. It was true, he didn't need to walk around in circles, even if that was what they did frequently. Ever shrinking circles that focused around the Shrine to Books, known as the Library. And an impressive library it was too, even if he wasn't allowed inside.
No, he didn't need to walk around in circles.
He just needed to draw circles.
Lots and lots of circles.
Alchemy reminded him a lot of chemistry, mixed with geometry. Instead of writing out the formula and the processes out with formulas and equations, you did it with symbols. He was still a little vague on the power source bit of it. The Elrics had walked him through a few transmutations, most noticeably changing the lens in the glasses for Kid, which he had goofed on by changing the colour of the glass, but he had noticed that he was drained afterwards. He had eaten like Edward as well, much to his embarrassment.
But it was interesting, and addicting.
Which made it a wonderful distraction for while they cooled their heels while Edward researched a way for them to go back home.
Hakuba flipped the paper over to draw on the blank side as he started humming a camp song from when he was younger. "Gee Mom I wanna go, but they won't let me go, Gee Mom I wanna go home..."
This place was nice, but it wasn't home. It wasn't Japan or his other home, England. And if he was homesick, it must be even worse for the Japanese thief.
A familiar voice caught his attention. A dark haired person wearing an EXTREMELY vibrant and colour shirt was walking past, followed by a mountain of a man with a curl on his forehead. The giant seemed to be a bit on the frazzled side.
... or he could be adapting himself just fine...
A second commotion behind him caught his attention and he glanced back to see a group of military men marching down the steps. The one in the middle, a man with a proud bearing, moustache and eye patch noticed him. The man slowed as the group passed by his seat on the stairs.
"Waiting for Edward, are we?" The man asked, looking amused.
Hakuba blinked stupidly for a moment. "Yes, sir." He held up the board with the papers he was drawing circles on. "Practicing, sir."
"Very good." The man patted him on the head and continued walking, a faint chuckling sound coming from him. "Carry on."
Hakuba watched the man and the group of people until they disappeared into a car at the base of the library. He ran a hand across the top of his head, verifying that yes, he had just been patted on the top of the head like a good boy, or a dog.
That had been strange.
Shrugging, he went back to drawing circles and waiting for Edward to finish in the library.
"People are strange when you're a stranger, faces look ugly when you're alone ..."
+++ Edward +++
"So..." Mustang gave him a grin that was one part mischief, one part smug bastard add a dash of malice and stir. "Hear the latest about your guest?"
Ed gave him a thoughtful look as he sprawled out on the couch. Since Saguru had been with him all day, that left "Kitty?"
Mustang nodded. Ed frowned. What had the thief been up to now?
The Colonel folded his fingers, leaning forward in the manner of someone who had some very very good news and was all too smug about it. "Our dear thief got cabin fever and expressed is wishes to explore the city. With the understanding he'd keep a low profile and someone was to accompany him at all times."
"I'd heard about that." Saguru had been the go between for that and had mentioned it during one of their walks. While Ed didn't mind the other boy, he just... wasn't Al. And he missed Al's calming presence around him.
"Did you happen to hear who the escort was?"
"No."
Mustang's grin turn lazy. "Armstrong."
Ed blinked. Oh... dear.
"It appears 'low profile' got lost somewhere in translation." Mustang leaned back in the chair, committing himself to the telling of the story. "Between the strangely coloured glasses, the brightly coloured shirt with clovers on it and him bouncing around asking 'Vas ist das?' he caught a number of people's attention. Quite the talk of the town."
"I'm sure that Armstrong did nothing to attract attention either." Ed smirked. "After all, he's very low profile himself."
An eyebrow rose. Touché. "I recommended he take the next couple of days off." Mustang drawled. "After a comment about 'herding cats', I suspect he'll spend them recovering."
"I'm sure." He chuckled.
"In other news." Mustang's face went serious again, not that he'd showed much amusement before. "How are things on your end."
Ed ran a gloved hand across the top of his head and tugged on the hairs. It helped distract him form the minor headache. "I think I may have found how to send them back." He said cautiously.
Mustang smiled. "Excellent."
"I'm not positive, however." He tugged on scalp again. The older books were harder to read, partly because of the archaic language and partly because of the faded or in some cases, invisible, text.
"And if it does?" The eyebrow rose again, this time questioning.
He sighed. "Then we all go back." Kitty and Saguru to their world, he and Al back to the Rockwell's. And from there... he wasn't sure. They'd figure out something.
But that was IF the array worked, IF the combined Pandora/Philosopher's stone worked the way he hoped, IF things didn't screw up. If, if, if, if, if.
Ed was starting to hate 'if'.
Mustang chuckled at him, not unkindly, but he felt his hackles rise anyway. "Go get some rest. And keep me informed on your progress."
He shot him a dark glare, but rose to his feet. "Yeah, yeah." He grumbled. "Later."
Mustang waved him out. Ed rolled his eyes and staggered to his feet.
He'd follow Armstrong's example. Sleep first, eat, then deal with creating the frikkin' huge array.
+++ Kaitou Kid ++
He nearly fell out of the tree. "You're kidding."
Hakuba shook his head. "Rarely. You should know that by now."
Kaito grinned, hanging by the tree branch by his knees so he could look the detective eye to upside down eye. "Edward's figured out how to send us home!?"
"He thinks so." Hakuba said cautiously.
"Wahoo!" He cheered, straightening his legs and allowing gravity to pull him down. He caught the ground with his hands, using his momentum to roll back up onto his feet. He gave Hakuba a big grin before running into the house. "Edward-kun! Alphonse-kun!"
The brothers looked up from the papers they had scattered around the living room. He gave Alphonse a huge bear hug, or at least as much of one as he could being the diminutive size he was and considering the giant armour boy's bulk, then grabbed Edward and tried to swing him around in a circle. Edward was a lot heavier than he looked, so he settled for a happy glomp and rubbing his knuckles into the blonde's hair.
Alphonse looked pleased by the reaction, although sometimes it was hard to tell. Edward elbowed him in response, but had a happy look in his eyes as he grumbled something good-naturedly in that harsh language of his.
"Kid." Hakuba chided from the doorway. "Let them study. They still need time."
Alphonse protested, saying something about morning. He patted him on the head and skipped out anyway. Better to let the brains do what they were best at and study rather than end up some place strange.
Correction, stranger.
"You're really happy to be heading home, aren't you?" Hakuba commented dryly, following him as he bounced back outside. Gracia's house was nice and all, but he preferred the openness of the backyard.
"They're nice people and all, but yes." He nodded. "I'd really rather prefer if my retirement started at home instead of here."
The detective frowned. "You're serious about that, retiring?"
"Oh, yes." Yes, yes, yes. A thousand times yes. While he enjoyed being the Kid, sometimes he thought he enjoyed it a bit too much. The thief was taking over his life, leaving Kuroba Kaito floating around unfettered.
He knew what Kid could do. It was time to focus and see what he could do as himself, not his father's shadow.
And if nothing else, this trip had proved he really didn't care to live with the shadow of suspicion laying over all of his actions for the rest of his life. He liked the freedom that came with no one constantly looking at his every move. And Pandora was safe enough with Alphonse and Edward, if their actions and his gut instinct was any indication. He liked the brothers.
Hakuba didn't look so pleased by it. In fact, he looked downright depressed by the thought. "I'll miss you." He said cryptically, patting Kaito on the upper arm companionably before turning to head back into the house. "You might want to head to sleep a little early tonight. We're going to be busy tomorrow, saying goodbye and drawing the array."
Kaito watched him go, then turned to watch the sun set and wait for the stars to come out.
Even the stars were unfamiliar...
+++ Alphonse +++
"I think we're ready." Brother looked a little tired, but determined. The array was huge, over twice as long as Al was tall, but finally complete. And it looked similar to what he could remember of the flash of light that brought their guests to them.
It was amazing what a little bit of hard work and a lot of research could accomplish.
"Where's Kitty?" He asked, looking around. Saguru grumbled something by his position by the door, keeping an eye on the entrance.
"He'd better be here." Brother snapped.
Saguru cleared his throat. "He will be."
On cue, the door opened and a white shadow slipped in, a huge grin on the thief's face. Saguru glared at him. Kitty whispered something in the detective's ear, Al making out the words 'Mustang' and 'Whoopie Cushion'. Saguru's eyebrows rose, then he closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose in a pained expression. "I think we'd better leave as expediently as possible."
Brother chuckled. "Oh, I don't know... It's kind of nice to see someone else in trouble with him other than me."
Kitty made a twisting motion with one hand and a fist size red stone appeared. The thief waggled his eyebrows at them. "Okay then," Brother punched a fist into the palm of one hand. "Ready to go?"
Their tearful goodbyes to the Hughes family had already been said, Elysica hadn't wanted to let them go and Gracia had fretted over them. Their thanks and farewells to Mustang and Armstrong had already been passed on, it was just them that needed to say goodbye.
Kitty handed the stone over to Brother. "Doo arigatou."
Brother blinked. "Uh?"
"Thank you." Saguru translated, pushing himself off the wall. "That goes for me too. The stone is yours."
Brother smiled, taking the stone. "You're welcome." He and Kitty shook hands, grinning like madmen.
Saguru held his hand out to Al, smiling. Al shook it, making a pleased sound. "Good luck."
"Same to you."
He found himself with a Kitty plastered against his back. "Thank you." Kitty said sincerely, patting his head. "Safe."
"You're most welcome." It wasn't often that he invoked a sense of safety for someone instead of terror. Kitty beamed at him. Behind them, Brother and Saguru made their goodbyes.
Kitty slipped off his back with one last friendly pat, the others straightening as well. "Stand in the middle." Brother instructed, placing the stone in a circle at one edge of the array. The two foreigners carefully made their way to the centre, not touching any of the lines as he and Brother took their positions at the other two circles.
"Ready?" Brother yelled.
Saguru grabbed Kitty's arm. "As we're going to be." Kitty nodded, grabbing Saguru in return.
"Okay. Al?"
He nodded. He and Brother placed their hands on the array, the lines glowing blue, then purple and finally red as the stone began to glow as well. It grew brighter, then with a flash of light, they were gone.
Brother slumped backwards, taking a deep breath. "Whew." They had done it. Hopefully the others were where they belonged.
Al rose. "Brother, the stone is still here."
"What?" In a heartbeat, Brother was next to him, examining the still large glimmering stone. "Yes!" Brother began a happy dance that involved much wiggling and throwing of fists into the air. Al laughed, picking up the stone.
The door opened, Colonel Mustang entering, holding a large pink cushion with a sour expression. "They're gone, Colonel." Al informed him. The Colonel nodded, distracted by Brother's gyrations.
Brother tapped his shoulder with the automail arm, making a gong sound. "Ready, Al?" He grinned, the promise of the end of their quest glowing in his eyes.
Al could practically feel a heart beating in his chest again.
"Yes."
+++ Hakuba +++
"Stop!" Hakuba commanded as he chased a robber down the alleyway. The robber ignored him and he swore he could hear the sound of snicker.
Honestly, chasing after the Kaitou Kid had spoilt him. There was honour in the phantom thief, as much as it pained him to admit it. And the heists had been a hell of a lot more fun then chasing after some random purse-snatcher or figuring out why someone would commit the unpardonable sin of killing other people for petty reasons. The Kid was a challenging paradox.
But true to his word, the Kid had retired after their return from... wherever that glowing portal had landed them. He had never learned the name of the country they had been in. The lack of intellectual challenge was wearing.
And in a completely unrelated train of thought, Kuroba Kaito had taken to wearing a pair of yellow tinted glasses with square lenses during his free time. Nothing that could be proven, of course, but an interesting coincidence.
Kuroba was also taking lessons in Deutsch.
Hakuba kept his opinions, no matter how amused, to himself. He wished the other boy luck in his now legal ventures.
"Last warning!" He warned the running bandit. Yes, that was definitely a snicker from the other end of the alley.
He sighed, slowing his pace to a trot then stopped, pulling a piece of chalk out of his pocket.
Honestly, when were people going to learn that 'stop' meant 'cease motion' instead of 'run faster'?
Hakuba placed his hands against the quickly sketched array and watched with some not so small satisfaction as it lit up, blue energy crackling along the wall, by passing the running man. A second later, a huge stone fist grew out of the wall, the robber running into it and knocking himself silly.
Oops. He'd meant to try to grab the man, not knock him out. He grimaced, drawing a second array and triggered it, the fist melting back into the form it had been before. He winced, feeling the energy drain as he moved to grab the fallen robber before he regained his senses.
But then, such were the perils of being this world's only practicing alchemist.
And he was still learning.
+++ Edward +++
Ed hesitated before knocking on the familiar door of the Rockbell household, suddenly awkward. They shouldn't have come here, it was too soon. But the military would be bound to show up sooner or later, wanting to know what happened to the Philosopher's stone. And it was probably best to tell Winry and Pinko in person. They owed them that much.
"Ready, Al?" He whispered. Al shifted and made a hesitant noise that he took as agreement.
He knocked.
A second later, Den's barking echoed through the house and he heard Winry's voice scold the dog as footsteps moved towards the door. Ed felt a split second inclination to flee again, but stopped when Al patted him in a reassuring manner.
"Ed!" Winry's face lit up as she opened the door. "I'm so glad to see you! And... Al?!"
"Hi, Winry." He smiled weakly. Al grinned at her, waving a hand.
"Alphonse... he's human again!" She squeaked. She looked between the two of them for a moment, eyes sparkling. "You did it! Can I... would you mind a hug?"
Al's grin grew bigger as he held his arms out. Winry squeaked in delight, hugging the younger brother.
Ed found himself relaxing, a genuine smile crossing his face as she ushered both of them in and shut the door behind them.
It was good to be home again.
-+Fin+-
Songs Hakuba's singing:
"Walk around in Circles" by Soul Coughing
"People are Strange" Lyrics by the Doors.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-09-11 10:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-11 11:54 pm (UTC)And yay! You finally finished it! Three cheers for Icka! Hurray! x 3
no subject
Date: 2004-09-12 04:07 am (UTC)And the scene at the end makes me giggle. *Some* mental images I like :D
no subject
Date: 2004-09-12 06:39 am (UTC)*snerks* Love this story so much. Happy endings for everybody!
*doubled up laughing*
Date: 2004-09-12 10:10 am (UTC)Armstrong, low profile?! *snerk* Riiiiight.
That was mean siccing a hyper and bored Kid on Armstrong.
*giggles madly* I LIKE Hakuba's new trick. ... That would have made the Kid Chases, interesting.
Hmmm.... the Kid comes out of retirement to provide Hakuba entertainment on his birthday? *pouts slightly* Pretty please?
This insanity was Fun; me want more.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-12 05:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-13 12:33 am (UTC)Kaito wearing yellow tinted glasses....Ed and Al back home and whole again. Wonderful, now where is Roy?
And by the by...I enjoy being a prat if I get results like this!!
*glomp*
Date: 2004-09-14 09:15 pm (UTC)