Age
Rating: T
Pairing: very slight Al/Wrath
Word Count: 810
Warnings: thoughts, some angst
Summary: Al muses over Wrath's age.
Author's Note: That's the second one of sexkitten426's prompts from my drabble prompt post^^ The first prompt shall follow later on XD
Extra Note: I know I'm implying here that Al has his memories even though he doesn't at that point. Let's just call it artistic freedom XD After all, the theory around Wrath's age is my own too… XDDD

Age

It always has been a mystery. By all accounts, Wrath shouldn't be as old as he was. It simply wasn't possible for any creature to age as fast as he had.

The first time they had seen him he had been around seven. And even then there had been a certain expression in their teacher's eyes that told Al that it was older than she thought he should be. At the time he had been puzzled by it. It was only after it came out that Wrath was the result of her trying to resurrect her stillborn child that it made sense.

After that they only saw him occasionally, but each time he looked older already. By the time Al got kidnapped, Wrath didn't look younger than at least fourteen, if not even older. He couldn't explain it to himself. But no-one other than him seemed to really be confused by it. That, or they simply didn't care, which was more likely.

Then everything went crazy, and the next time things calmed down enough for him to think about something like the age of a boy that fascinated him – human or not – said boy had gone back to Rizembool with him and was mostly subdued, living with the consequences of what he had done, now that he didn't stand under the influence of the red stones anymore. Izumi had offered to take him in, but Wrath still didn't seem to trust her. So he had stayed.

It was only then, seeing him day in and day out, that Al slowly started to understand. Wrath wasn't talking to anyone but Winry and him and it became clear pretty fast to the blond that, while his soul might not be older than that of a small child, Wrath was highly intelligent. His years spent in the gate had offered him a vast knowledge of just about every subject there was. He might be naïve – but he couldn't be called a child anymore. He could comprehend topics aged men and women had problems with and he would always offer an interesting insight to the theories Al came up with. Standing beside Wrath, Al felt like the child.

However, that still didn't explain his fast aging that his body did. Though, looking back over the months they had already spent together, something else become clear:

The aging process had slowed down ever since they got back to Rizembool.

That knowledge was the last piece of the puzzle that made up Wrath that Al needed. It was simple really, even though it sounded crazy.

Before he and Ed had attempted to bring their mother back, Wrath had lived in the gate, locked into it without any way to ever get out. It was only after he took Ed's limbs from him and attached them to himself that a chance of freedom was offered. But even then it took him a while to fight his way free of the gate. Wrath had told him that he hadn't lived on that island for more than a few weeks before they had come along. And before that – only the gate.

So it was only once he had left the gate that his body had a chance of aging. And since he was 'born' with limbs that were already older than his soul, his body had tried to catch up. With his mind already having aged beyond his years by a life in the gate, it never was a problem.

By the time they were finally taken away from him, Wrath was nearly as old as Ed, even though he was younger.

It was weird to think about that. In a way, Wrath held the age of three different people – the age and wisdom of the gate, a number far greater than any human could comprehend, the age of a small boy, thrown into a world he wasn't ready for and the same age as – Ed, Al's brother.

All three were combined in the body of the broken boy that he had grown close to. Now, even without having Ed's limbs anymore, his body grew steadily; finally at a normal pace.

Looking up from his musings, Al smiled gently as he saw Wrath coming up the path towards the house. He had spent the last couple of hours near the river again, as he often did. He had once said the river reminded him of himself.

Standing up from his place under the old tree to meet the other, the blond fell in beside him without a second thought, neither saying anything, just bumping shoulders once in a way of greeting.

In a way they were more similar than anyone would think – both chained into a body that didn't fit their mind.

However, Al didn't mind. They still had each other. And while no-one else understood them – they did.

END

I hope you all liked it ^_^