The Alchemist and the Witch
Alfons Heiderich was 16 turning 17 when Hisana Sasagawa formerly Carina Peony Potter dropped into his life by suggestion of his teacher to meet with a mechanic of exceptional talent. He was just surprised the mechanic in question was a girl no older than him with short black hair wearing male clothing from what he could see of her peeking out from under a car.
"Hisana you have a guest" the old man who had showed him in barked out over the noise in the garage as the tiny girl underneath grunted and cursed loudly having whacked herself in the forehead, startled by her boss' shouting.
"Bloody hell Tanaka you know not to shout when I'm under the carriage" Hisana hisses rolling out from underneath the car only to startle in surprise at the blonde teen in tow. Green would meet surprised blue and Hisana would flush in embarrassment while the old man who had taken her in and taught her everything he knew when she was fifteen laughed at her misfortune.
Tanaka continued to laugh long after Hisana dragged her guest away, mentally patting himself on the back for getting back at the mischievous ravenette he had taken in a year ago. Not a day went by where he didn't regret taking the tiny girl in considering he had lost all his family during the Great War. His wife, his sons, his daughter in laws and grandchildren all gone in the fighting, but the girl who he renamed Hisana who reminded him strongly of his youngest son had proven to be a boon and a treasure rolled into one tiny yet strong willed revolutionary package.
He knew she was a lost soul and an orphan that much he had been able to pull from her in their talks and one who had been touched with the gift of magic if her sneaking off was anything to go by, but it didn't stop him from teaching her all he knew to prepare her for the world she had stumbled into kicking and screaming. He didn't want to lose her or have the world snuff out the light of hope and love she brought into people's lives with her warm nature and mischievous streak.
"Are you sure it was wise to let her drag that boy off boss?" one of the mechanics asks out loud as Tanaka waved off his employee with a grunt of annoyance. His little Hisana had proven she could run with them after she had taken down one of his most talented yet arrogant men who had voiced less than polite thoughts about the ravenette who could pass off as an Asian with her raven colored hair and pale skin, her bright green eyes being the only thing marking her as European.
"It'll be fine; it'll do her good to make a friend her age. She can't always surround herself with us old men, now get back to work" Tanaka orders before heading to his office to look over his books knowing Hisana could handle herself just fine.
"Should you be talking to your boss that way?" Alfons asks confused as Hisana huffed in amusement and let the blonde's arm go so she could wipe the oil and grease off her face and hands from working on the car Tanaka had given her to fix for one of the men from the military base on the outskirts of the city.
"As an employee probably not, but Tanaka took me in and put a roof over my head so I think I'll be alright if I curse and swear a little for him startling me while I was doing some delicate work under the carriage" Hisana says dryly as she put the now dirty rag in the laundry basket near the back door. She'd likely have to start the laundry later since it was almost full the blonde would note.
"He took you in? You look related though" Alfons says confused while Hisana would grin feeling flattered and glad for her looks for a change as she nodded.
"Mhm Tanaka took me in, gave me a home and taught me everything he knows from household chores, a variety of mechanics, weapon smithing and martial arts since he's half Japanese and Romanian. Enough about the old man though, what can I do for you?" Hisana asks patiently as the blonde nodded and explained what he was doing and who his teacher was.
"Trying to build better and sturdier rockets huh…what for though? Are you trying to go to space or for air travel?" Hisana asks curiously, remembering her very brief history lessons during her time before Hogwarts and knowing the year World War 2 started wasn't that far off with a little over a decade to go before it began with the end of the World War 1 having happened two years prior.
"Air travel for now, but no one has tried to launch a rocket into space yet, a pipe dream with the technology available to us" Alfons admits as he settled at the table the ravenette motions to and accepting the cup of tea she had to give as they continued to talk mechanics well into the evening when the blonde had to leave.
"Be careful getting home Alfons" Hisana calls out waving good bye, aware Tanaka was standing behind her as she smiled slightly at the blonde as he called a promise to be back in a couple days.
"You made a friend" Tanaka notes as Hisana nods shyly, but frowns remembering what her magic had picked up on as she had talked with her fellow teen.
"Yeah I did…he's sick though and I can help keep him comfortable and prolong the inevitable, but there's nothing I can do to cure him" Hisana explains sadly as Tanaka sighed tiredly, mentally wondering why the young and talented had to die young.
"Just be there for him and remember that death isn't the end of the story Hisana. We all one day meet the end and once that end comes we will see our loved ones again. It's the journey to get there that matters and you should focus on" Tanaka says quietly before guiding her back inside to finish her work and start dinner.
Alfons would keep coming back and would eventually start accepting the medicine his new friend had to give, surprised she had caught onto his illness so quickly, but would realize she might have had family who had died of illness hence the medicine that made it easier to breathe and feel less lethargic after his coughing fits when they did happen.
"It won't cure you, but it will ease your symptoms and make breathing a little easier so you can do what you enjoy Al. You don't want to leave things half done before you go" Hisana explains quietly one day when Alfons asked her why she had given him her home made remedies, watching her work on the next batch over a black cauldron of sorts on the stove.
"Thanks…What do you want to do besides fix cars?" Alfons asks changing the topic as Hisana smiled slightly looking sad at the question as she took the small cauldron off the stove to cool so she could bottle up her work.
"I want a peaceful life away from the prejudice against my gender, I want to meet a man who will love me for me and have a big family. Maybe travel some and see some of the world before I die? I don't have all the answers as to what I want to do. All I know is that I won't live my life in fear of persecution and that I was meant for more than what women are allowed to do in society now" Hisana explains with a small shrug as she tied a blue ribbon into her hair, tying it off at the top to look like rabbit ears and adding to the overall child like look to her appearance with her rolled up sleeves of her white shirt underneath the overalls she wore around the shop and the sturdy black boots she wore to complete the look.
"I hope you do all those things and more then" Alfons says with a small smile on his face as the ravenette perks up and nods with a warm smile as the conversation moved onto warmer and less depressing topics.
It would be a month after that conversation and both turned 17 that Alfons would drag one Edward Elric to meet his best friend and mechanic friend with Hohenheim in tow knowing Hisana could fix Edward's arm and leg prosthetics. He also wanted Hisana to meet his research partner and friend at the university so he didn't have to divide his time between the two.
"Al you're-Oh you brought company" Hisana mumbles surprised staring at the two golden blonde males knowing she looked less than presentable in her work clothes and a smear of oil on her cheek from the motorcycle she had been working on for Tanaka.
"Sorry I didn't send a message ahead to warn you, but I think you might be able to help them with a problem" Alfons explains sheepishly as the ravenette perks up, her little rabbit ears bow bouncing with the movement. Her green eyes shined at the idea of a challenge as she motioned them to follow to her work bench where she kept her tool box and bag of the few belongings she had gathered.
"If Al didn't already say anything, my name is Hisana Sasagawa and what seems to be the problem?" Hisana asks sitting on her stool and looking between Edward and Hohenheim as the older of the two spoke and explained about Edward's prosthetics.
"Well sleeve off and pant leg up so I can have a look then" Hisana says bluntly as she crouched down, drawing a squawk of indignation from Edward as she pulled his pant leg up to get a look at the old limb and whistled in awe.
"Whoever made this knew what they were doing; full mobility like a real leg and foot, toes even…Is the arm the same way?" Hisana asks in awe as Edward nodded awkwardly, keenly reminded of Winry in that moment from Hisana's reaction to his automail. She would catch the awkwardness and step back to dig out her sketch pad to give the older teen space.
"Can you do anything for Ed?" Alfons asks curiously as he watched his friend draw out a basic design mumbling things in English that he couldn't quite catch since his English wasn't all that great, but what he was catching gave him hope.
"Yeah of course who do you think you're talking to Al? I'd just need a couple days to gather the necessary material and a peek at the inner workings of the old limbs before I could give anything useable" Hisana deadpans as Hohenheim stares in surprise and asks how much as Alfons tried to warn him. He knew Hisana wouldn't demand payment and she usually didn't when she fixed his vehicle. She tended to get offended if he even hinted or tried to pay her for her work.
"Nothing. Al brought you to me knowing I likely could help and your son obviously needs new limbs since he's growing out of the old ones…What I make may not be as great as the old ones, but I'll try to make them like what you have now so you won't notice too much of a difference" Hisana says seriously as Edward stared in surprise and asked how getting a laugh out of Alfons as she passed him a cup of tea with some of her remedy in it.
"Hisana is a mechanical prodigy, you break it and she can fix it be it vehicle or weapon. I've only been able to make the strides I have in my research because of her help and knowledge on engines" Alfons explains happily as Hisana flushed under the praise and hid her face in her sketch pad and ending any resemblance she might have had with Winry for Edward. He was unaware though that Hisana could sense that he and his father weren't from Romania or any where on Earth with her magic. Didn't help that Hohenheim in general just felt wrong to her, like the diary from her second year at Hogwarts.
She didn't say anything, but it made her curious and do some digging amongst the few magical books she had been able to scavenge in her small library of Black Family books that night. She would draw a blank on Edward, but Hohenheim would pop up quite a bit in her research and put her on guard when the older male tagged along every other visit when Alfons and Edward came to spend time with her during their evenings off from classes in the week that followed after she found a Black who had interacted with the man. The interactions weren't negative, but the Black in question had managed to drag a vital piece of information from Hohenheim that remained in the book he wrote about an alternate world where magic mutated and Alchemy was the dominating science of that world, Amestris he had called it.
Hohenheim though would note her defensive behavior around him and wonder what had changed from that first visit and ask her in private. It helped things she was half way done with Edwards's leg and arm when he approached her.
"You're from Amestris, the place where Alchemy reigns supreme as the dominate power and science" Hisana says bluntly looking up from her work to meet Hohenheim's shocked gold eyes and asked how she knew that.
"The Black family are a paranoid dark family and record anything substantial on paper for their descendants to read and you managed to slip up and give a name to the other dimension to a Black two generations back…I'm closely enough related to the family through my paternal grandmother and my godfather that I have access to those books" Hisana explains patiently as she put her blow torch down and rubbed a tired hand down her face at the admittance.
"I thought your people avoided interaction with the normal population" Hohenheim admits surprised as Hisana snorts and crosses her arms in annoyance.
"The pure bloods are the only ones who avoid the normal population as you've so nicely called them, but half bloods and mundane born not so much. The normal side of things is the only place we can find well paying work in these times and when you truly don't exist in this time makes things just a little bit harder" Hisana explains knowing she couldn't hide what she was from the ancient man in front of her as Hohenheim nods.
"Accident with time magic then" Hohenheim asks as Hisana shook her head no.
"I took a tumble through the Veil of Death and landed here nearly two years ago now…Tanaka took me and gave me a name when my old one stood out too much and considering I look almost like his deceased family most thought I was just a survivor that had gotten lost during the chaos of the Great War" Hisana explains quietly as she went back to work and Hohenheim took the time to truly take her in and see the scars and worn out aura she radiated when not around her friends. He recognized she was an old soul, a survivor that had been kicked one too many times while she was down and was just trying to survive now in the situation she found herself in, but his son and Alfons made things brighter for her and gave her a semblance of normal she obviously craved. Didn't hurt he noticed the way she watched his son with knowing yet warm eyes as she put together what had happened to them both.
"You've been using your magic to help in the process then" Hohenheim speaks up as Hisana nodded.
"I've had to and with what I know now of you both he needs limbs similar to what he has…If either of you wandered into a district and got a focus you could find a way back home through that side of things. I may not have the necessary material or journals that suggest it, but there were others before you who likely slipped through the cracks of reality into this one from Amestris. With a focus though he could start practicing his craft again" Hisana explains as Hohenheim hummed in agreement and knew it was something to consider for a later date as he finally left the ravenette to her work. He would come back more frequently and give her some books on alchemy once he caught a glimpse of the white gold ring on her middle finger with a black diamond set into it, various runes carved into the band and recognizing it for her focus.
Edward would marvel over the craftsmanship of his new limbs as Hisana showed them off a couple weeks later, noting the strange symbols engraved into the metal on them and how they looked similar to his automail.
"Ready to attach them and see if they work?" Hisana asks as Alfons whistled impressed by what she'd done and asked how she had managed to make them.
"A few all nighters and comparing them to my arms and legs though more masculine obviously since Ed isn't a girl helped. Tanaka also helped me too with the more tricky aspects of it like finding wires close enough to the ones still in your old arm and leg to connect to the nerves and I had to ask around the medical school a little bit…once I got them to cooperate with me the sexist asses" Hisana grumbles as she cracked her knuckles in her anger.
"Please tell me you weren't the one responsible for some of the bruises and black eyes we saw at the university recently" Alfons pleads as Edward laughs in delight as Hisana grimaced and looked away.
"Alright I won't tell you I had to get a little violent for those interns to help me out, anyways are we attaching my work or not" Hisana demands as she got up, her red hair ribbon in its usual style bouncing with the motion as Edward nodded and with Alfons' help they detached the limbs Hohenheim had made in a pinch for the blonde.
Attaching Hisana's limbs was more painful than Edward ever remembered connecting the leg and arm to the ports being and would fight to not pass out while Hisana finished the touch ups and tightened the connecting bolts.
"Al you know that cabinet where I keep my tea bags? Could you get out the white and red striped pot out for me" Hisana asks not looking up from her task as Alfons nodded and did as asked knowing it was likely a remedy to help Ed either numb the pain he was feeling or ease the pain a little.
"You should have said something the moment you felt any pain Ed. I might be a novice when it comes to prosthetics, but I know enough about pain to ease it and numb it enough that I don't have to knock you out to do my job" Hisana grumbles as Edward waved her off, yelping when she jabbed him in the ribs with her hand.
"Alright I'll say something next time" Ed grumbles as Hisana nodded with a smile as she stood back, her work done.
"Good now once Al gets back with what I asked of him we can soothe the nerves in your stumps and test out the new limbs" Hisana says brightly before moving over to her latest project, a war hammer that could shift into a grenade launcher (Think Nora's weapon from RWBY). She'd seen it during her time period and had started to learn to wield one briefly from the Fat Friar before her tumble through the Veil and now that she knew how to make one she was going forge one for herself so she didn't have to rely on her fists anymore.
"What are you making?" Edward asks curiously seeing the grenade launcher parts and the head and staff parts laid out on the tiny girl's work bench, the box with the grenade casings leaning against the wall at the base of the work bench.
"A war hammer with an extra bonus" Hisana answers patiently as she put the weapon back together knowing she would have to head out into the woods to test the thing since she didn't want anyone seeing her with it. The prototypes prior to this latest version had the launcher aspect either jam up or the motor explode in her hands so it was a bit of relief that it hadn't happened yet with this latest try.
"You know how to fight?" Edward asks curiously as Hisana nods eyes focused on her task as she pulled the weapon altogether, using her blow torch where needed.
"Yeah, kind of had to with how bad things were back home and here up until recently…Tanaka wouldn't let me go anywhere outside the garage without him if I didn't" Hisana explains patiently as the blonde nodded seeing it since the garage owner was a protective bastard when it came to the petite ravenette.
"Found it, you had it crammed at the back of the cabinet Hisana" Alfons says lightly as Hisana nodded, placing her completed weapon in her bag for the time being.
"Yeah I try to avoid using the stuff in it since some of the ingredients to make it are in shortage right now" Hisana explains as she took the jar from the blondes hands before taking the lid off and taking out a vile out with the pain reliever potion in it. "Okay Ed down this and wait a couple minutes before moving around" she says as she hands the vile over, eyes stating she meant business and that he wasn't allowed to spit it out.
Edward would down it and grimace at the horrible taste of the remedy, taking Hisana's advice before shakily getting up and testing the mobility of the limbs. He would look to Hisana surprised as she grinned in triumph over what she'd done as he realized she'd managed to make limbs as close as automail as this dimension could get.
"You did good work Hisana" Alfons says hugging the smaller girl to his side in easy affection as Hisana smiled, both watching Edward move around and test the full mobility and strength of the limbs.
"If he didn't already have the ports I wouldn't have been able to do anything for him I hope you know…this is a one time miracle since I doubt anyone has been able to pull off whoever built his first limbs did. No one I know or read about has considered connecting the nerves in the stump to a port where you could attach the prosthetic" Hisana explains for Al's benefit as the blonde nodded.
"Ed I should warn you now that these aren't as durable as your old limbs so be careful with them. They can take more abuse than what your old man had in place, but too much action or abuse and they're likely to fall apart or stop working" Hisana warns as Edward nodded, waving off her worries as he thanked her, pulling back on his gloves and shoe to cover up the new limbs.
"We'll keep him out of trouble so you shouldn't worry too much Hisana" Alfons points out as Hisana nodded, brightening up at the inclusion in their little partnership unaware that Edward flushed bright red at the smile she had on her face, Alfons and Tanaka would notice though and it would become a source of teasing material for the younger of the two.
When Alfons and Edward left to return to Alfons' home in Munich Tanaka would encourage Hisana to go with them and would get a promise from both boys to look after his granddaughter.
"Hisana remind me to never doubt you again" Edward grumbles to the ravenette as she sat beside Alfons on the train to Munich.
"I told you Tanaka could be scary when he wanted to be and knew how to use those swords on his mantle piece" Hisana says with a laugh as she got comfortable on the bench. She would ignore the stares of the other passengers at her clothes, knowing she stuck out in her work clothes having forgone the clothes Tanaka had given her. They had belonged to his wife who had turned to wearing clothes from Asian culture near the end of her life for comfort and to help the old man keep in touch with that side of his heritage.
The nicer of the three Ao Dai she had been given was black in coloring with cherry blossoms embroidered here and there through out the top garment while the pants she would wear underneath were black and more form fitted than the other two which were looser compared to the black ensemble.
"How come you didn't wear what Tanaka gave you?" Alfons asks curious having gotten a peek at the few sets of clothing the old man had given the ravenette.
"They're really nice and it's just a train ride. My work clothes are just fine for this so the other passengers can suck it up and deal with it because I'm not changing. I have to hem them up anyways since they're a little too long on me so I can't wear them for now if I don't want to trip" Hisana explains as the blonde made a noise of understanding while Edward dug out a pack of cards to kill time.
In Munich Hisana wouldn't be able to do much in her trade due to gender discrimination so Edward and Alfons would bring her with them to the university to continue their research and projects as an assistant. It was in these times that she would quietly work and listen to Edward's stories of his time in Amestris alongside his little brother, Alphonse when she wasn't off doing her own thing and practicing with her magic in the magical district in Munich though small as it was compared to Berlin.
Hisana knew Alfons didn't believe Edward's claims or tales beyond nothing more than just being stories, but she knew better and always held her peace in those instances. She would always put a comforting hand on the older teen's shoulders in those moments when he recognized their mutual friend didn't belief the Alchemist.
In exchange though Hisana would slowly tell her own tale, using her old name in those instances and making sure neither boy could connect her to the stories and it was during one of Edward's stories on the way to a rocket demonstration for a potential sponsor that the car broke down, Ed crashing it while being distracted.
"Here Al" Hisana says softly, passing over the flask with his medicine in it before looking sharply to Ed since it was his fault the car had gone off the road. "You will let me drive next time because I will not fix the car again if your just going to drive it off the road every time you get distracted Ed" she grumbles before gathering up her bag and climbing out of the car, hissing swear words and other obscenities in English about the stupidity of scientists and their lack of care outside their art.
"Men" Hisana hisses annoyed at the flushed faces of her friends as they climbed into the nearly full vehicle of some Roma women heading in the same direction they were and getting laughter from some of the older women for her efforts after Edward had waved the vehicle down.
"So what kind of a show are you ladies setting up?" Edward asks as Hisana sat in Alfons' lap due to not enough room for her to sit in the back.
"You name it, singing, theater" The closest woman answers, eyes dancing in amusement as she met the green eyes of Hisana while Alfons asked the youngest of the group what her act was. "She's a fortune teller and she always gets it right. So much so that it's eerie" the same woman answers only to be cut off as the woman next to her butts into the conversation.
"She'll find out all those secrets you don't want anyone else to know" the second woman explains as Hisana stiffened up at the idea, knowing that kind of ability was dangerous if left unchecked as Alfons asks for his fortune.
"Al some things are best learnt on your own" Hisana says before Edward can cut in much to the surprise of both boys with how serious she sounded with her words only for Edward to stiffen up as the girl touched him only to shrink backwards after doing so.
"You're the same as we are, you have no home" the girl says as Edward's eyes widen in surprise at the accurate prediction only to startle as one of the gypsies points out the carnival in the distance. Hisana would hum along to the gypsies' song, reminded faintly of the lullaby she remembered from her few faint memories of her time with her parents before their deaths and would watch her two friends concerned as they approached the carnival.
Both boys would finally snap out of their quiet moods at the sight of an excited and bubbly Hisana who had never been to a carnival before and had only heard about them from listening to the Dursleys talk about them or Hermione tell her about her experiences. It gave both blondes a distraction since they needed to keep their friend in sight since she was easy to lose when in an excitable mood or curious.
"Well aren't you popular" Edward says amused as Alfons worked on setting up the rocket, accepting the box from Edward while Hisana sat nearby watching the crowd form knowing it was the talks Alfons' mentor had given that had attracted all this attention and got people interested in space exploration.
"Thanks for the help" Alfons thanks the older teen as Edward moved to join Hisana who had gone to the truck out of boredom since the launch wasn't what she was interested in. She may have helped them build and get the rocket ready, but she truthfully hadn't been as interested as the boys. She knew that man would get into space in the next few decades so the launch was just the first step to the result she had seen and read about.
"Hisana?" Edward asks as the ravenette stuck a hand up to say she was awake as she laid out on the truck bed.
"I'm awake, just bored is all" Hisana says quietly, eyes closed as Edward snorted, but climbed up and joined her as the ravenette cuddled into his left side unaffected by the metal arm and seemingly drifted off to sleep.
"As far as I've traveled I still can't escape from this place" Edward sighs unaware Hisana had heard him and silently wishing she had bugged Hohenheim more into looking into magic for a way home, especially after listening to Edward's stories about his time as a State Alchemist and traveling the country with his little brother.
Both would startle though as the gypsy girl from the ride to the carnival climbed up and tried to hide under the tarp at the end of the trunk space.
Hisana would stand up and grab her weapon when the men chasing the girl approached the truck, the girl ignoring Edward's words to be careful around the spare rocket.
"That's quite enough, regardless of a contract that is not how you treat a woman of any race" Hisana hisses as Edward knocked back the men, stating it was a carnival and that they should go have some fun.
"Oi be careful with the arm!" Hisana barks out in annoyance as Edward pulled on the levy system in the elbow to strength the arm before going back on the offensive and breaking the arm of one of the gun man while Hisana had her war hammer out to protect the girl.
"You bloody better have a good idea Ed because those thugs won't be unconscious for long" Hisana shouts as the three of them ran away from the carnival, having used the butt end of her hammer to knock the remaining thugs unconscious when the ring leader got away.
Once back in Munich the three teens would head towards Alfons' home and talk to the florist next door and get a change of clothes for Noah as she'd introduced herself on their walk back to the city, Hisana's clothes too small in some cases due to her height or too large in the chest since Hisana had a bigger bust than Noah.
"You sure it's okay? Me staying here?" Noah asks Alfons the next day at breakfast, Hisana having stayed up all night on watch and cooked breakfast regardless of the lack of sleep as Alfons nodded.
"They're still looking for you, there's no choice. Besides I'm kinda glad" Alfons agrees as Hisana walked into the room in one of her modified Ao Dai's, her hair ribbon a gold color today to go with the plain green Ao Dai and beige leggings and black slippers. She'd noted her hair had grown down past her chin again that morning as she had gotten washed and dressed for the day.
"You are?" Noah asks as Hisana placed a plate of food in front of the Roma girl before leaving the room again, reminding Alfons that Noah wasn't the first girl Edward had shown an interest in.
"You're the second girl Edward has shown an interest in. I'm not trying to say Edward is some anti social person, but he just doesn't get close to anybody, not emotionally anyway; He's too busy telling stories of another world…Hisana might be the one exception though since she doesn't let him hold her at a distance or brush her off, but she's the same way with stories of her own" Alfons admits quietly as he ate.
"You mean his home?" Noah asks curiously.
"That's what he'd say. Well gotta run, I can't believe we have our own factory now" Alfons admits standing up to go and meeting Hisana at the door.
"Here take this with you and don't forget it again Al…The cold excuse won't work forever you know" Hisana says quietly as the blonde nodded and kissed Hisana on the forehead in gratitude before leaving Noah alone with Hisana and Edward for the day.
"He already left?" Edward asks once he wakes up, Hisana helping the blonde attach a leg and arm that Hohenheim had made. Edward had wanted to save the arm and leg Hisana had made in case of emergencies since the craftsmanship was beautiful and well done enough he didn't want to wreck them.
"Yes he said he had his own factory now…Do you need any help?" Noah asks as Hisana waved her off while Edward verbally did the same stating it had been two years and that he could do it on his own as he locked the leg into place.
Hisana would drown out the explanation Ed had to give Noah about how he had so much movement, though very basic in the prosthetic arm and leg while standing up and dusting her clothes off.
"Where is your father?" Noah asks curiously.
"I don't know. He just left one day and never came back so I ended up living here with Hisana and Alfons. We became friends as we studied together under Doctor Oberth and Alfons introduced me to Hisana when one of my prosthetics gave out" Edward explains as he got up and got ready, leading the way outside, keeping Hisana in front of him as he noted her exhaustion. She would miss what Noah had to say about what she saw when she touched Edward the previous day, but would note his mood as they greeted Gracia.
"Good morning Gracia" Edward greets as Hisana looped her arm with Edwards uncaring it was his metal arm as Gracia greeted them back.
"Good morning Edward, Hisana. Oh there you go with that face again" Gracia laughs as Hisana heaved a sigh as the older woman asked the blonde who she reminded him of and would give the woman the stink eye for suggesting a girl friend as Edward waved her off.
"It's nothing really, thanks for lending Noah these clothes" Edward thanks as he tightened his grip on Hisana in gratitude as she pat his metal hand gently in reassurance.
"So you three are going out today? Just be careful alright" Gracia says as Hisana gives her a small smile for the concern before being led away by Edward.
"Ignorant twats" Hisana grunts in annoyance as Hughes and the usual bar crowd glared at them for having Noah in their company, staying with the Roma girl as Edward was called over.
"You don't really like them" Noah says quietly as Hisana folded her arms in her long sleeves.
"No I don't, they all gave me the very same looks when I came to Munich to live with Ed and Al and it took me dressing like an actual woman before they warmed up to me…didn't help my German was and is heavily accented since English is my first language" Hisana explains patiently looking up to the older and taller girl. She would cackle as Edward came back towards them and ignoring Hughes advice, shouting back he should just confess to Gracia instead of bugging them before dragging her and Noah away.
"I don't think I'm being hustled. There are all sorts of people who would want the power to see into people's hearts with a touch. Especially in this country with all that's going on and I think they would chase you down to get it" Edward explains as they finally came to a stop, sharing a look with Hisana who nodded as Noah asked if they believed her about her gift.
"A suit of armor walking beside me, I've never told anyone here about that, not even Alfons though now Hisana knows" Edward admits as Hisana smiled lightly in fondness, her green eyes bright with mischief as Edward held a hand out towards Noah. The Roma woman would explain how her gift worked when she admitted not to seeing too much after Edward asked what she'd seen while holding his hand and that her gift worked better when people were asleep.
"She's not the only one with a gift" Hisana admits softly as she walked ahead, startling both Edward and Noah with her words as she waved the hand with the ring on it out and snapped her fingers. A small jet of fire would shoot from her fingers with the motion knowing it would remind Edward of Mustang with the move.
"How?" Edward asks in awe as Hisana just smiled and led the way to the clinic.
"MY stories were more than just stories Edward just like yours were…Your father was showing me some stuff that I could do before he vanished in Romania, just after I finished making the arm and leg for you" Hisana admits as Edward nodded knowing he would need to get some time alone with her to ask more. He knew that the ravenette didn't trust Noah quite yet to share more beyond what she just had and the trio would fall into comfortable silence.
"And its thoughts and people like you that make the Allies wary, why they forced this country to sign the treaty, why Germany is in such a state after the war" Hisana interrupts, standing up and in front of Edward and Noah much to the blonde's silent surprise since the ravenette tended to ignore commentary like that and it would shut up the scarred man as he glared at the English teen in surprise. The man would quiet down and get back to his own appointment with the doctor under her stern glare, grumbling after the three teens left.
"You okay?" Edward asks concerned as Hisana rubbed her forehead, her annoyance obvious as they walked to a ration station to pick up lunch.
"Yeah I'm fine, people like that man at the clinic are a dime a dozen and it pisses me off to no end because its people like that man think and behave like he did that cause fights, cause wars and continue the never ending cycle of discrimination. It's the same everywhere and with how tense things are right now I lost my patience" Hisana grunts out as Edward nodded in agreement with her, knowing she was right.
Noah on her part would silently thank the ravenette for standing up for her, keeping her between her and Edward when they finally reached their destination as she noted the dirty looks Hisana got for her clothing and accented German.
"I'm sure it gets to you, hearing speeches like that" Edward says quietly as the trio ate.
"Not really, my people have gotten used to ignorance about who we are. The name gypsy comes from the lie we told when we said our ancestors were fortune tellers in Egypt, after all. "Bohemian," "Gitane," "Zigeuner," "nomad" outsiders can call us whatever they want" Noah explains patiently while Hisana continued to eat, listening to the pair talk as she stood between them.
"I see, then how do you refer to yourself? You must have some name" Edward asks curiously.
"Roma" Noah states as Edward asks what it means. "It's our word for human" she continues to explain as Hisana smiles lightly.
"I like it" Hisana says softly looking up at Noah with understanding green eyes as the older girl softens and smiles at her for the first time, seeing exactly why Edward would warm up to the girl with curious power so similar yet so different to her own.
"Edward come back" Hisana shouts, having seen the car with the old man that had caught Ed's attention and knew that the face must have been one he knew negatively on the other side if he said he'd meet them back at the apartment.
"Damnit…lets head back as he said that way I can change into something easier to work in and see if I can track him down" Hisana sighs tiredly as Noah nodded and followed the girl back. She would let Noah touch her for the first time, conscious of shielding the older girl from some of her darker memories and ignore the sound of surprise the Roma woman gave off.
"You're like me too" Noah says softly as Hisana nodded unashamed of the fact.
"Mhm never truly had a home to be honest and the place I thought could be home was and is nothing more than a death trap…Honestly if I put in a little effort I could go back, but with Ed and Al as they are? They wouldn't survive a day without me to take care of them and make sure they're okay" Hisana admits quietly as Noah nodded in understanding.
"Would you take them with you if you tried?" Noah asks as Hisana makes a wounded noise in the back of her throat knowing only Edward would likely survive the attempt if she were to try and take her boys back home with her.
"Only Ed and I would survive the trip Noah and I can't leave Alfons behind, not when he needs someone to take care of him" Hisana says softly, eyes sad as she unlocked the apartment door and let the Roma girl in, locking the door behind them again. She would trudge up the stairs and change into the only other variation of her work clothes she owned in beige overalls, a black long sleeve shirt and her usual black work boots, stuffing everything she owned and the prosthetics she had made for Edward into her bag in case of emergency before tightly securing her bag to her person and heading down stairs again to prepare dinner.
Noah would startle an hour later, as Hisana was preparing their food when she heard a crash from the kitchen itself and would hurry in to find Hisana had stumbled and dropped what she was doing to brace herself on the counter.
"Hisana, what's wrong?" Noah asks as the ravenette struggled to stand up straight, trying to fight off the dizziness and nausea she felt from whatever dark magic was at work.
"Give me a moment and I might be able to tell you…it's so dark and angry that my abilities don't like whatever is going on" Hisana hisses out as Noah guided her to a chair to sit down and ride out the pain she was feeling. The pain wouldn't go away though much to Noah's concern and worry, it only progressively got worse.
It would disappear suddenly, too sudden for Hisana to brace herself as she cried out in agony as she felt the dozens of soldiers of the Thule society slip into the incomplete Gate they had created, not noticing the symbol for the Deathly Hallows form on the inside of her right wrist.
"Noah, stay here within the rune sequence I set up earlier. I need to go investigate what's going on. You'll be safe as long as you and Gracia don't step outside the sequence" Hisana hisses out before apparating out of the apartment and using her magic to guide her to the source of dark energy she felt and the source of her pain. Her pain would ease the closer she got and the itching stopping permanently as she realized it was Obeforth's villa she was at and that the source of dark power was coming from deep within its walls.
Hisana would be slinking around only to nearly shriek in fright as Edward grabbed her from behind, the blonde wondering silently why she was there.
"Edward what the hell" Hisana sighs as they hid behind a corner, the ravenette looking tired and like she had gone a round or two with Tanaka.
"What are you doing here?" Edward asks once they made sure the coast was clear, the blonde noting the broken window as a way to get in and avoid all the guards.
"Something happened last night…My abilities didn't like it very much and I couldn't do anything constructive till I moved in the direction the disturbance was coming from" Hisana explains quietly as Edward frowned and asked her to explain what she meant by that.
"Let's get inside and I'll explain…and let me finish before you ask any questions Ed" Hisana says before climbing up and through the broken window, careful not to cut herself as she did so. Edward wasn't so careful as he climbed through next, cutting his face.
"You know the ring I always wear? Well it's a focus for my power and due to an accident two years ago my first focus broke and I had to get this one, but since then my powers have been more sensitive to energy, light or dark that are similar to my own I can sense it and in the case of last night feel it. All I could feel was pain, anger and pure agony at whatever was going on here and eventually I had to come investigate only if to stop feeling the pain I was feeling and see what happened for it to suddenly stop for a minute only to come back even worse than before" Hisana explains quietly as they looked around, glimpsing the factory and seeing Alfons' rocket engines.
"So the Thule Society was doing an experiment last night and you got caught in the blast radius of whatever it was they were doing" Edward muses, mumbling about hoping that the Thule Society wasn't Alfons' sponsors as they passed by a factory. He would startle though when he spotted the symbol for the Deathly Hallows on Hisana's right wrist and pull it up to get a closer look.
"When did you get a tattoo?" Edward asks running his left thumb over the marked skin as Hisana paled and stared at the mark, having done her research on her family only if to kill time and learn about herself and the magics she might be able to learn safely, true Alchemy being amongst them.
"I didn't…that was the source of the itch I felt in my wrist during the more bearable part of the evening when I was dealing with the pain" Hisana mumbles as Edward let go and knew it was something they'd have to look into as they approached the center of another room with faded white chalk on the floor.
"It looks like some sort of sorcery diagram, probably for sacrificing virgins or summoning demons from inside the earth. These guys are hopeless" Edward says amused as Hisana shook her head.
"Don't joke Ed, that crap is possible even if it comes from the darker parts of what people with my power could and can do" Hisana says quietly, her whole body tense and unease on her face as Edward realized it wasn't a spell.
"It's alchemy" the blonde says in surprise as Hisana looked down and closer to see what he was looking at the faded circle. "But why? Alchemy is not supposed to work on this side of the gate. The circle's not down, its worn down" he continues as Hisana moved away from the circle and let her friend work, keeping a look out for trouble.
Both wouldn't notice their watcher on the second floor watching Edward work as the blonde asked himself why he was redoing the circle if it wouldn't make a difference when there was nothing to power it, wiping his gloved hand down the injured side of his face and bringing the bloodied glove down onto the circle.
"Edward" Hisana calls out warily as Envy spoke up, calling the blonde a puppet and a pipsqueak as an incomplete portal opened above them and armor began falling out. It would force Hisana to move right up against Edward to avoid getting hit.
"What's going on here? I didn't do any of this" Edward says in shock as he put himself between Hisana and the people running into the room demanding to know what was going on, wondering why the portal had opened a second time.
"Leave him alone" Hisana cries out as one of the guards grabbed her from behind and forced her away as the ring leader demanded to know what Edward had done, stating he was the one asking the questions when Edward asked what was going on while the other guards spread out to check the armored bodies.
"Is this your doing boy?" Hess demands reaching forward to grab Edward when the blonde only glared at him when the guards reported the bodies to be all dead, only to be cut off as a woman's voice broke the tension.
"There is a vast underground kingdom down there, greater than any above ground. Mountains of deep snow protect it. A utopia, without war, or illness, or suffering, or hate. The wisdom of whose inhabitants promises perfect peace, and the mystical power of its armed forces...promises victory in the final war. The road to Shamballa is not an easy one. It appears that your hypothesis was correct, Professor" Chairman Eckart says congratulating the man in question as Hisana glared at the woman, knowing now it was this woman's sick obsession and experiments that had set off her magic.
"A lucky guess, Chairman this is the boy I was telling you about, though the girl was a bit of surprise" the professor explains as the guard forces Hisana to her knees next to Edward.
"Hello Edward Elric your father was once a part of our society and still helps today" Eckart says pleasantly as Hisana grabbed Edward's flesh hand with one of her own to ease her fears as Edward admits he didn't know where his father was and didn't know what Hohenheim had told them.
"My name is Dietlinde Eckart" Eckart introduces herself as Hisana feels Edward squeeze her hand as if sensing her unease.
"Thule Island, or the Kingdom of Shamballa, or whatever it is, you people seem to be obsessed with any world, but this one" Edward says warily not liking where this was going.
"I guess we have that in common" Eckart muses as Hess points a gun at Edward's head, the professor speaking up to stop him.
"His plans for Germany are in motion. What if this boy and girl tells our secret to the rest of Berlin" Hess demands as Edward grabs the gun with his metal hand, forcing Hess to fire as he flips away, Hisana diving for cover in the armor with Ed as she pulled out her throwing knives from her bag glad that the men hadn't thought to take it from her.
"Brother?" a faint and young male voice asks in shock right beside Edward's head as Hisana kept close only to fight the urge to scream in shock as the possessed armor stood up and removed their cover, taking Ed into its arms and babbling it couldn't believe Edward was okay and that he'd found him.
"Uhm, he can't breathe" Hisana speaks up on Edward's behalf as Alphonse dropped his older brother and looked to the other girl in surprise.
"You've changed, you got taller now" Alphonse notes out loud as Hisana giggled at the oncoming rant since his height had always been Edward's sensitive button, the blonde knocking off the armor's helmet.
"I told you, idiots are everywhere Ed and of course he's still causing trouble" Hisana hisses as she dove for cover again as Hess and his men opened fire on them, Alphonse vocalizing the fact that Edward hadn't changed in the way he always seemed to find trouble.
"You aren't any better Hisana, now save the lecture and lets get out of here" Edward shoots back as Hisana punches him in his non metal arm while Alphonse takes the lead, the pair climbing onto the armor's back and making their get away, Hisana cackling at the arguing going on.
Once safely away introductions would be made between Alphonse and Hisana, the younger boy thanking the girl for taking care of his brother as Hisana giggled at Edward's flushed face and nodded only for the amusement to slip away at Alphonse's next words.
"I've dreamed of this place, its pretty. Are we in the gate?" Alphonse asks as Hisana pulled her legs up and rested her chin on her knees.
"No we're on the other side. Forget that, I want to hear about your life. Its really you right? How'd you get stuck in this armor again?" Edward asks as Hisana shook her head no as Alphonse asks what Edward meant by again only to remember what the others in Amestris had told him about the four year gap in his memories.
"You don't remember? What?" Edward asks confused as Alphonse admits to only remembering last seeing him the day they tried to bring their mother back and that he'd woken up in Central and that Rose had taken him home to Resembool.
"As confused as I was I knew you were alive out there somewhere and one day we'd be together again" Alphonse admits with surety. "I wonder how they opened that portal will they do it again?" he continues only to cut off much to Edward's shock and Hisana's dismay as the armor shook. She would bite her lip and stop herself from crying at the obvious hurt Edward was likely feeling and distress Alphonse was likely feeling as Alphonse tried to reassure Edward in the fact he might know how to bring him back by opening up the portal from his side and use it to bring Edward home.
"C'mon Ed lets go home" Hisana says softly pulling the blonde to his feet and tugging him gently along towards the apartment where Alfons and Noah were likely waiting for them.
"You're awfully late. What's with the smirk, did something good happen?" Alfons asks as the pair walked in the door, Edward taking off his jacket while Hisana moved to go see if Alfons' flask needed refilling and would miss Edward's response to Alfons' question.
"Who was that?" Hisana asks walking back into the room with Alfons' flask for the blonde to take gratefully while Edward asks where Ufa was and if he'd heard of it after getting off the phone.
"Just a friend" Edward reassures as Hisana gave him a look before sighing and crossing her arms.
"Alright if its just a friend you won't mind if I come along then. I'll repeat myself though to you Al don't leave the flask behind and I will know if you do" Hisana says quietly before heading upstairs to change out of her clothes and try to forget about the near death encounter they'd had with Hess and his men.
The next day both Edward and Hisana would leave Munich for Berlin to see Fritz, Hisana marveling over the work Fritz had done on his dragon and mechanics behind it.
"Okay I see now, considering the work it took to rig this I can see now why you wanted to film the real thing" Edward says patting the mechanical dragon's head as Hisana poked and prodded at the joints and gave some places a gentle tap with her wrench.
"Still I can't complain, seeing the real thing helped make the fake a great deal better" Fritz says snapping his fingers and the machine thrashes about like the real thing.
"I could give you some pointers if you want" Hisana speaks up as Fritz looked to her slightly surprised, but smile thankfully seeing the wrench and knowledge in her green eyes while Edward called him out on the fake name he had given the blonde when they first met.
"I'm torn by the idea of leaving this country and moving to America for a while. I've been reading American novels and publications to sort of get myself in the mood. They have a great deal of science fiction or scientific romances as some call it and there was an idea in a recent book that caught my eye" Fritz explains handing the book over to Edward while Hisana looked around, watching all of Fritz's employees and movie crew work on the set.
"They call it a parallel world, an entire planet existing side by side with ours separate yet connected by some invisible force. They might share similarities in history and people but with some fundamental difference. Maybe it's a world where magic and dragons do exist or I don't know Alchemy triumphed over Physics and paved the whole world in gold and maybe given those rules, Lang isn't a director. Maybe he's a criminal walking around with the same face as mine or for that matter maybe he's a woman. Imagine, its fun to think about isn't it" Fritz explains as Hisana listens attentive knowing that the theory was real and that the magicals would prove it in her time, but not share it.
"Any place like that would just feel like a fantasy" Edward says handing back the book and looping his other arm through Hisana's to keep her from wandering off.
"You think so? But then how would you know which world is make believe or even which one is real?" Fritz asks as Hisana took Edward's hand into hers instead of walking arm in arm together.
"Believe me it just would. You'll never know what its like spending your whole life in a dream" Edward says completely missing the slightly sad look on Hisana's face as she looked ahead of her, upset Edward even thought she was a part of a dream. That everyone around him and the world they lived in was the dream and not his reality.
As they drank tea she would see the same look of recognition on the blonde's face when one of Fritz's actresses approached to talk with Fritz before walking away in a huff at Edward's staring.
"So what did you want to discuss?" Edward asks after clearing his throat, Hisana taking a sip of her tea to listen and watch the discussion. Fritz would pull out a book for Edward to have.
"Major General Karl Haushofer's book. I met him in the island nation of the Empire of Japan before the war doing his research. His thesis is that the island has success because it was made up entirely of a single race. Germany meanwhile is disjointed and its people spread out far and wide beyond its own borders. Scattered throughout Poland, Austria, and any other countries across Europe. Haushofer believes those nations should be unified and then distilled, creating a homeland for the true German race" Fritz explains as Hisana hisses in anger at the idea.
"I'm sorry I think I'll pass" Edward says pushing the book away.
"Hold it Ed there's more. Haushofer also writes about a utopia, Shamballa. It's a legend in the orient and its said those who rule it can rule the world. This society of his believes that" Fritz says as Hisana jerkily put her tea cup down so she didn't break it.
"What do you believe?" Hisana asks, speaking up for the first time in the whole time since the start of the whole visit.
"Do you know what this device is Ed, Hisana?" Fritz asks showing them a picture with a group of scientists and a Uranium bomb in it, not answering her question.
"What?" Edward says in shock remembering his encounter with the scientist in his side of the gate as he took the picture. Hisana only knew of the devastation of what the bomb could do when it went off.
"Not long ago the Thule Society helped form the National Socialist Workers Party in Germany which still serves an active role in their ranks. Playing the name of rival Socialists, they're called Nazi's for short" Fritz explains as Hisana fights not to snarl at the name while Edward asks what that meant.
"The party is supposedly planning a large scale uprising sometime in November. The consensus in important circles is that they don't have enough supporters and that Berlin's forces will put them down. The Thule Society however disagrees. They have guaranteed victory to their leader who they call the Furher and as proof of their claim that picture is what they showed him. They say it's a bomb of devastating power. They also say it relies on a scientific principle never before conceived in this world. Haushofer and the others claim if they're given enough funding and power they'll be able to bring weapons of this magnitude one after another through the portal, creating an unstoppable force" Fritz explains, dropping a sugar cube into his tea and mixing it in.
"They want to use the other world in their uprising?!" Edward asks in shock as he stands up, Hisana quick to follow as she pulled on her coat while Fritz asked what the blonde was planning now.
"I can't let them do that, I have to close that gate for good" Edward states fiercely as Hisana nodded in agreement.
"Let them be. They want a war? There's nothing you can do to stop them. I just told you both as a warning so you know to keep your distance. You should come work for me instead" Fritz says brining his tea cup up to take a sip from it.
"Hold on, how do you know so much about these Nazis anyway?" Edward asks as Hisana picked up Ed's coat and put it over her arm, meeting Fritz's eyes from behind Edward with hidden knowledge in their depths.
"This Furher, Adolf Hitler is a charismatic man. My wife has become a fanatic believer, through her the Nazis have asked me to work for them many times. But I'm no fool, I'm one of the many Jews they want to get rid of. After they exploited my talents they'd cast me aside so I cast them off first. Reality is just a knotted mess, I choose to avoid" Fritz explains as Hisana sighed and spoke up for the first time and cutting off whatever Edward was going to say.
"It's your choice since its your life and work on the line, but avoidance will only get you so far and if you continue to go that route it's best you get out of this country because men and women like Hitler and his fanatics won't stop till they get what they want. They won't care you rolled over and got out of their way, as you said your just another Jew they want to get rid of and won't hesitate to use your decision to brush them off against you when they do finally rise to power regardless if their plans succeed or not. With this rise all you've built and all your dreams will be crushed and taken away from you for not stepping up and fighting back if your still here come that time" Hisana states with hard conviction before grabbing Edward's hand and dragging him out of the studio at a run.
'Noah left the sequence' Hisana thinks in distress as they ran home, Edward over taking her with his longer legs and dragging her behind him.
"Al left his flask behind again" Hisana mumbles in dismay as she spotted it by the front door later that night, having found Noah safe and sound in the apartment when she and Edward returned from Ufa.
"Al!" Hisana cries out in dismay as she heard the coughing and arguing from the kitchen, spotting the blood on Alfon's hand from where he'd covered his mouth and startling both blondes into looking in her direction.
"The truth is I'm running out of time, you say this world is not yours? Well it is mine and I want to leave proof that I lived in it. It's a bit late for you to start caring now" Alfons says before racing out of the apartment with Hisana quickly on his heels in her bare feet.
"Al wait!" Hisana cries and forcing the blonde to stop as she ran right into his back and hugged him tightly, tears trailing down her cheeks as she cried.
"I'm sorry" Alfons mumbles turning around to hug Hisana back knowing she'd only been trying to ease his suffering and prolong the inevitable so he could complete his work and he'd only blown her off in the recent weeks with the new funding and success. "You should head home, you're hardly dressed to go anywhere" he points out weakly as Hisana shook her head no and hugged him only tighter.
"You should have listened and taken my flask with you otherwise you wouldn't be to the point your coughing up blood under stress…You also shouldn't have argued with Ed like that when you know you don't have much time left. You don't want your last conversation with him to be an argument" Hisana hiccups as Alfons with his clean hand wiped away the tears he and Edward had caused with their arguing.
"I know and I'm sorry…I got so excited and forgot even with your reminders" Alfons sighs as Hisana nodded and wiped his blood covered hand clean before letting the blonde go, flask in hand this time.
Hisana would return to the apartment and curl up with Edward that night after the pair sat down and finally talked privately and quietly about what she was and how like the blonde she was out of place in this time period in opposite to the blonde being out of place in this world. She would quietly tell him briefly about magic and the wonders it could produce and also of the darkness that came with it sometimes when magic users dabbled in magics not suitable to their alignment type. Edward would let her sleep in the bed with him that night, the ravenette having cried a little bit at what little she'd revealed of her life to him from her abuse to the life and death adventures she had gotten into at Hogwarts with her friends.
Both unaware Noah would take advantage of their weakness to get a glimpse into Edward's thoughts and memories to find a way for the Thule Society to open the gate.
The next day things would continue on as usual, but Hisana was on edge due to a gut feeling that told her something was going to happen and it proved her right with the mumblings in the nearby tavern when she, Edward and Noah went out to get food, Hisana dressed in her spare work clothes and hair ribbon spelled navy blue since red was a no go considering the Nazi party's logo. Especially when Noah left with Hess, betraying them both for the Nazi party.
"Let's go Ed" Hisana says as Fritz came to both their rescue, the ravenette sacking her captors and racing forward to get in the car.
"Thanks for the help Fritz" Hisana says as she climbed into the back of the car, the old man nodding in her direction as Edward climbed in and he drove off.
"You do want to go to Obeforth's villa correct?" Fritz asks, breaking the silence as he drove the pair to their first destination.
"Yeah, why are you helping?" Edward asks curiously as Hisana only smiles and leans forward to kiss the man's cheek in gratitude, knowing full well why.
"Who knows, maybe I'm just trying to avoid being forced out of my dream" Fritz says as Edward and Hisana share a smile at the old man's words.
"We need to go faster Fritz" Hisana hisses as she feels the power of the gate coming from the villa, her right wrist itching in agreement with her words. They would all hop into the plane, Hisana squished in behind Edward as they flew to where they needed to be.
"Do you think you can fly this thing?" Edward shouts behind him to Fritz.
"More or less" Fritz says as the two teens switch spots and jump down from the plane once they're over where Edward remembered the circle had been set up.
"This is the most reckless thing I've ever done Edward Elric and if we live through this you so fucking owe me a bloody date" Hisana shouts as they broke through the window and crashed into the room, both smacking into Envy and landing apart from each other as Edward hit the floor while Hisana managed to get a hold of the homunculus.
"And here he is, dropped from the heavens. Seems like we can't do this without you" Eckart says as Edward stood up and caught Hisana who dropped down into his waiting arms.
"You mean using Noah as my stand in didn't work? How could you?" Edward demands of Noah as he held Hisana close after putting her down on her feet.
"But its your world on the other side, isn't that right Edward?" Noah demands as Hisana snarled silently at the older woman, her green eyes bright in her anger and itching to jump across and beat Noah senseless for her betrayal of their trust.
"Well it isn't Shamballa I can promise you that" Edward states as he kept a firm hold of the witch.
"I want to see it, no I want to go there and never come back. Isn't that the only place I can belong, another world where people won't hate and distrust me" Noah cries out as Hisana spoke up, her voice cold with her anger.
"Discrimination is something you can't avoid Noah, it follows you everywhere and the other side will be no different. You saw into Ed's head so you should know or did you only look at what the fanatics wanted you to look for and ignore the rest in your hurry to betray our trust and kindness. I thought you were proud to be Roma, to be different than the rest of the world and live freely from society's expectations, valuing family and the tribe over land that truly isn't yours in the end" Hisana demands harshly as Noah flinched and defended herself.
"I am, but I want something more. I've always dreamt of it" Noah says tearfully as Edward speaks up.
"Trust me Noah, what lies ahead for us now? It's no dream" Edward says seriously only for Hisana to cry out in agony as the gate flashed and a wave of power burst out from the circle etched into the room ceiling and leaning into Edward.
"Someone opened the gate on the other side" Hisana hisses, only to be heard by Edward as he drew his gun.
"I wouldn't do that" Eckart says as she pulled a lever and revealed Envy's head and in his jaws, Hohenheim.
"Dad? How did he get here? What's going on?" Edward demands as he lowered his gun and Hisana wobbled to stand on her own, green eyes wide with horror at the scene in front of her.
"We found this was the most effective approach of keeping the great serpent calm and quiet. Luckily for us your father doesn't die so easily" Eckart admits as Hohenheim came to and saw them both.
"Hey there you are, about time" Hohenheim calls out weakly as Hisana stepped forward in hopes of helping only to wobble and nearly fall, Edward catching a hold of her as he spoke up in his shock.
"How Dad? How did they catch you?" Edward asks as Hisana steadied herself and listened with dread.
"Easily, I wanted to create a portal between our worlds by using the science and magic they study on this side of the gate. Haushofer made me a proposal" Hohenheim explains as Edward moved, stating he was getting him down only for Hohenheim to stop him.
"Son no, this is what I wanted. I'm a sinner Ed, Hisana. I failed to bring the son I lost back to life, instead I turned him into a monster, and then abandoned him. I took the lives of countless people to save myself and couldn't stop this beast from hurting you" Hohenheim explains as Envy growled.
"So what? How are those reasons for helping them?" Edward demands angrily, Hisana slowly approaching to stand at Edward's side with knowing green eyes while Hohenheim looked up at the transmutation circle as his answer.
"You're trying to get me home?" Edward asks quietly as Hohenheim admits the truth in offering his life as the price to open this side of the gate with Envy as the conduit.
"Forget the portal, I don't need to go back" Edward snaps back as Hohenheim asked them both to give Alphonse his regards and forces Envy to snap his jaws and kill him, completing the circle and opening the portal before Edward or Hisana could argue further.
Edward would fall to his knees in shock as Hisana silently kneeled and held him to her, forcing herself not to cry since things weren't over yet. She would dive forward after Ed as Eckart shot at them both - Edward falling forward without a care - slowing their descent.
"Help me get him into the rocket Hisana" Alfons says quietly as the ravenette nodded tearfully knowing that this was what Hohenheim and Alfons wanted for the blonde. That they wanted to get him home and she knew she shouldn't and wouldn't get in the way of that.
"You're the lucky one Ed" Alfons says quietly as Edward finally came to while Hisana got things ready and let Alfons say his good byes to Edward knowing she wouldn't let him go if she were to do the same.
"No regrets" Hisana says quietly as she flinched at Edward's yells for them to wait as she and Alfons launched Edward into the portal in the other prototype they were working on. She would cry out though at the sound of a gun and duck only to scream as Alfons collapsed, turning on Hess in her rage, knives in hand as she forced the man away before turning to Alfons.
"No, no, no Al don't do this to me, don't leave me alone" Hisana pleads as Al smiled weakly at her, leaning into her warm hands as she brushed his bangs out of his face with his head being gently lifted into her lap.
"Too late Hisana, I'm glad you were my friend and the sister I always wanted…always taking care of me and making sure I could do the work I wanted…Take care and don't forget me" Alfons whispers weakly before the life finally faded from his eyes and leaving Hisana to cry and wail her grief over his body, head in her lap and staining her clothes with his blood.
"I should have tried harder, for your sake if not for Ed's" Hisana whispers into Alfons' hair knowing she should have searched harder for a cure, paid more attention and made sure her first true friend was safe with his sponsors. She wouldn't startle or flinch as Noah approached and wrapped her arms around her in silent comfort as she continued to cry with Alfons in her arms.
Hisana would let go though as she heard the noise of more rockets preparing to launch into the portal and stand, green eyes hard as she pushed up her sleeves and raced back upstairs. She would snap her fingers and fire a bolt of lightning and destroy a rocket about to launch into the portal, not caring about those on board as she focused on the fact that Edward needed her and the Thule Society was abusing and using Alfons' work for their own selfish gains. Her magic and alchemy responding to her anger and will as she continued to destroy more rockets and take out those who tried to stop her with every elemental spell and alchemy circle at her disposal. Some made it through, but she knew that she had weakened them enough to be taken out easily by Edward and the Alchemists of the other side.
"Its all up to you now Ed" Hisana sighs quietly once the last of the rockets were destroyed, willing her magic to rest and coming to a stop with her attacks now that the Thule Society was crippled. She was uncaring of what news Hughes brought and glared at the man as she stood between them and her friends. She was the only one unfazed as a rocket came back through the portal and stood her ground as a black and mutated Eckart exited the ruined rocket first, only to be shot dead by Hughes in his fear of her appearance as the woman tried to get Noah to open the gate again.
"Edward" Hisana and Noah would call out, the former in relief and the later in surprise that he had come back as the blonde responded.
"Hisana, Noah. That's right after all that trouble I'm still here. Surprised?" Edward asks only to stumble in surprise as Hisana threw herself at him with a sob, Noah putting Alfons down to reveal why Hisana was so upset.
"Why? Why would you come back to our world Ed?" Noah asks as the blonde tried to comfort the blood covered Hisana.
"It's hard to explain" Edward admits as he held Hisana to him, running his metal hand through her short black hair and noting the bits of debris and blood that came out with it, obviously not her own.
"He came to destroy the gate" Alphonse spoke up from the armor behind them, Hisana approaching first to take the helmet off as Edward asked if he had transferred his soul again and how long he had. Only for them all to startle as Alphonse's head peaked out and take in Hisana for the first time with his own eyes, noting the distinct differences between her and Winry. Why his brother likely came back so willingly to destroy the gate on this side.
"Al?! What are you doing here?" Edward demands as Hisana stumbled back into the blonde while Alphonse unstrapped and climbed out of the armor so much like the one Edward had bound him to all those years ago.
"I jumped onto your ship at the last minute brother. Then I hid inside this armor so you wouldn't find me, General Mustang should be breaking down the gate on the other side right now and we're going to destroy it on this side right?" Alphonse says as Hisana snorted wetly and stepped forward to wrap the boy in a fierce hug, uncaring of her bloodied state.
"But you won't be able to go home Al" Edward points out quietly as Alphonse detangled himself from the ravenette with a small smile.
"I want to be at your side brother, no matter what. I want to see the same things and live in your world and keep on journeying together like those years we were looking for the stone. Despite all the hardships those were the best times we had" Alphonse says as Hisana smiled tearfully at what the younger boy was trying to say.
"Al, are you telling me you got your memories back?" Edward asks in shock.
"Mhm when we left our world I think" Alphonse admits as Edward snorted.
"Equivalent Exchange huh" Edward says with a snort and stands up to stand at Hisana and Alphonse's side to look up at the still open portal.
"Destroying the gate is going to be a challenge without Alchemy" Edward points out as Hisana covered her mouth and resisted the urge to laugh at the blonde's forgetfulness.
"Between the two of us I think we'll work it out" Alphonse points out as Hisana cleared her throat and stepped forward.
"I think you mean three Alphonse and it will be a piece of cake" Hisana says with glee as she clapped her hands together eagerly with a large smile on her face, her ring flashing slightly in her eagerness. "It's just making sure we burn all their notes and making sure they can't perform a repeat of today" she continues as she cracked her knuckles and clapped her hands, bringing them down onto the floor and creating herself a platform to reach higher so no one would get caught in what she planned to do.
"I thought you couldn't do Alchemy here?!" Alphonse asks in shock while Edward nearly fainted in shock at what Hisana was doing. How she was doing Alchemy without a circle.
"Mhm you usually can't…Edward and I will tell you more later, but for now stand back and watch how I do things" Hisana cackles as she climbed up and practically destroyed the gate with Flame alchemy and a series of Bombarda spells that had most if not all people in the factory fleeing for their lives.
Once she was done they would carry Alfons out and take him to be buried in the aftermath of the uprising and attempt to wipe out Amestris. In this quiet and uneasy calm Hisana would sit Edward and Alphonse both down, explaining all she could in full detail this time as to how she was able to do their alchemy and how she would take them if they wanted to get a focus much like her ring so they could continue their craft in private since the normal side of the world had moved on and believed alchemy to be a dead science and magic to be that of fairy tales.
"I offered your father the chance when I was building you a new arm and leg to take you both into the magic district in Romania for focuses you know? He told me he'd think about it and never got back to me before he disappeared" Hisana says quietly the day of the funeral, dressed in her black Ao Dai and hair ribbon spelled white as Edward stood leaned against the door watching her compose herself and get ready for Alfons' funeral.
"Yeah well he was a stubborn bastard and wouldn't listen" Edward grunts in slight annoyance as Hisana smiled weakly in amusement.
"Let's go" Edward offers his arm changing the subject and lets Hisana lean into him, she taking things the hardest as Gracia drove all of them to the cemetery. She would silently cry during the funeral, smiling lightly at Noah's last gift to her brother and friend glad that the woman had fixed things between her and Edward.
Fixed things enough to get them a ride out of Munich later that day as Alphonse asked Edward where they were going to go next.
"First we have to track down that Uranium bomb that was brought over from the other side. A weapon like that shouldn't exist no matter which world it's in" Edward says seriously as Hisana grimaces at the reminder.
"People say another great war is inevitable in this world. And everything that's going on? Maybe they're right. Are you sure we should get involved in their battles?" Alphonse asks as Hisana kept her silence on the matter, knowing what was to come and knowing she couldn't mess with the timeline unless she wanted to cause a paradox.
"Like I said Al, we can't keep thinking that we're all that matter. That the world has nothing to do with us. That goes for both sides of the gate, this is where we live. It's home now and we have to do our part" Edward says as they all share a smile at the end of his statement unaware that Hisana's timeline would catch up with them during this search months later when she turned 18 and Alphonse turned 17 and Edward turned 19.
It was sudden and they were so caught off guard the boys didn't have time to fight back as a circle appeared beneath them in the hotel room they had rented with Hisana and were dragged away, belongings and all and black out in the process.
Hisana would come to first and realize immediately what happened as she came face to face with a fox youkai, her cursing and swearing waking the boys.
"Oh bloody fucking hell, the bunch of idiotic, stupid and selfish fuckers. They couldn't bloody let me be and dragged me back" Hisana rants much like Edward about his shortness much to Alphonse's awe only having seen the kinder and quieter side of the girl his older brother had started dating during their search for the bomb.
"We managed to divert the ritual so you wouldn't land where you were wanted Lady Potter" the fox youkai points out gently as Hisana calms slightly and bows, both Edward and Alphonse staring in shock at the youkai.
"And I'm grateful my contingency plans with the Romania branch held through…god what a mess" Hisana sighs weakly as she sat down and buried her hands in her hair, face pained at the thought of the coming conversation.
"Your Japanese manager is in the other room waiting for you my lady" the fox points out gently in silent offer to explain things better to her companions and she would take it knowing her manager would need to catch her up on what she'd missed and what she needed to do to escape Dumbledore's and Britain's greedy grasp.
Once she gets up and leaves the room on unsteady legs the fox youkai gets both Elrics comfortable and some food before explaining exactly what had happened to them and what year it was exactly that the ritual had pulled them to with Hisana.
"What you have to understand young man is that things are currently a dark and twisted mess in Europe right now. A dark mage has everyone on their toes and is out for domination of Magical Britain with his blood purist ideals and a lot of support from the older magical families and using them for his own gains. How Lady Potter fits into all this is due to a prophecy made about the dark mage's downfall at the hands of a child born as the seventh month dies with a power he knows not and that one couldn't survive while the other lived. He took this as a threat and choose the seemingly weaker target between two children who fit this bill a year later and attacked Lady Potter's family after one of the family's friends and a follower of the dark mage betrayed their trust and gave away their hiding place" the youkai started explaining as Edward asks what all of it had to do with coming forward a little over 50 years into the future from the time Hisana had landed in after falling through the failed gate.
"She survived that attack with only a scare on her head which has long since faded as you likely have noticed and the mages of Britain labeled her as the Girl Who Lived, being the only known RECORDED survivor of the death curse. Lady Potter's whereabouts were unknown till she reappeared for her schooling at age eleven and it was only her initiative to share with the Romanian branch after her tumble through the veil that anyone realized that Dumbledore, the Headmaster and leader of the resistance in Britain had placed Lady Potter with her mother's relatives. Placed her with people that weren't listed in the Potter Will as potential guardians and abused her for her gift of magic for a decade and unknowing of her position, power and status in this side of the world. A easy to manipulate pawn at that man's disposal as she later realized under the care of Tanaka Sasagawa who showed her better and taught her better after sharing her experiences with the old man, Tanaka san writing it all down for our records. Now that old man wants her back under his thumb and performed a nearly illegal ritual to do so and we of the Japanese branch and holders of the vaults Tanaka san had left to Lady Potter made sure that he wouldn't get her" the youkai states viciously as Alphonse puts the pieces together quietly speaking up.
"We got caught in the middle and this Dumbledore wants Hisana to finish the path he forced her on" Alphonse says worriedly looking to his older brother as Edward clenched his fists and jaw in his anger at the situation. That much like Dante and the Homunculus did to him and Alphonse the people who were supposed to care about Hisana had been forcing her to fight the adults battles before she could even understand or stand up for what SHE wanted.
"Yes, but truthfully its good that you came with her because she has no idea who to trust and turn to in Britain. She trusts you if you have an idea of what we're discussing and not lost consciousness at my very appearance and Lady Potter needs all the help she can get to put an end to all the suffering and put down the mutt that started all of this. The mutt that committed the mage taboo of splitting his soul into seven pieces in an attempt at immortality" the fox youkai states, growling in disgust at the last piece of information.
"Can you help us catch up on what we need to know?" Edward asks, voice hard as he made eye contact with the fox youkai, gold meeting gold unafraid when the fox cackled and nodded.
"Yes we youkai of Gringots would be more than willing to help you while Lady Potter gets her finances and your lodgings in order" the fox youkai cackles before letting in the mind healers of the bank into the room to magically implant all the information the brothers would need to know for both sides of the world (Mundane Education and Magical Education in full for Edward and up to the point where Alphonse could enroll anywhere since he still had a year left before he'd be too old for most of the primary magical schools). It was disorienting to say the least for the brothers and both would feel sick at the realization of what had happened with the Uranium bomb, that regardless of whether or not they'd found the original the Americans would create their own and bomb two cities of the country they were in currently to end the second World War.
"Hisana knew, its why she was wary to help" Alphonse points out quietly in the silence as the youkai left to get them focuses, the necessary paperwork to give them identities in the current period and talk while they all waited for Hisana to come back. Tanaka's written words on what Hisana had shared in front of them to read.
"She didn't want to cause a paradox and kill off everyone she knew and cared about in this time" Edward grimaces as he began to read what Tanaka had left behind and both would look up two hours later when the door creaked open and Hisana peeked in, looking unsure what to say or do now that they knew. Especially Edward considering she had watered down what she had gone through at Hogwarts when she had told him a little about her life when they were still in Munich.
Both brothers would stand up and hug her between them, Edward burying his nose in her hair and feel relieved she was alright after what had happened to them.
"You're not mad?" Hisana asks weakly as Alphonse hugged her all the tighter at the insecurity in her voice and how tiny she seemed at the thought of them hating her. No one should be made to think or feel that way and it hurt him that his new big sister felt this way about her power and was afraid they'd hate her for keeping what they knew now to herself.
"No, we know better than anyone about making choices and standing by them. You wanted to keep those you cared about here safe and not risk us as well since it wasn't a guarantee we could come here with you" Edward says as Hisana hiccupped and began to cry in relief, mentally berating herself for being so emotional when she had better control than she was showing of late.
"So what did your manager have to say?" Alphonse asks in hopes of getting Hisana to stop crying and the topic change gets her to calm slightly as she frowned in thought.
"Its only been three months since my tumble into the man made Gate in the DOM so all of my friends are just turning 16 or 15 in the case of my youngest friend Luna Lovegood…Sirius kicked the Order of the Phoenix out of Grimmuald place and ordered the top to bottom cleaning of the place through the goblins after I apparently died. No one has come back from falling through the Veil of Death since it was used as an execution tool before they worked out the deal with the Dementors" Hisana explains at the curious looks while Edward motioned to the Deathly Hallows symbol on her wrist.
"Did they explain why that appeared during the Thule Society experiments?" Edward asks as Hisana nodded and gently motioned for Al to turn around and gently peeled back the layers of clothing to reveal the symbol Edward had once painted in the armor Al had been bound to on the back of the boy's neck.
"They're symbols of our survival in the gate and marks as Amestrian Alchemists in the case of you and Al and my ancestry in the case of me. The Peverells, my father's ancestors were from your side of the gate and survived the trip over, recording and hiding away the knowledge of their alchemy…They were from Xing from what I was able to read during my brief training trips before Alfons came to me for help. My symbol is that of the symbol for the three artifacts gifted to the three Peverell brothers by the Gate Keeper, known to this side as Death when they first arrived on this side" Hisana explains as Alphonse asked where Edward's symbol was.
"Likely under the port in his arm since it was what he gave up to tie your soul to the armor, hence why you have that symbol on the back of your neck between your shoulder blades in dark red. They don't really do anything other than identify you to those who know about the gate and that number is very small and most of those families have lost the knowledge or find it to be plain gibberish to be ignored" Hisana reassures as Edward nodded in understanding.
"You fell through the failed man made Gate and when you came into contact with the real thing your symbol appeared since you saw the gate and survived the trip" Edward sighs as Hisana nodded in subdued agreement.
"It seems like my ancestor I'm turning out to be very hard to kill though a lot of those instances I had a lot of help getting out of trouble" Hisana grumbles as both brothers laughed incredulously and would lead the way out of the meeting room and outside of the bank into the magical alley of Tokyo, Japan.
The differences between the alleys in Europe to the alley in front of her were stark and made all her previous experiences pale in comparison to the beautiful mix of old and new with the older styled buildings and shops to the more modern lights and technology that could be seen up and down the alley in some of the more modern stores and wares mixed in with the old. It showed her that most countries outside Europe had managed to keep up with the modern advances in technology and over come the problem magic had with the more complex machinery and means of communication like computers and the more modern flip cell phone that was just coming onto the market.
"I really need to step out of Europe more often" Hisana mumbles to herself, shaking off her shock to take the lead as the brothers took everything in as they followed her.
"Where are we going?" Edward asks as Hisana came to a stop at the exit to the alley an hour later, having picked up the necessities to blend in outside the magical side such as a change of clothes and some money to cover the train ride to their destination.
"Tanaka left me his family home when he lived here before the first war…he abandoned it with the loss of his family and children's families. It's an older styled home in Kawagoe City in the Saitama prefecture. A two hour train ride from here in Tokyo so not many magicals live out there, it'll be safe till I figure what I need to do while the bank helps in tracking down the other soul pieces using the one I had in my scar" Hisana explains quietly, sad at the realization that Tanaka had likely died not knowing what had happened to her after her last letter to him explaining what she was up to with Edward and Alphonse. It had been a month after Alfons' funeral too so she hoped that he had taken care of himself before joining the rest of his family in the after life.
"The old man really cared about you…even if he beat the shit out of Alfons and I to make sure we understood to take care of you" Edward muses in remembrance, getting a small laugh from Hisana for his efforts as she obviously remembered the incident.
"Yes, you swore never to underestimate him ever again. Even after I warned you he knew how to use the swords he had on display on his mantel piece" Hisana giggles as Alphonse grinned in amusement.
"Just like Teacher then" Alphonse says as Edward nodded with a grimace, Tanaka had been a lot like Izumi if she had been born a man instead of a woman.
"If she'd been born a man sure she would be a lot like Tanaka" Edward shudders as both Hisana and Alphonse laughed at his expense, Hisana getting their tickets to Kawagoe City where Hedwig would be waiting for them unknown to all three teens.
Hedwig on her part would attack the older looking Hisana for leaving her behind and being so reckless before stopping to preen the girl's hair and coe and rub her face into her chick's face in relieved affection while the male chick and mate potential watched, unsure what to do as her chick pet and reassured her she wouldn't leave her behind again. That she was sorry for being so reckless and not considering Hedwig's feelings or thoughts on the matter.
"Sorry about that, as you now know mage's have familiars and the most common ones in Europe are a cat, owl or toad and mine was gifted to me as my first birthday gift when I turned eleven. Now Hedwig be nice to Ed and Al while I see what needs to be cleaned and fixed" Hisana sighs and gently lifts Hedwig to perch on one of the covered up chairs while she moved deeper into the two story home to see what needed to be done before it could be livable, leaving the boys alone with her familiar.
She would come back a little later to find Hedwig and Edward in a glaring stare down while Alphonse snickered and tried not to laugh at the whole situation since the snowy owl had stuck up her beak in offense of Edward being Hisana's boyfriend as the term was now called.
"Okay what did you do and how long have they been at it?" Hisana asks as Alphonse whispered shortly after she'd left the room before asking what needed to be done and that Hedwig didn't approve too much of Edward.
"Hedwig will get over it once she sees what he can do…Not much though along the lines of housework other than a good clean and turning on the furnace and water to get the power going in the house. I'm glad the bank thought to put in and update the electrical as the technology evolved" Hisana admits as Alphonse nodded, glad they didn't have to do too much to get settled in.
The three teens and one owl once Edward and Hedwig settled their differences would take a week to settle in and get into a minor routine that could be transplanted if needed as Hisana wrote a few letters to feel things out in England and see if Sirius and Remus wanted to come out East to see her (Without Dumbledore or the Order following/getting involved was Ed and Al's stipulations on the subject).
While they waited Edward generally would take Hisana out to explore while Alphonse (who had enrolled in school in the area) was in classes. The youngest of the group had said it was a means to settle roots and he'd seen that Hisana liked it here in comparison to when she talked about England and that neither he or Edward were likely to go anywhere that made her feel unsafe.
"When things in England are finally dealt with do you want to travel? I know you and your dad were wandering up and down Europe looking for a way home, but did you want to see more of Asia and the Americas?" Hisana asks curiously as Edward hummed in thought at the idea, the pair hand in hand as they walked down the street to the open air market that the neighbors had mentioned being open during the fall.
"Maybe, I'd like to see some of the libraries and scientific advances that have been made for myself. Things in England should be resolved before we head West or East though" Edward agrees as Hisana nodded, leaning her head on his shoulder as they walked. She was happy he wanted to explore, but knew he was right about dealing with England before they did.
"Sirius agreed to come, has been really sneaky about the letters and keeping Dumbledore and the Order out of his business" Hisana says, breaking the comfortable silence a little while later as they made their way home from their walk.
"He's the one that can change into a dog right?" Edward asks curiously as Hisana nodded with a small grin on her face.
"Yeah, he offered to teach me to do the same once things quiet down since my dad could turn into a stag very much like my Patronus. He might come off a little standoffish though since I'm his only family and goddaughter…you might be getting the shovel talk I know Tanaka gave you and Alfons back in Romania" Hisana admits amused as the blonde groaned in dismay and annoyance.
"He won't physically beat me up at least" Edward grumbles as Hisana laughed at the reminder and pointed out it was worse since Sirius was a prankster and knew quite a few spells that were humiliating and would leave week long effects in place if not removed by the caster. She would cackle at Edward's groan of misery and drag Edward home so she could start dinner before Alphonse got back from the small magic cram school in the area, missing the fond look on Edward's face at her behavior.
Sirius would eventually agree to come alone, Remus remaining behind to cover the man's tracks, two months later after taking that time to make his way across Europe and Asia on foot in his animagus form.
Hisana would wake up earlier the day Sirius was supposed to arrive, the bank having notified her the magical Japanese government had picked Sirius up as he had arrived on the coast on of the boats from the mainland, being put through customs and a period of quarantine so they could sort out his records and vaults. Her slipping from their bed would wake Edward a few hours later as she worked on breakfast, singing quietly to herself much to his tired amusement.
"I was once alone
No place to call home
And I had lost my way
With this heart I hold
I was on my own,
Wandering endlessly
But I found a way to continue on,
Now there's no place too far
Ever since that day
That day I met you
On this road, like a charm
You sing along to the traveler's song
How I wish I knew the words
Even so, somehow it feels nostalgic to me
Whenever I'm by your side
There's a world we see in our dreams
Is it out there? Is it waiting?
Is there time for one more journey?
Let's go find it, beyond the wind
When the daybreaks - When the sun burns
When the night comes, freezing our world
Let's go find what - What is waiting
At the end of everything
You know loneliness and your eyes confess
You know it far too well
With a single blink
You can show the world
The colors within your heart
Fearlessly riding along with the wind
I'll become a crescent moon
And the tears in my eyes
Become stars as I fly
As I make way through the sky
The endless miles of hills in the country,
Stretch far to the sea
A golden tower looks over
A town hidden just through the trees
Mountains, and valleys
Vast oceans and alleys,
By night they all share one moon
Is it okay, to take your hand?
Can I lead you, to the fair land?
There's no limit – no place too far
When you are here by my side
The world's waiting for our footprints
Just me and you, we can both view
All the wonders of this new world
Hidden to all eyes but ours
La La La La La"
Hisana sang aloud to herself, her thoughts having drifted to Noah and the gypsy song from all those months ago as she had been preparing breakfast and how the song she'd sung to herself had reminded her of the beat of that song. She wouldn't falter though as Edward settled behind her in the kitchen and smile lightly as Al joined them at the smell of coffee and the bacon sizzling on the stove.
"It's early" Al mumbles sleepily, face pressed into the small table as Hisana frowns only to mumble embarrassed as she finally realized it was 8 a.m. and that Sirius wouldn't be up or due to arrive for another four hours.
"Sorry…I'm nervous and excited which makes it hard to stay asleep" Hisana sighs as Edward snorts, but lets go to sit down and watch knowing the sole female in the house needed a little space to deal with what was likely stress and nerves finally making themselves known after months of living by a set routine of their design with no input from anyone else. She likely wouldn't take it well if Sirius tried to force her to return to Europe or tried to butt into things that were best left alone, her time in the past being the key thing since it was private and she was still recovering from the losses of Alfons and Tanaka.
Once done eating Edward would slip out to go pick Sirius up from the train station while Hisana helped Alphonse with some of his cram school homework to help ease her nerves. He was unaware though that the pair were talking about heading back to the magic district in Tokyo to pick out a familiar for Al since he adored cats.
Sirius would take in the blonde who his goddaughter had talked about in her letters and noted Carina hadn't been kidding about the blonde hair and gold eyes and couldn't begrudge her choice in partner. The blonde was in no way naïve, rude or stupid like most of the male population of Hogwarts was and that was what had obviously attracted his goddaughter to the blonde. That and the fact he took her seriously and let her be who she was deep down and that wasn't the reckless mediocre ravenette Ron and most of Hogwarts were used to.
"You done staring? There's only so much my little brother can distract Hisana with before she realizes he truly didn't need her help with the assignment he brought home" Edward deadpans as Sirius snorted in amusement and fell into step with the blonde.
"She's nervous obviously" Sirius sighs as Edward nods, unafraid to be blunt with the man who should have done the job Tanaka had in raising Hisana. "She has every right to be and I don't blame her…we all screwed up and it took nearly dying for us adults to get our shit together" the older man continues as Edward came to a stop outside the house, spotting Hedwig from the window watching them.
"Don't push for her to return to Europe or try to change how she's done things and I think you'll be fine old man…she did warn you about the age difference right?" Edward asks as Sirius nodded and took the final steps to enter the house, watching from the entry way to the living room as Hisana went over Alphonse's Care for Magical Creatures textbook with him for his assignment of inu youkai.
"You weren't kidding about reaching your majority" Sirius speaks up in amusement as Hisana looked up with Al in slight surprise before launching herself in a flying tackle to hug her godfather, happy to see him and note how much healthier he was compared to the last time she'd seen him. He would hug back just as tightly before letting go to dig out the few things he knew Hisana would be happy to see. Like her photo album and her cloak.
"No I wasn't and I think it's a bit of a blessing since I'm legally able to make my own decisions and the old fart can't control me like he could if I'd been turning sixteen" Hisana mumbles into Sirius's chest, slightly miffed she was still small compared to her godfather. She knew because of the Dursleys she would be smaller compared to her peers, but being shorter than Alphonse, Sirius and Edward made it a little aggravating.
Edward just found it amusing that he wasn't the shortest anymore and had grown enough to be taller than Alphonse.
"Too true, now I brought the album and your father's cloak if you want them" Sirius says as Hisana perked up and stepped back to let Sirius pull the fore mentioned items out to give her, letting the boys get a good look at Hisana's parents.
"Your dad looks like the Colonel" Alphonse says amused as Hisana and Sirius gave the youngest in the room a confused look while Edward did a double take before grumbling about how annoying the man in question was.
"Colonel Mustang was our superior in Amestris and was always looking out for us in our journey and your dad looks a lot like him" the younger blonde explains for Hisana's benefit as she makes a noise of understanding.
"Then I guess my dad was your Colonel's counterpart on this side of the Gate, he did enjoy pissing off Snape from what I've been able to figure out of his grumblings and overall treatment of me" Hisana muses as Sirius shrugged at Edward's curious look.
"Don't look at me Snivellus has been and will always be a git…though if your Colonel was a bit of a pyro and enjoyed pranking then I won't argue with you because the number of times Moony and I had to put out a fire James started during school was numerous. Especially when he lost his temper over the amount of times your mother rejected his advances via prank" Sirius explains as Edward grimaces and bangs his head down on the table in misery.
"I'm not that bad, I didn't set anything on fire in Romania or Munich" Hisana hisses as she got up and headed to the kitchen to get some tea organized for Sirius while Alphonse snickered at his brother's misfortune.
"No you just liked making things explode and beating the crap out of those who didn't take you seriously as a mechanic when you weren't fixing your hammer or the car" Edward grumbles as Sirius barked out a laugh, knowing that sounded like Hisana alright.
"So your Amestrian" Sirius notes, Edward and Alphonse nodding in agreement with the statement. "It explains why you get along so well with Hisana, only an Amestrian could get into as much trouble as she does and enjoy it on some level if not on the conscious one" he laughs as Alphonse asked how he knew.
"The Blacks had contact even if it was brief and usually drunken escapades with one Hohenheim of Light. He let slip about your dimension's existence to a Black and we've recorded all instances past and present of your people coming to this side ever since. Record keepers and a safe haven if you will so your people could get back on their feet and get their shit organized to either go home or try and settle here" Sirius explains patiently as Alphonse asked why they stopped.
"Those who knew were either killed off during World War 2 or were exiled from the family and later killed when they wouldn't side with the blood purists of the family who sided with our current Dark Lord. Those who had an idea kept their heads down and just prayed they'd survive since there would always be a chance someone would come through and knew they needed to pass on the knowledge since not many can read Amestrian, Xingese or Ishvalan as the case sometimes was...the Ishvallans really scared the shit out of a couple of my ancestors with their red eyes when they first came through" Sirius admits as Hisana snorted with a tray of tea in hand.
"That's likely why they joined the Roma population and eventually lost the red eyes. They knew they scared the wizards and that's why you get the occasional magical coming from that community" Hisana deadpans as Sirius nods while Edward hummed thoughtfully.
"So what now?" Alphonse asks for Hisana's benefit since the ravenette wasn't sure what Sirius planned to do now. Especially since the youkai and goblins were doing most of the work for them in tracking down and destroying the horcruxes.
"Nothing you don't want, I came to make sure Hisana was happy and content here and that you two were settling in and making sure my goddaughter was taken care of like she stated in her letters. We adults can deal with the mess the old farts have made and I'll make sure you can come visit when you want to. I know Hermione, Neville, the twins and Luna miss you so they may come visit once things are safe to do so" Sirius reassures as Hisana nodded with a small smile on her face in relief.
Things would move onto lighter topics for the rest of Sirius' visit and by the time he returned to England he had a better idea as to what needed to be done and content in the fact his goddaughter was happy and making a better life for herself. A life that her parents had always wanted for her.
Hisana on her part with Edward would begin small day trips out of the country eastward and exploring countries like Hawaii and Canada while Alphonse was in classes and were on one such trip when the news that Voldemort was finally dead reached them. They had been exploring Los Angles after doing some digging on Fritz to realize he had lived his dream and that he had made it to Hollywood with his filmmaking and movies just before World War 2 began.
Least to say that happiness would lead to the start of the family Alphonse had been teasing them about and put off visiting England till Hisana had the baby. Sirius had been less than pleased about the matter, but Hisana was happy and Edward had at least had the decency to marry her before the baby bump became noticeable.
"I didn't know she knew that many swears" Alphonse mutters to Luna nine months later, the pale blonde having come with the twins to be there for Hisana as she went into labor.
"Yeah Hisana always like to surprise you and I won't be surprised if she breaks your brother's hand more than once" Fred admits with amusement as Alphonse flinched at the loud screaming and cursing coming from the hospital room.
"Eddie boy is just lucky Hisana allowed him to have the silencio charm cast around his ears" George adds on as Alphonse nodded with a small grin on his face at small mercies since Sirius hadn't gotten that mercy as he sat a bit further down the hall. Most would relax though as two more hours after eight hours of labor a baby's cry broke the hair in Hisana's room.
"He's healthy and Nargal free Hisana" Luna coos as she held the small baby boy with a tuft of golden blonde hair on his head and baby blue eyes blearily taking in his surroundings while Hisana smiled weakly in pride. Edward just accepted the baby back, glad the Healer had fixed his hand while they made sure the baby was healthy.
"What are you going to call him brother?" Alphonse asks curiously as Hisana dozed off, stating her feelings on the matter and making sure that Edward knew what she had wanted to call their baby.
"We agreed not after our parents or anything with flowers once we realized we were having a boy when the old dog pointed out that if Hisana had been born a boy she would have been called Hadrian so we agreed on Hadrian and Tanaka for the middle name" Edward explains as the baby snuffled and fell asleep in the older Elrics arms much to the amusement of the twins.
"Hadrian Tanaka Elric is a good name. He'll do big things and get into as much trouble as his mum and dad" Luna states seriously as Sirius barked a laugh at the idea while Edward groaned at how much excitement that meant in their future while Hisana and Hadrian snoozed on without a care; secure in their future and content in their freedom.
