A big thanks to
smart one
and
Arden Anam
For their reviews –gomps- you guys are GREAT!!!!
Note: I'm starting to regret having them live in a state I know nothing about… I think I'm going to change that… you have been warned…
---------------Times have changed-------------
Alphonse woke up to the sound of people's voices and footsteps. It was a comforting sound, the sound of people getting up. It made him feel like he was apart of—dare he say it?—a family. It was kind of funny, he mused, that he and his brother would find themselves in a foster home, surrounded by kids who didn't have parents. These kids were like them and the way they acted around each other was so different than what he was use to. Last night had been so much fun; it was like they didn't have to worry about anything but waking up the guardian and getting into trouble for staying up late. The last time he and his brother had reprimanded for staying up was when their mother had found them reading Alchemy books, at one in the morning.
Mom…
The younger Elric's thoughts where interrupted by the sound of Isanne's voice as she passed the brothers room. She was singing, rather off-key…
"Good morning, the night is over and gone, I thought once this dark would last for so longgggggg."
"Oh Snow, not this early, PLEASE," came from the direction of Kathrin's room. This, of course, just made the younger girl sing louder.
"Do you see just what you've done in my life; you gave me, more than I hoped for, now I feel your sunlight on my faceeeeeeeee."
"That's it! You're going to be feeling more than sunlight on your face!"
Al could hear Isanne let out a squeal and there was the sound of pounding feet. Above him, he heard Edward let out a groan.
"Darn those girls, I was having a nice dream, too."
Al laughed as he got up. Picking up the clothes that Alice had provided, he changed and walked toward the bathroom. Last night, Alice had shown them where and how everything worked, and where the toothbrushes, soap, towels, and other such necessities were kept.
After Al was done, he passed his brother, who was still half asleep, before going downstairs into pandemonium.
"Emma, do you have your homework?"
"Yes, Alice!"
"Grams, do we have gas in the Werewolf?"
"Filled it up last night. Remember I'm picking up Isanne, but you still have to get Emma from school."
"You got it?"
"Kitty-Kat, where's my iPod?!" Isanne screamed, almost running into Alphonse. "Oh, sorry, Alz." The blonde had a backpack slung over her shoulder, and her hands were occupied by a jacket, shoes, socks, and a half-eaten apple.
"How should I know… did yo—?"
"Found it, it was in my purse."
"Alright, you guys have everything?"
"Yep!"
"Yes, Grandma."
"Wait, I forgot my USB port!"
"Hurry up, Isanne! I'm not going to be late because of you!"
"Ok, I'll be right back!" the girl yelled, pulling on her shoes as she ran into the back of the house. She returned in a matter of seconds, a small peace of pink plastic in her hands. Grabbing the rest of her stuff, she bolted out the door.
"Byezzzzzz!"
Alice laughed at Alphonse's bewildered expression as the girls left the house.
"It's like that every morning. You'd think by now they would prepare better. Oh well, kids will be kids. Would you like some breakfast?"
"Yes, please."
----
Al was just finishing his plate of eggs when his older brother came down.
"What was that racket? It sounded like the house was on fire."
Alice, who was sewing a quilt on the table, laughed. "No, just three girls getting ready for school. Would you like some eggs before we start the hunt for a way to get you guys home?" Ed simply nodded and sat down.
----
After Edward had eaten, Alice returned and asked, "Are you guys ready to go home?" Both boys nodded enthusiastically. "Alright, then, let's start from the beginning. First off, where did you live?"
"Well," Edward said, "we worked for the Werden Labs in Abfahren in Germany."
Alice looked thoughtful. "Sounds good, let's Google it."
Both boys looked confused but followed the older woman. She sat down on a chair that sat in front of a box that looked vaguely like a TV. Both boys fallowed her example and sat down as well. After pressing something under the table, the semi-TV lit up; after a few more seconds, Alice was typing quickly across a keypad that was sitting in front of the TV. Soon, pictures and words flashed on the screen. Both boys watched in total awe as the older woman worked.
"Ah, found it." She moved and pressed a funny plastic thing, then started to read the words that came up on the screen. Her face turned from triumph to a slight frown. "This can't be right… What did you say the lab was called again?"
"Werden. It sort of means become."
"And that's spelled W-E-R-D-E-N?" Ed nodded, not liking the way this conversation was going.
"Hmmm, and you're SURE it was in Abfahren?"
"YES! Why!?! What's the matter?"
"Brother, please don't shout."
"Well, Edward, it says here that the Werden Lab in Abfahren has been closed for more than sixty years now, something about an experiment gone wrong."
"What?" The blond leaned over, his gold eyes flashing as he read what it said in the article.
"See?" the woman said, pointing to a paragraph.
"The Werden Lab was shut down in 1945, after an unexplained explosion in the west corridor."
"1945!!!… Wait, what's today's date!?!"
"Today is March 26, 2007."
"T—two thousand? And seven?"Edward slumped in his chair in total shock.
---------
"We're home!!!" Kathrin called out. Both Elric brothers looked up from the computer screen they'd been sitting in front of for hours. Ed stood up, his hands in his pockets.
"I'm going for a walk, I need to think," he muttered to his brother, then nodding a hello to Kathrin and Emma as he left. Emma, who didn't seem to notice the boy's cold greeting, simply told Kathrin that she was going to watch "toons." Once she was gone, Kitty turned to Al.
"What's the matter with your brother? Did you guys find what you needed?" The younger Elric shrugged.
"It's complicated. So, where's Snow?"
Kathrin's face lit up as Al used the cheerful girl's nickname. "She's going to be thrilled you called her that, and Miss Snow is at the psychiatrists. All children that are in foster homes are required to take sessions. Snow normally goes about once a month, if that. Emma goes around one or two times in a month." Al nodded; Kitty must have guessed that he was confused, because she continued, "A psychiatrist is sort of like a doctor for the mind." At this, she tapped her forehead. "You go and talk to him or her about how you're feeling and he or she will tell you how to deal with those feelings." Alphonse nodded once again.
"I see… So, does Snow like going?"
The brunette shrugged. "I'm never sure. She always acts kind of funny when she first gets back. I think she has a hard time letting people in. When she lived with her mom, she had to act like an adult. I know, Snow acting mature… it's hard to believe… but it's true. When she first came here, she hardly talked and hated to ask for any kind of help. She hardly even ate, too, 'cause she was so worried about taking our food. She's over all that now; I guess that's why she acts so childish now. Like she never got to do it when she was younger or something."
"I guess that makes sense. Sometimes, I worry about my brother because he is always trying to be an adult."
"Well, all I can recommend is lots of love; that's all Grandma and I did with Snow. By the way, you never told me about what you guys found out… and don't say it's too complicated, I can deal with complicated. Trust me."
"Well…"
------
Edward wandered through the trees that filled the hills behind the Dream Catcher's Foster Home, thinking hard. Alice had told them she had given the place that name because it was another chance for kids to catch their dreams. In Ed's personal opinion, it was kind of silly, but after seeing how happy the kids had been the night before, he kept his thoughts to himself. He had to admit that Alice was unlike any adult he had ever met. He would never have guessed she was older if not for the gray running (or, as she called it, dancing) through her once jet-black hair. She hadn't seemed at all shocked at the possibility that the boys were from the past. In fact, she had stated that it was probably the only explanation.
"There are a lot of unexplained things in this world," she had told the boys, "and after you have explained them, something even more inexplicable comes up. It keeps us on our toes."
Edward sighed, stopping to rest under a sweet gum. This was all so confusing; nothing seemed to fit at all. Standing up, he sighed again. Maybe he should go take a look in that shed. Those Alchemy symbols might be able to give him a clue.
------
Meanwhile, Alphonse was just finishing explaining their findings to Kathrin when Isanne's voice could be heard in the doorway.
"I'm home!"
"Snow!" Emma ran out of the living room, Al and Kitty on her tail. The pale blonde stood in the door, holding a letter.
"And guess who just wrote his favorite sister."
"Jonny!!!" Kitty squealed, grabbing the letter from her best friend, teal eyes glowing with love for her brother. "I'll be back soon," she called as she ran outside, taking the much-treasured bit of paper with her. Isanne laughed.
"Jonny—Kitty-Kat's older brother—is over fighting in the war in Iraq," she informed Al as she took off her jacket.
"There's a war going on?"
The blonde shrugged. "Not a big one, some terrorists attacked us… Wait, how come you don't know? I mean, even Germany should know about Nine-Eleven."
Al gave a nervous laugh. "Yeah, yeah, right."
Isanne gave him a half-smile, then continued her story. "Anyway, Jonny's over there fighting, or whatever it is they're doing right now. Kitty-Kat loves her brother a lot; I'm glad she has him." Al was about to inquire further when Emma came running up.
"Snow, play DDR with me please!"
"Ok!"
----------------------
Kathrin walked through the woods, heading for her special "thinking tree," as she called it. It was where she went when she was mad, upset, or just wanted to do something alone. She often brought her sketchbook out there with her to draw.
Sitting down, the first thing Kitty notice was that someone had been here; the grass had been obviously parted, like someone had been sitting there. Looking around, the brunette didn't see anyone, so she leaned against the tree and opened her letter.
------------------
Edward walked around the circle repeatedly, bemused. It was unlike any Alchemy he had ever seen; it felt like reading a language he had never seen, but that was kind of close to his own. Bending down, he placed his hands on the circle.
Nothing happened.
Straightening back up, he looked around. His sharp yellow eyes soon found a sketchbook lying on a box, a pencil on top of it. Picking it up, he ripped out a page. They wouldn't miss it. Quickly, the Elric started to copy the symbols that were written on the floor. Maybe his brother would have some idea about the Alchemy, if that's what it was.
"What are you doing?"
Edward whirled around to see Kathrin standing in the doorway, her teal eyes going from him to the sketch book that was now lying on the floor.
"Uhhh…"
"Seriously, have you ever heard of asking before you go tearing out pages?" Lovingly, she retrieved the book from the ground. "I mean, I guess I wouldn't have minded if you hadn't just left it on the dirty floor like that." After gently brushing off the book then putting it back on top of the boxes, Kitty walked over to see what the blond boy was drawing.
"I'm trying to copy the circle so I can show my brother; maybe we can figure out a way to get back." The girl nodded; Ed noticed how her teal eyes seemed to take everything in as if she understood the symbols. That was when he noticed her necklace.
"What's that?" he asked pointing to the necklace. The brunette blinked and grasped the charm in her hands.
"Oh this, it's a dream-catcher. My mom made it for me. She used to hang in over my crib, 'cause I always had bad dreams."
Ed looked at it more closely; in a way, it looked like Alchemy, the circle around a bunch of lines with different colored beads hanging off the odd string. It also kind of looked like the circle on the floor. He suddenly heard Kathrin cough and looked up, startled. He had been so deep in thought that he hadn't even noticed how close he had gotten to her. Jumping back, he straightened up. "W…well, I'm not entirely sure about anything yet, but we'll see." That being said, he walked out of the shed, slightly flustered.
Kitty followed behind, laughing quietly to herself. She knew that Edward had only been looking at her necklace. Of course, she had found it funny how he'd suddenly fallen so deep into his thoughts, as if his mind was suddenly in another world. It reminded her of when she got involved in a drawing: The whole world seems to fade away, and her reality suddenly became the picture—like she wasn't just drawing anymore, she was the drawing. With that thought, she picked up her sketchbook and followed Edward toward the house.
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If you're an artist like me you'll understand the sacrilege being done here when Ed ripped out a page of Kathrin's drawing book!!! HOW COULD HE!!! –la gasp-
I'm still debating if I should make this slightly romantic… oh well we'll see how events unfold.
