"You went through the gate..."
"I-is that bad?" Harry asked nervously as he stared at the adult's horrified faces.
"For you, it is..." Edward said softly. "The gate's terrible..."
"Who was the one screaming about being free though?" Harry asked in confusion, remembering the voice he had heard while Ed and Al both stiffened.
"That...does not sound good..." Al mused.
"But it still doesn't explain his powers," Ed muttered "When we went through the gate we got clapping transmutation and it took Dad and Father centuries to evolve that into psychic alchemy. Added to that they didn't have teleportation or telekenesis and definetly didn't have that storm power we saw earlier...I wonder...". Suddenly Ed turned and looked him in the eye "Kid, i'm going to try something to test a theory of mine, it will feel weird but it shouldn't hurt a bit" Harry tensed up, and looked to Rose nervously.
"What is it exactly you're planning to do?" Rose asked nervously.
"During the war against the Homunculi i found a way to transmute my own Soul into a philosopher's stone," Ed explained "it allowed me to enter the soul of the homonculi and battle them there where i could injure them easier. My theory is that i can use the technique to enter Harry's soul and see if it's been altered by the gate. And don't worry, i'll only look. I wont attack anything."
"I...I dunno..." Harry replied nervously. "Is it really safe?"
"It's perfectly safe," Ed assured him "the only way i could actually manage to do anything harmful was if i put a lot of effort into it" Harry looked up to Rose for reassurance.
"Don't worry little one," Rose assured him "you can trust Ed."
Harry smiled at his caretaker, then looked over to Edward and nodded. "Um...O-Okay..."
With a reasurring smile at the kid he clapped his hands together and placed them on Harry's forehead before he found himself in a vast expanse of emerald, as powerfully green as the soul of Pride was red. "Well this is a suprise," a voice said from behind him causing him to turn around in shock "a visitor.".
In front of him was a tall pale man with long brown hair and arisocratic features, "Who are you?" he demanded warily.
"My name..." the man said hesitantly "is Tom Marvolo Riddle."
"Tom Riddle?" Edward said with a raised brow. "What the hell are you doing here?!"
"Well that's a bit of a long story," the man, Riddle, said awkwardly before continuing "to start out with, when i was attatched to my body i was the one who killed Harry's parents..." Edward's eyes widened, then narrowed as he formed a sword in his automail arm. "wait! Wait! Wait! Wait!" the man cried out "The gate altered what i was before!"
"Oh yeah? How do I know you're not lying?"
The man gave him a deadpan stare "If i was going to try and trick you...then why would i admit to having killed Harry's parents?...or at least the collective of me.".
"For all I know, you're pretending to turn over a new leaf so I don't cut your damn head off."
"Why would have i brought it up in the first place?"
"Maybe you're an idiot, or really full of yourself."
"okay, one...ouch. Two...double ouch. How about this, i explain what i my side of what's what and, at the end, if you wish to you can cut my head off then.".
Edward lowered his hand, but didn't put the blade away. "Fine." Tom sighed in relief before explaining how his memory was shotty at best but he knew that when he was still in his body he had tried killing Harry's parents using the same power that Harry now used and that the gate had almost freed him and given him a new body but the raw power of the gate transfered his power over to Harry while causing him to live through the hell Harry went through. Edward blinked. "Huh? The hell Harry lived through...? What are you talking about...?"
"After his parents' death he was left on the front step of his mother's sister and her husband who used him as a slave for four years."
"Is that all?" Edward said with a hand on his hip.
"Plus beatings, starvation, being told his name was 'Freak' for several years, and sleeping in the cupboard under the stairs for years"
Edward's eyes widened, then narrowed. "He never mentioned that..."
"Are you actually surprised?" Tom asked with a raised eyebrow "He's afraid of being treated like that again."
"Why would anyone treat him like that?!" Edward demanded. "What the hell kind of person would do that to a kid?!"
"Harry's Uncle viewed Alchemy and other powers as 'unnatural' while his Aunt was jealous of not being able to use any powers"
Edward scowled. "That's ridiculous..." He muttered. "...Rose deserves to know this...What exactly did they do to him?"
"I can allow you to see what he went through as he saw it and even make it so you can show the others but i do warn you..." Tom shuddered "it's horrible."
"I've seen horrible, Tom." Edward said calmly. "I can take it."
"Don't say i didn't warn you," Tom mumbled before the spirit waved his hand, causing the once again alchemist to be bombarded with Harry's memories
"Okay...So this is his earliest memory, huh...?" Edward mused, looking at a two year old Harry. As the memories went by Edward became more and more horrified by what he saw, dropping to his knees the moment they ended. He had only two words to say. "...Holy crap..."
"Now you see why i warned you?" Tom asked which got a hesitant nod "And be grateful i only gave you sight and hearing...i endured all five senses when i lived through it again, and again, and again."
"...Okay...So...How are you not crazy by this point...?"
"I was crazy to begin with, this snapped me out of it."
"So you're not gonna go around murdering people anymore?"
"Kinda hard when you're a powerless voice who can only communicate with people if someone enters like you did or Harry gives me permission"
"Right..." Edward mumbled, thinking about how to break this to Rose.
"Good luck telling this to that Rose woman," Tom said with a sympathetic wince
"Yeah, that's what I was just thinking..." Edward agreed.
"You could always offer to help her plan revenge against the Dursleys." Tom offered
"How are we gonna do that if they're on the other side of the gate?"
"Make a deal with truth?" Tom offered "You guys get to go over for an hour or so to get payback and he gets to watch"
"I don't know, can that happen?"
"Truth is stuck in an endless white void for eternity...i think he'd jump for some entertainment."
Edward sighed. "...I need to get back..."
"Good luck and try not to get beaten too badly," Tom advised
"She won't beat me..." Edward said. "I'm not the one who did it."
"She's still gonna be pissed though'
"I know."
"Good luck." Tom said with a final wave as Ed vanished from Harry's soul
Edward's eyes opened, and he saw Rose right in front of his face. Sighing he sat up and subtly gestured for her to send Harry to another room.
Rose blinked, then looked at Harry. "Harry, sweetie, why don't you go play?"
"o-okay Ms. Rose," he said hesitantly before going up to their room to play with one of the toys she had gotten him a few days ago.
Rose smiled after him, then looked at Edward. "What is it, Ed?" She asked nervously. Sighing he explained what he saw, From meeting Tom, to who Tom was, seeing Harry's memories, and getting the ability to show it to them as well. He then cringed, waiting for the reactions of the others in the room particularly Rose. After telling them he gazed at each of their reactions. Al, his normally calm and happy brother looked practically murderous and he was sure his brother was planning to put his new muscles to good use. Winry, his usually happy go lucky wife, was muttering under her breath about the best torture device to build. And Rose, the usually sweet innocent Rose, looked scarier than Teacher, hair covering her eyes, her teeth gritted in fury and her entire body shaking as if it were going to erupt. Edward couldn't blame any of them for their reactions, however. He himself wanted to tear the obese man limb from limb... Sighing he continued and explained about Harry's origins from the other side of the gate and Tom's suggestion about making a deal with truth.
"So I can torture them?" Winry said with a disturbing amount of glee.
"As long as it's painful and he'll eventually recover from it." he promised getting a happy cackle out of his wife.
"I want first crack at him..." Surprisingly, this came from Rose.
"You need a weapon?" Ed asked cautiously
"No..." She muttered with a dark scowl.
Silently noting to never piss Rose off he nodded before asking "What are we gonna tell Harry?"
Rose teared up at the mention of the little boy. "...I'll talk to him about it later..." She said softly.
Nodding he suddenly got an idea "I just realized that he's never had a birthday party before and, if i'm remembering the memories correctly, he's turning six next week"
Rose's eyes widened, and she smiled. "I have to do something nice for him..." She said softly.
"I'll call in a few favors to get some stuff for it," he said with a grin "I happen to know some excellent cooks, one of whom has a daughter only a year or so older than Harry is."
"Ooh, really?!" Rose exclaimed, starry-eyed.
"Yeah," he said before smiling sadly "an old military friend of mine introduced me and Al to his wife and daughter once and they quickly adopted us as family...one of my greatest regrets was that i wasn't able to save him..."
Rose's smile faded. "Oh...I'm sorry..."
"It isn't your fault Rose," he said with a small shake of his head "i was just thinking how much Hughes would have loved to meet Harry...anyway, Alicia and Gracia Hughes are wonderful people and I'm sure they'd love to meet Harry. Do you want to invite anyone else?"
Rose frowned. "Everyone in the village would scare him if they came..."
"We could always offer to take Harry somewhere else for a little vacation so that the villagers wouldn't make a fuss," Winry offered "I'm sure Granny would love to meet him."
Rose smiled. "That could be nice...I haven't been out of the village in ages."
"Alright," Winry cheered "let's plan who all we want to invite. We already have the Hughes family but who else?"
"I can't think of anyone else right now." Edward replied with a shrug.
"Now should we tell Harry or make it a surprise party?" Rose asked them
"I think we should tell him." Alphonse replied. "It might scare him to be in a room with strangers with no warning." They all sweatdropped as they imagined Harry going into storm mode again out of fright.
"I'll tell him." Rose said softly as she rose to her feet and left the room.
Sitting in his and Rose's room, Harry idly played with some of the toys that Rose had bought for him when he heard his mother figure walk inside. He smiled up at her. "Hi, Miss Rose!" He said eagerly.
"Hey there sweetie," she said as she scooped him up into her arms. "I have a surprise for you."
Harry blinked and looked at her curiously. "What kind of surprise?" He asked.
Grinning widely she spun him around and kissed his cheek "We're going on a little trip with Ed, Al, and Winry to their hometown where we're throwing you a birthday party."
Harry stared at her in shocked silence. "A...A birthday party...?" He said softly.
"Of course my little one," she said softly as she tenderly kissed his forehead "we all want to see you happy and give you as many happy memories as we can"
"Wh-Why...?" He asked softly. "I don't understand...Why do you care about a freak like me...?"
"I thought we went over this Harry," she said with a sigh, sitting down on her bed as she cradled him in her arms "you aren't a freak. You're an adorable, precious, amazing little boy that deserves all the love in the world." Harry teared up and buried his face in the woman's chest. Softly she began to hum a lullaby to him as she rocked him back and forth, whispering calm words into his ear. Harry smiled and fell asleep in her arms, resting his head on her chest. Smiling softly she stood up and carried him downstairs to the others.
Edward, Alphonse and Winry were already making plans for the party.
"Awwwwwwwwww!" Winry squealed "He's so cute!"
Rose smiled. "He really is." She agreed. "He really, really is..."
They decided that Winry would stay with her and Harry for a bit to help them get ready to leave while Al went to Rizembool to get the house ready and Ed went to Central to get the Hughes family.
"I'd love to see you two off, but I'd hate to leave Harry alone..."
"I'll watch him." Winry offered. "You three catch up, don't worry about it." Nodding hesitantly, she reluctantly handed the sleeping little boy over to Winry and walked out with Ed and Al. Before leaving, she smiled before kneeling down and kissing the little boy's forehead.
And so...
"So Rose," Ed began as they walked back to the jeep "did you just want us to teach Harry general stuff or actually train him in Alchemy?"
Rose looked thoughtful. "Well...Both would actually be very nice..." She mused.
"I'd love to see what his powers could do when combined with alchemy," Ed mused, thinking of all the posibilities "but we'll have to try and keep the militrary from trying to recruit him"
Rose grimaced. "Yes we will... I don't want him fighting..."
"I'm more worried about a high up general trying to turn him into a super weapon," Ed growled "we may have deposed father and Bradley but i have no doubt there's still corruption in the higher ups"
Rose frowned. "Is there a way to keep him secret?"
"No but i do have a counter measure," he said with a grimace "Mustang's still in charge of the country. I can offer to do high class missions when needed if he does his best to keep any military or government people from using Harry as a weapon."
Rose smiled. "Thank you, Edward..." She replied softly.
Blushing softly he looked away and rubbed the back of his head in emberassment, "You're welcome Rose," he replied "i feel for the kid. Nobody should have to go through what he did and i just want to help make the rest of his life easier"
"You're a wonderful person. Winry is lucky to have someone like you." At those words he blushed even deeper while Al laughed happily at his red face
"Well, our jeep is just up ahead." Alphonse said. "We'll see you soon, Rose."
"See you soon boys," she said as she hugged them goodbye "i'll be sure to tell Harry that 'uncle Ed' and 'Uncle Al' said goodbye"
The two Elrics chuckled. "Sounds good." Edward said. Smiling she watched them climb into their jeep and drive off back to central
Unfortunately for her, the jeep kicked sand into her face, causing her to stumble off of the sand dune she had been standing on and pitch headfirst towards the sand. with a yelp she found herself partly buried in the sand. Rose blinked at the darkness surrounding her upper torso and kicked her legs feebly. Surely this would be a one time thing... With a grunt, and several minutes of exertion, she managed to push herself out of the sand, glad that such a thing rarely happened to anyone. She shook some sand out of her hair and sighed with relief. Then she turned and walked back home. She wanted to make it before Harry awakened.