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Chapter 25: To the Gate and Back

Trisha was waiting at the end of the fireplace to catch Edward and Harry, though Edward at least didn't stumble too much when he used the floo. Alphonse was nearby, waiting nervously.

Edward looked around and brushed himself off. "I suppose…the old man didn't come home?"

Trisha shook her head 'no', too afraid to speak. Alphonse had told her what Edward needed to do, and that he had to do it alone, and she was hesitant to let her son plunge into danger like that. However, the Philosopher's Stone that Flamel made was a beacon of hope.

"Dumbledore is gonna check periodically in the fire," Edward informed them, then pulled a small, red fragment of a rock out of his pocket.

"That's it?" Alphonse asked breathlessly.

Edward nodded. "Yep. Were the wards in the basement breached, yet?"

"Sensei and I were able to take down all but one," Alphonse responded.

"Why?" Trisha asked.

"Cause…the light might be really bright. It's daytime, but people might still notice. Even if we put up charms, wizarding folk here would know," Edward responded as he headed to the basement, Harry on his heels.

"What are you going to do, then?" the speaker was none other than Izumi Curtis.

Edward smiled in relief when he noticed that. "Well, I was gonna say we call ya, but since you're here…Harry and I will help, and we'll all try to breach the basement. If not…I guess we'd hafta clear a spot in the living room. Mom should stay by the fire to await Dumbledore."

Trisha was hesitant, but gave Edward a brief hug and agreed.

Izumi nodded, and she and Alphonse moved to the doorway that led down the stairs, following the other two.

There were already alchemy matrixes drawn on the wall; Alphonse had figured out how to break the ward, but there was insufficient energy to break the ward.

"Okay…everyone ready?" Edward grinned at his group.

Alphonse, Izumi, and Harry nodded.

"On three…we hafta do it at the same time. Nice thinking, Al."

Alphonse blushed, but took up his station at a matrix at his level, while Izumi did likewise with one higher up, and Harry took the one on the floor. Edward stood next to Harry, intending to help with the main, center matrix.

"One…two…three!"

On three, all of them put their hands on their matrixes, and a brilliant light ran around the walls, containing energy so strong that it could have blown an observer off their feet. It did, however, succeed in breaking the final ward. There was no audible sound or visible confirmation, but the four alchemists could feel the final ward deteriorate.

When the energy died down, they all exchanged looks.

"I'll go first, just in case," Izumi told the boys. "Then…I'll help Al get down, and it's all yours, Ed. You know everything you need? Have everything?"

"Yep." Edward nodded solemnly.

Izumi gave him another nod, then headed down the stairs.

The boys all looked down into the darkness, and had to flinch back when a light clicked on.

"Amazing the lights still work…oh. It's oil. No wonder."

The boys grinned at hearing Izumi's voice, then she soon became visible as she came up the stairs.

"Well, there's nothing incriminating down there…a large space, some work tables that will have to be pushed aside, and a couple bookshelves. Do not touch anything on there until your mother and I have inspected them for curses," Izumi warned the boys.

Edward nodded. Today, his reason was solely to get Alphonse's legs back.

"Alright, then." Izumi easily lifted Alphonse out of the wheelchair as if he were a toddler instead of a ten year old boy, and carried him down.

"Good luck, Ed," Harry said and held out his hand.

Edward clasped it and gave him a nod, then turned and headed down the stairs.

Izumi was at the bottom, and sat Alphonse down in the center after using her wand to move some tables against the walls to be out of the way.

Edward nodded in approval, and pulled out a piece of chalk.

Izumi clasped him on the shoulder and gave it a squeeze, a look of concern on her face, then grew resolute. "You can do it."

It was more than just a mission, it was also facing his fear of the Gate, and they both knew it.

"Right. Thanks, sensei."

Izumi gave him another pat, then walked up the stairs and closed the door.

Edward didn't hear two sets of footsteps move, and figured that both Harry and Izumi were either waiting outside the door, or Izumi was trying to convince Harry to join Trisha in the living room.

Edward smiled slightly, then turned to his work as he began on the matrix.

Alphonse watched his brother work meticulously in silence, his keen eye alert for the various symbols and shapes that were making their way through the basement floor made of a gray stone.

After what seemed an eternity, Edward tossed the piece of chalk aside and pulled out the shard of the Philosopher's Stone.

"Are you sure you don't want mom to put you in an enchanted sleep?" Edward asked seriously as he made his way to the outside of the complex matrix.

"No. Go ahead…I trust you, Ed."

Edward gulped against a lump in his throat. How could Al trust him after what happened with the first one…?

As if he read his mind, Alphonse crossed his arms as he lay in the middle. "Don't even start looking guilty! I agreed as much as you to heal mom! It could have very well been you that wound up like this, and if that was the case, we probably would never have solved it!"

"Al…"

"It's not your fault, and I don't blame you. Besides…you're making it better. Are you going to try and get your muscles back, too?"

Edward shook his head 'no'. "Not sure if there's enough energy, and I'm not risking asking for more. Besides…Winry would kill me since she wouldn't be able to fix and measure new automail."

Alphonse chuckled. "That's Winry. She'll probably be arriving home in a couple of hours. Best have good news for her!"

"We will. Ready, Al?"

"Do it."

Edward took a deep breath, then let it out and clapped his hands together, Philosopher's Stone in between a couple fingers. Then, with the added energy, put his palms down on the outside line of the matrix and activated in a flash of white and red energy.

Edward found himself standing in that same, blank white space, with a grinning humanoid in front of him, just like last time, its back to a Gate similar to the one that opened to permit him entry to the strange world.

"Are you here for your leg? You paid quite a toll…an amplifier, huh?" the thing said.

"No…I'm here for Al's legs."

The thing grinned. "You sure you don't want your own? It wouldn't be difficult."

Edward shook his head and took a step forward, fear pushed aside. "I came here for one reason, and that's Al's legs! Let…let me keep mine the way they are as punishment for doing something forbidden in the first place! Mom was probably supposed to die, and we used alchemy to save her. I'm grateful, but I know we still went out of bounds. I'll keep this, then, as a reminder…that I'm still human, and I still make mistakes."

The thing stared a moment, then laughed for a long while.

Edward just stood there and waited for the creature to stop.

"Very interesting, Edward Elric! Very interesting, indeed! Take them!" The thing pointed to a spot behind Edward.

Edward blinked and spun around to see another thing sitting there, only this one was slightly different in that there were strange lines running down its legs. The thing that had been talking to Edward had an oddly colored area on its left leg, from the knee down.

Edward realized with a jolt that the 'oddly colored area' was his muscle, and the lines were Alphonse's nerves. Without fear, he strode up to the thing that was Alphonse's, and looked it in the face, since it had no features except a mouth. "I'm here to get Al's legs back. I brought this to pay for it."

The thing tilted its head when Edward held up the shard of the Philosopher's Stone. Then, it bowed its head in a nod and held out its hand.

Edward tossed the shard to the thing, which dissolved the second the stone touched the creature's hand.

The doors behind it opened, and Edward was forced to shield his eyes from an intense light that flooded through. When the light was gone, he was, again, facing the creature, and the door was closed.

Only this time, it was pure white, with nothing on its legs.

A voice from behind him spoke, "Your door is closing, Edward Elric. You might wish to hurry…your toll has been paid for your return trip, but it's not a fault of mine if you miss it."

Edward didn't have to be told twice, and ran to the door that he had come out of…not that he had to. Like the first time, black tendrils reached out and grabbed him in order to make sure he went back through since he had already paid the price.

The last thing Edward saw of the world was the grinning face of the strange being.

When Edward opened his eyes again, he realized he was face-down on the ground, on his stomach, with his hands in front of him. At first, everything was a blur in his mind. Then, he remembered what had happened.

Al in the center.

The transmutation.

The Gate.

The thing beyond the Gate.

The toll.

Al…

Edward immediately jerked to a kneeling position as he spied Alphonse in the center of the matrix. The boy was sitting up, and flexing his toes while he stared at them in awe, as if he had never seen them before in his life.

"Al…?" Edward croaked.

Alphonse looked up, tears in his eyes. "Ed…I…I can feel them! I can move my toes! I can feel the floor…my trousers…I can feel it, Ed!"

Edward let out a half laugh, half sob as he flung himself at his brother and all but tackled the boy in a giant hug.

Alphonse was in tears as he held back, laughing along in relief and joy.

After a few moments of hugging and crying, the boys pulled apart, both with soft smiles on their faces.

"Knew you could do it, Ed," Alphonse said quietly.

"Glad you're cured, Al," Edward replied as he wiped his eyes.

Alphonse beamed up at him. "This means…I can go to Hogwarts next year!"

Edward laughed shakily, then stood up and offered his hand to his brother.

Alphonse took it, then stumbled once he was on his feet. "Woa!"

Edward was ready, however, and steadied him.

"…if I can re-learn to walk…" Alphonse blushed.

Edward grinned and knelt down, back to his brother. "You will. Mom will be there to make sure of it. The Rockbells will prolly help, too. Now, get on. We've gotta tell the others!"

Alphonse climbed onto Edward's back and hung on as his brother stood up.

It was a slow process, going up the stairs; Edward was a bit drained, but still going on adrenaline and euphoria at the accomplishment. That, and he didn't want to jostle Alphonse too much, though the boy was entertained by watching himself flex his own toes.

Edward kicked the door a couple of times with his foot, knowing that Izumi and Harry hadn't left (unless they did when he was unconscious, at least).

Immediately, the door flew open to reveal a worried Izumi and an anxious Harry.

"Well?" teacher and pupil almost demanded at the same time.

Edward grinned and tilted his head to his brother. "Look for yourself."

Alphonse laughed and flexed his toes for them.

Izumi beamed proudly, while Harry cheered and patted Edward on the arm. He wanted to hug them, but that would off balance them and send them back down the stairs.

"Let's go fill in your mother and Dumbledore," Izumi led them away from the basement, and closed the door behind her.

"You bet!" Edward beamed.

"You have all your limbs? Nothing missing?" Harry asked as they moved down the hallway.

"I'm fine! The Gate accepted the toll." Edward beamed.

"Al?" Harry queried, since Alphonse wouldn't lie if Edward was hiding something.

"He's all there!" Alphonse laughed. He couldn't see Edward's affronted look or the eye roll, but he heard and felt the boy snort.

"Don't trust me?"

"You always downplay how hurt you really are," Alphonse responded smartly.

Edward scowled again, which caused Harry to chuckle.

When they arrived at the living room, Trisha shot to her feet and ran over.

"Mom, look!" Alphonse proudly demonstrated how he could flex his toes for her.

Trisha smiled despite her tears of joy, and waited until Edward had set Alphonse down on the couch before she pulled him into her lap and hugged him. Then, she gestured for Edward to come over, and pulled him into the embrace, whispering words of relief and how proud she was of them.

Izumi placed a hand on Harry's shoulder, though the boy hardly felt left out. Both understood that it was a moment for the Elrics, since neither had been around when the boys first performed the forbidden alchemy to save her.

Harry smiled up at Izumi, tears shining in his green eyes.

Izumi grinned back down at him, and gave a nod.

Harry laughed, then jumped onto the couch and joined in the group hug when he felt enough was enough.

Edward, Alphonse, and Trisha easily accommodated him, which left Izumi to speak to the head of Dumbledore that was in the fire.

"Everything went perfectly. Seems the sliver of the Stone was used up to pay the toll. Edward suffered no repercussions, and unlike some magic spells and potions, in alchemy, it would have been immediately obvious if there was one," Izumi explained.

The head bobbed as if in a nod, and a smile spread on the face of the man.

Izumi wondered how his eyes could seem to twinkle even as a disembodied head in the fireplace, but didn't inquire about it. "Al has use of his legs again…we'll have to re-teach him how to walk, but he should be walking around on his own by the time the boys come home again."

"Very good to hear," Dumbledore finally spoke.

At hearing the voice, Edward scrambled off the couch, eyes bright, and stopped in front of the fireplace. "Thank you so much, sir! Thank Mister Flamel for us, too, please?"

It was rare to hear Edward remembering his "P's and Q's", which impacted on just how much the boy had been looking forward to this day.

Dumbledore winked at the boy. "I shall let him know, and you are most welcome, my boy. Izumi tells me that she believes the sliver was used up? You understand why I must know."

Edward nodded. "Yea. I had to use the entire thing to pay the toll, get Al's legs, then come back. I…I can't thank you enough, sir…and Mister Flamel."

There were echoes of "thank you" from Trisha, who was too elated at what transpired to form more of a coherent sentence, and Alphonse, who repeated the phrase. Harry joined in, as well.

"You are all quite welcome. I shall stop in again soon, or when I next hear from Remus. In the meantime, I have some final preparation to do."

Edward, though he was tired and had gone through an emotional period, knew that the old man was referring to keeping the rest of the Stone from Voldemort. "I understand, sir. Thanks, again!"

A final nod (and twinkle), and Dumbledore faded from the fireplace.

Edward stared a moment at the flames, then took a deep breath and let it out.

"What about your leg?" Harry finally ventured.

Edward shook his head with a grin, and joined the rest of his family on the couch, while Izumi found a place on the armchair. "I'm fine as it is. I'll keep it…I don't mind. Besides…I don't want Winry to cry. Or worse…hit me with her wrench! I think she did trade her plastic toy wrench for a metal one!"

Laughter filled the house, mostly from the joy and release of tension, and letting go of the fears that surrounded the "what if" of the situation.

"Ya know, I wasn't kidding about the wrench…"

TO BE CONTINUED…