A/N: Hello again, readers! Sorry for the wait!
Anyway, I just wanted to mention something which has to do with the way the Gate functions in this story. Although this is taking place in Brotherhood, the Gate works as it did in the 2003 series. Just think of everything that happened in the ending of the first anime and the Conqueror of Shambala movie but during WW2 in our world with the Hetalia countries on the other side of the Gate while in the FMA world the events in Brotherhood are taking place. The reasons I chose Brotherhood for the setting of this story was because I wanted Truth to be involved and to include the additional characters. So just keep that in mind as the story progresses so it makes sense later on.
On to the chapter!
Russian Rebound Reversal
Chapter 4: A Surprise Appearance
Massive German Airstrikes Hit Great Britain!
Ed couldn't help but read the front page article of the newspaper he found while doing his business in the bathroom. Apparently, there was some kind of world war happening on this side of the Gate. In the middle of reading the article, Ed thought he heard an engine noise going on outside.
It's probably nothing, but with this world at war right now, who knows what it could be? I've just got to be careful while I'm stuck here so I can get back home in one piece.
Ed washed his hands after he finished doing his business and poked his head out of the bathroom door.
"Ready?" Arthur asked after noticing Ed was finished.
"Yep, let's just get this over with."
Arthur quickly started walking over to join Ed in the bathroom. Once there, he washed his hands, left the water running in the sink, and gestured for Ed to come over. "I just want to make sure your arm wound is cleaned up before we start."
Ed nodded and let Arthur take care of his arm. After rinsing, disinfecting, and dressing the wound, all that was left was wrapping it in place.
"There, all done," said Arthur, "Now we just have to work on that beat up mug of yours."
"I think I can manage that on my own."
"Eh, alright. Knock yourself out."
It took a moment for Ed to rinse most of the dried blood off of his face. He was just about to reach for the bandages when Arthur interrupted him.
"Oh come on, is that it? You'll get an infection if you don't clean it all off and use peroxide."
"Ugh are you serious? What are you, my mother?"
"Ah shut it. Hold on, here," Arthur dabbed a cotton ball soaked with peroxide on Ed's scratches, "There, it was that simple."
"Whatever, thanks," Ed grunted as he grabbed the bandages, "I'm just in a hurry to get to read some of those books of yours."
"Oh, you are? Come on lad, don't you think it's time to call it a night?"
"Look, I just want to familiarize myself with the material for a bit. I won't take long."
"Oh, alright," Arthur gave in, "I'll show you to the library then, but just for a little while, okay? I've had a long day too."
"Yea yea, I know," Edward said nonchalantly as the two of them started walking down the hall.
After they ventured further into the maze also known as Arthur's hallway, they arrived at a pair of extravagant-looking mahogany double doors.
"Here we are," Arthur said, placing his hands on the handles about to open the doors to his study, "Prepare to feast your eyes on the pride of the British Empire, the largest library of research on all there is to know about magic known to man!"
Ah come on, Ed thought to himself before he got a chance to get a good glance at what was behind the doors, It can't be that big a deal.
Woah! Guess I spoke too soon!
Ed's mouth opened agape marveling at the hundreds, no tens or probably even hundreds of thousands of books on the shelves of Arthur's enormous two-story library just begging to be read.
"Wow, this is amazing!" Ed exclaimed. In an instant the alchemist was flipping his fingers through the pages of the nearest book he could get his knowledge-prying hands on. "And all of these books are just research solely on magic?".
"Why yes, they are," Arthur answered proudly with a smug look on his face, "A lot of information can accumulate after researching over a span of hundreds of years."
"Hundreds of years?" Ed asked, "Who conducted all of this research?".
"Why, all of the previous owners of this mansion, of course!" Arthur asserted tensely, "Do I honestly look hundreds of years old to you?".
"No, I didn't mean it that way," Ed said trying to correct the Brit's misunderstanding, "Just wanted to know who did the research, that's all."
Sheesh, what's his problem? He obviously couldn't have collected all of this research alone. He only looks like he's in his early twenties. Unless...
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
"Huh? Arthur, what was that?" Ed asked after the rude banging interrupted his thoughts, "Don't you have a doorbell? Whoever's knocking must be banging pretty hard for us to hear it from all the way down here."
"Iggy! Open up!" a loud obnoxious voice shouted from the front door, "Don't make me bust down the door again!"
Again? Just who is this guy?
Arthur facepalmed. "Idiot. I told him a million times that I installed a doorbell so he wouldn't break the door down knocking," he grunted in an annoyed tone. Then he stuck his head out of the doors to his library and started screaming at the top of his lungs so the person knocking could hear,
"ALFRED! I HAVE A DOORBELL YOU TWIT! AND DIDN'T I GIVE YOU A KE-".
CRASH!
Wait a sec. Alfred? Isn't that the name of the person Arthur argued with over tea? The way he was talking, he sounded like he hated his guts. Then why the hell would he give him a key to his house? Maybe to stop him from breaking down his doors?
"Oh, God no. Not another door," Arthur muttered.
"Iggy! You here, dude?" the man now known as Alfred called as Ed heard his footsteps rushing down the hallway. Within seconds, a dirty blond head with an ahoge sticking out on the side revealed itself through the double doors. "Yo Brit-".
Arthur dashed over towards the man in his doorway and slapped a hand over his mouth.
"What in the name of Busby's Chair are you doing here Alfred? And for the millionth time don't call me Iggy! It's Arthur! Got it?" he hollered at the American. Then he nudged a bit closer to the man's ear cupping his hand next to his mouth, "And for now don't refer to me as you-know-what," he whispered almost inaudibly, tilting his head towards Ed whose suspicion suddenly arose.
"Oh," Alfred said in realization now noticing the teen in Arthur's study, "So, who's the kid?".
"This is-"
"The name's Edward Elric," Ed butted in, extending a hand to give the man a handshake, "And you must me Alfred. Arthur's told me a lot about you."
"Oh really? What'd he say 'bout me?" Alfred asked curiously taking up the offer to shake Edward's hand.
"Oh nothing really. It was just that he went on forever about how much you love coffee and dumped a bunch of his tea into a harbor. And if I'm not mistaken, I remember seeing on one of his maps some drawings of-"
"That's enough, Ed!" Arthur yelled at the boy, his cheeks reddening, "And Alfred! Why the bloody hell are you even here in the first place? The meeting tomorrow's in Washington D.C! Unless you forgot your own capital."
"Why I'm here?" Alfred echoed, "Because me, being the amazing hero that I am, arrived here to come with you on the plane ride back to my place to make sure you get to the meeting safe! I flew all the way here on my own plane to pick you up! It took me like, eight hours to get here, man! And the meeting starts at four o'clock tomorrow so-".
A plane? Must be some kind of flying transportation in this world. I guess that explains the engine sounds I heard earlier. And he flew here in eight hours, too? That thing must go fast if he came all the way from that country America.
"But that's nine o'clock at night in my time zone," Arthur interrupted, "So we should leave at one in the afternoon tomorrow at the latest to make it there in time." Then the Brit paused as if a sudden thought had just struck him, "Uh, Alfred?".
"Yes, Br- uhh, Arthur?".
"Where exactly did you land your plane?".
"Oh, about that," he said sheepishly rubbing a hand behind his neck, "I didn't see any landing spots nearby so I just landed it on your front lawn."
"WHAT? YOU DAMN IDIOT! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?" Arthur bellowed.
"Like I said I didn't see any land-".
"Outta my way!" Arthur shouted as he pushed the American out of his way and started running down the hall.
"Iggy! What's wrong? Where ya goin'?" Alfred asked innocently.
"IT'S ARTHUR!" he yelled already halfway down the hall.
"C'mon Ed!" Alfred said grabbing Ed whose mind was still in research mode, "Let's go see what Iggy's up to!".
"Get off me! I don't wanna go! I was in the middle of doing research!" shouted Ed, who was reluctant to leave Arthur's study and attempted to pry the man's gloved hand off of his arm, which proved to no avail.
Man, he has a tight grip!
But Alfred continued to drag the boy down the hall, "Lighten up, man. You'll have plenty of time to research more magicy stuff when me and Arthur go to the meeting tomorrow. You're big enough to look after yourself, aren't cha?".
"Of course I'm big enough! Just how old do you think I am?" Ed questioned loudly.
"I dunno, uhh, twelve?".
Oh no, he didn't!
"I'm sixteen!" Ed remarked defensively.
"Really? If that's the case, than you're really short for your age!".
A blood vessel seemed to pop out of the angered alchemist's head. Oh, now that's it!
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A SHRIMP SO SMALL COULDN'T TELL HIM APART FROM A GRAIN OF SAND YOU JERK!" Ed short ranted flailing his limbs aggressively at the American.
"Woah, calm down there dude! Sorry, I had no idea you took your height so personally." Then he pulled a random hamburger out of his bomber jacket, "Here. I was saving it for later. If you already tasted Iggy's cooking you would know why I brought it, but you can have it. I ate all the others on the plane ride here."
"A burger you had stashed in your jacket for over eight hours? No thanks," Ed scoffed. This guy's an idiot if he thinks he can just offer fast food to people and expect instant forgiveness.
"You sure you don't want it?".
Ed nodded.
"Oh well, more for me!". Alfred let go of Ed's arm to unwrap his burger and stuffed the whole thing in his mouth. "Mmm-hmm! So good! You're missing out, dude!" he said with his mouth still full. Ed cringed in disgust. He tried backing away and darting back towards Arthur's study.
"Yo Ed! You're going the wrong way, man!" Alfred said regaining his grasp on Ed's arm, "Come on. I'll be the hero and lead you the right way to Iggy. This way!".
And from then on the two of them continued through the corridors of Arthur's mansion until they reached the front door, which was now just a doorway, thanks to Alfred. Looking out onto the front lawn, a distressed Arthur was crouched beside a garden demolished by a streak of dirt that lead to the wheels of some kind of strange vehicle.
That must be the machine Alfred flew here. A plane, if I heard correctly. The design looks kind of cool, to say the least. I like the shark face on the front of it. Finally someone with a sense of style like mine! Alfred said it could fly, didn't he? If so, I wonder what actually would make it capable of flight. Maybe those wings sticking out on the sides? Man, if Winry was here that contraption would be in a million pieces by now...
"No! My precious rose bush! It's destroyed!" Arthur weeped to a pile of crushed roses scattered across his garden. Along with the roses were the remains of other various flowers and plants that Arthur grew in his garden: thistles, Scottish Bluebells, daffodils, and even a few shamrocks in the surrounding grass*. After taking in the destruction before him, Arthur craned his head around giving Alfred a fiery deathglare, "ALFRED!".
"Come on, Iggy. It was an honest mistake."
"No it wasn't! Only a bleeding idiot like you would mistake my lawn for a landing pad!".
"There weren't any around! I didn't think it would cause this much damage to your yard!".
"That's because you never think things over you bloody git!".
"Sheesh, calm down, Iggy. I'll pay for all this. Your door, your yard, everything! No need to make such a huge deal."
"That's not the point, Amer- ughhh, Alfred! You can't just get out of things like this by flaunting your money around! You have to be more responsible for your actions! Oh, where did I go wrong with you?" Arthur said with a sigh.
Alfred looked down. "Listen Ig- no, Arthur. I'm sorry. I really didn't mean it," he apologized, "I just thought it would be the quickest way to get to you, you know? You were just at my house not that long ago and you got all mad at me after I interrupted your voodoo magic thingy cuz you were mad at, uhh, Ludwig. I mean, with this war going on, I didn't want anything else to happen to you and I wanted to be the hero and protect you and stuff. For now, just let me make it up to you. I'll call someone to fix your door, alright?"
"Ugh. Fine, go ahead. The number's in the book next to my phone, although I've already memorized it from the results of just about all of your visits."
"Heheh. My bad. I'll just call em now. Don't worry man, I'll try being more responsible from now on! Cuz that's what heroes do!" he proclaimed as he ran off to get to the phone.
With Alfred in the house Ed had his chance to talk with Arthur and get some damn answers. Arthur, whose bushy eyebrows were still furrowed from his previous anger towards Alfred, got up and trudged back to the doorway of his house.
"Does he always like that?" Ed asked pointing a thumb behind him towards Alfred.
"Like what? Obnoxious, annoying, ignorant, a pain in the arse, shall I go on?".
"No need to; I get it. But if he's such a bother to you all the time, why'd you give him a key to your house? Because that didn't really stop him from busting down your door."
"I know. I haven't told you this yet Ed, but he's actually my younger brother. Well, not by blood. It's more like he's adopted," Arthur explained, "And as you saw earlier, we don't exactly get along much. But he's still my brother nonetheless, and I've got to look after him and help him when he needs it."
"Oh. I had no idea he was your brother. It must have been tough growing up with him, though. He only looks about four years younger than you. But what about your parents? Couldn't they help you both out?".
"I don't have any parents. They, uhh, passed away a long time ago and I was left raising him alone. Until that one day he decided to move out and be independent. Then he moved to his home country America and eventually became it's representative like how I am for the U.K. How he got involved in politics and did it I have no idea."
"Well, he does seem to be the ambitious type. Maybe that's what made his country want him to represent them for."
"Yea, I believe so, too," Arthur replied, "He's got a good head on his shoulders, even if he doesn't use it all the time, but he could pull through if he had too. Even when he was younger I could tell he was that way, although then and especially now I could never say it to his face."
"Arthur! You've gotta come in here right now!" Alfred called from inside, "It's really important!".
"What? The repair man can't make it? It is getting a little late." he said as he walked back into his house.
"No, that's not it. He said he'll be here in half an hour. But you just got a call from Ivan's sister in Ukraine. Yekaterina, I think her name is, and it's urgent!". He paused for a second trying to listen on the other end of the phone, "What? Ivan's gone missing and can't make it to the meeting tomorrow? That's terrible!".
"Alfred! Hand me me blasted phone already! The poor girl's gone through quite enough without you damaging her eardrum!" Arthur shouted as he snatched the phone away from Alfred. "Oh, and while I'm speaking could you please make yourself useful and show Ed to the guest room?".
"The guest room? But that's where I sleep!" Alfred whined, "Does that mean I'll have to sleep with you?".
"Have you seen the size of my mansion? There's another guest room across from it in the hall. And besides, the last place I'd want to sleep is in the same bed as you."
"That hurts, man."
"Oh shut up will you?".
A panicked female voice could suddenly be heard from the phone's receiver.
"Oh, sorry about that, Yekaterina. I was just talking to Alfred," Arthur explained to the girl on the phone. Then in a hushed tone he added, "Yea, I'm with someone where I have to say those in front of. So what exactly happened to Ivan?".
Arthur's voice faded away as Ed and Alfred made their way down the hall to get to their rooms. While doing so, Ed tried figuring out what exactly Arthur could have been talking about on the phone.
Say what in front of? Are they using aliases and are some kind of criminals or something? Maybe even secret government agents? Ugh! I just hope I didn't just get involved in anything too classified or dangerous that could end up in me getting killed. Al and I have still got a home to get back too and...
"Here's your room, Edo!" Alfred announced loudly as if he were some kind of game show host giving away a cruise while pushing the door open.
The room was quite large to say the least, though it wasn't much of a surprise to Ed compared to the rest of the rooms in the mansion. In the room was a queen-sized bed with a crimson red veil overtop and across from it was a large wooden chestnut-brown bureau with a mirror and drawers for clothes storage. (If Ed had brought any clothes, that is.) On one wall were two windows with curtains that matched with the veil on the bed that had a wonderful view of the backyard.
"Iggy didn't tell me he was letting anyone sleep over," said Alfred, "Especially with a meeting tomorrow and all. Don't you have a bag with you?".
"Uhh, no. I kind of got here by accident. So I didn't bring anything with me."
"What? By accident? Then what happened to you?" Alfred asked while leaning in and getting a better look at the alchemist, "You look all beat up! And what up with all these metal pieces sticking out of your arm? Are you like some kind of alien cyborg or something? Oh. My. God. WOO-HOO! I KNEW IT! ALIENS AND UFOs ARE REAL! TAKE THAT IGGY AND MR. PRESIDENT GUY!" Alfred cheered while jumping up in the air and pumping his fists.
"What! I'm no alien you dumbass!" Ed hollered at the older man in front of him, stopping him from his antics.
"Than what exactly are you?" Alfred questioned.
"Well, I'm an alchemist from another world that is on the other side of some sort of Gate. I used alchemy; Arthur used magic at the same time, and I ended up here. You wouldn't understand."
"Oh. It's some confusing magic-related thing isn't it?".
Ed was too tired and just wasn't in the mood to explain alchemy or any specific details of how he got here; not to this guy. So he just went along with it, "Yea, exactly. I wouldn't be able to explain without confusing you or anything, so let's just leave it at that. Well, goodnight Alfred!" he ended, trying to scoot the man out of his room.
"But wait a sec, Ed. Are you going to bed wearing that? Your clothes are all ripped up!". Then he thought for a moment, "Ooh! I've got an idea!".
Alfred ran towards the bureau and started going through the drawers. "Here's something!" he said while pulling out an old cap and nightgown.
"No way! I am not wearing that! It would look ridiculous on me!" Ed yelled.
"Yeah, you're right. And I'm pretty sure it wouldn't fit that good on you either."
Ed ignored whether or not the man was trying to insult him on his height with that comment. He was too tired and just wanted to get some rest now. There was plenty of time for research tomorrow, anyway. He turned to the bed and was about to lay down when...
"But wait! I just remembered!" Alfred interrupted once again. "I've got an extra pair of pajamas in my bag. I left it on the plane so just give me a minute!" he said as he dashed out of the room.
Finally, he's gone; at least for now that is. Now what was I thinking about earlier? Oh yeah, Al and I have to get back home. And I can't let her cry again. I just can't. She's done so much for me during these tough years: gave me a new arm and leg and encouraged me all the way down this path. I need to get back home. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but no matter what the price may be I've at least got to try...
"Yo Ed! Catch!" Alfred shouted as he hurled his pajamas at the boy, who was too deep in his thoughts to pay him any mind. And as he closed the door he muttered to himself, "Hmm. I don't remember packing half of these clothes with me. Oh well..."
With Alfred out of the room Ed put on his pajamas and lay down in the bed pulling the covers up to his chest, his thoughts remaining intact even as he closed his eyes until he drifted to sleep.
For your sake...Alphonse...Winry...
*Since the UK is comprised of 4 different countries, and each country in Britain has its own national flower, I thought I'd put them all into Britain's garden. England's flower is the English Rose, Scotland's is the Thistle and Scottish Bluebell, Wales' is the Daffodil, and Northern Ireleand's is the Shamrock.
Edit: A huge thanks to SpartanCommander for helping me out with suggesting I edit Ed's reaction to America's plane. I really appreciate it!
So now the moment of gratitude for my wonderful reviewers! A huge thanks to Rose Thourn, XxAxelRoxasXionxX, SpartanCommander, Bumblebeecamaro38, anonomas russia fan, SHOuLDADoNEmAHoMEwoRK, BlizzardNight, and Habato! I love reading feedback and will try to start responding to reviews if I can. Thanks, everybody!
Disclaimer: FMA and Hetalia are not mine and never will be! I do however, own both of these series on DVD (including the movies CoS and PiW!) and have plushies of Edward and one of Alphonse cuddling a kitty! Gosh, they're so cute!