SIDE STORY: CHILDHOOD HOME

1st August 1994. Ed and Richard were now in a taxi, going through the streets of London. They were dressed rather casually, and in Ed's hand were a bag full of sweets and books, while in Richard's hand was a bag full of weird things.

"How does it work exactly?" Richard asked as he grabbed one of the things inside the bag he was holding. It was a small ball.

"It's a magic detector." Ed answered. "It senses the space fluctuation that magic generates when cast."

Richard hummed and grabbed another thing. "And what is this?" he asked once again, grabbing a bottle of red liquid.

"That's my blood." Ed said, making Richard disgusting. "So I can blink quickly to the place."

"That's nice." Richard commented. Then, the taxi suddenly stopped. "We've arrived at the orphanage boys." The driver said.

"Alright." Ed handed over some money to the driver. "Keep the change."

The two then got out of the taxi, and they were now in front of a rather old orphanage. Ed saw a garden in front of it, and it was still well taken care of, which made Ed smile.

"Damn… nothing changed at all." Richard whispered to Ed, which he nodded.

"The building needs some repairs though." Ed continued. "I'll ask Roger if he could help the orphanage or something…"

The two boys then walked to the entrance of the orphanage. The two took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

Not a minute later, the door opened, the smell of someone's cooking hit Ed's and Richard's nostril that made them nostalgic, and when the door opened, it revealed a rather old lady.

Ed smiled at the old lady. "Hello Mrs. Phillips."

The old lady looked at the two weirdly. "Pardon me, but do I know you?"

Ed and Richard chuckled at the question. "That's normal considering we haven't seen you in almost a decade now… It's us, Mrs. Phillips. It's Ed and Richard. "

"Ed? Richard?" The old lady was surprised. "My… You've grown…"

"It's the whole point of being a child, Mrs. Phillips, to grow up." Ed chuckled once again.

The old lady smiled. "Well, come in... We were about to have lunch. I'm sure we can get you two something. "

"Oh, it's fine Mrs. Phillips, we already had lunch, you can go eat with the kids, we'll wait in the living room." Richard insisted.

The old lady sighed. "Very well, I must leave you for a moment."

The two then entered the orphanage and sat on the chairs of the living room, reminiscing about their days in the orphanage.

"Remember when Barney shit himself in the garden?" Richard chuckled as he looked outside the window towards the garden.

"Mrs. Phillips was furious." Ed answered, smiling widely.

The boys then continued to laugh at their memories at the place, and a couple of minutes later they finally stopped, focusing on a task that they needed to do here in the first place.

"Place one here." Ed instructed Richard, which the boy just nodded. When he took out the small ball and placed it on the wall, the ball disappeared, blending into the scene.

"Where else?" Richard asked.

"Just wait, we'll run around the orphanage later."

The two boys then waited for Mrs. Phillips to serve the kids, and about half an hour later, the old lady brought three cups of tea for them to enjoy.

"You don't have to Mrs. Phillips." Richard smiled.

"I insist… it's the least I can do for you two."

Mrs. Phillips then sat with the two boys and questioned them about their visit.

"What brings the two of you here then?"

"Well, we thought we just wanted to see how the orphanage was doing." As Ed said, it was a bit of the truth, although not the whole truth. "Are the kids who were with us all adopted?"

"Fortunately, yes." Mrs. Phillips said while smiling. "It's rare to see all the kids get adopted."

Ed hummed. "I hope they're doing well…"

"Yeah..." Richard mumbled. "By the way, Mrs. Phillips, does the library nearby still stand?"

"Of course it still stands." The old lady answered.

"Does Miss Allison still work there?" Richard continued, which made Ed facepalmed.

The old lady chuckled. "You want to see her?"

"W-well, I just want to know if she still works there."

"She still does..."

"That's good…" Richard nodded.

"What about Mr. Adams?" Ed questioned.

Mrs. Phillips smiled weakly. "Sadly, he's passed away now... just two years ago."

Ed sighed. "He might be a weird old man… but he still had his charms…" Ed then put the bag that he had brought up to the table and gave it to Mrs. Phillips. "For the kids, Mrs. Phillips, some sweets, there's some money in there also."

"Thank you, Ed," she whispered. "You're really generous."

Ed just smiled. "I'll ask my parents if he could donate some money to your orphanage Mrs. Phillips… fix some ceilings and buy the kids some new clothes…"

"You don't have to Ed…"

"It's my childhood home, Mrs. Phillips, it's the least I could do."

Mrs. Phillips sighed. "Do you want to see the orphanage again?"

Ed smiled. "We'd love to."

"Then I'll leave you to it, I need to take care of the younger ones."

Ed and Richard smiled, and the two went around the orphanage, reminiscing and placing the magic detector at the same time. Ed went to his old room, Richard went to his old room, and the two continued to talk about their time in the orphanage. Last but not least at put his blood in the garden, hiding it in between the flowers.

After that, they talked to Mrs. Phillips some more. Hours had passed, and it was now time for Ed and Richard to go back. They said goodbye to the old lady and left the place with a smile on their faces.

"That was nostalgic." Richard commented as he entered the taxi.

"It was." Ed nodded. "Perhaps we'll visit them again later."