Teacher

empty place

The market place was always busy on Sunday afternoons. Even if it rained people came armed with umbrellas and a determined face to get their shopping done. But today was a perfect summer day. Not a cloud in the blue sky and the sun positioned directly above, warming the earth below. It was a little on the hot side, but most summer days were. Izumi was no exception to the crowd that gathered here. She carried a bag with one arm filled to the brim with food as she used her free hand to examine a juicy looking apple. But when a worm pope out of it, she sighed and placed it back on the stand, giving the vendor a flat look. She took the bag with both hands and looked around.

Of course they wander off… She grumbled when Al and Ed were no where to be seen. It's too hot for them to want to play, where the hell did they go? It shouldn't take them this long to get what I asked them to.

Izumi wandered off into the market calling for the two boys. Leaving them here was never out of the question for her. She knew they could find their way back, but she didn't trust them with her groceries (especially Ed) Just when she was about to give up she heard Al call from somewhere behind her.

"Sensei! Sensei! Sensei, we got all the stuff you asked for."

Izumi turned to see Al carefully weaving through the crowd, carrying a bag that was almost as large as him. Ed trailed behind him, which was odd because it was usually him to lead the way. The two reached Izumi's side, panting.

"Good," She said. "We're off then."

After buying several apples from a different vendor (and making sure they were worm free) Izumi and her students left the market place and began the long trek back to her house.

"Edward, don't drag your feet," Izumi said when the blonde haired boy began to fall behind.

Ed muttered something and hurried to fall into steps beside her. Al, on the other side, threw his big brother a worried glance. Izumi then abruptly took two apples from her bag and placed one on Al's head and the other on Ed's head.

"Don't drop them," Izumi instructed. "If you do, no dinner tonight."

"What!"

"Sensei! You said no more training for today!"

Izumi merely grinned at them. "It's all about balance. You can't have it just sometimes. You need it all the time."

"This has nothing to do with alchemy," Ed huffed, staggering as he tried to keep the apple on his head.

"For that remark you get two," Izumi said brightly and dropped another apple on top of the apple already on his head, somehow getting them to stay.

Ed opened his mouth to complain but realized doing so could earn him another apple and he quickly closed it. They continued their walk, Ed and Al staggering all over the place to keep the apples on their heads. And to Izumi's surprise, they were pretty successful up until they approached her house. Here Ed abruptly stumbled sideways and fell over, apples tumbling into the road and bag spilling out across the cement sidewalk. Izumi stopped walking and glanced over her shoulder at him.

"It was a good effort, Ed. But I don't bend the rules."

Al sat his bag down and took the apple from his head, hoping that wouldn't penalize him. He put the apple in the bag and hurried over to Ed now sitting up on the sidewalk.

"Brother are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

"I'm fine! Go have your stupid dinner! I'm not hungry anyway!"

Ed jumped to his feet and bolted, cutting across the street and disappearing between two houses. Izumi blinked in surprise. That was definitely unlike him. She reached down and grabbed Al by the collar of his shirt to prevent him from going after Ed.

"Leave him be."

"But—"

"He'll be back. Help me put the groceries away and pick up the ones Ed dropped."

Al frowned but obeyed.

However Ed did not come back and Izumi found herself waiting in the doorway for him, leaned against the frame with her arms crossed over her chest. She stared out into the slowly darkening outside with a frown tugging at her lips. Sigu, who had finished cleaning up the kitchen and closing the shop, walked up behind her.

"Al didn't eat because he felt too guilty about it," Izumi said absently. "I can go look for him," Sigu suggested, taking note of the worry in her voice.

Izumi shook her head and straightened. "No. He's my responsibility, I'll find him."

A large hand came over her shoulder and she turned to her husband with an inquisitive gaze.

"Are you sure?" Sigu asked. "That you want to look for him, I mean."

Izumi nodded and Sigu let her go, watching silently as she headed out and disappeared around the corner. Izumi searched everywhere. She searched from the most obvious to the least obvious until she found herself in the market again, now nearly empty. The air had cooled considerably since this afternoon because the sun was now gone and Izumi found herself constantly rubbing her arms. If Ed wasn't here then she was out of places to look. She searched alleys between buildings and asked the few people still milling about. This provided a lead. One thing lead to another and Izumi finally found herself in the outskirts of Dublith, the place where the market abruptly ended and gave way to wide open country.

I guess I should've known he'd be here, She thought with a frown. The country side is his home.

Sure enough she found her missing pupil. He was curled up on his side in an ally, back to her. He still wore his T-shirt and shorts, so now he was shivering in the cold night air. But when Izumi moved closer she discovered the other reason for his shivering. His face was flushed and sweaty.

"You stubborn kid," Izumi muttered in disbelief, kneeling down beside him. "You're sick... that's why you fell, isn't it? You have a fever."

There was no answer, of course, but her voice made him stir very slightly. Izumi reached over and placed a cool hand on his forehead. The skin was burning up.

"Dammit, Ed," Izumi mumbled, scooping up his shivering form. "Why didn't you say anything?"

She left the ally and hurried back to her house. Sigu was still at the door, apparently having been waiting for her since she had left. It made her smile slightly as she approached him. However he gave her a deep frown when he saw Ed.

"He's all right," Izumi told her husband softly. "Just sick with a fever. We have some medicine for it, right?"

"Nothing Ed can take, no," Sigu replied, holding the door open for her. "I'll go get something."

"Thanks, honey."

Sigu nodded and closed the door behind her. Al suddenly appeared looking sick himself from worry.

"Brother!"

"It's all right," Izumi assured him gently.

"He's sick, isn't he?" Al wailed. "I knew he was...he told me he was fine, but I knew he wasn't."

"It's all right!" Izumi cried, although she wasn't angry. "You can't help that your brother's head is harder than a sack of bricks. Now, go get some extra blankets from the hall closet."

Al nodded and ran as fast as he could to the destination while Izumi took Ed to his bed in the room he and Al shared. She personally thought he could use a bath considering he was dirty from lying in the dirt. But first his fever had to go down. She tucked him in as Al came in with an arm load of thick blankets, dumping them on the bed and staring worriedly at Ed.

"Don't be so worried, Al," Izumi told him kindly. "Ed will be fine. He just has a nasty cold. One's been going around the whole town. Now shoo, you can't be here or you'll catch it too."

"But Sensei—"

"Now, Al."

Al sulked from the room and Izumi took her place on the edge of Ed's bed after piling the blankets on him. She stayed with him even after Sigu had come and given him the medicine. This was the only thing that roused him from his fever induced sleep. Al was placed on the couch to sleep, although he peeked in once or twice. It was midnight by the time Izumi left the room. Ed's fever had gone down thanks to the medication, so she thought it all right to leave him alone for the remainder of the night. The door shut softly behind her and she leaned her back against it, eyes falling on Sigu.

"He's asleep," Izumi sighed softly. "Stupid kid. Once he's better I'll train him extra hard for this."

She blinked when she caught Sigu looking at her with an odd expression.

"What?"

Sigu shook his head, deciding it best not to bring up his thoughts considering it was a touchy subject for her. But Izumi knew better and she smiled slightly, painfully.

"I know what you're thinking."

Sigu frowned. "I'm sorry."

Izumi shook her head and leaned it back on the door, still smiling.

"They were just a couple of kids. Just another set of students. But now suddenly...they're more than that."

Sigu chuckled softly. "The woman who was taking care of them, Pinako, said they were orphans. It seems you're...healing each others wounds."

Izumi looked surprised by this news before she smiled again. She stood from her lean on the door and walked past her husband, placing a hand on his shoulder briefly as she did. It was true, Izumi realized. Somehow the two brothers had worked their way into a special place in her heart. A place she thought would forever be empty after the death of her child.