Title: Hair
Author: Firebird
Characters: Alphonse and Izumi
Pairing: None.
Word Count: 601
Warning/Notes/Disclaimer: Characters are not mine and I am not making any money off this. However, they do belong to Hiromu Arakawa/Square ENIX, MBS, ANX, BONES, FUNimation Productions, Ltd.
Al balanced himself in a one-handed hand stand.
"Alphonse, are you running through the exercises you're supposed to be doing?" From somewhere inside the house.
"Eep!" At the sound of his teacher's voice, Al started, lost his balance, and tumbled over. "Uh, no?"
"And why would that be?" The voice was closer.
Al felt a bead of nervous sweat slide down the side of his face. "Because I got distracted?"
"I see." A book came flying out the window, heading unerringly towards his face. He yelped and dove to one side, covering his head. "THEN GET UNDISTRACTED AND BACK TO WHAT YOU WERE ORIGINALLY SUPPOSED TO BE DOING!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
Panting a little, he sat on the back step.
"Finished?" Izumi asked, as she came out and seated herself by him.
Al nodded. "Unless I missed something. Which I don't think I did."
"I had hoped that I wouldn't have to remind you to pay attention to what you were supposed to be doing while I was working on something else. Am I going to have to watch you?"
Al's shoulders hunched at the tone of disappointment in Izumi's voice. "No, Teacher. I just... couldn't concentrate and needed something else to do for a few minutes. I would have gotten back to going through my forms in a few minutes. Really."
He felt a hand ruffle his hair. "Thinking about your brother?"
"Yes."
"You'll find him again eventually."
"Just... Why would he leave like that? Why couldn't he have found a way to get me back without leaving me?" The hurt look he turned towards Izumi gave her pangs. She hugged him to her with one arm.
"I'm sure that if he could have found a way to bring you back without leaving, he would have done so. Staying... wouldn't have been equivalent exchange."
"Sometimes I really hate that phrase," Al said bitterly.
"There are days when I'm not too fond of it myself," Izumi admitted. "But without the concept of equivalent exchange, the world would be even more of a mess."
Al huffed out a breath. "I know that, Teacher." He mentally shook himself. "I've started having these really weird dreams lately."
"Oh?"
He nodded. "In them, Brother is doing stuff with someone who is... me, but not me? I don't know. At least they tell me that he's alive and trying to figure out how to get back. For the most part. Sometimes, he gets a little, uh, distracted." He tugged a bit at the hair in the back, where it was starting to need a trim. "Um, anyway, I've been thinking about growing my hair long like his, and keeping it in a ponytail like he does in my dreams."
Izumi looked at him carefully, weighing what he said. "Hmm. I don't see how that can hurt anything. So long as you keep in mind that long hair in sparring sessions or fights can give your opponent something to use against you if you let them get within reach of it. And what will you do about it later?"
"Huh?" He looked momentarily confused. "Oh, you mean after I meet Brother again. I don't know. I might cut it short again or just leave it long. It depends on how used to it I am by then, I guess."
"Fair enough." She levered herself to her feet, careful to not show how much more it hurt to move around these days. "Supper should be about finished cooking unless it boiled over while I was out here. Don't forget to bring in the book I threw at you earlier."
"Yes, Teacher."