By: Minuiko
Summary: HagarenMovie spoiler. Somewhat AU. Alphonse gives a final farewell to Izumi as he goes in search of his brother. One-shot.
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She was dead. Somehow, he found that hard to believe. He was at her grave, silently brooding, not quite sure what he was doing there. He couldn't be there because she couldn't have died. She was Izumi. She was invincible. She was his teacher who had gone through so much, suffered so much, and came out of it alive. If she survived losing her son, survived losing her organs, survived losing her first apprentice, how could she just die?
"I'm not going to let you get killed. You are MY apprentice and student, and therefore MY responsibility. So don't worry."
"Your responsibility…? Is it your duty to die?"
Suddenly, tears poured down Alphonse's face, in large streams, and wouldn't stop. Even if he tried to deny it, Izumi was dead. Dead and gone. She wasn't coming back. He was sure she was sad to leave them, too, but also needed to count the fact that he was being selfish. Was she happy living with her sin? Her guilt? Was she happy living with half her organs missing and coughing blood most of the time? But he couldn't help wondering. Was she ever happy after losing her son and blaming herself? When she looked at him, did she see him or his brother? Alphonse was her first apprentice now, but he had the feeling that she was always looking out for traces of his brother in him. When he grinned, she would look like she'd seen a ghost, then smile back wearily. He was sure that she loved him like a mother would, had always loved him and his brother equally, but with Edward's disappearance, he couldn't be sure of much.
But he knew she wasn't afraid of death.
"Bakeyarou."
"Izumi-sensei?"
"If I died, would you mourn me?"
"That's a stupid question… why wouldn't I?"
"Me dying, it doesn't mean I disappear. I'll always be right here." The black-haired woman smiled, and pressed a sharp-nailed finger to the boy's chest. "That's why… I'm laughing at you right now. Aru no baka."
Alphonse stared at her grave, at the name Izumi Curtis imbedded on the stone, tears still abundant, as he reminisced, and recalled the feeling of her hand pointing at his heart. He shook his head fervently. He'd always thought dead meant gone… and he knew she wouldn't really be gone in the absolute sense of the word, but he still knew she would never smile again, never give him another lesson. "Even if you don't disappear, Sensei… you still can't come back. I knew it would hurt… you dying… but I… these tears, they won't stop…"
"Listen, Al."
"Sensei…?"
"You're like your brother. You hurt. You bleed. And yet, you don't give up. That's good, Alphonse. That's part of being human. You're supposed to hurt. You're supposed to heal. And you will."
"So…?"
"When will you get it through to your thick skull, my dimwitted apprentice? I'm not immortal. I'm going to die, just like everyone else will. The only problem you're gonna face when meeting death face to face is… who's going to remember you?"
Alphonse's eyelids lowered. Izumi was right. She was almost always right. Except for when she had committed the sin of human transmutation. Then, she was wrong. His brother had been wrong. He'd been wrong.
And she must've known that she would die soon, all along, or else she wouldn't have given him all those lectures. Lectures his mind was complex enough to understand but that a normal child his age shouldn't have been able to comprehend. He sighed quietly and knew the answer to her question.
"I will. I'll still remember you, Sensei. Nii-san, wherever he is, he'll remember you, too. Sig-san, Winry, and Wrath, too… they'll all remember you. I think I can understand, Sensei. It doesn't make it hurt any less, but... you're not really gone, are you? You're still here. I know you are, Sensei."
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Alphonse looked at the sky, his dark golden hair covering his eyes as he wiped his tears. He then looked down at Izumi's grave, even smiled a little.
"Sensei, I can't see you, but… you're laughing at me, aren't you?"
He knew that she was, and he found that he didn't mind. He didn't care if it was his brother she saw in him. He knew what he had to do. He held out his fist in front of her grave— because he had to let go, continue with his life, continue with his search— and promised, "Sensei, I will find Nii-san. I promise."
Then they could give her a proper goodbye. Together. Because the three of them were a family.
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.:Owari:.
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A/N: Kazoku means family by the way. I don't know what inspired this. I haven't watched the movie yet, just read the summary and Izumi does –not- deserve to die. They just killed her off! And the same with Heiderich! Okay, I can understand Heid-kun, but why Izumi? It wasn't like she would hold them back in going to the real world or anything…
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