Authors Note: This was done for the community FMA Exchange September-October Session. Completed and submitted, I now post here for your pleasure. Enjoy. I'm not particularly pleased with the way this came out as I rushed towards the end just to get it done in time for judging.
Rated: PG-13, for some mild violence.
-TEACHER'S RULES-
"I need you boys to go to the market for me today."
Never argue with Teacher. One would think that Edward Elric would have engrained that rule into the back of his skull by the time he was sixteen. Yet, it seemed he hadn't. As he sat at the small table in Izumi Curtis' home, eating the breakfast she had so carefully prepared for him, her recently expelled student, he dared to give the basket she placed in front of him a hard stare. Golden eyes widened in surprise at the sudden strong yank on his blonde braid, so carefully styled and tied back only fifteen short minutes ago. Izumi threw him from the chair to the hardwood floor beneath their feet, and he landed with a loud thud that rattled the dishes on the table. For Edward's small size, the thud was unnatural, and at the telltale sound, Izumi frowned.
Never repeat Teacher's mistakes. That was the second rule Edward should have known, but like the first it had been broken. Just as Izumi had broken the taboo of Human Transmutation, in his own time, Edward had done the same. Their father had abandoned them years ago, and with their beloved mother's death, the young Elric brothers had found themselves desperate and alone. After many months of working on theories, plans, and designs, Edward and Alphonse had thought they had a foolproof way of pulling their mother back from the land of the dead; alchemy had lit the way for them. It had all gone terribly wrong; Edward's left leg was taken as the toll for the Truth. Alphonse lost his whole body. In a rash attempt to save the only family he had left, the elder Elric offered up his right arm. All he got in return was Alphonse's soul, which Edward hurriedly attached to a suit of armor that was nearby. Five years later, the armor was still empty, and Ed had replaced his missing limbs with heavy automail prosthetics.
"I make you breakfast, let you stay in my home after I expelled you, and this is the thanks I get!" Izumi bellowed as Edward struggled to his feet.
"I'm sorry, Teacher!" He dodged a swiftly delivered punch.
She swung again, connecting with the side of his face and sending him sailing across the kitchen. "One simple little task, Edward! Is this how I taught you to treat your teacher? With such disrespect?"
A sudden loud clanking that sounded like a dozen pots and pans were being thrown down the stairs was the only thing that stopped Izumi from flaying Edward within an inch of his life. They both stared at the doorway nearby that led into the hallway; Ed couldn't help but notice her hand was hovering dangerously above his head. A large suit of armor walked into the room just barely squeezing in between the doorframe, pausing at the sight in front of him.
"I only came for… " What exactly Alphonse had come for, Ed never found out.
Izumi dashed forward and seized Alphonse by his metal wrist. She flung the heavy suit of armor over her head, and Al landed gracefully beside his brother with little more than a tiny confused moan. The helmet turned, setting two glowing orbs on the blond youth beside him. If it had had a face, Ed knew it would be frowning too. Alphonse had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and there was nothing he could have done about it.
"I'm sorry, Teacher!" Ed said again, sitting up, hoping to spare Al. "We'll go! We'd be glad too!"
Izumi's clenched fists hovered at her sides as she stared down at them, her nostrils flared and her eyes burning with fury. Deciding that Ed's apology was sincere, a smile broke through the storm.
"Alright, you finish up your breakfast, Ed, while I write up a list for you," She held out her hand to help him up.
They watched her walk from the room and disappear into the closed off kitchen area. As the tips of her black hair whipped from sight, Ed heaved a sigh of relief before sitting back down to finish his breakfast.
"Brother, what did you do?" Alphonse asked, his voice echoing in the hallow cavity.
"I don't know," Ed shrugged, reaching for the last piece of bacon. "You know how she is, Al."
"Yeah," Alphonse took a seat beside his elder brother, "like student, like teacher."
The insinuation was lost on Edward, who dived happily back into the bowl of oatmeal as he shoveled bacon in his mouth at rapid speed.
------
Dublith was a bustling town. It wasn't nearly as large as Central, or East City, but nor was it as small as Resembool. And yet, it still retained a small village feel. The inhabitants of Dublith knew each other by name. They knew who had just had a baby, and who had just died. If someone was sick, they could expect get well wishes, flowers, and greetings from the whole of the community. New comers were welcomed with as much generosity and hospitality as old friends were.
"Hello, Edward! Alphonse!" An elderly shop keeper, stopping his sweeping, called out and waved to the young blond alchemist, as he and his brother made their way down the cobble stone street.
Ed raised his gloved hand and waved. Even if he weren't a state alchemist, Ed knew these people would still know his name. As the pupils of Izumi, one of the most respected people of Dublith, it was almost expected that they would. The man turned back to his sweeping as Ed shot him an apologetic smile and waved the list; Izumi's temper was respected as well through out the community, and so no one dared interfere when her students were running errands for her.
"What's first on the list, Ed?" Al asked, leaning down to read over his older brothers shoulder.
Ed pushed him away, feeling shorter than he truly was whenever Alphonse did that. "We need to go to the book shop. They have a special order in for Teacher."
"Okay," Alphonse nodded, "but I'll have to stay outside, I guess. I'm too large to fit through the door."
Ed felt a sudden rush of guilt, but it faded away as they turned the corner and the small shop came into view. He surged ahead, darting into the shop just as Alphonse reached it. The woman behind the counter had a smile and Izumi's order ready for him, and she slid it quietly across the counter. Ed smiled back.
"Thank you, ma'am." He said, a little too polite.
She laughed softly. "Stay out of mischief, Edward. Make sure Mrs. Izumi gets those books as soon as possible. They are very rare."
"I will," He waved and headed out of the shop.
It went like that for much of that quiet afternoon. Ed would run into the shops, and pick up Izumi's request, before returning to his younger brother, and hiding their purchases in Al's empty chest cavity. Occasionally, the shop owners would step outside to say hello to Alphonse, and ask how the brothers were. Never longer than a few minutes, as they were reminded that Izumi had requested that they return as quickly as they could.
"Good-bye Mrs. Gough!" Alphonse turned and waved as Ed led him away.
The elderly woman who sold the best eggs to be found this side of Central, waved before disappearing back into her little shop.
"We just haff ta go to da posdal offiz, Al, and en we cun head back to Teacher'zz," Ed called over his shoulder, his voice muffled by the biscuit Mrs. Gough had offered him.
"Really, Brother, you shouldn't talk with your mouthful, it's rude!" Al chastised as he fell into step beside Ed. "What would Mother think?"
"Sowwy," Ed responded, pushing the rest of the biscuit in his mouth.
There was a single road leading out of Dublith to the post office. Once outside the boundaries of the center of town, it transitioned smoothly from cobblestones to dirt. Less than a half a mile away, perched on the top of a small hill, was a small log cabin. The stretch of earth that winded up to that hell was flanked by a wall of golden wheat, like billions of tiny celestial soldiers protecting passersby from any harm. The midday sun danced along the rippling barrier, casting each sheath into a heavenly golden glow.
"It's really pretty in Dublith, don't you think, Brother?" Alphonse turned to face his older brother.
"It is," The elder Elric replied shortly.
Ed was not one for eloquence, and he hardly ever took the time to take in the beauty of life. His mind was often so cluttered with thoughts of their goal and his own guilt, that he just didn't have time for anything else.
"HEY STOP IT!"
A sudden voice called out, startling both the Elrics. They paused, looking for the source of the voice.
Ed pointed into the field of wheat. "There."
The wheat was whipping around violently, as if something were pushing it out of the way. Al held a hand over his eyes to shield them from the sun.
"What do you think it is?" Al asked, but was surprised to find Edward dashing past him.
"C'mon Al! Let's check it out!" The elder Elric called, the tail of his red coat whipping out of sight into the wheat.
Only a few seconds later, Ed stumbled into a small clearing in the middle of the golden field. A group of children stood in a circle, their fists balled and their faces full of malice. At the sound of metal crashing through delicate plants, they turned, breaking apart into an almost perfectly straight line. Ed came to a stop a few paces away, opened his mouth to speak, but fell silent. All of the children were in vary sorts of disarray; muddy and one young boy even missing a shoe, they all looked down guiltily.
The youth that was missing a shoe was clutching something behind his back. Ed could see the object dangling behind the child's legs. It was silver, with narrow appendages that curled up almost like….
"Fingers," escaped Ed's lips in almost a wispy breath. He stomped over to the boy, his hand outstretched. "Hand it over!" He demanded.
The boy exchanged a terrified look with the other children, before placing the object in Ed's hand. With a frown, Ed turned the automail arm over in his own hand. Behind him, Al gasped.
Looking down the line of muddy faces, it was apparent that the arm belonged to none of them. They all met his angry gaze for only a few seconds, before staring down at their feet.
"Who does this belong to?" Ed asked, shaking the automail at them. "It's obviously not yours. So where'd you get it?"
"Brother," Al reached a hand towards Ed's noticeably shaking frame.
The theft of the automail had struck a nerve with Edward, and Alphonse knew it was mere seconds before the teenaged state alchemist lost control of his temper. He searched for words to calm his brother, but nothing that came to mind seemed appropriate enough. Ed had obviously harbored fears of being mocked for his prosthetics, even though the only reason he ever voiced for wearing his gloves, long sleeves, and pants was to keep their secret hidden. Displaying the automail in a prominent manner, he had said, would lead people to ask awkward questions that he did not really want to answer.
"GIVE IT BACK!"
All of the children turned to face the wheat wall behind them, as another body came crashing through. Al and Ed exchanged a knowing look, just in time to see a young boy poke his head, just his head, through the rippling curtain of gold. He looked at each of the children in turn, his green eyes glistening with tears. Not noticing Al and Ed who held the arm, the child jumped into the opening.
"GIVE IT BACK!" He shouted, tears falling to his dirty, scratched face. "My dad had to sell our house to pay for it! How can I go home without it, and tell him you all stole it!"
He fell to his knees in the dirt, sobbing. His shirt was torn, frayed at the rip as if it had caught in something when torn. It opened against his shoulder, revealing empty, tarnished automail port. The tanned, muddy flesh around the port was shiny with pale scars. He stared back up at the faces of the other children, who seemed indifferent to his cries.
"PLEASE GIVE IT BACK!" He moaned.
A gentle nudge in Ed's back prompted the alchemist to move forward. With a sharp look at the kids, Ed walked over to the sobbing boy. Ed knelt down beside him, and held the arm out.
"Here, I think this is yours."
The boy looked up, his sobs ceasing. He held out a hesitant hand, shaking as he did so.
"What's your name?" Ed asked as the automail left his own grasp.
"Andy," Was the squeaky reply.
Ed smiled brightly. "Well, Andy, we're kind of like automail brethren."
"Huh?" Andy wiped his nose on the back of his hand. "Brethren?"
"Kind of like brothers," Ed responded.
Andy eyed him. "What do you mean?"
Ed laughed. "I have automail too."
"Really?" The boy seemed interested. "Where?"
Ed stripped his glove off his hand, and rolled up the sleeve of his right arm. His own automail shined in the after noon light as he held his arm upward for Andy to see. Neither were aware of the other children crowing around until one laughed.
The tallest of the bunch pointed down at the two on the ground. "Look, Auto Andy, this little guy is weird just like you!"
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING LITTLE?" Ed snapped, standing up and whipping around to face the speaker. When he noticed that he was shorter than the kid, he changed his anger over to the second insult. "And why is Andy weird?"
"He's missing his arm. Now he's got a fake one. He's not like us," The youth in front of him said, as if Ed were an idiot for not understanding.
"So because he isn't exactly like you, he's weird? Because he isn't like you, you beat him up and steal his arm?" Ed hissed. "What kind of logic is that? I mean look at you, you're not the same as everyone else!"
"Whaddya getting at?" The boy leaned forward, peering right into Ed's face.
"How old are you?" Ed asked, placing his hands on his hips rather than around the boy's neck.
"Nine," He answered proudly.
"Yeah, you're freakishly tall for a nine year old," Ed pointed out. "So should the rest of them beat you up because you're different?"
For a moment the boy looked thrown, but he recovered quickly. "So? I'm tall for my age. I'm not a freak like Auto Andy. At least I have all my limbs."
Ed turned and looked at the rest of the group. "How about the rest of you? You all have different hair color, different colored eyes. Some of you are fat, some of you are skinny; some of you have scars and some of you even have crooked teeth. Tell me, should you all be punished for your differences? Or are you okay, because you all have both arms and both legs?"
They all looked down at the ground without answering him, except for the tall one in front of Ed.
"Andy's still a freak," He said, superiorly.
"I think Andy is a hero," Ed snapped. "He had to be pretty strong to go through that automail surgery. I'm sure much stronger than any of you."
They all glanced over to Andy, thinking over the new sudden analysis of him. Strong was not usually something used to describe Andy.
"I mean, the surgery to have automail is very painful, and you can be sick for days after it. Especially if things go wrong, and the body rejects the port," Ed explained, turning back to Andy. "Can you use it like a real arm, Andy?" The boy nodded. "So, if he can do that, it probably took him the better part of three years of grueling rehabilitation to learn to use it. That's pretty rough and painful, even if you are taking it slow."
The children were glancing between Ed and Andy, drinking in every word coming from the Fullmetal Alchemist. The only one who seemed to not be swayed was the tallest of the bunch, who still glared angrily at Edward.
"Who are you anyway?" The boy asked.
Ed fell silent for a moment before answering, "I'm Izumi Curtis' pupil."
There was a collective gasp from the children, as they all turned to face the silent suit of armor standing off to the side.
A girl with blonde pigtails and freckles on her face stepped forward, her mouth open. "Are you the Elric brothers?"
"Yes," Alphonse spoke suddenly. "I'm Alphonse, and this is my older brother Edward."
"So that means you're a state alchemist?" Andy asked looking up at Edward in total adoration.
Ed nodded. "Yup. I am the Fullmetal Alchemist."
As soon as those words escaped Ed's mouth, the small group dashed over to Andy, including the tallest boy.
"Wow, Andy," He could be heard saying, "A state alchemist thinks you're cool!"
The others expressed words of excitement, as Andy began to blush a bright red.
"That was nice of you, brother," Alphonse whispered, stepping closer to Ed. "We need to get going though, other wise Teacher is going to get angry."
With a nod, Ed smiled. The children were apologizing for being mean, and they were offering to walk Andy home; it was a pleasant change. Ed found himself wishing that more people would be accepting of difference. As he bid the children goodbye after making them promise they would be more accepting of those who were different, he realized that even this small moment was a start.
------
They had to run to retrieve the mail, and then they ran all the way back to Teacher's. She was standing in the doorway, waiting, her arms crossed and her foot tapping. They inched through the door sideways, explaining their story about Andy and the other children.
"They became his friends, Teacher!" Alphonse explained as Ed nodded his head rapidly.
"Did they really?" She asked sweetly, as Alphonse emptied his chest cavity onto the table. "Well, how nice of them."
Ed stared at her incredulously. Surely, she was going to lecture them for being late. He exchanged a worried look with Alphonse, as Al closed up the armor and moved beside his brother. It wasn't like Teacher to act this pleasant.
"Is that all the things on the list boys?" She asked, her voice warm.
"Yes," They answered promptly.
"Good."
A second later, she had flipped Ed and Al over her head, and they slammed into the floor, shaking the whole house as they landed.
"I told you not to be late!" She bellowed. "Can't I trust you boys with a single errand? I asked you not to be late, so I could get dinner on the table at a decent time! Now look! It's already past dinnertime! Maybe I should make you to go hungry for the night, perhaps it will teach you not to be late when I tell you to get done quickly!"
Ed and Al scrambled to their feet, apologizing. "We're sorry, Teacher, we're sorry!"
"Now, I want you two to get in that kitchen, and start peeling the potatoes on the counter! I want them done quickly!" She pointed towards the side door. "Go!"
The two Elrics slipped away into the kitchen, still apologizing as they disappeared. Once they were gone, Izumi moved to the table, and picked up a letter from the pile of mail on the table. As she opened the letter, she smiled.
"So at least one of my rules stuck," She murmured, lowering her eyes to read the folded piece of paper.
Rule number three: Trying to change the whole world is almost impossible, but one can change lives everyday.
Izumi knew she had taught the boys well, even if they couldn't remember to not argue with their teacher; but, there was still plenty of time to teach them that.