What Izumi and Mustang spoke about after dinner at the Hughes' –
Izumi listened as Ed walked her, Alphonse, Chester, Sig, Koda, and Suna through the finer details of what had happened the previous day between Ed, Archer, and their Animals. Izumi made sure she was listening close enough so she could interject with her opinions, praises, and criticisms of Ed's and Ayala's fight but her mind was more focused on the fact that her 15-year-old ex-student was a State Alchemist for the military and that this kind of fight was something he was regularly involved in. Perhaps the motivation for the fights weren't the same as Archers – Izumi certainly hoped not – but the fact that Edward was regularly going up against criminals and rogue alchemists on behalf of the military and getting injured this badly, if not worse, had Izumi's hatred for the military boiling under her skin.
"You know I understand your hatred for the military and that I agree with it but it wouldn't be a one of your better ideas if you decided to take your hatred out on those in this house," Koda pointed out from where she sat next to the couch Izumi was sitting on.
"I know," Izumi said, using their bond to do so as Ed continued speaking to them, "but that doesn't mean that it's not hard to resist the urge," she growled, dark eyes flicking to Mustang, who seemed to notice that there was someone glaring at him. Izumi didn't bother averting her eyes when Mustang looked at her and a small amount of satisfaction ran through her when Mustang immediately looked away nervously.
"I want to know what Ed and Al have told him about you to make him that scared of you," Koda said conversationally, watching Mustang with interest.
Izumi made an agreeable humming noise but she forced her attention back on her ex-pupil, who was now being fussed over by his younger brother. "Seriously, Al, I'm fine!" Ed told him, trying to fend of his worried brother. "Archer couldn't have fought his way out of a wet paper bag. The only reason it took me as long as it did to take him down was because I really didn't want to open up that injury on my left arm and be forced to sit through one of Doctor Overland's lectures," Ed claimed, batting at Al's hand. "Seriously, Alphonse! If I was close to death I wouldn't have done as well in our spar this afternoon as I did!" he pointed out, his voice close to a whiny growl now.
That had Alphonse pulling up short as he considered his words. "Oh, I suppose not," Al said, earning an eyeroll from Ed. "It's not you can judge me for not believing you straight away, Brother! How many times have you claimed you were fine only to be told by Havoc or an actual doctor that you're not?" Alphonse snarkily pointed out.
"Firstly, I can judge you for anything and everything, little brother. It's one of the perks of being the older brother," Ed told him, pointing a finger at him, "and secondly, that is so not the point right now and there was no need to bring that up!" Ed hissed at him.
Alphonse gave a 'what are you gonna do about it?' shrug that had Ed glaring at him but before Ed could actually say anything, Izumi spoke. "You're an idiot for not paying attention to your surroundings. If you and Ayala hadn't been mucking around, that Archer person wouldn't have been able to ambush you like that," Izumi scolded. "I had better not hear about you falling for a similar trap like that one in the future or you'll know about it," she threatened. "That goes for both of you," she added, pinning Al with the glare she'd aimed at Ed.
"Yes, ma'am!" they both chorused, a well-earned fear in their voice and on Ed's face as they did so.
"Good," Izumi said, leaning back slightly into the couch.
Izumi could see the confusion on Ed's face and knew he'd been expecting some kind of physical reinforcement of her orders. In all honesty, she was tempted to drag him out into the Hughes' backyard and make him defend himself but his confusion mixed with the fact that it would be poor manners on her part fighting Ed in their host's backyard meant that she wasn't going to give into that temptation. She was sure she'd get the chance to beat all of the lessons she needed to into him at some stage during this visit anyways. In fact, she was certain the boys were already planning on finding somewhere open but with minimum people there just for that reason during their day out tomorrow.
Before anyone could say anything else, their attention was grabbed by the appearance of their hosts coming back into the living room after putting Elysia to sleep. Though she'd had years to work through the jealousy and unfair hatred she felt towards couples who were able to have a healthy child, it still hurt Izumi deeply when she spent time with a child as beautiful as Elysia was in every sense of the word. It always made Izumi wonder what hers and Sig's child would've been like if he had survived the pregnancy and it always made a deep self-hatred well up inside of her for her inability to carry a child to term. She knew that it wasn't her fault in anyway that she was unable to support a child throughout the whole pregnancy but knowing that didn't make it any easier for her to deal with her self-loathing, feelings of failure as a woman and a wife, and the jealousy she felt towards couples like the Hughes' who could have a healthy child.
"I'm just going to clean up the dinner things," Gracia told them.
Izumi went to open her mouth to offer to help but both Ed and Al had gotten to their feet before she could. Ayala and Chester seemed to be of the same mind as their humans as they were quick to join them in heading for the dining room to assist Gracia. Hughes seemed to be intent on using this opportunity to speak to her husband and it only took a matter of moments for Izumi to figure out it was because he was interested in their butcher shop, in particular their knives. She might've been a little worried about the topic of discussion if Hughes hadn't started it out by telling Sig that he used throwing knives more than his pistol and felt more comfortable using bladed weapons to defend himself when he needed to so was always looking for the opportunity to find new ones to try out.
With Sig and the Hughes patriarch enthusiastically trading knife recommendations and stories, Izumi felt her focus fall on the only other human left in the room. Mustang was standing off to the side, likely having stood to offer his assistance to Gracia only to have the boys beat him to it but Izumi was grateful for that. It meant she wouldn't have to track him down later to have a discussion with him like she'd been planning to the moment she laid eyes on him. Stalking up to him, she noticed his lioness give him a look that clearly said 'good luck' before she laid down at his feet, pretending to doze off so he couldn't try and get out of this talk.
Mustang's betrayed look disappeared off his face the moment Izumi was standing within touching distance of him and she saw that his fear and nervousness was back. He was doing a pretty good job hiding it but she'd spent two years raising Edward and Alphonse to be better than the best at fighting, surviving off the land, fending for themselves, and using their alchemy so she knew what to look for to spot what lurked behind a mask, no matter how well practiced it was. Koda had joined her, standing just behind her and likely adding to the threatening atmosphere Izumi wanted them surrounded by. She knew that the boys would be back before too long and she fully intended to not waste a single second so she could get everything she needed to say out.
"I don't like you. I don't like the fact that you encouraged a 12-year-old boy to join the military. I don't like the fact that you essentially blackmailed him into joining the military. I don't like anything about this situation," Izumi told him, keeping her voice low so that their discussion wouldn't be overheard and so that Mustang was forced to pay attention to her words. "Having said that, there is nothing I can do to change Edward's decision or make him change his mind about honouring his contract with the military so I'm not going to waste my breath on that subject," she told him.
"What I am going to make sure you're aware of is that if I find out from Alphonse or Koda that Edward has been seriously hurt again because of a mission you or the military have sent him on, I will make sure you regret ever hearing the rumours that had you going to Resembool," Izumi snarled at him. Mustang opened his mouth but Izumi's glare had him snapping it shut. "I know that Edward's situation is as much his fault as it is yours but I have a feeling that you and the military keep forgetting that despite the fact that he is an alchemic prodigy and one of the best fighters in Amestris, he is still a 15-year-old boy," she reminded him. "He isn't going to speak up when he thinks a mission is too much for him to deal with and I know from Alphonse that there have been a few close calls in Ed's military career with missions that should've been taken on more experienced soldiers," Izumi informed him.
"I would be the first person to tell you that Edward can handle practically everything thrown at him – he was my student, after all – but he is still only a child, no matter what he's done," Izumi snapped. "No matter what he did when he was eleven, no matter what he's done in the name of the military, no matter what he's done in his own time, he is still a child and while he shouldn't be treated like one, you should absolutely keep that in mind because there will be nowhere on this Earth that you could hide from me if one of those boys or their Animal is killed because the military or you sent them into a situation they should've never been in," Izumi told him.
Izumi's eyes and voice were filled with a promise that had Mustang not hesitating for even a split second to nod at her words. He glanced down at his lioness, who hadn't moved an inch or even opened her eyes, before his eyes flicked to the kitchen, where the sound of softly clinking cutlery and other dinner items could be heard. Finally, he met Izumi's gaze directly and said, "there is a lot with military protocols that tie my hands when it comes to what missions I can assign the State Alchemist under my command but I have been doing my damnedest to make certain Fullmetal isn't tasked a mission that I knew he couldn't handle by himself or with Alphonse and the Animals as his backup," he told her. His voice was as low as hers had been but only so Hughes couldn't overhear him and do something like tell Ed what he'd said or tease him within an inch of his life for the foreseeable future.
"There isn't a lot I regret in my life but offering Fullmetal the chance to join the military when I did is one of them. If I could go back, I would've still told him to think about joining the State Alchemy program but I would've encouraged him to wait until he was of age to do so, despite knowing what he and Alphonse had done," Mustang revealed. It was something he had never admitted to anyone other than Nala before. "I do care about Fullmetal, no matter what he or you may think because of my attitude towards him. You have my word, Mrs. Curtis, that I will make sure that I will ensure to the best of my abilities that Edward is never in a position that is more dangerous than he can safely handle," he swore to her.
Perhaps it was the fact that Mustang had used Ed's first name instead of his military title when he'd made the promise or that Nala had looked up at Izumi and gave a firm nod at Mustang's words or Mustang's honesty or something else entirely but Izumi found herself believing the colonel. "Good," she said, "because I would've hated having to get Sig and the Animals to break me out of jail for killing you," she told him.
The seriousness of her tone and expression had Mustang swallowing a little harshly. He fully believed that Izumi would kill him on Ed's behalf, whether the blonde asked her to or not, and he had a feeling that even Nala and his alchemy wouldn't be enough to save him from her if she tried. He had noticed that Izumi hadn't included Edward, Alphonse, or their Animals as part of her jailbreaking crew but he didn't bother asking why. He knew the answer. If Izumi had been in jail for any reason, Edward and Alphonse wouldn't need to be asked to get her out. They would just do it, whether Sig, Koda, or Suna were there to help them or not.
Neither of them said another word to each other as there was nothing left to say, which ended up being a good thing since Edward, Alphonse, Ayala, and Chester appeared from the kitchen only moments after Izumi's last words had been spoken. Ed was looking back into the kitchen but Gracia had obviously gestured for him to keep going since he didn't disappear back into the room to help her. Mustang didn't know what kind of expression was on Izumi's face but he found himself unable to look at Edward for long when the blonde glanced his way.
Nala huffed at him as she got back to her feet as Edward and Alphonse rejoined them all. "You're acting like Riza has just caught you hiding your paperwork for the third time that morning," she told him, her voice a touch amused.
"I will never tell Fullmetal that he's overreacting when it comes to his teacher again," Mustang informed her, keeping their conversation telepathic for obvious reasons. He could see the curious look Ed was still giving him and Izumi but he decided that he wasn't going to give his youngest subordinate the chance to ask. "I've got a couple of suggestions for when you get to Fort Briggs," he told Ed. He just knew his tone wasn't quite as authoritative as he wanted it to be but thankfully, Ed didn't call him out on it. Instead, the blonde seemed to be smirking at his wolf and Mustang found himself mildly annoyed and grateful that the wolf was distracting Ed from his curiousity, however unintentionally she was doing it. He just hoped that by the end of the night, Edward would've forgotten that he wanted to know what had happened between him and Izumi. "Something funny, Fullmetal?"
A/N - Here is my last pre-written drabble! I'll keep the prompts on this story open so feel free to comment/message me with any prompts you want to see filled (refer to my instructions around prompts in chapter one's A/N) and I'll do my best to get them done! Though the lack of feedback on this series has been a little underwhelming, I hope those of you who have read them have enjoyed them and thank you very much for reading them! I'll be starting my "what if...?" series next Sunday! See you all then! FullmetalBitch xx