Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist. It's something I must deal with.

Hey, sorry for the extremely long wait for an update! My computer kinda crashed and burned, so it was stupid and unusable for quite a while. Plus, I had a complete muse. And writer's block.

I wanted to post this chapter on Valentine's Day, but no, my computer had other plans. There was no reason for that, but there is romance in this story, so…

Oh, and I don't know how to make the story have three genres. I can only have two. So if any of you want to help me out with that, please feel free.

I never considered putting Dante in this story, but I'll reference her in this chapter.

Yay! I get to meet Izumi!

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Chapter 15

Sensei

"Ed…"

I crooned his name in that special tone I use when I want something.

"Yeah?"

"Will you teach me alchemy now?"

The day had been remotely boring, with the exception of Al asking for the hundredth time exactly what had gone on in that secluded little room back at Central. No wait, him asking that was boring, too. Ed and I had stopped even considering answering him. Neither one of us wanted to tell him. It would just be too embarrassing. Even though Al had prompted our little romance, he didn't have to know where it was going.

"Sure, I guess."

He yawned, sitting up. He had been lying with his head on my lap as I sat on the couch. We had both accepted that the feelings were there, and that it would take a lot to make them go away. We couldn't be together exactly, though.

"What do you want to learn?"

"Everything."

"Well, that really narrows it down."

XXX

Two hours later, no real progress had been made. I was sitting on the floor, Ed beside me, and was just beginning to master how to draw a flawless transmutation circle. But that didn't come without my usual complaining.

"Just draw it like this!"

"This is too hard!"

"It's a damn circle! How hard can it be?"

"Easy for you to say! You don't need one!"

"Well I used to!"

I opened my mouth to retort, but I was out of things to say. Somehow or another, I always lost insult matches.

"I just can't draw good circles."

Ed sighed. He took my hands in his, and traced the outline of the circle as a guide.

"There," he said. "It's that easy."

"You know, I was wondering," I said. "Where did you learn all of your alchemy?"

Of course I knew the answer.

"I had a teacher." he replied. "Izumi Curtis."

"Can I meet her?"

"What? But she doesn't live near here."

"So?" I pestered. "We have nothing better to do, and I like trains."

I gave him my famous trademark puppy-dog eyes. He sighed, clearly beaten.

"Al!" he called. "Quit spying on us and come on. We're gonna visit Teacher."

XXX

I stepped off the train into the station.

"Where is she?" Ed wondered aloud.

"Don't be so impatient." I said. "She'll find us."

Sure enough, a woman and her grizzly bear husband appeared, striding towards us. She looked in a bad mood, but put on a smile. She extended her hand to me, and I shook it. Handshakes are weird.

"You must be Rachel, then." she said pleasantly.

"Yes."

"I hope you've been keeping Ed out of trouble."

"Uh… sure."

I cast a sheepish glance at Ed, who rolled his eyes.

"I saw that!" Izumi said in a commanding voice. Ed immediately sweatdropped, and apologized. I admired the control she had over Ed. Not in a dirty way, you hentais!

"Alphonse, what about you?"

"I'm fine, Teacher."

Izumi turned, and led us out of the station, and down a paved street that apparently led to her home. Sig followed, looking more like some kind of bodyguard. Izumi had a group of children waiting at her door when we arrived.

"Hey, Teacher, where did you go?"

"I need you to fix something!"

"Teacher!"

"Use some alchemy!"

"Teacher!"

If I were Izumi, I would have a gazillion stress balls lying around. Geez, kids are annoying.

But she attended to each child and their needs.

"She's great." I whispered to Ed.

"Yeah," he said, smiling. "Why do you think I know so much alchemy?"

"Why do I think she didn't teach you how to keep your temper?"

Ed statred to dish out an angry reply, but Izumi stopped him short.

"Ed!" she said in her commando voice again. "Were you thinking about raising your voice to a woman?"

"No ma'am."

"Good."

XXX

I shoveled down the meat and other foods that Sig offered me. I had spent a good part of the day with my alchemic attempts, and hadn't really eaten anything. Ed was likewise to do the same. We gave each other devious looks, and began our own silent eating contest.

"So," Izumi said. "Why did you guys come all the way out here, anyway?"

Ed opened his mouth, which was still full of food, to respond.

"Ed! Don't talk with food in your mouth!"

Ed meekly cowered down in his chair. She was good.

"I wanted to meet you." I put in. "I wanted to meet the person who taught Ed all his alchemy."

"Well, that's nice. How did you get with Ed?"

The blonde swallowed his food in one huge gulp.

"Wh-what do you mean, Teacher?"

He looked from me to Izumi. I knew what he was thinking. Was he trying to make me blush?

"I mean," she said, looking irritated that her apprentice could be so stupid. "How did Rachel meet you?"

"Oh."

He looked down at his food.

"I met him one random day." I said, smiling distractedly.

"Well then."

"Yeah, and he agreed to teach me alchemy!"

"That's good." Izumi said. "I'm glad to see that one of my students is passing on their knowledge, like I did for him."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I had a teacher named Dante. She taught me all I know."

"Oh."

XXX

Ed planned on staying at his teacher's house for a while. He had nothing to do within the military, and Izumi was hospitable enough. She said we could stay as long as we wanted. But, dammit, she wouldn't let us sleep in the same bed.

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Ok, Chapter 15. Kinda dumb and pointless. But all the chapters with the assorted characters are out of place and don't really have anything to do with the plot. Chapters such as these only serve as a way for me to meet those characters. Like the chapter for Scar. It was dumb, pointless, and not my best work.

Aah… who should I meet next? Kimblee? More Homunculi? No, that would just make for another random chapter. I usually separate random chapters with some drabble in between, but certainly you're tired of seeing that?

Please tell me in a review.