It was with immense relief that Alphonse Elric stepped off the train into the late afternoon sunshine of Dublith Station. He turned around immediately in order to make certain that his year-older brother, Edward was following after him. Said boy stumbled somewhat unsteadily out of the train, throwing a hand up with a grunt of displeasure to block the glare from the sun beating down on him. For a moment, neither brother said anything as they walked along, passing benches and shops along the train tracks, until Edward paused. His arms wrapped themselves around his middle, and he gave a bone rattling cough that was harsh and dry and that lasted for a solid two minutes. Alphonse watched this all in concern, eyeing his brother's flushed face and shaky legs.
"Brother, are you sure you're alright?" he asked for probably the thirtieth time that day. For a moment, Edward said nothing, fighting the wave of dizziness and nausea and forcing himself to stand up straight. He smiled hollowly.
"Yeah, Al, I'm fine. Don't worry about it, okay?"
But, of course Al worried about it the whole way to their alchemy teacher, Izumi Curtis's residence, because he knew that Edward was sick and needed rest immediately. And, of course, Edward would stubbornly refuse to rest or even to admit his illness until it struck him down where he stood. Without a word to one another, they stepped out of the sun into the wooden floored rooms of Izumi's home.
"Teacher?" Alphonse called. "Are you home?"
Immediately, the well-built, middle aged woman stepped into the room, looking much as they remembered her with her black hair and sharp eyes. She crossed her arms.
"You're late," she said, tone slightly irked. Alphonse panicked slightly at her tone, knowing how quickly the woman's temper could escalate, and he fought for words to answer her.
"Uh, well, see, the thing is-!" he stuttered for a few moments, but Izumi ignored him, her dark eyes alighting on Edward. She stared at him hard for a long moment, studying him wordlessly.
"Edward," she called to him, and he forced himself to look up, though doing so made his eyes hurt badly.
"Is everything alright?" she continued. Trying to ignore the pounding in his head, Edward forced another smile onto his face.
"Yes, Teacher," he answered, voice weak and raspy. Izumi squinted at him suspiciously.
"Are you sure?" she asked, and from her tone, she had probably guessed at the truth. Edward wished that the aches in his legs would go away, but he kept the smile on his face.
"Yes, Teacher."
She, of course, wasn't buying it, but she knew how Edward worked, and so she turned back to Alphonse sharply.
"So, explain to me why it is that you're both so late!" she snapped at the younger Elric, who panicked again and started to search for the answer that Edward dimly heard, too focused was he on staying upright. The minutes seemed to drag by like hours, and then his vision started to tunnel. That wasn't a good sign, and he knew that better than anyone.
Suddenly, he was sitting on the floor, thoroughly unaware at first at how he'd gotten there, until his mind registered the weakness in his knees and the heavy feeling spreading throughout his frame. Izumi and Alphonse's attention immediately focused on him, each dropping to one knee beside him.
"Edward?" Izumi called, placing a hand on his shoulder. Her voice was like a dim buzzing to his spinning, lightheaded perception. "What's wrong?"
He tried to smile ruefully at her, but failed miserably.
"You know, Teacher...I'm really not feeling so good."
Instantly, her expression turned businesslike, and one of her cool, pale hands was on his forehead. Her dark eyes widened slightly in shock.
