It was three wonderful years after the events of the Promised Day. Winry and Ed had settled down after a little while, him finally proposing to her properly. Their wedding was a grand event fitting the pair of them beautifully; with all their friends in attendance, and the pair were finally happy, with a beautiful son and a daughter on the way to complete their young family.
As for the younger Alchemist? Al had completed his travels, settling down to live in Xing for the past two years, much to the joy of the new emperor (who really missed his Amestrian friends). He and Mei were finally "together" much to the amusement of everyone (especially Ed, who kept telling Ling that Al had ambitions to be the next Prince of Xing). But recently the young alchemist had become troubled. He was head over heels in love with Mei Chang; his tutor in Alkhestry, his friend... and more. He was so happy when she originally said yes to going out with him; and she was overjoyed to hear he'd chosen to settle in Xing.
The problem was now; he wanted to propose to her, he'd been too afraid to ask her to marry him in case she'd say no for the past year, but after a rather spirited debate with the Xingese emperor and of course Winry and Ed, (whom of which he had become convinced were having a laugh at his expense) he'd decided to finally pop the question.
The only problem was... he wasn't sure how to do it properly. He'd seen many of his friends finally get together; Roy and Riza, Ed and Winry... but he had no idea as to how he would propose in a way that seemed fitting to his and Mei's relationship. Speaking of, he wasn't the only one who needed to "man up" as Ed called it.
Since Ling became Emperor of Xing, he and Lan Fan had grown closer than ever away from the ever watchful presence of the people of Xing. In public, she was his loyal vassal; following him wherever he went. But Al and Mei both knew that Ling and Lan loved one another; willing to follow the other into whatever hell came in their path. Since Ling's rise to power; he'd been trying to change the customs of old; for one ending the feudal power struggles between the various clans as a result of his father taking so many wives and then siring a number of children. He'd recently succeeded in petitioning the council to allow him to take only one wife, a wife of his choosing. The only problem was; his advisors had recently taken it upon themselves to assist their young emperor in finding a suitable match, much to the young man's chagrin.
Al and Ling had recently made a bet in order to spur themselves on. If Ling were to propose to Lan Fan first (and if she said yes...) Al would have to do whatever Ling asked of him... for a week. Needless to say, Al was concerned by this bet due to the fact he was pretty convinced that Greed had rubbed off on Ling more than anyone had realized. If Al won the bet though... he still needed to work out the terms.
Which was why Al stood there, ring in hand as he faced the door to the home he shared with Mei. Now the young alchemist had seen hell, he'd lost his body... he'd nearly lost his life on more than one occasion. How was it that he was so afraid to face the love of his life?
"No... I am going to do this..." He put his hand on the door handle... and stepped inside.
"Mei.. are you there? I need to ask you something!"
"Just a second Alphonse..."
He could here the Princess was busying herself sorting something upstairs.
*Grr...*
"!"
*SWIPE!*
"Xiao Mei! give that back!" Al was horrified. In the mouth of the feline esque panda, gleamed the wedding ring he was to give to Mei. He was not going to let this lie..."
"Xiao Mei, if you don't give that back now... we are going to go from a misunderstanding... to something else" Al warned dangerously. Normally, he was a mild mannered man, someone who loved animals. But if Xiao Mei was going to ruin this moment... he couldn't allow it.
"Gyaaah!" The panda leapt past the startled alchemist and made a bid for freedom into the path behind him, vanishing into the busy street.
"Why you little!" Al took off in hot pursuit. He would get the ring back from that Panda if it was the last thing he'd do...
WN: This is a potentially continuing series I am writing to amuse my friend Yoshi who's currently in hospital, also I lost a bet to her a while back, and am writing something of her choosing... anyway, hope you all enjoy this as much as I did in writing it :)
