I was at the beach the entire time during Almei Week, and then swamped by schoolwork for the two weeks after, so here is a very, very late fic that I thought I would have finished by then! I still love my sweet cinnamon rolls!
This is from a conversation a-proud-fangirl had forever ago, and I took literally forever to write. Here it finally is, Eun!
I hope everyone enjoys!
Princesses were supposed to be powerful, strong leaders people could look up to. They needed the utmost poise and elegance to rule a kingdom. And they needed good looks that exuded sophistication.
While Princess May Chang was sure she carried herself in a way that drew attention to her rank and lineage, she still had problems building up her image to match that of the ideal. The number one issue, she reasoned, was her height.
Growing up as heiress of the Chang clan, the people surrounding her always looked at May with the proper respect someone noble as her should receive. She knew she was short, yes, but her slight figure never impeded her ability to do what she wanted, or to involve herself in policymaking. People in the Chang clan knew how fiercely independent and intelligent May was, and trusted her enough to make her own decisions. The people of the other Xingese clans, or Amestris, on the other hand… They were a bit less forgiving about May's vertically-challenged appearance.
Rival princes and princesses looked down on May, quite literally, due to the fact that the smallest and most pathetic clan had the 'smallest and most pathetic heir'. It was true that her clan was struggling economically and politically, and having a little girl with a squeaky voice as the figurehead of the clan did nothing for its public image. In the affairs of the entire country, May was more overlooked than the dirt roads she walked on.
Amestrian citizens weren't nearly as bad as her Xingese rivals for power, but they still had their own ways of making May feel diminished. She knew they did nothing out of malice, but whenever she talked about having crossed the desert on her own, all Amestrians would do was stare at her in disbelief. It wasn't that they wished to make her feel small, but the way they expected someone of her stature to be a naïve, weak, little girl was a bit demeaning. Being viewed as small and weak also led many people to underestimate her, something a proud princess of Xing did not like one bit.
So May resented being cursed with a tiny body. She pouted when people pointed it out, and wished she would grow another foot. However, she learned quickly to control her displeasure, and only rarely allow it to bubble to the surface. She still had that dignified image to retain, after all.
The only time she didn't mind being short was when she was with Alphonse.
It was her little secret, and she wanted nobody to know it, but due to her small size, her hugs with Alphonse were absolutely phenomenal.
The first time May had hugged Alphonse Elric was when the both of them were cooped up in some shack just south of Briggs, and the armored boy was trying to get his grasp on alkahestry. Now, May had had feelings for the sweet, compassionate Amestrian ever since he had rescued her from the tunnels beneath Central, but when Al was attempting to learn alkahestry, all May wanted to do was smack her incompetent pupil's head off. Everything she tried explaining about healing, about the Dragon's Pulse, he just wasn't understanding.
It sure was a good thing he said he was pretty.
Alphonse and May agonized in that small shack for almost two days, May growing increasingly irritable the longer she had to sit on an empty wooden box and watch Al try to put his head down and listen to the ground, until finally, something happened. Al felt something. It was a fleeting beat of power, something so small and inconsequential that it would not have been nearly enough power to carry out a transmutation. But Alphonse had still felt it.
Immediately after, Al scrambled to his feet and yelled excitedly. He was shortly followed by May, knocking over her empty box and jumping up with excitement. He'd finally done it. Al was on the path to learning alkahestry; and May had been his teacher. When Al stopped talking, May opened her own mouth to praise him, but was soon cut off.
Steel arms wrapped around her tiny waist and hoisted her into the air, almost twice as high as she was. It took a short moment to register, but May realized that she was being hugged, and returned Al's embrace with her own arms.
As he thanked May, Al's voice became softer, and the Xingese princess just melted into his grip. Despite them being in the snow-covered hills of Amestris' north- a place that chilled May to the core- being in Al's arms felt… warm. His voice was soothing, and he knew just the amount of pressure to exert in order to keep May close without crushing her. Al almost fully enveloped her with his armor, but instead of being annoyed at his size, May felt grateful. Her position was safe, and comforting, and May suddenly didn't want to let go. Being in Alphonse's arms felt nice.
But as much as she wanted to keep her cheek pressed against the cool steel of Al's chest, May knew it couldn't keep going forever, and eventually, the hug was over.
Al sheepishly apologized for possibly crushing her, even though that had not been the case, and May, no matter how breathless she was after being gently released to the ground, assured him that everything had felt perfect. What she hadn't had the confidence to say was that she wished they'd do it again soon.
And miraculously, they did. Whenever Al reached another milestone with his studies, May jumped up and held onto him tight as he laughed, and she smiled wide. Each time only improved on the last, and May was in heaven.
Each one of Al's arm was the same length as her height, and whenever he pulled her close, May could easily lose track of whatever else was going on outside of the embrace. Al's presence was the only thing she felt, and it was amazing. She never could have imagined steel being so warm and inviting. Also, she never could have imagined enjoying the fact that she was so small and easily picked up by her Amestrian prince. She fit inside his grip so perfectly, and it was the one time she blessed her petite size.
If May had thought Al's hugs were to die for while he was still in his armor, they paled in comparison to those he gave after he had regained his body and his strength.
Two years following the events of the Promised Day, May Chang was extremely happy for two reasons. The first: Alphonse was finally coming to visit her in Xing, after years of only paper correspondence. The second: May had grown.
Sure, the Princess was still petite for her age, and her reputation with the other clans was similar to what it had been before- May having her size and her reputation trod upon by her brothers and sisters- but she had grown. She was no longer half her brother's height, and she had matured greatly since her journey to Amestris. While she had felt proud and regal before, that notion had intensified within May once she could stop needing to purchase child-sized clothing. At just a smidge over five feet tall, she was mere inches away from being an average-sized woman.
Despite this, some animosity still lingered within May about her stature. Even after two years, she was still short, dammit.
But none of that mattered after Alphonse arrived in Xing.
The boy trapped in the armor was now free, and he looked positively radiant, despite having become a few feet shorter. Despite that, Al still managed to be almost a foot taller than his Xingese princess. And if he had been anyone else, May would have fumed. This, however, was Alphonse. He was tall, and handsome, and so familiar this way.
Al's welcome hug, as would be expected after everything that had transpired, was a bit different. The arms which had once been cool steel, now radiated warmth as they wrapped around May's waist. Al no longer tried to lift May flush against his chest, seeing as she was much more than a mere half of his body height now; so he just pulled her close as May tiptoed and grasped around his chest, actually able to connect her arms on the other side.
Instead of smelling of metal, and faint oil, Al now smelled like cinnamon and grass. All of his curves and edges were so soft, and he seemed to melt into her as much as she melted into him, both becoming lost in the feeling of the person clinging to them. It was simply intoxicating.
Soon, Alphonse became May's alkahestry pupil once more, and he learned with as much enthusiasm and determination as before, golden eyes shining as he did so. He fell back into his familiar routine of hugging May whenever he got excited. Both teacher and pupil relished the touch, and the closer they became, the more they perfected their routine.
It didn't matter which person initiated the hug; the minute either did, the other knew exactly what to do. May gingerly placed her feet on the tops of Al's, and raised her heels, pushing her head even with the boy's shoulders. She laced her arms around his chest, and gripped his loose shirts as Al did the same with May, bringing themselves closer and closer together until May could her her heart beating in tandem with Al's, so unlike the echoes she heard in his armor. Then, as if it couldn't have gotten any better, Al carefully rested his head on top of May's, and just smiled. Alphonse was so warm, and comforting, and soft, that May enjoyed letting herself once again become lost in his vastness.
At first, it had been a bit awkward, and May was very self-conscious about hurting the tops of Al's feet, but he waved off her concerns, noting that her lightness made it a nonissue. He'd been self-conscious about resting his cheek against the intricate braids coiled on May's head, but the action made May's heart flutter, and she welcomed it.
In discovering their sweet spot, after the initial nervousness, the couple also took a tumble. May lost her balance and slipped off of Al's polished leather shoes, and dragged the boy down to the ground with her. In all honesty, May found it hilarious, and began laughing as Al endearingly fretted over her wellbeing. He was so nervous about possibly having hurt her, but he shouldn't have been; May was fine, and she found him adorable.
She just hopped right back up and pulled Al with her, into yet another hug, this time making sure she was more secure.
No matter how much her height annoyed her in any other situation, it just made her experiences with Al all the more wonderful. They fit perfectly together, and that was the only truly important thing.
Presenting herself as a powerful, regal princess was important to May, and she still did so in front of her clan and the leaders of the others, but she was finally able to let her guard down around a certain Alphonse Elric, unlike anything she had ever done before. He was the one person in the world who truly let her throw her responsibilities into the wind like that, and only with his hugs. It almost made May explode with joy, the first time they moved a step past hugging, and kissed.