I know, I used the same title for the collection as the title for this two shot, but I honestly couldn't think of a better title. I think it actually matches pretty well.

Synopsis: It's been one year since Al arrived in Xing and started training with Mei. Him, Zampano, Jerzo, and Mei are just about to set off further East to learn more about the world and its alchemy. However, just as they're prepared to leave, some trouble pops up at the normally quiet Imperial Palace. While trying to solve the problem and prepare for the long journey ahead of them, both Al and Mei begin to fully realize their feelings and try to muster up the courage to express them.

Reminder: This is just something that popped into my head that I thought would be cool if it happened after the events of Brotherhood. Do with it as you will.

"Lady Mei, may I come in?"

"Please, do," the princess of Xing replied amiably. As she put the last pin in her hair, the door opened to reveal a servant girl dressed in a beige jumpsuit with a black belt, the attire expected for a handmaiden of Mei's half-sister, Tsubaki, from the Fa clan. She was eighteen, two years older than Mei and the same age as Alphonse. Her long, obsidian black hair was tied back in two low pigtails, and her face, though completely lacking makeup, had a natural beauty to it that showed off the girl's gentle nature. Also, despite having toned muscles from some of her general tasks, she held herself in a very reserved, slouched way, making her look smaller than she was.

"Oh, Chen," Mei turned and greeted the girl with a bright smile. "How are you?"

"Oh..." Chen looked around awkwardly, not meeting Mei's eyes. The princess's smile dropped a bit. While she knew her sister wasn't by any means abusive to her servants, she wasn't exactly the best master in the East. Tsubaki was not normally one to give out compliments or chat it up with those beneath her.

The servant girl was able to muster up a small smile. "I'm doing as well as I can."

Mei smiled gently. It was better than nothing. "That's good to hear. What is it you need? Does my sister request my presence?"

Chen's smile disappeared, and she once again began to look around nervously. "Uh...no. I was...I was wondering if I could...perhaps...talk to you...about something?"

Mei stared at the girl for a moment, surprised, then let out a small chuckle. "That's all? Chen, you didn't have to get all nervous about that. Of course, you can talk to me about anything."

The older girl looked surprised, but cautious. "You're sure?"

"Absolutely." Mei suddenly remembered the pile of clothes that was laying on her bed. Rubbing her neck sheepishly, she asked, "Is it alright if I pack while we talk?"

"Oh, uh, of course," Chen said softly, not used to having a royal ask her permission for something. She remained quiet for a minute or two while Mei began her packing.

Finally, she spoke, "You're packing for your trip East?"

"Yeah. I want to make sure I have all my essentials and such." Mei let out an exasperated sigh. "It may be fun, but planning for a long trip is such a hassle."

Chen couldn't help but give a gentle smile. She had gotten to know Princess Mei, as well as many of the other royals, after the higher-ups of the Fa clan moved into the palace with Emperor Ling. While it certainly wasn't anywhere near close to a friendship, Chen immediately knew that Mei was much more easygoing than her older sister.

"Your group leaves in a week, correct?" the girl asked, genuinely curious.

"Yep. Alphonse, Zampano, Jerzo, and I..." Mei stopped suddenly, looking at the servant girl questioningly. "How did you know?"

"Oh.." She looked down, not being able to hide a small blush on her cheeks. "Al told me. He's been talking about this trip for a while. He's really excited about it..." Chen suddenly realized who she was talking to, and stiffened up. "Master Alphonse, than is!"

"You've been talking to Alphonse?" Mei tried to bite back the slight jealousy in her voice. She didn't know why she still did this. Her and Al saw each other every day, her training him in alkahestry for hours on end, and it had been that way for over a year now. The two of them had definitely grown closer over his time in Xing, which Mei was forever grateful for, but it's not like they were...together or anything. Still, she couldn't help but tighten up when she saw Chen blush while mentioning him, though she really couldn't blame her.

"Um...yes," Chen told the princess, looking down at the floor and wringing her hands nervously. "Whenever Lady Tsubaki allows me some free time, I always end up finding myself in the library, and he typically ends up being there. He's taught me many things - about his home country, the alchemy they have there, the alkahestry that you've taught him. I...I'm very grateful to him."

Mei let out a small gasp when she saw a few tears in the girl's eyes.

"He's taught me so many things that I might have never known," Chen continued, her voice gradually growing softer. "He's told me about a world I'll never get to see."

Mei's heart constricted with sympathy. Dammit, Al. No wonder she fell for you.

Alphonse was, by far, the most kind, selfless, and beautiful soul she'd ever met in her life. He was always striving for knowledge, as well as yearning to give it. It was for that reason that she was initially drawn to him when they'd met all those years ago. It was for that reason that, since then, she'd...

Mei gave the older girl a soft smile. "I see. That sounds like Al, alright."

Chen hesitantly looked up, unsure of what to do with this response.

Mei did her best to get out her next words without choking on them. "You have feelings for him?"

The proceeding bright red blush told her enough, though the servant didn't give a verbal answer. However, just as Mei was about to say something, Chen spoke, "That is actually what I wanted to talk to you about."

This caught the princess's attention. With a raised eyebrow, she asked, "About Alphonse?"

"Well, yes. If you could answer me honestly, your highness...what are your feelings towards Alphonse Elric?"

"My...feelings?"

Just saying those words made the butterflies in her stomach begin to swarm. The first time she'd met Alphonse, she had perceived him as a villain, mostly due to a huge misunderstanding involving her panda sister, Xiao Mei, which was honestly a long story. However, that all changed when he had first saved her from their first encounter with Father and his hommunculi children, right after her brother Ling had been turned into Greed, which was yet another rather long story. He had hidden her from the enemies in his soul-bonded armor (which was, guess what - another long story!) and brought her to a doctor who helped healed her up. It was then that she had developed a crush on him - perhaps a little on the childish side, but a crush none the less. Then, time after time over her time in Amestris, she had witnessed his many feats of selflessness and bravery, many of which were to save either her or his older brother, Edward, who she was sure he loved more than anything else in the world.

Then there was one act that she would never forget for the rest of her life...

"Mei, I need a favor."

She looked over to the suit of armor next to her, the one that harbored the soul of Alphonse Elric. The whole front half of his body was gone, blasted off after he had shielded her from some kind of energy blast from Father. In front of them, said enemy was slowly making his way toward Alphonse's older brother, Edward, whose automail right arm had been blown off while his left was pinned to concrete by a metal rod. He was trapped. Just a second ago, Alphonse had been screaming bloody murder for the man to stop, to get back from his brother, and that had made Mei's heart break enough, but now the boy in the armor was calm, which somehow scared her even more.

"Back then," Al told her, "Ed was willing to sacrifice his right arm in order to get my soul back. So...shouldn't the reverse be possible?"

Mei's blood froze in her veins. She may not have known much about alchemy, but she knew enough to know what he was implying. "Alphonse...what are you saying?"

"All you have to do is clear a path," the boy continued confidently. He turned to her. "Can you do that?"

Can I do that? she thought. Do what? Help you go and get yourself killed? Help your plan that might not even work?

Tears welling up in her eyes, she yelled, "But if you do this, do you know what will happen?"

"There's no time!" he shouted back, and she could finally hear the panic in his voice. The armor's two glowing eyes pierced her soul. His next words echoed in her ears. "Please, Mei. It's the only way. It has to be you."

Of course, he knew. That idiot. That selfless, kind, brave, stupid idiot. She remembered back when they'd been up North, when Envy had informed them about Ed's disappearance from Baschool. She had never heard Al sound so anguished. Well...not until now anyway. Was she going to allow this sweet boy to sit here, helpless, as his one and only family was killed in front of him? Even if it pained her to have to possibly lead him to his death, it might even hurt her worse to see him hurting with her being an indirect cause.

Mei threw her head back, letting out a sob, then proceeded to draw her circle and throw her kunai in Edward's direction.

She remembered those few moments after the battle was over, when both her and Ed sat there beside Al's empty armor. She'd never cried so much in her life, and, seeing Edward's horrified face, she sobbed out apology after apology, though she knew it wouldn't bring the boy's brother back. She'd thought she killed him. Ed, may whoever's in charge bless his gifted soul, was, thankfully, able to ingeniously bring Alphonse back among the living - mind, body, and soul - by giving up his ability to use alchemy. She'd sobbed and sobbed, and when Al gained consciousness, she had tackled him with a big hug. He was all skin and bones, and his hair was all the way down his back, but that didn't matter. After pulling away from the hug, they'd met eyes, and, even though she'd never seen Al with his original body, she knew for a fact that it was still the same stupid, brave, kind boy that had left her.

After that, she'd gone home to Xing, and the two of them didn't talk to one another until about a year later, when Al had written her a letter asking if he could come to Xing so she could teach him alkahestry. She'd been so ecstatic, so much so that Lan Fan had had to restrain her from jumping up down and breaking the floor. They wrote each other letters over the next year, mostly concerning the arrangements of the trip and the training, but there was some small talk about what life was like for the other on the other side of the paper. Even so, she could tell that he hadn't changed one bit, and that fact made her happy beyond belief.

She had tried to mentally prepare herself. She had matured quite a bit since the two of them had last seen each other, so she wondered if the feelings she'd had towards him were simply a child's crush and nothing more. In fact, by the time Al, Zampano, and Jerzo arrived at the palace, she had convinced herself that that was the case. Then she saw him...oh, she saw him, and it took all her willpower to not melt right there. For some reason, she had still been expecting the suit of armor or maybe even the skin-and-bones version of Al that she had previously seen. She had not been expecting the ruggedly handsome young man that stood before her. His golden hair had been cut short, with some short bangs swept across his forehead, his face was more filled out, his jaw more angular, and his body much more muscular, which she had noticed a lot during their first sparring match. Other than appearance, though, Alphonse truly hadn't changed a bit, not even his voice, which he insisted was just taking it's time to catch up to his physical age. After only being back with him for a day, Mei's feelings had returned, only ten times stronger, and they only multiplied from there.

The past year held many dear memories for her. Not only had her and Al gotten to know a lot about each other, but she'd even grown closer to Zampano and Jerzo, who, while looking big and touch, were actually just huge teddy bears, much like Alphonse when he was in his armor. Alphonse's voice did eventually drop, as he always insisted it would, and the shocking deepness and slight gruffness to it made Mei's face redden for a couple weeks afterward until she grew used to it. As far as the training went, while it did get frustrating for both parties at some points, Al was learning fairly quickly how to harness the power of alkahestry, much better than he had when she'd tried to teach him a couple years ago in Amestris. He was a very enjoyable student, and Mei loved being able to teach him while he taught her about alchemy as well. When Al had offered for her to accompany him and the guys on their journey further East, she'd jumped at the idea, not only to be with her dear friends, but to learn more about the world and its treasures. Alphonse certainly wasn't the only one with a thirst for knowledge.

"My feelings..." Mei repeated, coming out of her thoughts.

I look forward to having you as my teacher. Alphonse had told her on the first day of training, bowing both out of respect and somewhat playfulness.

She had smiled and bowed back. And I look forward to having you as my dear pupil, Alphonse Elric.

The words that she had been wanting to say out loud for so long now, but for some reason had never found the voice, suddenly flowed off her tongue with the greatest ease.

"I love him."

Chen let out a small gasp, and Mei turned toward her to see her eyes filled with disbelief and devastation. Yet, at the same time, there was knowing and understanding as well. Mei felt sympathy and guilt beat at her heart. This servant girl had just told about her feelings for Al, and now suddenly she hears that the princess loves him? God knows what was going through her mind.

Letting out a nervous laugh, the younger girl added on, "It's not like he's noticed, though. Al is, by far, one of the smartest people in his field, but he's a little dense when it comes to some of the simplest things. He's very similar to his brother in that way."

She laughed again. While frustrating at times, she loved that obliviousness as well. It had even saved her a few times when she'd let something a little too romantic slip her lips. She was pretty sure Zampano and Jerzo had caught on though, because they would occasionally tease her about it whenever the three of them were alone. They would even sometimes make comments to Al, which absolutely mortified her, though he caught on very rarely. The few times when Al did catch on, though, he would glance at her slightly, only for the two of them to turn away blushing. This act always struck at her heart, filling her with a little bit of hope. In the back of her mind, she kept hoping that maybe her feelings were reciprocated, even if it was just a little bit.

Every time, she mentally slapped herself. Alphonse didn't come all the way to Xing to get a girlfriend. He simply wanted for her to teach him the ways of Xingese alkahestry, and she had to respect that. Still, it didn't put a stop to the want in her heart.

Suddenly, Chen's eyes softened, a small smile spreading across her face, and she looked to the ground. "I guess I must agree with you on that, my lady. Still...you shouldn't give up."

Mei looked at her, shocked by both her demeanor and her words.

The servant girl looked up, staring into the eyes of the princess, her own filled with tears. "You said that you love him, and the way that you said it..." She clenched her fists at her sides, shaking. "You were so straightforward, so sure. Your eyes shine bright whenever you speak of him, and your voice goes into a gentle whisper. He may be rather oblivious, but I assure you he...he is so fond of you, my lady. Whenever I sit with him, he always speaks of his lessons with you and about how patient and considerate you are. He...he cares about you very much."

Mei's chest grew exceedingly warm at her words, and she could feel a blush creep onto her cheeks. Did Alphonse really talk about her that way? Even so, it didn't necessarily mean much. Alphonse spoke fondly of just about everyone, unless they were obviously cruel, so he could've easily have been just talking about her as a friend.

Suddenly, Chen looked down at the floor and broke into sobs. Before Mei could even do anything, the girl ran around the bed and fell to her knees in front of the princess. "I'm sorry...I can't...I can't do it!"

Mei stared at the girl with wide eyes, her heart filled with concern. "What do you mean...?"

In response to her question, the servant quickly reached behind her. Quick as a flash, a dagger within its sheath lay beside her on the bed, Chen having thrown it there. Mei's stomach turned to lead as she stared at the weapon, coming to a realization. Turning to her sister's servant, she spoke, her voice quiet with horror, "You were...you were going to..."

"Forgive me..." Chen's hands shook violently as she gripped the end of Mei's pant leg. Her face was to the ground, her head bowed in shame. "I..I swear, I...I never wanted to...I could never hurt Al..." She let out a sob. "She ordered me to...but you're so kind and so much better than me..." Gasping through her tears, she screamed, "I just can't!"

The next few seconds went by so fast that Mei wasn't able to comprehend them until they were over. Something swooped down from the ceiling, faster than lightning and causing a wind that knocked down some of the paintings in the room. The only sound she heard was that of Chen screaming in pain. When the dust settled and her eyes adjusted, Mei froze in terror at what lay before her: Chen was on the floor, writhing in pain, a long blade wound stretching down her back, causing her to bleed out onto the carpet, and above her, bloody spear in hand, was the girl's master - Mei's half-sister.

Tsubaki Fa looked exactly like many of her royal siblings - long, flowing black hair, obsidian eyes, a somewhat harsh-looking face, and an imposing stature. She was the ripe age of twenty one, two years older than her brother Ling, but her normally regal clothing and makeup tended to make her look more mature and defined. In terms of personality, she fell into the more aggressive half of the Emperor's children. She certainly had the superiority-complex of royalty, however she felt that royals must prove their worth in order to determine superiority over each other. There had been rumors that, before their father's health had begun to deteriorate and before Mei and Ling had returned from Amestris with the Philosopher's Stone, she had been one the Emperor's first choices as heir to the throne.

The Fa girl looked down at her servant with disdain. "That goes to show you: never send a servant to do an assassin's job."

"Tsubaki..." Mei quickly stood from the bed, staring at her older sister with wide eyes. She could hear Chen whimpering in pain on the floor, which was quickly replacing her fear and confusion with anger. Chen was one of the gentlest, quietest people Mei had ever met, yet her mistress had ordered her to kill, and when she failed to do that, she struck her down. Why? Why on earth would she do that?

Mei gave her sister a steely glare, speaking in the most authoritative tone possible. "What is the meaning of this!?"

Tsubaki turned to her sibling, her indifferent expression being replaced with a condescending smirk. "Oh, look at this. The little Chang princess thinks she's high and mighty just because she's pals with her big brother the Emperor."

Said Chang girl remained firm, though she was shaking with anger. For some reason, she didn't find herself to be all that shocked. She had always felt a dark, somewhat evil chi coming from her older sister, but even then, she still couldn't understand what had provoked her.

"Why?" she asked, her face contorted. "Chen has always been loyal to you, and I have done nothing to provoke this attack. So, why?" She reached down into her belt, retrieving two razor-sharp kunai. Holding them in a defensive stance, she yelled, "Why did you order her to kill me!?"

"You say you've done nothing?" This seemed to take Tsubaki aback, but in an amusing way. She threw her head back and let out a laugh. "Nothing!?"

She laughed some more, only to once again direct her smirk towards Mei. "I'm afraid I don't have to tell you anything, my dear sister. As far as your concerned, I'm doing this simply because I hate you with every inch of my being."

"Huh?" This took Mei completely off guard. Tsubaki's smirk widened into an evil grin, seeing her sister's weakened defenses. She was about to strike, but a tugging on her skirt stopped her.

"Please...my lady..." Chen held tight to her mistress's kimono. Wincing in pain, she whimpered, "Please don't harm her..."

"Get off of me, you wretch!" Tsubaki sneered, kicking the poor girl so hard that she flew into the opposite wall, almost completely out the doorway.

"Chen!" Mei shouted in horror, but she was only allowed concern for that split second. Tsubaki seized her chance and charged in. Mei only just managed to block her spear's blow with the tiny blades she held. Pushing her older sister back, Mei took the offensive, coming in from below and sideswiping with her kunai. Tsubaki blocked her blow just as easily. This cycle continued for awhile, though how exactly long, neither girl was sure. Paintings were ripped to shreds, the columns on the bed were dented, and the items on the shelves were all knocked off. Attack, block, kick, swipe - it continued.

Mei couldn't help but glance at the spot where Chen lay. She was shocked to find the girl not on the floor in a heap. In fact, she had disappeared. Had someone removed her from the room without either of the princesses' knowledge? Had she crawled her way out?

Smack! Tsubaki landed a hard kick to Mei's chest, sending her backward. Her body, especially her head, smacked against the stone wall, causing her vision to immediately blur and her bones to turn into lead. A burst of hot pain erupted from her abdomen, though she was so disoriented that she could only manage a small grunt in response. She looked ahead, but all she could see was a blurred vision of the older princess, her staff extended between her and herself.

She stabbed me. That thought managed to pass through Mei's mind before her legs gave way and she fell to the floor.

Tsubaki's menacing chuckle echoed through her skull. "I'm disappointed, Mei. I heard you were a pretty strong warrior, but I guess everyone I talked too was simply a weakling."

Mei could already feel herself loosing consciousness. Her chest hurt from the hard kick Tsubaki had dealt her, making it hard to breathe. She could feel her side quickly becoming wet from the blood seeping from her stab wound, which didn't help her lightheadedness. Not only that, but she was pretty sure she had a concussion. These were all only slight thoughts though, as she could feel her brain slowly turning off.

After a few silent moments of blurry silence, Tsubaki's figure loomed above her, raising her spear. "Goodbye, little sister."

Suddenly, the older princess noticeably whipped around. Just as Mei' s vision began to darken, she saw bright sparks of blue light. There were a few more seconds of silence. A voice began to call out her name, but she couldn't tell who it was.

That's when she left.

Gee, I wonder who that person is...

Hope you liked that first part of this two shot! Hopefully, Part 2 will be on it's way real soon!

Please favorite and review this story to tell me what you think! I love zee feedback!

Have a nice day!