Finding Love in a Foreign Land
Takes place at the end of Brotherhood when two years have passed. Al is now 16 and guessing Mei's age, she's about 14. Also, I'm certain that a journey across a desert would take longer than 15 days… and that a map would be useless.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything of FMA
Warning: Spoilers ahead! It's better if you have watched all of Brotherhood or read the manga.
1
Al made his way across in the sun-heated desert with two of his closest friends, Jerso and Zampano; two chimera's, trailing behind him as he glanced at a map Ling had given him before he left. Although Al would freely admit that he trusted Ling to not lead to some place to die, he did not trust the map to lead him exactly to Xing considering Ling got lost very easily it seemed. In the end, Al talked to numerous people about their trek to Xing and made adjustments to Ling's map.
"Al, we've been walking out here for days and supplies are low, don't you think we should've at least hit the half-way point?" Zampano asked and the boar chimera sighed up at the sun, "I need shade..."
"We all do, Zam," Jerso said and yawned. The toad chimera had decided to take watch over Al and Zampano as he was the most concerned about the "desert theives" that an old man had cryptically talked about.
"The walk to Xing should take about 15 days and we've only been in the desert for 7 of those days. Soooo, we should reach the point by the middle of today or so. On the way there should also be a small desert oasis... though it has been reported to haves one missing off the map."
"Was it those desert thieves!?" Jerso exclaimed and looked around warily.
"There isn't anything like that here, Jer! It's not possible to steal a landmark. Get the sand out of your ears. Besides, it's not like anything could survive out here with this fuckin' sun. Even a god damn 'oasis' couldn't," Zampano said getting irritated all over again.
Al was a really patient guy, he could tolerate almost anything but this had been happening for seven whole days. Seven days. Al had never been a big fan of repeating things if they held no worth or use and this was no exception.
Al turned around making the two chimera's halt. The two men looked at Al's twitching eye, a tick he'd recently acquired, and took a step back and nervously waited for Al to speak. Calming down at the mood change he looked to the both of them and in the nicest way possible, Al said:
"We are in the middle of the desert. We'll see anybody who's coming so, Jerso, calm down. And Zampano, don't add to the discussion if you don't have anything nice to say. We need to conserve our energy," The two chimeras' nodded and Al continued, "Moving on, I have a theory on the lost oasis, if you would so kindly listen."
"What is it?"
"Well before we left you know how we talked to numerous people for advice? Like the old man for example. From those conversations two things always came up, the lost oasis and the desert theives. I thought about it seems to be popular belief that the desert theives made it known that they stole the oasis. And no, I don't believe that a place can be necessarily be stolen."
"What point are you trying to make?"
"The desert theives did steal the oasis, I think."
"B-but you just said—," Al cut Jerso off before he could finish his sentence.
"Of course they can't steal anything by taking it but… that doesn't mean they can't hide it."
"How would they hide something like that?"
"It's kind of obvious if you think about it. Just give the wrong directions and people looking for it will get themselves lost. They stole the knowledge of where the oasis is. Simple."
"So… are we going to find this place or what?"
"Not exactly. I don't even think we even could find it. I just thought it was something interesting…," and it got you guys to shut up, Al finished in his thoughts.
"What!? We wasted time just for you to talk about an irrelevant story?" the two chimeras asked in unison.
Irrelevant you say? Was I the one who was jabbering on earlier? "You guys needed a break from walking," Al said simply. He would never admit it to anyone but he also needed the break, probably more than his companions. His body, even after two years of rehabilitation, grew tired quickly. Well it's to be expected from seven days of walking with limited food and water. You'd think that he'd be used to being in his real body by now but even so, sometimes Al couldn't help but notice the differences from then and now.
"What about food and water? We're kinda running short if you hadn't noticed."
"I noticed but I think we'll make it just fine."
"You're trying to kill us!"
Al merely smiled at the two men and turned his thoughts to the girl he was most excited to see. Mei Chang.
•₰•
Mei sighed as she walked around the compounds where the Chang clan was preparing for the Emperor of Xing, also known as Ling Yao, her half-brother, to arrive with his intentions for the next coming year. Usually, in the past, the Emperor of Xing did no such things like visiting the families personally just to discuss plans but Ling had never been what one would call 'normal'. Her brother was changing things, and it seemed to be making Xing even more beautiful than it already was. Sparing the families two years ago was already kind enough but Ling, true to his words, had kept the Chang family safe. Even now, the Chang family had grown with prosperity and happiness.
Due to the frequent visits, Mei had grown closer to her brother than her other half-siblings and even thought of his shadow and secret lover, Lan Fan, as a friend. Mei couldn't help but suspect, after learning of Ling's character, that he visited so often to get away from all his work. She didn't mind it; Mei knew Ling was perfect to rule, with his love of people and his greedy wishing the best possible life for everyone. Although, Mei would be the first to admit that at first it was weird not feeling threatened by a higher ranked clan.
"Mei-Mei*!" A male voice called out and she turned to see the very man that her thoughts had been focused on, Emperor Ling.
"It's so good to see you," Ling said as he walked forward and hugged her, not even thinking of the people around them.
"Hello," she said smiling up at him as she was engulfed in the robes he wore, "Where's Lan Fan?" Mei looked around not seeing the woman that usually called her a brat with a friendly smile.
"She's out at the moment," Ling said pulling back and grabbing Mei's arm as a servant from the Chang clan came forward.
"My deepest apologies, we hadn't realized you'd be so early. The afternoon meal is not prepared."
"Don't worry; is there a room where I can speak privately with my sister?"
Privately? That's weird. No, what's even weirder is that Lan Fan isn't here. She is the 'Emperor's Shadow' after all.
"Yes sir, please follow me."
Ling pulled Mei along by the arm as they were brought to a secluded room with two mats and a table. The servant left at Ling's order and the two half-siblings sat down. Mei looked at him curiously as studied her.
"You've gotten prettier."
"Spit it out, Brother. Don't your time with flattering me. Why is Lan Fan gone? Is something wrong?"
"Wrong? Quite the opposite. You see, a certain blonde haired and golden eyed alchemist is crossing the desert as we speak in hopes of learning Alkahestry from a pretty Xingese princess."
Her eyes widened as she nearly jumped up in excitement, "Alphonse-sama!"
"Yes, he's also another reason why I wanted to visit. Ed explained to me in a letter that Al wanted to learn a lot about Xing and I thought to myself, 'I know what would be a good idea for Alphonse! He should have the Emperor of Xing himself there to teach him.' And about where Lan Fan went, I sent her to find and retrieve him and bring him here."
Mei squealed as she jumped, unable to contain her giddiness, "I can't wait for him to come. I wonder how he's changed. I mean, we haven't seen each other in two years. He should be 16 now? Yeah. I bet he's taller and handsomer! Ahh, my golden prince!" Mei continued to talk about her fantasy as her pet panda, often mistaken for a cat, Xiao-Mei, popped its head out from behind her neck as it eagerly listened to Mei. Ling chuckled at his little sisters antics and waited for her to calm down.
"When do you think he'll get here?" Mei asked after she caught her breath after wasting it on her tirade.
"They should be here any day now. They left Amestris about 16 days ago."
"Ling! This is great! If he plans on learning more than the basics on Alkahestry, he'll be staying here for years!" Mei gave a demonic laugh at the thought of her getting to grow closer to Alphonse in their time together.
"I think it's great too and before you know it, I'll be busy with planning the wedding ceremony."
Mei blushed and Xiao-Mei seemed to snicker at her childish reaction, "Yeah, before I know it…," she mumbled softly.
"Getting shy on me, Mei-Mei?"
"No!" She yelled out like a kid just as the door slid open with a soft shfft. Ling and Mei looked at the offender who interrupted the siblings conversation, though it was hardly an important one, Mei rushed up to Lan Fan who stood with a smile on her beautiful face.
"I've brought Alphonse and his companions here, as you requested, Master."
Mei bounced excitedly as she looked behind Lan Fan to see where Alphonse was. Ling arose from his sitting position just as Lan Fan stepped aside to reveal Mei's object of affection.
"Alphonse-sama!" She exclaimed when she saw the handsome guy before her. Al was taller than he had been, just as she suspected, and nearly towered over her. His body was thicker and healthier looking despite the bags under his eyes and his messy appearance. His eyes shone brightly as he looked at with affection.
"M-Mei?" Alphonse said, stuttering slightly, "You look different. Prettier." He blushed slightly as he looked away. Unable to help herself, Mei launched herself into his arms and began to cry tears of joy.
"I missed you so much, Alphonse-sama!" She blubbered and tightly hugged him as he laughed and agreed with her statement.
I'm so glad he's safe and healthy. Once again Mei was hit with the image of Al's body when he retrieved it. Skin and bones. It had been painful watching Alphonse struggle with his fragile body and yet he never lost his smile. Each time she visited him in the hospital, he gave her a dazzling one. My prince.
•₰•
*Mei-Mei means 'little sister' in Chinese. I also chose the spelling of Mei because of that, lol.
This was intended to be part one of three parts but two years ago I lost the motivation to write and so you'll just have to stick with this. I may or may not continue this.