"Fullmetal Alchemist" © Hiromu Arakawa and Square-Enix
Midnight: Filial Meeting
Ling heard the faint and familiar clack-clacking from a clapper with the bonging of a gong that heralded the bellman's call of "sangengtian", and thought nothing of it as he lounged against his favorite apple tree. Just a few more days, and the fruit would be bursting with flavor that was wholly different from Amestris' varieties.
In contrast, he heard the soft rustling of cloth, a click, and then a snap after several seconds.
"Right on the dot," Ling commented offhandedly.
A soft snort, boots on grass as Roy sat on the bench underneath the tree. "And what are you doing up this late? I thought you would still be entertaining the elders."
Ling wasn't too surprised that the alchemist knew what time it was even if he had consulted his watch, figuring the older man would've researched before arriving in Xing. One common thing between alkahestrists and alchemists was their ability to devour knowledge with frightening intensity that would bore non-scholarly types. His mother used to berate him on his lower test scores whenever the results were posted and Mei was always higher on the list than he was.
"Waizufu can handle them better." Noticing Roy's confusion, he hastily amended. "Mother's father, I mean."
The younger prince couldn't help but snicker at his half-brother's grumbling on the complexity and insanity of keeping track of relatives by Xing's kinship system depending on the terms used. Soon, the two fell into a banter of Ling explaining Xingese oddities to Roy's Amestrian-cultured mind.
It was an hour later when Mustang spotted someone walking further in the gardens towards the nearby pond. A sense of familiarity stirred. "Ling, may I inquire to who that lady is?"
Hesitation. "Lady Zhongshi, one of my clan members. We sometimes call her Auntie Zhong."
A studious silence. "She walks through the gardens often?"
"Always during the second half of the Rat Hour, without fail. Lady Zhongshi claims it helps calm her mind from a past event."
"Without escort?"
"Lan Fan's kin knows to keep her distances."
"For such a beautiful woman to have an unsuitable air, I presume that past event was something traumatic relating or pertaining to her."
The younger Yao briefly wanted to kick Mustang for his perceptiveness. "A family member had went missing years ago, before my time."
Roy made an assenting sound and began walking after thinking it over. Ling followed but hung back, deciding to be the audience.
If the general felt the wary presence as soon as he got within eight paces of Lady Zhongshi, he acknowledged the shadow's direction with a minute incline of his head. In response, the bodyguard retreated, far enough to instill a sense privacy yet close enough to keep watch. For a moment, only the crickets' chirping filled the air.
"The moon is shining bright before my bed," Roy spoke, "making me think there is frost on the ground; Lifting my head to look at the bright moon; I lower my head to think of home."
Tiny bells on a lone hairpin chimed softly as she tilted her head. "'Thoughts on a Still Night.' I'm impressed, General." Her Amestrian was moderately accented, but pronounced clearly.
A respectful bow, despite being in uniform. "Brigadier General Roy Mustang. My subordinates were insistent on my learning of your culture before arriving here, lest I insult anyone by accident. It would do me great honor if you could explain to me things that a child living here would know."
"Zhongshi, House of Yao." She studied him briefly. "Why not seek our esteemed scholars instead? Surely, they would know much more than a lowly standing lady such as I."
Mustang pretended to think over it. Low standing was her initial appearance, due to the rougher fabric used for her clothing. Yet the shawl was made of high quality silk, vibrant yellow embroidered with flowers he recognized as camellias. He knew yellow was reserved only for those of or related to royalty. "At the same time, your lower standing would allow better and simpler comprehension to one like me who must have his facts straight, honorable madam."
Zhongshi's lips turned up a bit. "Then, to lighten your ignorance, I am honored to answer."
Roy took that as permission to move a bit closer for better conversing and soon they were embroiled in discussing a variety of topics that flowed from holidays to businesses to housing designs, even fashion for both genders. As three o clock drew near, they were talking heavily about food.
"No wonder Prince Ling was so obsessed with eating when he was in Amestris," Mustang laughed, making sure to keep his voice low.
"We have heard tales of whole dishes that are baked and then served, which is rather intriguing to our cooks. We do bake, but rarely in your country's style." Zhongshi chuckled. "Food is a very important part of our culture, as it brings family together, especially during the larger celebrations."
"Hm, perhaps we should set up some sort of food festival." Roy tapped his chin. "Speaking of family, how do you distinguish between members?"
"A complicated system, I assure you." She smiled, but there was longing and sadness in it. Unbidden hands reached up to cup his face gently, drawing him closer.
Mustang froze as he towered over her, seeing details he saw in the mirror daily.
"So much taller, Xiaolong..." she whispered forlornly. "Yet no matter how confusing our system is, do not forget this one truth: a parent will NEVER stop worrying for their child."
Slowly with one hand, he touched fingers and joints that had been tugged at by smaller ones long ago.
Reluctantly, Zhongshi drew her hands away. "I thank you for this conversation and I bid you a good night, Brigadier General."
She left him there in the garden, the lingering scent of honeysuckle teasing his memories, her yellow shawl a warning banner, and a yearning look on his face. Ling lightly touched Roy's arm.
"Let's go. I'll tell you some stories."
A/N: "Sāngēng", 三更, means "third watch", meaning the Rat Hour which is 11pm to 1am; back then, China ran on a 2-hour interval (look up "Earthly Branches" at Wikipedia to learn what I mean by the Rat Hour). In ancient China, not everyone had clocks, so the bellman (or bellmen, a duo working together) would carry a clapper and a gong to sound out and announce the change in time in cities and villages at night, as well warning to watch out for burglars and/or fires. The bellman/bellmen calling out "sāngēngtiān" 三更天 would basically be them saying "It is now 11' o'clock PM." In modern Chinese, "sāngēng" is colloquially used to mean "midnight".
"Zhōngshí" 忠實 means "faithful", while "Xiǎolóng" 小龍 is "Little Dragon" - it's common to attach "little" to part of a person's name to create a form of nickname. "Wàizǔfù", 外祖父, is a formal way of saying "maternal grandfather", and yes, Chinese kinship is ridiculously complicated (look that up at Wiki).
On to the language of flowers. Camellias have various meanings depending on the colors, but China and Japan has different interpretations (head to www (dot) livingartsoriginals (dot) com (slash) flower-camellia (dot) htm for the Chinese perspective and www (dot) paghat (dot) com (slash) camelliaroseform (dot) html for the Japanese side). Honeysuckle is used in Chinese medicine (to "cool down" the body) and is used to mean "devoted love" in the marriage sense (I'm just playing a different "love").
Yellow was pretty much reserved only for royalty in China, much like how purple was for European royalty.
"Thoughts on a Still Night" (or whichever translation) is a famous Tang Dynasty poem by famed poet Li Bai.