Hi guys! I was having a bit of computer trouble earlier and I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to get this up in time, but viola, here it is. And it's way past time that I should be asleep on a school night. You pleople are very lucky I'm have standards. I was sevearly tempted to cut it down to under 1000. Today was quite the day for me.

Anyways, this first part might be slightly confusing, but it's a conversation between a bunch of random courtiers.

This takes place about a week after Setting Up Ling Fan and follows the events of I Got It! which was last week's oneshot.

I love you guys. I really do. Thanks so much for reading. Super special thanks if you reveiw.

(oh and there's a lot of pure AlMei fluff in here. And also an mini-intro to THE PROBLEM. You know. THE PROBLEM that always keeps people from getting together. You get a taste of it here. Mind, it's not the whole thing, but there is a dosage. So have fun. I have a feeling it will be the main discussion in reviews.)

And last week's Harry Potter ref-er-ANs was "DIE EDWARD DIE" from the 5th book after the Divination OWL Ron says "I don't care if my tea leaves spell DIE RON DIE, I'm chucking them in the bin where they belong"

"Is there even a point in showing up to court meetings anymore?"

"What on earth do you think they're arguing about in there?"

"It must be big. It's been going on for almost a week."

"I heard it was about the Ambassador."

"Which one?"

"Which one do you think I'm talking about? The one who's been living here for the past two years."

"Why would they be arguing over him?"

"From what I heard, he wants to leave."

"So? Big deal. Send him back to his own country and good riddance."

"No, I heard he wants to leave for the East."

"You don't mean Xiongnu do you? Surely they won't send him there! He knows far too much about the inner workings of the court. What if tells someone something?"

"That's the Elder's position. But you know how the Amestrain has the Emperor eating out of the palm of his hand. It's disgusting . I've known the Emperor since he was a boy and he changed when he came back from Amestris. I think they might have put a spell on him."

"That's ridiculous! Ambassador Elric always seems very kind and polite."

"I heard he's a skilled actor. His brother is a famous figure in their country. Even you must have heard of the Fullmetal Alchemist. He's probably quite skilled at dodging questions and getting what he wants."

"Well none of it matters anyways."

"Why not?"

"Because Princess Chang will never let him leave!"

Said Princess Chang was indeed trying to figure out a way to stop Alphonse Elric from traveling to the east. Not because she couldn't bear to see him leave, see just knew that leaving would crush his heart and spirit. It was a scary place out there and though he had disillusioned himself into thinking that it would be fun and educational, she knew better. He had to stay. For his own safety of course. Not because she wanted—needed—him to stay. There were friends and she naturally wanted to look out for him. This had nothing to do with that silly little crush she had had on him a few years ago. Of course not. Couldn't be further from the truth.

She was just have the slight problem with actually finding a way to convince him of the fact she knew with utter assuredly. So far her attempts had not been successful. As such, she had had to resort to more… diverse methods.

"Al!" The Amestrian turned to look at her and she put on the largest and most excited smile she could muster as she ran up to him. "Guess what?"

"What?"

"I just learned that I've been teaching you how to do alkahestry all wrong!"

"…what?"

"They just discovered a new way of teaching it that's more efficient and creates better students. I'm extremely sorry Al. This is entirely my fault. But the good thing is, the man who told me, told me how to teach it better. Now I can do it better!"

"Um… that's great Mei. Maybe you'll be able to teach someone else when we're in—"

"Actually, I feel bad because I cheated you by making you wait two years before you could actually preform alkahestry of any worth. So if you wouldn't mind I want to teach you the real way and you'll be proficient in half the time!"

Al stared at her. She smiled back.

"Mei, you've already taught me. Why would I need to learn it again?"

"Efficiency!" she chirped in reply.

"Are you feeling alright?"

"Perfect. Why?"

Instead of replying, Al just walked off, shaking his head.

That had obviously not worked. She mumbled something very un-princess-like under her breath and stomped hard on the ground in frustration. That was much too out of the blue. The acting hadn't been too good either. If she really wanted to stop him from taking his trip, she would need a) a more convincing story and b) better acting skills.

But what could be a more convincing story? She could drag him out to visit her teacher but that would only last a month or so and then it would be over and he would leave. A disaster of some sort would certainly make him stay, but what in earth would she be able to fake? Not much and nothing that would detain him for more than a few days.

There was one idea she had that might work but she didn't want to try it on the off-case it didn't. Even if it did it might cause more hurt than good. Their stunt with Ling and Lan Fan (a pairing Mei had jokingly dubbed LingFan, but it stuck) had made her realize just how much she DID want Al to kiss her. She just didn't know how much of his part had been acting and how much was genuine.

If she did kiss him… would he stay? There was the possibility that he would. They could live happily ever after in a castle, riding white horses. Not literally of course, but things could turn out well if she were to make such a bold move.

Then again, things could go horribly. He could not be interesting in that way. She knew with absolute certainty that she had moved on from her crush in earlier days— but instead of fading away like she would tell other people, it had grown into something much more real to her. He was more than just the mysterious kind man missing a body; he was Al, a friend who would fight through the crowd to get her favorite dumplings or help her out with hair brain schemes to get her brother together with the only woman who would ever be able to make him happy. He was kind, gentle, happy, and loving, but at the same time fiercely protective, mischievous, and all in all Edward's brother. She did not under any circumstances want to ruin that friendship.

Something like kissing him might. If he didn't like her in that way, he might start pulling away or even cut off everything all the way.

And even if he did want that to happen, want for them to be together, what's to stop him from leaving anyways? He was an Elric after all and Edward still left for the West after practically proposing to Winry. True, he did come back a short five and a half months after, but that was still way too long for him to just disappear. Ed and Winry also had the advantage of both being the same age and old enough to be married without too many odd looks. Mei was still only sixteen and though she confessed to being a help-less romantic, she didn't want to get married as early as Winry did. She was nineteen, a few months away from twenty, and already caring for a little boy. No, Mei did not want to do what they did.

And there was always the possibility that a relationship could end in heartbreak. It could be any number of factors that could end it. Small quirks that bugged her that piled up higher and higher, lack of communication, or even a lack of allowance. The Elders or even the people might not be happy with them being together and as much as she would like to say nothing could get between their love, her role as a Princess and his role as an Ambassador required them pay heed to them. If they were forced apart being together might become too painful and cause them to rarely see each other at all.

So, no. Trying to kiss him was definitely not an option. Odds outweighed the small chance of success too much. It would have to be some other scheme.

She tried a number of other plans, none of which actually worked. Among them were: faking a letter from Ling saying that he couldn't leave, trying to get him involved with researching a deadly disease, and hatching more plans for "LingFan". She tried her biggest yet—trying to convince him that her dear grandfather was in critical condition and she needed his help to get over the shock—when he finally cracked.

"Mei this is the fifth time you've come up with something ridiculous lie! What has you so dead set against me leaving? I thought you wanted to learn more."

"What does me wanting to learn more have to do with you leaving? I'm telling you Grandfather Chang is seriously sick—"

"Mei you were just talking to your grandfather last week over the phone. You were excited because the finally had gotten around to connecting the Chang Providence to the telephones lines here. You haven't gotten any correspondence since. Your grandfather is fine."

"No seriously—"

"What is wrong? Why do you keep doing these things?"

"Because I don't want you to leave!" she shouted finally and turned her back around. She didn't want to see him because she knew she was being ridiculous and that he knew she was being ridiculous.

"Why not?" he yelled back, exasperated.

"Because… because I don't want to lose you," she mumbled barely loud enough for him to hear her. Even though her back was turned away from him, she knew that he was staring at her in confusion. "I know what you're going to say Al, and I know—"

"You mean he didn't tell you?" he asked, surprising her.

"What?"

"Ling. He didn't tell you?"

"What are you talking about?" she asked, turning. "Ling hasn't said anything about you leaving. It's almost most he's been avoiding talking about it."

"Mei, I asked him if you could come with me at least a week ago." Mei stared at him in confusion as the words sank in.

"Go with you? To the East?"

"Yeah. I remember you complaining about being cooped up in the court but slightly bored with home. I know how much you enjoyed learning about Amestrian culture and I thought you might enjoy learning about other cultures as well. You're smart, dedicated, hardworking, beautiful, adventurous, fun to be around and quite frankly I wouldn't want to take any long trip like this without someone I trust by my side."

"Are you serious?" she asked, just to make sure. It seemed too good to be true. Surely there would be some rule that would prevent her from going and she would be stuck in the capital while Al was out there exploring and having fun in the East. She wouldn't actually be allowed to travel with him.

"Completely. Ling said yes and I though he was going to tell—"

He was cut off by a very loud, excited, and high-pitched squeal as she wrapped her arm around him in a very enthusiastic and happy hug.

So yeah. This is the next big section thingy-ma-bob. Them traveling in the East together.