So. I FINALLY got to see the first four episodes of the new FMA anime. Ohemgee. I'm in love. The animation seems different in this one- it seems to be more manga-ish, if that makes any sense o___o But I loved the ending song! At first, when I saw it, I was kind of "Ha, looks like the animation department got a budget cut!" and then I saw the very end and I squealed like the fangirl that I am. Hehehe.

Anyway. This chapter's all about Al and pretty long, which surprised me. Enjoy.

26. Body Fat

Saying that Alphonse Elric was nervous was like saying that Roy Mustang liked fire- It was a vast understatement. After a nearly two-week train ride, Al, Mei and Shen Yin, the actual ambassador to Xing, had arrived in Xing's capital city of Manchu.

During the ride, both Mei and Yin had been teaching Al as much Xingese as they could. By the time they reached their destination, Al could greet others, introduce himself, ask basic questions, and thank people. He knew most of the Xingese etiquette and social rules; Yin had been adamant that he learn those, especially since he would be in the presence of the Emperor himself!

But besides meeting the royalty of Xing, Al was going to be introduced to Mei's parents, and that scared him even more. He couldn't imagine what they would think of their daughter bringing home some random person who was most definitely not Xingese.

Mei had assured him that they would understand and everything would be fine, yet Al had a feeling things wouldn't go so smoothly. It seemed to be a law of the universe that things never went well for an Elric.

The train came to a stop and the three collected their bags. Yin vanished before either of the young teens could even get off the train, but Mei claimed that she knew where she was going and that the elderly Yin probably snuck off to get something to eat before arriving at the palace.

Al insisted on carrying Mei's bags; not only was it polite, but it would hopefully put him in a better light with Mei's parents. It never hurt to be careful.

The two exited the train into a crowd of people. Al glanced around, but he didn't know what Mei's parents looked like and quickly gave up.

"Mei!"

Al turned at the shout in time to see a short, black-haired woman shove her way through the crowd and wrap Mei in a hug. The two began yammering away in Xingese and Al could only catch one or two words.

"Ah, you… are Alphonse?"

The voice, heavy with a Xingese accent came from Al's elbow. The man who had spoken was a little shorter than Al, but was slim and muscular, no stranger to the hardships of life. And more than likely Mei's father.

Al swallowed heavily. The man obviously had trouble with Al's native language, and the young Elric wanted to impress the family. Forcing Mei's father to speak in a language that he wasn't comfortable with wasn't going to help. It was time to put the hurried train lessons to use.

"Hello. I am Alphonse Elric. You are Mei's father?" Al replied in Xingese, bowing respectfully. The little speech had been stiffer and more hesitant than Al had hoped for, but judging from the look on the man's face, it had been more than enough.

"Yes. My name is Tai Chan. Xiu is my wife," he replied, gesturing to the woman who was currently making a fuss over Mei. "Welcome to Xing."

"Thank you," Al said, bowing again. He was relieved that his minimal understanding of the Xing language had been enough, though he was sure Tai had simplified his speech so he would be able to understand.

"Alphonse-sama! Come here!" Al obediently made his way over to Mei and her mother, Tai trailing behind with their bags. When he reached the young girl's side, she immediately grabbed his hand, shoved him forward, and began talking.

"Mother! This is Alphonse," she said, beaming.

Xiu Chan didn't even hesitate. Before Al could get a word of greeting out, he was smothered in a hug. Even though the woman was small, she was by no means weak and Al could have sworn he heard his back pop. Xiu was saying something, but Al couldn't understand it. He glanced over at Mei, who had turned a delicate shade of pink.

"Um, she thanks you for bringing her daughter home safely," Mei translated.

Oh. Well, that was a little bit of an exaggeration. Al glanced down at Xiu, who had taken a step back, but still had her arms around his waist and was giving him such a teary-eyed look that Al couldn't say no. "You're welcome," he replied in Xingese, grinning weakly.

Tai led the way out of the station and to the carriage waiting for them outside. Al stared; even in the fading light, he could tell that their ride was most definitely for the royalty of Xing, and he remembered Mei telling him that her family was not on the rich end.

Once they were in the carriage, Mei explained. "Ling convinced his brother to give us lodgings in Manchu while the delegation is going on. We're going to be getting the royal treatment for a while!" The young girl was excited and Al grinned back.

It was too late to see much of the city, but Al figured he'd get to that eventually. They were brought to their rooms (Al noticed that Mei was lodging with her parents and his room was at the other end of the hall) and Al had a chance to unpack and take a quick nap before dinner.

It was just the four of them at the table that night; Ling was not in the city at the moment. As the food was brought out, Al's eyes widened. The Xing never did anything halfway, apparently- There was so much food that Al was sure even Ed wouldn't have been able to eat it all!

Mei shoved a pair of chopsticks into his hand and poked his side playfully. "I told the kitchen staff that you needed to gain some weight."

Al glanced down at himself. It was true that he was still a little scrawny from being in the Gate, but he didn't need to gain that much weight. "Mei, this better not happen every night," he whispered, giving her a half-hearted glare. He never could get angry at her…

The young girl just winked.

Squee! AlMei! They are just so adorable! 8D

Okie dokie, time for some name explanations. Manchu means "pure", Shen is "thinker", Tai means "sun" and Xiu means "elegant". Sorry, I am OCD about names, but they're important for character development and whatnot.

And yes, we'll be seeing some more of Ling later on. Huzzah!