Not as much Ling as I thought there would be, but you do get a nice action scene.

I don't know if you guys know this, but a fourth OVA was released for Brotherhood. It's how Roy and Hughes met in boot camp and it is amazing. I cried a little. There's also a bonus manga chapter that released earlier this month, but I've yet to find any scanlations. Supposedly, it's a summertime short ;)

38. Shell

"EDDDWAAARRRDDDD!"

Ed groaned and tried to hide himself behind one of the poles in the train station. But it was in vain, and Ed found himself tackled by an over-excited Ling Yao.

"It's been so long since we've talked! I have to say, I'm proud of you for finally making a move on your beautiful mechanic-" Ling broke off in time to duck and dodge a flying suitcase. "-And so, to honor this marvelous event, I have taken great pains to secure the most… appropriate accommodations for you." Ling waggled his eyebrows suggestively and winked when Ed went scarlet.

Winry had approached them at that point, and she glanced between Ed's red face and Ling's smirk before sighing and rolling her eyes. "It's great to see you again, Ling," she said, dragging the attention away from Ed and giving him time to cool down.

Ling grinned and bowed with a flourish of his robes. "And it's wonderful to see you, too, Miss Rockbell," he said. "Now, you can leave your suitcases here; the attendants will bring them to your quarters." He waved and three finely-dressed Xingese men melted out of the crowd and began to collect the baggage.

The three of them left the station with Ling in the lead. Out on the street, an old-fashioned carriage was waiting for them, along with several bodyguards. Lan Fan, Ed noticed, was not there.

Getting to the palace took longer than Ed had expected. The walls of the building could be seen from the station, but the carriage was stopped several times.

Ed groaned and gave the ceiling a deadly glare when the carriage was stopped for the fifth time. Winry pushed aside the curtains over the windows to take a peek outside. "Ling, what the hell is the problem? Shouldn't we be there by now?"

Ling sighed and crossed his arms across his chest. "It's the security checkpoints," he said, voice darkening.

"Why?"

The prince remained silent and Ed scowled and kicked him. Ling swore and scooted to the other end of his bench, across from Winry and out of Ed's reach. "Why, Ling?"

Ling licked his lips before sighing in defeat. "We had assassins get into the palace the other night."

Winry gasped and turned her attention back to the men; Ed raised an eyebrow. "They kill anyone?" he asked.

"Yes," Ling replied, nodding. "They took out the entire Tong entourage that was here for trade negotiations." He shifted as the carriage began to roll again. "The guards caught four of the assassins, but we think there were at least ten. The Tong clan sent almost thirty members to the city, and they're all dead." He scratched the back of his head. "We have a couple of clues, and a lot of guards are out hunting the city."

"Is that were Lan Fan is?"

Ling looked surprised at Ed's question, but he shook his head. "She was injured during the fights inside the palace, so she's recovering in the ward."

It was clear from Ling's voice that he didn't want to say anymore about the subject. Ed leaned back in his seat. "So now you've got six crazy people running around Manchu who know how to get into the palace. That's just fabulous," he muttered.

Ling shrugged. "I doubt they'll be back. Besides, the Tongs were a real pain the ass with the negotiations. And now there's one less person between me and the throne." He glanced over at Winry, who looked horrified. "What? I'm an optimist."

They finally arrived at the palace and Ling showed them to their room.

"Wow," Winry whispered as the two of them entered their quarters. The room was large and lavish, the floor covered with rugs. Against the far wall was the bed, large enough for four people to sleep on, and was piled with thick blankets. A large fireplace dominated one of the walls and several Xingese decorations were situated around the room.

Winry wandered over to the bed and Ed turned to face Ling in the doorway. "Okay, you can leave now."

Ling frowned. "But you just got here. C'mon, we need to spend some time catching up."

"We can do that later. Now please leave before Winry gets over how fancy this room is and doesn't feel like making out with me as thanks for acquiring it."

Ling's eyes popped and he wedged his foot in the door when Ed tried to close it. "Well, can you let me watch, then?"

Ed gave Ling the most incredulous look he could muster. "Hell no! Get out, Squinty Eyes."

"Oh, come on! Please? And that's Prince Squinty Eyes to you!"

"I said no!" Ed snarled and slammed his foot onto Ling's, digging in as hard as he could with his automail heel.

Ling yanked his foot out from under Ed's, howling something about broken toes and crazy foreigners. Ed took the chance to slam the door shut and transmute it into the wall to keep Ling from breaking in later.

"Stupid prince."

They had dinner in the room that night- courtesy of Ling, who was obviously still sore about the injured foot.

With Ling sulking and Al out of town, there was nothing for the couple to do besides "go to bed." At least, that was Ed's opinion. And once the kissing started, Winry stopped demanding to tour the palace.

Ed rolled over to glance at the clock next to the bed when Winry began to doze off on his chest. It was almost midnight; Ed cracked a yawn and pulled Winry closer.

He was almost asleep when a soft rustling caught his attention.

Ed frowned and cracked open an eye. He glanced around the room, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The alchemist shrugged and tried to go back to sleep.

But years of trying to not get killed prevented him from doing so. His brain kept him awake, telling him that something was wrong, and he had better go find out what it was before he got a knife in an unpleasant place.

"We had assassins get into the palace the other night."

Ed groaned mentally. Really? Here, when he was trying to get married? Dammit.

He opened his eyes again and slowly dislodged himself from Winry, who made a sleepy attempt to drag him back to bed. "Where you going?" she asked thickly, most displeased with having been woken up.

Ed glanced around the room. "I gotta pee," he said, loud enough so that anyone in the room would hear it. If they thought he didn't know, then he could maybe lure them out…

Winry gave him a look before snorting and rolling back over.

Ed slipped out of the bed and made a show of yawning and stretching. It gave him a good chance to look around the room without being too obvious about it.

And it worked, too. He could pick out a faint glimmer (probably a sword) near one of the statues in the room. It was a sculpture of some nude Xingese river goddess, situated in a giant clamshell with conveniently placed hair and a giant pearl in one hand a conch in the other. Ling had informed him that it was the goddess of fertility, and Ed had not missed the suggestive waggle of the prince's eyebrows.

But from the way this was looking, that statue was going to be destroyed.

Ed staggered over to it, glad that it was between him and small bathroom attached to the room. He scratched his stomach, making sure to look like he didn't have a clue as to what was going on.

He came to the statue and, with one deft kick, knocked it over and onto the assassin. The man swore and leapt out from behind, narrowly avoiding being pinned. The statue fell to ground and shattered with a deafening crash. Behind him, Ed heard Winry jerk awake and yelled at him; the clatter of guards running to their room came from the hall.

Ed snarled and grabbed the man's wrist, snapping it and causing him to drop the dagger in his hand. Another attacker jumped out from one of the tapestries and Ed cursed as he dodged a swipe of an axe.

These guys are serious. The first attacker had pulled out another dagger and the two continued to circle Ed, keeping one of them in his blind spot. It was getting dangerous and Ed had absolutely no intention of letting either one of them get anywhere near Winry.

The guards had arrived at the door, but, because Ed had been hell-bent on having private time with Winry, the door was sealed, and they couldn't get in.

Well. That certainly backfired, Ed thought grimly as he ducked another swing from the axe and kicked the swordsman in the gut. The man grunted and stumbled backward and Ed took the chance to smash his foot in the side of his head. There was a grunt and the man collapsed on the floor.

Ed smirked and turned to face the axe wielder. But as he turned, the man swung down with the axe; Ed just had enough time to grab the handle and stop the blade from reaching his face. The man was a giant and Ed grunted as he pushed down on the handle, trying to force Ed to his knees.

"Bastard. I'm trying to get married here," he snarled. He shifted, trying to get a better stance when his right leg jerked and a jolt of pain flashed up his side. The hip port!

Ed swore to himself as the leg went rigid; he almost stumbled, but pivoted around to regain his balance. His hip was starting to burn with pain, but he could shift off of it without falling over. Crap, this is bad. Very bad.

He continued the scuffle with the assassin, trying to push the axe away from him, but it was like trying to hold back a bull by the horns. In other words, it was going badly.

The man spat something in Xingese, and Ed understood enough to know that it wasn't very nice. Ed grunted in surprise as the attacker suddenly jerked the axe forward, effectively throwing Ed off balance. He tripped and went down on one knee; Ed jerked his head up in time to see the assassin's boot looming over him.

Crack.

Ed jerked in surprise as the attacker's eyes widened and then rolled back in his head. The alchemist watched him fall to the floor, the axe hitting the ground with a clatter.

Slowly, Ed turned to glance back up, only to find Winry. The conch shell from the statue was in her hand and she looked furious. She glared at the unconscious attacker and chucked the shell at his body and crossed her arms across her chest.

"Really, Edward? You can't even take a leak without getting into a fight!"

Ed blinked. Winry looming over him in a (short) nightgown was a rather distracting sight and he found that thinking coherently was rather out of his league. "I didn't really have to pee," he said, as if that justified the situation.

Winry rolled her eyes and held out her hand to him. "Get up, Ed. You have to let the guards in," she said, pushing him in the direction of the transmuted door once he was on his feet. "I'll fix your leg when they get this cleaned up."

Ed limped over to the door and unsealed it, letting in a stream of guards.

As the guards cleaned up the mess, Ed sunk down on the edge of the bed next to Winry. She leaned over. "Y'know, watching you fight in your boxers was very entertaining," she whispered.

Ed raised an eyebrow. "I think I could say the same for you and that nightgown."

Winry flushed and pulled some of the bed sheets around her legs.

As the last of the guards left the room, Winry frowned. "Ed? You resealed the door after dinner, right?"

He nodded. "Why?"

"That means that the assassins have been in here since we got here."

Ed froze. "Then that means they were here when we were…" he trailed off and glanced over at Winry. They stared at each other for a moment. "I'm glad you smacked that guy as hard as you did. I doubt he'll remember anything."

The fight scene was done on the spur of the moment- I had planned on putting the bachelor party in this chapter, but that's been bumped to the next chapter. Don't worry, you'll get it!