"Would you give it back?" Alphonse's voice was rarely raised, but he'd had it up to here with teasing from both Edward and Winry.
"She's waiting for you," Winry said, grinning. Edward was still holding the letter just out of Alphonse's reach.
This happened to be the third letter from Xing, and it was written in a somewhat elegant script. It was decorated with hearts and flowers in the margins and May had even drawn Shao May in the corner. Alphonse sighed. He'd answered one letter from her already, and had inquired about potential alkahestry teachers. May had written back, seemingly offended that he hadn't asked her to tutor him personally.
"I'm impressed, little brother. Your first girlfriend is a princess. A bean princess, but still…"
Alphonse finally stood up and snatched the letter from Edward's hands. "I should transmute both of you into the wall."
Edward and Winry continued laughing.
"Are you going to Xing to see her?" Winry finally asked, after catching her breath.
"I want to spend the summer here. But I'm curious about alkahestry, so eventually I may head to Xing."
"You know, if you marry May, you'll be related to Ling." Edward said.
"And if I marry May and you marry Winry, then we'll all be related to Ling." Alphonse countered, feeling gratified at the deep blushes that now covered Edward and Winry's cheeks.
Alphonse carefully folded the letter and sipped his tea while watching his brother and Winry. The shy glances that passed between them were growing more frequent. While he was happy for them both-he'd believed that they were a good match since he was about 13 years old-he simply didn't want any romantic attachments of his own. At least not yet.