Mei's Animal –

Seventeen months after Promised Day…

"Brother!" Al's excited shout for Ed had both Ayala and Chester flinch at the volume and pitch of his voice while Ed nearly jumped out of his skin at the unexpected shout. He'd barely sat up on the couch in the Hughes' loungeroom when Al came barrelling down the stairs, a white piece of paper clutched tightly in his hand.

"What is so important that you almost sent me, Ayala, Chester, and any Animal in a kilometre of the house deaf?" Ed grumbled, sitting up properly before jerking back as Al thrust the paper into his face.

"Here!" Al said, ignoring Ed's question as he impatiently shook the letter until Ed grabbed it.

A quick glance told him it was the letter that had arrived earlier that day from Mei to Al but Ed had no clue why his brother was showing him it and he resisted the urge to read it immediately in favour of glaring at Al for an answer. "Why are you giving me Mei's letter?" Ed asked, still holding onto the letter, which both Ayala and Chester were looking at curiously.

Al was bouncing on his toes excitedly enough that Ed's first thought was that the letter contained news of Mei planning to visit Amestris soon. "She got her Animal, Brother!" Al revealed giddily, causing Ed to pause in surprise. Mei and Al wrote each other fortnightly, though Ed knew it would be more frequent if the mail system between Amestris and Xing was quicker, and Al had only just received a letter two days ago from Mei that, as far as Ed knew, held no mention of her having the Dream. "She said you can read the letter," Al added when his brother didn't immediately read the piece of paper.

"Okay, okay," Ed said, rolling his eyes as he smoothed out the paper and held it so he, Ayala, and Chester could read it alongside him while Alphonse waited as patiently as he could for them to finish it.

Dearest Alphonse,

I know that you will have only received my last letter a day or two before this one arrives but I simply couldn't wait to share what had happened between me penning my last letter and now!

I started having the Dream a few days after I sent off my last letter and this time I am delighted to tell you that it wasn't a false dream like the last few times! I woke up two days ago and found my Animal waiting for me outside of my home!

My mother was quite confused by her appearance as I hadn't told her how often I'd Dreamt the past week so she had no clue when to expect her. I did receive a lecture for not warning her prior to my Animal's arrival of the fact that the Dream wasn't a false dream and giving my mother the date of when I was expecting my Animal to arrive but my mother then hugged me and told me she was very proud of me for receiving my Animal. I am the youngest in my family by a week to get their Animal! My whole clan celebrated alongside us the night my Animal arrived and all of them told me how happy they were for me and how proud of me they were. Even Ling sent me a congratulatory letter, though how he knew I got my Animal will remain a mystery until I speak with him next.

My Animal is a white-cheeked Gibbon and I only found out her name this morning which is why I didn't write you this letter the day she arrived. Her name is Lin and she is such a sweet and gentle Animal. Xao-Mei didn't like her to start with but Lin has been so lovely and let Xao-Mei warm up to her at her own rate. I do believe that Xao-Mei is jealous of Lin and how much time I've been spending with her, which is what I believe is the reason for most of, if not all of, her animosity towards my Animal but I have no doubts that once Xao-Mei has warmed up to Lin and knows that I won't abandon her for my Animal that they will get along splendidly!

I am unsure as to whether or not you've ever seen a white-cheeked gibbon or even a picture of one but Lin is has fully black fur aside from the patches on her cheeks, which are white, hence her species name. Her arms are very long, Alphonse! They nearly touch the ground when she stands at her full height and she has proven most adept at gathering fruit from the highest points of our trees, something that has caused several of our clan to praise her. She is very soft and she adores cuddles and being carried but unfortunately I am not much taller than she is so she doesn't get to be carried around that much by me yet. Hopefully in a couple of years I will be tall enough to do so!

I understand now what you tried to tell me when I asked you how it felt when Chester finally arrived for you and you completed your bond, Alphonse. I think I cried for most of the night after the celebration party for Lin and myself because I was so overwhelmed with how amazing the bond felt and it was only half-complete at the time! When she finally told me her name, poor Lin had to deal with me crying onto her shoulder for nearly ten minutes. I did apologise profusely for doing so but she assured me that she didn't mind. As I told you earlier in my letter, she is very sweet and I cannot wait for you and Chester to meet her!

I do apologise that this letter is so short but I wanted to tell you about Lin before my next letter. I don't think I could've waited until your reply to my previous letter had arrived to tell you about her. Please let Edward and Ayala know of my news! I hope they will also be able to meet Lin soon and I do hope that this letter finds all of you and your family in good health!

Take care, Alphonse, and I'll speak to you soon!

Mei Chang.

Once finished reading the letter, Ed handed it back to Alphonse, who accepted it rather quickly. "I'm glad to hear she finally got her Animal. I know she was almost as anxious to receive hers as you were about Chester," Ed said, unable to poke fun at his brother for those few days of almost manic excitement Alphonse had been feeling before Chester arrived. "I would have never guessed that she would've gotten a gibbon for an Animal though. I would've put money on it being some kind of feline," Ed admitted. "Make sure you tell her that I said congratulations and that I'm excited to meet Lin at some stage," he requested.

"As am I," Ayala said, still a little irked that Alphonse hadn't apologised for his noisy entrance a few minutes ago.

Al seemed to pick up on Ayala's feelings as he gave her a sheepish look. "I'm sorry for how loud I was. I was just excited for Mei," Al said, looking appropriately contrite.

Ayala sighed but said, "understandable and you are forgiven," and earned herself a happy smile from Al in return.

"I'll pass on your messages to her when I write her back. I'm glad I put off sending my response to her last letter until later today so I can send them both together," Al said, looking down at the letter still in his hands with a happy look that had Ed rolling his eyes. Honestly, the sooner Alphonse and Mei admitted their crush on the other, the better it would be for everyone around them. The looks Chester and Ayala gave him told Ed that they fully agreed with his thoughts.

"So I guess we won't see you down here for another hour?" Ed asked teasingly, earning himself a blush from his little brother.

"Where is everyone else?" Al asked as a way to change the subject so he wouldn't be subjected to his brother's or Chester's teasing.

Ed raised a brow knowingly but did drop the subject, willing to put off the teasing until later. "Hughes is at work, Elysia is at school, and Miss Gracia had to run to the shops to get a few groceries they'd run out of. She and Lilith should be back soon," Ed told him.

"I should be done with my letter by the time Miss Gracia is home so I'll post it once she and Lilith are back," Al told him.

Ed barely managed to give a nod before Al was racing back up the stairs and Ed found himself mimicking Ayala and Chester when they shook their heads at his little brother. "How well do you think it would go down if I just wrote a letter to Mei to tell her that Al has a massive crush on her and that we all know she has one on him so they should just get together already?" Ed asked, using the bonds he had with the Animals to do so, just in case Al managed to overhear him.

"Not very well at all," Ayala said before Chester could encourage Ed to go through with his plan. "Besides, I think it's cute that they're obviously care so much for one another but can't admit it to themselves, let alone each other yet and you telling them would deprive me of the chance to watch this whole relationship grow naturally and I will not be happy if you did," Ayala warned him, making sure to glare at Chester as well so he knew the warning applied to him also.

Ed huffed but went back to the book he and Ayala had been reading. "Fine but if this keeps going on for years, I will be doing something about it so none of us have to deal with their pining for the rest of our lives," Ed informed her.

"If they don't admit their feelings to one another within a few years, I'll let you," Ayala conceded, getting an agreeing nod from both her human and the leopard on Ed's right side. As she went back to reading over Ed's left arm, Ayala spared a moment to hope that Alphonse and Mei did actually admit their feelings for one another before Edward and Chester took it upon themselves to get them do so. She couldn't imagine that their methods would be subtle or pretty, after all.

A/N - Here's a cute (or probably the cutest one I can manage lol) little one shot about Mei getting her Animal! I hope you guys enjoy this one and I'd really love some feedback on this one please! See you all next week!