27 May 1919
"Well… this is it."
Winry took a deep breath, then nodded. "Stay safe, Al. It'd really be a shame for all of us to go through so much only for you to get into some trouble in Xing and end up getting yourself injured."
Al gave her a weak smile. "Thanks for the vote of confidence. It was always Ed that got into trouble, not me, thank you very much. I was the one that was always getting him out of it."
Ed, who was standing with his hands in his pockets, back straight and staring ahead, smirked. "Don't know how I'm going to get out of any trouble without you, Al."
"You're just going to have to stay out of it."
Ed laughed, causing Winry to frown. "Edward Elric, you should listen to him! Why is it that Al always has to act like the older one!"
"He likes it, Win, I'm just letting him do what he wants."
The mechanic leveled a glare in Ed's direction so fierce, Al was partially surprised her ever present wrench didn't make a new permanent lodging in Ed's skull.
"Geeze, woman, I'm joking," he said quickly, throwing his hands up, causing Al to laugh. The glare didn't disappear.
"I am going to check on when the train is supposed to leave," she announced haughtily, turning around on one heel and marching in the other direction. Both Elrics watched her go, Al with a grin on his face and Ed with apprehension.
"She's going to actually kill me with that wrench of hers one of these days," Ed said once he was sure she was out of earshot.
Then again, earshot was a lot shorter distance when standing in the midst of one of the busiest train stations in all of Amestris. East City's Grand Central Station was the only city in the entire country where you could take a train to Xing. The international railroad was actually built as a war effort in an attempt to allow communication between the two allied nations to actually exist. It had been used mostly for transporting weapons and food back and forth, though.
Now it was being used to transport visitors.
Including Al.
"Al." Al looked away from the crowds Winry had disappeared into at the sound of his brother's voice. It had lost all annoyance or joking. His eyebrows were pressed together and, probably not knowing what else to do, he placed a hand on Al's shoulder.
"What is it, Brother?"
"I know you've got to do this. I understand that."
"Thanks Ed…"
"But… be careful, alright? And I don't just mean stay out of street fights, I mean watch yourself. People… change. I've seen good men become monsters. I… I nearly became one myself."
"Ed…"
The blond shook his head, slightly begging Al not to interrupt. "Xing is a dangerous place, Al. Ling and Mei were about ready to kill each other and we know the rest of their siblings were prepared to do the same or worse. And you're going to be right in the middle of it at the palace. Just don't lose yourself out there, alright?"
"I won't, Brother," Al promised sincerely. Ed nodded, then unexpectedly pulled Al into a tight hug.
"We've been through a lot, Brother," Al muttered, hugging back just as tightly.
"We have. And we've always managed to beat it."
"We're Elrics. That's what we do." Ed pulled away and grinned.
"You bet. Just hurry up, learn alkahestry, and come home, alright? Then we can be together again."
"I'll try, Brother. But you've got to promise me that you'll finally stop being prideful and ask Winry to marry you. She's just about the only person who's willing to put up with you, and I want nieces and nephews!"
"Al!"
"Seriously though, Brother," Al said after smiling at how flustered he managed to make Ed. "Winry deserves it. She's waited and worried for you all these years…" Al trailed off, not quite sure how to put what he wanted to say into words. When Ed had accepted a place back into the military at the start of the war she had been heartbroken. When he was actually sent behind enemy lines… she had followed him into the field to protect him and his fellow soldiers. He thought back to the conversation that had had outside his room just a week ago. "She loves you. And you love her. So do both of you a favor and admit it."
Still red enough to look like someone had thrown an overripe tomato at his face, Ed nodded.
"Al! Get on right now!"
Al spun around in time to see Winry running towards them before he heard the whoosh of steam that signaled the fact that the train was taking off. His heart jumped into his throat and he lurched forward automatically. Thank goodness that he and Ed had had to jump onto more than a couple of trains in his life time. He had to push a few people out of the way, but managed to get a foot on the bottom step and a hand on the handle the conductor usually hung off of.
He turned around just in time to wave at Winry and Ed before the steam obscured his view.
"Do you have a ticket, son?"
Al turned around to face an amused conductor. He grinned sheepishly, but the man smiled back at him.
"Sorry. One ticket to Xing."
30 May 1919
When he had been making his plans to come to Xing, Al had spent hours staring at maps of Xing and the railroad system there. There were a couple of things he knew that he needed to get done before getting to the capital and beginning his alkahestry studies. And this was one trip he knew he had to make.
The trip from the train station was a quick one. Since it was the first stop in Xing after a three day train ride, there was always a steady business of men ready to carry tourists and visitors around the city, taking them to see sights or somewhere they could stay for a night before the next train left.
It was during that short ride in the back of a man's horse drawn cart that Al realized just how little Xingese he actually knew. Luckily enough, the man spoke rudimentary Amestrian so they managed to communicate enough to get Al to where he wanted to be.
The man navigated through several areas that looked abnormally bare, but from Al managed to understand from the driver's broken Amestrian and his little knowledge of Xingese was that a two decades ago the entire area had been the green beacon that led wanderers in the desert home. After the industrial boom, though, most of the trees had been cut down. Then once the coal deposits had been found, the incentive to grow them back more or less disappeared.
Trees finally began to pop up again though, the further they got from the city. In fact it was only after they turned a corner and passed the line of trees that Al was able to see the… palace in front of him. He couldn't think of any other word for the sweeping buildings and majesty of the architecture in front of him. His jaw dropped slightly, but then morphed into a smile when he saw who it was standing outside the tall gates that surrounded the palace.
He let out a whoop and waved which caused his welcoming committee to grin and wave back.
"Al!" the Xingese Prince called out happily when he caught sight of his old friend. "What brings you to this neck of the woods?"
Al grinned even wider and waited for the cart to stop before hopping out and moving forward to hug the Prince, who didn't look like he had changed a day except for a slightly stronger looking jaw and closed tunic. "Hey, Ling. You look good."
"I look good?" Ling asked, throwing his eyebrows up. "Last time I saw you, you couldn't stand up without help. A strong breeze would have broken your arm! Now look at you! Are you taller than Ed now?"
"Barely, but yeah. The doctors said that my growth spurt was delayed because of malnutrition, but I've grown almost a foot since coming back from the Gate."
"That's amazing, Al," he said sincerely. "I'm happy for you." Then he turned to the man who was driving the cart and began speaking to him in rapid Xingese that Al couldn't follow. The driver's eyebrows rose, before he bowed his head deeply and muttered a phrase Al recognized as 'Thank you'.
"What did you say to him?"
"Hmm? Oh, I just offered to pay him for you."
"Oh, no, really Ling, I have money—"
"No, consider it me paying you back for all the food of yours I ate." Al flushed a little pink at the grin on Ling's face.
"It all went on Brother's bill…"
"Then tell the pipsqueak I don't owe him anything," he dismissed quickly, waving a hand. Then he used the same hand to clap Al on the shoulder, leading him through the imposing gate into a large courtyard.
"I'm doing well, since you asked." Al flushed again. "I never thought I'd be happy not being Emperor, but it's really not that bad. I don't have to deal with courtiers all the time. I get to stay home here in the Yao Province." To Al's surprise, Ling did not lead him towards the front door, but instead to the right where there was a lovely garden. Al couldn't help taking a deep breath, filling his nostrils with all different sort of wonderful smells. "And the best news of all," Ling continued as he lead him towards a certain tree that a certain person was sitting under. "I got to marry whomever I wanted."
"Lan Fan?"
"Alphonse," the ex-guard said, standing up and attempting to bow, but being quite unable due to the swollen nature of her stomach.
"You're pregnant?" She nodded, smiling slightly. Ling moved over to her and wrapped his free arm around her, laying his hand on the baby bump.
"Five months," he told Al, all the while kissing Lan Fan on the cheek. "We got married a little after the war, as soon as the Empress made the decree."
"What decree?"
"Well, as a female, she can't very well have 50 direct heirs," Ling explained, still holding onto his wife. "So instead of baring and birthing 50 children, she decreed that each of her half siblings will bear a child to be her heir from that clan. Fu will be the Yao clan's heir."
"Fu?"
"If it's a boy," Lan Fan said. "We haven't decided on a name for a girl."
"I want to name her Lan Fan, but Lanny refuses. But the thing about the decree was that the Empress never specified who the mother of the heir had to be. So I was perfectly able to marry Lan Fan... The woman I love." Lan Fan blushed slightly, but looked down so that it was harder to tell.
"I'm happy for you two," Al said, grinning. "Really, that's amazing!"
"What about Ed and Winry?"
"Still denying the fact that they're in love. I was really hoping that they'd manage to get together before I left, but it didn't happen."
"Those two need to get a move on."
"Yeah," Al agreed, grinning once again. "Some people want to be Uncles!" Ling laughed and Lan Fan managed a smile. "Really though, I'm not worried. They just need a bit of time. Neither of them are really quite… over the war. I mean, Winry was treating men straight from the front lines. And Ed wasn't even on the front lines, he was behind enemy lines. They've both… they both need a little time. Like I said, they're not quite over it yet."
Ling's face was completely sober now. "I don't think anyone is."
"It changed everything."
"It did. And Al, while we're talking about it… I'm guessing you're heading to the capital, right?"
"I was hoping to stay here for a few days if you'll let me, but yes."
"Of course you can stay with us, Al," Ling said quickly with a grin, before it disappeared. "But… while you're in the capital, I'd suggest being careful."
"What do you mean?"
Ling glanced at Lan Fan "A lot of the Xingese aren't very happy with the surrender. They felt like we could have won in the East if we had kept fighting and that Amestris twisted our arm into surrendering. They're humiliated. And war in general always makes people upset; it makes things unsteady. I'm not saying that there's anything going on in particular you need to avoid entanglement in… just be careful."
"I will," Al promised. The more people seemed to tell him about this country the more apprehensive he got. What would his time be like here if he was always trying to avoid corrupting politics and looking out for… for what? Revolutions?
"But definitely try the food. Check for poison first, but try the food. It is so good!"
The unexpected comment forced Al to laugh.
7 June 1919
He stayed with Ling and Lan Fan for several days, almost an entire week, actually. It was thoroughly enjoyable. After four years apart and so much change each, it was nice to catch up. Al described the regimen he put himself on to return his body to normal strength and in turn Ling described the types of responsibilities that he had now in the Yao clan. He was, technically, the highest representative to the Empress for the clan, even though he had spent a grand total of three individual weeks at court.
Eventually the time had to end though, and almost far too soon Al was getting on a train and heading away from the Yao Province for the capital.
The train ride from Weiwu to Chengshi was actually longer than it took to cross the desert, so Al stopped in two different cities along the way to stay the night while getting there. Already he was starting to pick up more of the language than he had when he first arrived. The necessity and some of the pointers that Ling gave him seemed to work together to improve his abilities quite well.
Chengshi was easily one of the most impressive cities Al had ever been in. It was just so vibrant and busy… he could spend a year wandering the streets and still find new things to see and foods to try and people to talk to…
And then of course there was the palace itself dominating the city from the hill above. It was impossible to miss, and almost as intimidating at the military headquarters stations in the middle of Central. Though a very different style. The palace took much more after the style of the Yao's residence… only a lot bigger.
Finally, after pushing his way through crowds and simultaneously trying not to buy anything and still take everything in (a near impossible task) Al managed to get to the top of the hill and approach the palace.
The guards standing outside the gates glared at him until a messenger ran back towards them with the information that an Amestrian Ambassador was indeed supposed to be there and allowed in.
The boy (he looked like was maybe twelve or thirteen years old) lead him through the hallways until they finally approached a pair of doors that greatly resembled the entrance doors.
"What are we doing here?" Al asked the boy in the best Xingese he could manage. The boy stared back at him evenly.
"The Empress said you were supposed to come and be presented in front of the court."
Al's heartbeat skyrocketed. "What? In front of the entire court? Right now? But I just got here!"
"She said now."
Then the doors opened and the boy none too subtly pushed Al forward into the room.
The room, which had to be the throne room, was huge. A single aisle extended down the middle of the room until reaching a raised platform on which the Empress sat. On either side of the aisle were raised platforms on which a couple of dozen people sat each. They were all staring at him, as well as the group of six or seven men that were seated to the right of the throne. Last time Al had been the center of attention like this, he had been physically incapable of blushing.
Despite the red color of his cheeks, he walked down the aisle until finally reaching a distance from the throne he thought was appropriate. He, not sure what else to do, knelt down on one knee and touched his forehead to the other.
"Ambassador Elric," the Empress said in Amestrian, and despite Al's nervousness he smiled at the sound of her voice, especially at the language in which he heard it in. He really did not want to embarrass himself by using horrible Xingese in front of the entire court. "I trust that everything went well on your journey here."
He cleared his throat and took a deep breath. "Everything was splendid, thank you for asking Your Highness."
"I'm glad. You may rise." Al straightened into a standing position and couldn't help but a small grin at her familiar face. It had changed the past four years. It was different. Skinnier. More matured. "It is an honor to have you here, Ambassador."
"The honor is all mine, Empress Chang."