This chapter was like pulling teeth -_- But it happened! And that's what's important!

"The Empress requests your presence."

Al couldn't help but grin at the man who had brought the message, but he nodded. "Yes, of course, I'll see her right away."

The messenger nodded, then bowed and ducked out of the room. Al hurried to the mirror in the bathroom attached to his room, ran his fingers through his hair a few times to make sure that it looked good enough, straightened his tie, then hurried out of the room so quickly he left the door ajar.

The trip was a quick one when he was excited to make it. It had been so nice to be back in Amestris, especially when he saw one of his dreams realized, but it was also nice to be back in Xing. He hadn't anticipated how much he would miss it.

The guards did their usual shake down before letting him in, but then he entered the double doors to see Mei sitting at the table in the middle of the room. She looked up when he entered and smiled.

"Ambassador."

"Empress," he said, bowing. The doors closed behind him and he straightened, grinning. "It's good to be back."

Her smile widened. "Come here, I want to hear all about it. How's the baby?"

Al obliged the Empress's wishes, crossing behind the table so that they were sitting next to each other. She quickly poured him a cup of tea, then pushed it towards him.

"It's a boy. They've named him Benjamin."

"That's wonderful!"

"Ed's practically bursting with pride. He wanted to send a picture to Mustang with the caption 'Look what I transmuted', but Winry shot the idea down fast than Hawkeye with a rifle. He's really a cut little boy though, even though he looked a lot like Ed. Just the barest bit of blond hair, gold eyes like me and Ed. They weren't even blue when he was born, they were already gold."

"Does he make grumpy expressions?"

"All the time," Al responded, laughing. "Winry said that she hoped it wasn't supposed to be a warning."

"I wish he the best of luck dealing with his children."

"She's going to need it!"

There was a brief silence as they stared at each other, still just grinning. She hadn't changed much in the short time Al had been in Amestris with Ed and Winry. But she had changed in the past few months since he and Ling had begun to help her out.

Ling had been a practical godsend. The moment he sent his mind towards helping her gain power, there was nothing to stop him. Al had never realized just how politically savvy he had had to learn growing up to become Emperor, but he was more than just adept at manipulating the courtiers, he was frightening. Al was terribly glad that Ling had no aspirations for the throne himself, because he probably had the ability to take it.

After more or less announcing his direct allegiance to the Empress, Ling immediately began to shift his allies to their side. The Yaos were a powerful family, even if they hadn't had an Emperor in several generations. The recent industry boom in their providence had only strengthened their power. Several clans had supporting her more widely just because of that public alliance.

Some of the support had to be more subtle. A few promises of road building, arranging for railroads to pass through certain clans, at one point gaining allegiance was as simple as managing to find the Clan Leader's second son an apprenticeship as an alkahestrist.

At Al's suggestion, she began negotiations with Fuhrer Mustang for Amestrian businessmen to invest in the rather poor railroad system in Xing and other such infrastructure. The current contracts estimated a 50% increase in railroads nationwide, and there were even more being negotiated. The boom in infrastructure would provide thousands of Xingese workers with more jobs as well as make it so that farmers in the south would be able to transport their goods north for nearly half the price that it would have cost before. Even with the necessary taxes to keep them running as well as beginning to pay off the debts, they would come out ahead.

It had wrought a physical change in Mei. Her shoulders looked more relax and she was able to sit taller. Her face seemed more filled out, and the circles around her eyes weren't so dark. She was still wearing her crown all the time, but now it seemed less like it was trying to squish her all the time.

"And how was it being back in Amestris?"

"It was good," Al responded easily. "It was really nice to be home. But I didn't realize I would miss Xing this much when I was home. It was great to be there, and I loved spending time with Ed and Winry and my new nephew… but I'm glad to be back here with you."

She smiled at him.

Of course Al liked to think that he had some part in her transformation as well. He had stayed by his promise the past few months too. Even if they couldn't actually escape the palace and run off into the city more than once or twice, he refused to give up when she tried to rebuff him, until she finally began to accept his friendship and odd way to try to cheer her up. These sorts of meetings where he would sit next to her despite the fact he should be separated by a full table's length, became a common occurrence.

"I'm glad you're back, too."

"How have things been while I was gone?"

"They've gone well enough. Nothing monumental enough for you to hear of, obviously. The ground was broken for a railroad between here and the Wong Providence."

"That's great!"

She smiled and nodded.

Then someone knocked on the door and both of their attentions turned. "Your Majesty," someone said, poking their head in. "There are representatives from the Chen Clan here to see you in the Grand Reception Hall."

There wasn't any trace of a smile left on her face as she nodded and Al scooted further away from her. "Very well, thank you."

The man nodded, then ducked out of the room. Mei sighed, then stood up, straightening the front of her robes.

"I suppose I need to go, then, shouldn't I?"

"Duty calls," Al responded, shrugging. Unfortunately, this was a regular interruption of their time together too. "It was good to talk to you, Mei. We should try to do something together soon."

"Do you have something naughty like sneaking into the city again in mind Alphonse Elric?"

He laughed, shaking his head. "No, I was thinking something more like I haven't had good Xingese food in nearly three months, and making sure the palace cooks are up to scratch."

"I see," she said with a sly look in her eyes. "Well, it was nice talking. Welcome back to Xing, Al. I'm glad to have you here." She gave him one more smile, before adjusting her crown slightly and marching out of the room, him following behind.

Al was just adjusting his tunic to make sure it was laying right when the knock on his door came. Al frowned.

He was staying in the same room he had been in before, a large one with plenty of space. A bit too much space for just him to use, really, but he did his best to make it feel lived in. The bed was much larger than his old one back in Resembool, but at least it wasn't so big he felt like he was drowning in it. He didn't know how Mei managed to get any rest in that bed of hers. If he had to sleep there, he'd feel like he was about to get swallowed all the time.

The room also came with a handsome desk, a large closet already filled to bursting with plenty of ceremonial and traditional Xingese outfits next to his carefully cared for Amestrian suits, and a likewise bursting bookshelf. There weren't any alkahestry texts, those were only to be found in the library (and on his desk), but there were some very interesting cultural stories and other such texts he had had a fun time perusing.

There was a bathroom attached to the room, though, which Al was very grateful for. Before actually arriving at the Capital, Ling had taken an unnatural glee in telling him all sorts of horror stories about public baths. Other than that, though, there was very little in the room. His suitcase was open on the ground near his bed, not having had enough time to truly unpack.

Which was part of the reason he was so surprised that someone was knocking on his door. He hadn't even been back a full day yet. He knew for a fact that Fei was still in the Bao providence and wouldn't be back in the Capital for about another week. He was going to meet Mei now, so she wouldn't be sending a messenger to him. Unless this was something about her canceling? That was possible, if something had come up.

He crossed the room and opened the door, frowning slightly.

Then the expression melted away, replaced by surprise.

"Rikui!"

She grinned at him, then threw her arms around the stunned Amestrian. "Hi, Al!"

Al hugged her back, then pulled away to stare at her. "What… I didn't know you were going to be here."

"I didn't know I was going to be here either. It was a sudden decision. I only got here a few hours ago and learned you were here. I wanted to surprise you."

"Well it worked!" Al said, grinning himself now. "How have you been? I haven't seen you since you left, it's been what? Almost a year?"

"A little less than that," she said, nodding. "But nearly."

"Wow… you look… good! You cut your hair!" She had. Where before her hair used to hand somewhere around her lower back when held back in a ponytail, now it hung close around her ears.

"Yeah, it's just so much easier to take care of."

"Wow… it looks good."

She blushed and tucked some of the short locks behind an ear. "Thank you, Al."

"No problem. So what… what are you doing here? Why did you come back? How are things in the Chang clan? Fei was planning this whole pan-Xing trip where we'd stop by there, pick you up, and head around the rest of the country."

"That would be… a very interesting trip. Is he still thinking about it?"

Al hesitated before responding to that statement. "Well… I couldn't really say. Of course I would love to, it'd be a great opportunity to see more of Xing and I think he was even thinking of traveling around the East a bit more too… but right now I really need to be staying here in the capital. Fingers on the pulse, as it were."

She nodded. "With your job as an Ambassador, yeah that would be important. Especially with the riots."

Al paused. "… what riots?"

Rikui blinked, cocking her head slightly to the side. "What do you mean 'what riots'? You don't know?"

"No, what…?"

"Oh it's not that big of a deal," she said quickly. "I guess it might not have reached the Capital, or maybe it's not perceived as much of a threat. It's just been some riots in some of the South Eastern clans. Most of their revenue comes from the farms in the area, and the monsoons have just been so bad the past two years that's it's caused a lot of unrest. And conditions have never really been great down there in the best of times. Really if you ask me, it's about time that people started speaking out, it's just that now isn't that time."

"I hadn't heard anything about that, no."

"Oh, well, it's probably just not that much of a big deal. You hear a lot about it in the Chang clan. If it wasn't for Mei being Empress and the prosperity we've felt because of that, we'd probably be suffering right along with them. Which doesn't tend to make people very happy with us, of course, but… in a couple of decades, it'll be their turn to scramble for power." Rikui seemed to look into the distance. "Cause that's the way it works."

"Well, I mean, everyone's got a chance for that power, right?"

"Right. Of course."

She smiled tightly again, but then shook her head. "But enough of politics. What's been going on? How have your studies been going? How are Ed and Winry?"

"Did you not hear? They had the baby!"

"They did!"

"Yes, a little boy. They named him Benjamin."

"That's amazing! You have to tell me everything about it. I don't know about you, but I've been dying without Song's dumplings. What do you say?"

He grinned at her before nodding. "Sure! You know I could always go for those." He ducked inside his room once again to grab a jacket, then joined her outside of his room, closing the door behind him.

"Let's go!"

Mei waited almost an entire hour for Al to show up in the kitchens. She wanted to talk more about Ed and Winry's baby, what it was like in Amestris. And she wanted to get his opinions on a few issues that had come up while he was gone. Nothing terribly serious, and she was hoping that some of the arrangements she'd made between the other clans and Amestris would be able to help the tensions, but he'd always find something to say to make her feel better about whatever problem she was dealing with. Even if he didn't have a solution, he'd be able to turn it into a joke or make her smile somehow else.

But he never showed up.

Eventually when one of the cooks asked her if she was he to sample the cuisine for the Chen Clan representatives and Xiao Mei whined in her ear, she shook her head, thanked them for putting up with her, and left.

Knowing Al, he had probably gotten some sort of alkahestry question, looked up the answer in some book and then got distracted reading the rest of it. He could be so easily distracted like that. It was actually rather adorable. One time he had simply demanded to be let in her room, sat down and started reading while she worked on some paperwork that had to be signed for an agreement between a couple of clans.

He hadn't said a single word the entire time he was in there, just got totally lost in his book. But even having him there in the room with her made her more relaxed, even if the occasional scratches of his pen as he took notes was a tad distracting. Or… well she couldn't deny that she took more than just a couple of sideways glances at him as she was working just to admire the way his hair fell in his face or that absent minded look on his face as he rolled the pen between his fingers.

That was entirely beside the point though. He was a good friend, one of the best she had ever had beside Xiao Mei. Maybe… probably more than maybe, he was the best other than her faithful panda.

There was no doubt in her mind that he had just gotten lost in a book or some other random project. She would probably find him staring at a book in his room, or maybe in the library. He could be remembering their appointment and rushing to the kitchens right now worrying about having offended her or hurt her feelings.

Mei was smiling a little at the thought as she walked down the halls, doing her best to appear to glide down them as one would expect the Empress should. Her mother used to try to make her practice walking like that in case she did become Empress, but Mei had always ignored her.

She'd check up on his room. If he suddenly remembered their appointment, she'd probably meet him as he ran towards the kitchens. And if he was in the library, he'd have to pass by here anyways.

Al didn't come running by her as she walked down the hall, though. In fact he wasn't even in his room. So she was just about to try the library, since she did have another hour or so before she was needed in any meetings, when she heard his voice coming.

So he had been in the library, and was probably now yelling at himself for having forgotten—

"Every single time I go there, I'm impressed again by how good his dumplings are."

"I've missed them a lot."

That wasn't Al's voice.

"I think he likes you, he never seems to serve me dumplings quite as good when I come with Fei."

"Well, can you exactly blame him?"

Al laughed, and by now Mei could recognize the sound of her cousin's voice. She had completely forgotten the frantic message that her Uncle had sent her saying that he was sending Rikui along to spend time in the Capital. Something about him hoping the influence would so her some good.

The pieces came together. They must have run into each other somehow and decided to reunite, including going down to the city and getting dumplings. Even though Mei knew that Al went there a lot and with lots of different people, after all the vendor knew his name, the thought of him going there with Rikui made her stomach turn uncomfortably. But during the course of their conversing and travels… he simply must have forgotten about his plans with her.

So she had been right. Only that Al had been distracted by something other than a book.

Xiao Mei chittered quietly, having recognized Rikui's voice now herself. Mei nodded, then slipped around the corner out of sight. No need to interrupt their reuniting.

It wasn't like they had been official plans or anything anyways.