If you follow me on tumblr, you're probably aware of how much of a struggle getting this chapter out has been for me, which is why it's a week late. Sorry about that. But it is also about twice as long as chapters usually are, so hopefully that at least partially makes up for it.

Also, the lovely lovely lovely alr-phonse has done it again! She drew a picture of Rikui! Unfortunately, continues to be annoying in that I can't post a link to her wonderful image, but there is a link on my profile and it is saved in my Favorites file "Art of My Stories" on my Deviant Art account.

Al and Rikui waited outside the library the entire night, but nothing ever happened. They alchemized the wall to cover the doors, so no one would be able to tell where they were. If no one could find the library, there was no way they could get there. They waited in front of the covered doors just in case there was anyone among the group storming the Palace (mobs? rebels?) that knew where it was.

They sat together in silence, neither of them really up to starting a conversation. Al was still too busy dwelling on what the mob was even about. He understood that there was a lot of unrest in the clans, but he thought that that was in the outer providences, not marching on the Palace. And most of that had to do with crop failure didn't it, so why would attacking the palace accomplish anything? Despite years of popular Xingese culture, she wasn't actually descended from the gods, she was just as human as the rest of them.

He couldn't guess what Rikui was thinking about and didn't feel prepared to talk about them, especially not with her outburst, so they continued to sit there waiting for something horrible to happen. Occasionally one of them would get up, walk to the end of the hall, look both directions, and then walk back and sit down.

It wasn't until what was probably early morning that anything actually happened. They both scrambled to their feet when one of the many servants in the palace came running towards them. He probably didn't know that they were there because he slowed to a walk as he approached them, looking confused. Before he had a chance to ask them what they were doing there, however as they both shouted at him before he could even open his mouth.

"What's going on?" they both demanded of the boy.

"What are you—The mob's dispersed. There was some in-fighting or something and they broke up. Some of them took off running, others tried to get at the Palace so the Guards shot them. None of them even made it inside the Gates."

"That's it?"

"That's it. No one's quite sure what was going on. They didn't seem very organized, just shouted a lot. No one stepped forward to make any demands or statements. The guards closed the gates, so they couldn't get in and it didn't look like they were too keen to try to scale it."

"How do you know all of this?" Al asked. He expected a quick overview, but he was giving some very particular details. The boy turned to him, then shrugged.

"I was there, Ambassador. I was watching from the top of walls."

"That was risky."

"I wasn't the only one Ambassador. We were all very interested to see what was going on."

"There was just a whole group of people standing on the walls watching this mob storm the palace?"

"Hardly storming the Palace," the boy said, and now his tone was almost derisive. "They caused a bit of a panic, but they were harmless."

"So they dispersed? Went away peacefully?" Rikui asked, and now it was her turn to frown. She was still in her what she had thrown on right before looking for information and her hair was mussed, so it looked more like someone had told her she wasn't allowed to go back to bed rather than dealing with the issue on hand.

"Well… It looked like they were almost losing energy and getting ready to turn around and go back." So that was good news, everything ended alright. Then the fateful contraction: "but—" Of course there was a 'but' "—then someone started screaming. We couldn't make out what they said, but it changed everyone's attitude. Half of them turned back and ran away faster than we could try to stop them while the others ran towards the palace."

"They ran towards the palace?"

He nodded. "Ran at the gates. The Palace guards shot them."

"How many people were hurt?" Al asked, aghast. They had just shot them? The gates were locked though, they wouldn't have been any danger. Why shoot them?

"About two dozen. Three died, and two more look like they're in critical condition."

"What's going on now?" Rikui questioned, stepping forward so that she was slightly in front of Al. He gave her a slight frown before shaking his head. The servant shook his head. "Are they being treated?"

"I don't know. I was sent to get the Empress so that we can figure that out."

"Who sent you?"

"Captain Wei Liang." Al had to confess he had never really interacted with the Captain before, despite the fact that he had been close with the Empress for nearly a year. He could name each of her personal guards (that made things so much easier when it came to them trusting her to be alone with her) but the Head of Security only ever met with her in private. He knew that the man had objected several times to how much time Mei spent with Al with minimal protection, but it always made him smile when Mei would tell him how she wouldn't let him stop her.

"I'll go with you. I want to make sure the Empress is still safe."

"Are you sure, Al? I mean you've already been up for hours, she couldn't blame you if you wanted to go to sleep. That's where I'm heading."

"No, I want to see her with my own eyes," he told Rikui firmly. "I'll go with you," he reaffirmed, turning to the servant again.

The boy nodded and took off down the hall again, but before Al could follow him, Rikui caught his hand.

"Al… Thanks for trying to find me. And… spending the night. Not the best date a girl could ask for, but I wouldn't have wanted to spend tonight with anyone but you."

He stared at her, not quite sure how to respond. He was still debating on how to when she stepped closer to him and kissed him on the cheek. Then she blushed, tucked a short strand of hair behind an ear and walked off.

"Are you coming Ambassador?" the servant asked, only turning around soon enough to see Rikui walking away and Al staring after her.

"… yeah. I mean. Yes, yes I am."

Thankfully Mei was alright. Eager to hear every bit of news about what had gone on. While Al and Rikui had detained the servant for a minute or two, she kept him occupied for a near half an hour asking questions about how many there were, who was in the crowd, how many men, how many women, were there any distinguishable phrases they were shouting, was there anyone who looked like a possible leader, how were they dressed, did they see anything that might have triggered their odd behavior?

The servant answered her questions as best as he could, stuttering to respond to some of them because she was so relentless in getting him to tell her every single detail. Several of the Elders showed up half way through this interrogation, and began asking questions of their own. They mostly talked among themselves, not even stopping to include Mei in the conversation. Not that she could probably be bothered to be brought into it even if they wanted her to join, she was focusing so intently on what they had been saying.

"Your Majesty," one of them, a man by the name of Xiong, said, breaking her out of her deep thought. "We need your leadership to move forward. What should be done with the wounded?"

"Heal them, give them treatment. In fact, I want to do it myself and talk to them."

"I must protest, Your Majesty," he said quickly. "You cannot go and talk to them yourself, who knows how dangerous that might be! They were trying to attack the Palace and no doubt harm you! You can't put yourself in their paths!"

"They are my people, are they not? I am going to talk to them."

"Mei—"

There were sudden hisses and even Mei turned on him. Al immediately bit down on his tongue and tried to start different. "Empress... Are you sure that that's a good idea?"

"What do you mean, Ambassador?"

"I'm just pointing out that they are dangerous," he said quickly in response to her glare. "You know that I'm hardly one to be able to speak out about doing stupid things, after all the things Ed and I got into, but I do feel reassured in asking you to think this through."

"Most of them won't even be able to speak to you, Your Majesty, they are in too much pain. If you are going to speak with them, you at least need to wait until they are better. And I personally am not sure it's worth the effort of making them so."

Mei stared at the Xiong, then glanced at Al. She looked like she wanted to fidget, but she held herself completely still despite the fact that her hair was an easy target. Since they had been outside lying on the ground, she had taken out most of her intricate braids so her hair fell down around her, almost reaching her knees. But the crown was still firmly seated on her head, looking like it weighed more than it had in several months.

"Get them the proper aid. I will speak with them… later. Now all of you, go."

Xiong and the other Elders bowed, then backed out of the room. The servant did likewise, until only her guards and Al was left in the room.

"You too, Ambassador."

"Mei, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Al."

"Are you sure?"

She paused. "… no. But I will be. I need some time alone to think though."

"Alright." He smiled at her and she gave him a weak mimic. Then he acted on an impulse and touched his lips to her cheek.

"… Al?"

"Get some sleep, Mei."

"… alright."

He smiled at her again, then left the room.

Everything had been going well until that Yao Prince had stuck his nose in.

Hua didn't know what he was doing, or how he had gotten out of the Palace safety. The walls had been shut up tight ever since they approached the place. But about an hour into their protesting, there her had been among the crowd, talking to people. Not stopping them, just talking to them. No one had known exactly what to do, so several of them actually began to talk back to him.

They were the ones that ended up running back towards Chengshi when everything dissolved into chaos. They were the weak ones.

He on the other hand, was one of the ones that ran straight at the Gates when someone finally came to their senses and tried to kill the Prince. If only the man hadn't screamed bloody murder as he tried to do it.

That was when everything broke up. The weaker ones, not ready for that level of commitment, had run back. The stronger ones like him had refused to give up on their chance and ran at the Palace gates, only to get shot at. Some died. He was only injured, along with several others.

To Hua's surprise, they were healed by some of the Palace alkahestrists. Hua personally had been ready to storm and overthrow of the Palace right then and there, but there had been several guard keeping post over each of their individual rooms. Even freshly healed, he was still weak and probably couldn't' have taken any of them out.

Instead he had waited. Waited and waited until the final verdict was finally given to him.

He and the rest of them were to be banished.

Exiled.

Never to return to Xing, upon pain of death.

Hua eyed the unfriendly Xionguese territory, then lifted the hood over his face to shield it from the unfriendly sun. He had people he needed to talk to.

"The unrest is spreading," one of the Shan Princes said. "Your Majesty, there has always been unrest near the Eastern boarders, and my family has always been proud to do our part to protect the boarders of this noble country, but when even the people themselves refuse to head the call to arms, we can hardly protect anyone."

"I understand," the Empress said, nodding at him.

"The Bin and Lon clans have been having similar troubles. My Uncle has counseled with them. We fear that if this problem cannot be contained, it will spread until it consumed most if not all of Xing."

"A rather useless cliché, I'm afraid seeing as it is already spreading," Ling said suddenly, a rather offensive thing seeing as the Shan Prince obviously hadn't finished his speech. "We've all been facing the effects of this unrest. The monsoons the past two years have made the Southern clans unrestful, left over tensions from the Great war have had the boarder clans upset ever since, the coal boom and subsequent bust has made the Eastern clans a dangerous place, and the North is still facing pressure from Drachman debtors. Frankly I'm surprised it's taken this long for the Palace to become a direct target."

He had effectively made everyone in the Throne Room silence themselves. Even Al felt as if his jaw had been glued shut by his words.

"We are only lucky that the excellent security that was established by our noble ancestors and upheld today by our fearless guards held through the trial. The people, My Lady," he said, now directly addressing Mei instead of the court as a whole, "want nothing more than security. Even since your ascension, through no fault of your own, they have known nothing but instability and unrest. They want to know that they will be safe and there will be food on their tables."

"What do you propose, then, Prince Yao?"

"Give them what they desire, Your Majesty. I don't feel that there's any way to stop these uprising without extreme violence other than to give them what they want. And in this case, giving them what they want is not harmful at all to Xing, in fact, would even benefit it."

"There is no one here that better understands not knowing where your next meal is going to come from, Yao."

"Exactly, Your Eminence. I myself have actually nearly starved on an occasion!" Al had to try really hard not to snort loud enough for everyone to hear. Ling either must have been able to tell or either knew what Al was thinking because he cast him a quick glance and grin. "You know what they feel, and what they crave most. Give it to them and they will be content."

This of course brought all sorts of outcry from the crowds.

"We cannot just give them what they want if it does not exist!"

"And who's to say they deserve it!"

Even with almost all of the most important men in the country screaming at him, Ling stayed completely composed and stared only directly at Mei who met his gaze evenly.

"Very well," she said after a few moments of the screaming. It eventually petered off after she spoke. "We will continue with the treaties from the Amestrian delegation as previous scheduled. No word of what occurred two nights ago shall reach their ears. If I find out anyone told a member of their party, you will be found and sufficiently punished. You are all dismissed."

"Your Majesty, there are still several more issues—"

"I said you are all dismissed. Except you, Ambassador Elric and Prince Yao. I want both of you with me."

The rest of the courtier looks rather put out that she had dismissed them, and Al could hear a few complaining as he struggled to make his way past all of them to meet Mei at the ground level so that they could leave together with Ling. Officially, no one else could leave until Mei had left, unless she specifically told them all to leave as she had the one time Al had been able to sneak up on her.

"Ling, find Lan Fan and bring her to my meeting chambers," Mei said in an undertone, to which Ling nodded and hurried off. Then she swept off down the hall, Al by her side.

"Lan Fan?"

"Ling requested she and their son come and live here in the palace while the unrest in the Yao clan continues."

"It's even there?"

"You heard Ling," she said wearily as she led him through the halls, her guards trailing behind them. "When you visited the Yao clan on your way to the capital, there weren't a lot of trees because of the coal boom, correct?"

"Yeah."

"So many people threw their entire fortunes into the coal boom, that when they began to find less and less lucrative deposits, people began to lose all of their fortunes and everything that they had worked at. The people working in the mines have been pressured into more and more dangerous situations to try and mine more which have led to high mortality rates. The only people who have benefited from every bit of it and not had to worry about losing their incomes on the risk—"

"Have been the Clan leaders who have been taking a tax of all of the money made," Al completed for her, nodding. "Which makes the people mad, and puts everyone living in the Yao home in danger including Lan Fan and Fu."

"Exactly," Mei said, nodding. "And since our security measures have been successful at least once, and because they will be closer to them, Ling requested that they come here. I accepted. One of the servants confirmed that they arrived not even three hours ago."

Al nodded, and despite the seriousness of the situation, he couldn't help but grin as well. It would be nice to see Lan Fan again. And he had only met their son, Fu, once on his way to Xing after Benny had been born. It would be fun to see the somber child, already so different from the lively Benny, again.

"There are actually several courtiers who are now fleeing to the Palace. Your friend Fei Qing among them."

"Fei? He's coming back here?" The boy had returned to his home providence while Al had been in Amestris and had been too busy to return from the rare letters he got out of the man.

"Yes. His father wants him to be here in case anything happens in the Providence. Things are very bad in the Bao Providence because they feel the pressure of both the monsoons and the boarder threat."

There was a pause in the conversation for a moment, both as Al tried to think of a response, and while the guards opened the door to the room where Mei held most of her meetings.

"Well it will be nice to see him again."

Mei quickly set about pouring some tea for four people when they reached her Meeting Chambers, and Al took his seat so that when Ling and Lan Fan arrived he had to stand up to enclose Lan Fan in a warm hug.

"It's so nice to see you again. You look wonderful," he said with a smile. Lan Fan blushed and looked away.

"You're too kind, Alphonse."

"Trust me," Ling said, sliding his hand around her waist from behind. "He's actually being quite rude."

"Your Majesty," she then said, bowing to Mei who nodded and smiled.

"It's good to see you again Lan Fan. Alphonse is right, you look much different when you're not wearing your guard outfit and mask all the time."

Lan Fan indeed was not wearing her signature guard outfit, but something a bit more casual. It was actually rather reminiscent of something that Rikui would wear during Al's alchemy lessons. She still managed to look ready for any threat at any moment, though.

"Please, sit," Mei said, gesturing to the seats around the table. Al reclaimed his own seat, and Ling and Lan Fan sat near them.

"Where's Fu?" he asked as he reached for his tea cup.

"He is tired from our journey and is taking a nap," Lan Fan confirmed, reaching for the cup in front of her while he husband left his on the table.

"I'm excited to see him again."

"I'm sure he will be happy to see you too, Alphonse."

Al smiled at her.

"Al has told me a little bit about him, and about you two, and Ling has said a thing or two himself, but I'm actually rather interested. How did things… Happen between you two. When we were crossing the desert together, you two could hardly look twice at each other but now…"

Ling smiled at the Empress's question and grinned at his wife, who buried her face in her teacup.

"Well, I couldn't have happened without you, Empress. Since it would obviously be entirely impractical if not impossible for you to have fifty children from each of the clans, I as you half-brother, had to be the one to produce an heir for the Yao clan. There was much discussion about who it should be, but I already knew that I wanted it to be no one other than Lan Fan. Because I loved her. And I've known I've loved her since we were teenagers. Since Amestris really; Greed was the one who made me realize it."

"I didn't know that," Lan Fan said quietly. Ling just nodded.

"But your decree never said who my wife had to be. Just that I was the father of the heir. I proposed the idea to Lanny, who was very opposed to it at first. But then I brought it to my Uncle, the Yao Clan leader, and spent the next week arguing with him."

"You spent an entire week arguing with him?"

Ling smiled softly. "Empress... A week was nothing. A man in love could spend a year trying to come up with all the reasons he loves a woman," Ling said, winking at his wife who blushed furiously. Al chuckled while Mei smiled. "By the end of the week I had convinced him that I was right; Lan Fan was the only person I should accept as my wife."

"I took a bit more convincing," Lan Fan admitted, frowning a bit, but having regained her normal color.

Ling snorted. "A bit. She flat out refused me."

"Really?" Al asked, who hadn't heard this part of the story either.

"She wasn't worthy of me, she was better as my guard, we couldn't be together… It took about an age for me to convince her that I love her and only her and wouldn't even hear about marrying any other woman no matter the circumstances, so she'd have to marry me if she wanted the Yao to have an heir. She of course tried to convince me that that wasn't true but… I won in the long run. And you've been happy I did, right, Lanny?"

Lan Fan blushed again, but she nodded which caused Ling to grin again.

Al couldn't keep the smile off his face as he watched the two of them. It made him almost as happy to see them together as it did to see Ed and Winry together. After everything they had been through and everything that they had been through, both individually and together, there were very few people in the world who deserved to be happy together as much as they did.

His eyes caught Mei's and she smiled at him before returning her attention to the happy couple that was now describing their experiences with Fu and the type of challenge he had been so far. Al smiled back even though she wasn't looking at him, a warm feeling in his chest.

Also, poll on my profile, so when you check out the art of Rikui, answer that too!