HAPPY BIRTHDAY ARLYN.

I KNOW IT'S ALREADY TOO LATE IN YOUR TIME ZONE BUT I STILL HAVE AN HOUR AND A HALF OF YOUR BIRTHDAY LEFT IN MINE. SO I CAN STILL WISH YOU HAPPY BIRTHDAY. SO HAPPY BIRTHDAY.

EVERYONE WISH HER A HAPPY BIRTHDAY IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY FOR SHE IS AWESOME AND AMAZING AND DESERVES LOTS OF LOVES :D :D :D :D

I wanted to write something specific for her for her birthday but June is just not a good month. So I took the depressive parts out of the chapter and only left in the fluffy stuff.

Al woke up when he felt the sun pounding against his eyelids and immediately had to fight the urge to groan. It was too early to get up! Yes the sun was up, but that was no reason for everyone else to have to be up. He could just roll over and maybe pull the blanket over his head—

Then something small but very compact landed on his chest.

"Oof!"

"Get up Uncle Al! Stop being lazy!"

He groaned loudly before rolling over, very purposefully trapping the small body beneath his.

"Uncle Al! You're crushing me! I'm going to die!"

"Well that should teach you not to wake sleeping Uncles in the morning," he replied.

"I can't breathe!" the little boy said dramatically, and Al chuckled, lifting himself up so that he could crawl out from under him. But just when he had almost escaped, he let himself fall, trapping his feet.

"Uncle Al! Stop being a poopy head!"

"A poopy head? A poopy head! How dare you call me a poopy head! You need to get your mouth washed out with soap young man!" He grabbed him, which only caused more squealing as he then flipped him upside down and marched downstairs, dangling him by his feet.

"It looks like you two had fun this morning," Winry remarked with a smirk as they came into the kitchen. Al threatened to drop Benny on his head which only caused more squealing before finally flipping him right side up and putting him on his feet.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Al answered with a straight face.

"Uncle Al nearly killed me!"

Her eyebrows rose. "Al?"

"Serves him right for waking me up far too early in the morning."

"What's this about you trying to murder my son, Al?"

"He's being an over reactive little demon, that's what."

"How dare you call my son a demon!" Ed protested, quickly putting Al in a headlock.

"Ed!"

"Brother!" Al said, even though he couldn't quite stop himself from laughing. "Alright! I'm sorry. I never should have insinuated he was anything but a perfect gentlemen that will one day be recognized as the epitome of polite society!"

"Yeah. That's right," Ed replied, letting him go. Al chuckled, pushing Ed further away from him. Ed responded by jumping at his brother, pulling him down the inch or two that Al had outgrown him by, and ruffling his hair.

"You think you can disrespect your older brother, do you?"

"Bring it on, pipsqueak!"

"I'm not short!"

"You're a midget, Ed, get over it," Winry said dryly, smacking a pan down on the stove to capture both of their attentions. Rather than yelling at his wife (a true testament that marriage and fatherhood had mellowed him) Ed just grinned and abandoned his grip on Al to instead wrap and arm around Winry's waist and kiss her cheek.

"Did you already feed Sara?"

"Yes," she answered briskly, scooping some of the eggy mixture from the pan onto some of the plates.

"And?"

"She kept all of it down this time."

"Excellent," Ed said, his grin widening as he turned to the toddler sitting in the corner of the kitchen. He swept her up into his arms and started to tickle her stomach, making her squeal and yell out "Daddy!"

"We'll have this girl shoveling down real food like an Elric in no time."

"Hopefully she ends up with Al's end of the Elric eating genes," Winry said dryly, setting the plates in front of her out on the table.

Al grinned and thanked her when she handed him his plate, but his eyes rose soon after.

"Chocolate chip pancakes?"

"What? How come Uncle Al gets chocolate chip pancakes?" Benny protested, frowning at his plate of normal pancakes and eggs.

"Because you're not leaving for Xing for who knows how long," Winry responded. Al smiled sadly.

"You mean… you're actually going to go? I thought you said you might stay!"

The smile softened. "I'm sorry. But I really do have to go."

"But… but… If you stay I'll let you eat my ice cream for a whole month!"

"Sorry, buddy," Al said, ruffling Benny's hair. The antenna he had inherited from his father poked back up. "But I've already spent far longer in Amestris than I ever planned to."

"But Uncle Al!"

"I'm sorry, but I have to do my job."

"Why?"

"Because I have to. You'll understand when you're older."

"Why can't you quit?" Ed asked.

"Ed!" Winry snapped, "Don't encourage him."

"No, it's an honest question," Ed said, ignoring the food in front of him to point his fork in Al's direction. "You took the job in the first place for a legitimate excuse to go to Xing and learn about alkahestry. You've already learned just about everything they can teach you." He shrugged, then stabbed a bit of egg and swallowed it without chewing.

"Believe it or not, Ed, I actually like Xing. It's amazing there."

"Amazing enough to make up for missing out on your nieces and nephews growing up?"

Al winced and Winry reprimanded Ed again. But Ed didn't apologize and stared at him directly.

"Brother, you know I do my best—"

"It always seems like your making excuses to run off there," Ed continued. "And once you're there it takes a miniature crisis to get you back. It's like we've been practically having to guilt you into staying here with your family. What is it about Xing that makes it more important than family?"

"Ed, this is not fair. You know I love you guys and I want to be with you. It's just that… Is it really that bad for me to love being there too?"

Ed didn't answer, just stared until Al wanted to shrink away or something. The children were watching with wide eyes.

"Of course it's not," Winry answered for Ed when he continued to not answer. "We just wish that you would make more of an effort to stop by every once in a while. There's nothing wrong with loving Xing." Ed grunted, which definitely didn't mean he agreed, but Winry took it as an agreement and began her own breakfast.

"Now, you need to get dressed if you want to come to the train station to tell Uncle Al goodbye," Winry told Benny once they finished. He crossed his arms and glared at her, informing her that he didn't want to get dressed, but a quick glare and he was scurrying up the stairs. She followed quickly, bringing Sara with her, to make sure he actually dressed himself in something acceptable for them to be seen in.

There was a frigid silence between the two brothers as Al carved his pancakes into bite sized pieces.

"It's Mei, isn't it?"

Al jerked. "What?"

"The beansprout. That's why."

"I don't know what you're talking—"

"She's the reason you stay so long. She's the reason you're always there. You love her."

Al opened his mouth to deny it… and found he couldn't. He couldn't lie to his brother like that.

"Yes…"

Ed breathed out through his nose.

"And does she love you?"

"It's… been a while. And we've called, but they're always so short and full of other business. I've wanted to send her letters, but I haven't want to… incriminate her or anything. " Al pause for a moment, grimacing. Then he raised his eyes to Ed's, speaking with utter confidence now, "But I know she did.

"How do you know?"

Al smiled softly at the memory. "She told me. I realized that I loved her the last time I was in Amestris and I was… actually going to tell her when you called and told me I needed to come back. I kissed her." His smile grew at the thought of her shocked expression as he took her face in his and kissed her, something he had wanted to do for so long.

"At first she was too shocked to say or do anything and I took that as her not returning my feelings. To be perfectly honest, if she hadn't returned them she would have been well within her rights to order me executed. So I turned to leave… when she came running at me from her throne and she kissed me and told me that she loved me."

"And?"

"And… I promised I would always come back for her. That I would wait for her until the end of the earth and longer." Al closed his eyes. He and tried so many times over the past two years to remember the way those words sounded when he said them. To remember the way her eyes shone when he said that and then sealed it with a kiss. "And then I left… And then things were so busy with researching and trying to help Sara, and she almost died there, so I didn't want to leave her even as she was getting better in case there were any more complications. Then the protests shut down rail travel which is the only safe way across the desert, then a million things… I meant what I said, though, and if she'll still have me after making her wait a year and a half, I'll be the happiest man on earth."

"But she's the Empress… how…?"

"I don't know," was his solemn answer.

Mei didn't see him at all the first day he arrived back at the palace.

She didn't invite him to see her, she didn't send him any messages acknowledging the fact that he had arrived, didn't even welcome him back the first day he arrived back in court. He would admit to being confused. It had been a year and a half yes, but even if her feelings had changed, ignoring him completely? Couldn't they at least still be friends?

Had her confession all been a lie? Had it changed so quickly?

He didn't want to doubt her. But considering she hadn't even seem to recognize the fact that he existed…

She didn't even give a sign that she knew he was there until a full week after he arrived at the palace.

Even then it was only to ask a clarifying question about Amestris while discussing a problem in court.

He tried to gain an audience with her, but found his attempts unfruitful. She was always busy. There was always someone talking up her time.

"I can't be that bitter or jealous," he told himself as he combed his hair in front of the mirror in his rooms. It was quite therapeutic, he had found, to talk to himself while grooming. It helped him get his thoughts out in the open and really consider them. It was also about all he could do. The books he had picked up from the library required a reference text that was still being sent to the palace and Fei was at his home in the Bao province.

"She's the Empress. It must be really hard for her to make time to talk to me because she's so busy… and I have no guarantee that she still feels the same way about me. It has been a year and a half… I still love her, but…" Didn't people who love each other make time for each other whatever the circumstance?

He rested his hands on the counter and bent his head.

Who knew?

Then there came a knock on his door.

Al looked up at the mirror and saw the image of his own frown. Now who would that be? He hurried to the door and opened it—hoping that maybe, just maybe…

His heart sank when it was one of the many servants employed at the palace.

"Ambassador Elric?"

"Yes?"

"The Empress has requested your presence."

Al didn't even go back into his room to change into nicer clothes. He was in a button down and slacks. He didn't have a vest or tie on, but he wasn't going to miss a second of Mei actually wanting him to be there, no matter what her feelings for him might be now.

It was almost frustrating having to follow after the servant. He partly wanted to run down the halls. But he would wait. He could do that.

"Wait here, Ambassador," he said when they reached a set of doors. He entered them and left Al outside them.

He waited impatiently, tapping a foot against the ground until the man came out again, holding the door open.

"You may see her. Ambassador Elric, Empress."

Al entered the room and grinned upon seeing Mei. She had changed even more in the time he had been away. Not much, but her face a little narrower, her hair longer, the circles under her eyes darker.

"Ambassador," she said, standing up from behind the desk she was sitting at. She wasn't wearing her robes, like she had been a few hours earlier during court. It was something that almost reminded him of what she used to wear in Amestris. Only instead of shades of pink, the tunic was black with deep gold trim and showed off a great deal more curves than her previous outfit. She was wearing her crown, though. "I'm glad you could come."

Al blinked. Ambassador? He glanced back at the door to see it firmly shut. The servant wasn't there.

"Mei?"

She seemed to falter slightly before straightening. "My apologies for not having contacted you before now. Welcome back to Xing."

"I… thank you. It's… uh, good to be back."

Her lips twitched upwards, but hesitantly, as if she wasn't quite sure if she wanted to smile.

"I…" She closed her mouth before opening it and trying again. "How is Ed? And his family?"

"They're… good. Benny's getting interested in automail. Ed was horrified when Benny announced that he wanted to follow in Winry's footsteps. And after that scare where we weren't sure if she was going to make it… Sara's fine. She's great. Already talking in simple sentences, Ed thinks it's a sign that she's got his alchemic genius." He wished they had been able to talk more on the phone while he was in Amestris, at least then this wouldn't be as awkward. Or at least he hoped it wouldn't have been. He didn't know.

Mei smiled and walked around the table that she was standing at.

"That's great. And, uh, how… how are you?"

"I'm…" Confused. Trying not to feel hurt. "Good."

She nodded.

"That's… good." They both nodded and smiled slightly before looking away. Al glanced at her again. There was a slightly pink tinge to her cheeks as she arranged some of the papers on the table so that they were straighter.

"Mei—"

"Al—"

They both smiled and gestured for the other to continue.

"No, go ahead," Al eventually insisted. "You're the Empress after all…"

"Well… uh… about what happened… before you left…" Al felt his mouth go dry. Her tone seemed too hesitant. Afraid of hurting him.

"Mei—"

"We didn't get much chance to talk about it and if you would rather forget about it and move past, I will not begrudge you."

He frowned.

"What?"

"I do not want you to feel as if you are bound by the promise you made to… wait for me. Nor by any feelings you expressed. I won't punish you for a changing mind or heart."

"I… I didn't… Mei…" She watched him with her chin raised. She looked so beautiful that he couldn't get a sentence out right. And her statement had not been at all what he had been expecting. She seemed to think that he had changed his mind or was going to go back on what he had told her.

He couldn't seem to make words come to his mouth.

"Mei…"

"Al—" He decided in that split second that the best course of action was to simply cut her off. Mostly by way of slipping one hand behind her head and the other around her waist and pulling her against him into a kiss.

She squeaked slightly, but he didn't move and eventually her felt her relax and her arm slip around his shoulders.

"Mei, I told you I loved you," he said when he eventually pulled away. "That's… not going to just change."

"I… I didn't think… it'd been so long and you weren't acting like anything had happened—"

"I was afraid that you didn't want to talk about it at all. It had been nearly two years—"

"I wasn't just going to forget about it or move on—"

"Neither was I."

She smiled, perhaps the first real smile she had used since he had seen on her face since he told her that he loved her, and he wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug.

"I love you, Al," she told him, muttering into his shirt.

"I love you, Mei," he responded.