10 August 1925
Pang Hua really despised politicians.
They had to be one of the worst creatures on the earth. Always dancing around each other with their words, talking so much but saying so little. The air coming out of their mouths was more valuable than they themselves were. It was pathetic.
He did however appreciate how much they were able to give him for just a little bit of money.
He had spent most of the time since his exile four years ago raising money and other kinds of support for the moment when his nation would finally revolt against the Empire. He hadn't expected it to stem out of the Wuli Province, even less so that it would have been started by railroad workers, but he had spent too much of his life building the wood pile to let a spark go to waste now.
From what he had heard from his contacts inside Xing, the same contacts that urged him to come back, it was already being treated beautifully. Instead of letting the sparks die, they were starting to catch, spreading to other provinces. There was not clear form of leadership, however. So far a few clan leaders had been taking the initiative, trying to follow the will of their clan members, but Hua had no doubt that if they were left in command, the rebellion would fizzle and deals were struck and compromises were made.
It was why he returned to urgently and with all of the weaponry he had managed to raise and buy in the countries surrounding Xing.
He would rise to the head of this rebellion and lead it properly. He would provide them with the tools they needed to succeed.
He had given his soul to this cause and would not rest until they won.
He had very seriously considered murdering the politician rather than bribing him, but there would be time for that later. He didn't want to be concerned with having to hide the body or clean up after himself, not when he could simply pay the money and move on. The Northern parts of Xing were far less stirred by the rebellion and would still be concerned about a dead politician. It could cause annoying hang ups.
But he did appreciate how simple it was to get weapons and men past those that were easily bought.
It became harder and harder to simply bribe his way past officials the further south, and therefore closer to the rebelling provinces, he got. When he tried to cross into the Song Province to reach the Wuli, he met actual Imperial soldiers that feared he was going to join the revolutionaries. He wouldn't deny that that was exactly what he was planning on doing, and instead decided it was time to stop wasting money. None of the soldiers had expected them to be as heavily armed as they were. It was the work of a few minutes.
There were a couple of more groups that they had to eliminate on their way working towards the Capital, but it was all worth it to see the looks on the faces of the men when they came in with that many guns.
They would succeed, whatever he had to do.
15 August 1925
Al stepped off the train in the East City station and barely had time to look around before he heard his name being called. He looked both directions, but somehow missed the blond bullet racing towards him until it collided with his legs.
"UNCLE AL!"
Al laughed as he looked down, wrapping an arm around the small body. "Hey Benny!"
"Uncle Al, Uncle Al, Uncle Al, are you going to teach me any more alka-mesty? I've been practicing!"
"Have you really? How well do you think you can sense qi?"
"Really well! Mommy thinks it's scary cause I can tell her when Daddy's coming home!"
"She says you ruined him by teaching him that stuff." Al looked up away from his nephew at his brother, standing there with his arms crossed. His hair was up in its signature ponytail, that was currently being tugged on by a baby that looked like he was a little under a year old.
"I didn't realize that opening his mind to whole other sense was ruining him. You think Winry would be used to weird stuff like that, having been around us for so long."
"You know her," Ed said abrasively, but despite all of the time they had spent apart, Al could still see the affection shining through his every world. "Crazy gear head."
"Oooohhhh. I'm gonna tell Mommy you said that, Daddy!" Benny said gleefully, still hanging onto Al's legs. Ed coughed awkwardly and tried to move past the topic quickly.
"So this is Ethan. You haven't met him yet."
Al grinned at his brother's attempt at evasion, but accepted the proffered baby anyways. "This is Ethan. I've heard a lot about you, Little Guy," he cooed, bouncing him slightly in his arms.
"He's my baby brother, Uncle Al!"
"I know," he told Benny. "Are you excited to have a little brother?"
"I'm really happy," the boy told him seriously. "Cause Daddy has you as his little brother. So I've always wanted a little brother so I can have one as cool as you!"
"Aw, thanks buddy. Is Ethan going to keep you in line the same way I had to keep Ed in line?"
"Yup! But Mommy does that now."
Al couldn't help but burst out laughing at that, throwing back his head so he could laugh properly. He felt like it had been too long since he had done that.
"And she's really good at it, huh?"
"Yup!"
"Alright, I think that's enough. Why don't you let your Uncle go, Benny, so he can walk probably and we can get out of here."
"Alright Daddy!" Benny happily let go of Al's legs. Ed picked his older son up, complaining all the while about him being heavy, but Al knew that he was doing it to make sure that Benny didn't go running off and get lost at the train station and accidentally end up on a train to Drachma.
"How's Winry?" Al asked as they maneuvered their way around crowds, trying to make it to the right train that Al would have to take back to Central. It seemed like a huge hassle to have to head to Central first, especially when he was holding the nephew he had just met for the first time and talking about the sister in law he hadn't seen in over a year, but he did have to report to Fuhrer Mustang as soon as possible. Al had only had time and money for a certain amount of phone calls when he arrived in Weiwu, and in those he told Ed when he would be arriving in East City and told Mustang that he was coming back. Mustang had demanded a full report and Al had to oblige him. Ed agreed to meet him in East City until his train left for Central so they didn't have to postpone their reunion a further two days.
"She's great. She's at home with the girls. I came up with these two because Benny really wanted to see again so bad he couldn't wait at home, and you hadn't met Ethan yet. Sara's really excited to see you again though. She doesn't remember much about you, but she's heard lots of stories from Benny. She wants you to teach her how to sense qi too."
"I'll have to do that when I get back."
"Great. I'll have two telepathic children now."
"It's not telepathy, Ed," Al said with a smile. Ed just shrugged and plopped himself down on a bench nearby the right train. They only had a while to wait before Al could board. He already noticed several of the people who had been on the train from Xing milling about around the train to Central. Some of them, the ones that Al could clearly tell were Xingese natives that had never been outside of their country, looked nervous and awkward.
Al returned his attention to his brother, but not before Ed caught where his attention had been.
"Don't think I'm not going to grill you later about why you're here so early. I thought you and the beansprout…" Ed trailed off, whether because of their present company (the kids and the surrounding Xingese) or because he sensed it was a sensitive subject, Al wasn't sure. He was silent for a moment, but then Al asked the question that had been on his mind for the last hours or so of his journey to East City.
"Ed?"
"Hmm?"
"What do you do when… When Winry is pulling her third all-nighter in a row? It seems like she hasn't slept more than a few hours the entire week and she barely even takes the time to eat let alone breathe and you want to help her but you know she'd get mad at you for interfering, and you know she's doing a good thing, but she's completely ignoring herself in the process… What do you do?"
Ed gave him a thoughtful look then said with a completely serious face, "I don't do anything."
"You… you don't?"
"No."
Al looked down at his lap. He shouldn't have left. He couldn't help her at all here in Amestris. He wasn't sure what he was thinking, maybe that him leaving would bring her to her senses, but he didn't think it had really done anything. Maybe he had overestimated his importance to her. But even if she didn't think he was as important as he had thought she did, he should have stayed. Then he could at least have supported her in some meager way. Continued to give her shoulder rubs when she was too proud to ask for them at least. He couldn't do anything for her here.
"I get the kids to do it."
Al started when Ed spoke again. "What?"
"I don't do anything. But I do send the kids in."
"What do you mean?"
"If I tried to walk into her workroom she'd ignore me just like she used to when she'd fix my automail. It doesn't matter what approach I use. But I send Sara or Benny here in to ask for a bedtime story?"
"I like Mommy's bedtime stories!" Benny chimed in, as if to verify the truth of the statement.
"She can't resist their pleading faces. So she comes and lays in the bed with them, starts reading the story, and she's out before she gets to the fourth page. All I have to do is carry her to the right bed."
Al grinned at his brother. He hadn't been expecting that as an answer for sure, but it seemed too perfect for his brother and wife.
"You and beansprout don't have any kids – you don't have any kids do you?"
"No. No, we don't," Al said smiling as he shook his head. "I would have told you about that. I also wouldn't be here if that was the case, trust me."
"But whatever it is she's doing that made you ask, I'm sure you'll figure something out."
Al smiled at his brother and nodded.
"Thanks Ed."
10 November 1925
Pang Hua had been furious when he heard who it was that was waiting to speak with him. How had they allowed such a rat to live, let alone let him enter their headquarters?
He burst through the doors of the Wuli Palace's meeting hall, almost ready to kill the man right away without letting him speak. Unfortunately, Hua had never been good with throwing knives and the man started talking before Hua had the chance to get close enough to kill him.
"I want to help."
It stopped him short.
"What?"
"I said," Ling Yao repeated evenly, "I want to help."
"Help?"
"Yes. I want to help you overthrow the Empire."
"You. One of the Imperial brats who was eager enough to take the throne when the last Emperor died that he traveled to another country to try to find immortality – and failed?"
"Oh I found immortality. I found it before our Empress did." Hua's lips seemed to curl into a sneer of their own accord.
"If you think we are looking to simply replace the Empress, Yao, you are wrong. Xing will never have an Emperor again. It will be a free nation."
"I understand your goals. In fact, I have sympathized with them for a while. I did go to Amestris like our Empress, and I learned a lot about other structures of government. I know better than almost anyone the flaws that the Imperial system has. The Empress has trusted me quite a bit the past few years, especially the past two months since she lost one of her biggest supporters in court. I know more than you could figure out in the next five years of intelligence gathering."
"And what, Yao, would you suggest with you all so wondrous knowledge and insight?" Hua asked, his eyes narrowed at the royalty.
"I think it's time you attack the Capital directly. Nearly all of the southern clans have declared allegiance to your cause, and the northern ones aren't far behind. You would only have the central provinces to deal with, and if you mount your attack from the Chin Province, you would only have to make your way through Po and then through Xing to make it to Chengshi."
Hua twitched, but a quick look at the other revolutionaries in the room made it clear that they seemed eager at the chance to move forward. He had to admit he had been looking for an opportunity to move forward. The quicker they struck, the less time there was for the Imperials to regain strength. They had more and more men and equipment every day. They could do it.
"Very well, Yao. What do you want?"
Ling Yao smiled.
12 December 1925
Al grinned as he lifted his niece in the air, twirling her above him.
"I'm flying Mommy, I'm flying!" she yelled as he did. He heard Winry laughing and replying "I can see!" before his vision started to get blurred from dizziness.
"There you go, you bird," he said, putting her down before he accidently dropped her. "Tell your mom about your trip." Sara happily complied, running over to where Winry was working on the designs for a new automail arm. She wobbled a bit, which was amusing, but Al was mainly interested in sitting down.
"How long has Ed been on the phone with Mustang?" Al asked his sister in law after Sara had run off to tell her siblings about her adventure in the sky.
"It's been an hour or so. Their calls usually last that long. He will probably be done soon."
Al nodded and leaned his head back, closing his eyes. He was interested in talking to Fuhrer Mustang himself. It had been nearly five months since he had left Xing and every day he became less and less sure of his decision. He had actually tried to go back in October, but the fighting has escalated enough that Mustang had refused to let him go back as an Ambassador. He tried to go back as a citizen, but even then trains had stopped running in between Amestris and Xing. Amestris had stopped accepting fleeing Xingese citizens and stopped trains all together.
Thankfully the news coming out of Xing hadn't been too bad. The rebellion was growing and spread. The last he heard from Mustang, the revolutionaries were making their way towards the capital. Unfortunately, Mustang's operatives were limited in the information they could gather without attracting attention, so they weren't clear whether or not Mei had been pulling troops from the North to protect the palace.
Either way he was expecting to hear things any moment. He had hoped when Mustang called that he had more information, but he had asked for Ed.
Who was walking towards him from the other room. "Did you already hang up with the Fuhrer?" Al asked, frowning.
"Yeah. Al… he… he had some news. He wanted to talk to me, so I could pass it on." Al frowned at his brother, stomach sinking.
"Brother… what is it?"
Ed took a deep breath, then opened his mouth. It was still a few heart stopping moments before he finally said the words though.
"Al, The Empress… Mei, she's… I'm so sorry, Al. She's dead."