*coughs* So um, I am late with this one. But my arch-nemesis Tom came around for a visit and he came with a vengeance. And it does NOT follow my AlMei timeline. Short though.

Mei grinned when she saw the Amestrian step of the train. He wasn't hard to locate, as one of the only blonds in the entire station. He was also the only blond accompanied by two other highly recognizable chimeras. He turned to talk to his traveling companions and she hurried over to greet him, fighting through the opposite flow of traffic to get to him.

Me turned and must have seen her fighting to get to him however, because she saw his face light up when he saw her.

"Mei!"

"Mr. Alphonse!" she squealed as she threw herself at him. He hugged her back, and Mei blushed to feel the strong muscles of his chest and arms around her. She pulled away when he let go however and smiled at him.

"Wow, Mei… you're… you've grown." She blushed again.

"It has been two years, Mr. Alphonse."

"Please, Mei, call me Al."

For the third time, she blushed. "Okay, Mr. Alphonse."

Her arms were crossed as she walked in circles around the blindfolded and ear plugged Amestrian. Then she stopped quite suddenly. He continued to sit there for a few seconds before he let out a small noise of triumph and pointed in her direction. "Did I get it?" he asked eagerly. When she didn't answer, he frowned. "Mei? Are you still there? Mei?" The panic started to rise in his chest and he started looking around widely, despite the fact that thanks to the blindfold he could see anything anyways. He slipped one finger under the blindfold and then paused. What if this was another test?

So he lowered his hand and took a deep breath, focusing inside himself to find that knot of qi. He always found it easier to find the qi inside himself before looking outwards. Almost like a world opening up in front of his eyelids, the lights appeared.

"There."

There was no response, and Al wondered for a moment if he had actually gotten it wrong. But then he felt her fingers at the back of his head and the blindfold was removed.

"Good job Mr. Alphonse. You're finally getting good at that." He smiled and turned around to see her wide smile.

"Mei, I told you, call me Al."

"Oh! Mr. Alphonse! Look at this!" Mei threw held the red fabric up to her pupil and closed one eye as he stared at her. "Red fits you!"

Al laughed and shook his head. "Red is far too much Brother's color. I think that if I even tried to start wearing it, people would start to accuse me of trying to copy him!"

"But red is a very important Xingese color. It means good luck and wealth. Are you sure you don't want it? I would pay."

"No, no, Mei, really you don't have to buy anything for me. that wouldn't be very gentlemanly of me. It's fine."

"No, it would be a gift. I insist."

"Mei, no. I really don't need it."

"I disagree."

"Mei—"

"Mr. Alphonse, I'm going to buy it for you whether you want me to or not. You don't have a single formal robe, and while your suits are nice and as the Ambassador, you can wear them, it would be even better for you to have a formal Xingese robe. So you can either accept me buying it for you now or I'll come back and get it later and give it to you anyways."

Al sighed and rolled his eyes, smiling. "And some people underestimate Chang's political abilities."

Mei just smiled.

"As long as you're buying the robe, with you stop calling me Mr. Alphonse?"

"… I'll think about it."

Mei was shivering violently when she felt something heavy laid over her shoulders. "Mr. Alphonse?"

"It's just my jacket. You were cold." She wanted to refuse it and give it back to him, he didn't have to give her her jacket, she could be strong, but the cold and the smell of the jacket caused her to thank him and slip her arms into the jacket sleeves.

"Won't you be cold?"

"I like being cold. It feels good on my skin. The sharp bite… I love it." She shivered once again and Al smiled down at her.

"Do you want to take a walk? It's a heavy jacket so you won't be too cold. Only if you want to, though," he finished up hurriedly.

"No, I would love to." She took his offered arm and cuddled up to his side. They didn't spend very long out in the gardens because the sun eventually began to sink and they had to return to the palace. It was already dark by the time they got back and Al waved at her before setting out for his own room for the night.

"Wait! Mr. Alphonse! Your jacket!"

"Keep it," he shouted back at her, smirking. "I know where you live after all. And call me Al!"

"Catch me!"

"What?"

Al turned around just in time to catch the falling Xingese Princess. "Mei… what?"

She giggled slightly before allowing him to drop her. "Sorry, Mr. Alphonse. I was in the tree and I saw you coming and wanted to test your reflexes."

"Oh… why were you in the tree?" Mei smiled at him before gesturing for him to follow her.

"This is my favorite spot in the entire palace." After quickly scaling the bark and sitting on a branch, she gestured for Al to follow her example. He did so, and then sat down next to her and immediately caught his breath.

"Wow…"

"You can see the entire city from here."

"Wow," he repeated breathlessly, before grabbing her hand. He didn't seem to be conscious of the movement because he didn't understand the slightly shocked look she was giving him until it faded and she twisted her fingers in between his.

"Thanks for sharing this with me, Mei."

"Of course, Mr. Alphonse."

"Seriously, just call me Al."

"Mei…"

She looked up and found the Amestrian rather close to her. Her cheeks turned red with the realization of how close he was.

"Mr. Alphonse—"

"Mei…" He bent down and all of a sudden his face was mere inches away from hers. "Call me Al."

Her breath caught. He was waiting patiently for her to make a move. He wouldn't kiss her if she didn't want him to. Did she want him to?

Mei raised her face the few inches to his.

And for the few moments there was nothing except Al and her, her and Al, and Al's hand slipping behind her head and his fingers curling in her hair, and her arms around his shoulders. He pulled away from her first and stared at her with his large gold eyes.

"I love you Mei."

"… I love you too… Al."