He stared down at his arm. Perhaps the longer he stared at the strange markings, the more likely they would somehow start to make sense in his brain and show him just what he was supposed to be seeing. But he was approaching the hour mark, and they still meant nothing to him. Just a large amount of lines intersecting one another to make some of the oddest abstract drawings he's seen so far in his young life.

It had taken longer than he would like to admit for him to realize that it was more than just odd looking houses. It was another language. That had made him feel extremely stupid and whenever the thought crossed his brain for the next few days, his face would take on a shade of red that usually only coincided when brother was thinking about his own soulmate.

But once the embarrassment had settled down to a manageable level, Al set down to work on figuring out what the language was that would appear on his arm. Which was a lot more difficult than it first appeared to be.

There weren't many people in the Resembool area that knew many foreign languages, much less ones that were clearly from east of the desert.

So Al was pretty much on his own.

He could recruit Brother to help him figure out what it was, but that would be likely to backfire. Ever since they had learned about the ghost ink and what it meant, Ed had become skittish about the whole subject.

But Al was a resourceful little boy; he knew where to go when his normal sources weren't going to be of use to him. The town's small library being one of them.

Most of the books they received didn't even belong in the town in the first place. Well, the books that he and Ed were interested in. They had become the experts in persuading the old librarian to write some of her friends in other towns to send books of their interests to Resembool. Of course, the books that were sent to them weren't as in depth as the libraries that the State held, but they found the information they needed after much digging. Books on farming techniques and how to raise sheep didn't offer the Elric boys much.

But the book Al had requested had finally arrived, and Al had been squashing the excitement he was feeling for the better part of two days.

"Brother, I'm going into town. Is there anything that you would like me to pick up at the market for you?" Al yelled back into the house, holding onto the open door.

Ed didn't respond and Al was sure that he was obsessing over another part of the equation. Al wondered when his brother would take a break. Pick up a hobby that wasn't attempting to break the laws of alchemy to revive their dead mother back to life. Al wouldn't complain if Ed went back to drawing stupid mustaches on other peoples' faces, even his own. Just something to get his brother out from the study where he holed himself in.

Al sighed and closed the door behind him. Once Ed retreated into his studies, there was hardly anything short of a wrench to the head that could knock him out of it. Their father used to be the same way.

After his quick jog to the library, Al reemerged with a book clutched tightly to his chest. It was an older book, with yellowing pages and faded ink. Books related to other countries and cultures weren't common in the public libraries within Amestris. Al heard the State libraries had more of those types of books, but those were not necessarily open to the public, and certainly not to pre-pubescent orphan boys.

That was hardly their fault.

Al arrived back home and settled on the swing in the tree. He opened the book and started to flip through the pages to see if his hunch was right. Finding a page that looked promising, Al rolled up his shirt sleeve to look at the ghost ink. It was starting to fade away, meaning that his soulmate had already washed that area of skin. But it was still legible enough to determine what the characteristics were.

A few more pages turned and he had his answer. Now he knew what language his soulmate spoke. His soulmate spoke Xingese. He could communicate now. It would take some time to learn which characters he should use, but now he had that diving block to jump from.

"HEY AL! Where are you? Check this out!" Ed called. His head popped out from the study's window. "I think I found the solution! Get in here and I'll show you!"

"Coming Brother!" Al rolled his sleeve back down and closed the book. He would have to answer his soulmate's greeting later. If Brother had pulled himself away to search Al out, he must have found something important. Al hoped this was going to be near the end of his brother's search, this was beginning to become an unhealthy obsession. For the both of them.

Mei knew that she was not one of the favored children of the emperor. How could she be? It was widely known common knowledge that the Chang clan was one of the poorest in all of Xing. There had not been an emperor or an empress that had come from the Chang clan in nearly ten generations. The emperor had no time to waste for children that would ultimately amount to nothing when the struggle for the throne came into play again.

Understanding this at an early age growing up, Mei resolved that she was going to do better than all of the other Chang's before her. That she would be the one to break the chain. She would gain her Emperor Father's favor somehow and claim the throne for her own. Then she would be able to do something about the poverty amongst her clan and those like hers.

Mei swung her feet from her perch on the wall surrounding the compound where she lived.

It was a short wall. Meant as more of a symbolic fixture rather than one to keep people out or in. The offspring of the emperor lived there and was to be regarded with respect. It was in no way as impressive as some of the larger and richer clans in Xing; some of the others had palaces of their own. Mei had heard stories of them, but never seen them in person. Just like she had never seen the interior of the Imperial Palace, nor seen her father from anything closer than from across the courtyard when another Imperial child had been born.

She never complained though. What did she care if her illustrious father was distant? She had her mother by her side, as well and her cousins and her clansmen. There were even a few servants that would forget their place in the societal standings for a moment to comfort her when she needed it.

Mei glanced over at the small ink bottle and brush. The sun was beginning to set behind the mountains and Mei was getting a little worried. Now was around the time when her soulmate would write to her.

He hadn't yet. He hadn't for the past few days.

She told herself he was fine. Just because he had missed a few days, didn't mean anything.

There were only a handful of facts that she knew for certain about her soulmate. The first being was that he was a he. The second being that he didn't live in Xing; he couldn't speak her native tongue. He was Amestrian.

That had been a surprise for her when characters not her own had appeared. She had promptly searched down her tutor, appointed by the Imperial Palace, to ask about the words. When she was told that it belonged to the country from across the desert, Mei knew she needed to know more. She demanded that she be taught the language from across the desert in addition to her other studies.

And so she was.

She was a royal princess, and her needs and demands were to be met.

Her Amestrian was broken at best and his Xingese was atrocious. She had told him as such once in her halting Amestrian. To compromise, most of their communication was done through pictures. Simple pictures that crossed language and culture. It was almost another language, a secret one, that only the two of them shared. It was a mismatched form. His art would be intricate and lovely, whereas her was blocky and simplistic.

She dipped her brush into the inkwell and drew a single question mark on her arm, underneath her sleeve. It meant a large range of things. How are you? I don't understand. Explain. What's does that mean?

Are you okay?

Mei stared down at her arm, waiting, willing for her soulmate to answer her back. She waited. The sun went down. Her mother called for her to come inside out of the night air. Mei let her sleeve fall down to cover the ink on her skin, and gathered her things. She knew long ago that when her mother asked for something, Mei answered right away.

Mei was the daughter of the emperor, but she was still that woman's child and could be punished if she got into trouble.

Her soulmate didn't answer that night either.

He had no body. He was a soul bonded to a suit of armor. He could feel no heat nor cold or the soft textures of animals or grass. He couldn't sleep. He couldn't eat.

Brother had lost his arm and leg. He'd been unconscious for at least a day and Al could do nothing. Absolutely nothing. He told Granny and Winry of what they did, and secluded himself in the house. It was his fault. It was his fault they failed.

And now he could feel nothing.

I'm sorry.

If he could have cried, he would have.

It was around four years later when the emperor's health began to fade and the battle for succession began in earnest. Mei saw her chance to change to worsening circumstances for her clan.

She heard a rumor of an object that could grant immortality. If she could obtain it, surely she would be in the favor of the emperor for the next in line.

That was what she decided to do.

When she declared her intentions to her mother and her tutor, Mei was unprepared for their response. There were no tears or protestations on Mei, a young twelve-year-old princess, crossing the vast desert in search of something that remained in myth and legend. Mei understood how dire things were in their clan, but she never expected that there would be no protesting when she told of her plan. Especially by the two people who had raised her.

Bowing respectfully, Mei hurried to gather the supplies she would need for her journey, Xiao-Mei scampering along at her heels.

She never learned of her mother crying to her tutor's shoulder.

It had been years since he thought of his soulmate. It was no fault of his own, well, perhaps maybe it was, but there had been other pressing matters that needed to be attended too. Such as regaining his brother's body for him.

It wasn't like he could really communicate with his soulmate anymore. He had no body. Writing with ink on the armor didn't have the same effect that writing upon his skin had. And he couldn't receive his soulmate's writings either.

He missed their conversations at night.

But if there was a small spot of light throughout this ordeal, was the time he'd gained. His nights, were spent researching for his brother about alchemy and possible ways that they could use to regain their bodies. And nights where he could no longer force himself to reread any of the various alchemical books they had, searching for something that he could have missed the first through fourth time reading it, he pulled out the book of Xingese language he had never returned and poured through it.

When he could speak with her again, he was going to give her a proper apology in her own native tongue.

The armored boy – Alphonse – was strange. Not strange like his brother, strange in the way that intrigued Mei. He protected her from those underneath Central – the homunculi – after she had attacked them earlier on in the week. She was barely awake for him scooping her into his large arms, before he ran. She awoke inside the armor and was stunned to see that there was no other occupant there, besides Xiao-Mei.

Her first instinct upon waking surrounded by armor was to fight, but her injury and the placating whimpers of her beloved panda calmed that instinct. He – Alphonse – had told her that he didn't want to see her hurt.

Her consciousness weaved in and out for a period of time. When she fought her way to consciousness and stayed there was when she felt it. A comforting warmth that sent tingles across her skin. Something that she had lost feeling long ago. It was the feeling that indicated her soulmate was writing to her. But it surrounded her, and there was no writing appearing on her skin.

Some of the other kids back home thought that her soulmate had died when he stopped answering her.

She moved her hand in front of her face, reveling in the feeling she hadn't felt in years. It drew her attention higher, towards the helmet. And she saw it. A small circle, not much larger than her hand. Mei knew little to nothing about this country's alchemy, but she recognized an alchemical circle when she saw one.

It was like it was calling her name. She was reaching towards it, when the armor – Alphonse – stood, his meeting with Wrath over. Sliding down into his leg, Mei readied herself for him to walk.

She was not ready for the sword to pierce the armor centimeters from her head.

Nor was she ready for when the armor boy – Alphonse – to spend a good ten minutes fretting over her once they arrived at the physician's house later in the evening.

He hated himself. It was not a new feeling, hating himself because of what he had done to another. But looking down at his body, his recently acquired body, he couldn't help but hate himself.

There on his arm, were the fading ghost ink of his soulmate. A single question mark. Some of it was more faded than other portions, meaning that she had been writing and rewriting the same thing over his whole arm.

It was a casual observation he made after being reunited with his body. The majority of his attention was focused on those he had left back outside of Truth's gate. The Colonel and the Lieutenant, recently blinded and leaning upon each other as if they couldn't stand on their own. The soldiers and the chimera fighting together. Brother, and the way that he screamed for Al to not do what needed to be done. Mei.

He had been so focused on what needed to be done that he didn't recognize just what he had put her through in that moment. The favor he called for her to do, from her perspective, killed him.

Hell of a favor.

But he had known that it was the right thing to do. Ed was about have his life, his soul, stolen from him, and now Al had given him a fighting chance. He had given him a way to win. And Al knew Ed. Ed would win. He was too stubborn to lose. All he had to do was wait.

Mei never left his side. She couldn't bear to. It was only when Ed called for everyone to step back that she moved away. Even then, one of the chimeras pulled her even farther away, behind other people, blocking her view of empty and broken armor.

Her tears never stopped falling. She listened to Alphonse. She had done what he asked. And she killed him. Enabled himself too.

It was the same thing really.

She couldn't turn when there was a loud commotion where Alphonse's body had been. In her state, she could only think that something had happened to the bean alchemist as well. Her tears began to flow faster, thinking that she had now had the two alchemist's blood on her hands.

When she heard it through the rubble and the bodies, she thought she was dreaming. Or hallucinating. Because it sounded like Alphonse's voice. A little raspier, and lower, but it was her Alphonse's voice.

It was like she turned in slow motion, unwilling to look, but unable to restrain herself from doing so.

A glimpse of long blonde hair that didn't belong to the bean alchemist was all it took to send her running. One of the soldiers, she wasn't sure who, attempted to grab her as she weaved her way through the crowd towards the Elrics, presumably to allow the boys some air after such an ordeal.

Mei careened into Alphonse and clutched his shoulders, and she clung to him and cried. She couldn't help but apologize into his chest. He brushed off her apology, claiming that it unfair of him to ask that of her. She shook her head and burrowed it deeper into his chest.

She almost couldn't believe it. Alphonse was back. He was there in the flesh, in his body, and he didn't hate for what she had done. He had apologized for putting her through such trauma. She sniffled as she drew back to look him in the face. Her expression grew fierce. It was somewhat mottled by the tears rolling down her face, but it made its point clear.

"Alphonse Elric, if you ever ask me to do that again, I'll – I'll –"

Her treat remained uncompleted, simply because she wasn't of the mind to put forth the effort to create one. It had been a long and trying day.

Al gave a little laugh and promised that he wouldn't do such a thing.

"Cross my heart," He said, lifting his arm to perform the action.

Mei froze. Seeing her freeze froze Al as well.

"Mei? What's wrong?'

Mei reached out and grabbed his arm. She bent the arm down and stared intently at it. One of her hands reached out and she poked the question mark that had been ghosted to his arm.

"Where did you get that?" She demanded, even though her voice was small.

"My soulmate." His other hand went up to scratch the back of his head. "She must have been worried about me. I haven't been in my body for nearly five years now, and the ghosting of ink doesn't work on vintage suits of armor," he gave a pained laugh, "I really should apologize for worrying her."

Mei's face scrunched up, like it did when she was about to cry again. Her hands dropped his arm and fisted themselves. She thought of when she woke up inside the armor all those months ago. She had an inkling then, but was too focused on her tasks to really stop to think about what it meant.

"Stupid, you don't need to apologize."

He blinked, unsure of what she meant by that. Then, as discreetly as she could possibly could, she lifted her sleeve to show the identical mark on her arm. Al blinked two slowly, before looking to Mei and his brother's face alternately. Ed had the same deer in the headlights look. The bean alchemist couldn't help but be spying over his brother's shoulder.

Mei resisted rolling her eyes. It was unbecoming of a princess, even if she was covered in blood and grime. She hadn't exactly wanted anyone but Al to see, but Ed would have figured it out soon enough.

She took a deep breath and stood up. She bowed to both brothers before walking away. There were many things that she needed to filter through her head, and the fact her Alphonse was her soulmate was only one of many. It wasn't even the biggest one.

The fact she had failed her clan in getting a philosophers claimed that position.

She was still reeling at the fact her half-brother had not only secured his position as the next in line for the throne, but had promised to take her clan, all of the clans under his wing and protect them all.

"It's too greedy," she'd told him.

Nevertheless, he had given his word, and Ling Yao never failed to back his word.

They were on their way back to Xing when she felt the warm tingle on her arm. For a moment she panicked, in its years of absence, Mei had forgotten how it felt when her soulmate wrote something.

Making sure that her two companions weren't looking at her, Mei lifted her sleeve to see and nearly started crying.

There, written in perfect Xingese, was a note from Alphonse.

Mei, I'm sorry for all I've put you through, But I promise we'll see each other again. Someone's going to have to teach me alkahestry. Alphonse.

He finished his note with a crude drawing of her face. Mei laughed out loud, ignoring the looks the two others shot back at her.

They would see each other again. That she could feel in her soul.

A/N: That took a little longer than I wanted to write it, but it's done, and I'm satisfied. It's styled a little differently that Roy and Riza's, but that's for obvious reasons. Also, I have no idea how, or even if, there were public libraries outside of the military, so I made it up. Please leave a review.