So… this is it.

This is the end.

Guys, I cried as I was writing this. I'm crying right now as I'm typing these words. This journey has been incredible. I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have, and I'm going to be honest and tell you that I hope you've enjoyed this journey a lot more than I have because there were plenty of moments when I really hated the fact that I had shackled myself to this story. But I feel like this is honestly my proudest writing accomplishments to date and I've written a novel. I didn't cry when I finished that.

There's virtual tissues at the end :)

In the past I've sometimes suggested music to play while you're reading this chapter. If I have any suggestions as far as that goes, I would say read this in complete silence.

"There are no words to describe Alphonse Elric."

There was shuffling, people moving. She heard a baby cry from the back. Some birds were singing in the trees surrounding the graveyard. Wind rustles their leaves. There was quiet sobs.

"What words can you use to describe a man who willingly sacrificed himself to save his brother's life?"

"Mei, I need a favor."

"What words could possibly come close to describing someone who would take time out of his day to help every living thing that came his way, big or small?"

"I found her on my way home from my walk a week ago. She was trying to get out from under a fallen beam and she reminded me of you. She was a bit more of a handful than I had originally anticipated, but now she's potty trained, knows not to jump on furniture except for beds, and she gets along with Xiao Mei!"

"I found her in the market. She was attacked by some men and went into early labor. At least I think it's early. We have to get her help!"

"You could try selfless. Helpful. Sweet. Kind. Thoughtful. Intelligent. Wise. Incredible. Amazing."

Mei's voice broke.

There may have been other noises in the small Resembool graveyard, but she couldn't hear any of them. Not over the sound of her pounding, aching heart.

"All of them… pale in comparison to the man that he was. To the brother he was, the friend he was, the father and grandfather he was… the husband he was. I can't describe to you who he was, not without telling you every memory I have of him. Evenings spent under the stars."

She got down next to him, entwining her fingers with his. He turned his head to smile at her and she smiled back, then they turned their gaze heavenwards again.

"Laughing for hours."

The two burst into a fresh bout of laughter. At this point Mei gave up any semblance of dignity and was rolling around on the bed, kicking her feet up in the air. Al had long since given up, which was well represented from by his loose tie, crumpled shirt, and messed up hair from a few too many times running through it with his hands.

"Dancing in the rain."

"May I have this dance?" Mei stared at the hand, then at Al's face. Her thoughts were clearly traveling down the lines of "You're crazy" because he pushed his sopping hair out of his face and stared at her with the most heart-wrenching puppy-dog stare she had ever seen. Including on puppies. "Come on Mei. We've been studying since I got here. One dance?"

"I can't describe his smile, or the way it would brighten up the world. I can't explain his hands, how strong and capable they were. I can't describe his laugh, how happy he always was. How sensitive."

Not even these words were adequate. She didn't even know what she wanted to say, the words were just coming. The only thing she seemed to be able to do was convey just how much she couldn't encapsulate someone as amazing as Al Elric.

"I can't describe him because Al left a legacy behind him that is too great for words. It is great enough that we can only hope and work to follow in his footsteps. We can only try to be as kind and good.

"That is all that I ask of you here. That when you see a kitten left in the rain, that you'll take it in if only for one night. That you take a day off every once in a while to not only tell your wife that you love her, but show her. That when it rains, you'll walk in it and remember how fortunate you are to be able to feel it. That you'll do something nice for a stranger, because we're all human. That you'll work to be better, because that's the only way we can all be better. That you will never forget how precious life is and not dismiss a single moment of it."

She stared at them all.

Their children. Their grandchildren. Their friends.

"That when you live your life… you'll take ten… and return eleven. Because Al… Al never gave back eleven."

Mei squeezed her eyes shut, trying to keep the tears back.

"He gave back… so much more than that."

One week since Alphonse Elric hadn't woken up next to her.

One week since she'd realized he wasn't breathing after trying to shake him awake.

One week since she'd fallen across his chest, sobbing because he couldn't have left her, he couldn't have.

One week since his eyelids had closed over golden eyes for the last time.

One week since he had smiled at her.

One week since he had brushed her hair, his hands now so worn and tired that he complained with a twinkle in his eye that they were too sore to let go of the brush, so he'd just carry it around until he died.

One week since he'd kissed her forehead and whispered "Goodnight."

One week since he'd told her that he loved her.

One week since…

One week.

Two weeks.

Three weeks.

Four weeks.

"Mom, you need to start doing something again. Maybe you could try to go through some pictures. Maybe scrapbook them."

"I think we need to leave."

Mei looked up. Al had dropped his fork onto his plate and was staring at her with determination.

"What do you mean?"

"There are too many painful memories here. We need to get away for a bit. Be with other people." He looked so unhappy. "We can go anywhere in the East or in Amestris. See anyone. Please…"

A month.

"No more leaving."

He enveloped her in a hug that she quickly melted into.

"No," he agreed. "No more leaving."

Two months.

"Grandma, will you tell me a story about Grandpa?"

"…What about Grandpa?"

"I don't know, Grandma. What about the story when he helped save the world?"

Mei smiled. "Alright. Let's see… Grandpa was actually your age when he and his brother Ed were looking for the Philosopher's Stone…"

Three months.

"I miss you, Al. I miss you so much."

"Mom?" Nina looked around the corner of the hallway, not even recognizing the various pictures and drawings hung up around the entire house. She had seen it all. She had put some of them up herself. There were pictures from all the grandchildren, and even some old ones from her and her siblings. In accordance to Elric traditions, there was a giant cork board with all sorts of pictures. She smiled softly at the sight of the pictures that were taken at Emily's birth. That was the happiest day of her life before she met Zhou.

She turned around though and frowned. Despite the fact that her mother was well in her 70s, she insisted on getting up at her same punctual time, getting dressed, cooking herself breakfast, and getting started on one project or another. The first time she had seen it stop had been three months ago, the day her husband hadn't gotten out of bed with her.

There had been a week or so after her father's death that her mother hadn't adhered to her strict schedule, but the day of his funeral she was dressed as always. The only difference thereafter was that she ceased to work on projects upon waking up. Most days Nina would wander in on her mother sitting on the couch, just staring.

But she wasn't today.

"Mom?" she called out again.

No reply.

Highly confused, Nina wandered into her mother's bedroom. She couldn't remember how many times she had walked down this hall. Even though she had only lived here half of her growing up years, it was the only home she had introduced Zhou to her parents in. It was where she watched her children run down the halls, planning on jumping on their grandparents while they slept, which never really worked.

She herself had walked down the halls the first few nights after they moved here to crawl into her parent's bed, only to find Emily already tucked between the two of them. Then Liwu would join all four of them a few minutes later and they would all be able to sleep in this new big place.

Eventually, it began to feel like home.

It was home.

Knocking on the door slightly to alert her mother of her presence, Nina pushed the door open and walked in.

She was even more confused when she realized her mother was still in bed. That was so unlike her…

"Mom, it's time to get up," Nina announced, moving towards the middle of the room where the bed was.

She didn't realize that her mother wasn't breathing until she reached out to touch her shoulder.

"In Xing being born with a lot of hair is a sign of good luck. I obviously wasn't born with this much, but I had enough that the midwife was sure I'd have a good life."

Al stopped brushing.

"My life makes so much more sense now. I was born bald!" They both laughed and Al continued the brushes' movement.

"Come on, you must have been born with some hair!" Mei protested.

"Yeah, that's true. I did meet you after all."

"There's just one thing…" Al frowned, worriedly. "Why on earth did you not tell me about this sooner? I could have been helping you! This could have been done so much faster. You ridiculous man, give me that book."

"One dance?"

She sighed and he, smiling, grabbed her waist. Royal instincts kicking in, her hand was on his shoulder and as he stepped forward she did likewise. He took a step backward and then spun her around. Then they both took two long strides towards the open ground before twirling again.

When the next shift of guards came along half an hour later, the two were still giggling and running around in the similitude of dancing. Every once in a while Al would grab Mei by the waist and lift her up in the air before setting her down and taking another step.

"Al, don't worry," she said calmly, reaching over and touching his face gently. "It doesn't matter what they do or say because we love each other. And… being in love is good for the soul. And the soul is the one thing that no one could ever take away from you. As long as we have that… it doesn't matter."

"Gong xi fa chai, Alphonse." Al looked up from the thick text he was perusing to see Mei smiling at him. In her hands she held a large tangerine with its leaves still on. "I made sure to grab the largest tangerine for you."

"This is something I added specially myself. Article VI, Addendum F, Paragraph 2, fourth sentence reads, and I quote, 'The martial union of a man and woman, regardless of which nation to which they trace their ancestry or most resent residence, shall be recognized by both the Nations of the Empire of Xing, and the Amestrian Government." Whispers broke out. "Such a union may be performed in either Nation and must be, by law, recognized in both Nations. Furthermore, the persons of such unions shall be treated with the same rights and honor as if no difference in Nation exists.'" He looked up from the paper and stared directly into Mei's wide eyes, which were staring to water.

"And I think in the light of that, it would be appropriate to, ask, beg, plead, for the permission to make Princess Mei Chang… my wife."

It was exhilarating. As a princess she hadn't gotten the opportunity to slide down a stair rail since she was a little girl, no more than five. Even then it was only in the upmost secrecy when she was sure that there was no one else but Rou around to tell on her. They would run up the stairs and slide down as many times as there were no servants in the way. She had to admit that it was much more exciting to think that Al was at the bottom waiting for her than her childhood friend.

Her eyes were squeezed tight so it was only when she felt an absence of support beneath her that she realized that it was over. There was a split second when she was afraid that he wouldn't catch her, but then she landed neatly in his arms.

He was laughing almost as hard as she was. Even so she was hyper-aware of his strong arms supporting her and how close they were.

"Again?" he asked.

"Oh, please, yes."

"The truth is … well… the truth is…"

He took a deep breath and stared directly in her eyes.

"I love you, Mei."

"Nervous?" she asked out of the corner of her mouth in Amestrian. He smiled back at her and answered in Xingese.

"Not at all. You're with me now."

"At the end of every great life, there's a moment of injustice about it all. How could that be the end? How could someone that great simply… die. How could someone that wonderful simply cease to exist? They had always been there. They were a constant in a world that was always changing. No matter what else went wrong in the world, that person would always be there.

"The end, for a person like that, for a person like her, is always hard. It was hard when her husband died, three months ago. I think it was harder for her than anyone else. Hard enough that she simply didn't want to continue anymore. Not if he wasn't going to be there beside her.

"It's so unbelievably hard because they've always been there. And even if you want to be incredibly happy for them, for her, being with her husband again, you don't want them to leave. You don't want their lives to be over because now they're gone. They're not there anymore. And they will never be there again.

"Our words of comfort, our refuge from darkness, is that though they — she, both of them — will never be there, here, again… they will never be gone either. They will always be with us. They are a part of us. And we will always be able to call upon them in our greatest times of need. The knowledge they have passed on, the examples they have set, and the legacy they have left behind will always be with us.

"And in our hearts, as long as we let them live on… they will."

"They will."

Fin

And it is finally… over. I'm writing these next few words for my benefit, not yours.

I am done. I am done.

There are so many people that I need to thank for this story, there is no way that I could possibly name you all. I thank every single person who has ever reviewed, even if it was only once, even the people who stopped reading half way through the first story. I could not have written all of this without your support. I would not have. Especially the people who have bothered to review every chapter (or near every chapter). You seriously do not know how much you guys especially encouraged me to keep writing.

I would also like to especially thank everyone who's been with me on this incredible journey ever since Good For the Soul. I know there are at least two or three of you who have come all the way with me, and I cannot thank you enough.

Everyone who has ever said anything about this story becoming your head canon for AlMei, or saying that it's the AlMei Bible or anything of the sort… you have a special place in my heart. I hope you know that.

I also HAVE TO thank my entire family who have listened to me complain about this story, and ask them for help when I have no clue what I'm going to do and encourage me when they overhear me reading it out loud. Especially especially especially, this story could not have happened without my little sister. She has helped me since before I started writing GTFS, has listened to me talk about this story, given me ideas, let me read chapters out loud to her to catch typos. None of this would have happened without her. She baked me a cake to celebrate the end of this story, and I am just about to go eat it.

This story is far from perfect. There are typos all over the place, I couldn't make up my mind as to what Ling's title actually is, I totally forgot a bunch of characters and ignored others completely. But I have put my heart into this story, and I hope for nothing else that that has had some effect on you. That your life is just a little bit better for having read this.

Those final words, I didn't write them thinking about Mei. I wrote them thinking about the end of this.

If you have ever not left a review or even if you have, now is the moment to. I want to hear from you.

And so, for the last time on an AlMei Interconnected story (but this is NOT the end of my career, there will still be plenty of AlMei from me),

May AlMei always be your/a Refuge From Darkness

Love, ClosetFMAfan