Waiting: Mother Arc: Chapter 9

"‹Are you questioning me?›"

Yu bowed low over her hands. "‹With all respect, Princess—yes, I am.›" She straightened, looking up at the princess from where she knelt on the floor. "‹I know it was more than simple curiosity that drove you across the desert. You hope to find something here in Amestris—something that has eluded you in Xing.›" Calmly holding the young woman's eye, she added, "‹I want to know what.›"

"‹And if I don't tell you?›"

The older woman allowed herself a small smile. "‹Why, then I'll be of much less use to you in my ignorance.›"

Mei returned the smile, then turned away to look out at the courtyard. "‹Assuming you would want to help me at all, Yu Mustang.›"

Yu bowed again. "‹I am loyal to the Chang clan and its heir. You know I'll help you however I can.›"

The princess sighed, petting Xiao Mei as she turned something over in her mind. "‹There's something . . . brutal about the alchemy from this country.›" She set the miniature panda on the window sill, then turned back to the other woman. "‹Our pharmacy is . . . tame and staid in comparison.›"

"‹'Brutal'? How do you mean?›"

"‹I'm not sure I can explain.›" She knelt by Yu, frowning. "‹It's something I first felt when watching you transmute, but it's not something I can put into words. It's just . . . an uncomfortable feeling.›"

Yu frowned, but kept quiet.

"‹My best guess is that it comes from the energy that western alchemy uses to transmute. I know you told me that it comes from the movements of the land, but if that's true, I can't understand why it feels so different than qi lines.›"

Yu shook her head, somewhat self-deprecating. "‹I would help you with that if I could, Princess, but I've always been a bit blind and deaf when it comes to qi. I've never noticed much of a difference. But, even given that, I don't understand what you think you can find here.›"

Mei chewed her lip for a moment. "‹I . . . heard a rumor. I'm not the only one of the emperor's children who heard it, but—I think—I'm the only one who came to this particular conclusion. According to the rumor, something happened here in Amestris about four years ago. Out on their eastern border, a city vanished into sand. The rumor said it was likely alchemy.›"

She took a deep breath, then said, as evenly as she could, "‹And what use do you see in something so destructive?›"

"‹Do you really think there could be that much destruction—without creation?›"

In response Yu did nothing more than raise her eyebrows.

Mei started to say something more, but they were both distracted by a voice out in the courtyard.

"Oh—you're the princess's pet, aren't you. Hello—ow! Ow-ww . . . hey, it's okay, you don't need to be afraid of me—wow, your teeth really are sharp, aren't they. . . . See? There's no reason to bite. I won't hurt you, see?"

The two women shared a bemused look. "‹Are you sure those boys are related?›"

"‹Princess, be nice,›" the older woman chided, trying her best not to laugh.

Mei bounced to her feet and trotted out to the courtyard, while Yu rose somewhat more slowly to follow. She did have a better idea now what the princess was hoping to find, but it was an idea that sat less and less easily with her the clearer it became.

"I'm sorry," the young woman was saying, "Xiao Mei bites sometimes if she's not sure of someone."

"It's okay, she didn't bite hard." Alphonse grinned up from where he knelt by the little panda, one hand still held out. "It was presumptuous of me to try to pet her outright like that. But she's okay now, see?" He gently patted the bewildered animal with the fingers that hadn't been bitten.

". . . Well. I have to say I'm impressed," Yu admitted. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone make friends with Xiao Mei that quickly."

"What's that you brought?" Mei nodded at the books the boy was hugging to his chest.

"Oh, these are some alchemy texts. They're just beginning books, but I thought we could use them to see how it's different from what you use. I'd really like to know more about how it's used medically, but first I think I need to understand the foundation better."

"I would like to know more about the alchemy of this country, too." Mei crouched down, apparently ready to settle in to a discussion then and there. Yu cleared her throat.

"Alphonse-kun, I think we should take care of your finger, first."

"Oh, it's fine!" He waved the hand to demonstrate. "It's not even bleeding much, see?"

She smiled. "Then humor this old woman, please. I've been a mother too long to let it go."

* * *

"I've flagged anything that looked promising," Ed waved a gloved hand at the folder Lt. General Radcliff was flipping through, "but it's all gonna need more research before it's useful. I made some notes in a few places about that. This guy had some good ideas—and some really out there ones—but he hardly followed through on anything. Actually, he sounded like a nut job."

Roy had to smirk to himself at the relatively mild comment, having listened to Ed's ranting while the blond had been going through the copious notes that had been left to the state. Ed had some governance over his tongue, it seemed.

Radcliff was nodding as he skimmed the notes and listened to Ed go into detail on a few points. "That one does sound promising—yes, and I think I know exactly who to give that to." He tapped the folder closed, and smiled genially a the young man across the table. "You've saved my researchers a considerable amount of time, Elric-san, and I'm sure they'll be just as grateful as I am."

Ed grinned and shrugged. "Well, yeah, I'm sure it would've taken them longer, but it's not like it was any big deal. The code wasn't even that hard to crack, it's like the guy wasn't even trying."

Roy suppressed the urge to roll his eye. Little brat had no business calling him arrogant.

But the Lt. General merely chuckled. He exchanged a few more pleasantries, thanked Ed again, and shook his hand. Ed responded amiably, if not with strict politeness, then tossed a grin and a wave over his shoulder at Roy before making his way out of headquarters.

"Shame to waste a talent like that on contract work," Radcliff commented after the young man had left. "What are the chances of getting him to sign up with the state again?"

Roy chuckled. "Very small, I'm afraid. Fullmetal was never fond of rank and regulations."

"But I notice you still call him by his state title."

"Old habits. He still calls me 'Colonel.'"

Radcliff laughed as he followed the other man from the conference room. "I think I'd be insulted."

"He insists it's not meant as an insult; it's just that 'Brigadier General Bastard' doesn't quite have the same ring to it."

"Ha!" He clapped the younger man on the back as they entered Roy's office. "You two won me a nice chunk of change, by the way. General Raven bet that you wouldn't make it a year."

Roy tsked. "So little faith." After they were both seated, he added, "So how does the betting stand on me keeping my current position?"

"Come now, you know I can't tell you that." Radcliff grinned at him from the couch opposite. "It might skew the results." Setting the folder on the cushions, he leaned forward against his knees. "Seriously, Mustang—the Brass might have had other reasons for sticking you out in the east, but we need good men out here. I don't think I need to tell you what a potential powder keg this is."

"Potential explosions are something I can appreciate, believe me." Roy crossed his legs and casually hooked his interlaced fingers around his knee. "It's nice to know there are some who aren't just sitting back and waiting for the fireworks, however."

"There are those of us who think you might be able to pull it off. By the way, I hear you have family visiting."

"Yes, my mother. She came with the embassy from Xing."

"What's the story behind that, anyway? It seemed to come out of the blue. This isn't something you've been planning on the sly, is it?"

Roy chuckled. "Hardly. I had less than two weeks notice myself. I got the impression that this trip was planned very quickly."

"One of the wilder rumors is that they're looking for state secrets."

"I don't see what good it would do them, even if they were. With the desert between us, there's not much chance of going to war, and our governments are so different, I can't imagine anything from ours would be much use to them. Princess Mei's main focus seems to be alchemy, and she's hardly have to infiltrate the government to learn about that."

"True enough. Still, watch yourself. I'm certain of your loyalty to Amestris, but there are those who might try to argue differently."

"I'm well aware, believe me."

* * *

"I'm looking for my brother. He said he'd be coming by here," Ed explained to the man who'd met him at the entrance to the embassy.

The man smiled and bobbed a few times. "Yes? You look for someone?"

"My brother. Al. He came here this morning."

"Many people here. Many people."

He grit his teeth and tried to remember diplomacy, diplomacy. . . . "Look, he—can you just tell me where he is? It's not like you could've missed him, he's probably the only blond in the whole fucking place."

"Not worry! We find him! I help!"

Ed rubbed his forehead. Must not punch a member of the embassy, Roy would be very unhappy if he punched a member of the embassy. "Okay . . . let's try this again. Did a blond kid with a ponytail come by here earlier?"

The man stood there smiling at him for so long Ed was starting to think he hadn't understood the question, but he finally bobbed his head and said "Yes."

"Red coat? This same symbol on it?" He indicated the flamel that was appliquéd on the left side of his coat.

"Not same."

"Is he—huh? What?"

"Not same. Yours on front. His on back."

Ed wondered if the man could hear his teeth grinding.

"Edward-san?"

He turned with relief toward the familiar voice. "Finally, someone who'll give me a straight answer."

Li Xue smiled as she came up next to him. "You're looking for your brother, yes? I saw him with the princess a little while ago." Then she turned and said something to the still-smiling man that had the tone of a mild rebuke. He merely bobbed his head and smiled some more. Ed glared at him.

"Don't mind him," she said as she lead him across the embassy grounds. "By the way, I hear you were away for a while, a few years ago?"

"What?" He lowered his eyebrows and eyed the woman warily. "Um—yeah. . . ."

"Traveling? Where did you go to?"

"Nowhere you'd've heard of—why d'you want to know, anyway?"

"I like learning about other lands." She smiled again. "That is why the princess brought me along. It sounds as if you were somewhere very interesting."

"Not especially." He scowled. "It's not like I took notes; I didn't want to be there in the first place. What's it matter?"

"It doesn't; I was just curious where you could have been for so long."

Without further comment, she led him to a secluded part of the courtyard, an area Ed hadn't seen during the demonstration. As they neared, he could see Al bent over, looking at something Mei was sketching on the ground. He paused, marveling yet again at how his brother's movements were no longer accompanied by the clatter and scrape of metal, that the hands he leaned on were flesh and blood that could be poked by the pebbles and twigs on the concrete, not unfeeling gauntlets, that it was genuine hair he brushed back, not the tassel of a helmet. And when he looked up the grin could be read over his entire face, not just in the two glowing dots that had substituted for eyes.

"Nii-san! Princess Mei was just explaining the qi lines in the body. How did Lieutenant General Radcliff like the analysis?"

Li Xue was giving him a curious look. Ed shrugged, mentally bringing himself back to the present, and walked over to join his brother. "He said it saved him a lot of time. I doubt he really understood what he was reading, he just knew it was something he could give his pet alchemists. I'm sure none of them could've gotten it done that fast."

Al gave him a look of tolerant exasperation, which Ed met with raised eyebrows and another shrug; it's not like it wasn't the truth.

"You left the military, yet you do work for their officers?" Yu said from the doorway.

Ed couldn't decide if her expression was amused, or condescending, or simply curious. He shoved his hands in his pockets and tried not to bristle outright. "I'm contract now. I can turn down whatever I don't like."

"How nice that you have such a luxury."

He suppressed a frown as he watched her hand Mei a couple of scrolls. She was as enigmatic as Roy used to be, before Ed had really gotten to know him. He'd almost forgotten just how irritating it was. "I don't just get jobs from the military, I get outside contracts, too—few months ago I had one from the university."

"I imagine your reputation serves you well."

He opened his mouth for another retort, but Al was giving him one of those looks of his, so he sighed in exasperation and dropped to the ground next to his brother to see what Mei was unrolling. He eyed her mutant pet warily to make sure it wasn't going to try anything. It eyed him back.

"Here are the main channels in the body," the princess was explaining. The scroll had an outline of the human body, with various points and lines marked. "There are also lesser channels and solitary points. What we can do with rentanjutsu is tap into these channels to help the body heal, or 'read' them to find out what is wrong."

She went on to brief them on the channels and points, and Ed soon found himself lost. He understood biology, he and Al had studied the human body pretty closely once upon a time, but this was insane. How could pressing a point on the hand affect the liver? And what did it have to do with alchemy?

"Okay . . . I'm not sure I understood all of that, but I think I kinda get the theory behind the energy channels," Al said, with much more diplomacy than Ed could have managed. Ed was wondering how Xing's alchemists ever made it out of the dark ages.

"The channels are the foundation." Mei jabbed a finger at the scroll. "If you don't understand how the qi flows, then you can't manipulate it!"

"This is crazy!" Ed snapped. He waved a hand at the chart. "These don't follow the circulatory system, the nervous system, or any other biological system!"

The princess glared at him, then narrowed her eyes further in what looked like contemplation. Instead of answering, her hand shot out, lightning quick, and jabbed his forearm.

"The fuck—owww ow-ow-ow!" He'd jerked back, but a sudden headache made him drop his head to his hands. "What the fuck did you do??"

"That's one of the qi channels."

"Wow."

Ed growled behind his hands; his brother sounded far too impressed.

Thankfully, the headache was short-lived, and Ed was soon glaring at Mei as he tried to rub the residual ache out of his temples. Yu, sitting behind the young woman, was watching this with one hand over her mouth, her shoulders twitching with suppressed laughter.

"But how do you know where they are?" Al was asking. "It's more than just knowing the location, isn't it? You talked about 'reading' them."

"If you find your center and clear your mind, you can sense qi, whether it's in a person or in the land."

"'Center'?" Al rubbed the back of his head. "Like your center of balance?"

"No—well, yes, but no. They're related, but your center is more than your physical center. The huang-ting is the center of your being."

"Hoong—huu—"

"Haang—what?"

Mei sighed. "Huang-ting," she enunciated. "It's—here." She passed the scroll to Yu, then picked up a piece of chalk and started to scribble again on the concrete. What she drew looked like a little house with a trapezoid roof, and an open doorway in the middle of a square wall. She drew a circle around it, then scratched two of those weird Xingian glyphs inside the doorway. "'The spirit of the center,'" she said. Leaning over, she wrote more, each phrase radiating out from the edge of the circle. "Huang-ting: the 'yellow court.' The 'gate of the meaning of the Dao'—ummm, dao means 'way' or 'truth,' or 'order.' 'Empty; non-being.' The 'gate of all wonders.' . . ."

Edward had stopped listening. All he could hear was the soundless buzzing that had filled his head at the word gate. Beside him he was aware that Al had gone tense, but he couldn't risk looking at him. It was all he could do to not leap forward and smudge out the drawing. His hands tightened on his knees, his right tightening enough that his leg throbbed.

The pain brought him back to himself and he shook his head sharply, tearing his eyes away from the simple chalk diagram. "This—this Gate," he said, fighting to keep his voice even, "this isn't where the energy comes from—is it?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Al startle, but he deliberately kept his focus on Mei.

"What?" Mei looked up from her drawing and blinked. "No, of course not, the qi is already there. The huang-ting is only the center."

He took a deep, slow breath, and forced his hands to relax. "So it is. . . ." He smiled, the expression ironic and humorless. "Of course it is."

"Nii-san—?"

Al's voice was apprehensive, but also held a note of confusion. He still didn't know. Edward shook his head; he intended to keep it that way.

A/N: The huang-ting or Yellow Court is an actual concept from Chinese alchemy, although I'm taking a few liberties. (I'm also taking liberties with pressure points, although the one Mei used is associated with headaches (curing them, not causing them).)