A request from @TheOtakuOfTheWest! Hope that you enjoy!

Have a request? Feel free to ask!

~Kida

~*~

You were sitting in a hospital room, just after the Promised day. You had used your alchemy, (your alchemic powers) to aid everyone in defeating Father. Unfortunately for you, you had gotten beaten up pretty badly...but then again, what did you expect?

You were reading a story that had been given to you by Riza Hawkeye. She knew you loved (genera) books, and you were completely sucked into it. You barely even heard the door's squeak when it opened, telling you that someone had walked in. You were reluctant to do so, but put the book down in order to see who it was that walked in.

"Ling?" You asked, seeing the Xingese man walk in.

Ling smiled to you. "(Y/N)." He said. "I just wanted to check up on you and see how your recovery was coming along."

You smiled. "Nothing I can't handle." You told him. "Only a few cracked ribs and a broken wrist. I shouldn't be in here for much longer."

"I'm glad to hear that," Ling said. "And what's more, look at this!" He brought out a vial of red liquid from a pocket in his jacket.

"Is-is that-?"

"A Philosopher's stone. It's an incomplete version, but with it I can finally get my clan to the top again. I'll be able to become Emperor of Xing!" Ling told you, cheerful as ever.

"That's wonderful, Ling!" You told him. "I'm really happy for you! When will you be leaving?"

"Perhaps a week or so." Ling said. "I wanted to stay for a little bit in order to find out a bit of alchemy. I know alchehestry, but not alchemy."

Your smile got larger. Whenever someone mentioned alchemy, you couldn't hold back your neediness. It was your one weakness to become a total geek and speak scientifically, so that basically no one would really be able to understand you. "That's a great idea!" You told him. "Are you going to ask someone to teach you, or...?"

"Oh, no," Ling smirked a bit. "I was going to bring some books back with me, but get some professional help here first."

"Oh." You said. "Who's going to teach you?"

"Well, I was actually hoping that...you might want to." Ling awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, a little bit of...wait, no way. You had to be hallucinating! Ling wasn't blushing, was he?

"Oh, I'd love to!" You assured him. "You'll just have to wait a day or so. Whenever the doctors let me out of here."

"As long as it takes!" Ling said, a determined look back on his face. "I'll be waiting, (Y/N)!"

As he stood and walked out of the room, you settled back into your bed. You couldn't believe that Ling wanted your help with learning alchemy. The obvious first choice should have been Edward Elric, your cousin, if not for the fact that he had given up alchemy in order to save Alphonse, his brother. You had had a crush on Ling ever since you had first spoken to him, back in Rush Valley...

~~Flashback~~

After taking the man out of the alleyway and getting him some food(actually, some wasn't the correct term. It was more like a mountain), he seemed much better. "Wow, thanks! I feel so much better! Your treat, right?"

Ed grew a chip in his head. "What do you mean, my treat?!"

You sighed, but didn't butt in. You knew how Ed got when he grew irritated, and trying to calm him down...didn't always work very well. You decided to just block out what they were saying so that you wouldn't be tempted to just stop Ed. You decided that you wouldn't stop him unless he tried to attack the man.

You went off into your own little world for a few minutes, before you noticed that both Ed and Al had run off with some sort of weird ninjas chasing after them. Your eyes widened and you looked back at the man. "What just happened?" You asked him.

"I'm just getting some answers." He told you, smiling brightly. "I never caught your name, though."

"(Y/N) (Y/L/N)." You told him. "Edward and Alphonse are my cousins."

"I see." He said. "I'm Ling Yao. Son of the Emperor of Xing."

Your eyes widened. "Then that mean you're a-?" You cut yourself off and started to laugh a bit.

"I'm a what?" Ling asked, tilting his head to the side in confusion.

"N-n-nothing!" You choked out.

He shook his head. "You're kind of confusing."

"Sorry."

"So, do you know anything about alchemy?"

You nodded. "I worked with Ed and Al when we were kids."

"So, does that mean that you know anything about the Philosopher's stone?"

You gulped. "Uh, no...not really!"

"Oh, really?" Ling asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking. A tiny bit of blush arose on your face at his look. It looked kind of...well, attractive. "Then why did you hesitate?"

You sighed. "Well, to be perfectly honest, I'm helping Ed and Al try to find it. We've been looking for it for the past four years, but...we haven't really had any luck."

Ling nodded. "But you believe that it exists?"

"Of course!" You told him. "We have to have hope, otherwise you have nothing. Without hope, you can't go on. We've been searching for four years with no true leads, but we haven't given up yet."

Ling smiled. "Well, you know, you're right." There was a slight moment of silence. "Well, on a happier note, do you wanna get some more to eat? I'm still pretty hungry!"

~~Flash Forward~~

It was now a week after Ling had asked for you to teach him alchemy. You thought that he was doing quite well for only just learning it, and had told him so quite a few times. He seemed quite happy about it, but now it was time for him to leave...

Ling was going to go on the train to the east before traveling across the desert and back to Xing. Lan Fan and Mei Chang had already boarded, and Ling was giving you one last goodbye. You gave him a crushing hug, as though you were attempting to break his back. "Good luck with being Emperor." You told him.

"Thank you very much, (Y/N)." He said, letting you go and smiling. "I have something for you before I leave." He held up something that made your eyes wide: a train ticket.

"Ling, what's this for?" You asked him.

"You know, (Y/N), an Emperor isn't really complete without his Empress..."