Chapter Text
Xing was hot in the way that the ruins of Xerxes had been, oppressive and sandy and utterly unsuited for automail. The overnight train had not helped the agony in his leg port, and he was feeling the lack of sleep as he glared at the sunrise peaking its way over the distant mountains, shielding the rays from his eyes the palms of his hands. The lack of gloves on his hands was brilliantly new and he was grateful there wasn’t something else to boil him alive in the desert. No automail arm to hide meant he had slightly more ventilation, at least.
It wasn’t helping much though, and Ed was sweating heavily through his lose jacket as he clambered out of the train and glared out through the sun at the city before him. Xing’s capital city was expansive in the way that Central was without feeling oppressive and cruel like Central often had when Ed was younger. Tall buildings, unlike anything Ed had ever seen before, towered up towards the sun painted in shining red lacquer and adorned with intricate stone carvings. Lanterns, unlit and swaying in the light desert breeze hung between buildings and the beginning of morning had woken as people began to make their way out of homes and apartments into the street, bleary eyed and barely awake.
Ed was lost.
He knew he had to find the palace, that’s where the newly crowned Emperor Ling Yao would be, but Ed had no idea how to get there. The roads were a maze of alleys and little paths leading nowhere, spiral streets that spread out and backed up on themselves until Ed’s head spun and the sun had fully risen, and the streets bustled with life. Ed had memorised Central over his 4 years as State Alchemist, but this was like that first day when he and Al hopped off of the train for the first time into a new, unknown void of a city that he could easily get lost in. Literally and metaphorically. There was logic to the layout, Ed could tell that already, but he didn’t know what it was yet and until then he was doomed to wander aimlessly in search of a palace he had never seen before. A lightning strike of a thought broke through Ed’s brain, the realisation that he knew barely anything about Xing, let alone what their palaces looked like.
Shame burned in him as it had when he had realised he knew nothing about Ishval. During his first trip to Briggs Miles had asked him what he thought of Ishvalan religion and Ed had blushed and admitted all he knew was that their god was called Ishvala, even after spending a short childhood basically on the border between Amestris and Ishval. Half of Resembool had technically been in Ishvalan territory and yet Ed couldn’t even say ‘hello’ in the language. Miles had been annoyed but not surprised, and Ed certainly wasn’t the first ignorant Amestrian that Miles had met. Eventually, curiosity spiked and ignorance too rude to bare, Ed had bought himself a book on Ishvalan history before leaving Central for Resembool and had spent a few nights devouring the contents. It wasn’t enough, but he at least knew the history and how to say hello, thank you, please, goodbye. Still, he had nothing on Xing except the snippets that Ling had given him. Kernels of culture and language Ling had dropped along the path as they sped away from Briggs and Kimblee and everyone. Greed had given him nothing and so Ed’s casual education in Xingese culture was spotty at best.
It was hopeless trying to figure it where to go, so Ed decided to simply follow the noise. It was a tried and tested strategy when arriving in new places. People were people no matter where they were from, and people tended to move towards markets, important events and they always ran away from trouble. Either way, Ed found it useful to follow. They’d used it in Liore, and they’d found a fake Philosopher’s Stone. Crowds flowing like rivers moved Ed to the central market square of the town, a loud and bright place even in the early hours that burnt through Ed’s nose with spices that clawed their ways through his stomach. It growled at him, and Ed drifted his way towards a stall that had a collection of delicious looking apple pastries that wafted cinnamon at him as he got closer. Fumbling for his pocket, Ed grabbed what little Xingese coin he had from Ling’s attempts to “pay him back” for the food he’d bought the two of them in Amestris.
“Hey,” Ed raised a hand when he caught the eye of the woman behind the stall, and she frowned slightly at it. “Um...”
What was the Xingese for ‘can I please buy one of those pastries?’
“One?” Ed simply pointed, flustered and red to the cheek at the bewildered stare the poor woman was directing at him. Definitely not her fault he was an idiot who didn’t speak the language. “Please?”
She raised an eyebrow and grabbed one of the square pastries, placing it carefully on a paper plate and balancing it precariously on the side of the table. It looked amazing. Remembering the way Ling had said thank you, Ed put his hand on his heart and nodded slightly.
“Duō xiè.”
Ed didn’t think it was possible, but the woman’s eyes widened even more than they had before. He didn’t know what he was doing wrong, but the sheer unavoidable shock the woman was going through told him that he was messing up pretty badly. Edward Disaster Elric had struck again. He'd never spoken a word of Xingese before, but he’d hoped that listening to Ling had at least given him some idea even if the words felt uncomfortable and clumsy on his tongue. He stumbled blindly over the letters, and he knew he’d fallen flat onto his face almost spectacularly quickly; he’d only arrived that morning and he was already insulting people by accident. He tried to remind himself that he had only arrived that morning and that he would have time to learn but it didn’t stop the sting of realising that he had genuinely offended the woman. Despite everything he’s ever said and done, Ed didn’t like being rude to people who didn’t deserve it. Everyone he’d ever insulted or sworn at had definitely deserved it at the time. Looking back, not all of it had been necessary but he had been 13 and angry and grieving and it had all come out sideways.
The woman kept staring at him and in Ed’s storm of panic and shame, he hadn’t realised that he’d been standing there with the coins in his hand for an uncomfortable amount of time while the shop keeper had just been expecting pay. Luckily, Ed had no clue what the word ‘sorry’ was – Ling hadn’t been one for apologies – and so he couldn’t embarrass himself further with any amateur attempts at speaking Xingese. Instead, he counted out the coins he had, as confusing as they seemed while cupped in his right hand, and eventually gave up on that as well. Tipping the collection onto the side of the table and praying the woman didn’t hate him for making her figure it out, Ed started to nibble at his pastry as he waited.
The woman started yelling.
Shit
What had he done now?
The words were unknown and flown at his face in such a speed that Ed could barely pick up the tone of them. She waved her arms angrily and without the ability to comprehend the language Ed was stuck as to what he had done wrong, how he had stumbled into a mistake that had turned her from slightly baffled to furious in less than a second. Hands held up and palms facing forward, the universal sign of peace and surrender did nothing to stop her and instead seemed to make things miraculously worse. Faces that had been focused on their own tasks and mornings had turned towards the two of them, the screaming and Ed’s gold hair an easy bullseye to gravitate towards. Rapidly shaking his head in confusion, Ed realised that he was either being called an idiot or something worse in a language he didn’t understand.
Maybe it was the familiar tone and the inflection of the words that echoed memories of the way Ling had raised an eyebrow and sighed when Ed had tripped over his automail and landed flat on his face in a pile of mud. The word was unclear and fuzzy in his brain, but there was definitely a comparison. A uniformed guard had started noticing the noise and, seeing Ed’s bewildered face, made his way to the staff and speak a few soft words to the woman who had eventually stopped screaming inches away from Ed’s nose. The guard was tall and his eyes shone in the morning sun and when he spoke to Ed in carefully accented Amestrian, Ed had to stop himself from staring. The guard was no Ling, but it was close enough to be concerning.
Stop it, ed. Stop being pathetic and needy and
“You do not have enough.”
“What?” Ed spluttered and glanced at the coins on the table. There were at least 7 of them, but to be fair to the man, Ed didn’t know what the exchange rate was. “How?”
The man shuffled through the coins, counting aloud and handing them back to Ed, warm and sweaty in the sandy heat. He shook his head again and separated the silver and gold coins into two distinct piles in his palm and showed Ed the sign on the table. Between the heat and the hunger, Ed hadn’t even realised that even the numbers of Xingese would be different from those in Amestrian. Disappointment in himself stung. He'd booked the train to Xing almost immediately after leaving Briggs without even a thought about how he would get to the palace, whether Ling would even want to see him or what he would do once he got there. All he’d known was that he had to get out of Amestris. He had to see Ling. He needed to be with someone who would slap him silly if he tried to hate himself again. Al was too kind, Armstrong was too harsh and Roy existed in a nebulous state of despair and desire. Ling was... Ling.
“Take this one,” the guard interrupted Ed’s spiral with a flash of a gold coin. “Give it to her.”
Quickly, the guard and the stall owner reached some sort of agreement, and the woman gave Ed a hard stare as he finally handed over the golden coin the guard had fished out of his own pocket.
“Thanks,” Ed muttered, clutching at the paper plate uncomfortably. “Um... Do you know where the palace is?”
Dark eyebrows furrowed at Ed’s question in either shock or anger, but the guard pointed in a vague direction anyway, a slight huff on his lips and a downturn of his mouth. Ed nodded again and gave what he hoped was an apologetic look towards the lady who made delicious pastries and wandered off in the direction the guard had lazily waved him towards. It wasn’t instructions or a map, but even a general idea of which way to walk was incredibly helpful and Ed felt his steps quicken at the thought of actually finding his destination. He was moving away from the crowds, which felt unnatural, but the roads and building were getting visibly older as he kept walking. Ed nearly slapped himself for not realising that, of course, the palace would be in the oldest part of town. That's how palaces worked.
Climbing up warn stone steps and moss-covered cobble, Ed finally caught a glimpse of the red palace. It was astonishing. Wooden carvings and stone statues adorned a massive structure surrounded by immaculate gardens and Ed could hear the distant sounds of fountains and birds singing. How had no one told him about this? That a city could be impressive and beautiful and not terrifying like Central? The few people wandering about the gigantic front gardens paid Ed very little attention as he blindly walked around, mouth open and turning wildly to take everything in as quickly as possible. Uncontrollable and instinctual, Ed counted the number of entrances into the palace gardens and had to stop himself from hunching his shoulders and bracing for impact. He was fine. He was safe. Nothing was going to hurt him. He breathed in as he repeated the mantra Granny had whispered to him one night after he woke up crying, Envy’s scorched face burning in the back of his mind as Roy screamed like an animal, and it calmed his mind enough to stop the instinctive flinch as a loud yell emerged from the bushes.
“Ed!”
A flash of a yellow jacket and the heavy impact of a tight hug.
“Ling!” Ed laughed and beamed when Ling tightened the hug at the sound of his voice. Ling’s shoulders were covered in grains of dirt and tiny leaves. “You were in a bush?”
“Shut up,” Ling pulled away so that the two could look at each other. His hair was a little longer now, and the clothes he was wearing were less thread bare than the ones he’d worn in Amestris but Ling hadn’t changed. Not in the ways that mattered. “I was hiding from the advisors, they’re riding my ass .”
“You’re the emperor,” Ed smirked, raising an eyebrow. “They can’t tell you what to do.”
“Tell them that!”
“Pretty sure I can’t commit treason my first day in Xing. That's a day 3 job,” Ling snorted at Ed’s joke and the heaviness in his lungs dissipated. “Sorry to just, ya know, drop in without saying anything but me and Al are travelling and seeing everyone and it just kinda happened...”
“Shush,” Ling made a flick of the wrist, his way of telling Ed that he didn’t really mind. “You, Edward Elric, are welcome any time.”
As Ling stared around the garden examining the faces of the people passing by, Ed admired the way the Xingese sun made Ling’s skin glow, his eyes shine, and the hollows of his cheekbones stand out against pink blushed cheeks. Amestris' cloudy grey weather had not done Ling justice. He clicked his fingers loudly and a uniformed woman on the other side of a hedge stood up straight, bowing at the Emperor. Her gaze lingered slightly on the way Ling’s other hand still rested lightly on Ed’s shoulder. Ed didn’t even care to shake it off. A few incomprehensible Xingese words were shared between the two and then she bowed again to Ling and wandered off towards the main building of the palace.
“She’s gonna get a room set up for you, nicest one we’ve got.” Ling beamed down at Ed and the fingers on Ed’s shoulder trailed down to grasp his forearm. It was tender and intimate and Ed’s heart quickened despite himself.
“Seriously, man. You didn’t have to...”
“You’re now the honoured guest of the Emperor, Ed-boy.” envy’s face burning to ash over and over his stupid nicknames echoing in ed’s mind. pipsqueak. tiny. ed-boy. “We’ve got appearances to keep up and everything.”
“You have appearances?” Ed stared at the taller man and Ling’s mouth split into a shark grin. “You bummed an entire month’s worth of food off me! In one fucking night!”
“Hey!” Ling joking smashed his pointer finger against Ed’s mouth and despite the obvious humiliation, Ed couldn’t bring himself to be upset about it. Everyone else had either treated him like an adult or walked on eggshells around his trauma. Ling had seen it, moved on, and then acted like Ed’s nightmares and flinching and general terror were normal. He had accepted who Ed was not who he should have been. “Don’t tell anyone the emperor’s in debt. National hysteria! Pandemonium! Riots in the streets!”
The finger hadn’t moved and Ed was tempted to bite it just to see what Ling would do.
“Anyway,” Ling huffed and twirled around, a flash of silver revealing that he was still armed to the teeth.
Greed had insisted they carry weapons at all times, even when sleeping, when they had been on the run and the knife strapped to Ling’s thigh showed Ed that he wasn’t the only one who had kept the rules. He hadn’t known he’d need a blade at the time, but without his automail and alchemy he couldn’t make one with a clap of his hands. Ed’s knife was hidden in his boot.
“Come on, I’ll give you the tour!”
“Don’t you have a country to run?” Ed grinned.
“Nah, it’ll be fine. I just smile and wear the hat.”
“Cause that’s what an emperor should think...”
“It’s not like you’d know!” Ling laughed his all-consuming laugh and people even in the most distant corners of the garden stopped to turn and see what their Emperor was so amused by. “You always did suck at politics.”
“I did not!”
“Yup,” Ling smirked and rested his hand on top of Ed’s head, ruffling the hair slightly. It would have been friendly if the touch didn’t linger a moment too long as Ling twirled a strand between his delicate fingers. “That’s why I’m the brains.”
“Oh, fuck off.”
“Never.”