#20truths

4. She realised quite early that Jing had a crush on her but because she wasn’t sure how she felt, she chose to act like she had no idea of this. On the other hand, she was the first to notice how Ping always blushed around their sensei who was just two years older and really beautiful.

5. Many people always thought that she saw Lan Fan as an older sister but first and foremost, the older girl was her friend. Meimei was her older sister because the Cho-girl believed in her.

6. She was fourteen when she heard in the village that Meimei had gotten hurt on a mission and she prayed that everything would be alright again as she ran over to the estate where the Cho-clan lived. She had been there many times and she shouldn’t be this worried yet she was as she danced around the sleeping dogs to avoid stepping on their tails before she finally reached her sensei’s bedchamber. And there was Meimei with her broken leg and for a second, Min Li’s whole world froze on its axis before it finally crashed down.

7. Two months later, she was given her own team to train and for the first time, her elders didn’t look down on her with their usual frown but for the first time, they smiled slightly because her hard work to improve herself finally convinced them that she wouldn’t run off like her mother.

8. The moment she believed Lee to be dead was the worst moment in her life because Lee had been the sunshine in their mentally scarred and slightly disturbed team. Without Lee, she knew, nothing would be like it used to and she chose this moment to go to find her mother – because how could she, the so-called flower of Team Meimei go on if there was no sun that made her grow? And so she tried to hide from her misery and the feeling that she was to blame.

9. To meet Jun Li wasn’t the way she had imagined it to be. She had thought that maybe, she would understand herself better after meeting her mother but nothing alike happened and Min Li had to realise that it was – once more – too late to change anything. She had grown without a mother and now, at fifteen, she didn’t need a mother because she was nearly an adult and as an adult, she could take care of herself.

10. The war between in which the village where the Ming resided, the village where the Chang-princess came from and Yuèyá Quán were allies once more and fought the Fei-clan and there cronies was the most terrifying experience in Min Li’s life.

11. The first time she smiled after the war had started was when Ping brought Lee home.

12. The moment Jun Li appeared on the battlefield and turned the thing around, Min Li believed that she had never felt more happiness because this meant that her mother had never stopped to believe in their village and its people – and this made her feel happier than before.

13. Once the fights were over, only a few people were there to witness the scene between Chao Wei and his beloved younger cousin but Min Li saw it all and she smiled as she saw how they hugged for the first time in years and how everything was alright again.

14. And after the war, Min Li finally met her father who was nothing like she had imagined him. He wasn’t like his nephew who had been laughing and eating most of the time. Lei Yao was serious and less happy-go-lucky than the emperor and in Min Li’s eyes, it was good this way. And Lei was yet as funny as Lan Fan and Ling had described him and Min Li felt like she had came home after a long journey.

15. She was the first one to know that Ping thought about proposing to Meimei and she was also the first to know that her old friend would be a father soon. She was, on the other hand, the last to know that Lee was crushing on a civilian.

16. Her hairstyle was something she never changed between her sixth and eighteenth year. The low twin buns with the flowers in them were her trademark – just like the different colours of nail polish she used to express that she was female. Both things had the function of reminding her of the important women in her life: Lan Fan, Jun Li and Meimei.

17. She shocked everyone when she didn’t marry Jing Bo when she came of age and caused a small scandal as she was caught with Chao in a not-so-innocent position. Rumours were loud that Chao was the reason behind her unmarried status but Meimei Cho confessed that she had tripped her former student so that she would crash into Chao and end up in top of him. So the reason behind her unmarried status was in question once more until she and Chao finally admitted that they had had deeper feelings for each other.

18. She married Chao in the spring of her twentieth year. To her, spring was the only season to marry in because she had a weak spot for cherry blossoms.

19. Just like the Amestrian Minister of Science, Min Li lived after the rule of ‘go big or go home’ and therefore, she went for five children. Seeing that she was the most stubborn woman of her town, it was no surprise when she got the five children she had wanted.

3. Both of them hated the idea of being friends through mutual friends – their sisters who had hit it off quite well mere minutes upon meeting – but for Lynn’s and Jade’s sake, they put up with each other and grew to tolerate each other.

4. It was during her birthday party when he gave her the crimson scarf he had seen her staring at for weeks in that expensive boutique when they first realised that the begrudged kind of respect had grown into friendship. This scared them both because they simply did not do friends.

5. He had seen Jade nearly bleeding to death quite a few times. He was used to lots of blood. He had seen his sister being tortured a few times because as a state alchemist, you lived a dangerous life. He should have been used to the sight … but somehow, it was far scarier to see Serena bloodied and beaten.

6. Before she left for Briggs upon her transfer, they made a huge party. Jade, Lynn and Martin dropped out quite early because they had duty the next morning but the duo which was nicknamed as ‘Mermaid’s Heart’ as a combination of their state alchemist names kept partying for another few hours before they ended up on the couch in her apartment, ripping off clothes.

7. Even though they had once overstepped limits, they easily slipped back into their old routine because they both knew that they had only slept with each other because they had been absolutely drunk. Sober, there was no kind of attraction between them and therefore, they only swore off the alcohol to prevent that it would ever happen again.

8. When he heard of her supposed death, he felt how something deep inside of him shattered. He had taunted Jade so many times about giving in to her emotions and her heartbreak – but now that he knew how miserable and pathetic it felt to be only half there, he vowed that he would never ever kid about someone’s feelings again. Serena had been his most precious family since he had still not managed to reconcile with his older twin. To hear of her death felt like dying as well.

9. She tried to tell herself that it was someone else she missed the most when she hid from the rest of the world. She tried to tell herself that it was Hakon she missed more but then again, she knew Hakon to be safe up at Briggs. The last thing she had heard about Phil had been that he would be transferred into another unit – and knowing his luck, he would end up in the Special Forces where he would be everything but safe. And so, she was pretty much worried about him all the time.

10. Phil understood Jade’s blind rage as Envy revealed that he (she? it?) had been the one to kill Lynn and Serena as well. The only regret he had about this fight was that he had not been able to deliver the fatal strike. Serena had been precious to him and to hear that this … scum had taken his best friend from him, he nearly lost control about his emotions. The only clear thought in his mind was that if Envy would take even more from him after he (she? it?) had taken Serena and his hand, he would most likely rip the damn homunculus apart with his own hands.

11. To be reunited after so many years was a bittersweet experience. She was eternally grateful to see that he was relatively unharmed – his left hand was missing, true, but otherwise, he had not taken much damage since they had parted ways. He hated to see her shattered. The huge scar on her back was only the smallest problem. Her mental constitution was far worse than the state of her back. And he was not sure if he could put her back together – but he swore that he would try.

12. She smiled at his wedding. She had not expected herself to deal this mature with the fact that he was happy now while she had lost nearly everyone she had loved but she somehow managed to accept this outcome. And so she smiled and laughed along never allowing herself to doubt her former decisions because she had never been one to look back in regret. She had nothing to regret anyway.

13. He knew that she was falling for the younger Doctor Knox long before anyone else even suspected it. The thing about Phil was that he had always known everything but having learned his lesson about arrogance and its risks, he had never told anyone what he knew. So he merely smirked and arranged more ‘meetings by coincidence’ between the pretty blond lady and the young doctor – just to smirk at her when she had trouble to act as if nothing was going on … at all.

14. When her father and her step-mother died, it hurt so badly that she could not stop crying for many days. He was there when she finally finished crying and when her anger kicked in, he took the pain caused by her fists without a complaint.

15. Roy and her uncle both offered to fill in for her late father on her wedding day. She only shook her head and turned her head into the direction of her friend. Phil nodded. They had never needed many words because the important things went without saying.

16. They had a heart-to-heart right before her wedding as she panicked for a moment and even years afterwards, she would remember exactly what he had told her then. She smiled and mentally congratulated herself for having such a considerate best friend/brother.

17. Her daughter was named Hope. Hope Philippa Knox. Phil rolled his eyes but she saw the genuine expression of affection for the little girl in his eyes. She chuckled inwardly. He had always had a soft spot for little children and baby animals.

18. She was the first one he told of his adopted son’s engagement and together with their respective spouses, they celebrated the event. As midnight approached fast, she turned around and for a moment, she nearly expected Jade and Lynn sitting in another corner of the bar, drinking and enjoying the night off just as much as everyone else.

19. Looking back, he did not regret a single choice he had made because in the end, it had always worked out just fine. He had an amazing wife, a great son, a beautiful daughter-in-law (Roy would murder him if he ever were to claim anything else) and soon, he would have a cute little grandchild. He also had a best friend who would rather face eternal pain in the depths of hell than to let him down, the kindest sister anyone could wish for (even though Jade still had the bad habit of throwing heavy object at him when she was upset) and overall, a totally amazing family.

4. Team ME was restricted from missions which included the escort of prisoners.

5. Just a few people could stand the constant bickering between Fullmetal and Breeze Soul. Everyone else would have a nervous breakdown after four minutes and/or consider fleeing to Xing after being exposed to them for a longer time, so Serena made sure that they never got in contact with prisoners because the Amestris Fire Lion was against torture.

6. Jade's idol was always her father and that never changed. Edward denied that he had an idol but somehow, Jade always doubted this because of the black Flamel on the back of his old red coat.

7. Jade gained her teammate’s respect when she was able to eat a dish with more spices in it when Xing exported in a year without batting an eye. Edward gained Jade’s respect when he was brave enough to steal some oranges from her father when she was hungry and depressed.

8. Once, upon comparing their team other teams, Edward suggested renaming their team as "Team Alchemy". But that was quickly shot down by Jade who refused to have her elegant performance of Air Alchemy be mentioned along with Edward’s insane and often reckless techniques.

9. When asked if Edward liked Jade, he would start to rant about her incompetence while his face would get as red as his old coat. When asked, if she liked Edward, she would merely huff and say that she could think of better people to work with on a regular basis. Both of them would lie.

10. Jade was known for many things. Her usually black clothes were one of them. Edward knew the secret behind the colour but just like Lynn Hamilton before him, he refused to share it … because sometimes, old wounds never healed properly.

11. The first time Jade got hurt on a mission, reminded Edward a little bit of the day his mother had died because Jade was so terribly, sickly pale as she lay on the ground while she tried to keep the blood from leaving her body. (Edward beat up their opponents in less than ten seconds and brought her to the hospital.)

12. If Jade was alone and had really nothing to do, it was common knowledge that she improved her skill when it came to really complicate patterns because it was her most important hobby. If Edward was alone and had really nothing to do, he liked to go for a long walk with Den because he needed to get his head out of all the missions he had performed so far. Edward knew, however, of Jade’s not-so-known hobbies like her liking for art and that she liked sparring with people she viewed as ‘worthy opponents’. Jade knew for a fact that Edward liked to draw when they were on a mission and he believed that she had fallen asleep once more.

13. They were also known under the name Team Destruction – which Nerissa could never understand because Edward and she could cause far more destruction than Jade and Edward.

14. If they spent time together if they weren’t on a mission (which was rare) they would cook and eat together with their respective families as guests. (Winry still tried to get the recipe of Jade’s milk rice which was loved and eaten by Edward like there was no tomorrow.)

15. The most annoying rumour about them was that someone once called them Team Braid for their really similar hairstyle: the infamous braids. Jade wore her hair in the same classical Cretan braid she had used to force her hair into submission for the last twenty years and Edward had returned to his old braid for missions while he wore the lose ponytail when he was off-duty.

16. Jade hated it when Edward messed up her neat stacks of paperwork whenever he crashed into her office and captured her designer couch which had been a present of her mother when she had been appointed as Minister of Science. Edward hated it when Jade teamed up with his wife and made sure that he would drink milk.

17. Under no circumstances should the phrase “Team ME: Combined Counter Attack” be mentioned in the presence of one of the both members. Jade didn’t wish to explain. Edward chose not to comment.

18. Once, they weren't so close. That was when they stayed in their little corners and bemoaned their fates and their arrogant teammate because the insult worked in both ways. There was a time when she was only a weird woman who kept staring up in the sky with an depressed expression on her face and kept failing everybody and just wasn’t strong enough to do anything – because Jade always felt guilty for her friends’ deaths – and when he was an angry young man who wanted to outshine his teammate at any price.

19. Now, they were proud because they have made it quite far after so many years. Now Team ME looked up to the sky to seek for inspiration and in victory, vowing that they would never to fail to protect their precious people and they tease each other to the ground to become even stronger – mentally. No one doubts them and especially not themselves. Now, Jade could look up and would see more place for her to grow. Today, Edward could look up and would smile at the eternal freedom above them.