Chapter 1: Another Beginning
"Alphonse!" Al turned around to see who was calling him. His face lit up as he saw that it was his Xingese friend Mei Chang.
"Mei! How are…" He stopped as he found Mei in his arms, and he blushed furiously.
"Oh, Alphonse dear! What are we going to do?" She cried out so the whole train station could hear her. "I've lost my ticket and now we can't go back to your country!" Al sent her a questioning look but before he could say anything, a tall, uniformed man came towards them.
"Is there a problem here?" The gruff looking soldier asked them.
"Oh, sir…" Mei began imploringly, "My ticket blew away but the man at the desk said there were no more! My husband and I have to get back to his country so I can meet his family!" By now, everyone around them was staring… or at least mumbling and glancing curiously. Al's blush deepened as he wondered, "What is she trying to do?"
The soldier turned to Al, "She lost her ticket?" All Al could manage to do was nod his head. "Well…" The soldier frowned thoughtfully, "It's not policy to…"
"We'd pay for another one… If there were anymore…" Al finally spoke up, although hesitantly.
"Well…" the man began, seeing the teary-eyed Mei, "I'm sure if you'd be willing to pay again that there's no harm in it. I mean I'm sure once I explain the situation, no one will have any complaints…"
"Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!" Mei bubbled and smiled a big, beautiful smile.
"It's no problem miss, I mean, it's not your fault it's so windy today…" The soldier smiled as Al handed him the money. "I'll talk to the conductor."
"What was…?" Al turned back to look at Mei, but realized she was still clinging to him and his blush brightened again.
Mei just grinned and pulled him by the hand towards the now whistling train. "Come on Alphonse dear! We don't want to miss the train!"
The train was moving by the time they finally found their seat. Luckily, everyone else in that car was asleep, probably because they got on at one of the last few stops. They sat down quietly, before Alphonse asked "Husband?" with a raised eyebrow.
Mei blushed and giggled. "They wouldn't have let me on if I didn't have a good reason! I had to make up a good story…"
Al sighed, but smiled before asking, "What was the real reason then?"
"I can't tell you yet!" Mei exclaimed as Al shushed her.
"People are still sleeping!" He whispered. She smiled an apologetic smile back at him. It was one of those half-crooked smiles that Alphonse loved about her. He snapped himself out of his observations. He had to stay focused. "So, when can you tell me?" he asked.
"You get to know when everyone else who needs to hear it is around. It's a very exciting announcement and you have to wait for everyone else," she smirked at him.
"Oh," Al said, as he noticed something missing… something… "Oh! Xiao Mei! Where is she?" he said looking around to make sure he didn't miss her.
Mei smiled, "Don't worry. She's hiding in the luggage car because they don't let animals on the train… but they won't find Xiao Mei!"
Al smiled, knowing that she would never go anywhere without her strange cat-friend. Actually, Mei had told him that Xiao Mei wasn't a cat at all. She was a panda, an animal that lives in the East. It was still strange for him to think of that black and white creature as something other than a cat.
"Al?" Mei interrupted his thoughts.
"Yeah?"
"You're still holding my hand."
