The Blade Alchemist: New Adventures
Return from Xing
Sarah POV
We all spent the next few days avoiding guards and making our way Mays house. It was proving very difficult because we had discovered that the man acting for the Emperor had declared war on Drachma, so there were soldiers everywhere. We finally arrived at Mays house and Havok hid in the nearby forest with Lan Fan and the kids. I knocked on the front gate and waited for someone to answer. After a minuet, the gate opened to a small crack and an elder man poked his head around. "Yes? May I help you?" I nodded. "I am hear to see Alphonse and May Elric. Are they at home?" The man just looked at me.
"And who is calling on them?" I sighed. "I am Sarah Ganters. I am their niece." The man nodded. "Please wait here." The gate closed and I heard the man walk off. A few minuets later, I heard people running toward the gate. The gate was rammed open and there stood Al. "Sarah!?" I smiled. "Hey uncle Al." He grabbed me in a tight hug as aunt May came around the corner. "Sarah!?" She ran to me and gave me a hug as well. "Hi aunt May." She released me and kissed my cheek. "What are you doing here!? Haven't you heard the news!?" she asked. "Yes, we need to talk, now. Is there a back gate?" She nodded.
I turned to the woods and gestured the others to go to the back. "Sarah, what is going on!? Who's in there!?" Al asked and I waved him off. "Not here. Inside." He nodded and we all walked inside. "We need to go to the back gate and let my friends in." Al tilted his head and nodded. We walked to the back gate and Al opened it. I looked around and saw no one, so I gestured for the group to come in. They ran from the woods and into the house. May turned to them and was completely shocked. "Lady Lan Fan!?" I put my hand over her mouth and gestured to the house with the other. We all walked inside and closed the sliding door.
"Lan Fan! We thought you were dead!" Al stated. "They almost were. Me and Havok found them in the desert." We spent the next few minuets exchanging greetings and hugs. "Al, what is going on? We heard that Xing has declared war." He nodded. "Since Lings death, the head official has assumed control until a new Emperor is chosen. Everyone is under the impression that Lings entire family was killed in the raid." I shook my head. "No. Lan Fan is here with Woo and Sho, and Sao is at home with mom." Al gave a sigh of relief and May jumped in.
"If Sao is alive, then he is the new Emperor. We need to get him here. But that's not all. Have you heard the other news?" I shook my head. "Amestris has declared war on Drachma as well." Al stated and I gasped. "What? Why?" He shook his head. "We don't have any details on that. We just know that Xing and Amestris are now both at war with Drachma." I sighed, and that's when it hit me. Sao was now the Emperor of Xing. My love for him would have to end. Tears started falling from my face. "Sarah? What's wrong?" May asked. "It's about Sao." May looked confused. "I thought he was safe at your house. What's wrong?"
I shook my head. "Nothing with him. But me." May tilted her head. "What do you mean?" More tears fell. "Sao….Sao and I are in love." Al and May gasped. "What?" Al asked and I nodded. "We have been for years now. We just never really said anything." Al sighed. "And now that he's the Emperor, he has to leave you." I nodded. "I don't want to lose him. I love him too much." May came over and encased me in a hug. "I'm sorry Sarah. I know it's hard." I shook my head. "No, you don't. When I got back home...I was going to ask him to marry me." Everyone froze. "You love him that much?" Al finally asked after a minuet. "Yes. I was going to ask him as soon as I got home. And now...that will never happen. He's gone." May hugged me again and I cried into her shoulder.
We sat there in silence for a while. "I'm back!" My heart lifted a little to sound of my brothers voice. I ran out of the room and found him in the hallway. "Sarah?" I ran up and grabbed him in a hug. "I've missed you Mathew." He smiled. "Same here sis. What are you doing here though?" I shook my head. "Not here." We walked back to the room and sat down. I was still crying because of losing Sao, but I was really happy to see Mathew again. We spent the next hour talking about the recent events and how everyone was doing. It turned out that Mathew had gotten really good with alkahestry. One of the local doctors had taken him as an apprentice and he was learning quite a bit.
One of the servants had come and told us the dinner was ready. Everyone left the room, but Lan Fan stopped me. "Sarah. I wish to speak with you a moment." I nodded and we both sat back down. "Sarah, I understand your feelings for Sao, I really do. But you must realize that because of my husbands death, he will become the next Emperor. But that does not mean that he will be forced to." I looked at her confused. "If he chooses, he may decline the ascension to the throne. If so, it would pass to the next son. And that would be Sho." Tears fell from my eyes. "Even so, why would he give up the throne for someone like me? A wolf? Why would he give up becoming the Emperor of Xing to be with a wolf? He won't!"
"How do you know? Sarah, after you left for your duties as a State Alchemist, all he would talk about was you. I can see how much he loves you. In fact...if you asked him...I believe he would marry you. But you will never know, unless you ask him. If you want my advice, I say go home. Now that both countries are at war, you mission is over. So go home, and ask him." With that, she stood up and left the room. I sat there unable to stop my tears. After a while, I walked to the dinner table and sat down. "Havok….we're leaving tomorrow. Our mission is over." He looked at me surprised. "We haven't gotten any information yet." I glared at him.
" 'Your' mission, is to keep me safe. 'My' mission, is to get the information. I am calling that mission off. My dad left me in charge, not you. So follow orders." He smirked and nodded. "Yes sir." We ate the rest of dinner in peace. The next day, we said our goodbyes and left the house. Lan Fan and the family stayed with Al and May. Before we left, she had once again told me to ask him. That he now had a choice, me, or the throne. We walked down the road and began our long journey back home.
One Week Later
We got off the train in East City in the middle of the night. We both walked to the hotel and got rooms for the night. I wanted to call home, but I was so tired that I just plopped on the bed and passed out. I woke back up to knocking on the door. "Come in" I moaned. The door opened and I turned my head to see Havok. "Sorry to wake you, but we need to report in." I moaned more. "Alright. Let me get a quick shower. I still smell like crap." He chuckled and left the room. I got off the bed and took a shower. It felt so nice to have a shower after two weeks of baking in the sun and sweating my butt off.
After the shower, I quickly got dressed and left the room to meet Havok. We took a cab to Eastern Command and walked in. We went straight for my dads office and walked in. "Hey da...Alex!?" He looked up at us and smiled. "Well hello Sarah. Havok. I'm so relieved to see you're alright." I smiled as he walked up to us and I gave him a quick hug. "What are you doing here? Wheres my dad?" He sighed. "He is no longer in command here. Until a new commander is assigned, I'm in command for now." I was confused now. "What happened?"
"I cannot go into detail. But he resigned from the military." Now I was shocked. "Dad retired?" He nodded. "However, due to our country now being at war with Drachma, he has been called back to active duty. As a Colonel." I chuckled. "Poor dad. Some retirement." He chuckled as well. "So how did your trip go?" I lowered my head at the thought of Ling. "Besides learning about Ling, it went fine. At least we found his family." Alex froze. "You found the Yaos!?" I looked at him and nodded. "We found them in the desert, half dead. But they're all okay. Right now, they're staying with uncle Al and aunt May at their house, hidden."
He let out a sigh. "Thank goodness. We had feared the worst. But we can worry about that later. Your brother and father are back at home on leave. I am placing you on leave as well. Tell your dad and brother that I am extending theirs another week. You can all come back together." I smiled and nodded. "Thank you sir." He nodded. "My pleasure, Sarah. Now go home. That's an order. The same for you Havok." We both saluted, then left the office. We walked to the station to wait for my train. The train pulled into the station and Havok turned to me. "Well Sarah, it was a pleasure working with you." He held his hand out to me. "No, the pleasure was mine Havok. I hope we can work together again." We shook hands and I boarded the train.
I entered the booth and waved at Havok as the train left the station. I then layed down and tried to fall asleep. But thoughts of Sao leaving me just kept running through my head. I didn't want him to leave, but I wanted him to be happy. I would have to give him up. I knew that he would never give up the throne for me, a wolf. The thoughts left my mind as I dozed off to sleep. I was woken back up to the train stopping at the Resembool station. I grabbed my bag, left the train, and began my walk home. As I walked, tears fell from my face. I didn't know if I should ask him to marry me or not. It didn't matter anyway, he would just say no.
My thoughts were interrupted by yelling. "Sarah!" I looked up to my mom running to me. "Mom!" I ran to her and she encased me in a hug. "Welcome home sweety. I've missed you." I smiled as I gripped her tighter. "Me too mom." We released and she kissed my cheek. "Lets go inside, shall we?" I nodded and we walked into the house. I looked into the dining room and saw dad drinking some coffee. "Hey dad." He turned to me and smiled. "There's my girl. I was starting to think you got lost." I scoffed. "Like I could." He chuckled, walked over, and gave me a hug. "Missed ya girl." I nodded. "Same here dad."
We released and that's when I saw Sao coming down the stairs. I lowered my head, then walked to my room. But Sao stopped me. "Hi Sarah. Do you have a minuet?" I sighed, then nodded. "Yeah. Come on upstairs." We both walked up to my room and I put my bag on my bed. "What is it Sao?" I asked and he sighed. "Sarah, there is no easy way to say this." Tears came to my eyes as I knew what he was going to say. "Just say it Sao. Just say it and be done with it." He sighed again and I heard him walk up to me. "Sarah, I love you so much. Enough that I….I" I was on the verge of breaking down. "Just say it Sao!" He sighed again. "I want you as my wife."