Title: Lost in Translation
Author: S J Smith
Rating: General
Summary: Alphonse realizes something in Xing.
Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing.
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The sun shone differently in Xing, Alphonse thought. He sat in an open window casement, staring out over the royal gardens. The scents of flowers and fruit rose up on the heat and drifting through the open window. His nose twitched and he closed his eyes, trying to differentiate between the sweet smell of apricots – they were ripening, and he really loved the taste of them – and everything else in the garden. Something was missing, though; he just couldn't figure out what -
"-phonse!" Something smacked on his knee, and Alphonse flailed, dropping his notepad and pen as he grabbed for the window frame to keep from falling out of the window. "Pay attention!"
"Mei!" He glared at her, meeting her furious eyes. "I nearly fell!"
"You caught yourself!" she snapped back.
"You hit me!"
"You were not paying attention to your lesson!" Behind her, Xiao Mei mocked her pose of outstretched arm, waving finger, and absolute fury. "What were you thinking of that is more important than learning alkahestry?"
Alphonse opened his mouth and shut it again. How did he go about explaining about the sun, and its light, and how different Xing was from Rezembool? The manicured gardens were nothing like the shaggy fields dotted with sheep, and full of skulking dogs and shepherds, watching the flocks. Absent at nights was the long, low sound of a train whistle, echoing through the valleys, and the lowing of the Nedobeck's cattle. "I'm homesick," he realized suddenly, the lethargy and distance he'd felt the past few weeks making sense.
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