Sarah Alder had already known what was ailing her, yet she needed to be certain so that's why she came to Izadora. The Mother could not heal ailments of the heart and witches hadn't come very far in curing Hanahaki disease without damaging the witches emotionally.

"Sarah, you know if you don't tell her…" Izadora sighed as she stood across from her old friend.

"No good will come of telling her. Besides, last, I remember she was with the Shellbark boy."

Izadora laughed, "Sarah, they broke up a while ago," Sarah looked at her surprised, "What you don't think I don't keep up on gossip around the base?"

Sarah scoffed, "It doesn't matter, I know exactly how she feels about me. I'm quite the disappointment, I…," suddenly coughs wrack her body as she clutches at her chest.

Her old friend comes beside her and places a hand on her chest as she sings a seed which calms her coughing fit, "You know this is only a band aid. If you don't at least tell her, you may never know, and you'll likely die…again. Unless you decide to have them removed. Is that something you could live with?"

Could she live without her feelings for Tally Craven? She could. But to her that felt like a betrayal to herself to have these feelings ripped out.

"Let me think about it," Sarah went to clear her throat coughing up a white flower petal. She looked at it and then back to a worried Izadora, "Don't look at me like that, I'll do something about it."

"Sooner rather than later, Sarah."

Sarah rolled her eyes and stood grabbing her jacket and flinging it over her shoulders, "Just give me a few days to think about it."

Izadora nodded and watched as Sarah walked out of her lab, her head held high with her pride but a heaviness in her heart.

She didn't get very far on base before a group of young cadets were ambushing her asking for her autograph and asking all sorts of questions. It was rather overwhelming, and she thought about starting a storm to clear a way but before she could a strong grip on her hand was dragging her through the crowd and into quietness.

Sarah looked to the hand in her own and up to the back of the red head leading the way causing her heart to skip a beat.

When had those shoulders stood so strong and confident? Sarah's gaze softened with affection for the woman who had become her savior.

"What's the great Sarah Alder doing here?"

As they came to a clearing they stopped under a tree and Tally turned to smile at the older woman.

"I needed to see Izadora about something."

Tally stood her ground and crossed her arms, "And you were just going to leave without saying anything?"

Sarah cleared her throat as she fought back the urge to cough, "I'm sure you have better things to be doing then to see this old face."

Tally looked at her sadly, "But I like your face."

That made Sarah laugh, that was a first from anyone ever, "Only you, Tally Craven, would say something like that."

The sound of Sarah's laugh made Tally look at her fondly, a tender smile gracing her lips at having made the older woman laugh so happily.

"It's the truth. I'm pretty sure it's one of my favorite faces. I used to stare at it for hours on my bedroom wall as a little girl."

But Sarah's smile was soon replaced with sadness, her hand coming up to gently cup Tally's face, "I'm sorry to disappoint young, Tally Craven."

"What? No, I…I'm sorry I even said that. I should have never put you on a pedestal like that. I was a stupid kid."

Before Sarah can say anything, she is overcome by another coughing fit which brings her to her knees. A worried Tally falls to the ground beside her, a hand on her back as she watches Sarah cough up something into her shaking hand. Sarah tries to hide it, but the coughing makes it hard to do so as bloody white flowers overflow from her hand and onto the ground.

Tally stares in horror as Sarah tries to get her coughing under control, wheezing as she regains her breath. Her chest hurts and her heart hurts but she will endure if only to try and reassure the scared woman next to her. Once she composed herself and wiped the blood from her lips, she tries to give Tally a confident smile, "I'm alright, Tally. It's just a small illness. It'll pass."

"Small illness? I didn't even know you could get sick. You're coughing up bloody flower petals, how is that small!?"

Sarah gathers all her strength and stands wiping the blood on her shirt, "It's being taken care of, Izadora is helping me," Sarah looks at her and thinks perhaps she should tell her after all about her feelings but the thought passes, "I should be fine after some rest. Please don't worry Tally, I'll be fine. I'll see you later," Sarah nods and turns and walks away and Tally lets her.

Tally stares at the bloody flowers on the ground and decides she needs to pay a visit to Izadora because she's pretty sure Sarah isn't telling her the whole truth.