Birthday Wishes

Mei Chan sat in front of the fire, mesmerized by the dancing flames and crackling wood. A warm nuzzle against her hand jolted her out of the nebulous zone between sleep and wakefulness, and she looked down to find Xiao Mei's shining eyes staring up at her.

"What's wrong, Xiao Mei?" she asked, her voice rising and falling in the familiar cadence of Xingese.

The tiny panda said nothing but moved closer, thrusting her nose into the pocket of Mei's silk pants until she removed a folded scrap of paper. Mei took the paper from her companion's mouth and smiled faintly as she unfolded it to look at the tally marks. She spared a glance outside at the moon and smiled softly, "You're right; it's past midnight." Removing a sooty stick from the fire, the young Xingese princess added another mark to the page: another day spent in search of the Philosopher's Stone, another day away from home.

She counted the marks, thinking back to the warm summer day when she'd started her journey. The rhythm of months and days suddenly fell into place and she crawled to the shack's small window to look at the moon. The shape of the moon, a thin, glowing sliver hung in a curtain of black velvet, confirmed her suspicions and her smile turned melancholy as she returned to her place in front of the fire.

"You knew it was my birthday, didn't you, Xiao Mei?" she asked, running her fingers through the panda's fine fur. In response, Xiao Mei flicked out her small pink tongue and licked the girl's fingers. Comforted, Mei Chan turned her attention back to the fire, this time finding the form of a tall, slim young man in the flickering shadows.

"I wish Alphonse will recover his body soon."